Bracewell, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes   West Riding  Bracewell

Parish History
BRACEWELL (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Skipton, E. division of the wapentake of Staincliffe and Ewcross, W. riding of York, 9 miles (W. by S.) from Skipton; containing 153 inhabitants. This place is called in ancient documents Breiswell and Brais-well, signifying "the well on the bray" or "brow." The parish comprises by computation 1920 acres: the surface is beautifully undulated, and the hills are covered with luxuriant verdure; the lands are chiefly in pasture. The ancient manor-house, now a ruin, consisted of a centre with two boldly projecting wings, built of brick in the reign of Henry VIII.; and to the north of it are the remains of a former house of stone, in which an apartment called "King Henry's parlour" was the retreat of Henry VI. There are some quarries of excellent limestone, which is used both for building and for burning into lime. The village is pleasantly situated and neatly built: on the north the parish adjoins the turnpike-road between Gisburn and Skipton; and the Leeds and Liverpool canal passes about two miles east of the church. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £2. 2. 9½., net income, £123; patron and impropriator, Earl de Grey. The church, nearly adjoining the manor-house, and probably founded by the Tempest family, is an ancient structure chiefly in the Norman style, enlarged by the addition of a north aisle in the reign of Henry VII.: it has a plain Norman doorway on the south, and a similar arch divides the chancel from the nave; it contains the family-vault of the Tempests, whose armorial bearings embellish several of the windows. On the summit of two hills, called Howber and Gildersber, are remains of military works, said to have been thrown up by the army of Prince Rupert, on its march through Craven, in 1664.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 323-326. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50818 Date accessed: 13 September 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.

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.