Place:Fewston, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia Fewston (#12 on the map) is now a civil parish and a village in the Harrogate District of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated north of Otley and close to the Swinsty and Fewston reservoirs. The Church of St Michael and St Lawrence is the village church. The majority of the building was constructed in 1697, although the tower dates from the 14th century. Fewston was an ancient parish in the Forest of Knaresborough and the Claro Wapentake in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The parish covered a wide area, and included the townships of Blubberhouses (#5), [[Place:Clifton with Norwood, West Riding of Yorkshire, England|Clifton with Norwood (#22), Great Timble (#13), and Thruscross (not on map). All these places became separate civil parishes in 1866. Fewston was transferred to the new county of North Yorkshire in 1974. The poet Edward Fairfax (c. 1580 – 1635) lived at nearby New Hall, now submerged under the waters of Fewston Reservoir, as did Ferdinando Fairfax, 2nd Lord Fairfax of Cameron (1584-1648). Edward's daughters Elizabeth and Anne were baptised in the village church in 1606 and 1621 respectively, while Ferdinando's daughter Mary and son Charles were baptised there in 1606 and 1615.

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

"FEWSTON, a township, a parish, and a [registration] sub-district in Otley [registration] district, [West Riding of] Yorkshire. The township lies on the river Washburn, in Knaresborough forest, 4¼ miles SSW of Darley [railway] station, and 6 N of Otley. Acres: 1,760. Real property: £1,950. Population in 1851: 399; in 1861: 496. Houses: 100. The increase of population arose from the opening of a large silk mill.

"The parish contains also the townships of Blubberhouses, Great Timble, and Clifton-with-Norwood; the first of which has a post office under Otley. Acres: 16,584. Rated property, £8,235. Population: 1,485. Houses: 313. The property is much subdivided. The living is a vicarage, united with the [perpetual] curacy of Thurcross, in the diocese of Ripon. Value: £150. Patron: the Lord Chancellor. The parish church has a square tower, and is good. The church of Thurcross is small. There is also a new chapelry of Blubberhouses, with [perpetual] curate; but no statistics of it, either civil or ecclesiastical, are returned. There are three Wesleyan chapels, a Primitive Methodist chapel, two public schools, and charities £36."

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.

• Map of the West Riding divisions in 1888 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Map of West Riding divisions in 1917 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time. In other counties, the map for 1900 has been used, but it is not coming up in Vision of Britain's list.
• Map of West Riding divisions in 1944 produced by UK Ordnance Survey and provided online by A Vision of Britain through Time

• 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.