Place:Winlaton, Durham, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Winlaton is a village situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. Once an independent village in County Durham, it became incorporated into the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear and Borough of Gateshead in 1974. By 2011 the village had been absorbed into the Gateshead MBC ward of Winlaton and High Spen. The population of this ward at the 2011 census was 8,342.

Winlaton was once at the centre of the local steel industry. Ambrose Crowley, a Quaker nail-manufacturer, moved to Winlaton in 1691. He set up furnaces and forges there and on the River Derwent at Winlaton Mill. The river was ideally suitable for tempering steel, as the sword-makers of Shotley Bridge also found. Crowley not only produced high-quality nails, but also iron goods such as pots, hinges, wheel-hubs, hatchets and edged tools. He could also make heavy forgings, such as chains, pumps, cannon carriages and anchors up to four tons in weight. The Crowley works were regarded as the largest manufactory of the kind in Europe. The gates for Buckingham Palace were also forged in Winlaton. The village still has one of the oldest forges remaining in existence, built circa 1690.

Winlaton was originally a township in the ancient parish of Ryton in County Durham. It became a separate civil parish in 1866 at which time the village of Chopwell within the former township also became a civil parish. From 1894 it was part of Blaydon Urban District and in 1937 it was abolished and absorbed into Blaydon.

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.