Records of Northallerton Preparative Meeting of the Society of Friends

Minutes of Preparative Meeting, 1733-1785, 1922-1949 (2 vols.) [A 19.1-19.2]; Minutes of Women's Preparative Meeting, 1712-1778 (1 vol.) [A 20]

There were Friends in Northallerton from as early as 1669, forming part of Borrowby Meeting within Thirsk Monthly Meeting. One of the First Publishers of Truth to preach in the town was Richard Robinson of Countersett. John Drake and his son John from Northallerton are recorded by Besse as being imprisoned in 1682 for refusal to swear the oath of allegiance. A meeting place was registered for worship in 1689, followed by the erection of a Meeting House behind 37/38 Church Street two years later. It is possible that the town acquired its own Preparative Meeting around this time; it was certainly in existence by 1712. By the later 18th century the Meeting was in decline; the Preparative Meeting ceased to meet in 1785 and in 1793, the Meeting was closed completely, against the wishes of local Friends. The Meeting House and burial ground were sold in 1811. An Allowed Meeting was briefly held between 1845 and 1847, as part of Darlington Monthly Meeting. It re-opened in 1910 and was transferred to York Monthly Meeting in 1913. In 1949 the Meeting returned to Darlington Monthly Meeting, and was finally closed in 1962.

The records are numbered and arranged according to the system used when they were in Clifford Street Meeting House

The conditions of deposit include a clause requiring written prior permission from a Friend Custodian for access to consult current legal documents and any material less than fifty years old

The collection of archives of the Society of Friends formerly held at the Friends Meeting House in Clifford Street, York

In English

Contents listed in Handlist 75, Inventory of the records of Yorkshire General Meeting and York and Thirsk Monthly Meetings of the Society of Friends formerly preserved at the Friends' Meeting House, Clifford Street, York (1986)

As with access, the photocopying of current legal documents and any material less than fifty years old requires the permission of a Friend Custodian

Related material in Leeds University Library: Records of Thirsk and York Monthly Meetings. Related material in other repositories: Records of Darlington Monthly Meeting, Durham Record Office

The records are deposited and remain the property of the Society of Friends