434 marriages at Monkwearmouth Venerable Bede from March 1890 to March 1899. Includes witnesses. Sample:

• 20 Oct 1890 Robert Wrathmall (bachelor, boiler smith), age 22, of 10 Gosforth St, son of Richard Wrathmall (deceased trimmer) married Elizabeth Campbell (spinster), age 21, of 7 Gosforth St, daughter of David Campbell (boot maker)
  Witnesses: Robert Chapman Roper, Mary Cameron

2,369 baptisms at Lamesley St. Andrew from March 1765 to March 1798.

Lamesley, originally a chapelry of Chester-le-Street parish, covered the neighborhoods of Bainesley Lane, Birkhead or Birch Heads, Birtley, Boggle or Bogg Hole, Chowdean, Coal Flat, Cow Close, Cox Close, Darwent Crook, Dumper Mill, Dunkirk, Eighton Banks (called Eighteen Banks in many of these baptisms), Fugar House, Gateshead Fell, Harlow Green, Hedley, Kibblesworth, Lamesley, Long Acres, Loosing Hill, Lowsey Law, Moor Mills, Mount, Newcastle, North End, Old Engine, Penny Fine, Ravensworth, Riding Gate, Sheddon Law, Southrines Shop, Street Gate, Tinker Row, Urpeth, and Wasting or Weston Row.

Mothers were not listed until the end of July 1789. A few baptisms include birth dates. Samples:

• 27 May 1765 Ann Spooner, of Cow Close, daughter of the Revd. Thomas Spooner
• 13 Sep 1789 William Fawdon, of Ravensworth, son of George Fawdon & Catharine
• 18 Feb 1798 James Tones, born 1-Jan 1798, 2nd child of James Tones (native of this chapelry) by his wife Jane formerly Chisholm

About half of these were transcribed from the Bishop’s Transcript with some checking against the parish register, and the other half (many years were missing from the BT) were transcribed from the parish register. Because of the mix of sources, each record has a note saying whether it came from the BT or the PR.

Lamesley is not indexed by the IGI so these records have not been widely available until now.

2,871 burials at Sunderland Holy Trinity parish church, covering 1843-1847. Most include date of death and descriptive or relational information. For example:

• 9 Jan 1843 Mary Jane Axion, of Barracks, age: 15 months, died 8 Jan 1843, daughter of Martin Axion (sergeant in the 61st Regiment)
• 28 Mar 1843 Barbara Cosgrove, of Mill Street, age: 42, died 25 Mar 1843, wife of Hugh Cosgrove (labourer)
• 22 Dec 1843 Robert Wilson, of Howick St, Bishopwearmouth, age: 77, died 19 Dec 1843, landing waiter for H.M.Customs

484 marriages from Gainford St. Mary’s parish register, cross-checked against the bishop’s transcript (which in some cases provided additional data on occupation or residence). Includes witnesses 1798-1812 where they were shown in the bishop’s transcript. From 1799 to 1806, most marriages showed the marital status and groom’s occupation; after that, the occupation was usually not shown. For example:

• 4 Mar 1805 Cuthbert Graham (clerk of this parish, bachelor) married Elizabeth Walton (widow), of the parish of Heighington
  Witnesses: Margaret Goldsbrough, Thomas Graham, Richard Graham
• 26 Mar 1812 George Bird (widower), of Grinton, Co.York married Mary Coates (spinster), of this parish
  Witnesses: Sarah Sayer, Mary Frank

Residences mentioned in Gainford records for this period include: Alwent, Aycliffe, Bolam, Brancepeth, Cleatlam, Cock Lane, Darlington, East Greystone, Forcett, Gainford, Headlam, Hilton, Ingleton, Killerby, Langton, Morton Tinmouth, Norton, Piercebridge, Staindrop, Summerhouse.

313 baptisms and 222 burials at Gainford St. Mary in Teesdale district, covering the detail-filled years of 1798-1812, from the bishop’s transcript. This parish’s clergymen recorded all the possible details, including the mother’s father, which are often not found in other parishes. For example:

• baptized 23 Aug 1802 Robert Moon, of Piercebridge, born 31 Jan, 3rd son of Robert Moon (labourer, son of Cornelius Moon, native of Glasgow) by his wife Elizabeth Vickers (daughter of Joseph Vickers, native of West Gate, in the parish of Stanhope)
• buried 14 Dec 1804 Anne Oliver, of Killerby, age: 13, died 12 Dec, daughter of Thomas Oliver (husbandman) & Margaret his wife, late Gent
• buried 16 Jun 1807 George Jopling, of Gainford, age: 51, died 14 Jun, formerly a sailmaker at Sunderland

Gainford is not indexed by the IGI past 1784, so this data has not been easily available. We will continue working on this parish.

134 baptisms and 140 burials at Norton St. Mary in Stockton district, covering 1813-1818

605 marriages at Darlington St. Cuthbert for 1798-1812, from the bishop’s transcript. Most include the groom’s occupation, but no witnesses. Some examples:

• 26 Dec 1811 William Preston (joiner), of the parish of Bishopwearmouth married Mary Ramsay (spinster), of this parish, by banns
• 26 Dec 1806 Thomas Prosser (serjeant in 4th Division of Marines) married Mary Pears (spinster), of this parish, by banns
• 22 Feb 1808 Thomas Bagley (a blind man, fidler), of this parish married Ann Anderson (widow), of this parish, by banns

The IGI does not include Darlington marriages, so this data set should fill in some holes and provide some answers for Darlington-area researchers.

904 marriages at Hart St. Mary Magdalene for 1577-1763. There were no marriages in 1611 or 1650-1653. About 1/3 of the marriages show the abode of the groom, bride, or both. Parents, ages, occupations, and witnesses were not included in marriages in this period, but a few widows have their previous husband listed. Some examples:

• 7 May 1592 Christofer Hartusse married Margaret Nicolson (late wif of Gilbert)
• 23 Feb 1595 Robert Harrison, of Over Throston married Ellsabeth Golden (wedowe)

Hart parish is not indexed by the IGI, so our recent Hart additions should provide some more easily-accessible data for our Hartlepool-area researchers.

Replaced the index to baptisms at Ryton Holy Cross for 1776-1797 with full details, so those 2,867 baptisms are now instantly available.

2.069 burials at Hart St. Mary Magdalene in Hartlepool district, from 1577 to Feb 1698.

Most of these burials name either the parent of a deceased child, the spouse of a deceased married woman, or an occupation.  For example:

• 26 Feb 1584 Ellsabeth Startfourth, daughter of Bryan Startfourth, [buried] in ye Church
• 10 Jul 1587 Agnas Hodge, ye wif of Cuthbert Hodge
• 20 Nov 1605 John Robson, of Harte, Clerck, Viccar was buried in the chancel

In Oct. 1678, a law was passed dictating that all bodies must be buried in woollen or nothing (to promote the wool trade), and there was a fine of £5 for any body not buried in wool. Affidavits by upstanding citizens provided legal proof that a body was buried in woollen, and we have included the names on those affidavits and indexed them in the “other persons” category. Most were church officials, but sometimes a wife or other relative provided the affidavit, so this can be valuable data. For example:

• 30 Jun 1680 George Armestrong, of High Throston, buried in woollen, certified by Mabil (his wife) Armstrong & Alise Burden, buried in the churchyard of Hart.

We even get a comment on the weather !

• 26 Oct 1630 Thomas Wilkinson, of Elwick, wind and snow the sorest day that ever did blow