Heighington parish records are now listed in Darlington district. Previously they were listed as Auckland district. Heighington was in Darlington district from 1837 to 1937, when it was moved to Auckland. We try to use the districts that were in force at the time of the records we have, and all of our Heighington records are during the Darlington period. Plus, our Heighington censuses were already listed as Darlington district, so at least now we’re consistent!

3,516 burials at Bishopwearmouth Cemetery covering 1893 and 1894. As usual, these cemetery register entries contain more detail than a parish register normally does for burials:

• 31 Dec 1894 Annie Holness, of 141 Back High Street West, age: 15 months, daughter of George William Holness (striker)
• 9 Jan 1893 Margaret O’Neill, of 4 Blue Anchor Yard, age: 64, widow of John O’Neill (labourer)

Replaced the marriage index for Witton Gilbert (St. Michael and All Angels) from 1570 to the end of 1851 with full details, so those 855 marriages are now instantly available, including witnesses. For example:

• 31 Jan 1756 Thomas Bowmer, of Witton-le-Wear married Jane Burne, by licence
  Witnesses: Michael Teasdale, Stephen Clark
• 6 Oct 1849 George Todd (bachelor, pitman), full age, of Sacriston, son of William Todd (labourer) married Jane Johnson (spinster), full age, of Sacriston, daughter of Joseph Johnson (pitman)
  Witnesses: Lindsay Smith, Cuthbert Snowball

Fixed a bug in the search code – it was not finding names with apostrophes in them. So if you have Irish ancestors and could never track down the likes of the O’Neil or O’Malley families at our site, please try again. Also the I’anson, D’Alessia, etc. families will now turn up.

573 burials at Sunderland Holy Trinity in 1842. Unusual for this period, there are lots of useful details such as parent or spouse names, occupation, and death date. It reads more like a cemetery register than a church burial register. For example:

• 15 Feb 1842 Jane Ann Thompson, of Barrack Street, age: 1 year 6 months, died 11 Feb 1842, daughter of Nathan Thompson (pilot)
• 17 Nov 1842 Thomas Liddle, of Nesham Square, age: 57, died 14 Nov 1842, mariner, accidently killed at South Shields
• 1 Dec 1842 Sarah Cawdell, of Houghton-le-Spring, age: 75, died 26 Nov 1842, widow of James Cawdell (comedian)

We are working on filling the gaps in our Sunderland Holy Trinity burials (1822-29, 1838-42).

Replaced the baptism index for Witton Gilbert (St. Michael and All Angels) 1571-1851 with full details so those 3,260 baptisms are now instantly available. Also found 7 baptisms that were not in our index previously!

Due to the decrease in the exchange rate between British pound sterling and US dollars, we have adjusted all of our US dollar prices for site credits downward approximately 23% to be more in line with the current exchange rate. The exchange rate fluctuates constantly and we do not intend to change the price weekly to follow it, but we will adjust the prices when the rate has dropped or risen dramatically. As usual, customers from non-UK and non-US countries can choose whichever currency (£ or US$) gives them a better rate of exchange when they purchase. The prices for purchasing records via the shopping cart are unchanged, as they are already in line with the current rate.

1,441 baptisms at West Hartlepool Christ Church from Jan 1882 to early April 1891. Most list the child’s birth date, and some baptisms occurred long after the person’s birth. For example:

• 1 Jan 1882 Ferguson Docherty, of 18 Hart Rd., born 18 Sep 1879, child of Thomas Docherty (boilermaker) & Phoebe
• 4 Mar 1888 John Smith, of 99 Brougham Tce., born 10 Nov 1831, child of Samuel Smith (engineman) & Sarah

261 marriages at Brancepeth St. Brandon from 1 Jan 1813 to 1 Jul 1837 when civil registration started. Witnesses not transcribed. Brancepeth, a large parish adjacent to Durham City, hosted marriages with grooms and brides from many other parishes. For example:

• 29 Jul 1830 John Turner (the younger), of the parish of St.Nicholas, Durham City married Ann Hills, of this parish
• 31 Dec 1822 James Martin, of the parish of Abbots Hall, Fife married Harriett Hall, of this parish
• 28 Oct 1823 Robert Lumley, of this parish married Ellen Davison, of Hunwick in the parish of St.Andrew’s, Auckland

3,650 burials at Bishopwearmouth Cemetery. Most include addresses and details of occupations, fathers or mothers or spouses, and parental occupations. Examples:

• 29 Dec 1892 Adolph Frederick Amundsen, of 8 The Grove, age: 41, coal exporter
• 26 Dec 1892 Susan Calvert, of 3 North Hedley Street, age: 26, wife of George Calvert (labourer)
• 1 Jan 1891 John William Clarke, of 7 Hendon Road, age: 10 months, son of William Clarke (baker)