Place:Lambley, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Lambley, formerly known as Harper Town, is a village in Northumberland, England about 4 miles (6 km) southwest of Haltwhistle. The village lies adjacent to the River South Tyne. The place name Lambley refers to the "pasture of lambs".

Lambley was an ancient parish in the Tynedale Ward which also became a civil parish in the 19th century. From 1894 it was part of Haltwhistle Rural District. In 1955 the civil parish was abolished and the area was absorbed into the parish of Coanwood.

Lambley used to be the site of a small convent of Benedictine Nuns, founded by Adam de Tindale and Heloise, his wife, in the 12th century. The Scots led by William Wallace devastated it in 1296 or 1297. However it was restored and one William Tynedale was ordained priest to the nunnery in about 1508 - probably not William Tyndale, the reformer, as once believed, but another man of the same name. At the time of the suppression of religious houses by Henry VIII the nunnery contained six inmates. Nothing now remains but the bell from the nunnery which hangs in the church and a few carved stones. The village lies in the Midgeholme Coalfield and there are reserves of good quality coal remaining.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description of Lambley from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"LAMBLEY, a small village and a parish in Haltwhistle [registration] district, Northumberland. The village stands on the river South Tyne, adjacent to the Alston railway, 2½ miles from the boundary with Cumberland, and 4¼ SSW of Haltwhistle; and has a station on the railway. The parish contains also the hamlet of Asholme; and its post-town is Haltwhistle, under Carlisle. Acres: 2,698. Real property: £1,555. Population: 357. Houses: 65. The property is divided among a few. The manor belongs to R. L. Allgood, Esq. A Benedictine nunnery was founded here by King John, or by Adam de Tindale; was destroyed by the Scots under Wallace, in 1296; was afterwards rebuilt; was given, at the dissolution, to the Dudleys and the Featherstonehaughs; and has completely disappeared. An ancient fortress stood on Castle-hill; and vestiges of a deep moat exist there. Some ancient oak coffins, as black as ebony, have been found near the river. The living is a donative in the diocese of Durham. Value: not reported. Patron: R. L. Allgood, Esq. The church is ancient and good."

Research Tips

• Northumberland Archives previously known as Northumberland Collections Service and Northumberland County Record Office. Now based within Woodhorn Museum in Ashington and providing free access to numerous records for local and family historians alike.

Full postal address: Museum and Northumberland Archives, Queen Elizabeth II Country Park, Ashington, Northumberland, NE63 9YF; Phone: 01670 624455

There is a branch office in Berwick upon Tweed.

• Northumberland and Durham FHS covers both Northumberland and 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.
• Further information from GENUKI
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 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 Northumberland 1900 provided by A Vision of Britain through Time
• Ordnance Survey map of Northumberland 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, there is no Victoria County History for Northumberland.