Parish records of Ledsham

Includes register of christenings, 1539-2020; register of baptisms (St James, Fairburn), 1945-1999; register of marriages, 1539-1967; register of burials, 1539-1935; register of burials (St James, Fairburn), 1944-1992; register of banns, 1754-1803, 1816-2020; register of confirmations, 1923-1950; register of services, 1906-1994; register of services (St James, Fairburn), 1922-1946, 1968-1999; register of services (Ledston Luck Mission Church), 1925-2011; records concerning benefice income, including tithe rental, 1720-1793, correspondence and papers, 1861, 1864, 1870, 1873, and benefice income and property papers, 1764-1939; charity records, including Lady Elizabeth Hastings' charity rental of estates, c.1740, deeds, 1738-1739, and other charity papers relating to Lady Elizabeth Hastings' Charity, Bolles Charity, Duffield Charity, Sellon Charity, Proctor Charity; and Sir John Lewis Hospital, 1864-1951; churchwardens’ records, including accounts, 1738-1911, briefs, 1653-1665, notes of assessment, 1652, list of pew owners, 1640, and fabric papers (clock), 1899-1901; constables’ accounts, 1739-1829; records of incumbents, including case papers of Reverend Benson contra Dean and Chapter of York, 1744-1747, and correspondence, 1930; overseers’ records, including accounts, 1739-1770, and Poor Law Union papers, 1890-1907; letter regarding Thorp Arch School, 1891; surveyors’ accounts, 1762-1765; Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including minutes of meetings, 1911-1991, accounts, 1869-1890, correspondence, 1968-1988, Ledsham Church Management Committee minute books, 1957-1982, map of proposed Leeds and Collingham Turnpike Road, c.1824, and list of electors for Ledsham township, 1896.

There was a church at Ledsham before the Norman Conquest. It was given by Robert de Lacy to the Prior and Convent of Pontefract before 1129. The rectory was appropriated to them, and a vicarage ordained there, by Archbishop Walter de Grey. The Priory held the advowson until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the sixteenth century, at which time it passed to the Crown and was then sold to Henry Witham, builder of Ledston Hall. The living was augmented in 1721.
The present parish church of All Saints is believed to date to the seventh or eighth century. It was partly rebuilt in the twelfth century and the chancel was replaced in the thirteenth. The north wall was rebuilt, and the north aisle created, in the fifteenth century. The whole building was extensively restored in 1871 by architect Henry Curzon. A vicarage was built by Lady Elizabeth Hastings, who inherited the Ledston estate in the eighteenth century.
The parish includes the chapelry of Fairburn. A chapel, dedicated to St James, was built there in 1846 and there is also a chapel dedicated to St Thomas a Becket at Ledston Hall. An alteration of the boundaries of Ledsham with Kippax and Allerton Bywater occurred in 1976.
Today the parish and benefice are known as Ledsham with Fairburn.

This arrangement was designed to reflect the principal activities of the parish and its associated organisations, and to aid researchers in identifying the records these activities generate. This arrangement was introduced in 2020. Records are arranged within the following alphabetical series but retain their original archival reference at file/item level:
A: Parish Registers
B: Church Ceremonial
C: Parish Clergy
D: Property - Religious
E: Property - Secular
F: Parish Administration and Officers
G: Parish Social and Evangelical Activities
H: Overseer of the Poor and Parish Charity
J: Schools
K: Promotional and Informational Material

Records are open to the public, subject to the overriding provisions of relevant legislation, including data protection laws. 24 hours' notice is required to access photographic material.

The archive was deposited at the Borthwick Institute in 1975 by the incumbent. Further additions were made to the archive in 1984, 1995 and 2013.

There was a church at Ledsham before the Norman Conquest. It was given by Robert de Lacy to the Prior and Convent of Pontefract before 1129. The rectory was appropriated to them, and a vicarage ordained there, by Archbishop Walter de Grey. The Priory held the advowson until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the sixteenth century, at which time it passed to the Crown and was then sold to Henry Witham, builder of Ledston Hall. The living was augmented in 1721.
The present parish church of All Saints is believed to date to the seventh or eighth century. It was partly rebuilt in the twelfth century and the chancel was replaced in the thirteenth. The north wall was rebuilt, and the north aisle created, in the fifteenth century. The whole building was extensively restored in 1871 by architect Henry Curzon. A vicarage was built by Lady Elizabeth Hastings, who inherited the Ledston estate in the eighteenth century.
The parish includes the chapelry of Fairburn. A chapel, dedicated to St James, was built there in 1846 and there is also a chapel dedicated to St Thomas a Becket at Ledston Hall. An alteration of the boundaries of Ledsham with Kippax and Allerton Bywater occurred in 1976.
Today the parish and benefice are known as Ledsham with Fairburn.

A typescript finding aid, to file level, is available for consultation in the searchroom of the Borthwick Institute. This includes all material received up to and including 2013.

Registers of christenings, 1539-1921, marriages, 1539-1967, burials, 1539-1907, and banns, 1816-1900, are also available on microfilm at the Borthwick Institute (References: MF 721-722, 1760).
Our collection of parish baptism, marriage and burial registers has been digitised by both Ancestry and Find My Past. Copies of digitised records can be viewed online on Ancestry or Find My Past, as part of larger UK-wide parish registers datasets. You can find out more about these record sets, and how to find our registers, here: https://borthcat.york.ac.uk/index.php/are-you-looking-for-parish-registers.

Created by S. A. Shearn, 24.02.16.
Revised (Schema arrangement and retroconversion) 20.07.2023 by N Adams

A reprographics service is available to researchers subject to the access restrictions outlined above. Copying will not be undertaken if there is any risk of damage to the document. Copies are supplied in accordance with the Borthwick Institute for Archives' terms and conditions for the supply of copies, and under provisions of any relevant copyright legislation. Permission to reproduce images of documents in the custody of the Borthwick Institute must be sought.

Further accruals are expected.

For related material concerning the chapelry of St James, Fairburn, see the parish records of Fairburn. These include a register of services, 1948-1967, a register of marriages, 1946-1985, churchwardens' accounts, 1869-1961, and Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, 1937-1959.

Yorkshire Parish Register Society, 'The parish registers of Ledsham in the County of York. 1539-1812.' Transcribed and edited by John William Clay (Leeds, 1906).

Published

GB 193