Slaley, Northumberland Genealogy

Guide to Slaley, Northumberland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
SLALEY, a parish, in the union of Hexham, E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, 5½ miles (S. E. by S.) from Hexham.

Additional information:

Slaley St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish and the religious history of the village may be traced to the 13th and 14th century. There is a documentary reference to a church at Slaley at this time, but it has since been rebuilt. A millstone quarry once operated at Slaley and is known from historical documents. Much of medieval life was dominated by religion and monasteries are known in the nearby area at Blanchland and Hexham. These religious houses developed great estates away from the main church and the Hermitage and Chapel of St Mary, given to Kelso Abbey in Scotland, may lie in this or the neighbouring parish of Broomhaugh and Riding. The wealth of these houses may have attracted Scottish raiders, known to have attacked Blanchland and en route Merchingley.

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
Slaley parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Nonconformist Records

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images
 * 1613-1920 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Early Wesleyan Methodist chapels in this area belonged to Hexham W.M. Circuit. Records for 1797-1836 can be seen at Northumberland Collections Service and are included on the IGI.

FamilySearch Historical Records includes England, Durham Diocese, Marriage Bonds and Allegations - FamilySearch Historical Records

Poor Law Unions
Hexham Poor Law Union, Northumberland

Probate Records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Northumberland 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