Winlaton, Durham Genealogy

England Durham

Parish History
Winlaton has two periods of church history. The first chapel known as Winlaton Mill in ecclesiatical records for the diocese was built at Winlaton in 1705 (said to be on the foundation of St. Anne's Chapel, destroyed in the rebellion of the Earls 1569), It was capable of containing three hundred persons, and a stipend was provided for the Minister. The Chapel (which had been previously abandoned by the Company) fell into decay in 1816 and was rebuilt as a large School-room paid for by public subscription, aided by gifts from the National and Diocesan School Societies, and from Lord Crewes' trustees. The church service was voluntarily performed in this school-room (under the Bishop's sanction) by the Rector of Ryton or his Curate whenever other duties left him free; but there wass no settled stipend or establishment at Winlaton.

Winlaton St Paul was created in 1832 from Ryton Ancient Parish.It included Chopwell. Parts of this parish subsequently formed the parishes of Chopwell St. John the Evangelist (1916); High Spen St. Patrick (1986); Rowlands Gill St. Barnabas (c. 1904); Swalwell Holy Trinity (1905)

WINLATON (St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Gateshead, E. division of Chester ward, N. division of the county of Durham, 5 miles (W. S. W.) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne; containing 5326 inhabitants. This parish was formed out of Ryton in 1833. It comprises the townships of Winlaton and Chopwell, and consists of about 9000 acres, of which the chief part is arable, with 2000 acres of woodland; the soil is a strong clay, producing excellent crops of wheat. Considerable seams of coal are found in both townships: the principal are situated to the east, at a depth of from 20 to 50 fathoms, the strata rising towards the west, where they approach the surface. The proprietors of the mines in Winlaton township are its lords; and the lessees are, the Marquess of Bute, George Heppel Ramsay, Esq., and J. Cowen, Esq.: the mines in Chopwell belong to the marquess, who works his own coal, and to the crown, whose lands here are to the extent of 1000 acres. The coal throughout the parish is thought to be of the best kind for making coke, and its freeness from sulphur renders it valuable for smelting iron, and for smiths' use. About 100,000 tons are annually raised by the marquess and Mr. Ramsay, who have extensive cokeovens at Derwent-Haugh. There are excellent freestone quarries, and also some superior clay, great quantities of which are made into fire-bricks for furnaces and gas and other works, for which purpose Mr. Ramsay and Mr. Cowen have large premises.

The place has been long famous for its manufacture of iron and steel goods of every description, from an anchor of the largest size to the minutest article. About the year 1690, Sir Ambrose Crowley removed hither from Sunderland, and established some iron-works, to which the village, occupying an elevated site between the rivers Tyne and Derwent, owes its rise: he afterwards extended them to Swalwell and Winlaton-Mill. In the village are now several iron-factories, where anchors, chaincables, pumps, and cylinders for steam-engines, are made, as also edge-tools, nails, &amp;c.; they employ, when in full operation, about 1000 men and boys. On the bank of the Tyne are works for refining lead, and at Blaydon is a wharf for embarking the produce. The Newcastle and Carlisle railway passes through the parish, and divides at Blaydon, one branch crossing the Tyne to Newcastle, and the other proceeding to Gateshead. There is also a magnificent suspension-bridge across the Tyne, built in 1829-30, by subscription, and connecting the counties of Durham and Northumberland.

A chapel was built in 1705, on the site of an ancient one said to have been demolished in 1569; but having been suffered to go to ruin, a spacious schoolroom was erected on the spot in 1816, in which divine service was occasionally performed by the rector of Ryton, until the church was built. The living is a rectory, in the patronage of the Bishop of Durham: the tithes have been commuted for £347, and the glebe consists of 22 acres, with a good house. The church, consecrated September 9th, 1828, is in the early English style, with a tower and pinnacles, and contains 800 sittings, of which 400 are free; it was erected at an expense of £2300, the Church Commissioners contributing one-half, the Incorporated Society £400, and the rest being raised by subscription. There are places of worship for Wesleyans, Presbyterians, Primitive Methodists, and Methodists of the New Connexion; and four parochial schools, in connexion with the National Society. Near Axwell Park, on the bank of the Derwent, the seat of Sir T. J. Clavering, Bart., is a sulphureous spring, much resorted to.

'Winestead - Winmarleigh', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 613-618. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51413 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.

The Winlaton Mill Chapel transcripts at Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Date: 1798-March 1812 Related material at DULASC: All Winlaton Mill transcripts are included with Ryton transcripts DDR/EA/PBT/2/215

The Winlaton St Paul Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/275 Date: 1833-1850 Related material at DULASC: Winlaton St Paul transcripts September 1828-1832 are included with Ryton transcripts September 1828-1850

At present Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records. It is also necessary to examine the Ryton transcripts for September 1828-1832. Engineering work is necessary to correctly load the Winlaton Mill Chapel transcripts and correct a mistaken heading to Winlaton St Paul which reads "Alnwick St Paul".

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 following records for churches in the ancient parish of Ryton are also available at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL:-


 * Winlaton 1828-1992 (EP/Win).

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

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
Gateshead 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
Ambrose Crowley &amp; http://webspace.webring.com/people/lg/gv23.geo/sirambrose.html

Sir Ambrose Crowley
Ambrose Crowley began his career in the seventeenth century in Stourbridge, where his father, another Ambrose Crowley, had built up a big iron business. After his mother’s death, family circumstances changed: his father remarried and becames a Quaker. The young Ambrose left in 1689, taking with him expertise gathered in the iron trade. He began in London, he gathers capital to invest in the North-East: first in Sunderland, then at Winlaton, on the fast-flowing Derwent (a tributary of the Tyne). Using the cheap shipping from London to Sunderland (ships were travelling in ballast) he developed in Sunderland an iron nail works. Traditionally iron nails were a Midlands manufacture.

During the period 1707-9 his undertakings in Co. Durham contained two slitting mills, two forges, four steel furnaces, many warehouses, and innumerable smithies producing a wide variety of ironmongery.

From entry for Sir Ambrose Crowley in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography:

He imports iron from Sweden and converts it to a variety of artefacts that he sends to London, where he has a warehouse at Greenwich and a shop, the “Doublet”, in Thames Street.

He went on to become the biggest ironmonger in the London, with contracts to supply all the naval dockyards.Knighthood and a career in politics followed.The firm which Crowley founded was continued by his son John and by his grandsons and lasted well into the reign of Queen Victoria, prospering from all the wars in the century following his death in 1713.