England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Hull Holy Trinity

The Parish

The parish of Holy Trinity, Hull lies in the southeast of Yorkshire, indeed it forms part of Yorkshire's coastline with the Humber estuary. The city of Hull (city status having been granted in 1897 by Queen Victoria) is one of the UK's major ports as well as a significant manufacturing centre in its own right. Hull lies some 40 miles southeast of the city of York and some 170 miles north of London. Hull (or more correct called Kingston Upon Hull) sits on the banks of the Humber at its confluence with the River Hull which gave the city its name. Hull sits at the eastern end of the M62 motorway, the cross-country northern motorway which connects Hull with Leeds, Bradford and on across the Pennines to Manchester & Liverpool. Hull also has its rail line connecting with the main network at York. Holy Trinity, not the Cathedral as Hull is a rare city without such, is the major parish of the city, St Mary being the smaller. Hull's origins are somewhat obscure, it's first comes to attention in 1293 when purchased in a deal by Edward the First from the Abbey of Meaux, with the purchase came the small wool-exporting port of Wyke, the primitive core of the city. In the early 14th century Hull was fortified by the building of walls and ditches around the growing market town & port. The port continued to be largely export orientated with wool & cloth dominating in mediaeval times. Despite this trade Hull had a population of less than 7,000 in the 1670s; it was in the 18th & 19th centuries that the construction of docks expanded the port such that Hull became probably the largest fishing & whaling port as well as major import & export facility making the city among the twentieth most populous places in the UK. Besides the port activities industry grew, in particular shipbuilding, milling and paint manufacture leading to one of the leading industrial centres of northern England. Today the fishing industry has declined significantly and, of course, whaling is no longer practiced. Hull has somewhat of a postindustrial image albeit new developments and a growing University still support prosperity. Hull has outgrown its early walled town and now spreads for almost 10 miles along the Humber as well as almost reaching Beverley to the north as a contiguous urban area. Hull is a coastal port so what drainage there is soon heads for the Hull or the Humber, it is sited at 2 metres above the sea at Holy Trinity church and most of the urban area lies below 10 metres. Holy Trinity parish occupied most of the original walled centre of Hull a small acreage but with a growing population reaching, by the end of this transcript period around 33,000 parishioners. There is no specific mention of Hull in Domesday Book but Wyke is barely worth a mention as it is described as "waste" in the hands of one Ilbert.

The Church

Holy Trinity church sits in the heart of the walled centre of Hull just a few hundred metres north of the busy A63 which carries most of the traffic crossing the city, it stands on the western side of Market Place. Holy Trinity is one of the largest parish churches in England being 87 metres long with a 46 metre high tower at its heart. The church follows an early design with its central crossing tower normally associated with early churches. The stages of Holy Trinity's construction are well documented, however. The transepts are the earliest portion carrying dates from 1300 - 1320. Following their construction the chancel was created between 1320 & 1370, this was followed after a short respite by the nave between 1389 & 1425 and finally the upper stages of the tower were completed between 1500 & 1530. The church was consecrated prior to this completion in 1425. Restorations were made in the 1840s, the 1760s and the 1900s to reach the present building. The church occupies the land between North Church Street and South Church Street and it is very much an urban setting with properties lining the sides of those two relatively narrow roads, the eastern end faces onto Market Place and the whole is separated from the pavements by a low, knee-high stone wall. For photographic purposes the length and the crowding from adjacent properties make it almost impossible to include all of the massive length.