Place:Bielby, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Bielby is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The village is situated about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of Pocklington.

According to the 2011 UK census, Bielby parish had a population of 258, a decrease on the 2001 UK census figure of 281.

The village of Bielby was a duck and goose farm for the Pocklington Estate. The nearby hay farm grew into Hayton. The nearby grist mill grew into Millington. The village has been called Bieli's Farm (with a strong ee sound), Bielby, Beilby and a variety of other names; then finally Bielby. (Source for these names found inside St. Giles Church in two different booklets written years ago by priests who are regional historical writers).

Historically, Bielby was in the ecclesiastical parish of Hayton in the wapentake of Harthill . From 1894 until 1974, Bielby was located in Pocklington Rural District.

Humberside 1974-1996

In 1974 most of what had been the East Riding of Yorkshire was joined with the northern part of Lincolnshire to became a new English county named Humberside. The urban and rural districts of the former counties were abolished and Humberside was divided into non-metropolitan districts. The new organization did not meet with the pleasure of the local citizenry and Humberside was wound up in 1996. The area north of the River Humber was separated into two "unitary authorities"—Kingston upon Hull covering the former City of Hull and its closest environs, and the less urban section to the west and to the north which, once again, named itself the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The phrase "Yorkshire and the Humber" serves no purpose in WeRelate. It refers to one of a series of basically economic regions established in 1994 and abolished for most purposes in 2011. See the Wikipedia article entited "Regions of England").

People named Bielby

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Until recently, residents named Bielby lived in the village. The last Bielby was an Alice Bielby who formerly taught in the village school during the middle 20th century. (source: A Bielby village bearer of the key for St. Giles Church in 2001) There are no known Bielbys left in the village.

Some Bielby's have their names spelled Beilby or Beelby on different documents. There are people bearing the name Bielby or Beilby living across England, Canada, the US, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and elsewhere. Some Bielbys who spread throughout England became famous for their glass-blowing skill. The Beilby goblets boast the highest auction prices of any King's goblets sold in markets in recent history. Rev. Beilby Porteus was a well-known preacher and author who was Bishop of London from 1787 until his death in 1809.

Some of the Bielbys in Canada and America have known forefathers who were Methodist (see the John Bielby family and descendants from Lake City, Michigan, immigrating from Ontario to Michigan in about 1900. Also his grandfather, Richard Milson Bielby, was a noted Holiness Church member in Huntsville, Ontario during the last half of the 19th century) He is mentioned in Methodist articles from that time period as a significant lay member of their movement. Traces of Methodist influence from England into America via the Bielbys exist primarily in Canada. Other than St. Giles Church, the old Methodist Church-which is now a home, no other religious organizations were represented in Bielby.

Bielbys who were multi-generational pioneers of Ontario, Canada: Richard Bielby (1774 to 1835) migrated with some of his family from Weaverthorpe, Yorkshire, England to York, Ontario, Canada. His son, Richard Milson Bielby (1809 to 1882) was also born in Weaverthorpe, Yorkshire, England and died in Ontario Canada. He was a noted Wesleyan lay leader in Ontario. His son Richard O. Bielby (1834 to 1899) was born and died in Ontario. Then Richard Matthew Bielby (1860 to 1943) was a pioneer of Missaukee County, Michigan, United States. This Richard Bielby was the first railroad engineer in the county, hauling freshly cut timber from the developing county to nearby Traverse City, Michigan in an early model steam engine (1890s). This same Richard Matthew Bielby was the local bank President, Sheriff and owned and operated a local Hardware Store in Lake City, Michigan. His family also helped found the first Presbyterian Church in Lake City, Michigan. Richard Matthew Bielbys brother, John H Bielby followed him down to Lake City, Michigan, United States from Ontario, Canada years later. Married Richard Matthew Bielby's wife (Jennie White) sister, Alice White. The White sisters were some of the very first pioneers in Missaukee County. Jennie was "the first white baby" to arrive in the county. So all of the descendants of these two Bielbys are double cousins. The descendants of these four Richard Bielbys (and their siblings) represent most of the Bielbys living in North America today. Another interesting wrinkle in this history, is that the White sisters were the daughters of a direct descendant of a passenger on the Mayflower's very first voyage to America. Thus making all of the Bielbys who descend from the double cousin Bielbys of Lake City direct descendants of 1620 Mayflower passengers who settled in Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts Bay Colony!

These multi-generation Bielby pioneers represent most of the Bielbys living in North America (Many provinces of Canada & and many states in the United States) alive in the early 21st Century.

In addition to St. Giles, The College Arms (a small pub serving lunch and dinner), Bielby is mostly residential, with a few newer homes. Geese are still raised on the edge of the village. The Pocklington Canal still provides a splendid water supply for such purposes. A Beck also runs close to Bielby and used to drive an old flour Mill, but from time to time it can flood, as it did in June 2007, overflowing the streets of Bielby up to the doorsteps of some homes.

Karl Pearson's grandmother was named Bielby. She lived in Crambe and other places near Bielby.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Bielby. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Hayton provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Bielby.
• A Vision of Britain through Time provides links to three maps of the East Riding, produced by the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey, illustrating the boundaries between the civil parishes and the rural districts at various dates. These maps all expand to a scale that will illustrate small villages and large farms or estates.

• Ordnance Survey 1888. The "Sanitary Districts (which preceded the rural districts).
• Ordnance Survey 1900 The rural districts, not long after their introduction.
• Ordnance Survey 1944. The rural districts after the revisions of 1935.