When we transcribed Sadberge from the Bishop’s Transcripts, we noticed there were some gaps in the baptisms, so we have now transcribed those gaps from the original register, adding 55 baptisms in the following years: 1770-73, 1776-79, 1782-83, 1785, 1791-92.

4,077 baptisms in the parish of Hart St. Mary Magdalene in Hartlepool district. 

Hart, an ancient parish of County Durham, includes the townships and hamlets of Dalton-Piercy, Elwick, Hart, Nesbit, Red Lion, Thorpe Bulmer, and Throston. It is bounded on the north and north-west by Monk Hesledon parish, on the south-west by Elwick Hall, on the south by Stranton, and on the east by the German Ocean. Hart originally contained the chapelry of Hartlepool which became the parish of Hartlepool St. Hilda’s. Generally, only the father (or single mother) is named in these baptisms until 1736, when we start seeing both parents named, and of course this set includes the detail-rich 1798-1812 period. Some samples:

• 20 Jul 1584 Beele White, ye child of John White
• 29 Sep 1629 Jhon Loman, son of Henrie [Henry] Loman & Anne, borne in the house of Robt. Mainsforth who said that Henrie Loman was his father her husband
• 22 Nov 1713 Dorothy Bates, daughter of Anne Bates (whom she fathered on a souldier)
• 1 Jan 1798 John Gibbon, born 13 Nov 1797, 3rd son of John Gibbon (native of Parish Denton) by his wife Ann White (daughter of Thomas, native of Garmonsway Moor in the Parish of Kelloe)

Burials and marriages to follow soon.

A collection of 562 Auckland area baptisms & 185 burials from the Bishop’s Transcripts:

• 101 baptisms at Auckland St. Andrew in the year 1813
• 189 baptisms and 43 burials at Coundon St. James from the opening of the church in Sep 1842 to the end of 1845. Coundon parish was taken out of Auckland St. Andrew and is in Auckland district.
• 272 baptisms and 143 burials at Crook St. Catherine from the opening of the church in Jan 1844 to the end of 1848. Crook parish was taken out of Brancepeth and is in Auckland district.

The clerk at Auckland St. Andrew generously continued giving us the child order & maiden names of the mothers in baptisms for all of 1813:

• 1 Aug 1813 Alexander Gleason, of Bishop Auckland, 3rd son of Alexander Gleason (tailor) & Margaret Roughead

231 burials at Sadberge St. Andrew in Darlington district from 1762-1797. The following periods were transcribed from the parish register: Aug 1770-Oct 1771, 1772-73, 1778-79, Oct 1791-Jan 1794. The rest were transcribed from the Bishop’s Transcript, with some cross-checking against the register, which turned up no differences. The register was a mess around 1791, with half a page (apparently blank) cut out and records inserted upside down at the top of the page, and baptisms and burials on the same page.

These are our first burials in Darlington district!

687 baptisms at Stockton St Thomas 1807-1812, from the Bishop’s Transcript. Still in the wonderfully detailed period, we get samples like this:

• 20 Nov 1812 John Robert Walton, born 25 Oct 1812, 7th son of Thomas Lasiels Walton (innkeeper, native of Corham in Coverdale, Yorkshire) by his wife Mary Appleton (native of this parish)

We now have a complete run of baptisms at Stockton St. Thomas from 1762 to 1814, plus 1829-32. We will work on filling the gap from 1815-1829 shortly. Remember, Stockton St. Thomas is not indexed by the IGI, so we are pleased to offer you our unique comprehensive index to this parish.

190 baptisms at Croxdale St. Bartholemew 1813-1831, from the Bishop’s Transcript and the parish register. Croxdale, in Durham district, served inhabitants of Brancepeth, Croxdale, the Durham city parishes of Elvet and St. Oswald, Hett in Merrington parish, High Butterby, Merrington, Sunderland Bridge, Tudhoe in Brancepeth parish, and Tursdale.

436 baptisms and 187 burials at Washington Holy Trinity from 1813 to the end of 1817, from the Bishop’s Transcript. Washington, in Chester-le-Street district, covered the communities of Barmston, Biddick Burn, Blue House, Great Usworth, Mount, New Washington, New York, North Biddick, Oxclose, Waggon Row, and of course Washington.

We were thrilled to see that, although it was no longer required, the cleric stated relationships in just over half of the burials, listing parents or spouses. Some samples:

• 12 Dec 1813 John Egerton, age: 14 & 3/4, of His Majesty’s ship Sterling Castle, youngest son of the Rev. Charles Egerton (Rector of Washington), died at Calcutta in the East Indies on this date
• 4 Apr 1816 Dorothy Lee, of New York, age: 3, daughter of William Lee & Jane
• 1 May 1815 Margaret Egglestone, of North Biddick, age: 67, widow of George Egglestone
• 25 Mar 1814 Mary Walton, of Washington Engine, age: 52, wife of Nicholas Walton

Replaced the baptism index for Ryton Holy Cross from 1581 to the end of 1639 with full details, so those 3,059 baptisms are now instantly available. In the process we discovered we had missed an entire folio of baptisms in 1633, so there are now 58 additional baptisms we didn’t have online before.

335 baptisms and 220 burials at Barnard Castle St. Mary (Teesdale district) for the years 1832 & 1833. This parish included residents of Barnard Castle, Langleydale, Marwood, Stainton, Streatlam, Whorlton, and bits of Yorkshire – Bowes, Lunedale, Startforth.

3,138 marriage bonds issued by the Durham Diocese 1749-1759.

Marriage bonds often provide ages, occupations, and place of residence for the bride and groom during a period when marriage registers did not provide that information. Please read the Marriages Bonds section of the Transcription Samples page for a description of what information is found in bonds, allegations, and associated documents, and how we present that information.

In 1750 & 1751, the bundles (allegations, bonds, affidavits, parent/guardian consents, directions) are in a very bad condition with many parts missing, torn or frayed. Names of some of the parties are missing from some of the bonds. For these years, we have done additional research on possible marriages and in a few cases have identified the missing names. We show these enclosed in square brackets. We have also added brief details (Date, Place) of many actual marriages, which we provide when you purchase a bond. Except for the period 31 Aug – 19 Sep, there are no significant gaps.

The Diocese of Durham covered all of County Durham and parts of Northumberland and North Yorkshire. Marriage bonds were not issued on a per-district basis, so the District filter is ignored when the marriage bond database is searched.

These records are from Ron Nubley’s Index, which we are in the process of integrating into our collection, so when you buy one of these, you will immediately get the brief index entry, and the full entry will be transcribed and emailed to you within 3 days, at which point it becomes part of our database and you can view it again at any time.