Yorkshire Family History

Find your Yorkshire ancestors, local history and details of their lives with these links to online family history and genealogy resources.

Archives

  • Barnsley Archives
  • Leeds Diocesan Archives
    As well as assisting in the present-day administration of the Diocese, the archives have long been a rich source of material for historians. A significant part of the collection pre-dates the creation of the Diocese of Leeds in 1878 and derives from the Diocese of Beverley (1850-78) and the earlier Northern and Yorkshire Districts (1688-1850). Anyone with an interest in the history of the Diocese or the development of the Catholic Church in the north of England over the past two hundred years will find much to interest them in the records held by the Leeds Diocesan Archives.
  • West Yorkshire Archives
    The West Yorkshire Archive Service exists to preserve the local heritage of historical documents and to help members of the public make use of them. The Service has offices in Wakefield, Bradford, Calderdale (Halifax), Kirklees (Huddersfield), and Leeds. Anyone interested in the history of West Yorkshire, who would like to discover what records have survived, is welcome to visit or contact any of their offices.

Births, Marriages, Deaths and Parish Records

  • Halifax BMD 1832-1921
    You can view Halifax birth, marriage and death records 1832-1921 for free. The records are taken from the Halifax Guardian newspaper and are available in PDF files.
  • Yorkshire BMD
    Yorkshire Births, Marriages & Deaths aims to give free access to all the BMDs registered in Yorkshire’s registration offices since records began in 1837. The site is updated with new records very often.
  • Yorkshire Parish Records

Burials & Cemeteries

Wakefield cemeteries included:
  • Altofts 2000-present
  • Alverthorpe 1955-present
  • Castleford (All Cemeteries) 1979-present
  • Castleford (New Extension) 1929-present
  • Castleford (New) 1884-present
  • Castleford (Old) 1857-present
  • Crigglestone 1882-present
  • Featherstone 1905-present
  • Ferrybridge 1924-present
  • Hemsworth 1896-present
  • Horbury 1897-present
  • Knottingley 1883-present
  • Normanton 1876-present
  • Outwood 1873-present
  • Pontefract 1859-present
  • Stanley 1886-present
  • Wakefield 1859-present

Census Records

  • Census 1841-1921
    Search the census records from 1841-1921, plus the 1939 Register all at once.
  • FreeCen
    Has a good, but not complete, selection of free records to search and view.

Criminals and Convicts

Electoral Registers

Forums

Historical Directories

Local History

Maps

Military Records

Occupations

  • Hull Lost Trawlermen
    This list (in PDF format) lists Hull-born fishermen and those serving on Hull-registered vessels who were lost at sea from the 1860s up to 2000.
  • Lost Pubs of Yorkshire
  • Miners of Silverwood
    Dedicated to the miners of Silverwood in South Yorkshire, the site contains an A-Z list of miners who worked at the mine between 1900-1994.
    You’ll also find a lot of extra information related to the history of the mine and the people who worked there.
  • York Apprentices
    See if your ancestor was an apprentice or freeman in the city of York.

Photos and Postcards

  • Leeds and Bradford Photographic Studios
    The history of the studios and the photographers with some examples of their work.
  • LEODIS
    A photographic archive of Leeds and the  surrounding area with almost 60,000 old and new images.
  • Kirklees Image Archive
    The Kirklees Image Archive comprses of old and historical photographs and images of the three large towns of Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Batley, as well as several smaller towns such as Cleckheaton, Heckmondwike, Mirfield, Meltham and Holmfirth.
  • Picture Sheffield

School Records

Societies and Groups

Surnames

War Memorials

Wills and Probate

Inquisitions Post Mortem

An Inquisition post mortem is an English medieval record of the death, estate and heir of one of the king’s tenants-in-chief, made for royal fiscal purposes. The process of making such inquisition was effected by the royal escheators in each county where the deceased held land.

About Yorkshire

Until 1974, Yorkshire was separated into three “Ridings”. The East Riding, the West Riding and the North Riding. Today, Yorkshire is divided into four regions: East Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and North Yorkshire.
This page includes resources and information for Yorkshire as a whole.

Population

  • 1831 – 1,371,359
  • 1841 – 1,725,132
  • 1861 – 1,993,177
  • 1871 – 2,456,705
  • 1881 – 2,837,034
  • 1901 – 3,512,838
  • 2011 – 5,288,200

Largest Towns & Cities

  1. Leeds
  2. Sheffield
  3. Bradford
  4. Hull
  5. York

Yearly Events

  • Yorkshire Family History Fair
  • Great Yorkshire Show

Most Common Surnames 1881

  1. Smith
  2. Taylor
  3. Wilson
  4. Robinson
  5. Walker

Places of Interest

  • York
  • Royal Armouries
  • National Coal Mining Museum
  • West Yorkshire History Centre
  • Ripon Workhouse Museum
  • National Railway Museum