- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Keighley is a town and civil parish within the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. Until 1974 it was in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It is situated 11 miles (18 km) northwest of Bradford city centre and is at the confluence of the rivers Aire and Worth. The town is the third largest civil parish in England.
History
- the text in this section is a condensation of the article in Wikipedia
The town's industries have typically been in textiles, particularly wool and cotton processing. In addition to the manufacture of textiles there were several large factories making textile machinery. These included Dean, Smith & Grace, George Hattersley & Son and Prince, Smith & Stell. The first of these operated as a manufacturer of CNC machine tools, particularly precision lathes, until 2008.
The 1842 Leeds Directory description of Keighley reads "Its parish had no dependent townships though it is about six miles (9.7 km) long and four miles (6.4 km) broad, and comprises 10,160 acres (4,112 ha) of land (including a peaty moor of about 2,000 acres or 800 ha) and a population which amounted, in the year 1801, to 5,745."
The town was incorporated as a municipal borough on 28 July 1882 under the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act 1882. On 1 April 1974 it became part of the City of Bradford Metropolitan District in accordance with the 1972 Local Government Act in the newly formed county of West Yorkshire. The merger caused a lot of bitterness among Keighley people who resented being 'taken over' by Bradford and accused the city's council of neglecting the town. Civil parish status was restored to Keighley in 2002, providing it with its own town council.
The town has a local history society, Keighley and District Local History Society, and a family history society, Keighley and District Family History Society.
Research Tips
- British History Online (Victoria County Histories) do not cover the West Riding of Yorkshire
- GENUKI has a page on all three ridings of Yorkshire and pages for each of the ecclesiastical parishes in the county. Under each parish there is a list of the settlements within it and brief description of each. The list is 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. 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 from more recent data. 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 West 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. Descriptions provided are usually based on a gazetteer of 1870-72.
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- The above three maps indicate the boundaries between parishes, etc., but for a more detailed view of a specific area try a map from this selection. The oldest series are very clear at the third magnification offered. Comparing the map details with the GENUKI details for the same area is well worthwhile.
- 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.
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