786 baptisms and 436 burials at Hetton-le-Hole St. Nicholas from the time the church opened in Nov 1832 to the end of 1835, transcribed from the Bishop’s Transcript.  Previously part of the parish of Houghton-le-Spring, this church served the coal mining communities of Brick Garth, Cross Lanes, Downs Lane, Easington Lane, Elemore Vale, Eppleton, Hetton-le-Hole, High Downs, Low Downs, Low Moorsley, Lyons, Murton Lane, and South Hetton. According to Pigot’s 1834 Directory of County Durham, the population of Hetton expanded from about 500 in 1821 to nearly 8,000 in 1834, with most of those dependent on the colliery for a living, and the baptism register reflects that population exposion !