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This is a list of web sites that may be useful for following up on information you find at this site:

Photocopies of Census and Parish Register entries
Durham County Record Office Provides a searchable online catalogue of their holdings. Charges for photocopying an entry in a parish register are here (you must supply the parish name, event date, and relevant names).
Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS) Catalog If you have an LDS Family History Center near you, you can rent films of many parish registers and census records for a small fee and make your own copies of entries. Not all registers have been filmed. Do a Place Search on the parish or town of interest to see what's available.
Civil Registration of Births, Marriages, and Deaths (GRO indexes)
FreeBMD
  • free list of GRO index entries; may not be complete
  • can often deduce spouse in marriages from match in page numbers
Durham County Council
  • search GRO indexes for some Durham registration districts
  • has all marriages for the covered districts, births & deaths for some districts & periods (very incomplete, so if you don't find a birth/death here, don't assume it doesn't exist)
  • does not provide a list of what towns or areas are covered by their index
  • you can order online a certificate found in the index
Tees Valley Indexes
  • free search of GRO indexes at Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees and Redcar & Cleveland register offices
  • provides printable order form
YorkshireBMD
  • displays spouse in marriage
  • provides printable order form
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
  • displays spouse in marriage
  • can order certificate online
Gateshead Register Office
  • displays spouse in marriage; can add mother's maiden name or spouse's name as search filters
  • some gaps in coverage
South Tyneside Register Office
  • covers South Shields, Jarrow, Westoe, Whitburn, Cleadon, Harton, Hebburn, Boldons
  • cannot order certificate online
Sunderland Register Office
  • displays spouse in marriage
  • has marriages 1837 to 2005, births & deaths only 1990 to 2005
  • provides printable order form
Find My Past
  • search all GRO indexes for a fee
  • some years provide only alphabetic ranges, not exact name matches
FamilyRelatives
  • search all GRO indexes for a fee
  • some years provide only alphabetic ranges, not exact name matches
Identity & Passport Services (was General Register Office)
  • order online any certificate found in the GRO indexes
  • this site does not have the indexes; you need to search the indexes at one of the above sites first, or you can pay the GRO more money to search for you
Maps - find the place your ancestor lived in
Streetmap Shows tiny farms and hamlets if you zoom in to the maximum level.
Old Maps Shows maps of towns, parishes, farms, from the 1850-1870s
UK Genealogy
GenUKI General information site covering the UK, good descriptions of parishes, lists of available records, some free transcriptions
PROCat The National Archives Online Catalogue - search government documents for your ancestor
DocumentsOnline Search for wills, download image for small fee
British-Genealogy.com: Censuses Excellent description of how the census was taken, why the census images available today are actually transcriptions by the enumerator, and how to reference a piece/folio.
Coal Mining & Northeast England History
Durham Mining Museum Histories of the collieries of Durham and surrounding counties; descriptions of mining disasters and lists of the dead and injured; list of mining occupations and terms.
Durham Miner Research projects on County Durham mining history - browse the titles listed here and read randomly.
Coalmining History Resource Centre Includes Ian Winstanley's accident database, photos, stories, Harry Tootle's list of mining occupations and terms; very useful for understanding just what great-grandpa did as a "shifter" or a "trimmer" or a "viewer".
East-Durham.co.uk David Angus' local history project (lots of old photos).
The History of Gainford History of Gainford, old photos, listing of gravestones in Gainford cemeteries, census data.
History of Tudhoe Village Jeremy Hutson's excellent site on the history of Tudhoe.
North East England History Pages David Simpson's collection of history articles, including a Geordie dictionary, maps that show & discuss the origins of place-names, and photos.
North East History Site of the Northern Echo (newspaper) short history articles.
North-East History Hub Mick Southwick's site has a blog of Northeast news, books on the Northeast, listing of other Northeast history and archaeology sites, a subscribable newsletter, information for visitors, and lots more.
Sunderland Ancestors Sunderland history site which also sells old maps, street plans, tithe lists - documents that help place your ancestors between the censuses.
Heworth St. Mary Churchyard Interesting site on the gravestones in St. Mary’s churchyard and some church history, including the Saxon coin hoax of 1812.