Chester le Street, Durham Genealogy

England Durham



Parish History
The Church of St Mary and St Cuthbert is an ancient parish. When in 883 the monks fled from Lindisfarne with the body of Cuthbert, they settled at Chester le Street. The present church occupies the site of the former original wooden church which remained until the time of the fourth Bishop of Durham Egelric (1042-1056) who replaced it with a stone church. The present church is believed to includes elements of the stonework from that time.

CHESTER-LE-STREET (St. Mary and St. Cuthbert), a parish, and the head of a union (though a portion of the parish is in the union of Lanchester), partly in the N. division of Easington ward, but chiefly in the Middle division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham; comprising the chapelries of Birtley, Lamesley, Pelton, and Tanfield, and the townships of Chester, Edmondsley, Harraton, Hedley, Kibblesworth, Lambton, Great and Little Lumley, Ouston, Plawsworth, Ravensworth, Urpeth, and Waldridge; the whole containing 16,359 inhabitants, of whom 2599 are in the township of Chester, 6 miles (N.) from Durham. This place occupies the site of the Roman station Condercum, and was called by the Saxons Coneceaster, from which its present appellation is derived, as is its adjunct from its position on the line of the Roman military way to Newcastle: several Roman coins (especially a Gordian in gold, in the possession of the family of the late Mr. Surtees, of Mainsforth), and an altar much defaced, have been found; and specimens of antiquity are still frequently turned up. It was made the head of the ancient see of Lindisfarne by Eardulph, eighteenth prelate, who in 882 removed hither the relics of St. Cuthbert, and founded a church which continued under a succession of eight bishops to be the cathedral of the diocese, till the removal of the see, in 995, to the city of Durham. At this period the church became parochial, and in 1286, Bishop Anthony Beck founded in it a collegiate establishment, consisting of a dean, seven prebendaries, three deacons, and other members, who remained till the Dissolution, when the dean's portion of the revenue was estimated at £77. 11. 8. The parish comprises by measurement 23,852 acres, of which 2619 are in the township, where the soil is light and variable, and the scenery rich and beautiful; the neighbourhood abounds with coal, and there are some freestone-quarries. The town, which extends nearly a mile in length, is situated in a valley, on the western side of the Wear, and on the road to Newcastle; a more irregular line of buildings runs east and west, at right angles with the former. In 1771 it suffered from an inundation of the river, which greatly damaged many of the houses and destroyed considerable property. A bridge was built over the Cone or Cong, also called Chester brook, a branch of the Wear, in 1821; a mechanics' institute was established in 1825. Here are a large brewery, a tannery, a foundry and engine-building works employing about 125 hands, and manufactories for ropes, nails, and tiles; cannon were formerly cast in a foundry commenced about the close of the last century. A market which was held weekly has been discontinued. A court leet is holden twice in the year by the Bishop of Durham, as lord of the manor, at which small debts are recoverable; and the petty-sessions for Chester ward, for which a coroner is specially appointed, are held every alternate Thursday. The town is a polling-place for the northern division of the county. The Living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift, alternately, of Lady Byron and the Joliffe family, with a net income of £377: the patrons are also the impropriators. The church is partly in the early and partly in the later English style, with an enriched tower, square at the base and octangular in the second stage, and surmounted by a finely-proportioned spire 156 feet high, considered to be the handsomest in the north of England. In the north aisle is an interesting series of fourteen altar-tombs, with recumbent effigies of the family of Lumley, of Lumley Castle, from the time of the Conquest to the sixteenth century, the greater part of them set up by John, Lord Lumley, in the reign of Elizabeth. There are churches at Lamesley, Tanfield, and Pelton; and places of worship in the parish for Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. The poor law union of which this place is the head, comprises 20 parishes or places, and contains a population of 18,357.

From: 'Cheshunt - Chetwood', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 576-586. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50871 Date accessed: 22 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.

The Parish Registers for the period 1582-1988 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/2/52 1765-1837 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. .

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

Poor Law Unions
Chester le Street 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.