Place:Ulgham, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Ulgham is a small village in Northumberland, England. The name Ulgham is pronounced "Uffam" and is known as the 'village of the owls'. It had a population of 365 in the UK census of 2011.

Situated about six miles north of Morpeth, Ulgham is a village combining old with new. The church of St John the Baptist stands at the top of a steep bank above the river Lyne. It looks old, but was rebuilt in the 1800s. However, the site is Saxon and two Norman stone windows are built into the current church walls.

Sadly, the destruction of the surrounding countryside for open cast mining, and the disappearance of farm buildings and stone barns means that owls are seldom heard or seen. So the people of Ulgham have their own owls and almost every house has one. There are owls of china, glass, wood, bronze, paint and needlework, stone owls in gardens and an owl is incorporated into the sign of the village pub - The Forge.

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Ulgham.

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

"ULGHAM, a parish, with a village, in Morpeth [registration] district, Northumberland; 2 miles S of Widdrington [railway] station, and 4¾ NNE of Morpeth. Post town, Morpeth. Acres: 3,615. Real property: £3,293. Population: 362. Houses: 71. The manor belongs to the Earl of Carlisle. The living is a [perpetual] curacy, annexed to Morpeth. The church was rebuilt in 1864. There is an endowed school."

Ulgham was a township in the ancient parish of Morpeth and became a separate civil parish in 1866. From 1894 it was part of Morpeth Rural District. From 1974 until 2009 the civil parish was part of the newly-formed Castle Morpeth District of Northumberland. Northumberland became a unitary authority in 2009.

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.