Roystone, Yorkshire Genealogy

England Yorkshire Yorkshire {Parishes K-R  West Riding  Royston

Parish History
ROYSTONE (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the wapentake of Staincross, W. riding of York; containing, with the chapelries of Woolley and Monk-Bretton, and the townships of Carlton, Chevet, Cudworth, and Notton, 4341 inhabitants, of whom 612 are in Roystone township, 4¼ miles (N. N. E.) from Barnsley. The parish comprises by computation 12,700 acres: the soil is fertile, and generally in good cultivation; the surface is boldly varied. The village is situated on an eminence, near the Barnsley canal. The district abounds with coal, though no mines are in operation; and there are some extensive quarries of good freestone, of which large blocks are raised for railway purposes and buildings of magnitude. The Midland railway passes through the parish. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £17. 3. 4.; net income, £166; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of York. The church is an ancient and handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles, and, notwithstanding recent alterations, presents many interesting features within. At Woolley and Monk-Bretton are separate incumbencies. The free grammar school is endowed with an annuity of £4. 6. 11. from the revenue of the duchy of Lancaster, and also with a house and some land granted by the crown in1605. Sir George Wood, baron of the exchequer, who died in 1824, was born in the vicarage-house.

From: Lewis, Samuel A., A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 707-711. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51248 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
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.

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.