Place:Kirkham, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Kirkham is a village in North Yorkshire, England, close to Malton, situated in the Howardian Hills alongside the River Derwent, and is notable for the nearby ruins of Kirkham Priory, an Augustinian establishment.

Kirkham was historically an extra parochial area in the East Riding of Yorkshire. It became a civil parish in 1866. In 1935 the civil parish was abolished and merged into the civil parish of Firby. In 1974 it was transferred to the new county of North Yorkshire, and when the parish of Firby was abolished it joined the parish of Westow.

Kirkham was served by Kirkham Abbey railway station on the York to Scarborough Line between 1845 and 1930.

John Oxley (1785-1828), an explorer of south-east Australia, was born here.

end of Wikipedia contribution

Kirkham was originally a township in the ancient parish of Westow in the Buckrose Wapentake of the East Riding of Yorkshire. Kirkham was made a civil parish in 1866 and in 1894 it became part of the Norton Rural District. In 1935 it was absorbed into the neighbouring civil parish of Firby (Westow).

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 Kirkahm has been in North Yorkshire, specifically within the Ryedale District.

Research Tips

• GENUKI on Kirkham which it describes as "extra parochial".
• A Vision of Britain through Time on Kirkham.
• The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Westow provides a list of useful resources for the local area, but there are no references for Kirkham.
• 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.