Added 308 witnesses to our 106 marriages at Whitburn St. Mary from the start of 1813 to the beginning of civil registration on 1 July 1837. If you previously purchased a marriage at Whitburn in this period, you can now view the witnesses by clicking My Previous Orders and reviewing the marriage.  We now have the witnesses transcribed for all Whitburn marriages, from when witnesses started appearing in 1754 to mid-1837.

Sample:

• 25 May 1813 William Hunter (widower), of the Parish of Monkwearmouth married Margaret Purvis (spinster), of this parish, by licence
  Witnesses: William Purvis, William Purvis, Hannah Addey, Michael Purvis

Added 998  witnesses to our 494 marriages at Gateshead Fell St. John, from the start of that parish in 1825 to the beginning of civil registration on 1 July 1837. Also added one marriage we missed the first time around. If you previously purchased a marriage at Gateshead Fell in this period, you can now view the witnesses by clicking My Previous Orders and reviewing the marriage.

Sample:

• 24 Aug 1829 John Dobson (esquire), of late of Gateshead, now of this parish married Mary Anne Atkinson, of the parochial chapelry of Heworth, by licence
  Witnesses: Jane Jeffreys Dutson, Elizabeth Clayton, George C. Atkinson, John Wilson

4,239 burials at Gateshead East Cemetery, covering 1907-1909. Besides many street addresses in Gateshead, residences mentioned include Bensham, Dunston, Felling, Low Fell, Newcastle, Salt Meadows, Teams, and Whitley.

Because these are municipal cemetery records, not church burial records, they present many more genealogically useful details. 99% of these records give either an occupation, a parent or husband’s name, or information about how the person died. Here are some samples – including some older folks whose fathers are listed, which is a bit unusual:

• 6 Jan 1907 William Murray, of 49 Oakwellgate, age: 15, apprentice glassmaker
• 16 Sep 1909 Mary Alder, of 22 Wharton Street, age: 75, daughter of Edward Alder
• 30 Jan 1908 William Scott, of 32 Forster Street, age: 60, son of William Scott
• 26 Dec 1909 Hannah Wind, of 17 Victoria Street, age: 73, wife of William Wind
• 15 Jun 1907 Jane C. Pitts, of 130 Prince Consort Road, age: 93, widow of George Pitts
• 22 Aug 1907 Mary Fawell, of 116 Vine Street, age: 90, wife of James Fawell
• 4 Dec 1908 William Lovett, of Rowton House Lodging House, age: 41, butcher, killed on the Team Valley Railway near Gateshead
• 18 Apr 1907 William Fraser, of 49 South Street, age: 66, millwright, found drowned

This is our last planned block of burials at this cemetery. We now have all the burials at Gateshead East Cemetery from the time of its opening in 1862 to the end of 1909, nearly 68,000 burials.

Added 476 witnesses and the missing abodes, marital status, and occupations of fathers to our existing 194 marriages at Castle Eden St. James in Easington district, covering 1837-1890, plus one marriage that we missed the first time around. This is part of our ongoing “background task” of updating our Easington district marriages with the details that were omitted from the original transcripts (which were made years ago with no thought of sharing them publicly, so certain details were omitted). You can now get a fully detailed civil-registration-era marriage at this church in the period 1837-1890 for 1/6th of the cost of a civil certificate from the government – or less if you use site credits to view the marriage. We also realized that our table that shows what we have was wrong for marriages at this church – it said we had marriages to 1837, when in fact we have marriages here from 1698 to 1942, so your grandparents or even parents may be listed ! The table has now been updated.

If you previously purchased a marriage at Castle Eden in this period, you can now view the witnesses by clicking My Previous Orders and reviewing the marriage.

Sample marriage:

• 2 Jul 1890 John Ingledew Hopper (bachelor, wire rope manufacturer), age 48, of Houghton-le-Spring, son of George Hopper (iron manufacturer), married Elizabeth Nimmo (spinster), age 33, of Castle Eden, daughter of William Nimmo (merchant), married by licence
  Witnesses: George W. Elliot, M.P., George Elliot, junior, John N. Eminson, Margaret Hopper, Jane Hopper, M. Duggan

931 burials at Brancepeth St. Brandon in Durham district, covering 1780-1812.

Residences mentioned include Bearpark, Biggin, Billy Hall, Billy Row, Boggle Hole, Bradley Burn & Hall, Brancepeth, Brandon, Browns Den, Burnigill, Butchers Race, Chilton, Crook, Dicken House, Durham, East Brandon, East Parks, Fell Heads, Flass, Goodwellfield, Hare Holme, Harrisons Folly, Helmington Row, Heslett House, Hill House, Hole in the Wall or Holywell, Humble Sledge, Hunwick, Ivesley, Jobs Hill, Langley & Langley Mill or Paper Mill, Lingey Close, Little Burn, Low Barns, Middles, Morley, Mown Meadows, Nafferton, New Hall (Wolsingham), Newcastle, Newfield, Ox Close, Page Bank, Pitt House, Primrose Side, Pringle House, Quarry Hill, Red Barns, Scouts House, Scripton, Sedgefield, Sleetburn Mill, South Brandon, Stand Alone, Stanley, Stob House, Stockley, Stone Chester, Sunderland, Sunny Brow, Tanners Hall, Tudhoe, Unthank, Waterhouses, West Brandon, West Parks, Wheat Bottom, White Lee, Willington, Willington Burn, and York Hill.

In the usually detail-rich 1798-1812 period, the parish clerk occasionally recorded the maiden surnames of the mothers of dead children, as he was supposed to,  but he was not consistent with this practice and some burials of children include only the mother’s given name or only the father’s name.

Samples:

• 4 Dec 1780 Edward Mills, of Willington, son of Mr. Henry Mills
• 23 Aug 1790 Margaret Smith, of Brancepeth, age: 80, widow of Abraham Smith
• 21 Sep 1798 Jane Starford late Wilson, of Brancepeth, age: 24, died 19 Sep, wife of Henry Starford (labourer), died of consumption
• 9 Apr 1809 Mary Wheatley, of Goodwellfield, age: 1, died 7 Apr, daughter of George Wheatley (late of Goodwellfield) & Elizabeth Patten
• 31 Dec 1811 Francis Perrot, of Tudhoe, age: 60, died 28 Dec, teacher of the French language
• 5 Sep 1812 Mary Crow, of Brancepeth Lane, age: 8, died 2 Sep, daughter of Matthew (late sargeant in the 5th Foot Regiment) & Jane Crow

We now have a complete set of baptisms, marriages, and burials at Brancepeth from the start of the parish registers in 1599 to the end of 1812, plus marriages to mid-1837.

We discovered we had missed the last page of baptisms at South Shields Holy Trinity for each of the years 1846, 1847, and 1848. These pages were separated from their registers and in different places on the film. Now those 16 baptisms have been added back into the collection.

1,174 baptisms and 793 burials at Whitburn St. Mary in South Shields district, covering 1813-1852, from the parish register.

Residences mentioned besides Whitburn include Bents, Bishopwearmouth, Blue House, Brick Garth, Byers Quarry, Castle Eden, Catchgate, Cleadon (and Cleadon Cottage, Hills, House, Laws, Mills, Out House, Quarries, and Quarry Houses), Harton, Hope House, Lizard(s) House or Farm, Monkwearmouth, Moor House, Newcastle, Newton Garths, South Shields,  Sunderland, West House, West Moor, and Whitburn Mill and Moor.

Wonderful news! The parish clerk recorded the maiden surnames of the mothers for nearly all of these baptisms !

Sample baptisms, including 2 generations of the same family in the first two baptisms:

• 18 Sep 1814 Thomas Appleby Farmer, of Whitburn, son of Thomas Farmer (servant) & Sarah Walker Appleby
• 5 Jun 1842 Alfred Farmer, of Whitburn, son of Thomas Appleby Farmer (gentleman’s servant) & Sophia Sugniux
• 5 Sep 1824 John [Garbutt/Durham], of Byers Quarry, natural child of Cornelius Garbutt & Winifred Durham
• 2 May 1837 Mary Hutchinson, of Whitburn Bents, daughter of William Hutchinson (junior, fisherman) & Mary Small

Sample burials:

• 3 Jan 1813 Jane Purvis, of Whitburn, age: 94
• 8 Mar 1820 unknown man, age: about 30, found drowned, lusty, fresh coloured face, dark brown hair, middle stature – had on a sailors blue jacket, Guernsey frock with blue spots in rows – striped blue shirt marked F.T. on right side. Notice given in the 3 Ports but not owned.
• 31 Jan 1834 Philip Caw [Carr], of Leith, age: 23, found drowned
• 19 Nov 1846 Richard Charlton, of Cleadon, age: at an advanced age
  [Note: he was enumerated as 80 in the 1841 census]
• 17 Oct 1852 Shotton Spraggon, of Whitburn, age: 88

656 baptisms and 262 burials at Denton St. Mary, a chapelry of Gainford parish, in Darlington district, covering 1765-1812, from the Bishop’s Transcript with lots of checking against the original register. Residences mentioned besides Denton include Ballo or Bella House, Bolam, Burtree Gate, Cuckoo House,  Houghton Bank, Houghton-le-Side, Killerby, Langton, Leggs  Cross, Lime Kiln Banks, Low Coniscliffe, Morton, Summerhouse, Thornton Hall, Walworth, and White Cross.

Sample baptisms:

• 6 Jan 1765 George Cape, of Denton, son of George & Hannah Cape
• 7 Feb 1780 Mary Bell, of Denton, daughter of Henry & Rose Bell
• 14 May 1797 Hugh Charles Hodgson, of Denton, son of Joseph & Ann Hodgson
• 16 May 1798 Hannah Mary Anne Peacock, of [blank abode], born 12 Feb, 3rd daughter of The Revd. Thomas Peacock (curate) by his wife Jane Thompson
• 16 Apr 1808 Joseph Thompson Brass, of Denton, born 24 Mar, 9th child of Thomas Brass (farmer) by his wife Ann Cummins
• 6 Dec 1812 Joseph Teasdale, of Summerhouse, born 06 Aug, 8th child of Robert Teasdale (farmer) by his wife Elizabeth Swan

Sample burials, with an interesting cause of death in the last one:

• 20 Mar 1769 Thomas Cape, of Denton, son of George Cape
• 25 Mar 1779 Mary Gillery, the wife of John Gillery
• 15 Feb 1797 Dolly Turnbull, of Summerhouse, daughter of Thomas & Dolly Turnbull
• 7 Dec 1800 Dinah Smith late Terry, of Denton, age: 67, widow, died 5 Dec, decay
• 7 Jun 1806 Mary [Walker/Worthy], age: 3, died 5 Jun, daughter of Richard Walker & Frances Worthy, [died of] evil

Here is a description of the chapel at Denton, from History, Topography and Directory of Durham, Whellan , London, 1894:

“Denton, it is believed, has had no less than four chapels at various periods, each one having to be replaced on account of the ruinous state it was allowed to fall into. The first chapel is supposed to have been of Norman Foundation, which gave place to an Early English edifice, this being entirely rebuilt in 1810, and of no particular style. During the rebuilding, an ancient stone coffin was discovered, supposed to be that of a Knight Templar, and later a cover of Frosterley marble of the same shape, and about the same size, with a sculptured figure of a female carved upon it, was also found. The following inscription in Lombardian French runs round the cover, Hic gist Aubrey de Coynners sa compayn – Here lies the wife of Aubrey de Conyers. The present chapel is a neat stone building in the Earky English style, consisting of nave and chancel, with a south porsh at the west end. The chancel fittings and pulpit are of oak and of good design. The chapel is built almost on the site of its predecessor, and will seat 100, having been built at a cost of £1400.”

The chapel has now been deconsecrated and is a private dwelling. You can see a picture of it here:

• http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/176743

97 marriage banns called at Christ Church, West Hartlepool, but not married here. In most cases, the couple married elsewhere, but there were 4 instances where we could not find a subsequent marriage in the GRO marriage index, so we wonder if they never completed the marriage process (but lived together as if married) or if they changed their minds and did not stay together.

Samples of banns:

• 1894 George Forder (bachelor), of W. Hartlepool & Caroline Wedgewood (spinster.), of W. Hartlepool, banns called 22 Jul.29 Jul, 5 Aug, [no marriage date entered]
  [Note: Groom is called George Forden Thorpe in GRO index.]
• 1897 Joseph Tose (bachelor), of W. Hartlepool & Mary Elizabeth Calvert (spinster), of Whitby, banns called 11 Apr, 18 Apr, 25 Apr, certificate given Apr 26 1897

Sometimes, when you cannot find a marriage for a couple, they may have not completed the marriage process, so their marriage was not recorded in the marriage register – or the clerk may have forgotten to record it. In those cases, the banns register may be the only record of the marriage. The banns can be used to verify the mother’s maiden surname against the birth records of their children or to find out where each party lived at the time of their marriage. If they did not have children, the banns may be the only record of the woman’s maiden surname.

598 baptisms at St. Nicholas in the city of Durham, covering 1787-1797. Abodes were not given in this period here, with a few exceptions for people who lived outside the parish. However, birth dates were given in most of these baptisms.

Samples:

• 10 Jan 1787 John Ebdy, son of Thomas & Jane Ebdy, born at the Camp at Gorlston near Yarmouth, baptized Sep 5th 1782
• 6 Aug 1792 Peter Seymour Bogg [Boag], born 28 Jul, son of Matthew & Ann Bogg [Boag]
• 12 Nov 1797 Mary Ann Ramsbottom, born 31 Oct 1797, daughter of John & Mary Ramsbottom