Bishopwearmouth St Michael, Durham Genealogy

England Durham  Durham Parishes

Parish History
WEARMOUTH, BISHOP (St. Michael), a parish,' partly in the union of Houghton-le-Spring, but chiefly in that of Sunderland, N. division of Easington ward and of the county of Durham. A district church was built and dedicated to St. Thomas. The parish also included the district chapels or chapelries of: Bishop Wearmouth St Thomas (18), Ryhope (1827), Ford or sometimes called South Hylton (1821), North Hylton (1874) and Silksworth St Matthew (1872)). There are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Primitive Methodists, Methodists of the New Connexion, Wesleyans, Scottish Burghers, Presbyterians in connexion with the Scottish Church, Unitarians, and the Society of Friends; also a Roman Catholic chapel, and a Jews' synagogue.

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Bishop Wearmouth like this: Bishopwearmouth is an ancient parish and the church is dedicated to St Michael. Situated in the High Street it was rebuilt in 1807, but a church had stood on the site for centuries.

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.

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/34 Date: March 1742-March 1743, March 1762-1855 Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records. The images for these transcripts 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.

The Parish Registers for the period 1567-1901 are deposited at Durham County Record Office, County Hall, Durham, DH1 5UL (EP/Biw).

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

Poor Law Unions
Sunderland 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