Hedon, East Riding of Yorkshire
Historical Description
Hedon, an ancient town, a municipal borough, and a parish in the E.R. Yorkshire. The town has a station on the N.E.E., and a post, money order, and telegraph office under Hull. It is thought by some to have been of note in the time of Athelstane, was enfranchised in the time of Henry II., sent two members to Parliament in the time of Edward I., but ceased to send them in the next reign, sent two again from the time of Edward VI. till disfranchised by the Act of 1832, and had a charter from Elizabeth confirming numerous previous charters, and giving it municipal government by a mayor, 9 aldermen, a recorder, 2 bailiffs, and other officers. The corporation now consists of mayor, 3 aldermen, and 9 councillors or burgesses, who also act as urban sanitary authority. Hedon was at one time above Hull as a seat of trade and commerce, and had a harbour, seemingly of good depth and capacity, which became choked up, and is now represented by a luxuriant meadow. It has now a navigable haven connecting it with the Humber, and providing it with means of carrying on a considerable traffic in corn, coal, and lime. The town was nearly all destroyed by fire in 1656, but was afterwards rebuilt. Acreage of parish, 321; population, 979. Hedon is a seat of petty sessions and of a county court, and has good inns, a town-hall, an ancient cross, a church, three dissenting chapels, a Roman Catholic chapel, and several almshouses. There is a ropery, extensive brick and tile works, and some charities. The town-hall is a neat brick edifice. The ancient cross is a beautiful object, was brought to Hedon in 1832, is believed to have been erected at Eavenspum in commemoration of the Earl of Hereford's landing there in 1399, and in consequence of the encroachments of the sea was removed first to Rilnsea, afterwards to Burton Constable, and finally to Hedon. The church is cruciform, measures 164¼ feet from E to W and 103 from N to S, is variously Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular, was partially restored in 1869, lias a central tower 129 feet high, and contains three sedilia. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of York; gross value, £195 with residence. Patron, the Archbishop. There were formerly two other churches, and there was also, of the time of King John, a lepers' hospital dedicated to the Holy Sepulchre.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Yorkshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Hedon St. Augustine | |
Poor Law union | Sculcoates | |
Riding | East | |
Wapentake | Holderness |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
Findmypast, in conjunction with various Archives, Local Studies, and Family History Societies have the following parish records online for Hedon:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1552-1915 | 1653-1921 | 1552-1930 | 1549-1958 |
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Hedon from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Hedon, or Heydon (St. Augustine))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for the East Riding of Yorkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Hedon are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following East Riding newspapers online: