Ovenden, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes K-R  West Riding  Ovenden

Parish History
OVENDEN, a township, in the parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York; adjoining the town of Halifax, and containing 11,799 inhabitants. This township is included in the ancient parochial chapelry of Illingworth, and its northern division now forms the ecclesiastical district of Bradshaw. It comprises by computation 5295 acres, of which 1742, formerly open common, were inclosed under the provisions of an act of parliament, in 1814. The surface is varied, and the higher grounds command a view over Halifax and the surrounding country; in the upper district are coal-pits and stone-quarries in extensive operation. The township consists of numerous detached houses irregularly built, and of several scattered hamlets; and is situated on the road to Keighley and Craven, between the river Hebble and a stream called Ovenden Brook, which latter separates it from the township of North Owram. The inhabitants are principally employed in cotton, woollen, silk, and worsted mills, and the hand-loom weaving of damasks and lastings. In the village of Illingworth is the church of St. Mary, a neat edifice with a square tower, built in 1777, on the site of a former structure; it was much injured by fire in Dec. 1841, owing to the over-heating of the flues, but an ample subscription was immediately entered into for its restoration: the organ is said to be the finest tobe met with in any village church in this part of the kingdom. Attached is a spacious cemetery. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £170, with a glebe house, erected in 1838; patron, the Vicar of Halifax. The tithes of the township were commuted for land in 1814. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Methodists of the New Connexion.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 495-498. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51198 Date accessed: 22 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.

Census records
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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.