Wark, Northumberland Genealogy

Guide to Wark, Northumberland ancestry, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, transcripts, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.

Parish History
WARK, a parish, in the union of Bellingham, N. W. division of Tindale ward, S. division of Northumberland; containing, with the townships of Warksburn, and Shitlington High and Low Quarter. The parish is one of the six into which Simonburn was divided in 1814, under the authority of an act of parliament obtained in 1811 exclusively of the ground. The Presbyterians and Wesleyans have places of worship.

Additional information:

Wark St Michael is an Ecclesiastical Parish created in 1811 from chapelry in Simonburn Ancient Parish and includes: Acklington, Amble, High Shitlington, Low Shitlington, Shitlington High Quarter, Shitlington Low Quarter, and Warksburn. The church, erected in 1814-18, at the cost of the Governors of Greenwich Hospital, at a cost, including the rectory house, of £7,410, is a plain edifice of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of quasi-chancel, nave and an embattled western tower containing one bell: it was reseated with open benches, re-decorated throughout, and a new oak pulpit and lectern introduced in 1883-4, at a cost of £550, raised by subscription; the chancel was restored, and a stained east window and reredos erected at the same time, at the expense of Mrs. Taylor, of Chipchase Castle; the stone font, a memorial to the Rev. Hugh Taylor M.A. some time curate in charge here, who died April 9th, 1883, was presented by Miss Taylor of Humshaugh; in the vestry is a Sunday School library of 200 volumes; there are 180 sittings, all free. The register dates from the year 1818. The living is a rectory, tithe rent-charge £280, net yearly value £270, including 9 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Lords of the Admiralty, and held since 1888 by the Rev. William Edmund Smith B.A. of St. John's College, Cambridge." [Kelly's Durham and Northumberland Directory (1890), p.1065.]

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
Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/261 Date: 1818-1844 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.

Wark St Michael: Records of baptisms 1818-1966, marriages 1818-1979 and burials 1820-1960 are available at Northumberland Collections Service. The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1818-1875 and marriages 1818-1877 for this parish, but it is not included in Boyd's Marriage Index. A transcript of monumental inscriptions at Wark (microfiche TN84) 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 Diocese, Marriage Bonds and Allegations (FamilySearch Historical Records)

Poor Law Unions
Bellingham 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
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