Thockrington, Northumberland Genealogy

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

Parish History
THOCKRINGTON, a parish, in the union of Bellingham, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland; containing, with the townships of Little Bavington, Cary-Coats, and Sweethope. The small hamlet which is the head of the parish is said to have been once a good village containing numerous farmers. There is a place of worship for Primitive Methodists.

Additional information:

Thockrington Church, the oldest parish church in Northumberland, is perched on an outcrop of the Whin Sill, about a mile to the north of the Hexham to Alnmouth 'Corn Road' between Colwell and Little Bavington, and some 700 feet above sea level. Despite its remoteness the church is visited by many who value its tranquillity, and its landscape.

An Ancient parish which includes Bavington Little, Carrycoats, Sweethope, and Thockrington.

St Aidan Church Thockrington Church, latterly attributed to St. Aidan as patron saint, was built by the Norman family of Umfraville in 1100 AD. It remained in their possession, with adjoining lands, until 1226, when they were forfeited to the Archbishop of York as compensation for disturbances to the peace of the Prior of Hexham and damage done to the Archbishop's lands by Robert Umfraville. The Archbishop assigned the church and its revenues as an endowment for a prebend in his cathedral in York. This arrangement lasted 625 years, until the death of the last prebend in 1851, when it was merged into the diocese of Durham. However, the association continues; there is still the Tockerington stall at York Minster.

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

Non Conformist Records

 * 1717 England & Wales, Roman Catholics, 1717 at FindMyPast ($), index and images
 * 1613-1920 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection; index (dates may vary by parish)

Poor Law Unions
Bellingham 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