761 burials at Hart St. Mary Magdelene, from Jan 1813 to 1 June 1884. Some samples, including the oldest person in this set:

• 6 Jun 1826 Margaret Elliott, of Elwick, age: 106
• 11 Jan 1820 Rev’d George Metcalfe, of Hart, age: 69, 38 years minister – curate of this parish
• 11 Jun 1834 Matthew Husband, of Hart, age: 44, brewer, dropped down dead in W. H/Pool
• 7 Apr 1814 Ruth Prest, of Hart, age: 10 days

Abodes mentioned besides Hart include Billingham, Castle Eden, Cotsfold Close, Crimdon, Dalton Piercy, Elwick, Greatham, Hartlepool, Hart Warren, Hutton Henry, Low Throston, Middle Thorpe, Naisberry, Sheraton, Stockton, Sunderland, Thorpe Bulmer, Throston, West Hartlepool, and Wolviston.

We now have a continuous run of Hart burials from 1577 to 1884.

At Sedgefield St. Edmund the Bishop, in Stockton district, from the Bishop’s Transcript (except 1793 which is from the film of the original register):

• 1,250 baptisms from March 1769 to the end of 1797
• 1,004 burials from Apr 1769 to the end of 1796

Besides the town of Sedgefield, this largely rural parish included Bradbury, Brakeleases, Butterwick, Elmdon, Fishburn, Foxton, the curiously named farm of Glower O’er Him, Hardwick Mill, Hauxley House, Horseshoe House, Howling Carr, Layton, Lizards, Mordon, Murton, Nunstainton Mill, North Beacon, Old Acres, Owlet Hall, Ryall, Sands, South Moor, Trimdon, Weterton. There were quite a few burials from the nearby parishes of Auckland St. Andrew, Aycliffe, Bishop Middleham, Bishopton, Brancepeth, Kelloe, Elwick Hall, Grindon, Merrington, Stranton, Stainton, and Trimdon, plus Durham City and bits of Yorkshire.

Some baptism samples:

• 23 Apr 1769 Bartholomew Kent, of Bradbury, son of Bartholomew Kent & Sarah (his wife)
• 26 Jul 1776 Mary Hilton Longstaff, daughter of the Rev. Mr. William Longstaff (Curate of this parish) & Mary (his wife)
• 26 May 1782 Hannah Slee, daughter of Jonathan Slee (of the Cumberland Militia) & Dorothy (his wife)
• This one was unusual in that it named a young adult and godparents:
  • 7 Nov 1783 William Hart, son of John Hart (a Quaker) & Isabel (his wife), in the 23rd year of his age baptized in the Parish Church Sedgefield.
    Godparents: Ralph Ord, Esquire; Michael Heads; Mrs. Margaret Wright
• 6 Aug 1797 Ann Attey, of Old Acres, daughter of Matthew Attey & Ann

In this period, parents are usually named in a child’s burial and husbands are usually named in a married or widowed woman’s burial. Some samples:

• 4 Aug 1769 Mary Longstaff, of Sedgefield, daughter of the Revd. Mr. William Longstaff (Curate of Sedgefield) & Mary, his wife
• 14 Dec 1781 Ann Fletcher, of Sedgefield, wife of Thomas Fletcher
• 2 Nov 1796 Robert Car, illegitimate son of Jane Car, now the wife of Robert Pace

Can anyone identify the place name Ladoes or Ladocs in or near Sedgefield ? It was inhabited by the Shepherd and Taylor families in this period and is consistently written the same way, but I cannot find an equivalent farm or town on a modern map.

Updated Cockfield marriages 1813-1837 with witnesses, adding 405 new people to the database – search them by putting a check in the Search for Witnesses checkbox on the Search form. If you previously purchased a Cockfield marriage in this period, you can review it by logging in and clicking My Previous Orders – when you view it, it will now have the witnesses.

Replaced the index to marriages at Ryton Holy Cross from 1582 to 1749 inclusive with full entries, so those 3,300 marriages are now instantly available.

720 marriages at Houghton-le-Spring St. Michael & All Angels, covering 1762-1785. Some samples:

• 13 Feb 1762 John Bright (Esquire), of Pontefract in the County of York married Elizabeth Stonehewer, of this parish, by licence
  Witnesses: John Crowe, Richard Stonehewer
• 5 May 1771 Simon Crosby, of the parish of Chester-le-Street married Jane Rickaby, of this parish, by banns
  Witnesses: John Watson, James Calbreath
• 10 Oct 1785 Archibald Pallister married Mary Feetenby, both of this parish, by banns
  Witnesses: Michael Watson, Tristram Thompson

Note the first marriage is by licence, and if you search for John Bright’s marriage in 1762, you will find that we also have his marriage bond, which states both his age and Elizabeth Stonehewer’s age and discloses the fact that John is a widower.

2,323 burials at Whitworth in Auckland district. 1813-1829, 1834, 1848-1855, 1864-73 are from the Bishop’s Transcript ; the rest are from the parish register. Some samples:

• 16 Jun 1767 Hannah Bettesworth, niece to John Watson, farmer
• 8 Dec 1780 Jane Granger, wife of John Granger
• 13 Dec 1788 William Heads, son of Nicholas Heads & Mary
• 5 Mar 1802 Mary Wharton, of Old Park, eldest daughter of the late Thomas Wharton (of Bailey, Durham)
• 26 Apr 1810 Rev’d James Deason, a minor Canon & Sachrist of the Cathedral Church at Durham
• 4 May 1835 Mildred Sarah Deason Pilkinton, of London, age: 2 years 6 months, daughter of Mr Pilkinton, solicitor & great-grand-daughter of the late Revd James Deason
• 25 Jan 1848 Robert Eden Duncombe Shafto, of Whitworth, age: 72
• 25 Feb 1856 William Conqueror Clapham, of Old Park, age: 19, Coroner’s Inquest
• 21 Oct 1871 Goodwallet Jones, of Spennymoor, age: 2

Note that Spennymoor St.Paul opened in 1863, taken out of the Parish of Whitworth, but there is one burial on 26 May 1858 which claims the burial took place at Spennymoor St.Paul. There is no further mention of a burial place until 2 burials in Feb 1861 which state the burials took place at Whitworth. The burial register for Spennymoor does not begin until 1875 (although Spennymoor’s baptism and marriage registers start in 1863). We suspect that the first burial at Spennymoor took place in May 1858 (before the Church was actually finished) and that probably the vast majority (maybe all but 2) of the burials recorded in the Whitworth register after 1858 were actually at Spennymoor, as most of the burials in that period claimed Spennymoor as an abode. Corroborating evidence one way or the other would be welcomed.

582 baptisms and 211 burials at Cockfield St. Mary in Teesdale district, from the Bishop’s Transcript. Abodes mentioned besides Cockfield include Butterknowle, Copley, Esperley Lane, Evenwood, Gaunless Lead Mill, Langleydale, Low Wham, Lynesack & Softly, Morley, Mount Slowly, Raby, Southside, West Pitts, and Woodland.

In response to the poll results, the search form now has a check box labeled “include Marriage Bonds (for entire diocese) when searching Marriages in a specific district”. The search now works as follows:

• If you select Marriages – All Districts, the Marriage Bonds are also automatically searched.
• If you select Marriages and specify a district (for example, Sunderland), and you leave the new checkbox checked (as it is by default), the search will check for marriages in only Sunderland district AND marriage bonds anywhere in Durham Diocese
• If you select Marriages and specify a district (for example, Sunderland), and you uncheck the new checkbox, the search will check for marriages in Sunderland district only.
• If you select All Parish Records or All Records combined with All Districts, when the search gets around to searching for marriages, it will follow the above rules.
• If you select Marriage Bonds, the checkbox is ignored and all marriage bonds are searched.

Why is this useful? Well, most of the time, when you are looking for someone’s marriage, you probably do want to see the marriage bonds as well, so you don’t miss any possible marriages. However, if you are searching for a common name in a specific place, it may be overwhelming or confusing to see marriage bonds from all over the diocese along with marriages in the specified district. You may want to first search for Marriages in the specified district with the new box unchecked, and after you have explored those, then run a new search in just Marriage Bonds.

1,218 baptisms at Houghton-le-Spring St. Michael & All Angels, from Jan 1786 to Aug 1797, from the Bishop’s Transcript.  In this period, the father’s occupation was not usually listed. Some samples:

• 21 Jun 1797 Mary Bowlby, of Houghton, born 1 Dec 1796, daughter of the Reverend Thomas Bowlby (A.M.) & Eleanora Elizabeth Bowlby (his wife)
• 5 Mar 1786 John Streaker, of West Rainton, son of Mark Streaker & Margaret

1,531 burials at the same place covering 1778-1797, from the Bishop’s Transcript. Burials in this period usually name parents of a child or husband of a married woman or widow. Some samples, all apparently in the same family:

• 13 May 1787 Thomas Balmer, of Houghton
• 19 Aug 1787 Eleanor Balmer, widow of Thomas Balmer (late of Houghton)
• 23 Sep 1787 Pexal Balmer, of Houghton, son of the late Thomas Balmer & Eleanor

Abodes mentioned include Biddick, Bunker’s Hill, Chilton Moor, Cocken, Collier Row, Cross Fines Row, East Herrington, East Rainton, Eppleton, Ewe Hill, Hetton, High Dubmire, High Pit Houses, Houghton, Leamside Lane, Low Dubmire, Middle Herrington, Moorsley, Morton Acres, Morton Fence, Morton Hill, New Lambton, Newbottle, Philadelphia, Rainton (Bridge, Engine, Gate, Meadow, Pit Houses, Stables, and Turnpike!), Sedgeletch, Stots Pasture, The Knott, Torrish Hill, Tile Sheds aka Tyle Shades, Wapping, West Herrington, West Rainton, and Wilson’s Row.

2,286 baptisms at Whitworth’s parish church (which is not dedicated to a saint, unlike most Anglican churches), covering 1813-1873.  Whitworth, in Auckland district, includes residents of Bishop’s Close, Burton Beck, Byers Green, Coxhoe, Middlestone Moor, Mount Pleasant, New Whitworth, Newtown, Old Park, Ox Close, Spennymoor, Todhills, Tudhoe, Woodhouses, and Whitworth (and the associated Whitworth Colliery, Lodge, Hall, House, Park, and Pit).

Whitworth is not indexed by the IGI, so this collection adds greatly to the data available online to Auckland-area researchers. We will follow it shortly with burials for the same period, then earlier baptisms and burials.

Baptisms for 1813, 1815-29, 1834, 1848-55, 1864-73 are from the Bishop’s Transcript; the others years are from the parish register, and many were cross-checked against the GRO birth index for spelling anomalies after 1837.  Here are some examples of anomalies that required a little research to understand & index properly:

• 5 Mar 1871 Elizabeth Hotterwell [Ottowell], of Spennymoor, child of Benjamin Hotterwell [Ottowell] (pitman) & Hannah
  (This child was christened with the surname Hotterwell, but the GRO index and subsequent censuses show the family as Ottowell.)
• 10 Jan 1871 Elizabeth Jane Anderson [Alderson], of Spennymoor, child of Matthew Anderson [Alderson] (pitman) & Margaret
  [Note: Anderson in the register, Alderson in the GRO birth index and other baptisms.]
• 1 Oct 1815 Mary Waskay [Wascoe], of Durham, daughter of William Waskay [Wascoe] (labourer) & Ann
  (We have added Wascoe as an alternate spelling because that is how later children were registered.)

Most entries until the end of 1833 (and a scattered few after that)  include mother’s maiden name, which is a great boon to researchers, as maiden names were not required after 1812:

• 22 Nov 1818 Caroline Longstaff, of Byers Green, 2nd daughter of Thomas Longstaff (labourer) & Elizabeth Barnaby [Parnaby]
• 1 Jan 1833 Elizabeth Kinleyside, of Woodhouse, 2nd daughter of John Kinleyside (farmer) & Lucy Gibson