Well, this is embarrassing - we just discovered that we never put the 1841 and 1851 census for Spennymoor, Whitworth & Old Park (in Auckland district) online. So we have just added 320 people in 1841 and 685 people in 1851. If you previously searched for people who may have been in this area in 1841 or 1851, you might want to search again - they may be there now!

1,641 burials at Sunderland Holy Trinity for 1848-1849. Most include date of death and descriptive or relational information. For example:

• 6 Jan 1850 Margaret Jane Fish, of Vine Street, age: 5 years 6 months, died 2 Jan 1850, daughter of David Fish (shoemaker)
• 29 Mar 1848 Ann Christie, of 17 Burleigh Street, age: 103, died 24 Mar 1848, widow of Thomas Christie (labourer)
• 26 Mar 1848 Robert Stones, of Harley St, Bishopwearmouth, age: 63, died 21 Mar 1848, sawyer

3,322 marriage bonds issued by the Durham Diocese 1768-1775.

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.

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.

As an example, here is a typical marriage record from a pre-1837 parish register:

Not a lot of information, is there? But there is a licence, which means there should be a marriage bond, and sure enough, we find this bond:

• 23 Nov 1775 James JAMES, Sunderland, 22, mariner & Martha WANLASS, Chester-le-Street, 22
  surety: Andrew HUMBLE, Lumley, pitman

So now, thanks to the bond, we have the ages of both James and Martha and the occupation of James. Also, if somebody was researching the surety & witness Andrew Humble, they would have his abode and occupation. Bonds can be very useful !

780 baptisms at Houghton-le-Spring St. Michael & All Angels, covering 1778-1785, from the Bishop’s Transcript.

Abodes mentioned include Bunker’s Hill, Collier Row, Dubmire Moor, East Herrington, East Rainton, Eppleton, Hetton, High Dubmire, High Pit Houses, Houghton, Leamside Lane, Low Dubmire, Middle Herrington, Moorsley, Morton Acres, Morton Fence, Morton Hill, Newbottle, Philadelphia, Rainton (Bridge, Engine, Mill, Pit Houses, Stables, and Turnpike!), Sedgeletch, Stots Pasture, The Knott, Torrish Hill, West Herrington, West Rainton, and Wilson’s Row.

In this period, the father’s occupation was not usually listed, unless he was a minister, teacher, soldier, gentleman, or some other occupation that merited special notice by the clerk. Some samples:

• 14 Dec 1778 Elizabeth Maughan, of West Herrington, daughter of Mr. John Maughan & Cecilia (his wife)
• 16 Jun 1782 Mary Cowper, of Houghton, daughter of the Reverend William Cowper (M.A., Master of the Kepier School in Houghton) & Ann (his wife)
• 14 Mar 1782 William Samuel Story, of Newbottle, son of Anthony Story (Esquire) & Mary (his wife)
• 27 Mar 1785 Thomas Stove, of Rainton Pit Houses, son of Anthony Stove & Jane
• 17 Jul 1785 Jeremiah Barras Taylor, of West Rainton, son of Isabella Taylor

1,542 baptisms at Jarrow St. Paul covering 1831-1835, 1843-1846, and 1848-1852, from the Bishop’s Transcript. We will get those gaps filled in from the parish register at the record office as soon as possible, probably in the next month or so.

Here are some fathers with unusual first names:

• 7 Aug 1833 Jane Elizabeth Atkinson, of Hedworth, daughter of Smart Atkinson (farmer) & Mary
• 7 Sep 1851 Thomas Cook, of East Howden, son of Friend Cook (waterman) & Caroline
• 17 Jun 1832 Elizabeth Robson, of Hebburn Colliery, daughter of Greener Robson (collier) & Isabella

256 burials for 1831-1835 at Jarrow St Paul, from the Bishop’s Transcript:

• 4 Jul 1833 Ann Tweedy Turner, of Jarrow Row, age: 3 months
• 30 Sep 1834 Peter Wilson, of Dingwell, Scotland, age: 43, died of Cholera in the schooner Seaforth lying in the River Tyne

14 marriages at Croxdale St .Bartholomew in Durham district for 1786-1797, from the parish register, including marriage witnesses.

1,090 baptisms at Shildon St. John for 1834-1846, from the parish register. Shildon parish was carved out of Auckland St. Andrew in September 1834 and abodes listed included Brusselton, Chapel Row, Cobbler’s Hall, Darlington, East Thickley, Eldon, Fyland’s Bridge, Middridge, New Shildon, Old Shildon, Railway Terrace, Sedgefield, Soho (New Shildon), and Wackerfield.

• 7 Dec 1834 Thomas Smirk, of New Shildon, son of Washington Smirk (blacksmith) & Mary
• 17 Apr 1846 Herbert George Mant, of Shildon, child of Richard Mant (curate of Shildon) & Jane Emily Mant

At Barnard Castle St. Mary, covering 1843-1846, from the Bishop’s Transcript:

• 646 baptisms
• 430 burials

As well as Barnard Castle, residences listed include Marwood, Stainton, Startforth. Streatlam, Romaldkirk, Langleydale, Kinninvie, and Westwick. 

Some baptism samples:

• 31 Jan 1843 William Stubbs, of Barnard Castle, illegitimate son of Draper Stubbs (wife of James Stubbs, flaxdresser who has not been heard of for several years)
• 26 May 1844 Harrison Christopher Peacock, of Barnard Castle, son of John Harrison Peacock (writer) & Jane

and the 2 oldest people buried in this set:

• 20 Dec 1846 Elizabeth Taylor, of Union Poor House, age: 103
• 7 Oct 1843 Jane Percival, of Barnard Castle, age: 100

At Washington Holy Trinity covering 1818-1822, from the Bishop’s Transcript.

• 493 baptisms
• 221 burials

Abodes listed include Barmston, Biddick Burn, Blue House, Botany Bay, Havannah, Mount, New Washington, New York, North Biddick, Oxclose, Usworth (Great and Little), Waggon Row, and Washington. For example:

• baptized 2 Feb 1818 John Charleton, illegitimate son of John Hedley (miller of Newburn) & Elizabeth Charleton (of Crook-gate, Whickham parish)
• buried 5 Mar 1818 Thomas Jopling, of New York, age: 92
• buried 24 Jul 1820 Joseph Angus, of Birtley, age: 65, buried by coroner’s warrant - verdict lunacy - he cut his left arm and bled to death in a field near Havannah

We also added the marriages witnesses to Washington marriages 1813-1822. If you previously purchased one of these, log in and click My Orders to see your past orders; when you view any Washington marriages in this period, they will now have witnesses.

826 baptisms covering 1574-1650 at Pittington St. Lawrence. Before 1601, baptisms here only named the child, not the parents. From 1601 to 1650, the baptism named the father of the child but not the mother. Abodes are not given. For example:

• 31 Dec 1598 Marmaduke Swallwell
• 22 Mar 1629 George Swalwell, child of Marmaduke Swalwell