Egglescliffe, Durham Genealogy

England Durham

Parish History
St John The Baptist Egglescliffe is an ancient parish and includes Egglescliffe,Urlay Nook and Aislaby.

EAGLESCLIFFE (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Stockton, S. W. division of Stockton ward, S. division of the county of Durham; containing 628 inhabitants, of whom 443 are in the township. This place, called also Egglescliffe (Clivus Ecclesiæ), Aggercliffe, Aixcliffe, Egesclyve, &amp;c., was the scene of a skirmish in the parliamentary war, between the royalist army, which was stationed here, and that of the parliamentarians, which occupied the neighbouring town of Yarm; several of the inhabitants were killed, and Dr. Isaac Basire, rector of the parish and chaplain to the king, was taken prisoner and confined in the castle of Stockton. The parish comprises the townships of Eaglescliffe, Aislaby, and Newsham, and contains 4821 acres; the soil is a good clay, the surface undulated, and the scenery in many situations picturesque. It is separated by the river Tees from the market-town of Yarm, in the county of York; and a handsome bridge of stone, replacing one of iron which fell down before it was completed, in 1806, affords facility of communication between the two places. An ancient stone bridge of five arches, widened after the fall of the iron bridge, still remains. The Stockton and Darlington railway has a branch here, with several depôts for coal. The village occupies an elevated point of land, half surrounded by the windings of the Tees, and the prospect from it embraces much fine scenery, including two reaches of the river, and the town of Yarm. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £28. 17. 1., and in the patronage of the Bishop of Durham: the tithes have been commuted for £624. 15. 4., and there are 203 acres of glebe. The church, which stands on an eminence on the banks of the Tees, is of the later English style, and consists of a nave, chancel, and tower; the chancel is fitted up with stalls, and a fine oak screen separates it from the nave: under an arched canopy is a tomb of a Knight Templar in chain armour, in a very perfect state; and in the same recess are an old edition in black letter of Bishop Jewel's Apology, and a copy of the works of Charles I., both secured with chains.

From: 'Eachwick - Earnley', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 121-124. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50933 Date accessed: 29 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 neighboring 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 Parish Registers for the period 1539-1989 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Eg).

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/94 Date: 1763-1844 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at Record Search. The images for this parish have not yet been loaded and await engineering.

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.

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
Stockton 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.