3,643 baptisms and 3,635 burials from St. Margaret’s, a chapelry in the parish of St. Oswald’s in the city of Durham, covering 1813-1849, from the Bishop’s Transcript (except 1831 which is from the parish register). St. Margaret’s served residents of Allergate, Aykley Heads, Brasside Moor, Claypath, the College, Crook Hall, Crossgate, Durham Moor Houses, Elvet Bridge, Field Houses, Framwellgate, Framwellgate Moor, Frankland Colliery, Gilesgate, Horse Hole, Kepier, Milburngate, Neville’s Cross, North Bailey, Palace Green, Pity Me, Sidegate, St. Nicholas, St. Oswald’s, and White Smocks. Many burials came from the Union Workhouse and the Durham Infirmary.

Some baptism samples:

• 1 Jan 1813 Catherine Sharp Hodgson, of Framwellgate, daughter of Francis Hodgson (farmer) & Mary
• 26 Nov 1823 Margaret Davison, of South Street, daughter of Robert Davison (gingerbread baker) & Elizabeth
• 24 Nov 1833 Joseph Snowdon, of Silver Street, son of James Snowdon (bookbinder) & Mary
• 30 Dec 1849 John Wilson Greenwell, of Pity Me, son of John Greenwell (potato seller) & Marianne

Some burial samples – the first unusually detailed, the rest more typical of this period:

• 31 Dec 1828 Robert Alexander, of Springwell Cottage, age: 74, on the retired list as a Lieutenant from the late 5th Royal Veteran Battalion
• 2 Jan 1813 Henry Blackburn, of the Infirmary, age: 19
• 15 Sep 1815 Joseph Goodfellow, of St Nicholas, age: 40
• 7 Jul 1829 Susannah Eeles, of Crossgate, age: infant
• 8 Mar 1815 Jane Maddison, of Framwellgate, age: 100
• 16 Dec 1825 Mary Leighton, of the Workhouse, age: 80

and in a mini-milestone, our 600,000th burial to be put online:

• 26 Sep 1841 William Pearson, of Grape Lane, age: 89

While we were in this register, we took the opportunity to add 830 witnesses to the 383 marriages at St. Margaret’s from 1813 to mid-1837 and we also made some corrections to these marriages.  Here are 2 samples  in which several of the witnesses are probably relatives of the bride & groom:

• 1 Jan 1823 Charles Andrews (Lieutenant of H.M. 13th Light Dragoons), of Chelsea, Middlesex married Elizabeth Ann Fothergill Cooke, of this parish
  Witnesses: W. Cooke, Frances Nesfield, Ann Andrews Nesfield, James Favell, Mary Ann F. Cooke, W.F. Cooke,  F.F. Cooke
• 21 Dec 1829 William Nesfield Andrews (bachelor, clerk), of this parish married Mary Ann Fothergill Cooke (spinster), of this parish
  Witnesses: Frances Jane Andrews, Jane Light, Elizabeth Anne Cooke, W. Cooke, Charles Andrews

According to my minimal Web research, the brides were daughters of Sir William Fothergill Cooke, an early developer of the electric telegraph system and the grooms were sons of Rev’d Charles Andrews.

Replaced the index to burials at Ryton Holy Cross 1670-1714 with full details so those 3,270 burials are now instantly available.

Samples:

• 26 Aug 1678 Isabell Poyd, wife of Roger Poyd
• 28 May 1682 Jane Champley, of Winlaton, one of 18 persons drowned in a flood 27 May
• 7 Mar 1710 Anthony Johnson, of Woodside, killed in a coal pit, son of Thomas Johnson

3,177 burials at Newbottle St. Matthew from the opening of the graveyard in August 1851 to the end of 1900. Newbottle parish was carved out of Houghton-le-Spring parish in 1850. Residences mentioned in this burial register include Bank Head, Bunker Hill, Burn Moor, Colliery Row, Cross Row, Dubmire, Fence Houses, Herrington, Houghton-le-Spring, Jane Pit, Junction Engine, Junction Row, Margaret Pit, Middle Haining, Morton Engine, New Herrington, New Lambton, Newbottle, Over The Hill farm, Philadelphia, Sedgeletch, Shiney Row, Spring Gardens, Stott’s Pasture, Success Row, and Sunniside.

This is a standard post-1812 church burial register, providing no relationships and little detail except for the occasional notable cause of death. Samples:

• 17 Aug 1851 Sarah Blackbird, of Newbottle, age: 67
• 3 Dec 1875 Ralph Richardson, of Houghton-le-Spring, age: 92
• 16 Mar 1892 William Northay, of Philadelphia, age: 3, died from Scarlet Fever
• 8 Jul 1899 Mary Jane Boundy [Bundy], of Junction Row, age: 13, died of typhoid fever

2,627 burials at Bishop Middleham St. Michael in Stockton district covering 1794-1946. Our non-scientific observation was that, compared to port towns such as Sunderland, in the rural parish of Bishop Middleham there were far more people living to an advanced age – we counted four centenarians and hundreds of folk between 80 and 100. The nearby County Asylum at Winterton did not open until 1855 and had its own graveyard by 1895 so should not be responsible for many of these elders. Perhaps country living really was healthier and contact with infectious diseases much less likely.

Cornforth and Coxhoe parishes were carved out of Bishop Middleham in 1868. The number of burials at Bishop Middleham rapidly dropped away and by 1900 it was running at only about 10 a year.  Residences mentioned include Bishop Middleham, Bradbury, Castle Eden, Chilton, Coundon Grange, Coxhoe, Cornforth, Darlington, Durham City, Easington Lane, Farnless, Ferryhill, Fishburn, Garmondsway Moor, Hett, Mainsforth, Merrington, Middlesbrough (YKS), Norton, Sacriston, Sedgefield, Spennymoor, Stockton, Sunderland, Thinford, Thrislington, Trimdon, Tursdale, and West Cornforth.

Unfortunately this register is very terse, supplying parents for children only in 1794, and beyond that only an occasional cause of death if it was very unusual. Some samples:

• 10 Jan 1794 Margaret Postgate, of of this parish, age: 3, daughter of Robert Postgate & Jane
• 20 Mar 1795 Thomas Stout, of of this parish, age: 63
• 29 Apr 1814 Dixon Wright, of Bishop Middleham, age: 9 months
• 8 Jun 1868 Richard Frederick Field, of Coxhoe, age: 3, killed on the railway
• 25 Jul 1902 Thomas Walker, of Bishop Middleham, age: 35, killed by jumping off the brewery waggon, leaving a penniless wife and nine children
• 20 Apr 1944 Mary Sowden otherwise Kendal or Kendall, of 3 Church Street, age: 70

3,759 burials at Sunderland Holy Trinity covering 1850-1854 plus the first week of 1855. These burials generally name parents of children, husbands of wives or widows, and occupations of deceased men. Some samples:

• 2 Jan 1855 Lewis Hutchinson, of 53 South Durham St, Bishopwearmouth, age: 42, died 30 Dec 1854, tinner & brazier
• 23 Nov 1854 Paul Wayman Dove, of 14 D’Arcy Street, age: 5 weeks, died 19 Nov 1854, son of Peter Dove (master mariner)
• 16 May 1850 Dorothy Noble, of Church Street, age: 67, died 13 May 1850, wife of Thomas Noble (joiner)

568 marriages at Lamesley St. Andrew covering 1765-1797. All witnesses are included. We now have a continuous run of marriages at Lamesley in Chester-le-Street district from 1765 to mid 1837. Lamesley is not indexed by the IGI, and we found many, many omissions and errors in the best-known available marriage index to Lamesley (created by George Bell & William Rounce), so you may well find some new or corrected ancestral marriages in this set. Some samples:

• 23 Jun 1765 Ralph Teasdale, of this Chapelry married Ann Simpson, of this Chapelry, by banns
  Witnesses: Thomas Gustard, Thompson Stevenson
• 20 Dec 1788 George Lowrey, of this Chapelry married Sarah Wandlass, of this Chapelry, by banns
  Witnesses: Michael Johnson, Thomas Wandlass
• 26 Aug 1796 Lancelot Percival, of the Parish of Morpeth, Northumberland married Catherine Ritchie, of this Chapelry, by license
  Witnesses: John Wilson, Sybil Roberts

Replaced the index to Ryton Holy Cross burials 1581-1669 with full details, so those 3,193 burials are now instantly available.

2,341 burials at Darlington St. Cuthbert covering 1780-1797. Burials in this period do not usually list the age of the deceased, but they provide other useful information not found in post-1812 burials. For example:

• 03 Jan 1780 John Evening, of Cockerton, son of the late Benjamin Evening (weaver)
• 25 Apr 1783 Margaret Sunderland, daughter of William Sunderland (private, 1st Reg. of Foot)
• 29 Jun 1793 Jane Burbeck, of Cockerton, wife of Charles Burbeck (inn holder)
• 07 Feb 1796 Lewis Hammond, cabinet maker, drowned in Mill dam
• 29 Dec 1797 Paul Towers, of Darlington, inn holder

Residences of the deceased included Archdeacon Newton, Barnard Castle, Blackwell, Cockerton, Darlington, Richmond, and Throstle Nest, plus some visitors from London, Sunderland, Newcastle, and other far-away places.

At Lamesley St. Andrew in Chester-le-Street district:

• 934 baptisms 1798-1812
• 200 marriages 1798-1812
• 1,296 burials 1789-1812

Although the 1798-1812 period offers wonderful information for genealogists, you must be careful not to believe any single record without corroborating evidence. The birthplaces and even names of the parents can change mysteriously in different records. For example, take these three baptisms – notice that the parents’ birthplaces change from one baptism to another, so more research is required to determine which is correct:

• 21 Nov 1802 Elizabeth Lowery, of Eighton Banks, born 14 May 1801, 7th child, daughter of George Lowery (pitman, native of Penshaw) by his wife Sarah Wandless (native of Washington)
• 25 Dec 1804 Jane Lowrey, of Eighton Banks, born 8 Aug 1804, 8th child, daughter of George Lowrey (pitman, native of Houghton le Spring) by his wife Sarah Wandlass (native of Lamesley)
• 23 Aug 1807 Robert Lowrey, of Eighton Banks, born 9 Aug 1806, 9th child, son of George Lowrey (pitman, native of Painshaw) by his wife Sarah Wandlass (native of Washington)

Burials from 1789 to the end of 1797 are not much different from the 1798-1812 period, but they do not include the age at death and seldom include occupations for deceased males. Burial from 1798 to the end of 1812 include parents of deceased children, husbands of deceased wives, and occupations of deceased males. Some burial samples:

• 29 Jul 1789 Mary Stoddart, of Bainisley Lane, wife of Luke Stoddart
• 27 Jul 1793 William Mallowburn, of Gateshead Fell
• 30 Sep 1795 Jane Nicholson, of Cow Close, daughter of the late Philip Nicholson
• 20 Jul 1812 Jane Pratt, of Eighton Banks, age: 99, died 18 Jul, widow of Peter Pratt (pitman) 
• 22 Aug 1812 George Dunlop, of Ravensworth, age: 3 days, died 19 Aug, son of Jonathan Dunlop (schoolmaster)
• 9 Feb 1812 Robert Stevenson, of Lamesley, age: 62, died 7 Feb, late Captain of the ship Theodosia

Some marriage samples:

• 17 Mar 1799 Edward Crone, of this Chapelry married Mable [Mabel] Rutter, of this Chapelry, by banns
  Witnesses: John Pattison, Jane Rutter
• 13 Nov 1808 Anthony Twentyman, of the Chapelry of All Saints, Newcastle upon Tyne married Ann Burdess, of this Chapelry, by license
  Witnesses: William Briggs, Hannah Markham

726 burials at Houghton-le-Spring for 1762-1770, from the parish register. We now have a continuous run of burials here from 1762 to 1797 and are working on the 1798-1812 gap. Some samples:

• 24 May 1762 Samuel Summerbell, of Collier Row
• 25 Jan 1763 Catherine Jefferson, of Morton Engine, wife of Ralph Jefferson
• 19 Jun 1770 Elizabeth Mascal, of Eppleton, daughter of Francis Mascal (Esquire, deceased)