Place:Auckland St. Andrew, Durham, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

Auckland St. Andrew was an ancient parish and a civil parish in County Durham, England until 1937. It was the predecessor of the modern town of Bishop Auckland. When it was abolished in 1937 its 1725 acres was split between the parishes of Bishop Auckland and Shildon.

As an ancient parish it had a great many townships. (See below.)

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

"AUCKLAND (St. Andrew), a township and a parish in Auckland [registration] district, Durham. The township lies on the Bishop-Auckland and Weardale railway, and at the confluence of the Gannless and the Wear rivers, 1 mile SE of Bishop-Auckland. Acres: 1,186. Real property: £12,242, of which £9,373 are in mines. Population: 1,401. Houses: 283.

"The parish includes also the town of Bishop-Auckland, and the townships of Bishop-Auckland, St. Helen-Auckland, Middlestone, Westerton, Old-Park, Binchester, Newfield, Byers-Green, Hunwick and Helmington, Newton-Cap, Pollards-Lands, Coundon, Coundon-Grange, Windlestone, Eldon, Middridge-Grange, East Thickley, Shildon, Middridge, West Auckland, Barony, Lynesack and Softley, Hamsterley, North Bedburn, and South Bedburn; and its Post Town is Bishop-Auckland under Darlington. Acres: 45,868. Real property: £134,725. Population in 1841: 19,100; in 1861: 32,111. Houses: 6,301. The property, in most parts, is subdivided; in many parts, much subdivided. Coal and limestone are extensively worked. The living, with [Auckland] St. Ann, is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value: £587. Patron: the Bishop of Durham. The church is a cruciform structure, with a tower at the west end; was made collegiate by Bishop Beck, in 1292, for a dean and nine prebendaries; contains brasses and the effigies of a crusader; and needs repair. The chapelries of St. Helen-Auckland, Byers-Green, Etherley, Hamsterley, Shildon, Witton-le-Wear, Coundon, Escomb, Fir. Tree, Hunwick, Lynesack, Evenwood, and New Shildon, are separate charges. Three endowed schools have an income of £485; and other charities have £304."

Townships in parish

The list was produced originally from Wilson's 1870-72 Gazetteer and compared with the list provided in A Vision of Britain Through Time. There are some places which appear on one list and not the other. This may be a matter of when townships existed and for how long, but there may have been some confusion by the compilers. Inspection of this map will permit comparison of locations.

• Auckland St. Helen (chapelry)
• Binchester (township)
• Bishop Auckland (not on the A Vision of Britain Through Time list)
• Byers Green (township)
• Coundon (township)
• Coundon Grange (township, discussed with Coundon)
• East Thickley (township)
• Eldon (not on the A Vision of Britain Through Time list)
• Escomb (not on Wilson's 1870-72 Gazetteer list)
• Etherley (not on the A Vision of Britain Through Time list)
• Evenwood and Barony (original township of Barony)
• Hamsterley (chapelry)
• Hunwick and Helmington (township)
• Lynesack and Softley (not on the A Vision of Britain Through Time list)
• Middlestone (township)
• Middridge (not on the A Vision of Britain Through Time list)
• Middridge Grange (township)
• Newfield (near Bishop Auckland) (township)
• Newton Cap (township)
• North Bedburn (not on the A Vision of Britain Through Time list)
• Old Park (township)
• Pollards Lands (township)
• Shildon (township)
• South Bedburn (township)
• West Auckland (redirected to Etherley)
• Westerton (township)
• Windlestone (township)
• Witton le Wear (chapelry)

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.