Place:Helperthorpe, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

Since 1974 Helperthorpe has been a village in Ryedale District of North Yorkshire, England. The parish church is dedicated to St. Peter.

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

"HELPERTHORPE, a parish in Driffield [registration] district, [East Riding of] Yorkshire; 5¾ miles SSW of Ganton [railway] station, and 10 NNW of Great Driffield. Post town, Weaverthorpe, under York. Acres: 2,620. Real property: £2,578. Population: 146. Houses: 24. The property is divided among a few. The living is a vicarage, united with the [perpetual] curacy of Luttons-Ambo, in the diocese of York. Value, £240.* Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of York. The church is ancient but good; and has a tower, and a carved stone font."

Helperthorpe was originally an ancient parish in Buckrose Wapentake in the East Riding of Yorkshire. In 1866 the status of civil parish was introduced and this was taken on by most ancient parishes and also by their subsidiary townships if they were of any size at all. Helperthorpe had no townships. From 1894 until 1935, Helperthorpe was a civil parish in the Driffield Rural District in the East Riding of Yorkshire.

In 1935 the boundaries of the rural districts of Driffield, Norton and Sherburn were redrawn. Sherburn was abolished entirely and the civil parishes of Luttons Ambo, Helperthorpe, Weaverthorpe, Butterwick and Foxholes with Boythorpe (which are in a line from west to east) moved from Driffield to Norton. Compare the maps Ordnance Survey 1900 and Ordnance Survey 1944 below.

In 1974 rural districts were abolished and the border between the East Riding of Yorkshire and the North Riding of Yorkshire was realigned. The North Riding changed its name to North Yorkshire. Since 1974 Helperthorpe has been in North Yorkshire, specifically within the Ryedale District.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Helperthorpe. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Helperthorpe provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Helperthorpe.
• A Vision of Britain through Time provides links to three maps of the East Riding, produced by the United Kingdom Ordnance Survey, illustrating the boundaries between the civil parishes and the rural districts at various dates. These maps all expand to a scale that will illustrate small villages and large farms or estates.

• Ordnance Survey 1888. The "Sanitary Districts (which preceded the rural districts).
• Ordnance Survey 1900 The rural districts, not long after their introduction.
• Ordnance Survey 1944. The rural districts after the revisions of 1935.

• For a discussion of where to find Archive Offices in Yorkshire, see GENUKI.
• Yorkshire has a large number of family history and genealogical societies. A list of the societies will be found on the Yorkshire, England page.