Local Archive Research in Yorkshire

I am ideally placed to visit the local archives at Goole, Beverley and Hull and the Borthwick Institute at York on your behalf. These specific local record collections can often provide much additional material relating to families in the Goole/Howden and wider East Yorkshire area.

I can obtain copies of most of the documents described below - or in the case that the original records are too fragile to photocopy, I can provide digital photographs.

I undertake local archive research on an hourly basis and ask for a minimum of 2 hours' work. My hourly rate is £15. Please contact me to discuss your research requirements.

Below are descriptions of some of the most useful local resources I can search for you.

East Riding Archives at the Treasure House, Beverley

This building houses the archives for East Yorkshire and is a mine of useful information for the family historian. Some of the most important resources include:

• Birth, marriage and death records for most East Yorkshire parishes.

  An 18th century Yorkshire parish register

• Other documents from the parish chest, such as churchwardens' accounts and poor law records. These might include apprenticeship records, settlement certificates and even bastardy records.

• Many non-conformist records, which give details of those who attended the local East Yorkshire chapels.

• Some records of enclosure awards, which list who was awarded land when the open fields were divided up in the 18th and 19th centuries.

• Land tax assessments, listing the owners and occupiers of land for some parishes.

• Lists of payers of the poor rate for some parishes.

• Quarter sessions records - these are a fascinating resource and give details of the crimes of East Yorkshire villagers.

• Various miscellaneous and interesting documents can also be examined at the Treasure House, such as ale house licences and highway records.

I am a frequent visitor to these archives and can often find details of ancestors in the more unusual sources.

Hull City Archives

These archives have recently re-opened in a new, purpose-built centre after amalgamating various local collections. The collection here includes:

From the Leeds Mercury newspaper of 1858

• Estate records from such families as the Dunnington Jeffersons, who were lords of Howdenshire.

• Local newspapers, such as The Hull & East Yorkshire Times, from 1739 to the present day. These old newspapers provide excellent accounts of past Hull and East Yorkshire events in which your ancestor may have been involved. I can also search several other 19th century newspapers, including the Leeds Mercury.

• Hull crew lists, 1884-1914; records from the heyday of Hull's fishing industry.

• Records relating to Hull schools and for the two main Hull orphanages.

The Borthwick Institute, York

This archive provides another wonderful resource for the local and family historian, including

• A large and important collection of probate records. These records include the vast majority of Yorkshire wills, inventories and other related records dating from the late 14th century up to January 1858.

• Indexes to Yorkshire marriage bonds and allegations 1660-1839. Bonds and allegations were drawn up when a couple wished to marry by license rather than by the normal method of banns.

• Parish registers and bishops' transcripts for various Yorkshire parishes. Bishop's transcripts are contemporary copies of the parish registers, which were sent annually to the archbishop. They can often provide a useful source for cross-reference when searching parish records - sometimes extra information (eg. details of parents, occupations, vicars' notes) appears on the bishop's transcripts and not on the original register, and vice versa.

Goole Library

If your ancestors lived in the Goole, Marshand, Snaith and Howden areas then I am in an excellent position to help you. Goole Library houses a fine collection of records, which I have been using for many years. Please inquire for more detail, but particularly useful are the following:

• Microfilm copies of the local newspaper, The Goole Times, from 1854 to the present day (some copies too of the Howdenshire Gazette and Thorne and Selby newspapers). These old newspapers are an invaluable source of detail for local births, marriages & deaths, obituaries, inquests, court cases and other noteworthy local events.

• Goole area almanacks (some also cover the local villages, and Snaith and Howden) which list people by name and house number from around 1908 to 1940.

• Some early 19th century poor law accounts for Howden

  An 1822 trade directory for Howden

• 19th century trade directories for all of Yorkshire

• Many pamphlets describing the histories of Goole churches and chapels, societies and festivals

• Local government records, eg. Goole council minutes

• An excellent old photograph collection of streets/scenes from the local Goole area

• Monumental inscriptions for Goole St. John's and Hook Road Cemetery

• Monumental incriptions for many other local villages around Goole and Howden; and more generally for the Marshland area and much of East Yorkshire

• Various local burial indexes

• Much material relating to Goole ships (a few crew lists) and Goole docks

• Collections made by early town historians of newspaper clippings, artefacts and ephemera

• Goole militia lists for the early 19th century

• Goole Town Book - this is an an old book listing the work of the Goole police constables and other local officials in the early 19th century. The book also names some of the poor inhabitants of Goole.

• Similar information for Hook

NB. Sadly, no admission records remain for the Goole Union Workhouse. This workhouse, on Boothferry Road, Goole, was often given as 'No. 65, Boothferry Road' as an address on birth/death certificates.