Halifax St John the Baptist, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  Yorkshire Parishes  West Riding  Halifax

Guide to Halifax St John the Baptist, Lancashire family history and genealogy. Parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

For a fuller list of Halifax's churches, see A Complete List of Halifax's Chapels and Churches.



Parish History
Here is an 1848 historical perspective on Halifax by the famous 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. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
 BRIGHOUSE CHAPELRY (1701) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images FS 1842-1903 1780-1906  1701-1930  JMI None  None  None  ANC      HATH None  None  None  AO None  None  None  ELLAND PARISH (1559) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images AC 1559-1910 1559-1910 1559-1935 1559-1935 1559-1944 1559-1944 FS 1559-1841 None 1559-1837 None Add None JMI None None 1559-1714 None None None FMP 1558-1850 1558-1850 1558-1850 HEPTONSTALL PARISH (1593) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images AC 1593-1904 1593-1904 1593-1935 1593-1935 1593-1898 1593-1898 FMP None None None None None None FS 1599-1847 None 1593-1837 None Add None JMI None None 1594-1660 None None None LIGHTCLIFFE CHAPELRY (1704) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images FS 1704-1909 1706-1724, 1746,1838, 1839, 1845-1910  1705, 1712-1924  JMI None  None  None  ANC None  None  None  HATH None  None  None  AO None  None  None    LUDDENDEN CHAPELRY (1652) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images FS 1652-1907 1661-1753, 1840-1910  1653-1859, 1875-1888, 1895, 1903  JMI None  None  None  ANC None  None  None  HATH None  None  None  AO None  None  None  SALTERHEBBLE CHAPELRY (1785) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images FS 1785-1910 1860-1914  None  JMI None  None  None  ANC None  None  None  HATH None  None  None  AO None  None  None  SHELF CHAPELRY (1***) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images FS None None  None  JMI None  None  None  ANC None  None  None  HATH None  None  None  AO None  None  None  SOWERBY NEAR HALIFAX CHAPELRY (1724) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images FS 1724-1864 1730-1776  None  JMI None  None  None  ANC None  None  None  HATH None  None  None  AO None  None  None  SOYLAND PARISH (1***) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images FS None None  None  JMI None  None  None  ANC None  None  None  HATH None  None  None  AO None  None  None  STAINLAND PARISH (1782) Online Records Baptisms Marriages  Burials Indexes Images Indexes Images Indexes Images FS 1782-1910 1843-1910  None  JMI None  None  None  ANC None  None  None  HATH None  None  None  AO None  None  None

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).

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