Parish records of Thornton on Spalding Moor

Includes register of christenings, 1615-1996 (note this register uses the Dade registration scheme for the years 1779-1812); register of marriages, 1615-1985; register of burials, 1615-1873 (note this register uses the Dade registration scheme for the years 1779-1812); register of banns, 1861-1941; register of services, 1893-1960; records concerning benefice income, including accounts and correspondence, 1873, 1876, tithe correspondence, 1862-1863, 1876, correspondence and papers, 1865, 1915, glebe correspondence, 1900-1901, and sequestration accounts, 1947-1948; churchwardens’ records, including accounts, 1822-1939, restoration papers, 1886, 1890-1892, fabric papers, 1954-1971, and churchyard papers, 1921; records of incumbents, including parsonage house papers, 1881-1912, 1920, statistical returns, 1956, 1958, 1960, 1962, 1970, and benefice papers, 1976-1981; records concerning parish rooms and societies, including Mothers' Union minutes of meetings, 1961-1964, and programme for parish show, 1930; school papers, 1877, 1903; Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including minutes of meetings, 1948-1962, accounts, 1921-1998, and wayleave agreement and map, 1979.
Records of St Monica’s Chapel, Melbourne, including register of marriage, 1990-1993; register of banns, 1943-1946; register of services, 1889-1996; churchwardens’ fabric papers, 1851, 1949; overseers’ correspondence, 1874; school correspondence, 1871-1874; Melbourne Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including minutes, 1937-1997, account book, 1975-1982, and papers relating to electoral roll, n.d; correspondence concerning the closure of St Monica’s, 1997.

The church of Thornton on Spalding Moor was originally a chapelry of Pocklington. It was given by the King, together with Pocklington and another chapel at Allerthorpe, to the Archbishop of York and York Minster between 1100 and 1108, and confirmed by the King in 1119-1129. The church was subsequently granted to the Dean of York and remained subject to the Dean’s peculiar jurisdiction until 1844 when it returned to the Archbishop of York, who in 1871 gave it to the Crown in exchange for the church of St Mary with St Nicholas, Beverley.
In 1252 a vicarage was ordained jointly at Thornton and Allerthorpe and the two were still a united benefice in 1974. Although Thornton and Allerthorpe had the right to perform baptisms and marriages after 1252, the right of burial was reserved to Pocklington until 1360.
The present parish church of Thornton, which is dedicated to St Michael, dates to the fourteenth century. The church was repaired in the sixteenth century and restored in 1890-1892 by architect Ewan Christian, at which time a new vestry was added and the church’s heavy brick bell turret was replaced. The churchyard was extended in 1926. There was a parsonage house by 1616 but by 1809 the vicar resided in Allerthorpe and the Thornton house was subsequently demolished.
The parish includes the village of Melbourne. An iron mission chapel was built at Melbourne in 1882, dedicated to St Monica. Today the parish of Thornton and Melbourne is part of the Barmby Moor Group benefice, which also includes Barmby Moor, Fangfoss and Yapham cum Meltonby.

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 1971 by the incumbent. Further additions were made to the archive in 1973, 1984, 1985, 1988, 2001 and 2009.

The church of Thornton on Spalding Moor was originally a chapelry of Pocklington. It was given by the King, together with Pocklington and another chapel at Allerthorpe, to the Archbishop of York and York Minster between 1100 and 1108, and confirmed by the King in 1119-1129. The church was subsequently granted to the Dean of York and remained subject to the Dean’s peculiar jurisdiction until 1844 when it returned to the Archbishop of York, who in 1871 gave it to the Crown in exchange for the church of St Mary with St Nicholas, Beverley.
In 1252 a vicarage was ordained jointly at Thornton and Allerthorpe and the two were still a united benefice in 1974. Although Thornton and Allerthorpe had the right to perform baptisms and marriages after 1252, the right of burial was reserved to Pocklington until 1360.
The present parish church of Thornton, which is dedicated to St Michael, dates to the fourteenth century. The church was repaired in the sixteenth century and restored in 1890-1892 by architect Ewan Christian, at which time a new vestry was added and the church’s heavy brick bell turret was replaced. The churchyard was extended in 1926. There was a parsonage house by 1616 but by 1809 the vicar resided in Allerthorpe and the Thornton house was subsequently demolished.
The parish includes the village of Melbourne. An iron mission chapel was built at Melbourne in 1882, dedicated to St Monica. Today the parish of Thornton and Melbourne is part of the Barmby Moor Group benefice, which also includes Barmby Moor, Fangfoss and Yapham cum Meltonby.

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 2009.

Registers of christenings and marriages, 1615-1885, burials, 1615-1873, and banns, 1861-1873, are also available on microfilm at the Borthwick Institute (References: MF 800, 1763).
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, 15.03.16.

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