8,668 burials at South Shields St. Hilda, covering 1763-1797, from the Bishop’s Transcript except for Jan 1765-Mar 1765 and Mar 1768-Mar 1770, which are from the parish register, plus many others were checked against the parish register. Abodes are generally not mentioned, and there are no ages given in this period, but 72% of these burials provide a parent or spouse, and a few provide an occupation.

Sample burials:

• 4 May 1764 Hannah Dagnia, wife of Edward Dagnia
• 10 Sep 1769 James Coxon, fisherman
• 6 Aug 1778 John Hawkesfield [Hawkeswell], son of Anthony Hawkesfield [Hawkeswell]
  [Note: Although this is clearly Hawkesfield, there are other records for this family as Hawkeswell.]
• 18 Jun 1786 Isabel Humble, daughter of Peter Humble
• 1 Dec 1797 Mary Rockwood, wife of John Rockwood

We would not have thought the suffixes -field and -well would be interchangeable, but the Hawkeswell family in the example above has a couple of burials as Hawkesfield. We have also seen this interchangeability with the names Maxwell and Maxfield, with both being used within the same family. Some other odd interchangeable names include Hackworth and Hackforth, Smurthwaite and Smurfitt, Garthwaite and Garfoot, Beadnell and Beadland or Beadling, and Muschamps and Mushens.

We now have burials at South Shields St. Hilda for 1763-1797 and 1813-1855. We will be filling the 1798-1812 gap shortly.