Roundhay, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire Parishes K-R  West Riding  Roundhay

Parish History
ROUNDHAY, a township, in the parish of Barwickin-Elmet, wapentake of Skyrack, W. riding of York, 3 miles (N. N. E.) from Leeds; containing 439 inhabitants. This place, which derived its name from being anciently a park inclosed within a circular pale, belonged to Henry de Lacy, Earl of Lincoln, from whom it passed to Henry, Duke of Lancaster. It afterwards passed to John of Gaunt, in right of his wife, Blanche; and thus became vested in the crown. Henry VII. addressed an order to the governor of Pontefract Castle to survey Roundhay Park, upon which a return was made of the number of deer killed and the quantity of timber cutdown. The park was granted by Henry VIII. to Lord D'Arcy, after whose attainder it was restored by Queen Elizabeth to his son, who, dying without issue, was succeeded in his estates by a female branch that conveyed it by marriage to the family of the Duke of Norfolk. It afterwards became the property of Lord Stourton, by whom it was sold. The manor was early disposed of by the crown to the corporation of London, who gave it to Kirkstall Abbey, after the dissolution of which it was purchased by the Oglethorpe family; it passed from them to the Tempests, and was subsequently bought by Thomas Nicholson, Esq., brother of the present lord.

The township, which is situated on the road from Leeds to Wetherby, comprises 1467 acres of land, mostly the property of Stephen Nicholson, Esq.; the soil is fertile, and in full cultivation, and the substratum abounds with excellent freestone, which is extensively quarried. Roundhay Park is a spacious mansion, beautifully embosomed in woods and plantations; the grounds are tastefully laid out, and embellished with a lake of thirty-four acres, whose banks are crowned with richly picturesque scenery. The village is neatly built, and the township comprises many pleasing villas and detached houses, commanding good views. A church dedicated to St. John, was erected and endowed under the provisions of the will of the late Mr. Nicholson, who died in 1812, and to whose memory it contains a monument; it is a handsome structure in the early English style, with a square tower surmounted by a spire. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the family; net income, £109, with a glebe house, erected by the present patron at an expense of £2000. '''There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. ''' A school, with a house for the master, who has a salary of £60 per annum, and six alms houses for widows, who receive each an allowance of £10 per annum, were also erected and endowed in pursuance of the will of Mr.Nicholson.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 703-705. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51246 Date accessed: 10 October 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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
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