Parish records of Bilbrough

Includes register of christenings, 1695-1982 (note this register uses the Dade registration scheme for the years 1777-1812); register of marriages, 1695-1975; register of burials, 1695-1991 (note this register uses the Dade registration scheme for the years 1777-1812); register of banns, 1828-1972; register of services, 1932-72; charity records, including accounts, 1853-1880; churchwardens’ records, including accounts, 1717-1926, fabric receipt, 1788, churchyard papers, 1939-1941, and papers regarding restoration of tomb of Thomas, Lord Fairfax, 1983-1987; constables’ records, including accounts, 1717-1836; records of incumbents, including benefice papers, 1978-1986; overseers’ records, including accounts, 1745-1757, 1760-1841, and settlement certificates, 1715-1754; surveyors’ records, including accounts, 1718, 1727, 1743, 1758-1765; Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including minutes of meetings, 1930-1940, and minute book, 1940-1985.

The church of Bilbrough was first mentioned in 1286 when it was confirmed to Holy Trinity Priory, York, a cell of the abbey of Mormontre in Touraine which had been granted the tithes attached to the living by Ralph de Paganell in the late eleventh century.
At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the tithes were granted to Sir Leonard Beckwith before being purchased in 1556 by the Fairfax family of Steeton who henceforth held the tithes and patronage. In 1671 Lord Thomas Fairfax bequeathed the tithes in trust to the parish to pay a ‘preaching minister’ and in 1867 the present preaching minister was declared to be rector of the parish under the District Church Titles Act.
In 1873 the old church building, believed to be Norman in origin, was largely demolished and replaced with a new larger church in the Norman style, designed by architect George Fowler Jones and paid for by Thomas Fairfax Esq. However it retained its fourteenth century chantry chapel which contains the tomb of Lord Thomas Fairfax, Commander in Chief of the Parliamentary Army during the English Civil War. The church is dedicated to St James. A new vicarage house was built in 1960.
Today Bilbrough is part of the parish of Marston Moor and the united benefice of North Ainsty, both of which also include Askham Richard, Long Marston, Rufforth and Tockwith.

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 1978 by the incumbent. Further additions were made to the archive in 1979, 1984, 1987, 1988 and 1992.

The church of Bilbrough was first mentioned in 1286 when it was confirmed to Holy Trinity Priory, York, a cell of the abbey of Mormontre in Touraine which had been granted the tithes attached to the living by Ralph de Paganell in the late eleventh century.
At the Dissolution of the Monasteries the tithes were granted to Sir Leonard Beckwith before being purchased in 1556 by the Fairfax family of Steeton who henceforth held the tithes and patronage. In 1671 Lord Thomas Fairfax bequeathed the tithes in trust to the parish to pay a ‘preaching minister’ and in 1867 the present preaching minister was declared to be rector of the parish under the District Church Titles Act.
In 1873 the old church building, believed to be Norman in origin, was largely demolished and replaced with a new larger church in the Norman style, designed by architect George Fowler Jones and paid for by Thomas Fairfax Esq. However it retained its fourteenth century chantry chapel which contains the tomb of Lord Thomas Fairfax, Commander in Chief of the Parliamentary Army during the English Civil War. The church is dedicated to St James. A new vicarage house was built in 1960.
Today Bilbrough is part of the parish of Marston Moor and the united benefice of North Ainsty, both of which also include Askham Richard, Long Marston, Rufforth and Tockwith.

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 1992.

Registers of christenings, 1695-1982, marriages, 1695-1975, burials, 1695-1812, and banns, 1828-1900, are also available on microfilm at the Borthwick Institute (References: MF 637, 1592, 1761).
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, 17.12.15
Revised (Schema arrangement and retroconversion) 24.02.2021 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 weekly news sheets about Healaugh, Wighill and Bilbrough, see the parish records of Healaugh.

Published

GB 193