Search the datasets

This website contains the following datasets:

North Riding
- 1784 – 1790 inclusive – All Townships.
- 1853 – 1865 inclusive – ‘M’ Townships only – this includes Middlesbrough, which had the highest number of transactions of any township.
- 1885 – 1889 inclusive – All Townships.
West Riding
- 1885 – 1889 – Halifax – to be added in April 2023.
East Riding
- 1885 – 1889 – Kingston upon Hull – to be added in May 2023.

You can search the datasets on this site using the white search boxes above. Please note that these datasets have been transcribed from a handwritten index so spellings can vary. To get the best results, try to keep your search simple, then narrow the results down by adding more information.
- Example: Search by surname – Looking for transactions involving William Hutton? First, search by surname ‘Hutton’, then add forename ‘William’ or initial ‘W’ to exclude inappropriate results.
- Example: Search by Township – Looking for transactions in Whitby? First, search by township ‘Whitby’, then restrict results by date range or by surname.
- Search results can be downloaded as an excel file and printed if required (max 50 results per search).

You can visit the Search Room of the appropriate Record Office/ Archive in person to search the Index Registers.
You can also contact the relevant Record Office and/ or Archive using the contact information provided here and ask them to do a search for you.

Remember…Index Registers contain the following information:

Date of Registration (post 1884 only) – please note that the date of the document and the date of registration can be years apart. There was no legal requirement to register a document within a specific period of time.
Township name
Surname/forename(s) of Parties
Reference No of Transaction (Vol/Page/Number)
Type of Transaction (post 1884 only)

To access the original document, you will need the reference number from the Index Register.