Durham St Giles, Durham Genealogy

England Durham  Durham Parishes

Parish History
An ancient parish the church was built and consecrated by Bishop Flambard who consecrated it in 1112. The church underwent restoration in 1874.

St. Giles, or Gilligate, containing 3396 inhabitants, is a perpetual curacy; patrons, the Marquess and Marchioness of Londonderry. The church has various Norman portions, but the general style resembles that of the Galilee chapel of the cathedral.

DURHAM, a city, the capital of the county of Durham, and the head of a union, 67 miles (E. S. E.) from Carlisle, 87 (N. E.) from Lancaster, 67 (N. W. by W.) from York. The city is surmounted by the cathedral and the remains of the ancient castle, together with other ecclesiastical residences. The college was established at the same time as the university. The city comprises several parishes: St. Giles (1584), St. Mary Le Bow (1571), St. Mary-the-less (1560), St. Nicholas' (1540), St. Oswald's (1538), St. Margaret's (1557), as well as The (Durham) Cathedral (1609). The parish of Durham St Oswald's also includes the village and chapelry of Shincliffe (1826) and part of the chapelry of Croxdale (1696) [see also Merrington Parish]. The chapelries of Belmont and St Cuthbert were built respectively in the years 1858 and 1863 both of which also stood within the boundary of Durham ancient parish.

There are places of worship for the Society of Friends, Independents, Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, and Roman Catholics.

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 1584-1975 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Du.SG).

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/2/82 1777-1857 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records. The image collection for this parish commences at image 2 of 640. Image 1 displays an "Image unavailable" message and our engineers are aware of this issue and it will be addressed in future.

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
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