Parish records of Birdsall

Includes register of christenings, 1568-1590, 1597-1610, 1617-1642, 1652-1682, 1687-1981; register of marriages, 1568-1590, 1604-1610, 1620-1621, 1627-1642, 1652-1684, 1687-1753, 1756-1978; register of burials, 1558-1576, 1619-1622, 1627-1642, 1652-1684, 1687-1980; register of banns, 1825-1936; confirmation register, 1963-1998; register of services, 1936-1977; churchwardens’ records, including accounts, 1759-1868, 1909-1923, and fabric papers, 1950-1954; records of incumbents, including statistical returns, 1951, photographs of G. F. Apthorpe, curate (1867-1871), L B Morris, vicar (1873-1885), L Stafford Gresley, curate then vicar (1885-1918), group photograph, [20th century], and photograph of party, [c.1950s], and service papers, 1970, 1975; overseers’ records, including accounts, 1833-1856; records concerning parish rooms and societies, including parish fete accounts and papers, 1931; Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including minutes of meetings, 1868-1917, 1920-1963, 1976-1998, and accounts, 1950.

The earliest reference to St Mary’s Church, Birdsall, was between 1130 and 1153 when it was appropriated to Kirkham Priory by the priory’s founder, Walter Espec. The benefice was augmented in 1771, 1786, 1827, 1832 and 1834 through Queen Anne’s Bounty.
From the early eighteenth century Birdsall House and estate were owned by the Willoughby family, the Lords Middleton, who replaced the church in 1824 after it fell into disrepair, and purchased the living from its previous patron, the Marquis of Hertford. A new chancel was later added to the church by architect Charles Hodgson Fowler. The ruins of the original St Mary’s still stand in the grounds of Birdsall House.
Today Birdsall is part of the parish of West Buckrose, a united parish comprising eight village churches.

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 1967 by the incumbent. Further additions were made to the archive in 1972, 1981, 1996, 1999, and 2007.

The earliest reference to St Mary’s Church, Birdsall, was between 1130 and 1153 when it was appropriated to Kirkham Priory by the priory’s founder, Walter Espec. The benefice was augmented in 1771, 1786, 1827, 1832 and 1834 through Queen Anne’s Bounty.
From the early eighteenth century Birdsall House and estate were owned by the Willoughby family, the Lords Middleton, who replaced the church in 1824 after it fell into disrepair, and purchased the living from its previous patron, the Marquis of Hertford. A new chancel was later added to the church by architect Charles Hodgson Fowler. The ruins of the original St Mary’s still stand in the grounds of Birdsall House.
Today Birdsall is part of the parish of West Buckrose, a united parish comprising eight village churches.

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 2007.

Registers of christenings, 1568-1981, marriages, 1568-1978, burials, 1568-1980, and banns, 1823-1900, are also available on microfilm at the Borthwick Institute (References: MF 640, 1593).
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) 05.11.2021 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.

Published

GB 193