Place:East Shaftoe, Northumberland, England

Watchers
NameEast Shaftoe
TypeTownship, Civil parish
Coordinates55.13°N 1.912°W
Located inNorthumberland, England
See alsoHartburn, Northumberland, Englandancient parish in which it was a township
Tynedale Ward, Northumberland, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Castle Ward Rural, Northumberland, Englandrural district of which it was part 1894-1955
Capheaton, Northumberland, Englandcivil parish into which it was absorbed in 1955
source: Family History Library Catalog

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

"SHAFTOE (East and West), two townships in Hartburn parish, Northumberland; 10 miles W S W of Morpeth. Acres: 602 and 489. Population: 32 and 31. Houses: 6 and 6. S. Crags are a wildly picturesque range of rocks; are supposed, by some writers, to have been a haunt of Druids; and are now a favourite resort of picnic parties. An ancient chapel stood on a spot to the S of the crags; and a curious incised tombstone was found there in 1831."

East Shaftoe was originally a township in the ancient parish of Hartburn, Northumberland. It became a separate civil parish in 1866. From 1894 it was part of Castle Ward Rural District. In 1955 it was abolished and absorbed into the neighbouring parish of Capheaton.

The Shaftoe family

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

Shafto is a surname. The Shafto family origins can be traced back to the Ffolliot family, who were established by the 14th century at Shafto Crag, Northumberland and adopted the alternative surname of Shafto.

Bobby Shafto, was a 18th century British Member of Parliament born in Spennymoor, County Durham and the likeliest subject of a famous North East English folk song. (Source:Wikipedia)

For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Shafto family. Includes information on 18th and 19th century members of the family who held political offices in Northumberland and Durham and in the English parliament.

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.
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Shafto. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.