Ripponden, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes K-R  West Riding  Ripponden

Parish History
RIPPONDEN, a chapelry, in the parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 5¾ miles (S. W.) from Halifax; containing 7417 inhabitants. This place, originally called Rybournden from its situation on the Rybourne, an inconsiderable stream which intersects the village, and, after long-continue drains, frequently overflows its banks, suffered greatly from an inundation in the year 1722. On the afternoon of the 18th of May, the waters in the valley suddenly rose to a height of 20 feet, bearing down in their course the mills and bridges on the river, sweeping away several houses in the village, destroying part of the chapel, and laying open the graves in its cemetery; twelve persons lost their lives, eight of whom were members of the same family. The chapelry comprises 13,070 acres, principally meadow and pasture land; the surface is diversified with hill and dale, and the scenery in many parts is very beautiful. The substratum is chiefly sandstone, of which there are quarries in operation. The village is situated on the road from Manchester to Rochdale, and on the eastern side of Blackstone Edge; the Rybourne flows under two bridges of stone close by the chapelyard, and falls into the Calder at Sowerby-Bridge. The present chapel, dedicated to St. Bartholomew, was erected partly by a brief, and partly by subscription, in 1737, to replace the ancient structure, which had been injured by the flood; it is of the Tuscan order, with a tower, and the cemetery is inclosed by a very fine hedge of yew, cut into semicircular arches. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Halifax; net income, £150, with a good parsonage-house, of which the older portion was built by the Rev. John Watson, a distinguished antiquary, during his incumbency. On Ripponden bank is a place of worship for Wesleyans.

From: Lewis, Samuel A.,  A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 671-676. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51239 Date accessed: 07 October 2011.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, nonconformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Yorkshire Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: Add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.