Melbecks (Low Row), Yorkshire Genealogy

England    Yorkshire  North Riding  Melbecks

Parish History
Contributor: Add a general overview of the history of this parish.

MELBECKS, a township, in the parish of Grinton, union of Richmond, wapentake of Gilling-West, N. riding of York, 14 miles (W. by S.) from Richmond; containing 1633 inhabitants. The township is situated on the north side of Swaledale, along which extend numerous hamlets, and comprises by computation 10,106 acres, whereof 8643 are wild and uncultivated moors: extensive and productive lead-mines are in operation. A church dedicated to the Trinity, to which a district has been assigned, was erected in 1843, by subscription, aided by a grant of £300 from the Ripon Diocesan Society; it is a light and handsome edifice in the later English style. The living has been endowed with £150 per annum by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, and is in the patronage of the Vicar of Grinton; a parsonagehouse was built in 1843. There are places of worship for Presbyterians and Wesleyans.

From A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 280-283. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51141 Date accessed: 13 May 2011.

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Melbecks like this:

MELBECKS, a township and a chapelry in Grinton parish, N. R. Yorkshire. The township lies on the river Swale, 2 miles E of Muker, and 12 NW by W of Leyburn r. station; and contains the hamlets of Blaides, Barfend, Feetham, Kearton, Lodge-Green, Longrow, Poting, Winserings, Wintering-Garths, Smarber, and Gunnerside, the last of which has a post office under Richmond, Yorkshire. Acres, 10,106. Real property, £4,846; of which £106 are in mines. Pop., 1,622. Houses, 326. The property is much subdivided.—The chapelry is more extensive than the township, and was constituted in 1841. Pop., 2,173. Houses, 431. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Ripon. Value, £150.* Patron, the Vicar of Grinton. The church is modern.

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 neighboring 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.