Coundon, Durham Genealogy

England Durham



Parish History
Coundon St James was created in 1842 from chapelry in Auckland St Andrew, Durham Ancient Parish and includes: Windlestone and Westerton. The church was rebuilt in 1872 on a new site set further back from the road, and on a much grander in scale, the accommodation being increased to 530 seats. Again dedicated to St. James, it was designed by the leading architect Ewan Christian, and is an imposing stone building in the Early English style with lancet windows, large and with an apsidal east end Instead of being served by a perpetual curate, it now had its own vicar. Chapels were also built for the Wesleyan Methodists, Primitive Methodists and New Connexions.

Parts of this parish became part of these parishes: Chilton St. Aidan (1925)

COUNDON, a township, in the parish of St. Andrew Auckland, union of Auckland, N. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 2 miles (E. by S.) from Bishop-Auckland; containing 475 inhabitants, when the census was taken in 1831, but now increased to 990, in consequence of the extended working of its coal-mines. A church and parsonage-house have been erected, and the living has been endowed by the Bishop of Durham, and a district assigned comprising the townships of Coundon, Windleston, and Westerton: the Bishop presents.

From: 'Cotton - Coupland ', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 700-702. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50899 Date accessed: 25 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/2/63 Date: 1842-1845 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.

The following records for churches in the ancient parish of Auckland St. Andrew are also available at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL:-


 * Auckland, St. Luke 1882-1966 (EP/Au.SA).
 * Auckland, St. Peter 1875-1931 (EP/Au.SP).
 * Byers Green 1845-1968 (EP/BG).
 * Binchester 1877-1959 (EP/BG &amp; EP/Bin).
 * Newfield 1900-1956 (EP/BG).
 * Coundon, St. James 1842-1971 (EP/Cou).
 * Windlestone 1908-1929 (EP/Cou).
 * Eldon, St. Mark 1877-1982 (EP/El).
 * Auckland, St. Philip 1881-1952 (EP/Au.SA &amp; EP/Au.SPh).
 * Hunwick, St. Paul 1846-1922 (EP/Hu).
 * New Shildon 1868-1953 (EP/NSh).
 * Newton Cap 1904-1970 (EP/NC).

Poor Law Unions
Auckland 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.