Shadforth, Durham Genealogy

England Durham

Parish History
The parish of St Cuthbert's Shadforth was created in 1841 from the ancient parish of Pittington, Durham.

Other places in the parish include: Sherburn.

SHADFORTH, a chapelry, in the parish of Pittington, S. division of Easington ward, union, and N. division of the county, of Durham, 4½ miles (E. by S.) from Durham; containing 2000 inhabitants. It consists of the township of Shadforth and one-half of that of Sherburn, comprising by computation 3000 acres. The surface is varied, and marked by long ridges of hills, with valleys intervening; the soil in the vales is of a productive kind, but very inferior on the higher land. The greater portion of the population is employed in collieries, the coal being abundant and of the best quality; and there are several quarries of limestone, which is used for building purposes and for the roads, and also burned into lime. The York and Newcastle railway passes near. The living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with the rectorial tithes of Shadforth and Pittington townships, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham: the tithes have been commuted for £266, and the glebe consists of about 12 acres. The chapel or church is a neat structure in the early English Style, erected in 1839, at an expense of £1100, and containing 500 sittings, of which all are free: it is dedicated to St. Cuthbert. There are places of worship for Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans. One of the towers of an ancient castellated mansion which belonged to Walter de Ludworth, still remains.

From: 'Shabbington - Shapwick', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 51-56. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51265 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.

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/2/224 1841-1867 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at Record Search.

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 1839-1989 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Sha).

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

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