Ingram, Northumberland Genealogy

Parish History
Ingram St Michael and All Angels is an extensive Ancient Parish The main church in Ingram is dedicated to St Michael. The earliest parts date to the 12th century. There was also probably a 12th century chapel at Brandon, though it was completely rebuilt before it fell into ruins. It was only the early font which suggested the 12th century date. The tower of St Michael’s church was strongly built and may have acted as a stronghold during the Scottish raids in the late medieval period, and would also have been a defence against the later Border Reivers. A small tower was also built near the church as a fortified home for the parish priest.

Other places in the parish include: Clinch, Fawdon, Fawdon, Clinch and Hartside, Hartside, Ingram, Linhope and Greenshawhill, Ingham, Linhop and Greenshawhill, and Reaveley.

INGRAM (St. Michael), a parish, in the union of Glendale, N. division of Coquetdale ward and of Northumberland, 5 miles (N. W.) from Whittingham; containing, with the two townships of Fawdon with Clinch and Hartside, and Reaveley, 220 inhabitants, of whom 92 are in the township of Ingram with Linop and Greenshaw-Hill. This parish comprises about 12,000 acres, of which 1100 are arable, 45 woodland and plantations, and the remainder meadow and pasture, of which about 50 acres have been converted into beds of gravel by the ravages of the floods. The surface is mountainous, and the soil extremely various. To the north of Linop is a remarkable waterfall called Linop Spout, or Roughting Linn, formed by the descent of a stream in the Cheviot hills from a rocky precipice 48 feet in perpendicular height. The village is situated on the river Breamish, which intersects the parish, and, assuming the name of the Till about four miles to the east, forms a tributary to the Tweed. The hamlet of Greenshaw-Hill lies a little to the east of Hartside, near the road between Wooler and Morpeth. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £24. 16 8.; net income, £462; patron, R. L. Allgood, Esq.: the glebe consists of 42 acres. The tithes of Ingram township have been commuted for £140. The church is an ancient structure of early English architecture; but from frequent alterations and repairs, conducted without the slightest regard to harmony of style, very few traces of its original character remain. At Greenshaw-Hill opposite to Linop, are still considerable remains of a British city, notwithstanding the removal of many thousand cart-loads of stones, for the construction of fences; and at each side of the entrance of the valley leading to the city is a British camp in a very perfect state About three miles to the north-west of Linop are the Cardlaw cairns, sepulchral monuments of the earliest inhabitants of the island. From the traces of foundations of buildings in various parts, and from the indications of early cultivation on the sides of the hills, there is every reason to infer that the parish was formerly much more populous than it is at present.

'Ingbirchworth - Ingram', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 611-614. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=51062 Date accessed: 06 March 2011

= Parish Records =

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/151 Date: 1766-1878 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at Record Search.

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.

Ingram, St Michael and All Angels: Records of baptisms 1707-1990, marriages 1685-1992 and burials 1682-1991 are available at Northumberland Collections Service. The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1696-1812 and marriages 1684-1812 for this parish, and Boyd's Marriage Index includes marriages 1684-1812 and banns 1751-1812. Transcripts of baptisms 1696-1812, marriages 1684-1812 and burials 1682-1812 are available in the Local Studies Departments of Newcastle Central Library and Gateshead Central Library. A transcript of monumental inscriptions at Ingram (microfiche TN71) 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.