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.