Place:Bolton upon Swale, North Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Bolton upon Swale is a village and civil parish in the Richmondshire District of North Yorkshire, England. Since 2001 the UK census has numbered the population at less than 100 and thus census statistics are incorporated with the parish of Ellerton on Swale.

"This parish in 1831 contained only the township of Bolton-upon-Swale, but the townships of Scorton, Ellerton, Uckerby and Whitwell, formerly in the parish of Catterick, were added in 1885." (Source: Victoria County History cited below)

As the name suggests it is close to the River Swale. Bolton Beck is a tributary of the Swale which passes underneath a small bridge at the north of the village. The village is situated on the B6271 road between Scorton and Northallerton.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Boletone and belonged to Count Alan of Brittany as Tenant-in-Chief. The manor had been granted by Count Alan to Thor at the time of the Norman invasion, but afterwards it was granted to Enisant Musard. The manor was passed to Roald the Constable thereafter until it came into the possession of the Scrope family in Masham. They held the titles until around 1630. The descent is somewhat confused after this, but the title was seen to be in use in the 18th century by the Burton and Garthwaite families. In 1820 the title was in use by the Earl of Tyrconnell.

Bolton upon Swale was originally a chapelry in the parish of Catterick but located in Gilling East Wapentake. (Catterick is in the neighbouring Hang East Wapentake.) From 1894 until 1974 it was a civil parish in Richmond Rural District. In 1974 the North Riding of Yorkshire was abolished and became North Yorkshire. This area is now covered by the Richmondshire District.

Research Tips

• For a map of the parishes in the local area, see this page.
• Original historical documents relating to the North Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire are held at the North Yorkshire County Record Office, Malpas Road, Northallerton, North Yorkshire DL7 8TB
• Family history societies covering the area include the Ryedale Family History Group, the Family History Section of the Yorkshire Archaeological Society (based in the City of York), and the Cleveland, North Yorkshire & South Durham Family History Society (for the Cleveland and Teesside area and the western part of North Yorkshire, commonly known as the "Yorkshire Downs"). A more complete list may be found under the Federation of Family History Societies.
• A History of the County of Yorkshire from British History Online (Victoria County Histories), published 1914 and 1923 (Volume 1: the western part of the North Riding including Richmond and Volume 2: the eastern part of the North Riding including Scarborough and Whitby). A History of the County of York: the City of York is also helpful for the many North Riding parishes that were absorbed into the city during the 19th and 20th centuries.

This is by far the most complete history of the parishes of the North Riding to be found online. The volumes are divided into sections by wapentake (early divisions of the county) and the parishes within each wapentake follow in alphabetical order. The links above open to the indexes covering all the wapentakes in the volume.

• GENUKI has a page on all three ridings of Yorkshire and pages for each of the ancient or ecclesiastical parishes in the county. Under each ancient parish there is a list of the settlements (townships and chapelries) within it and brief description of each. Many of these secondary settlements became civil parishes during the latter half of the 19th century.

These notes 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. There is no guarantee that the website has been kept up to date and the submitter is very firm about his copyright, but 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. 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 North 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 which also include historical population and area statistics. Descriptions provided are usually based on a gazetteer of 1870-72.
• Map of the North Riding divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Map of North Riding divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Another provider of maps is the National Library of Scotland. In this index the Scottish provision precedes the English one, but the choice of maps for England is still quite vast.
• 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.
• The chapter of the Victoria County History, published 1923, dealing with Bolton upon Swale parish.