Place:Skirlaugh, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

Name of parish	Skirlaugh
Type of place	Township, Civil parish
Ancient parish	Swine
Wapentake	Holderness
First Rural District	Skirlaugh Rural District (1894-1935)
Parish to which it transferred	did not transfer
Second Rural District	Holderness Rural District (1935-1974)
County 1974-1996	Humberside, England
Administration since 1996	East Riding of Yorkshire
:the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia which describes Skirlaugh since the changes of 1974 and 1996 Skirlaugh is a village and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, in an area known as Holderness. It is situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) northeast of Hull city centre on the A165 road. Originally a farming community, it is now primarily a commuter village for Hull. According to the 2011 UK census, Skirlaugh parish had a population of 1,473, a decrease on the 2001 UK census figure of 1,543. The parish church, St. Augustine's Church, was built by Walter de Skirlaw who later became the Bishop of Durham in the late 14th century. It is, according to Pevsner, a "gem of the early-perpendicular" style. This is because subsequent generations left the original structure largely intact. It is now designated a Grade I listed building.

A nineteenth century description

The following description from the early 1870s refers to the two parishes then known as North Skirlaugh and South Skirlaugh. North Skirlaugh was also known as North Skirlaugh Rowton and Arnold and was located to the northwest of South Skirlaugh parish (which included the village of Skirlaugh). North Skirlaugh became a separate civil parish in 1866, but in 1935 was merged with the parish of Long Riston to become the parish of Riston.

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

"SKIRLAUGH, a village, two townships, a chapelry, a [registration] sub-district, and a [registration] district, in [East Riding of] Yorkshire. The village stands adjacent to the Hull and Hornsea railway, 8½ miles NE by N of Hull; and has a station on the railway, and a post-office under Hull. The townships are North Skirlaugh and South Skirlaugh; and are separated from each other by Lambwith drain. Acres: 510 and 1,190. Real property: £3,068 and £2,319, (the former inclusive of Arnold). Population: 323 and 364, (the former inclusive of 64 in the workhouse). Houses: 59 and 77. The manor of North [Skirlaugh] belongs to R. Bethell, Esq.; and that of South [Skirlaugh], to Sir T. A. Constable.

"The chapelry includes the two townships, and extends beyond them; and is in Swine parish. Population: 910. The living is a [perpetual] curacy in the diocese of York. Value: £92. Patron: the Archbishop of York. The church was restored in 1819. There are two Methodist chapels, an endowed school with £11 a year, and charities £51. Bishop Walter Skirlaw and the historian Bigland were natives of South [Skirlaugh]."

Skirlaugh was originally a township in the ecclesiastical parish of Swine in the Holderness Wapentake. Skirlaugh was made a civil parish in 1866 and in 1894 it joined the Skirlaugh Rural District. In 1935 Skirlaugh Rural District was abolished and the parish was transferred to Holderness Rural District. The parish remained in Holderness Rural District until 1974. In that year all rural districts were abolished along with the administrative county of the East Riding of Yorkshire.

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").

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Holderness

This is an area of the East Riding of Yorkshire, on the east coast of England. An area of rich agricultural land, Holderness was marshland until it was drained in the Middle Ages. Topographically, Holderness has more in common with the Netherlands than other parts of Yorkshire. To the north and west are the Yorkshire Wolds. The Prime Meridian passes through Holderness just to the east of Patrington.

From 1974 to 1996 Holderness lay within the Borough of Holderness in the short-lived county of Humberside. Holderness was the name of an ancient administrative area called a wapentake until the 19th century, when its functions were replaced by other local government bodies, particularly after the 1888 Local Government Act and the 1894 Local Government Act. The city of Kingston upon Hull lies in the southwest corner of Holderness and the town of Bridlington borders the northeast, but both are usually considered to be outside Holderness. The main towns include Beverley, Withernsea, Hornsea and Hedon. The Holderness Coast stretches from Flamborough Head to Spurn Head.
(Source: Wikipedia)