Place:Netherwitton, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

"WITTON (Nether), a township in Morpeth [registration] district, and a parish partly also in Rothbury [registration] district, Northumberland. The township lies on the river Font, 4 miles N of Angerton [railway] station, and 8 WNW of Morpeth; contains a picturesque village of its own name; is sometimes called Witton-by-the-Waters; contained the residence of Roger Thornton, the distinguished merchant-prince of Newcastle, who died in 1429; and has a post-office under Morpeth. Acres: 3,914. Population: 301. Houses: 53. [Nether Witton] Hall is the seat of R. Trevelyan, Esq.; and has, at the back, a curious tall tower, which was visited by Oliver Cromwell and the parliamentarian army.

"The parish includes, in its Rothbury [registration district] section, six townships; and comprises altogether 7,723 acres. Real property, £4,546; of which £101 are in mines. Population: 486. Houses: 86. There is a small woollen factory. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value: £150. Patron: the Vicar of Hartburn. There is a village school."

Netherwitton was originally a township in the ancient parish of Hartburn, Northumberland. It was a chapelry for the following townships:

• Coatyards
• Ewesley
• Healey and Combhill
• Nunnykirk
• Ritton Coltpark
• Ritton Whitehouse

It became a separate civil parish in 1866 and remains a civil parish. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of Morpeth Rural District. In 1955 it absorbed the neighbouring parishes of Longwitton, Stanton and Whitridge. In 1974 rural districts were abolished and Netherwitton became part of the Castle Morpeth District until 2009 when Northumberland became a unitary authority.

There is an article in Wikipedia. Along with a similar description to that given above, it states the population in 2001 UK census was 272.

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.