Tynemouth, Northumberland Genealogy

= Parish History =

The old church in Tynemouth Priory was the original parish church of Tynemouth, but by the seventeenth century this was unusable. It was replaced by Christ Church (consecrated 1668) in the adjoining town of North Shields. This was enlarged in 1792.

For many years Christ Church alone served the needs of a very large and growing population. Around 1840, however, Holy Saviour Church at Tynemouth Priory and Holy Trinity in North Shields were brought into use, and these attained parish status in 1861. In the latter year three more churches, St Paul's, Whitley Bay; St John's, Percy Main; and St Peter's, Tynemouth, further subdivided the ancient parish. In subsequent years several more churches were added, including North Shields, St Augustine, which was consecrated on November 18th 1884, and which has the distinction of being the first to be consecrated in the new Diocese of Newcastle.

= Parish Records =

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/255 Date: 1762-1851 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at Record Search. Engineering work will be undertaken in future to improve access to the Parish Register transcripts.

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.

Tynemouth Parish Church - North Shields, Christ Church: Records of baptisms 1607-1979, marriages 1607-1981 and burials 1607-1979 are available at Northumberland Collections Service. Baptisms 1607-1908, marriages 1607-1909, banns 1763-1778, 1815-1824, and burials 1607-1924 can also be seen at Tyne and Wear Archives Service. The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1607-1734 and marriages 1607-1733 for this parish, and Boyd's Marriage Index includes marriages 1607-1733. Transcripts of baptisms, burials and marriages 1607-1734 are available in the Local Studies Departments of Newcastle Central Library and Gateshead Central Library. Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Dept. also has a transcript of monument inscriptions.