Chester le Street, Durham Genealogy

Guide to Chester le Street, Durham family history and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
CHESTER-LE-STREET (St. Mary and St. Cuthbert), a parish, and the head of a union (though a portion of the parish is in the union of Lanchester), partly in the N division of Easington ward, but chiefly in the Middle division of Chester ward, N division of the county of Durham; comprising thechapelries of Birtley, Lamesley, Pelton, and Tanfield, and the townships of Chester, Edmondsley, Harraton, Hedley, Kibblesworth, Lambton, Great and Little Lumley, Ouston, Plawsworth, Ravensworth, Urpeth, and Waldridge. There are churches at Lamesley, Tanfield, and Pelton; and places of worship in theparish for Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. The poor law union of which this place is the head, comprises 20 parishes or places.

Additional information:

This place occupies the site of the Roman station Condercum, and was called by the Saxons Coneceaster, from which its present appellation is derived, as is its adjunct from its position on the line of the Roman military way to Newcastle: several Roman coins (especially a Gordian in gold, in the possession of the family of the late Mr. Surtees, of Mainsforth), and an altar much defaced, have been found; and specimens of antiquity are still frequently turned up. It was made the head of the ancient see of Lindisfarne by Eardulph, eighteenth prelate, who in 882 removed hither the relics of St. Cuthbert, and founded a church which continued under a succession of eight bishops to be the cathedral of the diocese, till the removal of the see, in 995, to the city of Durham. At this period the church became parochial, and in 1286, Bishop Anthony Beck founded in it a collegiate establishment, consisting of a dean, seven prebendaries, three deacons, and other members, who remained till the Dissolution, when the dean's portion of the revenue was estimated at £77. 11. 8.

From: 'Cheshunt - Chetwood'.

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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
The Church of England (Anglican) became the official state religion in 1534, with the reigning monarch as its Supreme Governor. Non-Conformist refers to all other religious denominations that are not the official state religion.

Church of England
Due to the increasing access of online records: Hover over the collection's title for more information Other Websites These databases have incomplete parish coverage.
 * Individual parish coverage for databases in this table are inconsistent and should be verified
 * Dates in the following table are approximate
 * Joiner Marriage Index - Durham ($)
 * The Genealogist Parish Registers - Durham ($)
 * UK Websites for Parish Records - Links to online genealogical records
 * Online Genealogical Index - Links to online genealogical records

Genealogy From Periodicals
Betts, Enid. A Sanderson Family and Its Branches. History of Stepen Sanderson born 1811, and his wife Elizabeth Aisbitt and descendants. According to the IGI the Sandersons were in Houghton le Spring, from the late 1500's. Other areas the descendants were in: Eighton Banks, Gateshead Pelaw, Bishop Wearmouth, with a branch going to USA and another branch to Australia. Surnames mention: Liddell, Fenwick, Wynn, Armstrong, Hunter, Best, Murray, Reay, Lockey, Wanless and Smith. Article dated 1560-1985, and is found in The Northumberland &amp; Durham Family History Society Journal, vol.27, no.3,pages 92-95. Family History Library Reference 942.8 B2jo v.27.no.3.(autumn 2002)

Poor Law Unions

 * Chester le Street 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
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Websites
Chester le Street on GENUKI