Weardale St John, Durham Genealogy

Durham

Parish History
Weardale St John was a fomer chapelry Stanhope Ancient Parish and created a parish in 1817.

WEARDALE, ST. JOHN, or St. John's Chapel, a chapelry, in the parish of Stanhope, union of Weardale, N. W. division of Darlington ward, S. division of the county of Durham, 7 miles (W. N. W.) from the village of Stanhope. This is a small thriving town, situated in the Vale of Wear, through which runs the river of that name; its chief support is derived from the neighbouring lead-mines, where the population is employed. A customary market, on Saturday, has been established for more than a century; and there are cattle-fairs in spring and autumn: the market-cross was erected at the expense of the late Sir Ralph Milbank, Bart. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £186; patron, the Rector of Stanhope: the glebe is valued at about £150 per annum. The present chapel, a handsome structure, was built at the expense of the late Sir William Blackett, Bart., aided by a bequest of £50 from Dr. Hartwell, rector of Stanhope. There are several places of worship for Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists in the vicinity. About a mile below Westgate, in the chapelry, the army of King Edward III. was encamped by the river Wear, and the Scots on the opposite hill, when Sir James Douglas, in the dead of night, attacked the English camp, and is said to have killed the king's chaplain. Emerson, the celebrated mathematician, had a house in the neighbourhood of the town, where he occasionally resided.From: 'Weald - Weaverthorpe', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 490-494. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51383&amp;amp;strquery=weardale Date accessed: 05 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/2/264 dates June 1771-1812 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records. The transcripts are included in Stanhope Durham transcripts reference DDR/EA/PBT/2/239 for the years 1762-1833.

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 1788-1994 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/SJ).

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
Weardale 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.