Place:Barnard Castle Rural, Durham, England

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

Barnard Castle Rural District was located in County Durham, England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after the village of Barnard Castle which was an urban district.

It was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 as the part of the former Teesdale rural sanitary district that was in County Durham (the rest going on to form Startforth Rural District in the North Riding of Yorkshire). In 1937 it was much expanded when a County Review Order disbanded the Auckland Rural District, transferring much of it (the most rural part) to Barnard Castle Rural District.

It was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, the area going on to form part of the Teesdale non-metropolitan District.

List of Parishes

Ancient parishes are listed in bold type.

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.