Halifax St John the Baptist, Yorkshire Genealogy

Guide to Halifax St John the Baptist, Yorkshire ancestry, family history, and genealogy. Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records. Also see A Comprehensive List of Halifax's Chapels and Churches.

Parish History
Here is an 1848 historical perspective on Halifax by the renowned 19th century topographer, Samuel Lewis. For a more complete overview on Halifax's numerous churches, additional parish and chapel information has been added from Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870) to supplement this (Lewis') treatise on this very large township parish (see bracketed information below in the highlighted 'parish' section of this page):

"HALIFAX (St. John the Baptist), a parish, partly in the union of Todmorden, but chiefly in that of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York; comprising the market-town and borough of Halifax, the parochial chapelries of Elland and Heptonstall, and the townships of Barkisland, Erringden, Fixby, Hipperholme with Brighouse, Langfield, Lightcliffe, Luddenden, Midgley, Norland, Ovenden, North and South Owram, Rastrick, Ripponden, Rishworth, Shelf, Skircoat, Sowerby, Soyland, Stainland with Old Lindley, Stansfield, Wadsworth, and Warley; the whole containing 130,743 inhabitants, of whom 19,881 are in the town, 42 miles (S. W.) from York.

The borough comprises the whole of the township of Halifax, and parts of the townships of North and South Owram.

The present church is the third structure erected on the site, and some slight remains of former churches are incorporated in the building. A church dedicated to ' Holy Trinity, was built in 1798.The district church of St. James was erected in 1831'. The district parish of St. Paul, King's-Cross'  was opened in May 1847'. Many other churches have been erected in the parish, which are described under the townships where they are respectively situated.

From Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England, on Halifax: 

'The mother church, that of St. John the Baptist, stands at the east end of the town; is supposed to have been originally built, in the time of Henry III. All Souls church, or Haley hill church, noticed in our article on HALEY HILL, ranks next in interest to St. Johns. Trinity church, in Harrison lane, was built in 1795; and is a handsome Grecian edifice. St. James' church was built in 1828; St. Mary's church was built in 1869. A new cemetery was formed, in 1841, at a cost of about £5, 000; and another, at StoneyRoyd, was formed in 1861.

An Independent chapel, was built in 1857. Another Independent chapel was built in 1869. There are also three other chapels for Independents, three for Baptists, one for Quakers, one for Unitarians, two for Wesleyans, one for Primitive Methodists, two for New Connexion Methodists, one for United Free Methodists, and one for Roman Catholics.  There are [additional] places of worship for... Methodists of the New Connexion, Unitarians, and Wesleyans...and a general cemetery for all denominations'. ''

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. Two popular sites are:


 * GRO - has births and deaths only from 1837 to 1915 and 1955, respectively., births gives maiden name and deaths cite at death
 * 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.

This ancient parish (AP) was created before 1813. Church of England records began in 1538 (St. John The Baptist), 1953 (St. James/St. Mary), 1832( St. James), 1903 (St. Hilda), 1872 (St. Augustine), 1798 (Holy Trinity), 1890 (St. Jude), 1870 (St. Mary).

Church Records for the Poor

 * 1) West Yorkshire, England,"Select Removal and Settlement Records, 1689-1866" for the poor who resided in West Yorkshire for the boroughs of Bradford, Calderdale (Halifax, Sowerby, etc.), Kirklees, Leeds, and Wakefield.
 * 2) Miscellaneous Select Poor Law and Township Records, 1663-1914 of West Yorkshire.
 * 3) West Yorkshire, England, Select Rate Books, Accounts and Censuses, 1705–1893

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