England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Huddersfield St Peter

The Parish

The parish of Huddersfield lies in southwestern Yorkshire towards the west of the West Riding and forming part of the border with neighbouring Lancashire. Huddersfield is located about 18 miles southwest of the city of Leeds, a little over 23 miles northeast of Manchester and roughly 8 miles south of Halifax and sits on the edges of rising ground as the land swells into the Pennine Hills. Huddersfield sits on numerous significant road among the most notable being the A62, trans-Pennine, road which runs between Leeds & Manchester. Huddersfield grew from a relatively small market town of around 5,000 inhabitants into a major industrial centre growing to reach 70,000 by the census of 1871, this growth is reflected in this transcript by the swelling volume of marriages. Huddersfield built its trade on wool, the nearby Pennine provided the sheep and the fast flowing streams which run off it both the soft water and also the power to speed the industrial process. The vast majority of the grooms in this transcript, where an occupation was stated in the original, were involved in one form or another with the production of wool and woollen garments. Other activities in the parish included some coal mining, mineral extraction and farming both pastoral of the sheep but also a degree of arable. Modern developments hastened Huddersfield's growth, a network of canals connecting the town with both east and west coast ports as well as the other important regional centres of manufacture. With the coming of the railways Huddersfield further benefited as lines were constructed to speed the delivery of manufactured goods. Today's modern developments namely the trans-Pennine M62 motorway added to the regions growth passing around 3 miles north of the town. In modern times the old industries have declined markedly with overseas producers undercutting the older mills and many have closed or been repurposed. Today Huddersfield is a part of the wider West Yorkshire metropolis, being almost contiguous with the other major centres across this Pennine slope. Huddersfield is drained northwards by the River Colne which soon joins the Calder and turns eastwards eventually joining the Aire and reaching the North Sea through the Humber Estuary. Huddersfield is sited, within its tight inner ring-road, at between 80 & 100 metres above the sea but land rises dramatically on to the Pennine westwards reaching over 400 metres within a few miles. Huddersfield parish covered an extremely large area and included numerous chapelries, most were not licensed for marriages during the period of this transcript with the exception of Slaithwaite. The parish encompassed just over 15,000 acres and towards the end of this transcription period supported a population of close to 38,000 parishioners. In Domesday times Huddersfield was mentioned as a property held by Ilbert de Lacy but was described as "waste" with room for a projected 8 ploughs.

The Church

St Peter's church sits within the heart of the town centre, within the inner ring-road and on the northern side of Kirkgate at its junction with the pedestrianised Byram Street. A typical small market town church stood here from the late 12th century but was demolished to build present day St Peter which was initially completed in 1506. The church makes much use of the Perpendicular style but being towards the end of that style period it is elaborate, indeed, in its detailing. A lavish church consisting of the usual layout of nave, chancel and western tower is augmented by aisles and transepts and all is decorated with battlements and pinnacles. Despite the early 16th century build a substantial rebuild also took place in the mid 1830 (Georgian rather than the usual Victorian) and it is to this rebuild that we owe the style of the present building. The church has no boundary to the town streets, in particular the frontage of Kirkgate, but to its north is an asset of a churchyard laid to formal gardens as far as St Peter Street. Given its busy commercial surroundings there is no street parking and the building is best approached on foot. Like all large town centre churches it is a challenge to get back sufficiently far to encompass the whole structure in any photographs.