Southwick, Durham Genealogy

England Durham

Parish History
Southwick Holy Trinity was created in 1847 from Monkwearmouth, Durham Ancient Parish and included Hylton, South Hylton, and North Hylton.It later formed parts of the following parishes ; North Hylton St. Margaret (1874); Southwick St. Columba (1884) Southwick (Red House) St. Cuthbert was created c. 1960 from Southwick St. Columba

SOUTHWICK (Holy Trinity), a district parish, in the union of Sunderland; E. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 1¾ mile (N. W. by W.) from Sunderland; containing 1912 inhabitants. This place, hitherto only a township of MonkWearmouth, has just been separated from it, and made a distinct parish. The estate was once the property of a family named Suthwyk, and afterwards formed part of the possessions of the Hedworths; it was also the residence of the Greys, of which family was Dr. Zachary Grey, the editor of Hudibras, whose brother George lived here. The parish comprises 1018a. 1r. 7p., and occupies the north bank of the Wear, upon which are several limekilns, ship-yards, and earthenware and glass manufactories; the village is neatly built, and pleasantly situated, stretching along the heights above the Wear. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Durham, by whom it has been endowed. The church was erected in 1842, at a cost of £1800, defrayed by the Dean and Chapter, who also gave the site (from which is a beautiful view of the vale of Wear), and who have expended altogether many thousand pounds in the district: it is in the early English style, with a square tower. There are places of worship for Primitive Methodists and Wesleyans; and a national school built in 1836. Human bones, and sometimes entire skeletons, have been found when removing the soil above the limestone-quarries on Southwick hills.

From: 'Southwick - Soyland', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 152-156. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51290 Date accessed: 24 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 Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/234 Date: 1845-1848 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.

Parish registers for the Southwick parishes are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL

Southwick, Holy Trinity (1844-1997) EP/So T Southwick, St. Columba (1885-1991) EP/So.SC T Southwick, St. Cuthbert (1960-1997) EP/So.Cu

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

Poor Law Unions
Sunderland 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.