Yorkshire Records

The ancient county of Yorkshire had three Ridings: North, West and East. They operated in many ways as separate administrative counties, having had separate quarter sessions and also separate lieutenancies since the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660. This practice was followed by the Local Government Act 1888, which made each of the three Ridings an administrative county with an elected county council. These county councils, along with the ancient lieutenancies, were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. A local government area of the East Riding of Yorkshire was created in 1996, but this does not cover the entire area of the former East Riding and includes areas from the historical West Riding.