Earsdon, Northumberland Genealogy

Parish History
St Alban Earsdon was created as a chapelry within Tynemouth ancient parish and as a parish in 1761. Blyth was created as a chapelry witin the parish of Earsdon until its creation as a parish.

The ancient parish of the chapelry of Earsdon includes the village of Earsdon itself, Backworth, Burradon, Seghill, Holywell, Hartley, Seaton Delaval and Newsham. The chapel at Earsdon, demolished in 1837 and replaced by the present church, was founded before 1250. It was dedicated to Saint Alban, as is the present church. EARSDON (St. Alban), a parish, in the union of Tynemouth, E. division of Castle ward, S. division of Northumberland; containing 9429 inhabitants, of whom 683 are in the township of Earsdon, 8 miles (N. E.) from Newcastle-on-Tyne. This parish, which is situated in a district abounding with excellent coal and freestone, consists of the townships of Backworth, South Blyth with Newsham, Burradon, Earsdon, Hartley, Holywell, Seaton-Delaval, and Sighill; and comprises about 9540 acres of good arable and pasture land. The village, seated upon a rocky eminence affording fine sea views, is pleasant and well built. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of the Proprietors of land; net income, £119; impropriators, the Duke of Northumberland and others. The tithes of the township of Earsdon have been commuted for £183. The church, rebuilt in 1836 at a cost of £2000, is a neat structure in the English style, with a tower surmounted by pinnacles, and contains 600 sittings, of which 200 are free; the site and a handsome donation were given by the late Duke of Northumberland. There are chapels at South Blyth and Seaton-Delaval, and a church district formed by the Ecclesiastical Commission at Sighill.

From: 'Earnshill - Eastbourne', A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 124-127. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=50934 Date accessed: 08 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.

Parish Records
Durham University Library Archives and Special Collections DDR/EA/PBT/2/88 Date: 1762-1844 Contents: Including transcripts from Blyth, 1762-1844. Parish Register transcripts are available to search free online at FamilySearch Historical Records.

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.

Earsdon, St Alban: The registers of marriages and burials commence in 1589, and that of baptisms in 1605. From these dates to 1618, several years are missing. There are no entries from October 1618 to May 1620. There's another gap from April 1631 to March 1638, and another from November 1650 to June 1654. The earliest vestry book commences in 1656.

Records of baptisms 1604-1974, marriages 1589-1989 and burials 1589-1991 are available at Northumberland_Collections_Service. Baptisms 1604-1893, marriages 1589-1851, banns 1754-1889 and burials 1589-1852 can also be seen at Tyne and Wear Archives Service. The International Genealogical Index (I.G.I.) includes baptisms 1604-1813 and marriages 1589-1812 for this parish, and Boyd's Marriage Index includes marriages 1589-1812 and banns 1754-1812. Transcripts of baptisms 1604-1813, marriages 1589-1812, burials 1589-1813 and monumental inscriptions are available at Newcastle Central Library, Local Studies Dept.

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.

Probate records
Records of wills, administrations, inventories, indexes, etc. were filed by the court with jurisdiction over this parish. Go to Northumberland 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.