Place:Bywell St. Peter, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

"BYWELL-ST. PETER, a township and a parish in Hexham [registration] district, Northumberland. The township includes part of Bywell village. Population: 94. Houses: 20.

"The parish includes also the townships of Whittonstall, Newlands, Espershields, Healy, High Fortherley, Broomley, Apperley, Stelling, Newton, and Newton Hall; extends southward to the river Derwent at the boundary with Durham; and is nearly 8 miles long and 5 miles broad. Post Town: Stocksfield, Northumberland. Acres: 17,784. Real property: £9,296. Population: 1,574. Houses: 288. The property is divided among a few. Much of the land in the south is high and poor. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value: £300. Patrons: the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The church has a square tower, and is good. The [perpetual] curacy of Whittonstall is a separate charge."

Bywell St. Peter and Bywell St. Andrew were merged into the civil parish of Bywell in 1887. The transfer to Bywell occurred before the existence of rural and urban districts.

Townships (with some spellings updated)

• Apperley (see Broomley and Stocksfield)
• Broomley (see Broomley and Stocksfield)
• Espershields
• Healey
• High Fotherley
• Newlands
• Newton
• Newton Hall (grouped with Newton)
• Stelling
• Whittonstall

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.