Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland Genealogy

England Northumberland

Parish History
The city of Newcastle-upon-Tyne includes the following pre-1850 parishes, in order of founding date:


 * St Nicholas (the original parish church, with records from 1558) St Nicholas became a cathedral church when the Diocese of Newcastle was created in 1882 and is now St Nicholas Cathedral one of the smaller cathedrals in England.
 * All Saints (ancient chapelry, created as a separate parish in 1808, with records from 1600)
 * St Andrew (ancient chapelry, created as a separate parish in 1808, with records from 1597)
 * St John (ancient chapelry, created as a separate parish in 1808, with records from 1587)
 * St Anne (chapelry, created as a separate parish from All Saints in 1843)
 * St Peter (created as a separate parish from St Andrew's in 1844)
 * All Saints, St. John the Baptist, and St. Andrew. The living of St. Nicholas' is a vicarage, with that of Gosforth annexed, valued in the king's books at £50; net income, £753; patron, the Bishop of Carlisle, who, with the Dean and Chapter of Carlisle, is appropriator. The church, which was mostly rebuilt in 1359, is a spacious cruciform edifice, principally in the decorated style of English architecture, with a steeple in the later style. From the battlements of the tower rise octagonal turrets crowned with crocketed pinnacles, of which the central are lower than those at the angles; from these turrets spring four flying buttresses of graceful curve, meeting in a point, and supporting an elegant lantern turret, surmounted by a small crocketed spire terminating in a vane, forming altogether a structure unequalled for its light and beautiful proportions. The interior of the church retains much of its original character, though many of its ancient monuments were destroyed during the occupation of the town by the Scottish army, and others were removed during the alterations in 1783; the principal monuments at present are those of Sir M. W. Ridley, M.P., Vice-Admiral Collingwood, the Rev. Hugh Moises, A.M., Calverley Bewicke, Esq., and R. H. Williamson, Esq., recorder. On the south side of the church is a building erected in 1736, by Sir Walter Blackett, Bart., who assigned a salary to a librarian, for the preservation here of an ancient collection of works on divinity, bequeathed to the parish by Dr. Thomlinson. The living of All Saints' is a perpetual curacy; net income, £333; patron, the Vicar of Newcastle. The church, situated on the summit of an eminence rising abruptly from the river, was founded prior to 1286, rebuilt in 1786, and consecrated on the 17th November, 1789, by the Bishop of Durham. It is a handsome structure in the Roman style, with a lofty tower surmounted by a light and elegant spire; the entrance is by a stately portico of four columns of the Doric order, supporting a pediment. In the vestry of the church, to which it was removed for greater security by the present incumbent, is a splendid monumental brass to the memory of Roger Thornton and Agnes his wife, of the date 1411, in excellent preservation. In the register, which commences in 1600, are the baptismal entries of William, Lord Stowell, in 1745, and his brother, John, Lord Chancellor Eldon, in 1751. A church district, called Byker, was formed out of All Saints' in 1844, by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners. The living of St. John the Baptist's is a perpetual curacy; net income, £244; patron, the Vicar of Newcastle. The church, founded prior to 1286, is a spacious cruciform structure in the early English style, with a square embattled tower and angular turrets; it contains several old monuments and an ancient font, and in the churchyard are the remains of John Cunningham, the pastoral poet, who died in 1773. On Arthur's Hill is a chapel of ease to St. John's, dedicated to St. Paul, a neat edifice erected in 1841, at a cost of £1600, and containing 700 sittings. At Benwell and Elswick are separate incumbencies. The living of St. Andrew's is a perpetual curacy; net income, £257; patron, the Vicar of Newcastle. The church is a very ancient structure, with a low embattled tower of large dimensions, and exhibits details in the various styles of architecture from the early Norman to the later English; it suffered greatly during the siege of the town in 1644, and has undergone many alterations and repairs. The chancel has been restored, and fitted up with stalls and open benches, by the present incumbent. A district church dedicated to St. Peter has been erected in St. Andrew's district, a very elegant structure after a design by Mr. Dobson, in the decorated English style: the interior consists of a nave 100 feet in length, with aisles, and a chancel of 40 feet; the nave is lighted by clerestory windows. Two handsome obituary windows of stained glass have been executed for the church by Mr. Wailes, of Newcastle; the one, raised by the present incumbent of St. Andrew's, to the memory of his father, the Rev. J. Dodd, late vicar of Newcastle; and the other, by the Ilderton family, to the memory of Miss Gothard. The living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the Vicar, with a net income of £150. At Sighill is another incumbency. The living of St. Anne's is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £150 per annum, and in the patronage of the Vicar. The church, erected by the corporation in 1768, at an expense of £4000, is in the English style, with a square embattled tower surmounted by a graceful spire, and contains 526 sittings. The ancient chapel near Tyne bridge, dedicated to St. Thomas, and annexed to the hospital of St. Mary Magdalene, was, after repeated alterations, taken down; and a new edifice, built in the Magdalene meadows at an expense of £7500, was consecrated by the Bishop of Carlisle, October 19th, 1830. It is an elegant structure in the early English style, with a lofty embattled tower strengthened by angular buttresses terminating in richly-canopied minarets of graceful elevation; the building contains 1600 sittings, of which 250 are free, and the duty is performed by the master of the hospital, and his chaplain, Fronting its south side is a handsome range of buildings in the Tudor style, called St. Mary's place, forming a terrace designed to harmonise with the chapel in picturesque effect. There are places of worship in Newcastle for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Methodists of the New Connexion, members of the Scottish Kirk, Sandemanians, Swedenborgians, Unitarians, Roman Catholics, and others. At Jesmond, in the vicinity of the town, a cemetery was completed in 1836, at a cost of £7000; it comprises about ten acres of ground, neatly planted, and has a handsome entrance, with a chapel on each side, in the Roman style. There is also a public cemetery on the west side of Newcastle, with a chapel, erected by the dissenters; and on the east of the town is another, which has been in use since the days of James I.

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.

Contributor: Include here information for parish registers, Bishop’s Transcripts, non conformist and other types of church records, such as parish chest records. Add the contact information for the office holding the original records. Add links to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection

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

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