Place:Harewood, West 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

Harewood is a now a civil parish and a village in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England. The A61 major road runs through the village, from Leeds city centre in the south to Harrogate in the north. The A659 runs through the village from Collingham in the east, briefly joining the A61 to descend the slopes of the Wharfe valley before continuing towards Pool in Wharfedale in the west.

The village is mainly known for its vicinity to the stately home, Harewood House, the residence of the Lascelles family since 1812. The head of the Lascelles family bears the title Earl of Harewood. Further details of the descent of the Lascelles family can be found in Wikipedia. The owners of the estate prior to 1812 are listed in the Wikipedia article on Harewood, West Yorkshire.

Historically, Harewood was an ancient and ecclesiastical parish in the Upper division of Skyrack Wapentake. It is also claimed to be part of the Claro Wapentake. From 1894 until 1974, Harewood was located in Wetherby Rural District. In 1937 the neighbouring civil parishes of Dunkeswick, Weardley and Wike were abolished and their respecive areas merged into Harewood. In 1974 the area became part of the Leeds Metropolitan Borough in West Yorkshire.

As an ancient parish Harewood was responsible for the townships of Alwoodley, Dunkeswick, East Keswick, Weardley, Weeton (near Harrogate), and Wigton. These townships have, since 1974, been part of Leeds Metropolitan Borough in West Yorkshire. Some of them were first merged with Harewood in 1937.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Harewood. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Harewood provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Harewood.
• A Vision of Britain through Time also provides links to maps of the West Riding, produced by the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey, illustrating the boundaries between the civil parishes and the rural districts at various dates. Those listed here provide data for the part of the West Riding that transferred to North Yorkshire in 1974 plus the northern parts of Leeds and Bradford. These maps all blow up to a scale that will illustrate small villages and large farms or estates.

• Ordnance Survey West Riding 1888. The "Sanitary Districts (which preceded the rural districts) for the whole of the West Riding.
• Ordnance Survey Northern part of the West Riding 1900 The rural and urban districts, not long after their introduction. (rural districts of Sedbergh, Settle, Skipton, Pateley Bridge, Ripon, Knaresborough, Great Ouseburn, Clitheroe, Wharfedale, Wetherby, York, Bishopthorpe, Keighley, the northern part of Bradford, the northern part of Leeds, the northern part of Hunslet Urban District, the northern part of Tadcaster Rural District, the northern part of Selby Rural District). [Note: this map appears to be no longer available on the Vision of Britain website. This is unfortunate because the equivalent map from 1931-44 was redrawn after the 1938 reorganization of the rural districts in the northern part of the West Riding.]
• Ordnance Survey Northern part of the West Riding 1944. The urban and rural districts of the northern part of the West Riding (mostly Settle, Skipton, Ripon and Pateley Bridge, and Nidderdale, with sections of Wharfedale and Wetherby) after the revisions of 1938.
• Ordnance Survey Southern part of the West Riding 1944 shows the southern part of the West Riding (including the southern part of Wetherby Rural District).