Loftus
The Parish registers date from 1697 but the name on their covers read LOFTHOUSE. Loftus in Cleveland kept that early spelling until c1890 so that it is written as Lofthouse on all census returns currently available to researchers. So if an ancestor of yours is recorded as being born at Lofthouse, Yorkshire, it may NOT mean your having to seek out parish registers covering Lofthouse in Nidderdale, or Lofthouse near Leeds – what you want could well be Lofthouse in Cleveland and therefore at Teesside Archives.
Loftus was a pre-conquest settlement, held by Siward, Earl of Northumberland. By the time the Domesday Book was compiled, however, the land around it had suffered a great deal from King William I's efforts to subdue his rebellious northern subjects. Much of it was recorded as 'lying waste'. The Percy family held the land for several generations, and Guisborough Priory owned more than 700 acres of it in the late 13th century.
Some reference books may overlook Loftus in our times, but it was an important place in 18th and 19th century Cleveland. Unlike Skelton, Brotton and Marske, which were mainly agricultural communities until ironmaking started. Loftus had an 18th century industry – Alum mining. At the beginning of the 19th century, it ranked as a 'Market Town'. Alum miners mostly lived in streethouses, coming into the town for the Thursday market.
For more info please visit: https://alisonsmall32.wixsite.com/loftushistory
Loftus was a pre-conquest settlement, held by Siward, Earl of Northumberland. By the time the Domesday Book was compiled, however, the land around it had suffered a great deal from King William I's efforts to subdue his rebellious northern subjects. Much of it was recorded as 'lying waste'. The Percy family held the land for several generations, and Guisborough Priory owned more than 700 acres of it in the late 13th century.
Some reference books may overlook Loftus in our times, but it was an important place in 18th and 19th century Cleveland. Unlike Skelton, Brotton and Marske, which were mainly agricultural communities until ironmaking started. Loftus had an 18th century industry – Alum mining. At the beginning of the 19th century, it ranked as a 'Market Town'. Alum miners mostly lived in streethouses, coming into the town for the Thursday market.
For more info please visit: https://alisonsmall32.wixsite.com/loftushistory