Sherburn House, Durham Genealogy

Sherburn House or Hospital is an extra parochial place and is perhaps best understood by the title of the ancient hospital: "the Liberties of Christ's Hospital in Sherburn".

“Liberties” were originally areas exempt from the jurisdiction of royal officials, or, in the case of the County Palatine of Durham, from that of the Bishop's Sheriff. The Hospital enjoys another kind of freedom for it is “extra-parochial”, i.e. it is outside the jurisdiction of any of the contiguous parishes of Sherburn, Shadforth, Cassop-cum-Quarrington and Shincliffe, and was apparently never under the control of the large and ancient parish of Pittington out of which it was formed.

The Bishop of Durham has rights as patron, for he appoints the Master from among three clergymen in priest’s orders in the Church of England whose names are submitted to him by the Governors, and the Master is subject in all respects to the Bishop as ordinary (the noun “ordinary” is used here as a technical term meaning “an ecclesiastical superior”).

The chapel of the Hospital (established for lepers)

The status of the Chapel of the Hospital is unusual. It can be used by the 185 or so inhabitants of the Liberties, and of the adjacent extra-parochial district of Whitwell House as if it were their parish church. They have rights of baptism, marriage and burial: appropriate registers have been kept since 1678, and in the days when copies had to be sent annually to the Bishop, “Bishop’s Transcripts” were duly sent in (only 1813-35 survive). But in other ways the Chapel is unlike a parish church, for it has no churchwardens, no Parochial Church Council and no Electoral Roll. It pays no “Quota” to diocesan funds. At any rate since 1858 the Master, although he has “cure of souls” (i.e. charge of spiritual welfare) has not had a “parson’s freehold”, as he can be required by the Governors to resign, for good cause, subject to appeal to the Bishop. The fabric of the Chapel is maintained, the furnishings and fittings are supplied, by the Governors, and paid for out of the funds of the Charity. The Governors also decide what services are to be held, even though out of the fifteen Governors only two, the Dean of Durham and the Archdeacon of Durham, are perforce members of the Church of England. It can probably be assumed that the Governor who is nominated by the Bishop will always be “C of E”. Neither the Master, who conducts the services, nor the members of the congregation have any right to decide upon the services. Presumably the Charity Commissioners, who laid down these arrangements, took for granted reasonable behaviour on the part of all concerned.

= Chapel Records =

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/225 Date: 1813-1835 Register transcripts are available to search free online at Record Search.

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 Registers for the period 1678-1905 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/ShH).

Baptism and/or marriage registers for the period 1692-1812 are indexed in the International Genealogical Index. Marriages for the period 1695-1763 are indexed in Boyd's Marriage Index.