Gateshead, Durham Genealogy

England Durham  Durham Parishes

Parish History
GATESHEAD (St. Mary), a borough and parish, and the head of a union, locally in Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 14 miles (N. by W.) from Durham; There are places of worship for Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Methodists of the New Connexion, Independents, and Presbyterians.

Gateshead St Mary the mother-parish for Gateshead is an ancient parish and the church is reputed to date in part from the twelfth century. It suffered damage from a major explosion in Gateshead in 1854 and required substantial rebuilding.

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/2/112 1769-1840 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 1559-1979 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Ga.SM).

Poor Law Unions
Gateshead 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