Place:Sockburn, Durham, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

Sockburn was originally an ancient parish in the Darlington Ward of County Durham and was switched to the Stockton Ward in 1829. It was made a civil parish in the 19th century and became part of the Darlington Rural District from 1894 until 1974. It is now part of the Darlington non-metropolitan district, a unitary authority.

Sockburn was also an ancient parish in Allerton Wapentake in the North Riding of Yorkshire despite being located on the north side of the River Tees in County Durham. As an ancient parish it had two subsidiary townships located south of the Tees in Yorkshire: Girsby and Over Dinsdale.

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Sockburn is a village and former civil parish to the south of Darlington in County Durham, England. It is situated at the apex of a meander of the River Tees, known locally as the Sockburn Peninsula. Today, all that remains of the village is an early nineteenth-century mansion, a ruined church and a farmhouse built in the late eighteenth century.

Sockburn is best known for :

• Important links with Lindisfarne and Celtic Christianity
• The discovery of Viking Age hogback's.
• The Sockburn Worm , a ferocious wyvern that laid waste to the village.
• Sockburn Hall , a 19th-century country house and a Grade II listed building.

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.