Penshaw, Durham Genealogy

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

Parish History
PAINSHAW, or Pensher, a township, in the parish and union of Houghton-le-Spring, N division of Easington ward and of the county of Durham, 3 miles N by E from Houghton. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans in the village, and also in the hamlet of Shiney Row.

Additional information: Penshaw was created a parish in 1752 from chapelry in Houghton le Spring Ancient Parish and includes: Bournmoor, Burnmoor, South Biddick, Offerton, and Newbottle.

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
Penshaw parish registers of christenings, marriages and burials are available online for the following years:

To find the names of the neighboring parishes, use England Jurisdictions 1851 Map. In this site, search for the name of the parish, click on the location "pin", click Options and click List contiguous parishes.


 * Records are also available at the Durham County Record Office.

Non Conformist Churches

 * Methodist New Connexion
 * Primitive Methodist
 * Wesleyan Methodist
 * Wesleyan Methodist Association

Genealogy From Periodicals
History of the family of Richard and Eleanor Short of Newham, in Northumberland. Family also came from Berwick on Tweed, and Penshaw in Durham. Article dated 1861-2005, and has a facsimile of The Parade, Berwick, where one of the ancestors lived. Trainer is another surname mentioned. Article in The Northumberland & Durham Family History Society Journal, vol. 31, no.1, pages 6-7, Family History Library Reference. 942.8 B2jo v.31. no.1. Spring 2006.

Poor Law Unions

 * Houghton le Spring 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

Websites
Penshaw on GENUKI