Benwell St James, Northumberland Genealogy

England Northumberland



Parish History
Benwell St James Northumberland, created in 1843 from chapelry in Newcastle upon Tyne St Nicolas, Northumberland Ancient Parish.

BENWELL, a district chapelry comprising the township of Benwell and part of that of Elswick, in the parish of St. John, Newcastle, union of Newcastle, W. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland; containing 2415 inhabitants, of whom 1433 are in the township of Benwell, 2½ miles (W.) from Newcastle. This place, anciently Benwall, or Bythe-Wall, the Roman wall having passed this way, is supposed to occupy the site of the Condercum of the Notitia. The township comprises by measurement 1074 acres, chiefly elevated land, rising gradually and beautifully from the Tyne; the soil is generally good, and being well cultivated produces abundant crops of corn and grass. The district abounds in coal and freestone. In the 17th century a seam of coal in the vicinity caught fire at a candle, and continued to burn for upwards of thirty years, bursting out in different places like a volcano. Various manufactories are situated on the low grounds near the Tyne. The road from Newcastle to Carlisle, and the Newcastle and Carlisle railway, pass through the township in nearly a parallel direction. The chapel, dedicated to St. James, stands conspicuously on an eminence near the centre of the district, and was erected in 1832, at an expense of £1665; it is a neat edifice in the Norman-English style, with a square tower. The patronage is vested in the Vicar of Newcastle; the net income is £150. The tithes of the township have been commuted for £89. 8. payable to the Bishop, a similar sum to the Dean and Chapter, of Carlisle, and £66. 1. 5. to the vicar, who has also a glebe of above 12 acres. There are places of worship for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists.

From: 'Bentham - Berkeley', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 210-214. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50793 Date accessed: 19 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.

Parish Records
Church of England parish registers begin in 1843. Church of England Bishops' transcripts exist from 1838.Parish Records

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/2/24 1838-1875 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records; however images for this parish have not yet been loaded and await future engineering.

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.

Benwell, St James: Records of baptisms 1832-1981, marriages 1844-1989 and burials 1833-1966 are available at Northumberland Collections Service. Baptisms 1832-1958, marriages 1844-1958 and burials 1833-1966 can also be seen at Tyne and Wear Archives Service. For earlier records see Newcastle, St John

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

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
Newcastle Upon Tyne 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

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