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England Durham  Stockton-on-Tees

Guide to Stockton-on-Tees, Durham history, family history, and genealogy parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
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Stockton is an Anglo-Saxon name with the typical Anglo-Saxon place name ending 'ton' meaning farm, or homestead. The name is thought by some to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word Stocc meaning log, tree trunk or wooden post. 'Stockton' could therefore mean a farm built of logs. Others believe the 'stoc' is the correct indicator, referring to place of a chapel or church and associated farm or dwelling.

Stockton is located on the north bank of the River Tees. The town's extreme northern and western areas are located on slightly higher ground than the town center, which is located directly on the north bank of the Tees. These offer views of the town with its relatively mid-rise center and the surrounding Tees Valley area. It is the most northern large town within England.

The town has many suburbs with individual identities: Fairfield, Grangefield, Hardwick, Hartburn, Elm Tree Farm, Norton, Roseworth, Newtown, Bishopsgarth and Oxbridge to name a few. Within the borough, but distinct settlements from the town of Stockton, are Thornaby-on-Tees, Ingleby Barwick, Billingham and Yarm.

The manor of Stockton was created around 1138 and was purchased by Bishop Pudsey of Durham in 1189. During the 13th century, the bishop turned the village of Stockton into a borough. When the bishop freed the serfs of Stockton, craftsmen came to live in the new town. The bishop had a residence in Stockton Castle, which was just a fortified manor house. The first recorded reference to the castle was in 1376.

Stockton's market can trace its history to 1310, when Bishop Bek of Durham granted a market charter – to our town of Stockton a market upon every Wednesday for ever. The town grew into a busy little port, exporting wool and importing wine which was demanded by the upper class. However even by the standards of the time, medieval Stockton-on-Tees was a small town with a population of only around 1,000, and did not grow any larger for centuries.

The Scots captured Stockton Castle in 1644 and occupied it until 1646. It was destroyed at the order of Oliver Cromwell at the end of the Civil War. A shopping center, the Castlegate Center, now occupies the castle area. No known accurate depictions of the castle exist.

The Town House was built in 1735 and the first theater in Stockton opened in 1766. In 1771 a five arch stone bridge was built replacing the nearby Bishop's Ferry. Until the opening of the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge in 1911, this was the lowest bridging point on the Tees. From the end of the 18th century the Industrial Revolution changed Stockton from a small and quiet market town into a flourishing center of heavy industry.

Shipbuilding in Stockton, which had begun in the 15th century, prospered in the 17th and 18th centuries. Smaller-scale industries began developing around this time, such as brick, sail and rope making, the latter reflected in road names such as Ropery Street in the town center. Stockton became the major port for County Durham, the North Riding of Yorkshire and Westmorland during this period, exporting mainly rope made in the town, agricultural produce and lead from the Yorkshire Dales.

The town grew rapidly as the Industrial Revolution progressed, with iron making and engineering beginning in the town in the 18th century. The discovery of iron ore in the Eston Hills resulted in blast furnaces lining the River Tees from Stockton to the river's mouth. In 1820 an Act set up the Commissioners, a body with responsibility for lighting and cleaning the streets. From 1822 Stockton-on-Tees was lit by gas.

In 1822, Stockton witnessed an event which changed the face of the world forever and heralded the dawn of a new era in trade, industry and travel. The first rail of George Stephenson's Stockton and Darlington Railway was laid near St. John's crossing on Bridge Road. Hauled by Locomotion No 1, the great engineer himself manned the engine on its first journey on 27 September 1825. Fellow engineer and friend, Timothy Hackworth acted as guard. This was the world's first passenger railway, connecting Stockton with Shildon. The opening of the railway greatly boosted Stockton, making it easier to bring coal to the factories; however the port declined as business had moved down river to Middlesbrough.

Stockton witnessed another discovery in 1827. Local chemist John Walker invented the friction match in his shop at 59 High Street. Since he did not obtain a patent, Walker received neither fame nor wealth for his invention, but he was able to retire some years before his death. He died in 1859 at the age of 78 and is buried in the parish churchyard in Norton village.

A hospital opened in Stockton in 1862 and a public library opened in 1877.

Steam trams began running in the streets in 1881 and were replaced by electric trams in 1897. Buses replaced the trams in 1931. In the 1930s slums were cleared and the first council houses were built. At this time, Stockton was still dominated by the engineering industry and there was also a chemicals industry in the town. In the late 20th century manufacturing industry severely declined, although the service industries grew, and today are the town's main employers.

Cemeteries (Civil)
Durham Road Cemetery


 * 165 Durham Rd
 * Stockton-on-Tees TS19 0PU

Thornaby Cemetery


 * Thornaby
 * Stockton-on-Tees TS17 7LD

Memorial Aftercare Cemetery


 * 4 Claremont Ct
 * Thornaby
 * Stockton-on-Tees TS17 6AP
 * Phone: +44 7947 416036

Parishes
Greyfriars:


 * Friar St
 * Reading RG1 1EH
 * Phone: +44 118 951 6700

Minster of St Mary the Virgin


 * Chain Steet
 * Reading RG1 2HX
 * Phone: +44 118 957 1057

Church of the Holy Trinity:


 * Oxford Rd
 * Reading RG1 7NQ

All Saints:


 * 14 Downshire Square
 * Reading RG1 6NH
 * Phone: +44 118 957 2000

St Michael's


 * New Ln Hill
 * Tilehurst, Reading RG30 4JX
 * Phone: +44 118 942 7331

Non Conformists
The following other Christian denominations and religions are also represented in Reading:


 * All Nations Christian Center
 * Baptists
 * Evangelical
 * Christian Science
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Jehovah's Witness
 * Methodists
 * Roman Catholics
 * Seventh Day Adventist

Non Christian populations include:


 * Buddhists
 * Jews
 * Muslims
 * Sikhs

Civil Registration
Birth, marriages and deaths, have been kept by the UK government from July 1837 to the present day.


 * BMD Org: Berkshire


 * UKBMD: Berkshire


 * Berkshire Record Office

Local Histories

 * Local Histories: Reading


 * Berkshire Histories: Reading


 * History and Antiquities of Reading by John Doroan


 * An A-Z of Reading by Stuart Hylton

Maps and Gazetteers

 * Google maps of Reading


 * Old Maps on Line: Berkshire


 * Old maps of Stoke-oon-Trent


 * Reading Street Map


 * Gazetteer of Reading


 * Vision of Britain: Reading Gazetteer

Newspapers

 * The Reading Chronicle


 * Get Reading

Occupations
Reading has a significant historical involvement in the information technology industry, largely as a result of the early presence in the town of sites of International Computers Limited and Digital. Whilst both these companies have been swallowed by other groups, their respective descendants in Fujitsu and Hewlett-Packard both still have local operations. More recently Microsoft and Oracle have established multi-building campuses in the town. Other technology companies with a significant presence in the town include Access IS Agilent Technologies, Audio & Design (Recording) Ltd, Bang & Olufsen, Cisco, Ericsson, Harris Corporation, Huawei Technologies, Intel, Nvidia, Sage, Sagem Orga, SGI, Symantec, Symbol Technologies, Verizon Business, Virgin Media, Websense, Xansa (now Steria), and Xerox.

Procter & Gamble has an innovation center in the town, which is active in the production of Gillette razors, and is the second largest in the world of its kind.

The financial company ING Direct had its headquarters in Reading, as does the directories company Yell Group and the natural gas major BG Group. The insurance company Prudential has an administration center in the town, whilst PepsiCo and Holiday Inn have offices. Like most major cities, Reading has offices of the Big Four accounting firms Deloitte, PwC, Ernst & Young and KPMG.

Reading is the major shopping center for the Thames Valley, and, as such, provides major employment opportunities. The principal town center shopping area is around Broad Street, which was pedestrianized in 1995. Broad Street is anchored at its east and west ends respectively by The Oracle and Broad Street Mall enclosed shopping centers.

Societies
Reading does not have a dedicated FHS society. Berkshire does have some groups as identified below:


 * Berkshire Family History Society


 * Berkshire Local History Society


 * Berkshire family history records

Archives

 * The National Archives: Reading


 * University of Reading Archives


 * The Berkshire Records Office Archives

Web Sites

 * Reading wikipedia


 * Reading Borough Council


 * West Berkshire Council