Place:Horton, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Horton is a village in Northumberland, England about 2 miles (3 km) west of Blyth, and south of the River Blyth.

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

"HORTON, a township and a parish in Tynemouth [registration] district, Northumberland. The township lies on the river Blyth, 2 miles WNW of Newsham [railway] station, and 3 WSW of Blyth. Acres: 2,365; of which 190 are water. Population: 368. Houses: 82.

"The parish contains also the townships of East Hartford, West Hartford, Bebside, and Cowpen; the last of which has a head post office, designated Cowpen, Northumberland. Acres: 5,550. Real property: £43,563; of which £30,000 are in mines and £100 in quarries. Population in 1851: 4,449; in 1861: 6,787. Houses: 1,349. The increase of population was caused by the extension of collieries. The property is not much divided. An old castle of the Delavals stood here: and the ruins of it were destroyed in 1809. Coal is very extensively worked. The parish originally formed part of Woodhorn, and afterwards became a parochial chapelry. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value: £150. Patron: the Vicar of Woodhorn. The church was rebuilt in 1827, and has a tower. There are chapels for Presbyterians, Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Roman Catholics. There is also a national school."

Horton was a chapelry in the ancient parish of Woodhorn in the Castle Ward which also became a civil parish in the 19th century. From 1894 it was part of Tynemouth Rural District. In 1912 the civil parish was broken up and transferred to the parishes of East Hartford and Seaton Delaval and Blyth Urban District/Municipal Borough. In 1920 Horton was abolished completely and the area absorbed into the civil parish of Blyth along with the parts that had been transferred to East Horton and Seaton Delaval.

As a chapelry it was responsible for the townships of Bebside and Cowpen until each of them became civil parishes in 1866.

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.