Kirkharle, Northumberland Genealogy

Guide to Kirkharle, Northumberland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
HARLE, KIRK (St. Wilfrid), a parish, in the union of Bellingham, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland, with the chapelry of Kirkheaton and township of Hawick. The parish is near the river Wansbeck.

Additional information:

Kirkhale St. Wilfred's Church was consecrated in the 14th century and is dedicated to St. Wilfred and includes Bibridge, Greatlaw, Hawick, Kidlaw, Little Harle, Mirlow House, Shield Hill, and Thrivewell.

The Church has no tower or side aisles. The bell cot and West Gable porch were added in the 18th century.

The design is one of simplicity and great beauty, it has an unusual feature in the chancel of two low side windows in north and south walls.

Lancelot "Capability" Brown
(born 1715, Kirkharle, Northumberland, Eng. — died Feb. 6, 1783, London) British master of naturalistic garden design. He worked for years at Stowe, Buckinghamshire, one of the most talked-of gardens of the day, under William Kent (1685 – 1748). By 1753 he was the leading "improver of grounds" in England. At Blenheim Palace he created masterly lakes and almost totally erased the earlier formal scheme. His landscapes consisted of expanses of grass, irregularly shaped bodies of water, and trees placed singly and in clumps. His style is often thought of as the antithesis of that of André Le Nôtre, designer of the formal Versailles gardens. Brown's nickname arose from his habit of saying that a place had "capabilities."

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
parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/155 Date: 1762-1845 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. Kirkharle, St Wilfred: Records of baptisms 1695-1980, marriages 1692-1980 and burials 1695-1978 are available at Northumberland Collections Service. The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1695-1875 and marriages 1692-1877 for this parish, but it is not included in Boyd's Marriage Index. Transcripts of baptisms 1697-1875, marriages and burials 1695-1875 and banns 1754-1875) are available at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Dept. A transcript of monumental inscriptions at Kirkharle (microfiche TN84) is published by Northumberland and Durham Family History Society and these records are also available in book form at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Department.

FamilySearch Historical Records includes England, Durham Diocese, Marriage Bonds and Allegations (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Poor Law Unions
Bellingham Poor Law Union, Northumberland

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