Wensley, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  North Riding  Wensley

Parish History
Wensley Holy Trinity is an Ancient Parish in the county of Yorkshire. Other places in the parish include: Leyburn, Preston under Soar, Preston under Scar, and Preston. WENSLEY (Holy Trinity), a parish, in the union of Leyburn, wapentake of Hang-West, N. riding ofYork; containing, with the chapelries of Bolton-Castleand Redmire, and the townships of Leyburn and Preston-under-Scar, 1969 inhabitants, of whom 309 are in Wensley township, 3 miles (N. W. by W.) from Middleham. In the township are 1940 acres, of which 45 are common or waste; it is chiefly the property of Lord Bolton, who is lord of the manor. The river Ure runs through the parish, and is crossed by an ancient bridge,erected about the commencement of the fourteenth century, and lately widened and repaired at the expense of the riding. The village, which is well built, is pleasantly situated on the north bank of the river. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £49. 9. 9½.;net income, £1337; patron, Lord Bolton. The tithesof Wensley township have been commuted for £309,and the glebe consists of 28 acres. In the church is some fine screen-work, which is said to have belonged to the abbey of St. Agatha, near Richmond. The chapelries of Bolton-Castle and Redmire form a separate incumbency, in the Rector's gift. Vestiges of an extensive religious building are discernible near the village:about forty years ago, large quantities of stone, and some specimens of highly-carved Gothic windows, were dug from the ruins; and in sloping a precipitous bank near them, in the spring of 1843, the skeletons of thirty human bodies were removed and interred below. Near the foot of an ancient yew-tree of immense size, human bones, and bones of horses, with implements of war, were found some years since, in a mass of black earth.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 509-513. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51388 Date accessed: 09 May 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.

Poor Law Unions
Leyburn Poor Law Union, Yorkshire

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.