3,361 baptisms and 2,196 burials at South Shields Holy Trinity, from the time the church was built in 1834 to the end of 1848. Holy Trinity was built to serve the High Shields district of St. Hilda’s parish, and became a separate parish in 1848. These records are from the Bishop’s Transcript, with some checking against the parish register.

Residences mentioned (besides streets in South Shields) include Academy Hill, Archers Hill, Barnes, Boldon Lane, Corstorphine Town, Dean Brewery, Dean Farm, Deans, East Boldon, East Holborn, Felling Shore, Harton, Harton Colliery, Howdon (Wallsend), Jarrow Alkali Works, Jarrow Slake, Johnson’s Hill, Laygate, North Shields, Pelaw Main, Simonside, Stay-the-Voyage (Boldon), Swan Hill, Temple Town, West Docks, West Harton, West Holborn, Westoe, and Wind Mill Hill.

Sample baptisms – some have birth dates, and the last sample here is a bit unusual:

• 5 Oct 1834 Joseph Hindmarsh Temple, of Laygate, son of William (blacksmith) & Elizabeth Temple
• 29 Jan 1841 Margaret Turvey, of South Shields, daughter of William (innkeeper) & Mary Turvey
• 10 Dec 1848 William Smithson Wiseman, of South Shields, born 1-Nov, son of Michael Wiseman (cooper) & Mary Ann Wiseman
• 9 Apr 1845 Ann late Mackenzie, born 21-Feb 1822, a married woman, daughter of John (mariner) & Margaret Mackenzie, late of North Shields
  [Note: Ann's married surname is not given in this entry.]

Sample burials:

• 12 Feb 1836 John Dodds, of Cornwallis Square, age: 102
• 30 Jun 1839 Matthew Gibson, of Temple Town, age: 38, the first interred of the 51 men killed by the explosion in St. Hilda’s Pit on 28 June 1839.
• 7 Mar 1840 David Phillips, age: 17, died on board the “Anna Sophia” at sea from Liverpool. By Coroners Warrant.
• 17 Dec 1848 Dorothy Hodgson, of Windmill Hill, age: 77

You can read more about the dreadful explosion of 28 June 1839 that took the lives of 51 men and boys here. Twenty were buried on June 30th at Holy Trinity.