Kingston Upon Hull, Yorkshire Genealogy

Guide to Kingston upon Hull history, family history, and genealogy parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

History
Kingston Upon Hull, usually abbreviated to just Hull, is a city and unitary authority in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England It lies upon the River Hull at its junction with the River Humber estuary, 25 miles (40 km) inland from the North Sea.

The valley of the River Hull has been inhabited since the early Neolithic period but there is little evidence of a substantial settlement in the area of the present city. The area was attractive to people because it gave access to a prosperous hinterland and navigable rivers but the site was poor, being remote, low-lying and with no fresh water. It was originally an outlying part of the hamlet of Myton, named Wyke. The name is thought to originate either from a Scandinavian word Vik meaning creek or from the Saxon Wic meaning dwelling place or refuge.

The River Hull was a good haven for shipping, whose trade included the export of wool from Meaux abbey. In 1293 the town was acquired from the abbey by King Edward I, who on 1 April 1299 granted it a royal charter that renamed the settlement King's town upon Hull or Kingston upon Hull. The charter is preserved in the archives of the Guildhall.

In 1440, a further charter incorporated the town and instituted local government consisting of a mayor, a sheriff and twelve aldermen.

In his Guide to Hull (1817), J. C. Craggs provides a colorful background to Edward's acquisition and naming of the town. He writes that the King and a hunting party started after a hare which "led them along the delightful banks of the River Hull to the hamlet of Wyke … [Edward], charmed with the scene before him, viewed with delight the advantageous situation of this hitherto neglected and obscure corner. He foresaw it might become a secure town, both to render the kingdom more secure against foreign invasion, and at the same time greatly to enforce its commerce". Pursuant to these thoughts, Craggs continues, Edward purchased the land from the Abbot of Meaux, had a manor hall built for himself, issued proclamations encouraging development within the town, and bestowed upon it the royal appellation, King's Town.

The port served as a base for Edward I during the First War of Scottish Independence and later developed into the foremost port on the east coast of England. It prospered by exporting wool and woolen cloth, and importing wine and timber. Hull also established a flourishing commerce with the Baltic ports as part of the Hanseatic League.

From its medieval beginnings, Hull's main trading links were with Scotland and northern Europe. Scandinavia, the Baltic and the Low Countries were all key trading areas for Hull's merchants. In addition, there was trade with France, Spain and Portugal. As sail power gave way to steam, Hull's trading links extended throughout the world. Docks were opened to serve the frozen meat trade of Australia, New Zealand and South America. Hull was also the center of a thriving inland and coastal trading network, serving the whole of the United Kingdom.

Sir William de la Pole was the town's first mayor. A prosperous merchant, de la Pole founded a family that became prominent in government. Another successful son of a Hull trading family was bishop John Alcock, who founded Jesus College, Cambridge and was a patron of the grammar school in Hull.

The town prospered during the 16th and early 17th centuries, and Hull's affluence at this time is preserved in the form of several well-maintained buildings from the period, including Wilberforce House, now a museum documenting the life of William Wilberforce, the major parliamentary instigator of bills to end the slave trade.

Throughout the second half of the 19th century and leading up to the First World War, the Port of Hull played a major role in the transmigration of Northern European settlers to the New World, with thousands of emigrants sailing to the city and stopping for administrative purposes before traveling on to Liverpool and then North America.

Whaling played a major role in the town's fortunes until the mid-19th century. Hull's prosperity peaked in the decades just before the First World War; it was during this time, in 1897, that city status was granted. After the decline of the whaling industry, emphasis shifted to deep-sea trawling until the Anglo-Icelandic Cod War of 1975–1976. The conditions set at the end of this dispute initiated Hull's economic decline.

The city's port and industrial facilities, coupled with its proximity to mainland Europe and ease of location being on a major estuary, led to extremely widespread damage by bombing raids during the Second World War; much of the city center was destroyed. Hull had 95% of its houses damaged or destroyed, making it the most severely bombed British city or town, apart from London, during the Second World War. More than 1,200 people died in air raids on the city and some 3,000 others were injured.

The worst of the bombing occurred in 1941. However little was known about this destruction by the rest of the country during the war, since most of the radio and newspaper reports did not reveal Hull by name but referred to it as "a North-East town" or "a northern coastal town".

Cemeteries

 * Eastern Cemetery 8"N 6th Ave Hull HU6, UK
 * Hedon Road Cemetery Hedon Road Hull HU9 5LT, UK
 * Northern Cemetery Hull HU5 4AZ, UK
 * Western Cemetery Western Cemetery Lodge Chanterlands Ave Hull HU5 3SS, UK
 * Delhi Street Cemetery (Jewish) Delhi Street and Hedon Road Kingston upon Hull
 * Marfleet Lane Cemetery (Jewish) Kingston upon Hull

Closed in 1972, the oldest cemetery in the district is Hull General Cemetery, and was for the burial of Anglican communicants only. The area has since been cleared, but records of those buried there can be found at:


 * Find A Grave, Hull General Cemetery

Further information on Kingston Upon Hull Cemeteries can be found at:


 * Hull City Portal for Cemeteries

Parishes
A complete list of parishes for Kingston Upon Hull can be found at:


 * List of Kingston Upon Hull parishes

Hull parish records on line can be found at:


 * Hull Parish Records on Line

Non Conformists
The following denominations and religions are also represented well in Hull:


 * Baptists
 * Calvinists
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Church of Scotland
 * Eastern Orthodox Church
 * Greek Orthodox Church
 * Lutherans
 * Methodists
 * Roman Catholics
 * Asian Orthodox Christian
 * Buddhists
 * Jews
 * Muslims
 * Sikhs
 * Taoists
 * Zoroastrians

Civil Registration

 * Kingston Upon Hull Registration Office


 * FreeBMD - National registration office index]

Local Histories

 * Hull's History
 * The Story of Hull by Richard Gurham
 * A Century of Hull by David Gerard

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Google Hull city map


 * Old Maps of Kingston-upon-Hull


 * Hull and Area Maps


 * Gazetteer of Hull


 * Genuki Hull

Newspapers

 * The Hull Daily Mail


 * The Yorkshire Post

Occupations
The economy of Hull was built on trading and seafaring, firstly whaling and later deep sea fishing. Although the fishing industry declined somewhat in the 1970s, the city remains a busy port, handling 13 million tonnes of cargo per year.

Societies

 * The East Yorkshire Family History Society


 * Hull City Council; Family History


 * Forebears England: Kingston Upon Hull

Archives

 * Hull History Center Worship St Hull HU2 8BG, UK Phone: +44 1482 317500


 * Hull City Council; Archives


 * Hull University Archives

Websites

 * Kingston Upon Hull wikipedia


 * Hull City Council


 * Yorkshire East Riding County Council