Place:Crook, Durham, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Crook is a historic market town in County Durham, in the northeast of England.

Located a couple of miles north of the River Wear, Crook lies about 9 miles (14.5 km) south-west of the historic city of Durham and 5 miles (8km) north-west of Bishop Auckland. The A690 road from Durham turns into the A689 road leading up through Wolsingham and Stanhope into the scenic upper reaches of Weardale.

Crook was originally a chapelry in the ancient parish of Brancepeth in County Durham. It became a separate civil parish in 1866. From 1894 until 1898 it was part of Auckland Rural District. In 1898 it joined forces with its township, Crook and Billy Row (redirected here), and became an urban district. In 1937 a number of the townships of Brancepeth became a single civil parish and urban district named Crook and Willington. From 1974 until 2009 Crook and Willington was part of the Wear Valley non-metropolitan district.

A nineteenth century description

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

"CROOK, a township and a chapelry in Brancepeth parish, Durham. The township bears the name of Crook and Billy-row; lies on an affluent of the river Wear, and on the Weardale Extension railway, 5½ miles NNW of Bishop-Auckland; and has a station on the railway and a post office under Darlington, both of the name of Crook. Acres: 4,008. Real property: £25,981; of which £15,603 are in mines, and £500 in gas-works. Population: 5,134. Houses: 954.

"The chapelry is more extensive than the township; and was constituted in 1845. Population: 8,603. Houses, 1,609.

"The property is divided among a few. Crook Hall belonged to the Hiltons and the Bakers; was the birthplace of Baker, the historian of St. John's college, Cambridge; and passed to the Williamsons. Coal is largely worked. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Durham. Value: £300. Patron: the Rector of Brancepeth. The church is tolerable; and there are chapels for Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, New Connexion Methodists, and Roman Catholics. The New Connexion Methodist chapel was built in 1860; and a mechanics' institute was built in 1869."

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.