Older Updates

Tom Sayer a Halifax Bomber pilot in 1943	Tom at a remembrance parade in 2014

It is with sadness we record the death of Tom Sayer DFM, who for many years was Chairman of the 102 (Ceylon) Squadron Association, age 98. Tom visited Pocklington each year for the Association reunion weekends and for the November remembrance parades at Barmby Moor. On 10th May 2015, Pocklington and District Local History Group arranged a memorable talk about his experiences of being a WW2 Bomber Pilot and how he flew out of Pocklington Airfield as pilot of a Halifax bomber plane. The late Simon Kularatne (whose father was also a pilot who flew out of Pocklington) interviewed Tom. He gave a remarkable account of his training in Canada, his bombing missions, his many close calls for him and his crew. They were shot on many occasions by enemy fire, and then after surviving over 30 missions, moved to training glider pilots in readyness for the D-Day landings. Tom's often moving account of his life as a pilot in wartime Pocklington gave a vivid account of the period and left a lasting impression in the memory of all the large audience in attendance in Pocklington Church. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal in 1943 when he was aged just 21. He will be remembered by the people of Pocklington for his bravery and the last of his generation of brave air crew who flew from Pocklington airfield.

Pocklington solicitor and historian, Roger Bellingham, was the president of Pocklington and District Local History Group from its inception in 2007 until his death in January of this year, aged 88. And he has made sure that his decades of research will become a lasting legacy by leaving his substantial collection of local books, articles and papers to the group.

Roger made a major contribution to Pocklington's historical record from the outset of coming to the town in 1961 to practice law at Powell & Young. He immediately set about surveying and recording local buildings and places with his wife, Barbara, then played a leading role in a local interest group that put together the book 'Pocklington 1660-1914 - a small East Riding Market Town', published in 1972. He photographed the then derelict Pocklington Canal before restoration got underway, and some of his pictures of Pocklington in the 1960s and 1970s are currently being shared on the Pocklington District Heritage Facebook page.

He was active in numerous local organisations, including being the first secretary of both the Burnby Hall Gardens Trust and the Dr Fairweather charity, clerk to the governors at Pocklington School and a committee member of the Arts Society, the Yorkshire Museum of Farming, and the fundraising group that built the Francis Scaife Swimming Pool. He was renowned nationally for his work on parish registers and migration, and was a long term treasurer of the Local Population Studies Society.

For many years Roger carried out these, and more, community roles, plus his historical research and writings, alongside his legal work. But his passion for local history gradually took over, seeing him reduce his hours as as senior partner at Powell & Young to embark on a degree in local history at University of Hull; then taking early retirement in 1991 to commit to a history PhD at University of Leicester.

These 50 years of researching and recording Pocklington history saw Roger create an extensive archive of books, maps and documents from the 17th century onwards; and he left detailed instructions in his will that these should be offered to the local history group. His son and daughter, Chris and Dilly, accompanied him as children on many of Roger's early photo shoots, and they recently held a garden party in Pocklington to celebrate his life, attended by colleagues, friends and representatives from many of organisations he was involved with.

Afterwards, Dilly handed over the first batch of his papers to history group officials, Andrew Sefton and Phil Gilbank, commenting: "My father was fascinated by local history. I remember his delight when the recent excavations on The Mile confirmed his longstanding theory about Pocklington's Anglo-Saxon origins. He was very interested in the plans to create a museum in the town and we are pleased that so many of his books and papers can have a new home with the Pocklington and District Local History Group."

History group chairman, Phil Gilbank, added: "Roger Bellingham devoted decades to researching Pocklington history, and his archive is a unique record of the town's past. Our hopes for the future include developing a heritage centre and research room in Pocklington, and if this comes to fruition housing Roger's archive within it will be a fitting memorial to his inspirational work."

pic: Dilly Bellingham (right) hands over one of her late father's documents to local historfy group chairman, Phil Gilbank. It is a handbill detailing the rules of Pocklington School, the National Church School built by Mr Denison on West Green in 1819, which moved to a new site on New Street after the arrival of the railway in 1847.

Book and a film - available now at a venue near you!

Thanks to a grant by East Riding Council, the history group has been able to produce a bigger and better second edition of a 'Pocklington History & Heritage Trail' booklet. The first edition came out in 2008 as a 16 page volume and had almost sold out. The new publication looks very similar on the outside, but it has been expanded and updated to 27 pages, and includes some new information about the town's history, in addition to more than 20 maps, illustrations and photographs. It is available at Forth's bookshop, or via the website, price £4.99. In addition to the book, we have also produced a video focusing on the same town centre subject. When the lockdown was at its height we decided to produce an online walk and talk around Pocklington to complement the heritage trail booklet. Part 1 of the town trail video, which takes in the church, Market Place and Market Street, is now finished.

I was sent a photograph from a member of the Nelson family. The clergyman in the middle looks like Ian McNaughton Smith who was vicar 1921-33.It looks like a choir/orchestra for a fund raising event.In this period it is likely there were members of the Lamb family on the photograph who had musical talent.The location may be Burnby Hall, Major Stewart used to open the gardens occasionally in aid of the church. If anyone recognises any of the people on this photograph, please let me know.

We are sorry to record the loss of one of the biggest contributors to Pocklington history John Nottingham. His work on the Water Courses in and around Pocklington was important also the Brickworks in the area, local tythe and enclosure maps for many of the local parishes including the most difficult one to work out the Pocklington Enclosure award for 1757, and his best and last work was “RAF Pocklington and Local Area Losses”, which he insisted on being made freely available on this website when it could have easily sold as a book. This website will certainly miss his considerable input.

Legends, Miracles, Myths and unreasonable speculation abound in the early Medieval period. Andrew Sefton has written an article published on April 1st to the Facebook Group - Pocklington District Heritage about some stories and speculation originating in the Pocklington District from that period.

Some old photographs of Warter and the Priory have emerged on the Facebook group with thanks to Colin Boynton. The Demolition of Warter Priory in 1972 - the photographs of Peter Smith, The Exterior of Warter Priory in old photographs and postcards, The Interior of Warter Priory in old photographs and postcards, Warter Home Guard in 1940-1945.

Jim Hall and Les Kitchen were great friends and were both raised at Garths End in Pocklington. They were children growing up through the war and witnessed some unforgettable events in that time and place. Both went to Pocklington School and both went to the local Scouts in the 1940's, and both watched as bomber aircraft used Garths End to line up for the runway. They saw their houses damaged by German Aircraft, a bomb dropping on Garths End on the opposite side of the road hitting a house, and at the corner of Garths End and Yapham Road, Red House was almost destroyed by a bomber plane crashing into it. Jim Hall memories and Les Kitchen memories were preserved and kindly provided by Jim's son Chris for the website.

Donald McGregor supplied his memories of attending Pocklington School. It’s about 25 years since he last visited the town and almost 57 years since he left Pocklington school where he was a boarder between 1958 and 1964. He relates that he spent many Sunday afternoons wandering along the old airfield runways looking for memorabilia of dropped items like ammunition cartridges. He also flew from the airfield once with Jeff Allison in his Proctor 3 G-AMGE light aircraft to Yeadon Airport in Leeds.

Everingham now joins PocklingtonHistory.com with a general history from Bulmer's Directory for 1892, A history of Everingham's unique Roman Catholic Church written by Gill Hodgson and some photographs of the village.

"RAF Pocklington and Local Area Losses" is an exclusive new publication only available on PocklingtonHistory.com. It was written and researched by Mike Silburn and John Nottingham and has taken many months of work to produce. It is a remarkable and comprehensive study of all the aircraft losses from RAF Pocklington in WW2 and includes the nearby airfields of Elvington, Holme-on-Spalding Moor, Melbourne and Full Sutton.

Station Garage was where Travis Perkins is today, near the roundabout and was situated on the site of the present Aldi Car park. It was demolished just prior to the opening of the new Aldi store in 2011. Pete Kunkel sent me a photograph of the staff from 1984 with all the names. He also sent his Pocklington Infants school class photograph from 1965 and supplied some of the names, if you know any of the missing ones let us know. Pete also took part in a memorable Football Match between Melbourne F.C. and York City F.C. in 1984 and kept the memorabilia.

A new trade directory has been added. We now have Pigot's Trade Directory for 1828-29 to consult. Highlights include James Noble - Portrait Painter and a conveyance from Pocklington to Hull by water on the Union Packet from River Head - sails occasionally!

The Buck Inn was one of Pocklington's oldest inns. An 1825 sale notice describes the inn as "from time immemorial has been a well established and good accustomed inn". It possibly dates from the seventeenth century and a butcher Thomas Buck who was named in a 1606 old indenture "Thomas Buck of Pocklington, butcher and wife Johane (another daughter of Christopher Jewitson)". Butchers often combined their meat business with selling ale, and providing a hostelry for the horse, livestock and leather fairs held in the town and labour hiring fairs common in the 19th century. Pictured right is Billy Harrison in Christmas 1938 playing Laurel and Hardy with violins in the Buck Hotel.

The last Pocklington mummer died in 1930, but the tradition goes back hundreds of years, and some say to pagan times. At Christmas time the mummers would dress in disguise using characters from local tradition or national prominence and visit local houses and remote farms. They would perform plays in the living room and collect money and eat the provided food by the host. The principal characters are St. George (…of dragon fame.), Captain Slasher, The Turkish Knight, The King of Egypt, Doctor and several men-at-arms who challenge St. George to a duel and are subsequently slain. The Doctor enters and demonstrates his skill by resuscitating the dead knights. Many historians believe that this drama is a celebration of the death of the year and its resurrection in the Spring. This year the places that keep the tradition going include Knaresborough in North Yorkshire. Due to Covid-19 restrictions they have cleverly created a way of performing it using Zoom!

The Ullathorne family is now included on the family section, their claim to fame was William Ullathorne who was born in Market Place, Pocklington, on 7th May 1806 the eldest of ten children of a local grocer. His father, also William, came from a family of West Riding landed gentry that forfeited its estates to the claims of the Stuart insurrection in 1745. William senior became a shoemaker, then draper, before marrying and setting up in business in Pocklington. William Junior became a Roman Catholic missionary to Australia and first bishop of Birmingham. He was influential in securing the final abolition (1857) of the British system of transporting convicts to Australia.

Looking further back up the family tree, it is possible to trace this family to Sir Thomas More (pictured left) and even further back to William the Conquerer. The Buttle family of Pocklington also link in to this tree.

Read about the six sons of the Dykes family from Market Street, Pocklington, who all served for the king in the Great War, two of which won the Military Medal. Sergeant Fred Chapman Dykes, the third son, was also in the Territorial Force, and was called up when hostilities were begun, was sent to the front in April 1915. He was awarded the Military Medal for bravery in the field, going out under heavy shell fire and carrying a wounded officer to a place of safety. He was married, with two children, and before the war was employed in the waggon works at Horbury. Corporal Arthur Dykes, aged 26, joined the Territorial Force soon after the outbreak of war and went to the front with his brother Tom. He was awarded the Military Medal for his courageous work during the night of July 31st—August 1st 1917. Corporal Dykes, acting on instructions, took charge of a raiding party of 48 men, and came in contact with 160 of the enemy, armed with bombs, bayonets, and daggers. The enemy made an attack, which was met with great skill and daring. Cpl. Dykes led the men, and they used their bombs and bayonets to such good effect that the enemy were completely repulsed, a number of the party being left dead in No-Man's-Land. Their officer in charge was captured, and important documents seized. Corpl. Dykes was an old scholar of the Pocklington National School, of which Mr. A. Skinner was the head teacher. These stories and more can be read in "Adieu to Dear Old Pock" the book covering all soldiers from Pocklington and district who took part in ww1. It is available from Forth's stationers in the town or via online through eBay.

Paula Ware has given a 'virtual' talk to the Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society on the Pocklington Chariots. For a limited time her talk can be viewed here.

Fred Lee was a pioneer of Cinema in Pocklington. He build the first Cinema which was the Central Cinema in the town and obtained a kinematograph license in June 1912. His first film projector was lit using a gas lamp but switched a few months later to electric. He suffered a premature death in 1918 from Pneumonia and a massive funeral was held in Pocklington to acknowledge the town entrepreneur.

Another family research page has been created and a family page created by Rick Hagyard of Canada has been rescued after its disappearance. Rick found and published many early Hagyard from Pocklington family wills. Some of the branch then emigrated to Ontario and Manitoba in Canada. Rick has recently contacted me and provided another old photograph for the web page.

Kay and Edwards haulage company were started in 1955 out of the balk Pocklington and were dissolved in 1996 after moving to Full Sutton Industrial Estate. It is still fondly remembered in Pocklington for employment of delivery drivers in the area.

Pocklington history's contribution to 'Black History Month' is Sergeant Lincoln Orville Lynch DFM , an air gunner serving with No 102 Squadron, Royal Air Force, photographed wearing his flying kit by the rear turret of a Handley Page Halifax at Pocklington. Lynch, from Jamaica, volunteered for service in the RAF in 1942, and in 1943 won the Air Gunner's trophy for obtaining the highest percentage of his course during his training in Canada. On his first operational flight with No 102 Squadron he shot down a German Junkers Ju 88.

The 2020 AGM was finally held after a delay due to Coronavirus. It was meant to be held last April but was postponed to October 2020 and like other meetings that have to take place in the middle of a pandemic, it had to be a virtual meeting. It was open to all and we still had a good attendance with some using the new technology for the first time.The full report is available on the news items, but the main outcome was the present committee was re-elected and a summary of the past 18 months was provided by Andrew Sefton.

Canon Noel Duckworth (left) was Chaplain of Pocklington School from 1958-61. He was an Olympic rowing cox and Japanese Prisoner of War in World War 2 and who served in 2-Cambs regiment and who also appeared on 'This is Your Life'. He gave a remarkable speech recording his ordeal which was broadcast on the BBC and a transcript survives and was given on the eve of the official Japanese surrender in Singapore on 12th Sept 1945.

Flight Lieutenant John J Blair DFC (right) was born in 1919 in Jamaica. In 1941, at the age of 22 he volunteered for service in the RAF and was enlisted into Bomber Command. Following training in Canada, he joined 102 Squadron as a Navigator at RAF Pocklington. This is a link to a video made by Mark Johnson the great-nephew of John Jellicoe Blair, one of almost 500 Black Caribbean air crew in the RAF during the Second World War.

"Clegg’s People" was a Yorkshire Television series made in the early 1980's. In this episode Michael Clegg interviews three people working in Yorkshire in different artistic fields about their work. For his third interview, Clegg visits the Arts Centre in Pocklington. The Pocklington Cinema shows a film has just finished screening and the curtains go up to reveal the collection of penny arcadia, old slot-machines, collected by John Gresham. One of the machines shows an English execution, and Gresham shows others in action, with a young woman assistant winding one of the machines. Gresham gives an account of their history and how he came to acquire the objects 12 years previously, which held 333 machines. He states that 100 of these are on show, dating between 1886 and 1939, some possibly earlier. The first one he acquired was a space invader machine. Together they look at more of the collection, including a football game from 1896, the first of its kind, and an acrobat, an American execution and a Chinese torture. Some were collected from the father of Alice and Evelyn Dennison from Leeds, including a What the Butler Saw. After the Arcadia closed in 1994, the collection was sold to an American Greg McLemore in 2004 who now exhibits the machines in Pasedena, California, USA. In the film Fast Forward to 14m 40s to see Pocklington.

Further additions to the district information has been added which includes the Hearth Tax 1672-73 for Seaton Ross and the Trade Directories for 1892-1909 for Melbourne, Storwood and Thornton.

York Archaeological Trust conservation project to protect important Pocklington Iron Age burial objects is now complete.

The York Archaeological Trust (YAT) has been working on the chariot and other grave goods discovered on the Persimmon Homes development. Excavations at the site by MAP Archaeological Practice in Malton Paula Ware, managing director of MAP Ltd, said: “The upright horses were positioned in motion, as though leaping upwards out of the grave. “The skeleton of the ‘warrior’ man was placed in a crouched position in the bed of the chariot with a remarkably well-preserved bronze shield, and a beautiful decorated enamelled brooch.” The corroded and fragile nature of the items meant that field conservation techniques such as the use of plaster bandages and block lifting, as well as very careful handling, were employed to lift the objects safely and transfer them to the conservation laboratory for further work.

See Geoff Sheasby's inspiring Yorkshire Day Speech

The forgotten faces of Pocklington - Michael Tayleure photographed many people of Pocklington in his portrait studio in the town in Victorian times. They survive by surfacing many years later from house clearances and auction sites. They have no names, they are forgotten people. No one alive today knows who they are. So, encourage everyone to write a name on the back of a photograph so that future generations will know their identity.

Phil Gilbank is an expert on Pocklington's Catholic Heritage and has researched the long history Pocklington has had with the Catholic faith. Pocklingtonians have always been a rebellious lot and usually chose the losing side in national events. Examples include 'The Pilgrimage of Grace' and 'The English Civil War. But Phil gets hold of the story in typical scrum down fashion and tackles a complicated story with accomplishment. His talk has been made into a video using his original presentation slides.

Old Family Group Photographs is a new section added to the web site. The Moor family of Barmby Moor were a significant family in the area and probably the best known descendant being Denis Moor who had the electrical shop in Pocklington. Their farm was Barmby Grange which was later the location of Pocklington Airfield and Pocklington Industrial Estate.

Next is the Smithson family of St. John's Lodge Pocklington with the oldest certified family photograph taken by Michael Tayleure in 1874. Lastly, the family of William Johnson of Pocklington with another very early group photograph.

Jenifer Roberts has written a new book called "Where the Wind Blows" which includes information of the Rudston family of Hayton. Jenifer describes the book as "An enthralling family saga told through a remarkable collection of letters written by members of a family divided through emigration and tragedy. It is a fascinating story of one family's journey through the 19th century begins in the wheat fields of Lincolnshire, moves through Australia, Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean, and ends in a crumbling sandstone monument on the north Yorkshire coast." The book is available on Amazon.

A well remembered Pocklington beat group of the 60's 'Roy and the Zeroes'.

Beatlemania in the 1960's inspired many pop bands to start up a pop or rock band. All that was needed was drum set, a bass guitar, an electric guitar and a singer with a mop of hair!.

The Pocklington area had a few bands in the 60's and 70's and we explore the music and the people of the time.

Bands remembered included 'The Targets' (Pocklington), 'The Strangers' (Barmby Moor), 'The Corvettes' (Seaton Ross), 'The Zeroes' (Pocklington), 'Jason and the Argonauts' (Barmby Moor), 'Sons of Witch' (Pocklington), 'The Rocking Helliots' (Pocklington), the folk band 'Prussian Blue' (Bishop Wilton) and the Bluegrass band 'The Crocker Brothers' (Millington).

The Oaks, was run on Saturday 4th July 2020 at Epsom and took place on the same day as The Derby for the first time. Phil Gilbank writes of the ancient associations of thoroughbred horse racing in the Pocklington area and some of the local characters involved.

Next is an intriguing story of Spanish Republicans, who as part of the Free French, congregated in the East Riding of Yorkshire in 1944 and stayed in Pocklington prior to the D-Day landings.Rafael Gomez Nieto - the last survivor of 'La Neuve', the company of Spanish republican soldiers that lived and trained in Pocklington before going on to be the first troops to liberate Paris in August 1944, has recently died aged 99. Another victim of the deadly CoronaVirus. People in Pocklington knew him as Ralph Gomez.

A talk was given by the Pocklington and District Local History Group Chairman Phil Gilbank in Thixendale in October 2019 and has been made into a video.

Unknown photographs for recognition. If you know any of the people on these local photographs please contact me.

The (left) photograph was taken in Warter in the 1930's. Possibly at Warter Priory. We would be grateful if anyone could recognise the occasion, give it an accurate date, and identify any names.The (right) photograph is a reunion of WW1 veterans in Pocklington.

We explore the mystery of the Warter Priory relic 'The hand of Saint James'. This relic possessed powerful healing properties, and performed miracle cures throughout the twelfth century. Warter Priory ran St. Giles' hospital in Beverley and no doubt attempted to heal many pilgrims on their way to visit the tomb of St John in Beverley Minster. But Reading Abbey also possessed a hand of St. James, so the mystery deepens. (Left: the hand of St. James in St. Peters R.C. Church, Marlow).

Pocklington hopefully will have a new Vicar for All Saints Church soon, so we felt it was time to revisit and update the list of Vicars which goes back to 1349. Phil Gilbank has done some research to unearth some missing incumbents and the list of vicars board in the church may need to be revised. Right: The last Vicar of Pocklington, the Rev. Geoffrey Hollingsworth.

Due to popular request, WARTER has been added to PocklingtonHistory.com. We have traditionally tried to stick to the old Harthill Wapentake (Wilton Beacon Division) as our area of coverage for the Pocklington and District Local History Group. However, it is clear that we have had to add further parishes as these places still have an affinity to the town and the town in turn views them as local villages.

Warter is also such an interesting local place with the history of the Priory ancient and modern, and it contains, very close to Pocklington, The Yorkshire Wolds Heritage Centre in Warter Church. The first items to be added include the Bulmers directory for 1892, a Gallery of Photographs, Saint James Church, the 1844 Tithe Apportionment, the History of Warter with the web page designed to be used as an educational resource.

Also added is the excavation report of Warter Priory from a victorian antiquary W.H. St. John Hope who explored the site of the old priory destroyed in the reformation. The pre-reformation survey of the priory is included complete with Yorkshire accent!

Also, (see left), an old print has been discovered by Phil Gilbank of Kilnwick Percy, one of the earliest images we have of it.

Rafael Gomez Nieto - the last survivor of 'La Neuve', the company of Spanish republican soldiers that lived and trained in Pocklington before going on to be the first troops to liberate Paris in August 1944, we are saddened to report has died of Coronavirus aged 99. People in Pocklington knew him as Ralph Gomez.

Another Tithe Map apportionment has been completed by John Nottingham and Mike Silburn this time for the parish of Bolton. We thank John and Mike for their continuing work on these maps. Also added is the Bulmers 1892 trade directory entry for Bishop Wilton and Bolton. An interesting recent lecture has appeared on YouTube given by Dr Peter Halkon, the recognised authority on the early East Riding of Yorkshire.

* Coronavirus COVID-19 update *

Our Chairman, Phil Gilbank, has issued the following statement (01/04/2020):

You will hardly be surprised that due to the current pandemic the Pocklington & District Local History Group will have to postpone its 2019-20 Annual General Meeting and review of the year scheduled for April 16.

While we are careful to manage the group's affairs appropriately and in line with our constitution, nevertheless, our AGM has usually been low key with election of officers and the annual accounts invariably approved without dispute. The local history year of 2019-20 has produced many highlights and achievements and it is a shame that its finale of final two meeting cannot happen, but all the indications are that the year end position is once again sound and acceptable.

We had already arranged another wide ranging and hopefully interesting programme of talks and events for the coming year, which will clearly need to be on hold until the local and national position is safer and clearer. We will publicise what and when we are able to resume meetings in 2020-21, and we should then be able to add on 2019-20 AGM matters in retrospect.

If anyone, has any local history news, information, research or discovered items and artefacts, please contact Andrew Sefton as he will be delighted to share it via the website which we will continue to update and expand.

Finally, stay well and stay safe; perhaps local historians can get today's horrific events into perspective better then most - after all Pocklington has previously endured and come through plagues in the Bronze Age, C14th and C17th, cholera in C19th and Spanish 'Flu in C20th. As Harry S Truman said in the 1950s: "There is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know".

Melbourne has been added to the website with an enclosure map from John Nottingham and Mike Silburn, a transcription of the Bulmers 1892 trade directory and some old photographs of the village.

In 1936 a pupil in Seaton Ross school wrote "Perhaps one of the greatest improvements to the village of Seaton Ross is the Bus Service". Everingham Bros. of Pocklington introduced a service to all the villages to the south and west of Pocklington including Seaton Ross, Melbourne, Sutton on Derwent and Elvington.

On the 20th November 2014, Jim and Margaret Ainscough gave a talk on a wartime Evacuee from Hull who had vivid memories of the town. He gave Jim a description of a walk around Pocklington when departing the train at Pocklington Station.

A new book, ‘The Arras Culture of Eastern Yorkshire – Celebrating the Iron Age’, has been published with local expert, Peter Halkon, as its editor. Following Paula Ware's successful sell out event in Pocklington on the 19th February, Paula and Peter Halkon will be jointly presenting "Chariots In The Landscape Of Iron Age East Yorkshire" - featuring the spectacular recent discoveries at Pocklington, it was due to be held at Hull University at 6.30pm on March 25th, but due to COVID-19 restrictions has been postponed. Entrance is free, but attendees must register on Eventbrite. Peter will have copies of his book available for purchase.

John Snell from Pocklington, sentenced to death at York assizes in 1816 for stealing a gun, a side of bacon and other articles from William Cook of Newton upon Derwent but his sentence was commuted to transportation to Australia.

He was then transported for a Life sentence aboard the ship 'Almorah', one of 180 convicts in April 1817 and arrived in Sydney on 29th August 1817 and from there transported to Van Diemen's Land penal colony aboard the ship 'Pilot'.

John Smith of Bielby was one of a group of self taught mathematicians and amateur astronomers from the Pocklington area and who all were friends and associates in the 1820's.

Donkey Races were a common event in Pocklington and usually held on the rugby ground, which must have had consequences for the pitch! An old schedule has been found for 1952 to add to the ones already on the site for 1964 and 1965.

Pocklington Wills and Inventories have been added to the site. These were originally transcribed by David Neave but put into spreadsheet form by Roger Bellingham. All the wills and inventories can be consulted in original form at the Borthwick Institute for Archives at York University.

Pocklington and District Local History Group in conjunction with Woldgate School, are raising money for the publication of a book on the history of the school. Following on from the success of the 60th anniversary of its founding, it was felt by the organisers of the event that a book should be created recording the history of the school and preserving the memories of its staff and pupils. The organisers and editors of the book will be ex-headmaster John Brown and Jane Henley committee members of Pocklington and District Local History Group. Any person donating £10 or more will get their name mentioned in the book as a sponsor. Any surplus monies will go to the Woldgate School fabric fund. The link to sponsor the production of the book is here: GoFundme Woldgate Book

Fangfoss 1845 Tithe Apportionment	Kilnwick Percy 1839 Tithes	Thornton 1845 Tithe Apportionment

Thanks to more great work from Mike Silburn and John Nottingham we have the plotted maps of land ownership and occupancy using the Tithe Maps for Fangfoss Parish, Kilnwick Percy Parish and Thornton Parish. Very useful for understanding where your ancestors held land in 1839 and 1845. Click on the maps above to go to the full detail.

Pocklington's Heritage Beanfeast proved to be a resounding success with 170 people packing into Burnby Hall for an evening of food, drink, music and an archaeology lecture, all with a Celtic twist, plus a pop-up museum of local artefacts. The event was in aid of efforts to turn Burnby Hall into a community and heritage centre that could house the internationally important archaeology found recently in Pocklington.

For more information on the evening <click here>.

John Nottingham and Mike Silburn have extended their researches into the enclosure acts and tithes apportionments in the local area and have produced a map and associated table for the parish and village of Burnby as at 1849, listing the landowners and their then tenants. We are grateful to John and Mike for their meticulous work in producing these local tithe and enclosure maps which are so useful for local and family history.

New Article on the Robson family of Pocklington

This new article on the Robsons of Pocklington was written by the late John Alan Robson who died in 2018. His daughters have given their kind permission to reproduce his extensive research.

Part of his family research focused on Thomas Robson (Solicitor of Pocklington) who lost 3 sons during the time of the first world war, two of which are mentioned in despatches for their bravery; Lt. Col. Frederick William Robson DSO and Captain Edward Moore Robson MC. The third son Richard Robson (pictured here), a solicitor in London, died in 1918 from a long standing heart condition. A multiple tragedy for the family was compounded by the death of Eva, Thomas Robson's wife in 1915.

Yapham and Meltonby Tithes apportionment for 1844

John Nottingham and Mike Silburn have again combined forces to produce a very complex map and associated table showing the 1844 Tithes Apportionment for Yapham and Meltonby.

Hasn't Pocklington grown!

Pocklington residents and visitors alike will be well aware of the extensive, ongoing residential housing developments within the town and especially around the outskirts.

John Nottingham has produced a composite map to illustrate just how much our market town of Pocklington has expanded over the last century or so.

Click on the map (left) to view the changes in just 100 years,

Stephen Caunce gave a talk to the Pocklington and District Local History group on Thursday 21st March, 2019 entitled "The Highlight of the Rural Year: The Agricultural Hiring Fairs of East Yorkshire, 1890-1925.". In addition to this, Stephen kindly provided an article to accompany his talk on Martinmas Hull Hiring Fair.

Another mammoth task has been completed by John Nottingham and Mike Silburn for the Bishop Wilton Enclosure map for 1772.
The sheer number of closes within the parish area, often only 1-2 acres in size and many more than in other local villages, means the map is far more detailed than usual.

To view the map click the link below, followed by the View Full Screen Link to see it in full detail :-

Bishop Wilton Enclosure 1772

The Ogle family were brickmakers in Melbourne and one branch in 1830 led by Henry Ogle emigrated to Maryland in the USA taking their brickmaking skills with them and built the local church there (pictured right). Henry's descendants have contacted decendents of the family still in this locality to exchange information.

More local bricks have been found with names embedded on the frogs. These include a 'Sykes' brick found in Sledmere and a brick possibly used as a drain brick and spelt in the Yorkshire way as "Dreain". J N P was most likely a brick made by "John Nottingham Pocklington" who was running the Burnby Lane 'White Brick Works' in 1879.

Another map has been created showing Millington 1771 Enclosure & 1843 Tithes Apportionment.

In the mid-1800s. Dr Frederick Gruggen (the then Headmaster of Pocklington Grammar School) consolidated, extended, improved and mapped the school's land holdings during his headship. A map has been created using the unique map in the possession of Pocklington school on Pocklington School Land Ownership in 1862.

The Everingham Family of Pocklington. Entrepreneurs who established many businesses in Pocklington. John T. Everingham was a master tailor and outfitter and his sons were pioneers of the Motor Cycle. John's son Wycliffe Galland Everingham established the garage still there today (as a filling station) on the corner of Barmby Road and George Street, Wycliffe created the first electrical business in the town, and also John's sons Irwin and Sydney established the Everingham Brothers bus service.

Pocklington strays now has an entry on the west coast of Ireland in County Mayo on the remote island of Achill. Edward Weddall was born in Burnby in 1844. He went to sea to become a ship's captain and late in life, his second marriage was to Emily, an irish nurse he met in France whilst recovering a tropical disease. They lived in Achill where Edward died. Emily wanted his gravestone to be a celtic cross which was objected to as a symbol of Irish Independance. Emily was a remarkable lady and fought the authorities to get her way and eventually became a champion of Irish Independance and a supporter of Sinn Fein.

Seaton Ross joins PocklingtonHistory.com !

The Seaton Ross Enclosure was quite late in 1814 but this new map also includes the 1851 Tithes apportionment together with all the names.

Bulmers trade directory for 1892 has also been transcribed. Read about one of Seaton Ross's most famous sons William Watson.




Pete Nelson started a topic in Pocklington Community Facebook with the words "They say that nostalgia isn't what it used to be" and proceeded to list the shops in Pocklington that he remembered, but which have disappeared. He sent me the list and a page has been created with links to a photograph. If you have any more you can provide, please send them to my email, and I will add them to the page.






The biggest map yet produced is for the Pocklington enclosure award for 1757 which links two maps, the second of which shows the Pocklington open field system upon which the award was made. The enclosure award allocates the ownership of the enclosed fields and garths to the individual people contained in the inset table. This is the culmination of many years of work by Roger Bellingham and latterly John Nottingham and we congratulate them both for their efforts and considerable achievement.


East Cottingwith joins PocklingtonHistory.com !
A new map depicts the subdivision of the outlying lands in the parish of East Cottingwith as allotted by the 1774 enclosure act, plus the various 'Close' (field) allotment owners listed in the table. The Village properties and garths have a seperate map to the parish enclosure for easier visiblity. Bulmers trade directory for 1892 has also been transcribed.

Bielby Parish Enclosure in 1817 depicts the subdivision of the outlying lands within the parish of Bielby, plus the properties within the village, allotted by the 1817 enclosure act. The various 'Close' (field) and property allotment owners' names are listed in the table.





Barmby Moor parish at various stages of its history from the late-1700s at enclosure time to the early 1900s. It shows the parish boundary in 1783, The 'Close' (field) boundaries as allotted in the 1783 enclosure act, and landowners and occupiers in the mid-1800s. If you have a piece of research to share please contact us.


Pocklington strays is new section on the website to record people from Pocklington and the area who have been buried away from the area but which their home place is mentioned on the monumental inscription.



A major piece of new research by John Nottingham and Mike Silburn is exclusively released on PocklingtonHistory.com. The Allerthorpe tithe apportionments for 1839 is now available to view. See which village properties and outlying fields your ancestors owned in 1839 in Allerthorpe parish.

Also, Pocklington Iron Age finds map has been updated to version 2.10.


Geoff Sheasby is Pocklington's current Town Crier. He has made a study of the history of Pocklington Bellmen (as they were commonly known).

In the first war the bellman had to warn the townsfolk when the gas was going off, and he was not always popular for doing so.




The rural East Riding's only World War 1 Victoria Cross winner, Harry Wood, was permanently commemorated in his home village on 13th October 2018. The Archbishop of York presided over a ceremony to honour the local hero at his birth place in Newton on Derwent. Members of his family unvieled the new permanent memorial to him in the village.

The young face of William Walker whose image appeared on the opening Saturday of the Pocklington Flower Festival - 'Remember Rejoice' brought in by his great nephew Robert Walker of Melbourne. Unfortunately the photograph was too late to be included in the new book for Pocklington and District on World War One which now is available for sale at ebay and local book stores. William Walker was wounded (shot in his thigh) at the Somme. He came back to England for recovery, and went back to the front only to be killed later at the Battle of Menin Road Ridge on 20th September 1917, aged 21.

The York Press have reviewed the book and conclude "Adieu to Dear Old Pock stands as a moving testament to that sacrifice."

The new WW1 book "ADIEU TO DEAR OLD POCK" is now available from local book stores. The above link also takes you to the book's surname index which means you can look up if your relative is included in the researched names.

The book is now available at:

W & C Forth, 13 Waterloo Lane, Pocklington.
Readwell & Wright Ltd., 69 Market Place, Pocklington.
Army Museum, 3A Tower St, York.
Burnby Hall Bookshop, Burnby Hall Gardens, The Balk, Pocklington.
Now also available at ebay

Good News !!!

Burnby Lane Archaeology dig has won "Rescue Project of the year" 2018 that is held by Current Archaeology magazine.

Congratulations to Paula Ware and her MAP Archaeology Team for a fantastic result. Also a big thank you for everyone who voted for our project. This will lead to a massive boost in our online petition, now with over 3800 signatures, and campaign to create a heritage facility in the town to store and display the finds. If you have not already done so, please Sign our Petition and also check out the Rescue Project of the year competition.

Can you identify this event in Pocklington? It may be a meeting of the Mothers Union and from the dress it could be taken in the 1940s. Can you name anyone on it, or provide a more accurate date then please let us know.



Woldgate School celebrated its 60th Anniversay of its opening this year and a photograph has been supplied of one its first classes. Class 1B of Miss Ulyatt in 1958.






To help with the idea of creating an Iron Age Museum and Heritage Centre, Pocklington Heritage Partnership (a collaboration of various groups) have created a district map to identify all the past Iron Age discoveries in the surrounding district. The surprising outcome is how extensive the finds are from the lowland and wolds escarpment areas together with the new large and substantial Cemetery found in the town at Burnby Lane makes Pocklington a logical place for a Museum to be situated.

The discovery of the lost Pocklington Council School Honours Board. Thanks to Paul Jennings this has now been found and rescued from a rubbish skip !


Bishop Wilton Local History Group was active between 2002 - 2012. It produced 20 bulletins of high quality research and information. They can now be purchased online and all revenues will go to Bishop Wilton Church. Visit the list of bulletins in the store.

** Update: Payment for the bulletins is now via Paypal


Arthur Barker of the Barker's Dairy family of Pocklington, recorded his recollections of growing up in Bielby and Pocklington and later being called up for active service during WW2 and to eventually receive the British Empire Medal.




Pocklington Council School girls with their teacher William Lamb and which looks from the style of clothes to be around 1910-1918 but would appreciate any feedback on specific date or any names you could provide.




Cockfighting was practiced in Pocklington since at least the seventeenth century. William Westoby, gent of Pocklington, left a Cock Pit in his will of 1707. By the 1820's public opinion was changing about banning the barbaric sport led by political leaders including William Wilberforce. Letters of protestation appeared in the papers and one in 1828 to the Yorkshire Gazette has been added to the web page.

Right: Alfred Summerson, a blacksmith's son who became a solicitor, was a leading contributor to the commercial and charitable life of Pocklington during the early years of the 20th Century and played a major role in the town during the First World War. Jim Ainscough has written a biography on this Pocklington solicitor who became a leading councillor on the Pocklington Urban District Council which was disbanded in 1935.

Left: Denis Moor interviewed earlier this year about his recollections of the Pocklington Canal, and diving in it when a member of the York sub-aqua club.

Obituaries: Pocklington & District Local History Group is sad to record the passing on Aug 18th of committeeman, Denis Moor aged 88, after a difficult battle with serious illness in the past couple of years. His funeral was on 1st Sept. 2017 at All Saints church. Denis was a talented electrical engineer who started out as an employee of Eric Lee's, and then set up his own business in Market Place where for decades he would repair anything and everything electrical. He was also a talented subaqua diver who dived to wrecks throughout Britain, and who recorded the underwater world of the Pocklington canal in a unique archive of hundreds of photographs that he recently deposited in the Treasure House. But Denis was perhaps best known in Pocklington for his stories about the town's people, places and events, from growing up in the 1930s, through the war years, including a favourite tale of being flown round the county by RAF Pocklington Squadron Leader Gus Walker in his personal plane, up to the present day. Denis' fund of stories was inexhaustible, and he loved telling them. His contribution to Pocklington's local history was recognised in April when he was made the History Group's first Life Member, and he told his tales to the end - he is pictured above being interviewed and filmed as part of the Pocklington Canal Heritage Project in July, when Denis added value to the archaeological dig into Robert Denison's warehouse site at Canal Head with his childhood reminiscences about playing in the warehouse ruins and learning to swim in the canal. Denis' demise follows on from the passing of another Pocklington man with a great knowledge of local history, Ken Durkin, who died in June. Though not an active member of the Local History Group, he nevertheless sought out and shared with us innumerable snippets and photographs about Pocklington history.

The last Pocklington 'Mummer' died in 1930. He was Christopher Scaife who used to perform the old plays at Christmas time and travelled around most of Yorkshire with a tradition that went back hundreds of years and with its origin in pagan times. If anyone has a photograph of Christopher Scaife please contact me. Also, the discovery of a 1940 Oak House Cinema programme in a Chimney !


More photographs received of Woldgate School in 1959 and also in 1961 and also Barmby Moor Carnival Queen from 1937. Recently added is the inside of Pocklington National school 1961. If you can add any names please contact us. Please send any photographs or school groups you would like to see added to this reference website for the town and district.

This year's 102 Squadron Association reunion saw a former RAF Pocklington pilot jet all the way from Australia to meet up for the weekend with three of his former World War II comrades. Ron Houghton, who lives in Sydney, was back in Pocklington for a week to take in the 102 Association reunion, based at the gliding club on the ex-WWII airfield, and visit some of his old haunts of over 70 years ago.

The cold war between powers in the Eastern Bloc (the Soviet Union and its satellite states) and powers in the Western Bloc (the United States, its NATO allies and others) was a sensitive time in the 1960's. Full Sutton Airfield had Thor Missiles installed and Elvington Airfield with Vulcan Bombers.


The story of the Wolds and Buckrose Spitfire is an inspirational story of a young Norwegian pilot who gave his life in the Battle of Britain flying a Spitfire partly bought by the people of Pocklington called the 'Wolds and Buckrose'.


Chariot discovered! - At the Burnby lane David Wilson Homes development, archaeologists have discovered the remains of an Iron Age Chariot with two horses. The discovery has been classified as of International Importance and a press release has been issued by David Wilson homes. If you have not signed our petition to keep the Burnby Lane Iron Age finds in Pocklington, please do so.

Allerthorpe School in 1920 group 2 class.
If you can add any names please contact us or have any school photographs to add to this website. Names to faces are always being added please keep checking the web pages.


Focus on Yapham:
A 1949 cricket team and 1954 cricket Team photograph. A 1960's WI meeting in Yapham School. Mr and Mrs Frear in their garden. Mr. Frear was a WW1 Wagoner.


Focus on Barmby Moor: A 1922 Barmby Moor School Photograph, an early Barmby Moor school group and a photograph of the very first Barmby Moor Carnival in 1935. A historical walk around Barmby Moor will take place on the evening of Thursday 29th June as part of our updated programme of events for the next year.

Please sign our petition to keep the Burnby Lane Archaeology finds in a heritage facility in Pocklington. The Pocklington and District Local History Group is leading a feasibilty study into the possibilities for this project and need to gauge support for the idea from the people of the town, If you agree sign the petition!

Left: an Iron Age Spear from the Parisi people who lived in the Pocklington area

The Nunburnholme Community Archaeology Project ran from 2014-2016 and included archaeology investigations on Nunburnholme Wold overlooking the village. The project involved locals from Nunburnholme, supported by other East Riding volunteers and led by Dr Peter Halkon, Lecturer in Archaeology at the University of Hull who has strong links to Nunburnholme.

The project discovered evidence of activity at Nunburnholme from the Neolithic through to the Medieval periods, and included finds from an substantial Iron Age hilltop enclosure at Nunburnholme Wold. The Nunburnholme project can be viewed on their website .

In 1789, the Pocklington Diligence Stagecoach ran from Hull through Beverley and Pocklington and on to the Black Swan Inn in Coney Street in York. A Diligence Stagecoach was usually four horses pulling a single or multi-compartment coach and often known as a "Dilly".


Mary Dewsberry was a prominant lady in the early 19th Century. She was a businesswoman and a philanthropist for the town. John Nottingham has written a biography as she has links to his family history. The image here is Watson's drawing of her house in Union Street called Dewsberry house, now long since gone.

Brickmaking in the Pocklington area has been researched by John Nottingham and his previous research (previously published on this website) has been significantly enhanced.

If you have anything to add on Brickmaking please contact us. We always welcome articles for publication on this website. Have a go, and you will find it quite rewarding to do.


Eric Lee closes after 83 years and we record the part played by the business in the development of the town.


Please send us your memories of the electrical business which provided employment to so many in the town.



The Manor Court Call Roll transcribed by Heidi Woodhouse for 1793 to 1803. See if your ancesters attended the call to the Manor Court of Robert Denison Esq. Lord of the Manor.


Chapmangate Nursery in the 1970's kindly provided by Beverley Croft.

Please let us know the names if you can.



A history of Beacon Lodge has been written by Nigel Glew. The Masonic Hall was built at No. 8, The Mile in 1928 by a number of founding members including Wycliffe Galand Everingham, Francis Scaife and George Arthur Reed.




An autobiography has been discovered of the early life of Herbert Johnson who was born and raised in Pocklington. It is thought to be the only surviving copy. It has details of his growing up in the town, meeting the love of his life, working at Allisons, fighting in WW2 in Italy, and post-war life. A unique, fascinating and detailed account, which is now saved for posterity.

A Time capsule is to be buried at the archeology dig site. David Wilson Homes is to install a time capsule at its Pocklington based housing development, Pavilion Square, where many Iron Age finds have been unearthed. The local house builder is installing the time capsule to celebrate the discoveries at the site of its Pavilion Square development, on Burnby Lane.

The wedding of Harold Waters to Mabel outside the methodist church in Union Street with members of the Payne family during the war..

Please let us know if you can name others in the photograph.


A tutorial on how to use this website to find out the location of the house of your ancestor in Pocklington using the example of Thomas Blanchard.

Thomas was a Fellmonger and operated from the old house now used for English's Pet shop.


The history of Pocklington electrical supply has been added to the website including information on Eric Lee's electrical business one of the oldest business names still trading in the town.

The electrical supply arrived in the town in 1933 and soon after Eric Lee started his business in the town. This was followed by Fred Kirk and other businesses to supply televisions and electrical goods.


On 11th December 2015 in Hayton village hall, Dr Peter Halkon, Professor Martin Millett and Dr Helen Woodhouse launched their book about the long term project to excavate and study the Roman Fort found at Hayton. Information on their book can be found here.


The newspaper report of the Burnby Lane Iron Age Site states that the site has so far yielded 156 skeletons and 76 square barrows.

Voices from the past - Recently discovered recordings of WW1 veterans were found by the York Oral History Society. Five local veterans recorded in 1980/81 by Alf Peacock were played back at a recent meeting of the Pocklington and District Local History Group together with pictures and film.


An old document of 1559 was found on an online auction site of William Plaxton of Pocklington. It is probably linked to a later document of 1585 of Thomas Plaxton and also available to view on this site.


The story of families of emigrants from Pocklington founding a community in Detroit, Michigan in the United States of America. The families included Vaux, Lamb and Lee.

Picture left is James "Boss" Vokes who emigrated from Pocklington in 1843 to Detroit, Michigan, USA. If you have any information on the Leesville settlers please contact us.


Can you identify?? ... A new page has been added for photographs we have difficulty in identifying the place, the names of the people, or the date it was taken. Please contact us if you can help.

* Latest Update - one photo has been identified !


A superbly researched and referenced article has been kindly provided for publication on this website by Andrew Rose on the Rudston family of Hayton and Allerthorpe. This family were a most prominant family in the area with links going back to the 1100's.


While the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta was recently celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic by a series of major events and extensive media coverage, Pocklington & District Local History Group focussed on the numerous local links to ‘The Great Charter’ at its June meeting. Read about Pocklington links to the Magna Carta.



Pocklington has always had a good Pigeon Racing group. They would send their pigeons on the train from Pocklington Station.

Also, Woldgate Catering staff early 1960's and Council School PE 1957/58


For the 2015 Flying Man history exhibition John Nottingham and Jeff Peck have completed an excellent research project on the history of Pocklington Airfield. It includes new aerial photographs of the construction of the airfield. They have kindly agreed for it to be made available for viewing on this website. Picture on the right is Gus Walker meeting Bomber Harris at Pocklington Airfield.


The 8th May 2015, was the 70th anniversary of VE day. Phil Gilbank wrote an article for the Pocklington Post for its commemoration and it is reproduced here.




Rachel Walker is Pocklington Canal & River Trust Development Officer. She has been employed to develop an application to the Heritage Lottery Fund for works on the canal, which will include:

·         Works to improve the SSSIs
·         Restoration to two of the bridges
·         Interpretation of the Canal
·         Providing activities, events and opportunities for volunteers to get involved

If you would like to get involved in the project please contact Rachel via her Facebook page and take part in her survey by visiting this link

A skeleton of a warrior buried with his shield has been found at the recently discovered Iron Age Cemetery in Burnby Lane. Over 38 square barrows and over 82 burials have so far been excavated by Paula Ware and her team of archeologists. David Wilson homes are currently constructing 77 new houses on the site. See the Pocklington Post story here.


Information on the Rennard Family of the Wolds together with an old Tayleure CDV photograph. John Rennard was born in Millington in 1849 and his family were dales farmers.



Pocklington Urban District Council taken around 1933 with Alfred Summerson, Herbert Meynell, George Scaife Joseph Butterworth, Sydney Everingham and George William Haw (Chairman).




The exciting discovery of an Iron Age cemetery in Burnby Lane was presented at a public meeting in Pocklington on the 19th March, 2015. The size and preservation of the site has surprised and amazed the archeologists and the site has been raised to international importance. View the meeting report here.



Various photographs of the National School in New Street and the Council School in Kirkland Street. Also a photograph of the National School in 1964.





Shiptonthorpe Home Guard no. 5 Platoon met twice a week, Tuesday nights and Sunday mornings in an old WW1 hut in Station Road. It was formed in 1940, and was made up of a section of the East Riding 4th Battalion.



Francis Scaife who died in 1937, was a benefactor for the town providing in his will for the creation of a swimming pool, which opened in 1965 bearing his name. The Scaife family roots go back in Pocklington to at least the seventeeth century and carried out a variety of trades and professions in the town including a large brewery business in New Pavement which closed in 1895.



Bishop Wilton Local History Group was active between 2002 - 2012. It produced 20 bulletins of high quality research and information. They can now be purchased online and all revenues will go to Bishop Wilton Church. Visit the list of bulletins in the store.



The oldest film of Pocklington is the Memorial Parade of 1932. It shows the Legion of Frontiersmen marching out of the Territorial Drill Hall in Barmby Road, and the cadets and girl guides marching past the railway gatehouse on West Green.




Old Film of Pocklington (n.b. Video now updated) taken in the 1960's has been added to the website thanks to Bob Sissons.. Also, a picture of the National School in the1950's , the Council School in 1953 and a picture of New Farm Chicken Factory in Target Lane.



Pocklington Fire Brigade was formed in 1897 following the 'great fire' of 1896. There were mentions of earlier fire fighting facilities in the town prior to this date (see the flax fire report of 1856). The fire station used to be located in George Street until destroyed by a fire in 1966 and then was subsequently moved to its present site next to the bus station.

Focus on Wilberfoss: Wilberfoss is now added to the District Pages together with The History of Wilberfoss as printed in Bulmers 1892 Directory. Also, a comprehensive article on Wilberfoss Priory written by George Beedham in 1917. A Gallery of old photographs of Wilberfoss.



4th August 2014 was the 100th Anniversary of the start of World War One, and to mark the occasion, Pocklington held a re-dedication of the War Memorial. The Pocklington and District Local History Group, in conjunction with the Pocklington Town Council, held an exhibition called 'Fallen Heroes' to commemorate the WW1 dead in early November 2014. Please see our page of Pocklington and District World War One heroes


Brickmaking in the Pocklington Area researched and written by John Nottingham, whose ancestors were brick makers. Local brickworks including Pocklington and a large brickworks at Melbourne benefitted from the opening of the Canal to transport the bricks.

Bishop Wilton Local History Group was disbanded in 2012 following the sad news of the untimely death of it's founder, Mike Pratt. Mike created a super website on Bishop Wilton history and the original website has now disappeared from the internet. I have managed to rescue it and have uploaded it to the Pocklington and District Local History Group website to preserve it's valuable information. The Bishop Wilton Local History Group Website.

Dating and naming the people in old photographs is often a problem. Sometimes a photograph can ask more questions than provide answers. A case in point is the photograph of Elizabeth Askwith of Greenwick farm, Givendale. She died in 1867 yet a Tayleure photograph from the family shows it stamped in Market Place when Michael Tayleure did not arrive in Pocklington until 1870, and did not operate in Market Place until the 1880's?

Also, Edward Wilson Askwith of Millington, and a page on the Hutments at the Millington Camp at Ousethorpe.

Motor Cycling in Pocklington was pioneered by the Everingham family and the Tinson family. Wycliffe Everingham was a Flight Lieutenant, Motor Cycle & Wireless Pioneer and Engineer.







A set of photos has been sent which includes Yapham School around 1952 and Yapham School in 1953-54. A view from top of Yapham Mill and a lambing photo at the top of Givendale.




Pocklington's part in testing (very) early flying machines and also the early aeroplane landing grounds at Barmby Moor and how they were used in World War One and attacked by German Zeppelins.

An eye-witness account of Pocklington airfield during the second world war. David Cottrell tells the story of his family who escaped the blitz in London to live in Pocklington and watch the planes taking off and landing on the airfield.

William Watson was a notable son of Seaton Ross. He was a farmer, map-maker, sundial maker, astronomer, musician and diarist. This remarkable man is studied by Malcolm Young.

Grimthorpe Manor has a fascinating history. It is the site of an ancient Iron Age Hillfort and where the ancient manor-house of the barons Fitz William of Grimthorpe was situated, the name derives from an Anglo-Danish chief succeeded by William the son of Ulf, the Norman thegne. The Lords of Greystoke lived there for hundreds of years. The old stone Manor house was demolished in 1804 by the Denison family and a brick farm house was built on the site.



John Singleton was the first professional jockey and was born in Melbourne, near Pocklington. He started at the stable of Wilberforce Read at Grimthorpe. He was later employed by Lord Rockingham for whom he took part in all major races from the early 1760s until 1780. He later settled at Great Givendale where later generations of Singletons lived.


Nunburnholme Point-to-Point Races 1930's and Woldgate School 1962 class and Pocklington Choir photos.






Two photographs of Village Schools. The last class photograph of Yapham School in 1969-70,
and Fangfoss school in 1974.





Information and photographs about local aircraft crashes and incidents during the 1939-45 conflict and in the post war years.

More school photos. National School 1955 and National School 1956. More names for National School 1957, National School 1958 and National School 1959, new photo of Woldgate 1960.







The last Pocklington Agricultural Show was held in 1931 and before 1923 was the Horse and Foal Show.






Pocklington C.of E. School Sept. 1954

With names, but no positions, can you match the names with the faces?

Let us know.

1954 National School photo.

Please let us know the names to the faces.

The extraordinary story of convict Jane James, a "Wholesale Plundererer" transported to Australia from Melbourne (near Pocklington), written by one of her descendants.

Jack Huck - Rat Catcher with his Jack Russell Terrier "Mick"





The Pocklington School Foundation Charter and it's story written by Phil Gilbank.

Dr. Kate Giles of York University Archaeology Dept., launches our Autumn programme!

'Richard III and the Middleham Jewel'

Stop Press: Dr. Peter Halkon confirms a date in October.

Easton's Directory of Pocklington for 1845 and index to the 1844 Watson map. Transcribed by Roger Bellingham.





The Silburn family of Pocklington - An important family in Pocklington with the name going back in local parish records for a number of centuries. They have links to the other old established family names of Singleton and Powell.




Pocklington National School Rugby in the 1940's

What are the boys holding? Does anyone know?




Pocklington ATC in 1945 and taken at Pocklington Golf Club. Do you recognise anyone?

*Latest - more information has been provided on the names.



Airfield memories of Dick Cains whose father Eric (pictured here) was a miller at Devonshire Mill, and a member of the home guard in 1942. He witnessed some remarkable sights of returning aircraft, the enemy bombing of the town, and became close to the brave crewmen who flew their missions from Pocklington.

Hull Daily Mail Oct. 1928 - Historical Mems: A History of Pocklington

Millington school about 1920.

Do you recognise anyone?

Can you date the photo?

Adelulf - the forgotton bishop. Pocklington has produced many remarkablechurchmen from Medieval times right up to the 20thcentury, but none can be said to have had the impact of the town’s first known cleric, Adelulf, who was one of the leading 12th century churchmen and politicians on both sides of Hadrian’s Wall during the reign of Henry I.

*Parish Register Transcripts*

Roger Bellingham's Dade Register research
Baptisms - 1778 - 1788
Marriages - 1754 - 1802
Burials - 1752 - 1761

*Emigration* - East Yorkshire Emigration fascinating stories.

*Extracts* - The History of Nunburnholme from an article in the Hull Daily Mail in 1929.

York Oral History Society has a collection of 285 recordings with WW1 veterans conducted in the early 1980s by Dr Alf Peacock. The veterans are from various parts of the country, but predominantly Yorkshire. They are planning to produce a book, exhibition and workshops in schools in 2014, using the material.  They are seeking to contact descendants of the veterans in order to copy any photographs they may have, and are happy to give a copy of the relevant recording in return.

They have the following interviews with Pocklington area men –

George Barker, born 1877 Leeds
Hawksworth Barker (known as Oxy), born 1891
Oscar Bell, born York, November 1892
Thomas Flint, Pocklington, born 13 December, 1885
Bill Harrison, born Nunburnholme 15 July 1898
Arthur Aylett from Allerthorpe
Charles Richardson, born Kirk Deighton, 11 March 1898
Stan Robson, Pocklington, September 1893.

If you have any photographs of the above people then please contact the co-ordinator of the project, on vann@vanalexinamay.freeserve.co.uk.

*New* - Parish Records search. A new page with links for searching Pocklington Parish Records using the batch code feature of the IGI.

Pocklington Airfield memories



An original painting by Peter Smith depicting his memories of Mk.III Halifax bombers of 102 (Ceylon) Squadron leaving Pocklington airfield to rendezvous with others over the East Yorkshire coast before setting out for a raid over Germany in early September 1944. Read his memories here.

Manor History Research

Watson's 1855 Map showing the Manor House Yard in Railway Street.

The PLHG have identified three Manors:-

1. The Royal or Dolman Manor
2. The Dean of York's Manor
3. The Hall Garth Manor

An overview of the Manor Timeline can be viewed here.

Update of Mill Research

White Mill page and the St. Helens gate Mill page.

William Watson's maps on the website

William Watson was a surveyor and mapmaker, who was born in Seaton Ross and lived in Market Weighton and Pocklington. In all the places he lived, he drew maps of, and the 1855 Pocklington map above was the last one he completed.

Archives -> Maps -> 1844Map -> 1844 Map of Pocklington
Archives -> Maps -> 1855Map -> 1855 Map of Pocklington

These distinguished ladies and gentlemen are the Pocklington Board of Guardians who looked after the Pocklington workhouse and the Poor of the Parish. A superb surviving photograph, taken in 1897, with all their names can be found in Burnby Hall, or by clicking the link on the next line. (The next line also shows where the index can be found on the Menu system for this site.)

Archives -> People -> Prominent People -> Pocklington Board of Guardians

Pocklington Survey and Valuation for 1824



A rare surviving copy was discovered in private ownership and has been typed and posted to the reference section of the Pocklington History website. It is a very valuable and detailed survey of all of the property and land in and around Pocklington in 1824. It mentions there is a plan to go with it, but unfortunately this has not survived.

Archives -> Reference -> 1824 Survey and Valuation

Pocklington at War



The town of Pocklington was greatly involved in the war effort to defeat Hitler's Germany. A large airfield was constructed in 1941 to the west of the town near to Barmby Moor and initially became the home of the Canadian 405 squadran with Wellington bombers and later the 102 squadran with Halifax bombers. The photograph above show Halifaxes by daylight at Pocklington in 1943.

A new section has been added to the website on World War 2. Choose:
History->20th Century->Pocklington at war->Early Days in Pocklington
History->20th Century->Pocklington at war->Le Creusot Raid
History->20th Century->Pocklington at war->That Fateful night

Pocklington is changing

The pace of change in the town of Pocklington is accelerating, and many old buildings and structures have already disappeared. The memories of residents, and photos of the old town need to be recorded for future generations. Many people around the world have family links with Pocklington and the local villages, and they may seek information that will give them some idea of where their ancestors lived, where they worked, and how they lived their lives. Pocklington History will not only give everyone an oversight as to what life was like in this small market town, but it is set to heavily expand in the near future - almost becoming an archive in itself.


One of the earliest images of Pocklington drawn in 1719 (src: Samuel Buck)

Although the initial content of this website is managed and written by me, I encourage anyone that could supply me with any further information, photos, or even articles to get in touch. I can have your contribution uploaded and added as soon as possible. (The dark links in the menu are the pages that are still to be completed). I am archivist for the Pocklington & District Local History Group and can scan any items for immediate return.

I intend to create and transcribe much of the material published here but may use extracts from published work and give due acknowledgement. Pocklington has not fared well from published material but the definitive account is by David Neave called “Pocklington 1660-1914: A small East Riding Market Town” and still available for purchase in Forths.

Andrew Sefton.

Website launched: February 18th 2007.