Parish records of Selby

Includes register of christenings, 1579-1686, 1688-2002 (note this register uses the Dade registration scheme for the years 1777-1812); register of marriages, 1583-1645, 1653-1657, 1662-1716, 1721-1998; register of burials, 1581-1645 1650-1686, 1689-2002 (note this register uses the Dade registration scheme for the years 1777-1812); register of banns, 1895-1935, 1941-2009; register of services, 1891-1998, 2004-2010; register of services for St Richard’s, 1977-2008; register of confirmations, 1891-1909, 1946-1987; register of communicants, 1820-1889, 1891-1975; records concerning benefice income, including return to Revenues and Patronage Enquiry, 1921, curates' fund receipts, 1901-1902, and tenancy agreement, 1903; charity records, including minutes of meetings, 1892-1903, correspondence and papers, 1765, 1781, 1817, 1866-1917, accounts, 1821-1917, and subscriptions, 1828-1854; churchwardens’ records, including accounts, 1721-1735, 1739-1754, 1757-1764, 1778-1784, 1824-1943, accounts of sacrament money, 1767-1889, assessments, 1721-1754, 1757-1764, 1774-1786, 1865-1868, restoration papers, 1852-1891, 1902-1903, 1906-1916, 1928-1929, 1998-2006, fabric papers, 1852-1975, minutes of meetings, 1905-1906, 1945, and choir accounts, 1879-1903; constables’ records, including accounts, 1721-1735, 1739-1754 and 1757-1764, assessments, 1721-1754, 1757-1764, 1774-1776, 1780-1781, papers, 1823-1837, and crown aids assessments, 1721-1754; records of incumbents, including texts of sermons, correspondence and religious and political verse, c.1815, report on household visits with map, 1854, register of pastoral visitation, 1904-1905, parish visiting book, 1907-1908, and statistical returns, 1891-1904, 1965, 1968, 1971; overseers’ records, including accounts, 1721-1735, 1739-1754, 1757-1764, 1778-1786, 1822-1834, assessments, 1721-1858 [with gaps], bastardy orders, 1818-1824, workhouse accounts, 1741-1753, workhouse papers, 1741-1758, poor rate survey, 1823, report on applications for relief, c.1821, and papers, 1823, 1833, 1837; records concerning parish rooms and societies, including Bible class minutes of meetings, accounts, and register, 1903-1951, Diocesan Home and Foreign Mission Association, receipts and correspondence, 1902-1903, British & Foreign Bible Society correspondence, 1947-1954, Young Men's Society minutes of meetings, register and correspondence, 1924-1946, 1962, Women's Association cash book, 1906-1909, St Mary's Guild accounts, 1897-1909, Bazaar Committee minutes of meetings, 1913-1914, Children's Corner cash book, 1946-1953, Boy Scouts correspondence, 1911-1916, Youth Club accounts, 1965-1967, Hawdon Institute builder's account, 1924-1925, Coronation account, 1902, Abbey Book Table bank books, 1947-1951, Society of Friends of Selby Abbey draft prospectus, 1946, weekday guilds register, 1904-1906, Mechanics' Institute subscription list, n.d., Amicable Society orders, 1810, and Selby prison subscription list, 1824; school records, including National Schools managers' minutes of meetings, 1904-1909, accounts 1856-1857, 1883-1953, admission registers, 1827-1851, 1858-1904, attendance registers, 1879-1897, 1903-1910, correspondence and papers, including inspectors' reports, teachers contracts and other documents, 1858-1949, school history, 1884, Grey Coat School managers' minutes of meetings, accounts and papers, 1852-1904, Blue Coat School minutes of meetings, accounts, applicants book, correspondence and papers, 1830-1990, Sunday Schools register, 1903-1905; surveyors’ records, including accounts, 1721-1735, 1739-1754, 1757-1764, 1767-1823, assessments, 1721-1729, 1745-1754, 1757-1764, and by-law, 1734; Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including minutes of meetings, 1886-1966, accounts, 1897-1907, 1920-1972, Selby Abbey deeds, 1315, 1579-1642, enclosure survey (taken from missing map of 1640), 1802, parish magazines 1894-1897, 1902, 1904, 1905-1918, 1946, 1948, 1952-1977, magazine accounts, 1900-1902, 1948-1956, land tax assessments, 1743, 1756, window tax assessments, 1756, 1760, 1773, 1782, 1785, 1788-1789, assessed taxes, 1788-1789, correspondence, 1920-1928, 1948, 1963, 1969-1972, Sanitary Authority register of houses, 1874, flood relief accounts, 1947, Market Weighton Drainage and Navigation Scheme award, 1800, sale catalogues, 1835, 1862, 1893, and merchant's account book, 1827-1845; drawings of Selby Abbey, 19th-20th century; Visitor Books, 1889-1998, Children Visitor Books, 1954-1960; Newspaper cuttings scrapbooks, 1890-1937; Manuscripts concerning history and features of Selby Abbey church.

There was a parish church at Selby from at least the thirteenth century. It was appropriated to the Abbey of Selby, which had been founded in 1069, and remained subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of Selby until the nineteenth century. The living was augmented in 1772, 1787, 1788, 1796, 1812, 1819 and 1820.
The original church stood on Church Hill. In 1618 it was replaced as parish church by Selby Abbey, which had been largely unused since the surrender of its monastic community during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Abbey had been dedicated to St Mary and St German (or Germain) and retained this dedication as parish church.
The Abbey church suffered significant damage during the Commonwealth period of the 1650s and in 1690 the central tower collapsed, destroying the south transept. The tower was subsequently rebuilt, albeit poorly, and the church continued in a poor state of repair until the nineteenth century when it underwent two restorations. The first, by Sir Gilbert Scott c.1872, restored the nave, and the second, by J. Oldrid Scott c.1890, restored the choir and side aisles. The church was restored again in 1907-1909 after it was damaged by fire, and in 1912 the south transept was rebuilt at the expense of William Liversedge.
In 1867 part of the parish separated to form the parish of Selby St James. An addition of parts of Barlby parish occurred in 1929. A new chapel was built in Barwic Parade, Selby, in 1961, dedicated to St Richard. The chapel has since become a community and worship centre.
Today the parish of Selby is part of the Selby Abbey benefice, which also includes St Richard’s Church, Selby.

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 1983. Further additions were made to the archive in 1984, 1985, 1994, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2007, 2015 and 2018.

There was a parish church at Selby from at least the thirteenth century. It was appropriated to the Abbey of Selby, which had been founded in 1069, and remained subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of Selby until the nineteenth century. The living was augmented in 1772, 1787, 1788, 1796, 1812, 1819 and 1820.
The original church stood on Church Hill. In 1618 it was replaced as parish church by Selby Abbey, which had been largely unused since the surrender of its monastic community during the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The Abbey had been dedicated to St Mary and St German (or Germain) and retained this dedication as parish church.
The Abbey church suffered significant damage during the Commonwealth period of the 1650s and in 1690 the central tower collapsed, destroying the south transept. The tower was subsequently rebuilt, albeit poorly, and the church continued in a poor state of repair until the nineteenth century when it underwent two restorations. The first, by Sir Gilbert Scott c.1872, restored the nave, and the second, by J. Oldrid Scott c.1890, restored the choir and side aisles. The church was restored again in 1907-1909 after it was damaged by fire, and in 1912 the south transept was rebuilt at the expense of William Liversedge.
In 1867 part of the parish separated to form the parish of Selby St James. An addition of parts of Barlby parish occurred in 1929. A new chapel was built in Barwic Parade, Selby, in 1961, dedicated to St Richard. The chapel has since become a community and worship centre.
Today the parish of Selby is part of the Selby Abbey benefice, which also includes St Richard’s Church, Selby.

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 2021.

Selected records, including registers of christenings, marriages and burials, 1579-1900, register of banns, 1896-1900, overseers' of the poor records, 1741-1858, school records, 1795-1904, and churchwardens' accounts, 1745-1786, are also available on microfilm at the Borthwick Institute (References: MF 766-771, 1755, 1760, 1768, and MFB 2012-2013, 2015).
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.

Includes slides. Access to audiovisual material may be restricted due to technical requirements, please contact the Borthwick Institute for more information.

Created by S. A. Shearn, 14.03.16.
Revised by S. Kent, September 2016.
Revised (Schema arrangement and retroconversion) 17.04.2023 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.

The parish records of Selby, St James are also deposited at the Borthwick Institute.

Published

GB 193