Name | West Yorkshire |
Alt names | W York | source: BIAB Online (1999-2000) accessed 16 Dec 2002; UK Counties and Regions Abbreviations [web site] (1997-98) accessed 16 Dec 2002 | | W Yorkshire | source: Royal Mail: PAF Digest [online] (2002) accessed 16 Dec 2002 |
Type | Metropolitan county |
Coordinates | 53.7°N 1.583°W |
Located in | England (1974 - 1986) |
Also located in | Yorkshire, England |
See also | West Riding of Yorkshire, England | administrative county which preceded West Yorkshire (1889-1974) |
- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in England. It is an inland and, in relative terms, upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into existence as a metropolitan county in 1974 after the passage of the Local Government Act 1972 and has a population of 2.3 million. Its largest settlements are Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield, Halifax, Keighley and Dewsbury.
West Yorkshire consists of five metropolitan boroughs (City of Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, City of Leeds and City of Wakefield) and is bordered by the counties of Derbyshire to the south, Greater Manchester to the south-west, Lancashire to the west and north-west, North Yorkshire to the north and east, and South Yorkshire to the south and south-east.
Remnants of strong coal, wool and iron ore industries remain in the county, having attracted people over the centuries, and this can be seen in the buildings and architecture. Major railways and two major motorways traverse the county, which also contains Leeds Bradford International Airport.
West Yorkshire includes the West Yorkshire Built-up Area, which is the biggest and most built-up urban area within the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire.
Research Tips
- Original historical documents relating to the West Yorkshire area are held at the West Yorkshire Archives Service which has an online catalogue of over 680,000 entries with new material added regularly. There is a district office in each of the councils in West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Kirklees, Leeds and Wakefield. Addresses and contact details wil be found on each District's main page.
- 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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