SUTTON AND WAWNE MUSEUM - FAMILY HISTORY ENQUIRIES, LINKS, CONTACTS, ETC

A LIST OF LOCAL LINKS AND OTHER ARCHIVES

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Few churches, if any, still hold their own original Parish Records;
they are far too fragile and valuable to be risked 'out in the parishes'
as they used to be in days of yore, often stored in damp vestrys in the 'parish chest.'

This is the case with Sutton and Wawne's parish records.
We do have here many other records, and copies of records,
though most detailed enquiries about Births, Marriages and Deaths
formerly held within the old Church and Parish Archives
are best directed to one of two places;

Before you start looking anywhere for hard-copy records, bear this in mind:
Sutton on Hull is an oddity; it has feet in 'both camps'.
Up to 1927, Sutton was in the county, so early parish records reside in the county archives at Beverley, the ancient county town. After 1927, the Hull city boundary extended to include Sutton, so modern records to do with residents, electoral registers, wartime records, etc, reside with HCC, specifically at The History Centre. Exactly the same situation applies to the many 'old villages', now suburbs, of our bigger towns and cities today. Boundaries move, jurasdictions change, and you end up with your family history being covered by two separate Records Offices, often dozens of miles apart. Such is life.

1. THE TREASURE HOUSE, BEVERLEY ...
County Record Office, East Riding Archives
Lord Roberts Road,
Beverley, East Yorkshire
HU17 9BA
Tel Hull 392790
Email their librarians and archivists.
The above link opens a new browser window to the East Riding Archives, in The Treasure House, for most of the original church records of all churches in the East Riding. Any records there are in Sutton & Wawne are only extracts and copies pertaining to those villages themselves, and are not complete for the area. There is a tremendous amount of information there at Beverley .. maps, census returns, hearth taxes, Poor Law Unions, Quarter and Petty Sessions Court proceedings and judgements, and a host more. You'll probably do your first or earliest research in Sutton, at this Family History Resource Centre inside the Old School, which is more often now called the museum. Then you could explore what the local government archives may have later. Their website is a useful first stop to tell you what they have, and where it may be found, but you'll still need to go to Beverley at some time to see the actual records themselves.

2. HULL HISTORY CENTRE
In 2008, a great historic change came to Hull. The new Hull History Centre, on the former Mason St car park literally directly opposite the Central Fire Station, was then a £10.5million multi-funded project, with funds coming partly from government, local authorities and the National Lottery. The building opened in January, 2010. Local History Archives, from the city library, Hull University and previously hidden city archives, are now centralised, and some of the sites listed here have transferred a good deal of their family history activity to the new site. It is impressive. An excellent facility, and it did Hull proud.
BUT PLEASE BE AWARE OF NEW OPENING TIMES;
Ongoing Government cut-backs this past 10yrs or more now mean our flagship city facility is likely to progressively open less and less. It's closed altogether on Mondays, and only opens alternate Saturdays. Words like 'End', 'Wedge' and 'Thin' are the ones that immediately come to mind. Plans are afoot to privatise the History Centre, along with other libraries and leisure facilities. Entrance and use of the facilities is free for Hull residents, for now. The truth is, if we hadn't got that facility when we did, we wouldn't have got it now. Hull residents will increasingly find it a hard trick to keep hold of it through never-ending funding cuts, or even keep it at all.

CARN CARDS: these are needed to access the deep archives, voter registers for years past, etc. But the CARN system is being updated, to take account of Data Protection rules. If you already have one, you will need to re-register to renew it.

HULL & DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY RESEARCH GROUP . . .
does now have its own website. The Group was set up in 2006, meets on Thursday mornings at Garden Village Clubhouse, and is open to new members with a specific interest in Hull's local history, and they arrange many walks and talks, most of which take place on Thursday mornings.

ARCHON . . . is a very useful site if you are starting from scratch, and particularly if you live away from your original family area. So if you're in the East Riding, but your heritage is Worcestershire and you've no idea how to make a start, and cannot physically get back there, look at this excellent site provided by the National Archives. You will see all the resources in Worcestershire, internet links, giving you some idea of which records do exist. Then, if you have the opportunity to go back to Worcester yourself, or can get someone there to help you, you can be pre-armed with a list of addresses and contacts. ARCHON gives a link to every County Archive centre, equal to our Treasure House in Beverley, where you would get at the very least the details of the local family history society, which would be an excellent place to start remote searching from hundreds of miles away.

DUSTY DOCS . . . worth a visit to see the vast number of links, to a huge number of genealogy-related history subjects. A mine of information indeed, including to other countries and indexes - or should that be indexi .. In the Guides menu on the left-hand side, go down 6 links, to a fairly innocent question, "What are Parish Records." Clicking that link will lead you into a page that very well explains the answer to that question, but also a box in which you enter which country, so England, Ireland, etc. This then magically unlocks into huge lists of info that will make your heart jump if you are new to this.

These helpful sites make MY heart jump, and a wish that we had as much free info to start with 30 years ago. For instance, there's a description of that incurable condition commonly known as 'genealogy-pox' - as well as other medieval conditions and occupations. For strangers to the UK and our county system, there's a useful map and guide to the 'real' counties of Britain, ie, pre-1974 when so-called local government reforms messed it all up with new names and and boundary changes that still baffle today's researchers. It explains the differences between our historic counties, those areas and names that go back to Norman and Saxon times, and the later 'administrative counties', created by government acts and reforms from the 1800s onwards to deal with censuses and increasing urbanisation as big towns and cities got even bigger.

Confusion didn't all start with 1974. There's a free family tree chart to download to get you started, and lots of other similar helpful items. It has to be said that the site is heavily linked to "Family Search", ie, the Mormon Church site in Salt Lake City, but they have come on a long way. Perhaps that may be because, even today the IGI (Family Search) is still such a big archive and mostly accessible for free. For those starting out, and unsure whether to spend money on research or how much, this DustyDocs is a good place to start, as enormous amounts can be discovered for free. We did most of our own family tree using the IGI (as I call it), when there were far fewer resources 10 years ago than there are now. I.G.I. stands for International Genealogical Index, so in other words, Family Search and the Mormon Church -- all the same thing.

CYNDI'S LIST . . . the world famous Family History Research site, operating now for over 40 years and going from strength to strength. We have submitted our own site address now that we are a dot-org site. As many genealogists everywhere will tell you, this site is like gold dust when you've hit that proverbial brick wall. It is huge, with an enormous number of links. If stuck with your own family line, give this one a try, especially if you are looking for family emigration to or from the US or Canada, or the wider world. They can show you records of small towns in the back of beyond you would never find otherwise. If they show you a link that is 'broken', check their updated links page. You never know what you may find. You can also apply to the list to post a link of your own, or suggest one you have found helpful by going direct to THIS PAGE

ALSO .. here is a FANTASTIC free internet resource for local East Yorkshire folk .. you can get to it via the link above, but here is a direct line . . it opens in a new browser . . .
YorkshireBMD ... the online record for Yorkshire Births, Marriages and Deaths. An incredible resource to be available so quickly. I tried it in the Birth Index with my neighbour's name, and instantly brought up basic details of his birth year, and ALSO his other family members. It doesn't say, just yet, who is related to who .. you have to work that out for yourself. Tip: if you want it to check ALL years from 1837 to 1947, hold down the Ctrl AND the Shift keys as you select the first year, and the last. Then it'll check the lot. If you don't put in an initial, it will find every birth registered under that name between 1837 and 1937 . . then 1946 +1947.

For one very good reason, the Hull birth index for the war years are missing . . that's because expectant mothers were mostly evacuated out of the city to safer places in the country. Many wartime babies were born at Gate Burton Hall near Gainsborough, which had a wing converted to a maternity ward. It seems a long way, but it was just a ferry and a bus ride away, that was no worse than going to Bridlington. The site has some 188,000 marriages already done, and just a few deaths so far. Updates are going up by the week .. there's a FAQ page, and a list of what areas and years have been covered so far.

FreeBMD . . . another excellent free online resource, but covering all the UK, run by the same people as above at YorksBMD. Search by county, then by town. Be aware, that unlike other indexes, when inputting your relative's name, the Surname goes in first .. it catches me out every time. I'm not going to admit to how many times I've searched for Smith Hilda !

It may be a point of minor interest, that the FreeBMD servers are housed in a redundant underground bunker on a former RAF station in Sussex, once used for the safe storage of nuclear bombs.

UK PARISH LOCATOR ... this truly is a stunning and very clever little UK-wide programme, and I do wish I'd discovered it before. Opens in a new window at their website. It's especially useful for finding parishes, and their proximity to each other, in counties other than your own. We mostly know our own counties well, and Hull and ER folk wouldn't need a locator to find even lesser known parishes around our own. But what happens when you find relatives in Cornwall, Herefordshire or Durham. Unless you happen to know those well too, you'll spend hours seeing unfamiliar parish names in lists before some of them will start to make sense as you realise which ones are next door to each other. This programme, downloadable free (it is Freeware, no subs req.) is superb, gives a list of parishes within a set distance of the one you've found, calculates distances, tells you in which compass direction, plus a map reference that can load a Streetmap showing where it is. Very useful for anyone abroad with UK links but haven't the faintest idea of where's where without actually coming here. And a must if you are actually planning to visit a lot of parishes. All too often, you'll find a couple who are listed in different villages, or even counties, then find their respective family homes were only a few hundred yards either side of parish or county boundary, ie, in reality, near neighbours! Save a lot of leg-work. A brilliant time-saver for visitors. And we can give it you for free if you bring a stick or card into the museum on Fridays. Enjoy.

OLD OCCUPATIONS of Years Ago . . . an A-Z of terms and descriptions. If you ever wanted to know what a 'Rack Maiden' or a 'Danter' did, you'll find it there. As a clue, both of those jobs were for females. Curious? The site also has other fascinating pages, including old medical terms found in genealogy, illnesses, plus latin terms and translations. A wealth of information awaits.

MYHERITAGE.com ... the one British site we can offer here, growing fast and does appear to be very good. But, it is a pay site, with a 14-day free trial. Run from London, owned by publishers DC Thomson, it should be reliable so long as internet connections are robust, as they increasingly are these days. Not always so in the past. The main point here, being British, you are not dependant on "continuing good relations in international trade." That makes me sound prejudiced. Perhaps so, insomuch I trust no one when we know they are only after our pennies. Foreign is foreign, it means just that. Don't be fooled by so-called guarantees.

ELLIS ISLAND - and Genealogy
For those who have interests in emigration to the US, this 'History of Ellis Island' link will be of interest. This rounds off this short section of immediately useful links, and one of only two American links I will add to help Yorkshire folk researching their family history, should they chance upon this page. Like the link above, it was suggested by an American researcher, called Alyssa and on behalf of her daughter, Becca, who aspires to be an historian.

This are the only such link we will host - American genealogy sites have plenty of their own, and folks looking for such links to do with the US or its history wouldn't normally start by visiting this site anyway. It will be noted below that we refuse any links that contain advertising to products or services, and many we do get asked to add do indeed have 'covert' or 'sublimimal' advertising enclosed. This page actually advertises the cruise company that take visitors to Ellis Island, and as such is borderline acceptable. But please, no more. I am aware that having added this request, it acts as a 'pull magnet' to be inundated with more.

But other requesters, please note, we are a British site after all, and if I added every American link I was sent, it would swamp the British ones on this page - there's far more of them. Plus it must be remembered that most American sites carry unashamed advertising, promoting products and services, in a way that we older folks in Britain generally try to avoid. Most are a distracting nuisance that cost time dealing with them. So adding that first link was a trial, to see if we get any complaints. It appears to be for an educational institution that actually promotes genealogy, rather than the usual ambulance-chasing lawyers, legal, banking and financial organisations we often get asked to add, mostly not interested in genealogy but in money and the making of vast sums of same. We are a small local British museum, and I don't have the time to sift between the good and the bad. So this should act as a "STOP SIGN" to any fervant American business advertisers out there thinking we're a soft touch and they might add a few more cents to their growing links portfolio, as has been the case with our 'Other-Links' page. We have a specially written page for Link Requesters to peruse before sending their request.

Such 'requesters' will almost certainly be offended when they read it. I'm not bothered anymore. I've gone beyond being bothered or care if certain 'business' folk are offended or not. I tell it how it is. For those genuinely interest in history, BRITISH history, they don't even need to see it, so, best to move on .. .. ..

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BUT WHAT IS THERE HERE, IN OUR MUSEUM
INSIDE THE OLD SCHOOL IN SUTTON .. .. .. ?

... I hear you ask. Well, an amazing amount of information is available in Sutton itself . . more and more all the time. And also now here on the web, there is an extensive list further below.

It's worth remembering that the present Clergy and Church Office have little or no information about Sutton's distant past. Indeed, for historical information, the vicar comes to us. What local knowledge there is, from a purely historical point of view, now resides in the main with other (and mainly older) members of the congregation and parish who specialise in family or local history. Where they can, they are glad to help, but in most cases, they could only point you in the direction of the few sites already listed here, or direct you to the Family History Resource Centre in the Museum inside The Old School, mostly on Friday lunchtimes from 10am to 2pm.

We now have a typed, digitised and searchable record in the Museum of most of the 2,000 or so graves in St James' churchyard, (the MI's, or Monumental Inscriptions), as well as photos of just about all of them, and also a similar record of the 214 graves in St Peter's at Wawne. And yes, we do now hold photos of those at St Peter's too. The details of what may be available are in the "Archives Available at Sutton" section below. The two booklets that formerly comprised the grave records are now published as one spiral bound volume, also available to purchase from the local societies, local libraries, etc, priced around �12, plus p&p - (in 2015). MI's for most of the East Riding, including Wawne, are now available via mail-order online from the East Yorkshire Family History Society, on their Publications Page. They have prices for overseas postage too.

But for most "original" archives, to get photocopies of Parish Records, wills, etc, you need to be at The City Record Office or the East Riding Archives listed above. It's difficult to be specific there; it depends on the records you are seeking. Up to 1927, Sutton was in the East Riding, so old parish records are lodged at The Treasure House in Beverley. I understand now that they have most of St James' records up to 1974. Records after that are with Hull City Council, and generally reside at the History Centre behind the New Theatre. Wawne still is in the East Riding, and all their records are at Beverley. Copies of birth and death certificates for Sutton can be obtained from Beverley Treasure House for dates up to around 1927, and from Hull City Council at The Wilson Centre in Alfred Gelder St for modern times.

For any other research information, or to view copies of certain archives dealing just with Sutton and Wawne, there is a short list below detailing a little of what is available here in The Resource Centre in the former Sutton School. There is a surprising amount even here, yet this is by no means a complete list of all there is to be seen. Every week sees new people from the far corners of the earth taking the opportunity of being in Sutton to go and research some aspect of their family history.

Fridays, 10 - 2pm, are a regular lunchtime club in there, and whilst I wouldn't guarantee you'll find first time what you came for, you will certainly find a lot of other fascinating information pertaining to the village your forebears lived in, and your own heritage. Apart from that, it's almost alongside the church, the graveyard is round the back, and the Sutton War Memorial is also 'next door' on Church Street front. Wawne church and churchyard are about a mile-an-a-half further up Wawne Rd. Research here is unexpectedly and conveniently quite compact. Naturally, bring a camera. If you also have a smartphone, you will also have a way of taking digital notes as well as photos.

Tip 1 : if visiting a grave ... bring a flower, or posy : most wish they had.

Tip 2 : if you have the use of a computer, bring a memory stick/flash drive, or a camera card. We can save data to most formats, including CD, and can still use floppy discs at a push. You can take free digital copies from our computer of any files we have on file. If you have a good digital camera, you can also take your own copies of our photos in the collection, whether on the walls or in our albums.

Scanned photo prints from the archived collections can be now supplied, to order, for the usual modest fee, which in effect part pays for the paper, inks, and part pays a donation to the upkeep of the running of the Museum. Similarly, visitors to our museum can request us to email them a scanned photo or documents, and we would respectfully ask if you could contribute something.

A list of other useful links to other websites is below,
after the Sutton Archive details:

In the meantime, do View and Sign our

you may well see a link to someone
who can also help with your enquiry.

Click here if you want to see a picture of Rob,
your website host and admin bod.
You'll wish you hadn't ....

ARCHIVES AVAILABLE
in
THE SUTTON & WAWNE MUSEUM
in the "Old School and Family History Resource Centre"
open every Friday lunchtime,
10am - 2pm

ENTRY is FREE
Joint Managers: Liz Cook & June Irvine
click here to view some photos
Pictures at an Exhibition

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The Sutton & Wawne Museum usually has extra opening days and hours during National Heritage Weekend each September. So, if you can't manage Fridays
when the museum is normally open at lunchtime,
those summer Saturdays may be your best chance!

This is only a brief list of what is really a vast amount of local information available in the museum inside the Old School. All are welcome to come and look at what is in effect both a small museum to Sutton & Wawne, and a small reference library of documents, copies of archives, maps, and hundreds of photographs relating to the whole area. Admission is free. There is also a considerable amount of information on Stoneferry and The Groves too . . all these histories are so intertwined. There are also some records from Cleveland and Cumbria, courtesy of their various Family History Societies and Groups, more details also below ... scroll down.

It has to be said that Sutton's must be one of the best-documented local histories for a village of its size anywhere in the UK, not only for the quality of the material and presentation, but also for it being available locally within the village, literally inside the museum within The Old School and almost next door to the church and churchyard. Many of today's Sutton residents are completely unaware of what is here, and this info may be of some help in redressing the balance.

This list is not in any particular order . . please take it as it is. The items are not hyperlinked, so are not available on the web yet. However, scanning the entire photo collection of some several thousand items is almost complete, to make it safe for posterity, as well as a possible future availability of part of the collections on CDs, for a modest fee. Currently, funding is needed for this. If anyone can help with a modest local history project ... ?

Feel free to bring a digital camera or your laptop. It is certainly worth bringing a USB flash key, or even an ancient blank floppy disk, even a camera card, to be able to download internet addresses and other useful documents stored on our database. We can also print you a copy of, or email to you, photos from our extensive archive for 50p a copy. These days, a pencil and notepaper sometimes just isn't enough. For people living away, abroad, etc, who can't get to Sutton, we will do what we can to help. For present Sutton & Wawne and Hull residents, we would hope you would come along to the Exhibition and see what we have.

All books, CD's, reference works, photo collections, etc, are only available to view on site, none are for hire or should be removed. Some items, however, are standard local works and can be borrowed from Hull Libraries in the normal manner. Most are 'Reference Only'. and some like the Monumental Inscription booklets can only be purchased directly from the EYFHS.
We don't sell any MI records books or pamphlets ourselves, as they are copyright and only available from the EYFHS.

THE LIST OF RESOURCES at
SUTTON & WAWNE MUSEUM

EAST YORKSHIRE FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS

as well as available to view in Sutton, these can also be purchased
direct from the East Yorkshire Family History Society
who now have an excellent webshop with overseas postage rates.

1851 Census Index Booklets
Beverley Town Beverley District Volumes 1 & 2
Cottingham, North Ferriby, Hessle & District
Driffield & District Volumes 1 & 2
Hedon, Drypool & District
Holy Trinity Parish Volumes 1, 2 & 3
Patrington & District
Sutton-on-Hull & District
West Sculcoates
East Sculcoates

_________________________________________________________________________

ST JAMES' PARISH MAGAZINES
1940s-1960s

a veritable family history resource

About 20 years of separate parish mags, roughly from the late 40s, were lovingly collected and bound together some years ago by retired volunteer, Brian Trowell. These small volumes now form part of our huge collection of records that will be of particular interest to family historians with Sutton connections, their grandads and grandmas who were once part of St James' past congregations and were deeply involved in major events of village life.
So we have churchwardens and organists, curates and caretakers, members of the parochial parish council, so many people of Sutton's recent past appear, month by month. Twelve issues have been bound together to make one new A5-sized book, of which there are a good couple of dozen. The earliest I've seen so far is 1947. Also quite a few marriages and baptisms are listed in the months they happened, often with more info than appears on a bland certificate record online. And occasionally, of course, also funerals.

All this family history captured in simple pages that most eventually threw away. We are lucky to still have them, and thanks to Brian, not quite so fragile as they once were. I suspect many villages near and far would savour the prospect of still having a full collection of their parish mags for their family historians to consult.
They are not on display simply through lack of shelf room, but we have them, so if you need to see some, tell us and we'll dig them out for you.

_________________________________________________________________________

MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION BOOKLETS . . . (or M I 's )
for the churchyards at St James', Sutton on Hull, St Peter's at Wawne and the Priory Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Swine. The Sutton list was list prepared back in 1993 by the East Yorkshire Family History Society, in two thick booklets, available at the Old School to view and for note taking. I suspect the lists for Wawne and Swine date from a similar time. They all include indexes of all names of everyone buried, within those respective graveyards or within the actual churches, as far back as the headstones themselves.

Records for even earlier burials are sketchy depending on area, how good a particular vicar's record keeping was, and what has survived the ravages of time. In all cases, those records are usually all held at the various county records offices, in East Yorkshire's case, at The Treasure House at Beverley.

There's some 1,750 graves and wall plaques at Sutton, though we must remember that some gravestones have deteriorated considerably since the lists were originally compiled. Many more are much overgrown.

Knowing the grave is there is one thing, finding it is something else, and whether it's still readable or not is another thing entirely. That's where the MI's come in, at least they then tell you what the inscription USED to say when it was last readable in the early 1970s, even if the stone is now broken, worn, or face down on the grass.

The booklets also include plans of the churchyards showing all plots at that time, the 1970s. In Sutton, we have Dave Mount to thank for such a 'monumental' undertaking of editing, and Mr & Mrs Walford for typing the original list. Plots for where there was no stone, or wooden markers long since decayed, small vases long broken or lost, we cannot help with. The Church Office has a more detailed graveyard plan showing such plots, and multiple interments, though there is a charge for the parish clerk to research this for you, payable to the church. We have not control over that plan, nor access to it. See below.

MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTION BOOKLETS v. official GRAVEYARD RECORDS:
It is important to understand the difference between Monumental Inscriptions, being the books we list here, and churchyard/graveyard records. Understanding the former is easier if you understand exactly what is the latter. Graveyard records are usually held by the church itself, and can only be accessed at the relevant church office or by direct enquiry to the vicar. These valuable historic records are kept in the church safe, and are very detailed plans showing all the numbered plots dating back many decades, even a century or two.
For each plot, there should be a written record of who is interred in each grave, dates of death and burial, address of the deceased individual/s, and who officiated at the burial. All that information usually survives in these church office records even if the headstone is long gone with no visible sign that a grave was even there. In general, we do not have free access to these detailed plans or records. A request about a particular burial has to be made via the Parish Clerk in the church office, or directly to the vicar, and usually attracts a search fee; currently set at �25, and this amount is set by the diocese, in our case, the offices of the Archbishop of York. In the south of England, it will be Canterbury. Such is the case here in Sutton; a search attracts a pre-paid fee of �25, and the church office or vicar has no discretion on charging this fee; it is part of their job, the same as charging for a burial today, or a marriage.

On the other hand, we have the Monumental Inscription booklets. Which by and large contain just the inscription that was visible on the stone at the time it was first surveyed. These surveys, held countrywide from the mid-1960s onwards, were done largely by students from local universities and devoted historians with family history societies. They set out to record the headstone inscription on every remaining grave in a churchyard. Headstones that were already lost due to the ravages of time or weather, had been laid flat because of vandalism or safety, or unreadable because of overgrown ivy or totally immersed in undergrowth, could not be read or recorded.
So each booklet is basically a record of what could be seen at that 'moment in time'. If pulling the ivy away also pulled off the surface of a soft sandstone monument that made it even more unreadable, then those words could not be recorded. They could only write down the words and letters that could be seen. That is why these books are of such great value now, and why we owe a debt of gratitude to all the dedicated folks that undertook those tasks at the time. They may be incomplete with lots of words unreadable, huge gaps, sometimes not even the surname, but they are a marker, a clue, and more to the point, access to them is FREE for they are freely available in main city and county libraries. Our booklets for Sutton & Wawne were compiled in the early 1970s, and a great deal of visible information on headstones has been lost since then. We first had digital images to refer to from around 2009 onwards, and it's astonishing how much headstones have worn or overgrown since then. We frequently take a visitor to a headstone we have a clear image for only to find it totally covered in ivy - or not able to be found at all.

THE GRAVEYARD PHOTO CD
In addition, by the kind efforts of Bernard Sharp in 2009 and 2010, we can now also offer individual photos of just about all the headstones in Sutton from the latest edition of his CD, which can be viewed at the Old School. This updated CD now contains some 2,000 quality photos and completes Bernard's photographic survey of Sutton churchyard, including many that were left off before, and more recent memorials and inscriptions, as well as those inside the church. We can also offer exactly the same facility for the churchyard at Wawne, a photo archive of all gravestones and memorials as they were when the survey was done in 2018.

All MI booklets are the copyright of, and can be purchased via Mail Order from, the EYFHS for around �10 - �12 plus p+p. Indeed, ANY of the publications below that are shown as by the EYFHS can be purchased from them, through their website, at their various currently published prices.

So there is:
Sutton on Hull, St.James' Churchyard - Parts 1 and 2

Wawne, St Peter's churchyard

Hull, Western Cemetery (Chanterlands Ave) .. Parts 1 - 10

Anlaby, St. Peter's Churchyard

Hull General Cemetery (Spring Bank), all parts, including Quaker Burial Ground

Roos (All Saints Churchyard)

Sculcoates Cemetery, north & south side

Skeffling and Kilnsea

These are also all available for free reference in
The History Centre in Hull, and most local libraries.

Copies may also be purchased from
The Carnegie Heritage Centre, Anlaby Rd,
on Tuesdays and Fridays

There's some separate details on the EYFHS,
what can be purchased from them, and how, below.

Additionally, as of late Sept 2010 for Sutton, we can now offer online a full index of all those buried in Sutton churchyard, and since May 2015 for Wawne, which ties in numerically with the Inscription booklets listed above. For the Sutton graves, each number links to a jpeg photo of each grave that we hold on a CD for viewing in the museum. It's a very long list; there are more than 2,000 names.
Click the CHURCHYARDS button to access both lists.

SCHOOL REGISTERS . . .
A complete copy of the register of all children who attended Sutton St James' School, their home address, when they started, finished, which school they went on to, etc, is available to view in three volumes, 1885 - 1973 . . and in a few cases, back to 1876. The 1932 - 1973 register has now been scanned, and accessed in the museum on a screen as well as manually.

SCHOOL LOGS . . .
Handwritten entries by all the head teachers of St James' School over the years of the School Log ... a daily record of important events and happenings in school life. In three volumes, these beautifully written logs date from 1896 to 1948. They badly need scanning for preservation; a project there for someone ?

ST JAMES' C of E SCHOOL, Sutton on Hull
list of former headmasters:
1859 . . . we don't know that one
1864 . . . John Triffit - died aged 28
1874 . . . Robert Herring
1891 . . . John Topham
1919 . . . Charles Simpson
1934 . . . Herbert Wilkinson
1937 . . . Alan Sproxton
1951 . . . Eric Johnson

CENSUS DETAILS FOR SUTTON ONLY . . .
typed up paper copies, for the years :
1841 ~ 1851 ~ 1861 ~ 1881 ~ 1891 ~ 1901 ~ 1911

As the result of a very welcome 'gift' in 2005, we are pleased to be able to announce that a set of 1881 Census CD's have been added to the collection. This will of course be of great help in researching other areas of Yorkshire and England generally, but it also means that we now also have the full 1881 details for Wawne. Lists on CD may be old hat, but they do not depend on an internet connection, and ours often fails, but CDs can be accessed anytime.

(Jan 2010) .. we now have more national census and local records CD's ;
see the LOCAL CD's section further below.

1911 CENSUS for Sutton on Hull
1911 CENSUS for Wawne
Additionally, we have printouts to view of each sheet of the 1911 Census for every residence both in Sutton and in Wawne. Amounting to several hundred houses and the full population of both villages at that time, these are arranged by family name in a folder in the Old School, and are to view for free if you want to call by and take notes.

Also, every surname of resident families - and all of their servants - have been extracted and can be viewed on this separate page.
1911 Surname List ... of some 300 names.

FAMILIES RESIDENT AT "BIG HOUSES" . . .
a list of the larger properties, Sutton House, Sutton Hall, Lambwath Hall, Godolphin Hall, etc, and many more.
See the full list of surnames of Sutton residents in 1911 on link above ...

LOCAL FAMILY TREES . . .
of many already-researched families . . try your luck and see if your family details are already here. Perhaps you link in to one of them by marriage.

CHURCHES IN SUTTON . . .
Church of England at St James' ~ The Methodists ~ The Quakers

MILLS IN SUTTON . . .
a list of all the flour mills within the parish, and names of the millers.

ANN WATSON . . the school for girls, founded 1721 . . details of her bequest and history of the school.

LEONARD CHAMBERLAIN . . . details of the school for boys, the first known school in Sutton, founded 1716.

CHURCH COLLEGE . . a collegiate history of St James' and its college for the training of priests, founded in 1349.

PHOTO COLLECTIONS :
The Photo Collection of Sutton is truly amazing. Two collections alone, by a former rector of the church and a former headmaster of the school, constitute a significant part of Sutton's visual social history in the 20th century. As well as the dozens of photos in frames on view around the walls in the museum, many individually donated by supporters of the museum, there are now several collections available to view in loose-leaf A4 folders, as well as another collection purely on CD. All told, there are some 30 or so folders, including 5 for Wawne, crammed to bursting with photos. Come and see. Bring your lunch . . our refreshments are available at a very modest charge, £1.50 pp for tea/coffee, etc. Come and be amongst friends. We can now photocopy docs for your own records, and it's also possible to have individual photos scanned and emailed to researchers abroad. Visitors are welcome to take digital photos as required. We hope to one day be able to scan the lot and produce a Photo-CD for a modest sum. (The scanning is complete, as of spring, 2020 .. but no saleable copy will be available for some time)

THE REV'D GEORGE A COLEMAN COLLECTION . . .
. . . is a stunning set of 230 photos on glass plate negatives from 1890 to 1920, mostly during the 27yr incumbency of the Rev'd Coleman at St James'. In the running order of clergy, he is 8 vicars back. The photos cover many aspects of the village, of working folk as well as the business owners and those of the 'big houses'. It's a real pictorial social history, one that the community can take real pride in. Arranged in two large and heavy 'Glass Plate Albums', GP1 and GP2.

It is easy to forget in this age of digital photography, when all is so easy and the camera practically does all the work for you, just what knowledge and skill was required to take images such as these upwards of 80 years ago and more. It is almost impossible these days to take a bad photo, unless you forget to take the cap off.

These men, and their generation, classed photography as a hobby, and a worthy life skill, and went to untold trouble and efforts to get the perfect photo. It was a costly pastime, camera film was not cheap, developing even more expensive, one of the reasons why many set up their own darkrooms and bought in the chemicals and learnt even more skills to develop their own photos themselves. From all of this, Sutton is a beneficiary. Enjoy it, and celebrate it.

THE ERIC JOHNSON COLLECTION . . . again, many dozens of good-quality photographs mainly of the school and pupils, from 1939 when he went there as a teacher, becoming Headmaster in 1951, through to his retirement in 1975, just before the move to the new school premises.

Mr Johnson's stunning collection of photos is an incredible legacy to leave any community, and no doubt he was aware of, and inspired by, the precedent set by the Rev'd G A Coleman's before him in the earlier collection noted above.

It is an honour to be able to show his image here, in typical pose with his camera, and long overdue. I had long hoped to add both these gentlemen's photos, so that the folks of Sutton are more aware of the special debt of thanks they owe these two far-sighted men.

THE LEN SUDDABY COLLECTION

. . . being in truth the 'Suddaby Family Collection', donated by Keith, Andrew and Pam Suddaby, comprising several parts. Firstly, their late father's glass slide collection, now lodged with us for safekeeping. Len is second from the right in this photo, next to eldest son Keith. Younger son Andrew, who brought the collection and presented it to us, is far left, with sister Pam and mother Marjorie in the centre. There are 83 glass plates, nicely boxed and all meticulously labelled, dating from the early '50s and most notably during and around the time of Coronation Week, 1953. They have been printed and assembled into a presentation album by Keith and Andrew, with notes of personalities shown from all their memories, including sister Pam.

As well as prints of the glass plates, there are a further 65 prints being a mix of Andrew's and their father's views of Sutton, and the wider area of Hull. Len Suddaby is pictured here, in 1940, on joining the RAF near the start of the Second World War. Additionally, the third part of the collection may be tiny, a small USB memory stick, but which contains the digital backup of all the previously mentioned material. Lots of the images are Andrew's own, many of the 1st Sutton Scouts. And all are available to visitor for viewing; just ask us and we'll pop the stick into our computer to allow you to browse.
SUTTON SCOUTS
As of May 2015, we are now very pleased to add the 1st Sutton on Hull Boy Scout Troop Log 1939 - 1954. This had long been thought to be lost, but Andrew Suddaby had taken a copy many years ago. He has now kindly scanned every page, printed them off and installed them in a ring binder for our shelves, as well as saved all pages and photos to a CD for our collection. A superb documentation of a scouting record that will interest ex-scouts everywhere. This log will be added to other books and momentos of scouting, including one of interest to all ex-Girl Guides.
GIRL GUIDES
That is a 1963 account of Guiding at the 1st Sutton Methodist's Guides, compiled by Jennifer Lazenby, and also available to view inside the museum. They're all on display, just ask one of our volunteers if you can't find them at first. Of interest to ex-Guiders, some may recall Pamela Suddaby, who was a Queen's Guide in Sutton at the same time brothers Andrew & Keith were in the scouts. Between all of them, they have added immensely to our photographic and documentation archive in the museum.
On their last visit to the museum, the extended Suddaby family also brought personal family items, photos, childhood toys and momentos, to donate to the museum. This included a toy shop donated by Pam, complete with shelves, drawers, a counter and working miniature scales, built in 1910 by their grandfather. I think the box of Chieftan 'powdered egg' may have been of a period of another war later .. prompting wonderful - or not so wonderful - memories of an awful product of wartime if the grimmaces of that generation are anything to go by whenever the subject of wartime meals and rationing is brought up.

In addition to all those, we also have the School Registers and Logbooks dating from Queen Victoria's time to the 1970s. The last four years, '72 to '76 were lost in a flood at the new school on Dorchester Rd. Click the image to the right.

THE BERNARD SHARP CHURCHYARD COLLECTION . . . . . .
The FIFTH (2012) EDITION of this enormous undertaking is the latest photo collection to add to the Sutton archives. Compiled by Bernard over a period of a very long time, these 2,000+ photos of St James' churchyard have been meticulously compiled and archived to CD from 2009, and updated again in 2015. It is now available to all our visitors for their inspection.

The time was when the best a family historian could hope for after a churchyard visit was perhaps some hurriedly scrawled notes and a dubious photo that you wouldn't know had turned out until you had the film developed, perhaps weeks later. This collection is good, and a worthy addition to Sutton's history, and was the next logical step after the publication of the Monumental Inscription books by the East Yorkshire Family History Society.

All the photos on the CD are named and numbered logically to tie in with those MI books, making every grave reference so very easy to find and tie together. Thank you Bernard, for all your hard work and dedication. You've made my job so much easier in compiling the online list for people to initially consult, which can be seen at

AUDIO RECORDINGS
digitising project completed October 2022

We now have quite a collection of audio comprising of 41 recordings of villagers, some dating from the mid-1980s, most from the 1990s, that were originally on some 30 or so audio cassettes. Most are memories of Sutton, and a few recall old days in Wawne. These have all now been converted to digital format, and saved to USB stick and hard drive. A catalogue of the main names has also been compiled. Please ask a museum volunteer for access, to select your chosen recording and we will play them back on one of our audio devices. Most memories within are from the 1920s and 30s, some are pre-Great War, and one or two of the most elderly recall Queen Victoria's times. A list of names, with recording number, is here ...

THE EXHIBITION COLLECTION .. by "anon and various" photographers and contributors, donated by many of our museum's supporters over the years . . . comprises an even more untold number of photos, in about 24 volumes, years 1870 - 1989, again detailing most aspects of village life . . church, school, trades, shops, transport, seasonal weather, farming, wartime, the RAF balloon station ; again, an incredible social history of the whole area.

All the above collections have now been archived to CD.
It is hoped to publish copies of selected photos for sale
on CD at some time in the future, the sale of which will
contribute towards the running and upkeep of the
Resource Centre within the Museum.
The main sources of income presently are private donations,
sales of cups of tea and biscuits, occasional raffles and our own DVDs
produced for the museum, and donations for restoring visitor's
old damaged photos for their own collections.

CLEVELAND FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 1851 CENSUS
Bedale(North Yorkshire)
Masham, Swinton, Ilton Cum Pott (North Yorkshire)
Middleham (North Yorkshire)
Newton le Willows, Burrell, Burton on Ure, Thirn, Thornton Steward,
Fingall, Constable Burton (All North Yorkshire)
Well, Snape, Thornton Watlass (North Yorkshire)

MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS
Bedale (St. Gregory's Churchyard)
Thornton Watlass (St. Mary's C'yard) & the Chapel at Snape (North Yorkshire)

CUMBRIA FAMILY HISTORY SOCIETY PUBLICATIONS 1851 CENSUS INDEX Carlisle (part 7) HO 107/2429 Folio 455- 554

CENSUS RETURNS
Leyburn Workhouse, North Yorkshire
for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891
Bedale Workhouse, North Yorkshire
for 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881, 1891

DIRECTORIES
Battle's Hull Directory - Merchants & Tradesmen 1817
White's Directory 1826 - Hull & Sculcoates

The CD's now available contain :

1881 British Census and National Index for England, Scotland, Wales,
Channel Islands, Isle of Man, and the Royal Navy

1851 Census partial transcription (names only)
of the East Yorkshire Family History Society
area in eastern Yorkshire

1861 Census a transcription of eastern Yorkshire
from the Humber to the Tees East Yorkshire Family History Society

1871Census a transcription of Beverley Registration District
RGI0 4767 - 4772 E Y F H S

1871 Census a transcription of Patrington Registration District
RG10 4798 & 4799 E Y F H S

1901 Census CD 29 - Sculcoates RG 13 4466 - 4485 E Y F H S

1901 Census CD 30 - Sculcoates E Y F H S

1901 Census CD 31 - Hull, for Holy Trinity & St. Mary Parishes E Y F H S

1901 Census Sutton without E Y F H S

Beverley Guardian Newspaper Births, marriages and deaths
1856 - 1878 - E Y F H S

Mormon Immigration Index Latter Day Saints immigration voyages to
the United States for the years 1840 - 1890 Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints

1851
BRITISH CENSUS DEVON, NORFOLK & WARKWICKSHIRE

THE
CLERGY LIST
for 1897 a CD for the whole of the UK, and seemingly,
the whole British Empire. Effectively a Who's Who of the whole Church of England, from vicars to archbishops, their education, and all positions held worldwide, as of 1897.

We also have copies of some PARISH REGISTERS available on CD.

HULL
HOLY TRINITY BAPTISMS 1792-1812 E Y F H S

HULL
SCULCOATES MARRIAGES 1804-1829 E Y F H S

HULL
SCULCOATES BAPTISMS 1772-1831 E Y F H S

HULL
SCULCOATES BURIALS 1772 - 1792 E Y F H S

LOCAL DIRECTORIES on CD:

KELLY'S 1872

NOBLES 1838

PIGOTS 1834

PURDENS 1839

HULL TRADE DIRECTORY 1892 ... SEARCH BY TRADE OR STREET NAME

and also available still on floppy disk:

LOST TRAWLERMEN OF HULL
... SEARCH BY NAME or SHIP .... 203 x A4 PAGES OF TRAGEDY .. these pages are also on the internet.

" EAST YORKSHIRE POSTCARDS "
a CD by Frank Farnsworth, a separate collection pertaining to Sutton.

" STONEFERRY PUBS "
by Paul Gibson, and quite a bit of other information besides.

Hull Through the Ages
Hull & District Directory 1842,
First Directory of Hull 1791
Ancient maps of the City of Hull.

Hull Times Index - 1856 - 1945.

Roe family history.

King & Catterick family photos and documents.

A LOT OF MILITARY DETAILS . . . on some local men who served, photos, medal collections, etc, in the Army, Royal Navy & Royal Marines, and RAF. Plus records and details of Sutton in BOTH World Wars, Civilian Defence, ARP, local bomb damage, and much more .. ration books, leave passes, much memorabilia to be seen as well as documentation.

THE RAF BALLOON SITE . . . an amazing amount of information, maps and plans, records, etc, of The 17th Balloon Barrage Site 1939-42 . . and of RAF Sutton on to the 1960's. Maps & Plans include the location of balloons around Hull, moored on the Humber, and of the boom gate defences at the Humber mouth, and a tremendous amount of other information. Many folks don't realise the importance of this Balloon Site and its part in the defence of Hull and the Humber ports. Just as important as fighters, in fact, and a largely untold and unsung story of Royal Air Force history.

Copies of Leonard C Bacon's book about RAF Sutton,
details much of of the above.

17 BALLOON CENTRE
HULL'S OWN AIR FORCE STATION
by Leonard C Bacon
in softback, A4 format, was just
£4.95

when we had some, but is sadly now out-of-stock
all profits went to the fund for the placement of
the memorial plaque to all those who
served at RAF Sutton, located within the Library at
Bransholme's North Point Shopping Centre.

The last we heard regarding purchasing a copy,
was they they were still available from:

Mrs Judith Bangs
The EYFHS
5 Curlew Close
Molescroft
BEVERLEY
East Yorkshire
HU17 7QN

For those interested in
World War 2 Barrage Balloon operations,
there is also a website :
Barrage Balloon Reunion Club

ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNSITES (AA) and the 93rd Anti-Aircraft Regiment, RA
Additional to the RAF information above, we also now have a growing amount of information re the anti-aircraft gun sites at both Sutton, and up at Meux. Info we have been seeking for some time, as it is an important part of Sutton and Wawne's military contribution both to the war effort and in the defence of Hull and the Humber Ports. Courtesy of an independant researcher, Simon Davies, now a valued volunteer with the museum, who has kindly lodged much of his research material with us. We now have a much better idea of both the position and layout of these gunsites, and of their ongoing development during the war. What we lack now are memories and stories of folks that served on them.

And as if all that above were not enough, docs, photos, maps apart, there is a huge amount of every-day objects and material to see, from Victorian mangles and clothes driers with hanging bloomers and corsets, to WW2 Ration Books, old coins and stamps of the past, and all the things you would expect to see in a Display of Local Social History . . in short, a reference centre, archive and exhibition of local life all rolled into one.

Top of Page

OTHER USEFUL
EXTERNAL RESOURCES & LINKS
most start up in a new Web Browser
. . simply close those no longer needed.

THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES . . . formerly better known as the Public Record Office at Kew, and before that Somerset House. TNA site is now a wide-ranging portal into all records and archives held by government and is a first port of call for those looking for information previously held at Somerset House, Kew, or St Catherine's House.
BRITISH HISTORY ONLINE **new!** Nov'23
SUTTON in HOLDERNESS, in great detail. For those seeking a deeper, more detailed and very distant history of our village, this link will perhaps give you more than you bargained for. Yes, there are family names in here, ancient names of the leading local lights some 800 to a 1,000 years ago, Normans, Plantagenets, to Tudor, Stuarts and up to Victorian and recent times. Learn about Lanbert, a vassal of Drew de Bevrere, in 1086. Opens in a new window.

The 1911 CENSUS available via FindMyPast (req. subscription) . . the most recent census we have - unless one is willing to pay for the recently released 1921 Census. It's a pay site, either per view or by subscribing. The beauty of this one is that 1911 was the first census to be completed by the head of the household, as we do now. Therefore, it's in their handwriting, and their signature on the bottom. Another plus is that it's one sheet per household .. you can see all you need to for your family at a glance.

The 1901 CENSUS available via FindMyPast (subscription) . . Do give this one a try. There is quite a bit of information that can be gleaned for free, once you've learnt one or two easy tricks, but again, for sight of the actual census sheets, it's a pay site.

For instance, don't enter anything in the Place of Birth box, unless you are absolutely sure of the right place, but do put the town or village name in the Place Keywords ; it should bring some results in most cases. For Sutton, enter it this way, " Yorkshire Sutton Hull " . . for some reason, it likes the county name first, perhaps because that is how the census enumerators wrote it down in 1901.

Use wildcards, eg * , so entering YOR* .. will find all entries of YORK , YORKS and YORKSHIRE, but not YKS.

Another tip: entering a surname on it's own, selecting MALE for gender, then give an age range of 60 years, + or - 60 years .. will give you a list in age order with ages from 0 to 120 , which should cover most folks ! If your name is fairly common, ie Smith, Brown, you may have to refine your search somewhat, give a smaller age range, say all from 0 to 10, and work up in blocks of 10 years. But for most folks, it should give fair results.

Once you have your free list of residents alive at the time of the Census, 1901, then you can decide if you want to pay to know more about any particular entry. You can buy searches in blocks of �5 on a credit card, and each basic search is 50p for them to email you the details for that person, which will be his/her address, and all the other folks listed with them at the same address. If you want to view the actual census page as an email attachment, it is 75p. Full details are on the site.

I've learnt loads about my families, and not paid a penny . .. yet. Good luck.

The 1881 UK Census . . . TOTALLY FREE .. and online. This 1881 Census used to be the main point of reference for any Family History researcher in England & Wales. Until about the year 2000, it was only available on 25 CD's. Here it is now, for free, along with other later census records, 1871, 1891, etc, courtesy of the Mormon Church in Utah. They also provide another good reference site listed next below. Unlike the our own Government's PRO 1901 and 1911 sites Kew above, this one is entirely free . . even to full household details. But you don't see the actual sheets.
And the nice surprise when you get to their page is that you'll find links to all the other UK censuses too, including Scotland, and all for free! While on that page, there are backwards links to other censuses around the world, notably all the US state censuses, and all the Canadian ones. I saw the Netherlands, Germany, Russia and the Czech Republic too, as well as Slovakia.
Additionally, it is possible to "walk" a street, or walk round a village, and see who were in the households of your ancestor's neighbours. You can literally see who was in each household, visitors and lodgers too, on the night of that census over a century ago. The headmaster of Wawne school tells us that, when demonstrating the use of the census site, he used that method to find all the children of school age within the village on that day in 1881. It's all there .... ages, whether married, single, or widowed, and occupations, all provide a fascinating insight into life in England and Wales all that time ago. The site is easy to use, and well worth having a go . . and, it's totally free to use. It's worth repeating previous tips; it is possible to find a tremendous amount of information FOR FREE, without spending a single penny.

But be warned, it is almost addictive, almost like latter day snooping behind the curtains. There are some facts to be gleaned that some inhabitants of the time would not have liked their neighbours to know . . like who was married to who, and it even makes quite clear who was co-habiting with who. Of course, you can do that too with the 1901 Census above . . . also now free at the IGI, next link below.

The IGI website . . TOTALLY FREE ... for International Genealogical Information . . including all of the UK. As with the 1881 Census site above, it's all connected to and run by the Mormon Church, from Utah, and is the most extensive set of free genealogical records available on the web at the moment. It is in effect a massive database of most of the UK's church records, transcribed by Mormon evangelists visiting Britain in the 1960's and 70's and before those records were removed from the churches and lodged in County Record Offices for safekeeping. But be careful, as there are many mistakes and spelling errors, especially with placenames. Americans never did get a hang of the peculiarities of our quaint placenames, though to be fair, the handwriting of vicars and clerics from some 200 years ago or more leaves a lot to the imagination at times. By and large, the Mormon church has done a fantastic job and saved a tremendous amount of information that might otherwise have been lost. Free census info now ranges from 1841 through to 1911.
That said, there is a site that helps to double-check the IGI's data, which is also another way to search this database: IGI Batch Numbers .. TOTALLY FREE .. specific to a parish. See all the JONES in one parish, or all the parish through all the decades, by birth/christening, or just by marriage. Very useful, and thanks to Penny Brown of Hull for sending the link.

FREECENSUS . . etc TOTALLY FREE .. takes you to free Census information, Births-Marriages-Deaths (BMD) information, etc. It works in a similar way to the IGI above, but tends to be more accurate for placename spellings. FREEREG is limited though; no records before 1837, when registration in the UK became law. There's a lot more here now than formerly, up to 1920 and beyond.

Tip : I like to have four browser windows open, and log into each of the two Census sites, plus the IGI and BMD as well. Then you can flit back and forth between them, questioning each database in turn. Sometimes, a person will show up as existing in the 1881 census, say as a boy, or girl, but no record may show in the IGI list, as that one is only as accurate as surviving church records. Many church records were lost through neglect, or damp, some through enemy action during the war, etc. But, that same person may well appear again, 20 years later and married with a family in the 1901 census. That may give you some more names to go on, siblings, or children, and it could be that THEY may show in FreeBMD or the IGI. Use them all together, but be aware when entering names that some require surname first, then christian name, and in other databases, it's christian name first. Knowing that can save hours of fruitless searches looking for someone called Brown Charlie.

YORKSHIRE Births Marriages and Deaths .. TOTALLY FREE .. Similar to above, though specifically for Yorkshire. Although the indexes are not yet complete for all years and districts, the database will eventually cover Yorkshire births, marriages and deaths for the years 1837 to 1950. I note this site has clocked several million visitors since 2002 .. a testament to how useful it is. Again, all searches are free.

TINSTAAFL ... an enigmatic name, true, based on an old saying about free dinners. Old folks will know. But here within this fantastic link is an index compiled through sheer hard work, a tremendous marriage index for St James' Church, from 1757 to 1837. In the whole index, covering most counties in England & Wales, there are just under 2 million records, that these people have researched and digitised their findings for family historians just like us. All Free! Seriously. You get it now ... ?
Quite something to come across unexpectedly. Both links load in a new window.

FreeREG .. istration . . . FREE .. in a similar way to FreeBMD above, this is a volunteer site, and totally free. But it is a "work in progress", not all the country is covered yet, but they are gaining slowly. Whereas FreeBMD only records from 1837 onwards, when official registration proper starts, FreeREG only goes up to 1837 ... and some indeed date back to the 1400's. These are essentially the Parish Records, being laboriously transcribed by Family Historian volunteers, copying and checking millions of records. They're always worth checking out, you may get lucky, and they do have a page showing progress of coverage, etc.

ROOTSWEB . . . mentioned above, and free at the basic level. They are part of Ancestry.com, and I can't say there wouldn't be pop-ups and pester-power to persuade one to sign up for a subscription. Just be sure you have all you can gain for free at all the various other sites, then you'll be sure you're spending your money wisely. But, it is usable and you can gain a tremendous amount if you are starting from scratch.
MYHERITAGE.com ... as listed nearer the top of this page; the one British site we can offer here, growing fast and does appear to be very good. But, it is a pay site, with a 14-day free trial. Run from London, owned by publishers DC Thomson, it should be reliable so long as internet connections are robust, as they increasingly are these days. Not always so in the past. The main point here, being British, you are not dependant on "continuing good relations in international trade." That makes me sound prejudiced. Perhaps so, insomuch I trust no one when we know they are only after our pennies. Foreign is foreign, it means just that. Don't be fooled by so-called guarantees.

UKBMD . . FREE .. this is a universal, over-arching website, with links to many, many others. Many of the links are to pay or subscription sites, so it's not all free, but you can still get some useful leads within. You can select a county from the drop-down list, to bring up a long list of resources available for or within that county, from the local BMD archives, to Wills & Probate records, to all the online war memorials in a county. And much more. It's an eye-opener to see, month by month, just what is becoming available.

GENUKI . . . FREE .. stands for Genealogy, UK and Ireland . . a great place to start if you already have family information for a particular town or village and want to know more about the area; the subsidiary pages are organised by county - and it lists every village and hamlet in a county and tells you which registration districts they were in. Very useful. They can also tell you if someone is already researching your name . . . and there are a phenomenal number of links to other useful sites, including most UK city and county record offices. I do believe there is even a link back to these Sutton & Wawne pages . . SUTTON-ON-HULL on GENUKI . . . FREE .. the village entry in the GENUKI pages mentioned above . . with further links to Trade Directories for 1823 and 1892, showing names of most local trading and farming families, shop owners, village craftsmen, etc, plus county Wapentake boundaries, and several other links besides. SUTTON . . . . opens in this browser, as another page on THIS website. A personal view of the village and area, and recommended to be used by strangers to the area in conjunction with the GENUKI website above. Many people have emailed the Sutton Museum Team looking for insight into what Sutton was like, years ago when their forefathers lived there, and today to see how much it's changed, or more likely how little its changed. I took some of those descriptions, widened it out to include the Ings and Carrs and Stoneferry, and here it is. My own feelings at what I found when I came here in 1973 . . and how I view the area now.
SCULCOATES UNION WORKHOUSE . . . of details of Sculcoates itself, and also the Hessle Cottage Homes. It also briefly mentions the 'workhouse' at Sutton, that stood in front of the church, but sadly there are no records surviving of residents or admissions. The only ones for Sculcoates are from the 1881 Census. An interesting site for researchers who find they had family in there, with several images and later photos of what became Kingston General Hospital. Interesting also only for laying to rest what can no longer be found at Sutton, other than reading between the lines in the various census returns. So that saves countless hours searching the web.

British Listed Buildings Find all of those listed in Sutton, and Wawne, and also Hull, with a great deal of detail, history, owners, etc.

Vision of Britain Gives many population statistics for county and urban areas.

British History Online Find Sutton and Wawne's detailed medieval history, very detailed indeed, right back to the Monks of Meaux.

Family History Federation Excellent pages on family history for beginners, a great deal of advice and guidance.

THE website for Directories such as Bulmers, Kellys & Piggots, listing trades and professions, shop owners, town and parish officials. The link straightaway brings up an aphabetical list of counties, Bedforshire to Yorkshire, plus Wales.
Hosted by Leicester University in their 'Special Collections online' part of their huge website. A quick browse of the rest of their website shows they have a good deal other historical collections too, not all of it centred on Leicestershire. There's an old photo archive of England & Wales, and a media archive for the Midlands generally.

Churches of Britain & Ireland . . FREE .. a massive list, arranged by county or search by village/town name, of hundreds and hundreds of churches all over Britain and Ireland. Not every village in all counties are there, but most are .. and if you have a pic of one that is missing, Mr Bulman takes submissions. Well worth a browse. This is a site that is sure to expand further.

THE RIVER HULL . . we used to have a link here to a wonderful video charting the journey from Driffield down the River Hull that passed, or under, the various bridges along the way, all the way to its exit into the Humber. That has not been available for some time now, so I offer this link to the Driffield Navigation website. No doubt this will also point you to many other sites tuned to satisfying that need to find enjoyment and solace by the innocent pastime of messing about in boats.

THREE HULL MAPS
... Three scans of small area, but large detail maps, c.1893 ... they take a few moments to load on a 56k connection, each in its own new window.
Victoria Dock 1 ... 148Kb
Victoria Dock 2 ... 144Kb
Paragon Station ... 227Kb
It's interesting to see the site of the Citadel before The Deep, and also Paragon Station before Ferensway or the old Bus Station. This is late-Victorian to Edwardian Hull, complete with tramways, railways, etc.

SOME MILITARY LINKS . . .
but there's a lot more on this other page .

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COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION . . FREE .. an excellent searchable database, an incredible and lasting memorial to EVERY man and woman that served and lost their lives in BOTH World Wars with ANY of the armed forces of the UK and Commonwealth . . or as it was then, the Empire. It includes all Merchant Navy losses, RAF losses at sea, and a great deal you wouldn't at first have thought of. All you need to know is the individual's name and initials, the service they served with, the war they died in, and of course, the country. And if you don't know all of those, there's still ways . . . it's worth a try.

THE CIVILIAN WAR DEAD INDEX of YORKSHIRE, NORTHUMBERLAND & DURHAM .. FREE .. is an incredible list of the war dead of those three counties. As you look down it, you'll see an amazing number of Hull names and families who lost their lives in the various air raid attacks on Hull during the blitz. For people NOT from Hull, who ever doubted how bad Hull was hit during WW II, then take a look at this. The entries that read .. Hull, ERY .. seem endless. See the link below . . . .

Maps of Hull showing the fall of bombs during the Blitz .. FREE .. is really 16 scans, A4 size, of a larger streetmap of Hull, dated 1945. It tells it's own story, and is some testament to the 1,300 Hull residents killed, listed above in the Civilian Index, and the 12,000 injured, during those dark days. Opens in a new Window. The map has recently (2021) been improved. Originally just black and white, the plots are now clearer and marked in red, and a lot of the harder to read street names have been clarified. Again, please note, these are just high explosive plots, not incendiaries or fire bombs, there were many thousands of those that started fires and destroyed buildings not hit by a convential HE bomb.
Please Note: There is a much larger and comprehensive list of Military Links here,
covering all three of the Armed Forces.

A Glossary of Terms used in Heraldry .. FREE .. if you get far enough back that you need to decipher heraldic devices, you are indeed fortunate. This may help you on your way . .

EYFHS . . the East Yorkshire Family History Society have an excellent webshop, where there is a complete list of all their publications, including Monumental Inscriptions (headstone records in churchyards), Parish Records, Census Records, Maps and newspaper extracts, for EVERY East Yorkshire village, a regular A to Z . . from Aike to Youlethorpe. They vary in price from �1.60 to about �6.50 for the larger ones, Beverley, Bridlington, etc, and can be ordered via email, and pay by cheque, or paid for online via PayPal. Or you can write to their Publications Officer, at :

Mrs Judith Bangs
5 Curlew Close
Molescroft
BEVERLEY
East Yorkshire
HU17 7QN

They also have an online Helpdesk, available to all as well as full-members:
EYFHS Helpdesk
Help can also be obtained from their members weekly at the
Carnegie Centre on Anlaby Rd, and also inside The History Centre in Hull.

Additionally, it is possible to buy other records and transcripts on both CD and floppy disk, eg. 1851 East Yorkshire Census and Parish Register Transcripts.

EYLHS
EAST YORKSHIRE LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY . . not to be confused with the Family History Society above, leads to their excellent website, listing the publications of the EYLHS, and where to buy them from. Publications range from "Hull & East Yorkshire Breweries" to "The Beginnings of the East Yorkshire Railways" and "The Viking Century in East Yorkshire". Only available by post, I'm afraid, for the time being.
It opens in a separate window so you don't lose this one.

PBase - PHOTOS OF OLD HULL ... another photo archive of old Hull and environs. They're coming thick and fast now .. other photos in this database are more around East Yorkshire and York, but sadly, this link is not a direct one. Click the link above to go to the site, where there are several photo galleries, then click on Family2 right down the page, and enter the password .. sw1980r .. to access them. Give it a few seconds, and up will pop something like 240 thumbnails. There have been copyright issues, hence the convoluted way to access them, but this section of of the site is what can only be described as a superlative postcard collection. But it's worth it. Who recalls the old clock in the round window above the shop on the corner of Paragon Square? If you know Hull well, allow yourself a good half hour ....

EYMS a Facebook vehicle enthusiasts site ... of interest to vehicle and transport historians re the huge variety of marques and types of buses operated by this renowned company over the past years. There did used to be a huge archive hosted by the company itself, testament to deep and genuine interest in the history of this very old Hull company by its former owners. But, no longer. The new company, now owned by a remote Newcastle-based firm, appears to only pay lip service to it's history with one featureless page containing just ten paragraphs of text. They appear to have lost sight of where their future generation of drivers and engineers are nurtured, during their schooldays, and will come to regret such off-hand lack of provision. No doubt bosses will say they've no time for the past, it's all about selling tickets. Just the money. Of course it is, it's all that counts now in this brave new world.

KHCT vehicles in another archive ... the Flickr photo archive of author Paul Morfitt. Superb collection of street scenes, shop fronts, roads and city centre scenes now altered beyond belief, plus memories of the old Coach Station of late memory, as it was called in it's heyday when that EYMS coach depicted above used to leave daily for Newcastle and Tyneside .. plus trolleybuses, railway crossings. It does seem strange, that some 35+ years after privatisation and dismemberment of the bus industry, there is now talk of local authorities once more being 'allowed' to run their own bus services.

Old Maps UK . . [WAS FREE .. took you to a site where you could view several old maps of Sutton village, from c.1885 to the 1970s. SORRY - no longer available for free, site has closed]

BROOKLANDS PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY . . . meet in the Methodist Church Hall in Sutton. A growing site of dedicated photographers, skilled in both traditional film processes as well as today's digital medium, together with all the scanning, printing and display tuition anyone could wish for.

HULL FISHING HERITAGE CENTRE . . . located presently in The Boulevard, Hessle Road .. dedicated to preserving Hull's fishing history and telling a remarkable story to future generations about the true price of our fish. Astonishingly, for today's family historians, the site has 33 Pages of Fisherman's Record Cards, all scanned and viewable, including photos of the trawlers they served on. Be warned - some very touching stories on there, thought provoking at the very least. A wonderful heritage bar none!+ Takes a few secs to load, give it time. It works.

BRITISH LISTED BUILDINGS ONLINE - a private database website, being an online database of buildings and structures that are listed as being of special architectural and historic interest. As well as reading the official listing data for each building, you can also view the location on a map, and, where possible, see it in Google Streetview and Bing Birds Eye View. You can also add your own comments, information and photos and view comments and photos submitted by other users of the site. Our Old School is on there, with our full technical details too. You can browse for listed buildings by country, county and parish or locality. A wonderful online resource, and should be better known and supported.

FRIENDS OF HULL GENERAL CEMETERY . . . a cemetery with a fascinating history. Not least that it was founded as a private cemetery, where many of Hull's most notable nobles were buried. It has had a very chequered history, and still does. The future of this old burial ground and now an inner-city nature reserve is by no means certain, a place which Philip Larkin once described as 'the most beautiful place in Hull.'

HULL AND EAST RIDING HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION . . . bringing people together that have a love of history in all it's guises, both local and the many areas of deeper speciality. Enjoy discovering more on many topics through lectures and discussion. They invite interested historians to their meetings and events, both as a visitor or becoming a local branch member. Their very interesting website lists their forthcoming programme of events.

See just how much help there is around for Sutton & Wawne folk just getting into this . . if you've been 'thinking' of researching your family history, there really is no excuse for prevaricating any longer, help is dripping from the trees! It's never been easier. You can find out so much before you even leave your house, and we can show you how.

Finally, I wonder if anyone recognises any
of these fine young reprobates here . .
Click the picture for a closer look.
Previous offences will be taken into consideration !!

We have it in our collection, and have no idea who gave it to us,
or who these fine young men are. It's been here 20yrs, and

so far, we've never had any hint. A shame really.

To Contact Us:
If you really do feel that you need to write to someone at Sutton, we will do our best to help. In the first instance, write to us, CLICK HERE , and we'll try to direct you to the best source of information. It is almost certain that the vicar or the Parish Office will re-direct all enquiries to one of us anyway, so this will save you time. There are two or three other people we can direct you to depending on the nature of your enquiry; a few dealing with more general local history and maps, etc, we will be able to help you with, and be glad to do so. If you sign in to our Guestbook, do remember to leave your email address, so we can contact you. In the meantime, we hope this page has been of help.

Whoever, or whatever, you are looking for,
We wish you Luck, and God Speed.
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Here's a treat for history enthusiasts.
The early Ordnance Survey map of the village,
dated 1855, mentioned above.
Click this first link . .
the others below are required by copyright law.
1855 SUTTON MAP
This image, linked above, was produced from the
Old Maps Service of old-maps.co.uk
which is no longer available to the public for free
since October 2021.

It is here with permission of
Landmark Information Group Ltd
and
The Ordnance Survey

A more modern (1960s) map of the

general Sutton & Wawne area,

. . . showing their relationship to surrounding villages, as well as to Hull and Beverley. The only detail I've altered is to show the River Hull, and the network of drainage ditches (drains) in a more prominent blue, and to slightly highlight the higher ground, or low ridge, that Sutton sits astride at the SE end, and Wawne nestling just below the ridge at the NW end.

Bear in mind, this is pre-Bransholme, any by-passes, and in the days when trolleybuses still ran past East Park down Holderness Road. It's a large map, about 400kb, and should just fill your screen in a new browser . .
press F11 to see full screen and without toolbars.

Copyright for this one is acknowledged to:
The National Library of Scotland
which is from where, we that live in England,
now have to source our free historical maps.



A panoramic "aerial view" of Hull
circa 1890 - 1900
scanned in 4 sections
each opens in fresh browser,
close as you go along
press F11 to view full screen

Old Aerial View 1     Old Aerial View 2

Old Aerial View 3     Old Aerial View 4

copyright is acknowledged to the Ferens Art Gallery,
where the original of this fascinating print
may be viewed by the public for free.

Those of you old enough to have learnt the lines below by rote
may enjoy seeing them again, if only to test the memory.
Those too young to have heard it before may just
catch on as to what these names are all about.
But, I assure you, it is Family History. But what a family!!

Willie, Willie, Harry, Ste,
Harry, Dick, John, Harry three.
One, two, three Neds, Richard two,
Henry four, five, six then who?
Edward four, five, Dick the bad.

Harry's twain and Ned the lad,
Mary, Bessie, James the vain,
Charlie, Charlie, James again,
William and Mary, Anna gloria
Four Georges, a William,
and then Victoria.

And there you have it ..

CAUTION ! BUYER BEWARE !!

Using the above links on this site:
Please be aware that ANY information we carry here on or about other organisations, with or without websites or links, will become out-of-date given time. Information to do with books, videos, CDs, publications, and their prices, all change over time, as do addresses of contact details, phone numbers, email addresses and the like. Any weblink or postal address should be taken as a starting point. New viewers of any of the sites and links displayed on our site should check prices, etc, with those other sites, before sending cheques or payment.

Likewise, we cannot guarantee the accuracy, nor content, of anything we have a link to .. they are after all, just that, links. Links which we hope will help, point you in the right direction. No guarantee is given or offered by this site. Even the BBC say they cannot guarantee the accuracy of their links, so any link or information we show here should only be used with caution and discretion .. we're just trying to provide a useful service, and it is free.

GO . . to the Next Page
for a personal view of the village and area.

And finally, for those of you getting really deep into tracing your family tree, and what Americans shamelessly call your Pedigree and your Bloodline . . a bit like Crufts, innit . . . here's a few cautionary words of comfort from across the Pond about taking any of it too seriously.

The Ballad of Susie Lee

Susie Lee, she fell in love,

She planned to marry Joe,

She was so happy 'bout it all;

She told her Pappa so.

Pappa told her, Susie lass,

You'll have to find another,

I'd just as soon your Ma don't know,

But Joe is yo' half-brother."

So Susie forgot all about her Joe,

And planned to marry Will,

But, after telling Pappa this,

He said, There's trouble still.

You can't marry Will, my lass,

And please don't tell your Mother,

'Cause Will and Joe and several more

I know are your half-brother.

But Mamma knew and said "Honey Child,

Do what makes you happy,

Marry Will . . . or marry Joe,

You ain't no kin to Pappy!"

Well !! I say .. .

Interesting footnote to genealogy : Dr Steve Jones, the acclaimed genetecist, maintains that the one single invention, or development, of modern times that has done most to aid the spread of the gene pool, has been ..... the bicycle !!

And finally, some women (alright, most women) have always been over-suspicious of their husbands. When Adam stayed out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset.
"You're running around with other women," she charged.

"You're being unreasonable," Adam responded. "You're the only woman on earth."

The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve.

"What do you think you're doing?" Adam demanded.

"Counting your ribs," said Eve.

And then there's the money issue ....
"Darling," said the swooning man to his new bride, "Now that we're married, do you think you will be able to live on my small income?"

"Of course, dearest, no trouble," she said. "But what will you live on?"

A FEW CHOICE CHURCH ANNOUNCEMENTS ...
gleaned from round-and-about on the Internet,
but just for fun !

--------------------------
The Fasting & Prayer Conference includes meals.

--------------------------

The sermon this morning: 'Jesus Walks on the
Water.' The sermon tonight: 'Searching for Jesus.'

--------------------------

Ladies, don't forget the rummage sale.
It's a chance to get rid of those things
not worth keeping around the house.
Bring your husbands.

--------------------------

Remember in prayer the many who are sick of our
community. Smile at someone who is hard to love.
Say 'Hell' to someone who doesn't care much about you.

--------------------------

Don't let worry kill you off - let the Church help.

--------------------------

Miss Charlene Mason sang 'I will not pass this way again,'
giving obvious pleasure to the congregation.

--------------------------

For those of you who have children and don't know it,
we have a nursery downstairs.

--------------------------

Next Thursday, there will be tryouts for the choir.
They need all the help they can get.

--------------------------

Irving Benson and Jessie Carter were married on
October 24 in the church.
So ends a friendship that began in their school days.

--------------------------

At the evening service tonight, the sermon topic will be
'What Is Hell?' Come early and listen to our choir practice.

--------------------------

Eight new choir robes are currently needed
due to the addition of several new members
and to the deterioration of some older ones.

--------------------------

Scouts are saving aluminium cans, bottles and other
items to be recycled. Proceeds will be used to cripple children.

--------------------------

Please place your donation in the envelope along with
the deceased person you want remembered.

--------------------------

The church will host an evening of fine dining, super
entertainment and gracious hostility.

--------------------------

Potluck supper Sunday at 5:00 PM - prayer and
medication to follow.

--------------------------

The ladies of the Church have cast off clothing of every kind.
They may be seen in the basement on Friday afternoon.

--------------------------

This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing
in the park across from the Church.
Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.

--------------------------

Ladies Bible Study will be held Thursday morning at 10 AM.
All ladies are invited to lunch in the Fellowship Hall after
the B. S. is done.

--------------------------

The pastor would appreciate it if the ladies of the Congregation
would lend him their electric girdles for the pancake
breakfast next Sunday.

--------------------------

Low Self Esteem Support Group will meet Thursday at 7PM.
Please use the back door.

--------------------------

The eighth-graders will be presenting Shakespeare's Hamlet
in the Church basement Friday at 7 PM.
The congregation is invited to attend this tragedy.

--------------------------

Weight Watchers will meet at 7 PM at the First Presbyterian Church.
Please use large double door at the side entrance.

--------------------------

The Associate Minister unveiled the church's new
campaign slogan last Sunday: 'I Upped My Pledge - Up Yours.'

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On This Page :

IMPORTANT INFORMATION
for
FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCHERS

If you're totally new to Family History, and want to have a quick
look for someone, try these two sites; you might surprise yourself.
1881 Census Web Site -- FREE!

click the underlined links . .

ARCHIVES AVAILABLE
in
THE SUTTON & WAWNE MUSEUM

ENTRY is FREE

THE LIST OF RESOURCES at
SUTTON & WAWNE MUSEUM

ST JAMES' PARISH MAGAZINES
1940s-1960s

£4.95

OTHER USEFUL
EXTERNAL RESOURCES & LINKS

I've learnt loads about my families, and not paid a penny . .. yet. Good luck.

And finally, some women (alright, most women) have always been over-suspicious of their husbands. When Adam stayed out very late for a few nights, Eve became upset.
"You're running around with other women," she charged.

"You're being unreasonable," Adam responded. "You're the only woman on earth."

The quarrel continued until Adam fell asleep, only to be awakened by someone poking him in the chest. It was Eve.

"What do you think you're doing?" Adam demanded.

"Counting your ribs," said Eve.

And then there's the money issue ....
"Darling," said the swooning man to his new bride, "Now that we're married, do you think you will be able to live on my small income?"

On This Page :

IMPORTANT INFORMATION for FAMILY HISTORY RESEARCHERS

If you're totally new to Family History, and want to have a quick look for someone, try these two sites; you might surprise yourself. 1881 Census Web Site -- FREE!