St John Lee, Northumberland Genealogy

Guide to St John Lee, Northumberland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
LEE, ST. JOHN, a parish, in the union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 1½ mile (N. N. E.) from Hexham; There are chapels of ease at Bingfield and Wall.

Additional information:

This parish is described as an ancient parish - established in the 10th century, although the earliest recorded incumbent is John Del Clay 1311. The church appears to have been built on the site of the oratory dedicated to St Michael referred to by Bede.

On the north side of the Tyne is the Hermitage, which belonged to Hexham priory. It was called Hameshalg i.e. the hamlet in the haugh, haugh or vale. Hodgson is of the opinion that in the 10th century the monks of Hexham converted the oratory on the hill into a parish church, and instead of it and the manse to which St John was wont to retire, built on the haugh below the Hermitage and Chantry - which continued in their possession until their House was dissolved in 1535. The lands were in the hands of the crown in 1568 and have ever since gone by the name of Hermitage.

In 1310 the church is described as Capella bea Johannis de Lega (the chapel of St John in the woods) A document dated 1429 gives the dedication to St John the Baptist. We do not know when the dedication to St John of Beverley was made - what is recorded is that the place was held in such veneration by the monks of Hexham that they visited it annually in high procession - this could have been on Eve of John the Baptist.

The name, St John Lee, means St John in the field /clearing in the wood. The area around here was covered with forest - hence the names Acomb (place of the oaks) and Oakwood.

The Church has never been a spectacular building - it began, as we know as a small oratory. The present church was built by Dobson in the 19th century with substantial alterations made by the Newcastle architect Hicks in 1886 - at a cost of between £1700 and £1800. The church was widened, the chancel stepped and the spire constructed.

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
St John Lee parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

Non Conformist Records

 * 1613-1920 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Poor Law Unions
Hexham 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