Stranton, Durham Genealogy

England Durham  Durham Parishes

Parish History
STRANTON (All Saints), a parish, in the union of Stockton, N. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham; The Wesleyans have a place of worship.

All Saints Stranton is an ancient parish including Brierton and Seaton Carew. In 1841 Seaton Carew formed a chapelry and in 1859 Christ Church West Hartlepool was formed within the Stranton parish.

The church is Norman but has had several alterations and additions with inscribed dates of 1664 and 1699. In 1890 restoration of the interior was carried out. As West Hartlepool grew in population the number of churches grew and Stranton's role in the area diminished.

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/2/245 1762-1844 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 1580-1995 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Str).

The following records for churches in the ancient parish of Stranton are also available at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL:-


 * West Hartlepool, Christ Church 1854-1973 (EP/Ha.CC).
 * West Hartlepool, St. Aidan 1890-1995 (EP/Ha.SA).
 * West Hartlepool, St. James 1870-1956 (EP/Ha.SJ).
 * West Hartlepool, St. Matthew 1902-1945
 * West Hartlepool, St. Nicholas 1929-1933
 * West Hartlepool, St. Oswald 1892-1977 (EP/Ha.SO).

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

Poor Law Unions
Stockton 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.