Place:Bransdale, North Riding of Yorkshire, England

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia Bransdale is a valley running south through North Yorkshire, England, and part of the North York Moors National Park. Sandwiched between Bilsdale to the west and Farndale to the east, it is formed from the dales of Bransdale itself, at the top of the valley, as well as Sleightholmedale and Kirkdale. It carries a river called Hodge Beck en route from Cockayne to the River Dove at Farndale three miles (4.8 km) north of Kirkbymoorside. The River Dove runs on into the Vale of Pickering and the River Rye. Bransdale (#2 on map) is also a civil parish in the Ryedale District of North Yorkshire, England. It was created in 1934 from the three earlier parishes of Bransdale West Side (#3) (see below), Farndale Low Quarter (#6) and Farndale West Side (#7). Another description is provided by A Vision of Britain through Time (from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-1872)) "BRANSDALE, a mountain vale in [the North Riding of] Yorkshire. It commences at the S side of Bottom-Head mountain 7 miles SE by S of Stokesley; and extends 12 miles south-south-eastward to the southern vicinity of Kirkby Moorside." [edit] Bransdale West Side Prior to the nationwide municipal reorganization of 1974, Bransdale West Side (#3) was considered to be a civil parish in Kirkbymoorside Rural District. Historically, it was located in the ancient and ecclesiastical parish of Kirkdale (see below) in the Rydale Wapentake. Bransdale West Side was abolished in 1934 and combined with the Farndale civil parishes in the locality to become a large civil parish of Bransdale. [edit] Kirkdale Kirkdale was one of the valleys at the top of Bransdale and also the ancient parish covering the whole area. The parish was composed of the townships of Beadlam (in Helmsley Rural District), Bransdale West Side (#3), Muscoates (#14), Nawton (#15), North Holme (#18), Skiplam (#21), Welburn (near Helmsley) (#24) (which included the site of the parish church) and Wombleton (#25). North Holme was transferred to the parish of Great Edstone (#9) in the 19th century. All these townships became separate civil parishes in 1866.

Research Tips

• Original historical documents relating to the North Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire are held at the North Yorkshire County Record Office, Malpas Road, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL7 8TB
• Family history societies covering the area include the Ryedale Family History Group, the Family History Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society (based in the City of York), and the Cleveland, North Yorkshire & South Durham Family History Society (for the Cleveland and Teesside area and the western part of North Yorkshire, commonly known as the "Yorkshire Downs"). A more complete list may be found under the Federation of Family History Societies.
• A History of the County of Yorkshire from British History Online (Victoria County Histories), published 1914 and 1923 (Volume 1: the western part of the North Riding including Richmond and Volume 2: the eastern part of the North Riding including Scarborough and Whitby). A History of the County of York: the City of York is also helpful for the many North Riding parishes that were absorbed into the city during the 19th and 20th centuries.

This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the North Riding to be found online. The volumes are divided into sections by wapentake (early divisions of the county) and the parishes within each wapentake follow in alphabetical order. The links above open to the indexes covering all the wapentakes in the volume.

• GENUKI has a page on all three ridings of Yorkshire and pages for each of the ancient or ecclesiastical parishes in the county. Under each ancient parish there is a list of the settlements (townships and chapelries) within it and brief description of each. Many of these secondary settlements became civil parishes during the latter half of the 19th century.

These notes are based on a gazetteer dated 1835 and there may have been a number of alterations to the parish setup since then. However, it is worthwhile information for the pre civil registration era. GENUKI provides references to other organizations who hold genealogical information for the local area. There is no guarantee that the website has been kept up to date and the submitter is very firm about his copyright, but this should not stop anyone from reading the material.

• The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date. The wiki has a link to English Jurisdictions 1851 which gives the registration district and wapentake for each parish, together with statistics from the 1851 census for the area.
• A Vision of Britain through Time, Yorkshire North Riding, section "Units and Statistics" leads to analyses of population and organization of the county from about 1800 through 1974. There are pages available for all civil parishes, municipal boroughs and other administrative divisions which also include historical population and area statistics. Descriptions provided are usually based on a gazetteer of 1870-72.
• Map of the North Riding divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Map of North Riding divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Another provider of maps is the National Library of Scotland. In this index the Scottish provision precedes the English one, but the choice of maps for England is still quite vast.
• Yorkshire has a large number of family history and genealogical societies. A list of the societies will be found on the Yorkshire, England page.
• In March 2018 Ancestry announced that its file entitled "Yorkshire, England: Church of England Parish Records, 1538-1873" has been expanded to include another 94 parishes (across the three ridings) and expected it to be expanded further during the year. The entries are taken from previously printed parish registers.