Stannington, Northumberland Genealogy

England Northumberland

Parish History
Stannington St Mary the Virgin is an Ancient Parish and includes: Bellasis, Blagdon, Clifton and Coldwell, Duddo, East and West Duddoe, North-East Stannington, Plessey and Shotton, Saltwick, South Stannington, Stannington North-West, Stannington North-East, and Stannington South.

Stannington is a village and parish in southeast Northumberland. It lies on the River Blyth, approximately 7 kilometres (4.5 miles) south of Morpeth.

The Ridley family have had a long association with the village. In 1742 Elizabeth Ridley married Matthew White. The White family were Newcastle merchants who owned lands at Blagdon, a township in Stannington parish. Sir Matthew White was created a baronet in 1756 and was succeeded by his nephew Sir Matthew White Ridley in 1763. The Ridley family were raised to the peerage in 1900 when Sir Matthew White Ridley (1842-1904) was created Viscount Ridley and Baron Wensleydale.

Blagdon Hall, the Ridley family seat, was built in 1735. It was enlarged in 1830 to designs made by Ignatius Bonomi, the famous 19th century architect. At the beginning of Word War 1 the Hall became the regimental headquarters of the Scottish Horse. In 1944 there was a fire at the Hall and the subsequent renovations restored the Hall to its original proportions.

The parish church is dedicated to St. Mary. The original church was erected about 1190. A new church was built in 1871. Some of the stained glass in the new church was rescued from the earlier building. The total cost of the new church was in the region of £6000. The Earl of Carlisle who owned property in the township until 1889 contributed £1000 of this. The Ridley family contributed £4000 with the remaining £1000 being raised by the trustees of Netherton Reformatory which lay within the township and by public subscription.

Stannington was also the venue for two hospitals - Stannington Children's Hospital, (formerly known as Philipson's Colony), the first children's T.B. sanatorium in the country and St. Mary's, formerly the Gateshead Lunatic Asylum. Both hospitals closed in the recent past.

STANNINGTON (St. Mary), a parish, in the union and W. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland, 5 miles (S. by E.) from Morpeth; containing 1121 inhabitants, and comprising the seven townships of Blagdon, Bellasis, Clifton with Coldwell, Duddo, Plessey with Shotton, Saltwick, and Stannington. The parish formed part of the extensive barony of Merlay, and among the proprietors have been the noble families of Greystock and Dacre. It is situated on the river Blyth, over which is a modern stone bridge: the soil is stiff, but generally fertile, and well fenced and tilled; the substratum abounds with coal, and with freestone. The vale of Stannington is beautifully picturesque; the village occupies a bold and tolerably dry situation, on the road from Newcastle to Morpeth. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £5. 13. 4.; patron, the Bishop of Durham; impropriator, Sir M. W. Ridley, Bart. The great tithes have been commuted for £852; and the vicarial for £342, with a glebe of 21 acres. The church had formerly a chantry; one of the windows exhibits some fine specimens of stained glass, inserted in 1772, by the late Sir M. W. Ridley. There is a place of worship for Wesleyans; and a school has an endowment of £11 per annum.From: 'Stanney, Great - Stanwix', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 186-192. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51298 Date accessed: 12 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.

Parish Records
Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/240 Date: 1758, 1760-1847 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.

Stannington, St Mary the Virgin: Records of baptisms 1658-1959, marriages 1659-1959 and burials 1658-1959 are available at Northumberland Collections Service. The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1658-1875 and marriages 1658-1877 for this parish, but it is not included in Boyd's Marriage Index. A transcript of monumental inscriptions at Stannington, (microfiche TN90) is published by Northumberland and Durham Family History Society and these records are also available in book form at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Department.

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

Census records
Contributor: Include an overview if there is any unique information, such as the census for X year was destroyed. Add a link to online sites for indexes and/or images. Also add a link to the Family History Library Catalog showing the film numbers in their collection.

Poor Law Unions
Castle Ward Poor Law Union, Northumberland

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Northumberland 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.