Sockburn, Durham Genealogy

England Durham

Parish History
Sockburn All Saints was an Ancient Parish partly in Yorkshire and partly in Durham. It was in the Diocese of Durham. The River Tees divided the parish and the old church was on the Durham side of the river. The majority of the parish lived across the river in Yorkshire and without a bridge, had to ferry across the river or ford the river at times of the year. The age of the church and situation lead to a new church being built at Girsby in North Yorkshire.

See Sockburn, Yorkshire

The original ruined church of All Saints which is said to have been Saxon in origin lie in the grounds of Sockburn Hall. The Hall was rebuilt in the 1830's and is a listed building. The saxon religious significance of Sockburn can be documented by the consecration of Higbald of Lindisfarne too in AD 780, followed by Eanbald as Archbishop of York in AD 790. 'Socceburg' was also given to the community of St Cuthbert's in AD 990 and may have been a minster of one of the large estates from the 7th to 10th centuries.

DINSDALE, OVER, a township, in the parish of Sockburn, union of Darlington, wapentake of Allertonshire, N. riding of York, 5 miles (S. E. by E.) from Darlington; containing 79 inhabitants. It comprises 810 acres, and is situated within a circuitous reach of the Tees, opposite to Low Dinsdale, and connected therewith by a wooden bridge, erected in 1839, by the Rev. W. S. Temple, proprietor of the township. A similar structure, about a mile lower down the river, on the ancient line of road from Northallerton to Sadberge, was swept away in the great flood of 1770.

From: 'Dilliker - Diptford', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 55-58. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50920 Date accessed: 21 March 2011.

SOCKBURN (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Darlington, partly in the S. W. division of Stockton ward, county of Durham, but chiefly in the wapentake of Allertonshire, N. riding of York, 7 miles (S. E.) from Darlington; containing 201 inhabitants, of whom 42 are in the township. This is supposed to be the Saxon Soccabyrig. In the time of Canute, Snaculf gave to the church of Durham "Socceburg and Grisbi;" and soon after the Conquest the place became the seat of the Norman family of Conyers. The parish comprises the townships of Sockburn, Over Dinsdale, and Girsby; the first, which is wholly in the county of Durham, contains about 1000 acres. Among other late improvements, a bridge of wood, consisting of one arch of upwards of 150 feet span, has been thrown across the river Tees by the lord of the manor and owner of the lands within the township, Henry Collingwood Blackett, Esq. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £3. 18. 1½.; net income, £190; patron and impropriator, the Master of Sherburn Hospital. The great tithes of Sockburn township have been commuted for £68, and the small for £48: the vicar has a glebe of 3 acres. The church has been partly taken down, and a new building erected on the opposite side of the Tees, in a situation more convenient for the parishioners, chiefly at the expense of Mr. Blackett and the master of Sherburn Hospital. The old edifice contains some ancient monuments, one of which is said to be that of Sir John Conyers, representing him with his feet resting upon a lion that appears to be contending with a winged dragon. In an adjoining field is the Grey Stone, where, according to legendary story, the dauntless knight slew the "monstrous venomous and poisonous wyveron, ask, or worm, which overthrew and devoured many people in fight."

From: 'Soberton - Somerford-Keynes', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 129-133. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51286 Date accessed: 21 March 2011.

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths were kept by the government, from July 1837 to the present day. The civil registration article tells more about these records. There are several Internet sites with name lists or indexes. A popular site is FreeBMD.

Church records
To find the names of the neighbouring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/233 Date: 1762-1839 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records.

The dates of the post-1760 transcripts have been noted in detail and sometimes only cover years. For most parishes in the collection there are gaps in the sequence of transcripts. It is advisable to consult the original parish registers for these years and events.

The Parish Registers for the period 1580-1982 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Soc). The International Genealogical Index includes Christenings 1580-1641, 1658-1767; Marriages 1580-1812.

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
Darlington Poor Law Union, Durham

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Durham Probate Records to find the name of the court having primary jurisdiction. Scroll down in the article to the section Court Jurisdictions by Parish.

Maps and Gazetteers
Maps are a visual look at the locations in England. Gazetteers contain brief summaries about a place.


 * England Jurisdictions 1851
 * Vision of Britain

Web sites
Contributor: add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.

The Sockburn Worm
Local legend and tradition has it that Sockburn was once the home to a terrible monster called the Sockburn Worm. It terrorised the neighbourhood until was killed by Sir John Conyers, a member of a local noble family. From that day on each new Prince-Bishop of Durham was presented with the sword that killed the worm upon entering their new Bishopric for the first time at Croft on Tees. The recently revived ceremony includes the following presentation speech, traditionally made by the Lord of Sockburn; "My Lord Bishop. I hereby present you with the falchion wherewith the champion Conyers slew the worm, dragon or fiery flying serpent which destroyed man, woman and child; in memory of which the king then reigning gave him the manor of Sockburn, to hold by this tenure, that upon the first entrance of every bishop into the county the falchion should be presented."

The falchion used in this ceremony is kept in the Durham Cathedral Treasury and a more detailed history of the item is in the external link below.

= External sites =

For details of the sword known as the Conyers falchion http://bjorn.foxtail.nu/h_conyers_eng.htm

For further Worm legends of Durham

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambton_Worm

http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/history/memories/durhammemories/4035677.Here_be_dragons_/