Hi Janet, Have you information that would lead you to believe that there were parish registers before 1653 ? 1653 is the earliest date in Colin Blanshard Withers's book and would probably be correct for the start of the registers. Kirkby Malzeard was an ancient parish and so the records would be there (i.e. at the parish church) as opposed to Pateley Bridge which was a chapelry of Ripon. (See the Genuki pages for more information). Best wishes, Colin Hinson In the village of Blunham in Bedfordshire U.K. Webmaster for the Genuki Yorkshire pages: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/YKS/ Old and Rare Yorkshire Books on searchable CDroms: http://www.YorkshireCDbooks.com >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> >Does anyone know what happened to the Kirkby Malzeard PRs for the >years prior to 1653? Are they just lost or were they recorded >somewhere else, like Patley Bridge? > >I am searching for a Marmaduke Horseman (Quaker) who went to New >Jersey in 1679 with a family (dau Susannah b. abt 1665 - m. 1686 in >NJ) and I think that he may have been from Kirkby Malzeard. I find 2 >Marmaduke Horsemans in the 1672 Hearth Tax rolls living in Stonebeck >Down, which is in Kirkby Malzeard parish. There are no other Marmaduke >Horsemans in the Hearth Tax rolls in West YKS in 1672. There should be >a marriage and birth of children in England. I have looked at the >Kirkby Malzeard PR transcripts and do not find the family. Now, I have >not looked at the original registers, so I do not know what they look >like or whether there are huge gaps. Has anyone seen the actual >registers? Of course, part of the problem may be the Interregnum but I >many events would have been prior to that, including Marmaduke's birth. > >Interestingly, there is a Marmaduke Horseman who was hung at York >Castle in 1670 for murdering a gamekeeper. One of the Marmaduke >Horseman Stonebeck Down hearths was "empty" in 1672. Perhaps the >murder Marmaduke? > >By the way, the IGI gives a marriage for the Quaker Marmaduke Horseman >in 1634 in Keighley. The Keighley PR entry from the transcript gives >no more information than the date of the marriage and name of the >parties. The date and location seem wrong to me for this Marmaduke >Horseman. > >There are also several Marmaduke Horsemans in the baptisms at Ripon in >the 1620s and 30s who could be the right one, but who knows? I have >not found a will that clears that up for me. > >Merry Christmas to All, >Janet Sugden Thomas, Stamford CT