Melsonby, North Riding of Yorkshire
Historical Description
Melsonby, a village, a township, and a parish in the N.R. Yorkshire. The village stands 5½ miles N by E of Richmond, 5¼ NNW of Scorton, and 2 from Barton Hill station on the N.E.R., and has a post and money order office under Darlington; telegraph office, Aldbrough. Acreage of the township, 2743; population, 499; of the ecclesiastical parish, 531. The parish includes part of the township of East Layton. A Benedictine nunnery was founded here in the time of Henry II., was destroyed before the Reformation, and has left some traces. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ripon; net value, £615 with residence. Patron, University College, Oxford. The church was entirely rebuilt in 1850, and consists of chancel, nave, and aisles, and has an embattled western tower. There are a Wesleyan chapel, an, endowed school, and small charities.
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 | Melsonby St. James | |
Poor Law union | Richmond | |
Riding | North | |
Wapentake | Gilling-West |
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 Melsonby:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1573-1863 | 1754-1813 | 1579-1837 | 1579-1989 |
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Melsonby from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Melsonby (St. James))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for the North Riding of Yorkshire is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Melsonby 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 North Riding newspapers online: