Brancepeth, Durham Genealogy

England Durham  Durham Parishes



Parish History
BRANCEPETH (St. Brandon), a parish, in the unions of Durham, Auckland, and Lanchester, N. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, comprising thetownships of Brandon with Byshottles, Crook with Billy-Row, HedleyHope.

Brancepeth church is dedicated to St Brandon, Abbot of Confert in Ireland, It is an ancient parish and includes the following later parishes within its history:


 * Brandon 1877-1985 (EP/Brd).
 * Crook 1843-1986 (EP/Cro).
 * Sunnybrow 1889-1980 (EP/Sun).
 * New Brancepeth 1894-1982 (EP/NB).
 * Stanley 1877-1971 (EP/Sta).
 * Tudhoe, Holy Innocents 1866-1980 (EP/Tu).
 * Waterhouses 1879-1962 (EP/Wat).
 * Willington 1857-1995 (EP/Wil).

All above references refer to Parish Registers  deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL.

Other places in the parish include: Stockley, Tudhoe, Willington, Brancepeth Common, Brandon and Byshottles, Hedley Hope, Hedleyhope, Helmington Row, Hemlington Row, and Page Bank

BRANCEPETH (St. Brandon), a parish, in the unions of Durham, Auckland, and Lanchester, N. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, comprising the townships of Brandon with Byshottles, Crook with Billy-Row, HedleyHope, Hemlington-Row, Stockley, and Wellington; and containing 2151 inhabitants, of whom 352 are in the township of Brancepeth, 4¼ miles (S. W.) from Durham. The name is supposed to be a corruption of Brawn's path, in allusion to the number of wild boars that formerly infested the district, and for the purpose of hunting which the Duke of Gloucester, afterwards Richard III., frequently resorted to this place, where his maternal ancestors, the Nevills, had a fortress. This fortress was almost entirely taken down by the late Matthew Russel, Esq., who erected on its site the present Brancepeth Castle. Coal is found, and there are some quarries of stone. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £60. 10. 5., and in the patronage of R. E. D. Shafto, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £985. 12. The church is a fine cruciform edifice, highly decorated within; the chancel is stalled and wainscoted with oak carved in tabernacle work, and has an ornamented ceiling. At Crook is a living in the Rector's gift. There are some medicinal springs of a vitriolic and sulphureous kind.

From: 'Brampton-Bierlow - Bransby', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 343-347. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50823 Date accessed: 21 March 2011.

The church damaged by fire in 1998 but was restored and rededicated in 2005

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 Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/40 Date: August 1762-1847 Contents: Including transcripts from Crook, October-December 1843 DDR/EA/PBT/2/68 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 1599-1977 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Br).

Poor Law Unions
Durham 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