Winston, Durham Genealogy

England Durham



Parish History
Winston is an Ancient Parish in the county of Durham. Other places in the parish include: Cleatland.

WINSTON (St. Andrew), a parish, in the union of Teesdale, S. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 10 miles (W. by N.) from Darlington, on the road to Barnard-Castle; containing 293 inhabitants. This parish, which comprises about 3150 acres, belongs to the Trustees of the Earl of Bridgewater. The village is situated on an elevation rising from the northern bank of the river Tees, which is crossed here by a handsome stone bridge of one arch, 111 feet in the span, built in 1764. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £9. 18. 1½., and in the gift of the Bishop of Durham: the tithes have been commuted for £385. 10. to the rector, £25. 14. to Trinity College, Cambridge, and 13s. to the vicar of Gainford; the glebe contains 29½ acres. The church is a small ancient fabric, chiefly of early English character: the churchyard is shaded by venerable elms, beneath the branches of which a noble prospect of Raby opens to the north. The parsonage, with its beautiful gardens laid out in hanging terraces, joins the church on the east, and commands one of the richest views of the Tees, the wild range of the Richmondshire hills bounding the horizon on the south and west.

From: 'Winnall - Winstone', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 618-620. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51414 Date accessed: 30 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 DDR/EA/PBT/ 2/276 1762-1844 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 Parish Registers for the period 1572-1976 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Wi).

Poor Law Unions
Teesdale 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.