Easington, Durham Genealogy

England Durham



Parish History
Easington is an ancient parish and the church is dedicated to St Mary. The ancient Norman church said to have been rebuilt in the thirteenth century was restored in 1853.

EASINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, and the head of a union, in the S. division of Easington ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 9½ miles (E.) from Durham; comprising the townships of Easington, Haswell, Hawthorn, and Shotton; and containing above 7000 inhabitants, of whom 812 are in Easington township. This parish, which is bounded on the east by the North Sea, and intersected by the road from Stockton to Sunderland, is diversified by several beautiful and richly wooded denes abounding with romantic scenery, which, after winding for some miles, suddenly open upon the beach. Coal of excellent quality is found in abundance, and is very extensively wrought in the collieries of South Hetton, Haswell, and Shotton-Grange, giving constant employment to a great majority of the population; magnesian limestone is also plentiful, and is quarried for building and for agricultural purposes. Facility of conveyance is afforded by the Hartlepool and Sunderland railroad, which passes through the villages of Haswell and South Hetton, and joins the Durham and Sunderland railway at Murton. The village, which is situated on a declivity, is of considerable extent, and the head of the ward, deanery, and parish to which it gives name. The living is a rectory not in charge; patron, the Bishop of Durham: the tithes have been commuted for £915, and the glebe consists of 560 acres. The church, erected about the year 1222, is a handsome structure in the early and decorated English styles, with a lofty embattled tower of the Norman style, forming a conspicuous landmark for mariners: the windows of the nave are of elegant design, enriched with flowing tracery, and surmounted with square-headed dripstones; those of the chancel are decorated, and contain very beautiful flamboyant tracery. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans. Some schools for boys and girls, in connexion with the National Society, are endowed with the interest of £1000 bequeathed by the late Dr. Prosser, archdeacon of Durham and rector of Easington. The union comprises 19 parishes or townships, containing a population of 19,500 persons.

From: 'Earnshill - Eastbourne', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 124-127. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50934 Date accessed: 21 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 1571-1988 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Ea).

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/ 2/89 March 1769- May 1851Parish 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
Easington 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.