Witnesses added to the marriages at Long Newton for 1813-37.

Replaced the index to baptisms at Whickham for 1715-1739 with full details, so those 3,326 baptisms are now instantly available, including 67 new baptisms we missed the first time around. Samples:

• 22 May 1715 Susanna Stephenson, of Lowhand, daughter of John Stephenson
• 5 Jun 1726 Dorothy Gofton, of Whickham, daughter of Robert Gofton by his wife Easter
• 28 Jul 1735 Lovell Jackson, of Fellside, son of Francis Jackson by his wife Elizabeth

From 1695 to the end of 1812 (but excluding most of 1712), abodes are identified only as one of the four quarters of the parish: Whickham, Lowhand, Swalwell, or Fellside – the individual farms and hamlets are not named.

2,542 baptisms and 1,635 burials at Sedgefield St Edmund the Bishop in Stockton district, from the start of 1813 to the end of 1854, from the Bishop’s Transcript with some cross-checking against the original parish register.  We also added the witnesses to the 270 marriages here from 1 Jan 1813 to 1 July 1837, giving you 681 more names to search in.

We noticed Sedgefield seemed to have been a healthier place to live than the ports and coal mining villages, as many of the residents lived to a ripe old age:

• buried 11 Oct 1816 Jane Coltman, of Embleton Old Hall, age: 94
• buried 24 Sep 1821 Ann Spearman, of Bailey, Durham, age: 95
• buried 1 Feb 1837 Ann Mitchell, of [the] Poor’s House, age: 111
• buried 27 Apr 1852 John Pyles, of Sedgefield, age: 101

We also noticed a higher-than-average number of illegitimate births to the local squire:

• 15 Jun 1817 William [Beckwith/Carr], of Fishburn, son of William Beckwith (Esq., Warrington(?)) & Jane Carr (single woman)
• 24 Mar 1825 John [Pyles/Beckwith], son of William Beckwith (Esquire of Trimdon House) & Ann Pyles (spinster of Sedgefield)
• 27 May 1827 John [Beckwith/Pyles], son of William Beckwith (gentleman of Trimdon House) & Ann Pyles (single woman of Sedgefield)

The Pyles women (sisters?) Ann, Elizabeth, Jane, Ellen, Sarah, and Margaret collectively had 13 illegitimate children in this period. The Gladson/Gladstone women Elizabeth, Isabella, Margaret, and Jane also had 13 illegitimate children between them. There were 268 illegitimate children baptized at Sedgefield in this period (either identified as illegitimate or assume to be illegitimate because the parents had different surnames or only the mother was listed). 5 or 6 of these couples eventually married. That gives Sedgefield an illegitimacy ratio of just over 10%. At this time, the illegitimacy ratio was around 7% for the whole country, with northern counties generally having higher ratios. (We are doing a little study of illegitimacy rates in different parishes around 1801, which we will publish in our literature library when it is done.)

4,925 burials at Greatham St. John the Baptist in Hartlepool district, from the start of the register in 1559 to the end of 1972 – over 400 years of burials. At first, there are seldom any details to help identify the deceased person:

• 17 May 1559 Robert Boothe
• 15 Mar 1582 Nicholas Bird, one of the poor of the Hospital

but in the early 1580s, we start seeing parents and spouses and an occasional age:

• 18 Feb 1582 Robert Rudderforth, son of Brian Rudderforth
• 14 Aug 1598 Agnes Dawson, wife of Rauf Dawson
• 2 Dec 1622 Margaret Emerson, daughter of Michael Trotter (of the parish of Stannok, being the reputed father) & Kathreen Emerson
• 26 Feb 1674 Elinor Willson alias Curry, age: 80

then we start getting both parents of most deceased children in 1730:

• 25 Apr 1732 John Fell, son of Ralph Fell & Elizabeth
• 11 Sep 1751 Jane Elstob, widow of Jonathan Elstob
• 23 Sep 1791 Francis Harperley, age: 3, son of William Harperley & Isabella

then we enter the era of many glorious details:

• 7 Mar 1798 Hannah Harper late Suggit, of Greatham, age: 60, native of the chapelry of Wolviston, died 4th March, wife of Joseph Harper (stonemason)
• 1 Sep 1800 Luke Elstob, of Stockton, age: 60, died 29th Aug, officer of Customs
• 14 Oct 1811 Christopher Porrit Bowser, of Sunderland, age: 4 & 1/2, died 11th Oct, son of Henry Bowser (late mariner, deceased) & Margaret, his wife

and finally we return to the few details offered by post-1812 burials, with some additional detail given for Hospital brothers & sisters:

• 4 Feb 1815 Hannah Earl, of Greatham, age: 91
• 30 Mar 1836 Margaret Summers, of Parkhurst Hospital, age: 73, a sister in the Hospital
• 19 May 1850 Isaac Tyson, of Greatham, age: 82, a brother in the Hospital
• 6 Sep 1871 Frederick Lamb Scott, of Greatham, age: 15
• 12 Oct 1972 Constance Mary Tate, of Briarmead, Greatham, age: 82

The Hospital of God at Greatham wasn’t a medical hospital; it was more of an almshouse, supporting a small population of elderly indigent men (originally priests), called brothers. Parkhurst Hospital was the sister home for elderly indigent women, called sisters.

2,020  baptisms at South Hylton St. Mary, covering 1848-1892 plus the first 4 from 1893. The wonderful clerk kept recording mother’s maiden surnames in nearly all baptisms until mid-1872. Some samples:

• 5 Mar 1848 Matthew Hudson, of South Hylton, born 2-Dec 1847, son of Matthew Hudson (blacksmith) & Barbara Lisle
• 3 May 1868 Ralph Gray, of South Hylton, born 28-Mar 1868, son of Ralph Gray (bottle finisher) & Jane McDougall
• 12 May 1872 Margaret Thornborrow, of South Hylton, born 13-Apr 1872, daughter of Robert Thornborrow (mechanic) & Sarah Featherstonehaugh
• 24 Jul 1875 Joseph Stanley Parish, of South Hylton, son of John Parish (shipwright) & Margaret Davies Parish
• 27 Sep 1891 John William Howarth, of 9 Blythe Street, born 7-Sep 1891, son of James Howarth (holder up in iron shipyard) & Charlotte Frances Howarth

1,170 burials at South Hylton St. Mary from 1821-1856 when the churchyard was closed to further burials, plus 2 burials in family vaults in 1858 and one burial in 1883. Burials from 1 January 1834 to 13 June 1834 are missing. A note in the register says “Register wanting up to June 13th, 1834″ and 14 blank entries were left, presumably to record the missing burials if they were ever found.

These burials are an odd mix of detailed and non-detailed. From 1821 to the end of 1831, most are like this:

• 24 Mar 1822 Thomas Lightfoot, of Hylton, age: 85
• 1 Nov 1831 Thomas Minikin, of South Hylton, age: 86

but for most of 1832 and again in 1839-1853, the clerk usually recorded more details:

• 13 Jun 1832 Close Smith, of South Hylton, age: 48, schoolmaster, died 11 Jun
• 3 Mar 1839 George Henry Huntley, of South Hylton, age: 7 weeks, died Feb 26th, son of Charles Huntley (carpenter)
• 29 Sep 1846 Isabella Hetherington, of Southwick, age: 40, died Sep 26th, wife of James Hetherington (formerly the Chapel Clerk)
• 28 Sep 1852 Jane Kirtley, of South Hylton, age: 53, died Sep 23rd, widow of Ralph Kirtley (innkeeper)

Residences mentioned include Bishopwearmouth, Claxheugh, Cox Green, Deptford, Ford Paper Mill, Grindon, Hylton, Monkwearmouth, North Hylton, Offerton Haugh, Paper Mill, South Hylton, and Sunderland.

284 baptisms and 153 burials at Penshaw All Saints for 1823 & 1824. The wonderful clerk continued recording mother’s maiden surnames in baptisms throughout this period. Some samples:

• baptized 23 Mar 1823 Eleanor Martha Chilton, of D Pit Row, daughter of William Chilton (enginewright) & Martha Richardson
• baptized 26 Dec 1824 Thomas Henry Spraggon, of Cox Green, son of Mark Spraggon (stone cutter) & Ann Anderson
• buried 30 Mar 1823 Eleanor Martha Chilton, of D Pit Row, age: infant
• buried 26 Jul 1823 William Sproat, of Coxgreen, age: 85

Residences mentioned besides Penshaw include Biddick, Bowes House, Burnmoor, Carr Houses, Coxgreen, D Pit Row, Herrington Burn, Low Lambton, Mill Row, New Lambton, New Penshaw, New Winning, Offerton Haugh, Penshaw Staiths, Shiney Row, and Wapping.

1,149 marriages at Greatham St. John the Baptist, from the beginning of the register in Oct 1564 to the end of 1812 and from mid-1837 to June 1941, including witnesses when present. We already had 1813 to mid-1837 marriages online, so we now have nearly 300 years of marriages (1564-1941) in this parish for your searching pleasure. Some samples:

• 20 Oct 1564 Robert Peacock married Jain Sheaphard
• 2 May 1624 William Watt alias Andrew married Elisabeth Turbat
• 18 May 1701 William Umphray married Ann Busbye
• 12 May 1754 Aaron Bone, of Elwick Hall married Anne Armstrong, of Greatham, by banns
• 7 Jul 1812 Rev. Francis Thompson (batchelor), of Warden, Northumberland married Mary Brewster (spinster), of Greatham
• 6 Jan 1853 Samuel Guilmore Frazer (bachelor, master mariner), age 29, of Hartlepool, son of Lawrence Frazer (purser) married Mary Carlisle (spinster), age 27, of Greatham, daughter of Peter Carlisle (labourer), by banns
  Witnesses: John Robinson, Mary J. Hopper
• 15 Sep 1925 Ralph Philipson (bachelor, cycle dealer), age 25, of 147 Stockton Rd., West H/Pool, son of John Philipson (retired grocer, deceased) married Mahala Tinkler (spinster), age 25, of 19 Saltaire Tce., Greatham, daughter of John William Tinkler (labourer), by banns
  Witnesses: Stanley Tinkler, Margaret Jane Hodgson, E.J. Philipson
• 28 Jun 1941 Frank Elkington (bachelor, chemist), age 24, of 70 Grange Rd., West H/Pool, son of Frank Elkington (steelworker) married Dorothy Vivienne Pletts (spinster), age 24, of Station House, Greatham, daughter of Harry Ernest Pletts (station master), by banns
  Witnesses: John G. Hanson, D. Donnelly

We also went back and added the witnesses to marriages at Greatham 1813-1837, providing 243 new witnesses to search in.  If you previously purchased a marriage at Greatham in this period, you can now see the witnesses by logging in, clicking My Previous Orders in the left menu, looking for the marriage, then viewing it to see the witnesses (all free, of course, since you already paid for this record).

Replaced the index to baptisms at Whickham for 1680-1714 with full details, so those 3,334 baptisms are now instantly available, including 6 new baptisms we had missed the first time around.

4,335 baptisms at Greatham St. John in Hartlepool (formerly Stockton) district from the start of the register in 1565 to mid-April 1892 – over three hundred years of baptisms. Residences mentioned besides Greatham include Brierton, Claxton, Cowpen Bewley, Greatham Hospital, Greenabella, Hallgate, Hartlepool, Owton/Oughton, Seaton Carew, Stockton, Stranton, and West Hartlepool.

Samples:

• 18 Sep 1565 Richard & Margaret Martine, twins
• 9 Mar 1578 Lancelote Spark, son of William Spark
• 14 Oct 1632 Isabel Robinson, the posthume daughter of John Robinson & Allice
• 16 Dec 1677 Robert Sparke, son of Lance [Lancelot] Sparke
• 16 Nov 1731 Jane Rippon, daughter of Joshua Rippon & Bridget
• 26 Jul 1794 Mary [Harper/Marshall], born 30 Jun 1794, natural daughter of John Harper (deceased) & Elizabeth Marshall
• 14 Jan 1809 John Wilson, born 12 Dec 1808, 4th son of Avery Robinson Wilson (cartwright, native of Renton, Houghton le Spring) by his wife Ann Clarke (native of this parish)
• 19 Oct 1814 Isabella Large Reay, of Greatham, child of John Reay (stonemason) & Isabella
• 17 Apr 1892 Thomas Mark Smith, of Greatham, child of John William Smith (mariner) & Isabella