Place:Firby (Westow), East Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"FIRBY, a township in Westow parish, [East Riding of] Yorkshire; on the river Derwent and the Scarborough railway, 4¼ miles SW of Malton. Population: 51. Houses: 7. Firby Hall is the seat of the Harrisons."

Firby (Westow) was originally a township in the ancient parish of Westow in the Buckrose Wapentake of the East Riding of Yorkshire. Firby was made a civil parish in 1866 and in 1894 it became part of the Norton Rural District. In 1935 it absorbed part of the parish of Kirkham.

In 1974 rural districts were abolished and the border between the East Riding of Yorkshire and the North Riding of Yorkshire was realigned. The North Riding changed its name to North Yorkshire. Since 1974 Firby has been in North Yorkshire, specifically within the Ryedale District.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Firby.
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Firby.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Westow provides a list of useful resources.
• 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.

• For a discussion of where to find Archive Offices in Yorkshire, see GENUKI.
• Yorkshire has a large number of family history and genealogical societies. A list of the societies will be found on the Yorkshire, England page.