MEXBOROUGH, ST JOHN THE BAPTIST PARISH RECORDS

Comprising: Registration: Registers of Baptisms 1562-1951, Registers of Marriages 1592-1951, Registers of Burials 1559-1980, Registers of Banns 1924-1978, Registers of Confirmation 1915-1946, Registers of Services 1863-1972; Incumbent licence of parish clerk 1742, travel diary, Switzerland and Italy, 1883, vicars' historical notebook with photographs 1896-1932 and other records 1833-1930; churchwardens: accounts 1818-1889, terriers (6) 1777-1954, other records 1873-1944; vestry minutes 1823-1913; PCC minutes 1915-1973, accounts 1915-1975 and other records 1876-1970; charities 1877-1918; Mexborough National School: managers' minutes 1931-1948 and other records 1841-1898; Tithe apportionments and maps for Mexborough 1839 and Denaby 1840 and altered apportionment for Denaby 1906; Other records 1854-1978, including statement of accounts and statistics by Doncaster poor law union 1838-1854 and newspaper cuttings book 1930-1978;

The parish of Mexborough comprised the two townships of Mexborough on the north bank of the River Don, and Denaby (now known as Old Denaby to distinguish it from the colliery village of Denaby Main) on the south bank of the Don. Mexborough contains the site of Strafforth Sands, a ford on the north side of the Don, where the meetings of the wapentake, the ancient local assembly met. After the Norman Conquest, the wapentake was known as Strafforth and Tickhill, as meetings were then probably held at both places. The township also includes the site of a castle, probably a motte and bailey, guarding the river crossing.

Mexborough grew to be one of the most populous places in the Doncaster area in the course of the nineteenth century. However, at the time of the first census of population in 1801, it has fewer inhabitants (417) than many other villages (for example Barnburgh with 446, Cantley with 500, Fishlake with 691, Norton with 479, or Stainforth with 472). However, by the 1840s it has started to grow relatively quickly, at a time when purely agricultural communities in the area were starting to decline in population. Initially, population growth was stimulated by pottery and glass manufacture.

By 1861, the population of Mexborough stood at 2462 or almost twice the number recorded in 1841. The population of the town continued to increase until by 1921 it totalled 15,405 residents. By that time, Mexborough was second only to nearby Conisbrough, which was (and only by a few hundred) the largest town apart from Doncaster itself in the area. By that date, the population of Mexborough was employed in collieries, glass making, and railway plant works.

The church, according to Joseph Hunter (South Yorkshire, Volume 1, Page 391) is probably eleventh century and originally served Mexborough, Denaby, Swinton, and Ravenfield. The registers survive from the mid-sixteenth century, but have several serious gaps in registration up to the beginning of the seventeenth century. The fabric of the church was radically altered between 1890 and 1891. A north aisle was built (replacing one which had formerly existed), the south aisle was rebuilt at twice the former width and an apse was added to the chancel. A new font was installed and the old one buried under.

There are a number of photographs, taken in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, of the church (interior and exterior) and other prominent local buildings: the Old Hall, cottages near the church, and the old and new almshouses. These are to be found in the Memorandum Book compiled by Reverend W H F Bateman, to be found at P43/2/D/1 and amongst the loose photographs at P43/2/10/8 and 17.

The collection is divided into eight series as follows:

P43/1: Registration, Church Services, and Worship

P43/2: Incumbent

P43/3: Churchwardens

P43/4: Vestry and Parochial Church Council

P43/7: Charities

P43/8: Mexborough National School

P43/9: Statutory Deposits (Tithe Awards)

P43/10: Miscellaneous

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Also available: Index: Bapt 1562-1873 Marr 1592-1837 Bur 1559-1870; Bishop's transcripts 1600-1877 (on microfilm)