Place:Durham, Durham, England

source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

Durham is a historic city and the county town of County Durham in northeast England. The city lies on the River Wear, to the west of Sunderland, south of Newcastle upon Tyne and to the north of Darlington. Founded over the final resting place of St. Cuthbert, its Norman cathedral became a centre of pilgrimage in medieval England. The city of Durham had a population of approximately 50,000 in the UK census of 2011.

History

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Durham, England. Wikipedia has articles on Durham's medieval history, the Prince Bishops, its legal system, the Civil War and Commonwealth (1640 to 1660), and outlines of the city in the 18th and 19th centuries

Governance

The municipal borough covering the centre of the city of Durham was formally named Durham and Framwelgate and established by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In 1974 it was merged with Durham Rural District and Brandon and Byshottles Urban District to form the City of Durham district of County Durham. The district was abolished in 2009 with its responsibilities assumed by Durham County Council, a unitary authority covering the whole of County Durham as it now stands--excluding the area covered by the new county of Tyne and Wear.

Wikipedia has an article on the Framwelgate area of the city of Durham.

The various churches of the City of Durham played a part in the governance of their individual ecclesiastical parishes until the establishment of the municipal borough in 1835. Some parishes were made civil parishes and continued in that role until 1916. The following have been found in A Vision of Britain through Time and English Jurisdictions:

• Durham St. Cuthbert, ecclesiastical parish after 1858
• Durham St. Giles, ancient parish and civil parish until 1916
• Durham St. Margaret, (chapelry and ecclesiastical parish) until 1866
• Durham St. Mary the Less, ancient parish and civil parish until 1916
• Durham St. Mary le Bow (joined with St. Mary the Less), ancient parish and civil parish until 1916
• Durham St. Nicholas, ancient parish and civil parish until 1916
• Durham St. Oswald, ancient parish and civil parish until 1866

In addition were three specialist places, all of which were civil parishes during the period 1858-1916:

• Durham Castle (and Precincts), extra parochial place and civil parish
• Durham College, extra parochial place and civil parish
• Durham Magdalen Place, extra parochial place and civil parish

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.