Parish records of Boston Spa

Includes register of christenings, 1815-1980; register of marriages, 1852-1997; register of burials, 1815-1993; register of banns, 1852-1985; register of services, 1866-1990; register of interment of ashes, 1984-1993; records concerning benefice income, including correspondence and papers, 1852, 1922, 1950-1956; churchwardens’ records, including accounts, 1851-1947, fabric papers, 1872-1981, and churchyard papers, 1871, 1954-1981; records of incumbents, including dilapidations, 1952, 1957, 1962, 1967, 1972, 1977, and parsonage house deed and papers, 1852, 1900, 1926, 1955, 1960, 1972, 1977; school records, including managers' minutes of meetings, 1904-1971, and correspondence, papers and plans, 1902-1979; Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including minutes of meetings, 1853-1966, minutes of meetings of Curates' Fund/Church Officials Committee, 1905-1949, accounts, 1954-1979, electoral rolls, 1920-1970, and correspondence, 1977-1979; minutes of the Boston Spa branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society, 1901-1916, 1933-1953.

The village of Boston Spa was founded in the mid eighteenth century following the discovery of a mineral spring in the township of Clifford in the parish of Bramham in 1744. A chapel of ease, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, was consecrated there in 1814 and was a perpetual curacy subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of York.
The growth of the village necessitated the expansion of the chapel in 1851. In 1853 the chapelry separated from Bramham to form its own parish; its patronage, like that of Bramham, was vested in the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford. The chapel, now the parish church of St Mary, underwent further expansion between 1871 and 1884 by W. H. Parkinson, and again in 1957. A Church Room was built in 1967.
A Boston Spa branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society was active in the parish in the first half of the twentieth century.
Today Boston Spa forms part of the parish of Lower Wharfe, which also includes All Saints Church in Bramham, and St Peter’s Church in Walton.

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 1963 by the incumbent. Further additions were made to the archive in 1978, 1983, 1987, 1997 and 2008.

The village of Boston Spa was founded in the mid eighteenth century following the discovery of a mineral spring in the township of Clifford in the parish of Bramham in 1744. A chapel of ease, dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, was consecrated there in 1814 and was a perpetual curacy subject to the peculiar jurisdiction of the Dean and Chapter of York.
The growth of the village necessitated the expansion of the chapel in 1851. In 1853 the chapelry separated from Bramham to form its own parish; its patronage, like that of Bramham, was vested in the Dean and Chapter of Christ Church, Oxford. The chapel, now the parish church of St Mary, underwent further expansion between 1871 and 1884 by W. H. Parkinson, and again in 1957. A Church Room was built in 1967.
A Boston Spa branch of the British and Foreign Bible Society was active in the parish in the first half of the twentieth century.
Today Boston Spa forms part of the parish of Lower Wharfe, which also includes All Saints Church in Bramham, and St Peter’s Church in Walton.

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 2008.

Registers of christenings, 1815-1980, marriages, 1852-1986, and burials, 1815-1981, are also available on microfilm at the Borthwick Institute (References: MF 1579, 1595).
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, 22.12.15

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.

Published

GB 193