Place:Heslington, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Heslington is a suburban village and civil parish within the City of York, in North Yorkshire, England, south-east of the city centre. According to the 2001 census the ward had a population of 4,122. The parish also includes the Badger Hill area.

It was settled before the Norman conquest of 1066 and is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Heslington Hall was built between 1565 and 1568 for Sir Thomas Eynns. In the 20th century it was owned by Richard de Yarburgh-Bateson, 6th Baron Deramore, and was used as the headquarters for the Royal Air Force's No. 4 (Bomber) Group from 1940–45. It is now the administrative headquarters for the University of York.

The Borthwick Institute for Archives, which used to be located in an old building within the walls of the City of York, is now located on the Heslington campus of the University of York and is one of the biggest archive repositories in the United Kingdom outside London. Its catalogue is published online.

From 1894 until 1935, Heslington was located in Escrick Rural District. In 1935 the Escrick Rural District was abolished and its place was taken by Derwent Rural District which administered the local area until the nationwide municipal reorganization of 1974. From 1974 until 1996, Heslington was in the Selby District of North Yorkshire. In 1996 the City of York, a unitary authority, expanded its borders to include Heslington.

Historically, Heslington was an ecclesiastical parish in the wapentake of Ouse and Derwent.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Heslington (and a long description of Heslington Hall). The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Heslington provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
• British History Online has an article from the Victoria County Histories on Heslington
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Heslington.
• 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.