Place:Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Beverley is a market, minster town and civil parish in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England, of which it is the county town. The centre of the town is located south-east of the centre of York and north-west of the centre of Kingston upon Hull. The town is known for Beverley Minster, Beverley Westwood, North Bar (a 15th-century gate) and Beverley Racecourse. It inspired the naming of the city of Beverly, Massachusetts, which in turn was the impetus for Beverly Hills, California.

The town was originally known as Inderawuda and was founded around 700 AD by Saint John of Beverley during the time of the Anglian kingdom of Northumbria. After a period of Viking control, it passed to the Cerdic dynasty, a period during which it gained prominence in terms of religious importance in Great Britain. It continued to grow especially under the Normans when its trading industry was first established. A place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages due to its founder, it eventually became a significant wool-trading town. Beverley was once the tenth-largest town in England, as well as one of the richest, because of its wool and the pilgrims who came to venerate its founding saint, John of Beverley. After the Reformation, the stature of Beverley was much reduced.

In the 20th century, Beverley was the administrative centre of the local government district of the Borough of Beverley (1974–1996). It is now the county town of the East Riding, located north-west of Hull, east of Market Weighton and west of Hornsea. According to the 2001 United Kingdom census the total population of the urban area of Beverley was 29,110 – of whom 17,549 live within the historic parish boundaries. The population of the parish had risen to 18,624 at the time of the UK's 2011 census.

The town was listed in the 2018 Sunday Times report on Best Places to Live in northern England.

The Wikipedia articles carries on to expand this history.

Governance

the following text is a condensation of a section of an article in Wikipedia. The table listing the present members of the borough council has been omitted. Footnote references are in Wikipedia.

During the Middle Ages, Beverley was governed by aldermen known as the twelve keepers who oversaw the general running of the town and the maintaining of law and order.[12] The borough corporation was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 and formed the local government of the town until 1974.[13] In 1974, following the Local Government Act 1972, the former area of Beverley borough was merged with Beverley Rural District and Haltemprice Urban District to form an enlarged Beverley borough in the county of Humberside which ceased to exist in 1996.[14] Since then it has formed part of the new East Riding of Yorkshire unitary authority, where it is the county town, as it was before 1974.[14]

Beverley was represented in the Houses of Parliament by the Member of Parliament of Yorkshire until Beverley was given parliamentary borough status from 1563.[14] Beverley was able to elect two MPs for its entire time as a parliamentary borough; the right of election was vested not in the population as a whole, but in the freemen. Elections became notorious for their corruption, to the extent that the constituency was abolished in 1870 and incorporated into the East Riding constituency.[14] During the 1950 general election a Beverley county constituency was created, covering half of the East Riding, with Bridlington covering the other half.[14] It became part of the Haltemprice constituency in 1955, until it reverted to the Beverley constituency in 1983.[14] Since 1997 Beverley has been part of the Beverley and Holderness constituency.

Ecclesiastical Parishes

The ecclesiastical parishes of Beverley were originally named Beverley St. John (the minster), Beverley St. Martin, Beverley St. Mary and Beverley St. Nicholas. The parishes of St. John and St. Martin merged in 1546; those of St. Mary and St. Nicholas merged in 1667. (F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 513.). These two parishes were also Registration Districts for Births, Marriages and Deaths following the introduction of civil registration in 1837, and also for the censuses. The parishes ceased to be Registration Districts in 1936 when these powers were taken over by the civil parish of Beverley. The whole of Beverley was in the wapentake of Harthill.

Research Tips

• Original historical documents relating to the East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull are held at the

East Riding of Yorkshire Archives Service collects, preserves and makes available to the public the historic records of the East Riding. The Archives Service holds over 10,000 linear feet of documents dating from the 12th century to the present day. These records contain information about every community in the East Riding and cover a wide range of subjects.

Hull City Archives hold a wealth of information, covering the rich and varied fortunes of the city. The collections include non-conformist churches, local families, municipal cemeteries and records of the courts. In addition they hold unique photographs many of which are now accessible online via their historical photographs database.

The Yorkshire Archaeological Society promotes the study of Yorkshire's historical past - agriculture, archaeology, architecture, history, industry, religion and the people of the historic county. This is a county-wide resource based in the City of York.

Brynmor Jones Library Archives and Manuscripts (Hull University) includes Family and estate papers, and Solicitors' archives. A specific interlink was not found, just the one for the Hull University Library

• A History of the County of Yorkshire from British History Online (Victoria County Histories) does not have complete coverage for the East Riding (the northern part is missing). East Riding volumes in existence are:

• Volume 1, the City of Kingston Upon Hull published 1969
• Volume 3, Ouse and Derwent Wapentake, and Part of Harthill Wapentake published 1976
• Volume 6, the Borough and Liberties of Beverley published 1989
• Volume 7, Holderness Wapentake, Middle and North Divisions published 2002

This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the county to be found online. The chapters are ordered by the divisions of the county called wapentakes, but each chapter is linked to the volume's content page.

• 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. These are 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. However, here is no guarantee that the website has been kept up to date.
• The FamilyTree Wiki has a series of pages similar to those provided by GENUKI which may have been prepared at a later date. 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 East 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.

A Vision of Britain through Time also provides

• Map of the East Riding divisions in 1900 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Map of East Riding divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time also provide two maps indicate the boundaries between parishes, etc.

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 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.

Especially for Beverley

• GENUKI on Beverley. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Beverley.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Beverley provides a list of useful resources for the local area. FamilySearch also has articles on the parish of Beverley St John (the minster) and the smaller parish of Beverley St Nicholas.
• East Riding Archives located at The Treasure House, Champney Road, Beverley.