Dinsdale, Durham Genealogy

England Durham



Parish History
Dinsdale is an ancient parish and the church dedicated to St. John the Baptist is along the banks of the Tees and built in 1196.

DINSDALE, LOW (St. John), a parish, in the union of Darlington, S. W. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 5 miles (S. E. by E.) from Darlington; containing 169 inhabitants. This parish, which is separated by the river Tees from the county of York, comprises by measurement 1082 acres, whereof 643 are arable, 265 pasture and meadow, and 40 woodland: the soil in the higher lands is a strong clay; near the Tees it is rich and fertile. The river here runs over a bed of red sand, which is sometimes raised for building purposes. The Stockton and Darlington railway passes through a remote part of the parish, where is a station. A sulphureous well was discovered in 1789, at the depth of seventy-two feet from the surface; it received the name of Dinsdale Spa, and has become a place of resort during the summer season. The spa is surrounded by a beautiful plantation, which westward extends nearly a mile along the margin of the Tees, intersected with shady walks; and above the plantation, and immediately behind the spa, is the Dinsdale hotel. About two miles up the Tees are the remains of an old bath, the water of which is of a sulphureous quality; below the village is a productive salmon-fishery. The living is a discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £4. 11. 5½., and in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham: the tithes have been commuted for £194, and there are 70 acres of land in the parish of Hurworth, and 2 in Middleton, belonging to the living, and also a glebe-house. Francis Place, the painter, was born here; he died at York in 1728.

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.

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.

The Parish Registers for the period 1556-1987 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Di).

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/2/78 1769-1857 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.

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.