382 burials at South Shields St. Hilda for the year 1815, from the Bishop’s Transcript. Here are the 3 eldest:

• 19 Jan 1815 James Sheriff, of Pilot Street, South Shields, age: 100
• 28 Dec 1815 Eliphet Moor, of Academy Street, South Shields, age: 92
• 20 Sep 1815 Thomas Wheatley, of Ferry Boat Bank, South Shields, age: 87

Abodes mentioned are mostly streets in South Shields, plus Templetown and Westoe.

Replaced the index to burials at Whickham St. Mary for 1820-1851 with full details, so those 3,500  burials are now instantly available, including one we missed the first time around.  In 1833-35, the burials of a few children name their parents, and a few husbands are named in their wives’ burials, but generally these burials follow the typically terse pattern of post-1812 burials. There were a number of burials from the Dunston Asylum, which drew residents from other parts of the county, so you may find burials at Whickham of people who lived well outside that parish before they came to the asylum to live.

Some samples:

• 22 Feb 1820 Isabella Nesbitt, of Lowhand, age: 103
• 16 Aug 1830 Ruth Kelso, of Tinkler Row, Lamesley, age: 88
• 27 Jun 1834 Margaret Bainbridge, of Derwent Haugh, age: 2 yrs 6 mths, daughter of George Bainbridge by his wife Eleanor
• 20 May 1835 Sarah Lister, of Windy Hill, age: 51, wife of John Lister
• 3 Jan 1841 Richard Glasper [Clasper], of Swalwell, age: 86
• 22 Dec 1851 Mary Alcock, age: 60, died in Dunston Lodge Asylum

Added 3,837 people to the 1851 census of South Shields township, completing our 1851 census of that district.

1,043 baptisms at Cockfield St. Mary covering 1762-1805 and 583 burials covering 1762-1812. Because the Cockfield register is missing information for certain periods, these records are a combination of the parish register and the Bishop’s Transcript.

In the baptisms, the parish clerk did not start recording the mother’s maiden surnames and parents’ birthplaces in 1798 like he was supposed to; instead, he started occasionally including the mother’s maiden surname in 1800, and finally in 1803 started including the maiden surname most of the time. From March 1800 to April 1803, many baptisms in the parish register do not show the name of the parents at all, but the parents’ names are included in the Bishop’s Transcript for this period. In May 1803, several abodes are blank in the parish register but are included in the Bishop’s Transcript. This makes us wonder if the Bishop’s Transcript was created at the end of each year, as was supposed to happen, and later some of the original Cockfield registers were lost and only partially re-created without looking at the Transcript.

Baptism samples:

• 5 Feb 1762 Mark Littlefair, son of Hannah (the widow of Mark)
• 2 Aug 1772 Ralph Vart, son of Joseph & Margaret Vart
• 30 Jul 1782 George Moses, of Hamsterley Parish, son of Thomas & Elizabeth Moses
• 26 Aug 1792 John Gibbin, of Copley End, Hamsterley Parish, son of Matthew & Elizabeth Gibbin
• 23 Feb 1800 Ann Marquis, of Woodland in the Parish of Cockfield, 4th daughter of Simon Marquis (pitman native of Swaledale in the parish of Grinton, Yorkshire) by his wife Hannah Eggleston (daughter of John Eggleston, native of Edmundbyers)
• 17 Feb 1805 Cuthbert Blackett, of Woodland, born 21 Dec 1804, 1st son of Joseph Blackett (pitman, native of the same place) by his wife Elizabeth Stephenson (daughter of Ralph Stephenson, native of Hamsterley)

The burial register for Cockfield is missing the years 1807 through 1812 inclusive. These years are included in the Bishop’s Transcript, but in part of 1810 and 1811, no details are recorded other than name and age – no parents or spouses – so those details are lost forever unless the register turns up somewhere.

Samples:

•  3 Oct 1762 Hannah Bell, daughter of Brian & Catherine Bell
• 16 May 1773 Ralph Littlefair, son of Ralph & Elizabeth Littlefair, P [poor]
• 4 Nov 1782 Elizabeth Waistle, a natural child, daughter of Margaret Waistle
• 12 May 1793 Phebe Hinscliff, of Cockfield, wife of John Hinscliff, P [poor]
• 14 Jun 1803 Jane Stanwix, of Cockfield, age: 10, died 14 Jun, daughter of Andrew Stanwix (farmer) & Mary his wife late Longstaff, scarlet fever
• 2 Jan 1811 Edward Littlefare, age: 76
• 22 Jun 1812 Thomas Smurthwaite, of Cockfield, age: 21, died 20 Jun, son of Thomas Smurthwaite (blacksmith) by his wife Hannah his wife late Parkinson

We now have continuous burials at Cockfield covering 1762 – 1867.

Abodes mentioned besides Cockfield include Butterknowle, Copley Bent, Cowley, Evenwood, Gordon, Hamsterley, High Wham, Hollymoor, Keverstone, Langley Dale, Peth Row, Southside, St. Helen Auckland, Staindrop,  Trow Lane, West Pitts, and Woodland(s).

The Cockfield records also gave us a mystery, pictured below in the first 3 entries ! “R” at the end of the burial record was applied to 1 death in 1769 and 4 deaths in early 1771, but we do not know its meaning. All were adults (the number at the right is not the age; it is the numerical order of the burial in that year). Suggestions so far include “relict” (which means “widow”, but we have never seen it applied to men), Raby (because H was sometimes used in this register to signify the deceased came from Hamsterley, but in these cases, other abodes are listed),  ”reburial”, “rich” (opposite of P for poor), and “registered” (but this was long before civil registration. If you know what it means or have any likely theories to share, please tell us !

Added father’s occupations to baptisms at Houghton-le-Spring  for 1813-1819. If you purchased a baptism there in that period, you can log in and check My Previous Orders to see if any paternal details have been added to your record. We will continue to add occupations to baptisms in this parish in our “spare” time (what is that anyway?)

55 marriages of the Society of Friends (Quakers), covering 1776-1793 plus one stray from 1803. The Society of Friends records covered all of County Durham, south Northumberland, and North Yorkshire.  These records are not indexed by the IGI nor by any other online source that we know of. They generally provide the names of both parents of the bride and groom, plus occupations and locations – far more detail than would be found in Anglican marriages of the same period.

Samples:

• 11 Apr 1776 Robert Lumley (shopkeeper), of Stockton, son of Thomas (yeoman, late of Kipling, Yorkshire) & Elizabeth Lumley, married Elizabeth Atkinson, daughter of John (pattern maker, late of Stockton) & Mary Atkinson, married in a Public Assembly of Quakers in Stockton
• 25 May 1803 George Baker, of Danby Dale, Yorkshire, son of John (of the same place, deceased) & Mary Baker, married Sarah Hedley, daughter of James (of Low Coniscliffe) & Sarah Hedley (deceased), married in a Public Assembly of Quakers in Darlington
  Witnesses: Jonathan Backhouse, banker of Darlington, Jonathan Hedley, flaxdresser, Joseph Bowron (flaxdresser)

400 burials at Quaker burial grounds covering 1776-1789.  Like 1798-1812 Anglican burials, these contain many useful details including parents, spouses, occupations, and sometimes birthplaces or maiden names. Some samples:

• 25 Jan 1776 Mary Atkinson, of Sunderland, age: 68, wife of Thomas Atkinson (master mariner), buried at the Friends Burial Ground at or near Sunderland, died Jan 22nd; gravemaker & witness: Obadiah Hartley
• 20 May 1786 Ralph Dixon, of Kenknowle, age: 74, farmer at Kenknowle, born Woodhouse Close, buried at the Friends Burial Ground at or near Bishop Auckland, died May 18th at St. Andrew’s Auckland, not in membership; gravemaker & witness: Ralph Briggs
• 3 Aug 1789 Ann Hopps, of Stockton, age: 19, daughter of Benjamin Hopps, buried at the Friends Burial Ground at or near Norton, died Aug 1st; gravemaker & witness: Jonathan Barker

Because Quaker records are not limited to a civil registration district, they will show up as Durham Diocese District, which is not technically correct, but it does describe the geographical area fairly well. If you limit your search by specifying a particular District, these records will not show up, so be sure to set the District box to All Districts if you want to access the Quaker records.

Those of you with Quaker ancestry may make some wonderful discoveries in these records!

Replaced the index to burials at Whickham St. Mary for 1790-1819 with full details, so those 3,091  burials are now instantly available, including one we missed the first time around.  While the 1798-1812 period includes the wonderful details we have come to rely on, this clerk also continued recorded parents and maiden names all the way to the end of 1819, giving us later genealogists many valuable gifts. For example:

• 8 Feb 1790 Mary Hepplewhite, of Lowhand, daughter of Davidson [Davison] Hepplewhite
• 16 Nov 1790 Alice Purdy, of Dunston (Crowley`s factory), wife of James Purdy
• 3 Feb 1798 Ann Corking, of Swalwell, age: 5 mths, died 31 Jan, daughter of John Corking (smith) by his wife Ann Ord
• 29 May 1800 Elizabeth Kirkley late Liddell, of Ryton, age: 69, died 27 May, wife of Anthony Kirkley (storekeeper)
• 27 Mar 1813 Jane Laybourn late Gilpatrick, of Gateshead, age: 59, died 25 Mar, widow of Robert Laybourn (smith)
• 26 Oct 1819 Abigail Raine, of Swalwell, age: 14 days, died 25 Oct, daughter of Andrew Raine (keelman) by his wife Abigail Denham
• 2 Nov 1819 Ralph Oxnett, of Swalwell, age: 70, died 31 Oct, keelman

420 marriages at Hart St. Mary Magdalene in Hartlepool district, covering mid-1837 to the end of 1934. These are fully detailed marriages with fathers, occupations, and witnesses. Residences mentioned include Cotsfold or Cotsforth Close, Dalton Piercy, Elwick, Hartlepool, Hart Moor, Hart Warren, Hetton le Hole, Lamb’s House, Low Throston, Middle Thorpe, Naisberry, Nelson, Nesbit, North Hart, Seaton Carew, Sheraton, Springwell, Stockton, Stranton, Thorp,  Throston, West Hartlepool, Whelley or Wheeley Hill, and Wingate.

Samples:

• 23 May 1839 Thompson Halliman (bachelor, husbandman), full age, of Elwick, son of William Halliman (husbandman) married Eleanor Wilkinson (spinster), full age, of Elwick, daughter of Albert Wilkinson (publican), by banns, groom signed, bride signed
  Witnesses: Ann Thompson, Ralph Booth, John Halliman
• 12 Oct 1885 Thomas Grey (widower, attendant at the Reservoir), age 75, of Reservoir House, son of John Grey (husbandman) married Elizabeth Wilkinson (widow), age 63, of Hart, daughter of Henry KNOTT (farm bailiff), by licence, groom signed, bride signed
  Witnesses: Thomas Knott, Thomas White
• 27 Jun 1934 Percy Thubron (widower, joiner), age 45, of The Bunglow Rodridge, Hutton Henry, son of George Thubron (deceased) married Elizabeth Burnett (spinster), age 39, of 54 West View, Hartlepool, daughter of Joseph Burnett (deceased), groom signed, bride signed
  Witnesses: Roger Mann, Isabel Burnett

We now have continuous marriages at Hart for 1577-1934.