Simonburn, Northumberland Genealogy

= Parish History =

Simonburn is an Ancient Parish in the county of Northumberland and includes: Black Carts and Ryehill, Chirdon, Hall-Barns, Haughton, Nunwick, Smalesmouth, Tarset, Tarset West, Thorneyburn, Thornyburn, Town-Head, and West Tarset.

The church of St. Simon, till 1815 the parish church of all Tyneside, was rebuilt in 1860, under Mr.A. Salvin, and completely restored in 1877, at a cost of £3,400; it consists of chancel, nave and north aisle: the chancel, which is of unusual length, has a priest's door of the Decorated period and retains a curious double piscina: in the nave are monumental effigies of Cuthbert Ridley (rector in 1620) and three of his family, and also a beautiful white marble monument by Noble to Mr. and Mrs. Allgood, of Nunwick: there are four beautiful stained windows; the east window is a memorial to Meyrick Henry Legge Beebee, dedicated by his widow, and another in the chancel is to Edward Plumtree Rogers, only son of the rector; the north-east or "angel window" was erected by Miss Allgood, of the Hermitage, to her deceased relatives; the "children's window," in the north aisle, the gift of Major-Gen. Allgood, commemorates his wife and child: there are 180 sittings. The register dates from the year 1681. The living is a rectory, average tithe rent-charge £453, net yearly value £350, including 78 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Commissioners of Greenwich Hospital, and held since 1873 by the Rev. Percy Rogers M.A. of Clare College, Cambridge, honorary canon of Durham, rural dean of Bellingham and surrogate. [Kelly's Durham and Northumberland Directory (1890), p.1049.]

= Parish Records =

Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections Reference number: DDR/EA/PBT/2/231 Date: 1760-1856 Contents: Including transcript from Humshaugh 1818 DDR/EA/PBT/2/144 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.

Simonburn, St Mungo: Records of baptisms, marriages and burials 1681-1959 are available at Northumberland Collections Service. Microfilm copies of marriages and burials for the period 1681-1851 can be seen at Tyne and Wear Archives Service. The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1682-1875 and marriages 1681-1877 for this parish, but it is not included in Boyd's Marriage Index. Transcripts of baptisms, burials and marriages 1681-1851 for Simonburn are available at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Dept., and these records have been published in microfiche form by Northumberland and Durham Family History Society (micrifiche PR204).