Place:Darlington, Durham, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Darlington is a market town in County Durham, in northeast England, and is located in the Tees Valley, a new combined local authority which commenced in the spring of 2016. With a population of 106,000 in the UK census of 2011, the town lies on the River Skerne, a tributary of the River Tees. The town owes much of its development to the influence of local Quaker families in the Victorian era, and is famous as the terminus of Stockton and Darlington Railway, the world's first passenger railway. Darlington railway station is an important stop on the East Coast Main Line that runs between London and Edinburgh.

Mowden, Branksome and Faverdale are suburbs of Darlington.

History

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Darlington. Darlington's place in the history of railways and bridge building is covered.

Governance

Darlington was an ancient parish in the Darlington Ward of County Durham. The ancient parish had three townships (listed below). It became a Municipal Borough in 1837 and a County Borough in 1915. (Source: A Vision of Britain through Time)

On 1 April 1997, the Borough of Darlington became a unitary authority area with the formation of Darlington Borough Council, which separated it from the non-metropolitan county of Durham for administrative purposes only, as the town is still within County Durham for ceremonial purposes. (Source: Wikipedia)

Townships in Parish

• Archdeacon Newton
• Blackwell
• Cockerton

Research Tips

• County Durham Archives. Durham County Record Office is located on the Lower Ground Floor of County Hall, the administrative headquarters of Durham County Council, in Durham City.
• Northumberland and Durham FHS covers both Northumberland and the northern part of County Durham. The Family History Society have a research centre in Percy House in central Newcastle upon Tyne (full address on website), open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. Browse the website to see what else the society can provide.
• The Cleveland, North Yorkshire & South Durham Family History Society covers the southern part of County Durham as well as the Tees Valley and North Yorkshire on the south side of the River Tees. Their homepage includes a map to show the society's coverage. (Once again, full address and other details on the website)
• Further information from GENUKI
• Ordnance Survey map of Durham 1832 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time. This map includes the boundaries of the various Wards (or "hundreds") in existence at that time.
• Ordnance Survey map of Durham 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Durham 1944 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• English Jurisdictions 1851, a parish finding aid provided by FamilySearch, particularly helpful in large towns and cities.
• Unfortunately, the Victoria County History for Durham is limited in its coverage. It only includes the cathedral city of Durham, including an account of the cathedral itself. Also covers Stockton Ward in the south-east of the county (bordering North Yorkshire) including Hartlepool and Stockton on Tees.