Stella St Cuthbert, Durham Genealogy

England Durham

Parish History
Stella St Cuthbert is an Ecclesiastical Parish in the county of Durham, created in 1845 from Ryton, Durham Ancient Parish and Winlaton, Durham Ecclesiastical Parish.Other places in the parish include: Derwenthaugh and Blaydon.

STELLA, a township, in the parish of Ryton, union of Gateshead, W. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 5 miles (W. by N.) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; containing 563 inhabitants. This place, anciently Stellinglei, was granted in the 12th century by Bishop William de St. Barbara to the nuns of Newcastle, in whose possession it remained till the Dissolution. It subsequently became the property of the Tempest family, who erected the magnificent mansion of Stella Hall, near the river Tyne; and afterwards belonged to Lord Widdrington, on whose joining in the rebellion of 1715, it was forfeited to the crown. The estate is now the property of Peregrine Edward Towneley, Esq. The township is bounded on the north by the river; it comprises 281 acres, and abounds with coal, of which a pit is worked, for household use. Stella Hall, the property of Mr. Towneley, is beautifully situated, and has lately, with the park and grounds attached to it, been much improved. The village is on the bank of the river, which is here navigable for keels: there is a manufactory for coal-wagons, railway-trucks, and similar carriages; and fire-bricks are made in the neighbourhood. The tithes have been commuted for £27. 3. 8. A church district named St. Cuthbert's was endowed in 1845 by the Ecclesiastical Commission; it comprises the township of Stella, and part of the parish of Winlaton, in which latter the church is situated: see Blaydon. A Roman Catholic chapel was erected in 1831, with apartments for the residence of the priest, who has a stipend of £20 charged upon the estate, to which Mr. Towneley adds £30 per annum. 'Stella - Steyning', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 200-205. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51302 Date accessed: 24 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.

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/241 Date: 1847 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at Family Search Historical Records. The images for the parish register transcripts have not yet been loaded and await engineering.

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.

Parish registers from 1845-1983 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL ( EP/Ste)

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

Non Conformist Churches
Stella St Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic Church records 1775-1838 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL only in microfilm version; the baptisms are included in the International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) Marriages are included in Boyd's marriage Index and transcripts are available at the Record Office. The present church was built in 1831 by John Green with some stained glass windows attributed to Pugin.

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

Web sites
Contributor: add any relevant sites that aren’t mentioned above.