Queen’s Head, Yorkshire Family History Guide
Queen’s Head is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Yorkshire, created in 1845 from Bradford St Peter Ancient Parish and Halifax St John the Baptist Ancient Parish.
Other places in the parish include: Northowram.
Alternative names: Queensbury
Parish church:
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1845
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1847
Nonconformists include: Baptist, Independent/Congregational, and Methodist New Connexion.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
- Halifax St James
- Halifax St John the Baptist
- Coley
- Ovenden
- Halifax St Ann in the Grove
- Thornton
- Lightcliffe
- Shelf
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
QUEENSBURY, or Queenshead, a large village and a chapelry, partly in Northowram township, Halifax parish, and partly in Clayton township, Bradford parish, W. R. Yorkshire.
The village stands 3½ miles NNE of Halifax r. station; grew rapidly from the size of a small village to the size of a small town; changed its name recently from Queenshead to Queensbury; carries on extensive alpaca, mohair, and worsted-spinning manufacture, with employment of about 3,000 hands; and has a post-office under Halifax, an Albert memorial, a church, five dissenting chapels, a large national school, a literary and scientific institution, a fire brigade, and a fair on the last Wednesday of Aug.
The Albert memorial was erected in 1863; has the form of an Eleanor cross, 40 feet high, on a base 14 feet square, with a drinking-fountain on each side; and is adorned, within the arches, with a statue of the late Prince Consort, and a number of emblematic statues. The church was built in 1843; is in the pointed style; and consists of nave, aisles, and chancel, with a pinnacled tower.
The chapelry was constituted in 1845. Pop. in 1861, 5, 850. Houses, 1, 226. Pop. of the Northowram portion, 3, 423. Houses, 728. The property is much subdivided. Shibden Hall, Harrowins House, and Prospect House, are chief residences. Stone is quarried, and coal is mined. The living is a p.curacy in the diocese of Ripon. Value, £300. Patron, alternately the Crown and the Bishop.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
QUEENSHEAD, an ecclesiastical parish, partly in the parish and union of Bradford, but chiefly in the parish and union of Halifax, wapentake of Morley, W. riding of York, 3½ miles (N. by E.) from Halifax, on the road to Bradford; containing upwards of 4000 inhabitants.
This parish, which was constituted in June 1845, under the act 6th and 7th Victoria, cap. 37, extends about a mile in every direction from its church; and occupies a very lofty situation, being almost the highest ground in this part of Yorkshire. The surface consists of hill, dale, and plain, and is intersected by a deep valley called Shibdendale, which almost approaches the nature of a ravine, and is covered with wood: there is otherwise a great deficiency of wood, as well as of water, in the landscape. The climate is very cold, so much so, that no wheat is grown, and very little oats; grass and potatoes are the main produce.
The population is employed chiefly in the manufacture of worsted, and in coal-mining: the mines mostly belong to Joseph Stocks, Esq., to whom the vale of Shibdendale also belongs; and to John Foster, Esq., who is the principal manufacturer. There are likewise quarries, the property of various individuals.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Crown and the Bishop of Ripon, alternately; net income, £150: the church, built at a cost of £2700, was opened for divine service in August 1845. Here are places of worship for Independents, General Baptists, Wesleyans, and the New Connexion of Methodists.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Use for:
England, Yorkshire, Queenshead
Administration
- County: Yorkshire
- Civil Registration District: Halifax
- Probate Court: Exchequer and Prerogative Courts of the Archbishop of York
- Diocese: Post-1835 – Ripon, Pre-1836 – York
- Rural Deanery: Pontefract
- Poor Law Union: Bradford
- Hundred: Morley
- Province: York