Sample transcriptions:

• Baptisms
• Marriages
• Marriage Bonds
• Burials

A Note About Calendar Reform

Transcription Samples

Alternative names (if we could not read them, or if they have other, more common spellings) are shown in square brackets; multiple alternative names are separate by slashes. For example:

• 5 Feb 1832 Benjamin Herling [Harland], of this parish married Margaret Humble, of this parish, by banns

This means Benjamin's surname was written Herling in the parish register, but in other records (baptisms of his children, censuses, etc.) his name is spelled Harland.

Here are some typical samples of what you will get when you purchase a parish record from this site:

Baptism Samples

Baptisms generally contain the child's name, baptism date, parents' given names, abode, and father's occupation. However, before about the mid-1750s (the time varies by parish), they often contain only the baptism date, child's name, and father's name. Baptisms before about 1610 sometimes contain only the name of the child and the date. For example:

Baptisms, Gateshead District - Record Number: 252664.0
Location: Whickham
Church: St. Mary
Denomination: Anglican
14 Apr 1577 Agnes Weetfeild

Baptisms, Sunderland District - Record Number: 192274.0
Location: Bishopwearmouth
Church: St. Michael's
Denomination: Anglican
19 May 1608 Agnes Watson, of Wearmouth, daughter of John Watson

Baptisms, Lanchester District - Record Number: 256089.0
Location: Esh
Church: St. Michael
Denomination: Anglican
17 Dec 1704 Ann Wanlas, born 24-Nov 1704, daughter of Matthew Wanlas (poor)

In baptism records, if the child's surname is not listed and the parents have different surnames (which may or may not denote an illegitimate child), we use the parents' names separated by slashes as the child's surname in the index. For example, "John, son of Mark Hanly and Alice Cooper" will be indexed as "John [Hanly/Cooper]", so that a search for either Hanly or Cooper will pick up this entry. The square brackets tell you that this is our addition and is not in the original record.

Baptisms, Sunderland District - Record Number: 178426.0
Location: Sunderland
Church: Holy Trinity
Denomination: Anglican
11 Feb 1743 Jane [Young/Allison], base born [illegitimate] daughter of James Young & Mary Allison

Baptisms, Hartlepool District - Record Number: 240160.0
Location: Hartlepool
Church: St. Hilda's
Denomination: Anglican
28 Dec 1796 Margaret Harpley, born 25 Sep 1796, daughter of William Harpley & Ann

Between 1798 and 1812, baptisms in Durham and Northumberland provided a wealth of information: birthdate, child's name, child order (1st son, 2nd daughter, etc.), father's name and occupation and birthplace, mother's name, maiden surname, birthplace, and often her father's name and occupation and sometimes his place of residence.

Baptisms, Darlington District - Record Number: 250112.0
Location: Darlington
Church: St. Cuthbert's
Denomination: Anglican
19 Dec 1805 John Wanless, born 21 Nov 1805, 2nd son of John Wanless (labourer, native of Church Merrington) & Ann Harpley (native of Stockton upon Tees

Baptisms, Hartlepool District - Record Number: 404445.0
Location: Hartlepool
Church: All Saints
Denomination: Anglican
13 May 1810 George Crowe, of Cliffhouse, born 7 Jan 1810, 1st son of Wm. [William] Crowe (farmer) & Mary nee Richardson (daughter of Peter Richardson of Tudhoe, farmer)

Where a mother's maiden name is listed in a baptism record, we often use "nee" instead of the original record's "formerly" or "late" because it's shorter and means the same thing. However, if it appears that the mother was married more than once, we use the original wording - for example, a woman may be listed as "Dinah Younger late Wanless formerly Ross", which usually indicates that Dinah Ross married Mr. Wanless and then married Mr. Younger, although this wording is not consistent and must be followed up with marriage record research.

From 1813 onward, baptisms generally included only the baptism date, child's name, first names of the father & mother, father's occupation, and place of residence. In a few parishes, the priest or clerk continued including the mother's maiden name for a number of years. Some clerks in some parishes sometimes included the child's birthdate. Catholic churches generally included the mother's maiden name and often included a note about the child's later marriage.

Baptisms, Houghton-le-Spring District - Record Number: 161524.0
Location: Houghton-le-Spring
Church: St. Michael & All Angels
Denomination: Anglican
8 Sep 1819 George Smurfitt [Smurthwaite], of Philadelphia, son of William Smurfitt [Smurthwaite] & Jane
-- note that the surname is spelled Smurfitt in this record, but we have included the common alternative spelling of Smurthwaite so that you can search for either name and find this record

Baptisms, Stockton District - Record Number: 168417.0
Location: Stockton
Church: St. Thomas
Denomination: Anglican
4 Dec 1831 Ann Elizabeth Wanless, of Stockton, 1st daughter of John Wanless (seaman) & Mary Ann Wanless

Baptisms, Houghton-le-Spring District - Record Number: 389716.0
Location: Houghton-le-Spring
Church: St. Michael's Roman Catholic
Denomination: Roman Catholic
1 August 1891 Gabriel Huggins, of Easington Lane, born 14 Jul 1891, son of Abraham Huggins & Sarah nee Bennilow [Brimilow], Later married Martha Walker on 26 April 1919 at Saint Joseph's, Murton
-- note this Catholic baptism provides the mother's maiden name, with a possible alternative name from us. After Gabriel married, the priest added the information about his wife to his original entry in the baptism register.

Baptisms, Chester-le-Street District - Record Number: 401821.0
Location: Chester-le-Street
Church: St. Mary and St. Cuthbert
Denomination: Anglican
29 Nov 1903 Cyril Alexander Gilbertson Wanless, of Front Street, born 24 Oct 1903, son of George Alexander Wanless (draper) & Isabella Wanless

Marriage Samples

Before Sep 1837, when new laws dictated what would be recorded in a marriage, English marriages were very terse. Usually they included only the names of the bride and groom and the date. Sometimes if the groom or bride was widowed, that was mentioned, and if the bride or groom was from outside the parish, sometimes that was mentioned.

From 1812 to 1837, and sometimes earlier, there were usually 2 or more witnesses. In some parishes, we have not transcribed the witnesses because it is very time-consuming; whether or not witnesses are transcribed for each parish is listed in the Notes column for each parish on our Parish Records page. As a background task, we are going through our marriages and adding the witnesses.

It is important to note that pre-1837 marriages did not list the parents of either the bride or groom, except in a few rare cases where one was a minor, in which case it might say "with consent of her father John Smith", but is more likely to say "with consent of parents" without naming them. Do not expect to find your ancestor's parents listed on a pre-1837 marriage.

Here are some examples of pre-1837 marriages:

Marriages, Hartlepool District - Record Number: 155018.1
Location: Hartlepool
Church: All Saints
Denomination: Anglican
27 Jan 1645 George Watson married Elizabeth Steele, both of this parish

Marriages, Hartlepool District - Record Number: 155019.1
Location: Hartlepool
Church: All Saints
Denomination: Anglican
27 Feb 1707 George Watson married Susanna Lackenby

Marriages, Lanchester District - Record Number: 194684.1
Location: Medomsley
Church: St. Mary Magdalene
Denomination: Anglican
28 May 1769 Nicholas Thompson of Byerside married Mary Cook of Ingleton, Staindrop
[Note: Banns last called here on this date but not married here. Probably married at Staindrop.]

Marriages, Lanchester District - Record Number: 166519.1
Location: Lanchester
Church: All Saints
Denomination: Anglican
20 May 1798 John Robinson of Tanfield married Ann Fairlamb

Marriages, Lanchester District - Record Number: 200395.1
Location: Lanchester
Church: All Saints
Denomination: Anglican
20 Nov 1805 Thomas Rippon of Iveston (widower) married Sarah Taylor of Iveston

Marriages, Teesdale District - Record Number: 159532.1
Location: Cockfield
Church: St. Mary
Denomination: Anglican
6 Apr 1822 David Watson of Romaldkirk, Yorkshire (cabinet maker) married Sophia Hobson of this parish

Marriages, Houghton-le-Spring District - Record Number: 300488.1
Location: West Rainton
Church: St. Mary
Denomination: Anglican
5 Feb 1832 Benjamin Herling [Harland], of this parish married Margaret Humble, of this parish, by banns
Witnesses: Anthony Foster, Harriet Richardson

The last example above shows the 2 witnesses.

There were some happy deviations from the normal rules. For example, at Chester-le-Street (St. Mary & St. Cuthbert), from 1813 to 1822 inclusive, the cleric recorded the ages of the bride and groom.

Starting in Sep 1837, marriages included a relative wealth of information: date, groom & bride's names, occupations, residences, marital status, age, and the names of their fathers, plus witnesses. In most of this period, we have generally not transcribed the witnesses. Our Easington district marriage transcriptions also omit the occupations, and residence is included only if it differed from the parish in which they married. If marital status is not mentioned, you may assume "bachelor" and "spinster" respectively. If age is not mentioned, you may assume the record said "of full age".

Marriages, Lanchester District - Record Number: 177505.1
Location: Collierley
Church: St. Thomas
Denomination: Anglican
19 Dec 1847 William Robinson of Dipton, age: full (bachelor, pitman), son of John Robinson (pitman) married Elizabeth Atkinson of Dipton, age: full (spinster), daughter of John Atkinson (pitman)

Marriages, Easington District - Record Number: 11894.1
Location: Shotton with Haswell
Church: St. Saviour's
Denomination: Anglican
31 Oct 1863 Thomas Harrison of Haswell, age: 22, son of William Harrison married Mary Davison, age: 23, daughter of Aaron Davison

Marriages, Easington District - Record Number: 31967.1
Location: New Seaham
Church: Christ Church
Denomination: Anglican
27 Mar 1870 George Wanless, son of Thomas Wanless married Sarah Balmer, daughter of John Balmer
-- from this, you may infer that both George and Sarah were of full age and were a bachelor and spinster respectively and both lived in New Seaham.

Marriages, Easington District - Record Number: 16599.1
Location: New Seaham
Church: Christ Church
Denomination: Anglican
6 Aug 1898 John Norman, son of Thomas Norman (deceased) married Sarah Lloyd, daughter of Henry Lloyd

Marriages, Easington District - Record Number: 21080.1
Location: Dawdon
Church: St. Hild & St. Helen
Denomination: Anglican
12 Jul 1921 Thomas Burn, son of Thomas Burn (deceased) married Martha Platt (widow), daughter of Joseph Langan (deceased

Marriage Bonds

• Marriage by banns - by far the most common. Intent to marry was read aloud in the church and/or posted on a notice board for 3 consecutive weeks.
• Marriage by licence - more private and faster, as the intent to marry was not publicly proclaimed. Privacy was sometimes preferred by the gentry. Speed was sometimes desired if one of the parties was leaving the area, or for some other personal reason, such as a child on the way. This method produces a set of documents that are often genealogically helpful.

Marriage by Licence

When marrying by licence, the procedure was:

1. Couple decide where and when to marry and schedule the marriage date with a cleric.
2. Couple find someone to act as surety that they will marry within 3 months.
3. Groom and surety attend the Bishop`s Office. Groom signs the allegation and, if necessary, produces evidence of parental/guardian consent. The marriage allegation is a formal statement made by the groom that there is no impediment to prevent the marriage from taking place. (For example, the groom is not already married to someone else, and is not closely related to the bride.) Until 1823, the surety also acted as bondsman.
4. The couple pays a fee and is issued with a licence to present to the church in lieu of banns and the marriage takes place, sometimes on the same day.
5. The cleric keeps the licence and notes the entry as being "by licence". Very few of these licences survive amongst church records.

Marriage registers do not necessarily distinguish between types of marriages. A marriage may show "by licence" where there is no bond, as some bonds are missing and many others are in a poor state. Sometimes "by licence" is omitted from the marriage register. There may be a bond but no marriage - possibly because the couple did not marry, or the marriage page/entry is missing, or they married in another parish.

Source Documents

The original documents are held at Durham University Library. Allegations, bonds, and any affidavits relative to the issue of a licence are united and bundled with others in date order for a full year. We refer to these documents simply as `Bonds`. Many are badly damaged through constant use. Regrettably some complete bundles (years) are now lost.

Various transcriptions have been made over the years. We have chosen to use the document held at Newcastle Library, presumably compiled by H.M Wood although there is no preface to this effect. This is a composite of all transcribed sources including by Bigland, Sharp, the Raines, Dodds, Robinson, and others. For information on the difficulty of transcribing from the original documents, read Edwin Dodds' description of the process.

In general, the source document gives:

1. name of applicant, age (on later bonds), abode (can be a mix of parish & county, parish only, town or village with or without parish.), occupation or title
2. name of bride-to-be, age (on later bonds), status (spinster or widow), abode (omitted in early bonds)
3. names of bondsmen (usually just one), parish, occupation or title
4. where either party is under age, it gives the names of parent(s) or guardian

Example 1

1681 Leonard Thornton & Catherine Fenwick, obtained a licence

and the completed record, once purchased, will show:

1681 Feb 25 Leonard Thornton of Whalton, Northumberland & Catherine Fenwick of Whalton, obtained a licence to marry.
Sur: Edward Fenwick, of Whalton, cleric.
[Note: probably married at Whalton.]

More Examples of Source vs. Index vs. Completed Record

You should carefully study the way we present these records. If there is no county, Durham should be assumed. Other counties are given in full. If "widow" or "widower" is not stated, "spinster" and "bachelor" should be assumed. Where possible we have translated from Latin, clarified the spelling of the abode, and added identified parishes as this could point to where the marriage took place. Where marriages have been identified, we have added "married <date> at <church>" with the date and church filled in. Many of the transcripts include comments by the transcriber such as "torn off", "frayed", etc. which, for brevity, we have omitted. All missing names are indicated by [blank]. Also, be aware that an age of 21 does not necessarily mean the groom or bride was exactly 21- it often meant "21 or over", of legal age to marry. We have seen cases where the stated age was 21 but the person was actually in their 40s.

Marriage bonds cover the entire Diocese of Durham i.e. Durham, Northumberland, North Yorkshire. There are a few licences in our collection that were issued by York. Because bonds cover the whole diocese, there is no way to limit your search of bonds to a single district. If you select a district from the District menu, your selection will be ignored when the marriage bonds database is searched.

Burial Samples

Burials before 1798 generally contain the burial date, name, and sometimes the place of residence, occupation, or age. A child's burial often included the name of the father or of both parents, and a wife's burial often included the name of her husband.

Burials, Hartlepool District - Record Number: 650611.2
Location: Greatham
Church: St. John the Baptist
7 Jan 1604 Margerie Golightlie, wife of Simon Golightlie

Burials, Sunderland District - Record Number: 109110.2
Location: Bishopwearmouth
Church: St. Michael's
7 Nov 1762 Robert Wandless, of Bankhead, age 82, farmer

Burials, Darlington District - Record Number: 506136.2
Location: Heighington
Church: St. Michael
9 Sep 1768 Ann Swinbank, of Redworth, daughter of Joseph Swinbank, poor

Burials, Hartlepool District - Record Number: 139363.2
Location: Hartlepool
Church: St. Hilda's
25 Aug 1782 Ann Boagey, daughter of John Boagey & Mary

Burials, Hartlepool District - Record Number: 652604.2
Location: Greatham
Church: St. John the Baptist
Denomination: Anglican
2 Nov 1796 Catherine Sparke, age: 70, wife of William Sparke (labourer)

Burials between 1798 and 1812 are like baptisms of that period, providing wonderful information, usually including the death date, the maiden name of adult women, and, for children, the names of both parents, the father's occupation, and the mother's maiden name.

Burials, Sunderland District - Record Number: 113678.2
Location: Bishopwearmouth
Church: St. Michael's
20 June 1799 Catherine Allan, of White house, age: 1, died 18 June 1799, daughter of Robert Allan (Gentleman) & by his wife Hannah late Havelock

Burials, Sunderland District - Record Number: 196225.2
Location: Bishopwearmouth
Church: St. Michael's
23 Jun 1812 Margaret Watson late Ridley, of Wearmouth, age: 20, died 21 Jun 1812, wife of John Watson (joiner)

Burials after 1812 generally contain the burial date, name, place of residence, and age. There is usually no information about parents, even on a child's burial.

Burials, Houghton-le-Spring District - Record Number: 93326.2
Location: Houghton-le-Spring
Church: St. Michael & All Angels
13 May 1849 Elizabeth Smith, of Newbottle, age 41

Burials, Easington District - Record Number: 43795.2
Location: Seaham Harbour
Church: St. John's
25 Dec 1854 Mary Wandless, 44, OAP
-- OAP was used in the burial register to mean Old Age Pensioner

Burials, Chester-le-Street District - Record Number: 169358.2
Location: Pelton
Church: Holy Trinity
5 Sep 1889 Joseph Lawson, of Pelton Fell, age: 7 weeks

Burials, Easington District - Record Number: 22288.2
Location: Shotton with Haswell
Church: St. Saviour's
3 Nov 1905 Hugh Lawson, 69
Abode or Place of Death: Haswell Moor

Cemetery records may provide more details, as in these examples:

Burials, Sunderland District - Record Number: 176676.2
Location: Sunderland (Fulwell)
Church: Mere Knolls Cemetery
12 Sep 1880 Adam Lawson, of 41 Eglington Street, age: 14, Pony Driver, Killed at the colliery

Burials, Sunderland District - Record Number: 185755.2
Location: Sunderland (Fulwell)
Church: Mere Knolls Cemetery
29 Oct 1886 Bertha Lawson, of Church Street, age: 2 months, daughter of Westoll Lawson

Burials, Easington District - Record Number: 83897.2
Location: Seaham
Church: Princess Road Cemetery
14 Mar 1903 Mary Annie Lawson, age: 32, wife of David Lawson