Croxdale, Durham Genealogy

England Durham

Parish History
Croxdale was a chapelry in the Durham St Oswald ancient parish. St Bartholomew Croxdale was built in 1845 and the former chapelry was then used as a mortuary chapel. St Bartholomew's was constituted as a rectory in 1866 and the church was enlarged in 1878. A Chapel of ease was built at Hett in 1881 dedicated to St Michael. The Croxdale parish includes Sunderland Bridge and Hett.

CROXDALE, a chapelry, partly in the parish of Merrington, and partly in the parish of St. Oswald, Durham, union of Durham, S. division of Easington ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 3½ miles (S. by W.) from Durham; containing, with the township of Hett, 494 inhabitants. The manor came into the possession of the Salvin family prior to 1474, and has ever since continued in their hands. Here flows a small rivulet called Croxdale beck, the channel of which is a romantic dell of great depth and narrowness. A cross erected at this place gave name to the adjoining lands. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with the rectorial tithes; patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The chapel, dedicated to the Holy Cross, is now a district church. There is a private Roman Catholic chapel at the Hall.

From: 'Crowfield - Croydon', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 737-742. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50908 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/2/69 Date: 1787-1831 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records. The parish transcripts are awaiting engineering correction but can be located at present under Merrington parish, Durham.

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 1696-1977 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Cr).

Poor Law Unions
Durham 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.