Parish records of Upper Helmsley

Includes register of christenings, 1642-1993; register of marriages, 1642-1754, 1761-1805, 1813-1834, 1838-1955; register of burials, 1642-1812, 1814-1991; register of services, 1913-1930; records concerning benefice income, including tithe papers, 1872-1887, and correspondence and papers, 1883-1887; churchwardens’ records, including accounts, 1889-1930, and fabric papers, 1884-1950; records of incumbents, including parsonage house papers, 1872-1878; school records, including managers' minutes of meetings, 1903-1948; Vestry/Parochial Church Council records, including correspondence and papers relating to loans for enclosure and drainage, 1869-1894.

There was a church at Upper Helmsley from at least the twelfth century, when it granted to the Hospital of St Leonard in York by either Nigel d’Aubigny or his son Roger de Mowbray. The Hospital held it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the sixteenth century, at which time it passed to the Crown. A dwelling house, possibly the rectory house, belonged to the living in 1535.
The parish church, which is dedicated to St Peter, was completely rebuilt in 1795 at the cost of Mrs Jane Wilmer, and then again in 1888 at the cost of her descendent Mrs Herbert. However the church has retained features from earlier structures, including a seventeenth century Sanctus Bell and an eleventh century font. The living was augmented through Queen Anne’s Bounty in 1778 and in 1807.
In 1899 Upper Helmsley parish was united with that of Gate Helmsley.
Today St Peter’s is one of ten churches within the united Benefice of Harton, together with Bossall, Buttercrambe, Crambe, Flaxton, Foston, Howsham, Sand Hutton, Gate Helmsley and Whitwell on the Hill.

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 1972 by the incumbent. Further additions were made to the archive in 1983 and 1993.

There was a church at Upper Helmsley from at least the twelfth century, when it granted to the Hospital of St Leonard in York by either Nigel d’Aubigny or his son Roger de Mowbray. The Hospital held it until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the sixteenth century, at which time it passed to the Crown. A dwelling house, possibly the rectory house, belonged to the living in 1535.
The parish church, which is dedicated to St Peter, was completely rebuilt in 1795 at the cost of Mrs Jane Wilmer, and then again in 1888 at the cost of her descendent Mrs Herbert. However the church has retained features from earlier structures, including a seventeenth century Sanctus Bell and an eleventh century font. The living was augmented through Queen Anne’s Bounty in 1778 and in 1807.
In 1899 Upper Helmsley parish was united with that of Gate Helmsley.
Today St Peter’s is one of ten churches within the united Benefice of Harton, together with Bossall, Buttercrambe, Crambe, Flaxton, Foston, Howsham, Sand Hutton, Gate Helmsley and Whitwell on the Hill.

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 1993.

Registers of christenings, 1642-1993, marriages, 1642-1885, and burials, 1642-1812, 1814-1991, are also available on microfilm at the Borthwick Institute (References: MF 699, 882).
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, 19.02.16.
Revised (Schema arrangement and retroconversion) 09.02.2021 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.

The parish records of Gate Helmsley are also deposited at the Borthwick Institute

Published

GB 193