Kirkharle, Northumberland Genealogy

England Northumberland

Parish History
Kirkhale St. Wilfred's Church was consecrated in the 14th century and is dedicated to St. Wilfred and includes Bibridge, Greatlaw, Hawick, Kidlaw, Little Harle, Mirlow House, Shield Hill, and Thrivewell.

The Church has no tower or side aisles. The bell cot and West Gable porch were added in the 18th century.

The design is one of simplicity and great beauty, it has an unusual feature in the chancel of two low side windows in north and south walls.

HARLE, KIRK (St. Wilfrid), a parish, in the union of Bellingham, N. E. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland; containing, with the chapelry of Kirkheaton and township of Hawick, 382 inhabitants, of whom 210 are in the township of Kirk-Harle. The manor was anciently held by the knightly family of Harle, from whom it passed to the Strothers, and from them, by marriage, to the Loraines, whose ancestor, Robert, had come to England with the Conqueror, and who were resident here from the time of Henry VI., but sold all their lands in 1837. The parish is near the river Wansbeck, and comprises 5167 acres, of which about 1960, exclusively of the glebe, are in the township of Kirk-Harle. A coal-field extends over nearly the whole of the manor, and freestone and limestone are extensively quarried for the purposes of building and agriculture. The Hall, a mansion standing in a retired situation, in a fine park, was erected by Sir William Loraine, the second baronet, in the beginning of the last century, and has been subsequently improved. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, valued in the king's books at £3. 8. 4., and in the patronage of Thomas Anderson, Esq., who is impropriator of the remainder of the rectorial tithes; it has a net income of £197, and the glebe consists of 156 acres. The church is an ancient edifice consisting of a nave and chancel, together measuring 70 feet in length; some repairs were made at the close of the 17th and beginning of the 18th century, but the main edifice is of the date of Henry IV., about which time it is said to have been in a state of decay, and to have been renovated by the Strother family. Sir William de Herle, chief justice in the reign of Edward III., was born and had lands in the parish; and the well-known landscape gardener, Launcelot Brown, commonly called "Capability Brown," was born at Kirk-Harle in 1715.

From: 'Haresfield - Harlington', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 409-413. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51007 Date accessed: 14 March 2011.

Lancelot "Capability" Brown
(born 1715, Kirkharle, Northumberland, Eng. — died Feb. 6, 1783, London) British master of naturalistic garden design. He worked for years at Stowe, Buckinghamshire, one of the most talked-of gardens of the day, under William Kent (1685 – 1748). By 1753 he was the leading "improver of grounds" in England. At Blenheim Palace he created masterly lakes and almost totally erased the earlier formal scheme. His landscapes consisted of expanses of grass, irregularly shaped bodies of water, and trees placed singly and in clumps. His style is often thought of as the antithesis of that of André Le Nôtre, designer of the formal Versailles gardens. Brown's nickname arose from his habit of saying that a place had "capabilities."

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.

Parish Records
Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/155 Date: 1762-1845 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. Kirkharle, St Wilfred: Records of baptisms 1695-1980, marriages 1692-1980 and burials 1695-1978 are available at Northumberland Collections Service. The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1695-1875 and marriages 1692-1877 for this parish, but it is not included in Boyd's Marriage Index. Transcripts of baptisms 1697-1875, marriages and burials 1695-1875 and banns 1754-1875) are available at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Dept. A transcript of monumental inscriptions at Kirkharle (microfiche TN84) is published by Northumberland and Durham Family History Society and these records are also available in book form at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Department.

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

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
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 * England Jurisdictions 1851
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Web sites
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