Place:Bracken, East Riding of Yorkshire, England

Watchers
NameBracken
TypeTownship, Civil parish
Coordinates53.9404°N 0.5055°W
Located inEast Riding of Yorkshire, England     ( - 1974)
Also located inYorkshire, England    
Humberside, England     (1974 - 1996)
East Riding of Yorkshire, England     (1996 - )
See alsoDriffield Rural, East Riding of Yorkshire, Englandrural district in which the civil parish was located 1894-1935
Watton, East Riding of Yorkshire, Englandparish into which it was absorbed in 1935
source: Family History Library Catalog

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Bracken from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"BRACKEN, a township in Kilnwick parish, [East Riding of] Yorkshire; 6 miles SW by S of Great Driffield. Acres: 460. Real property: £1,068. Pop.: 34. Houses: 3."

GENUKI also has a description worthy of a read.

Historically, Bracken was in the ecclesiastical parish of Kilnwick-on-the-Wolds in the wapentake of Harthill. From 1894 until 1935, Bracken was located in Driffield Rural District. In 1935 it was absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Watton.

Humberside 1974-1996

In 1974 most of what had been the East Riding of Yorkshire was joined with the northern part of Lincolnshire to became a new English county named Humberside. The urban and rural districts of the former counties were abolished and Humberside was divided into non-metropolitan districts. The new organization did not meet with the pleasure of the local citizenry and Humberside was wound up in 1996. The area north of the River Humber was separated into two "unitary authorities"—Kingston upon Hull covering the former City of Hull and its closest environs, and the less urban section to the west and to the north which, once again, named itself the East Riding of Yorkshire.

The phrase "Yorkshire and the Humber" serves no purpose in WeRelate. It refers to one of a series of basically economic regions established in 1994 and abolished for most purposes in 2011. See the Wikipedia article entited "Regions of England").


Research Tips

  • GENUKI on Bracken. The GENUKI page gives numerous references to local bodies providing genealogical assistance.
  • The FamilySearch wiki on the ecclesiastical parish of Kilnwick on the Wolds provides a list of useful resources for the local area.
  • A Vision of Britain through Time on Bracken.
  • 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.