Melsonby, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  North Riding  Melsonby

Parish History
Melsonby St James is an Ancient Parish in the county of Yorkshire.Other places in the parish include: East Layton.

MELSONBY (St. James), a parish, in the union of Richmond, wapentake of Gilling-West, N. riding ofYork, 5 miles (N. N. E.) from Richmond; containing530 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2669a. 3r. 7p.,of which 2000 acres are arable, 524 meadow and pasture,and 34 woodland and plantations. Its surface, which is elevated, is broken into hills and dales: the higher grounds command a view of the Hamilton hills on the one side, and of Stanemore on the other; the lowerlands are watered by a rivulet. The scenery is in many points highly picturesque, and the soil, which rests on limestone, is generally fertile: freestone is found, and on Gatherley moor, partly within the parish, are some quarries in full operation; limestone is also obtained,and there are limekilns in several parts. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 2. 11., and in the patronage of University College, Oxford: the tithes have been commuted for £690, and the glebe comprises 94 acres. The church is an ancient structure, partly in the Norman style, and is probably thesame as that noticed in the Domesday survey. A schoo lis supported by an endowment of £26 per annum. Ina field opposite the rectory-house are some slight remains of a religious house, thought to have been a Benedictine nunnery, founded in the latter part of the reign of Stephen, or the earlier part of that of Henry II., by-Roger D'Ark, and dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Gatherley moor is noticed by Camden as one of the most distinguished places in England, for the celebration of races and other sports. Over its surface was once araised bank of earth of great antiquity, about 12 yards in breadth, with a trench of equal width on each side,the whole generally called the Scotch Dyke, and supposed to have been a boundary line between the territories of the Britons and the Picts. There were also several barrows, now obliterated by the inclosure of the moor.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 287-291. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51143 Date accessed: 30 April 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
Richmond 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.