Yorkshire Baptisms

Each record contains a transcript and an image of the original record were available. The information contained can vary but you could find out a combination of the following about your ancestor:

• First name(s)

• Last name

• Birth year

• Birth date

• Baptism year

• Baptism date

• Baptism place

• Parish

• Chapelry

• Circuit of chapel

• Denomination

• Father’s name

• Father’s occupation

• Mother’s name

• Mother’s occupation

• Relationship

• Residence

• Minster

• Notes

• Checked

• Archive reference

• County

There are over 9 million records of baptisms in Anglican parishes across the three historic Yorkshire counties, as well as records from some Roman Catholic and Non-Conformist parishes. This record set brings together parish records held in nine separate Yorkshire archives and family history societies in a comprehensive collection of parish records for the whole county.

Yorkshire, in northern England, is the largest British county. The area has a rich history, having been inhabited since Neolithic times. The Celtic Brigantes and Parisi tribes ruled most of the North and West Ridings. Historically Yorkshire was divided into the three Ridings. The word “riding” comes from the old Danish “Threthingr” meaning a third. The three ridings were called North Riding, West Riding and East Riding.

Yorkshire prospered during the Industrial Revolution with towns like Sheffield, Leeds and Bradford becoming major manufacturing centres. There are also outstanding rural areas including the Yorkshire Dales and the Peak District.

The East and North Ridings were separated by the River Derwent and the West and the North by the Ouse and the Ure/Nidd watershed. The historic Ridings were abolished in 1974.

Parish records became mandatory for the Church of England in 1537. Most start the following year. Until 1774 baptisms, marriages and burials were all recorded in a single volume. Standardised forms for these registers were introduced in 1812.

The Church of England parish often registered life events for other religious denominations. It was illegal to marry anywhere else between 1754 and 1837. However, the Quakers and Jews were not covered by this legislation and could keep their records.

Non-conformists were those who did not belong to the established church. Before 1533, this would have meant the Catholic Church, but after the Act of Uniformity, the established church changed to the Church of England. Non-Conformists generally refer to non-Anglican denominations; such as Methodists, Quakers, Baptists and Presbyterians. The majority of the records in this set are from the Methodist denomination, specifically Wesleyan Methodists.

Major William Barnsley Allen, V.C., D.S.O., M.C. and bar, was decorated four times during World War 1 including the Victoria Cross. William was born to parents Edith and Percy Edwin Allen and baptised on 10 June 1892 at St. Mary in Sheffield. He can be found again on the findmypast website in the 1911 census. He is listed as a medical student living at home with his mother and his sister. In 1914, Allen joined the Royal Army Medical Corps not long after Britain had declared war on Germany.

For his ‘conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty,’ Allen received the Victoria Cross for his actions near Mesnil, France, on 3 September 1916. Captain Allen exposed himself to heavy shell fire to attend to the wounds of several injured men after a German shell fell in one of the limbers and exploded the ammunition. Allen was hit four times by pieces of shell, one fractured two of his rips, but he continued to assist the wounded.

He was also awarded the Military Cross and then in September 1917, he awarded a bar to his Military Cross. During the war, he also received a mention in despatches. Overall Captain Allen was wounded seven times during the Great War and served three years and two months in France. Major William Barnsley Allen died in 1933 from opium poisoning.

Harry Wright was born 10 January 1835. Through these records, we can find that he was baptised on 10 May 1835 in St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral. His father was Samuel Wright, a professional cricketer player. Harry’s family immigrated to America in 1838. His father continued to play cricket for St. George’s Cricket Club for 32 years. By the age of 19, Harry had started to play cricket for various clubs in New York, until he received a professional place in the Union Cricket Club in Cincinnati.

In 1866 he helped to organised the Cincinnati Red Stockings Baseball team, played centre field and became the captain of the team. Cincinnati became the first professional baseball teams and began for the first time giving players a salary. Wright’s keen eye for recruiting talented played to lead the team to years of success. The team became a national sensation in 1869 by playing 67 consecutive undefeated games. However, due to financial constraints, the club returned to its amateur status in 1871 and Wright and many other played moved to Boston to join the newly created Boston Red Stockings (later to become the Boston Red Socks).

Later Wright went on to manage the Philadelphia Phillies (known as the Philadelphia Quakers until 1890) for 10 years. Throughout his career, he won twelve pennant titles for different baseball clubs. In 1953 he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Harry Wright died on 3 October 1895 in Atlantic City, NJ. He is buried at the historic Laurel Hill Cemetery in Pennsylvania. On 20 June 1897, a memorial erected to the ‘father of baseball.’

Borthwick records are from records in the custody of the Borthwick Institute for Archives, University of York. Doncaster records reproduced with permission from Doncaster Borough Council.

East Riding records reproduced with the permission of The East Riding Archives & Local Studies Service, East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

North Yorkshire images copyright North Yorkshire County Record Office.

Rotherham area transcripts reproduced with permission from Rotherham Family History Society. Sheffield records reproduced with permission from Sheffield City Council Libraries Archives and Information Services.

Teesside records reproduced with permission from Teeside Archives.

Ripponden transcripts have been created by the Calderdale Family History Society.

There are also records available from Cleveland Family History Society, Doncaster Family History Society, Huddersfield & District Family History Society, Pontefract & District Family History Society, Ryedale Family History Society, Sheffield & District Family History Society, and Wakefield & District Family History Society.

• Begin your search broadly. Start with just a name and a year.

• If needed, you can narrow your search results by adding additional search criteria such as a place or parent’s name.

• Try different name combinations if you are having difficulty locating your ancestor’s entry. Occasionally, the last name was not recorded. Try searching with only a first name and year.