Loftus, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire  North Riding  Loftus

Parish History
Loftus St Leonard is an Ancient Parish.

LOFTHOUSE (St. Leonard), a parish, in the union of Guisborough, E. division of the liberty of Langbaurgh, N. riding of York, 8½ miles (E. N. E.) from Guisborough; containing 1091 inhabitants. This place, in the Domesday survey Lochtushum, was granted by the Conqueror to Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, who soon afterwards transferred it to the Percy family, of whom William de Percy, the third baron, in 1133 founded at Handall, in the parish, a priory for Benedictine nuns, which he dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and of which the revenue, at the Dissolution, was estimated at £20. 7. 8. The lands remained for many generations in possession of the Percys; the greater portion of them is now the property of the Hon. Major-General Sir Robert Lawrence Dundas, lord of the manor. The parish is bounded on the north by the sea, and comprises by measurement 3775 acres, including 383 of common or waste. Near the coast the ground is elevated, but it declines gradually from the cliffs towards the village, whence it rises gently, assuming a northern aspect, and commanding a good view of the sea; the surface is diversified with richly-wooded dales. The substratum is chiefly freestone of good quality for building; and the rocks abound with alum, of which some very extensive works, belonging to the lord of the manor, afford employment to many of the inhabitants of the adjacent hamlets. Lofthouse Hall, the seat of Major-General Dundas, is a handsome mansion, recently erected. The village, which is on the coast road from Guisborough to Whitby, consists mainly of one long street of houses built of stone. A customary market is held on Thursday. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £10. 11. 0½., and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £450, and the glebe consists of 56 acres, with a parsonagehouse in the Italian style. The church, originally given by William de Saucey to the priory of Guisborough, was rebuilt in 1813, at a cost of £1300, and is a spacious structure with a square embattled tower. There are some remains of the convent.

From: A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 126-129. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51116 Date accessed: 27 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
Guisborough 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.