Place:Hartley, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

"HARTLEY, a village and a township in Earsdon parish, Northumberland. The village stands on the coast, at the month of Seaton burn, adjacent to the Blyth and Tyne railway, 4¼ miles SSE of Blyth; and has a station on the railway. The township includes also Seaton Sluice village and Rocky Island. Acres, with Seaton Delaval: 4,219. Population of [Hartley] alone: 1,567. Houses: 331. Hartley colliery was the scene of a terrific accident in Jan. 1862; when, by the breakage and fall of the beam of the pumping engine over its only shaft, 5 men were instantaneously killed, and 215 men and boys were buried alive. A tidal harbour, with capacity for about 14 vessels, used for the export of coal, is at Seaton Sluice. Here also are extensive bottle works. Remains of an ancient hermitage are on Bates Island. There are chapels for Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, New Connexion Methodists, and [United] Free Methodists."

See also Wikipedia for a modern description of Hartley. Note that Seaton Sluice has become the principal settlement of the modern civil parish.

Hartley was a township in the ancient parish of Earsdon (near North Shields) and became a separate civil parish in 1866. From 1894 until 1912 it was part of Tynemouth Rural District. In 1912 the civil parish was abolished and the area was split between the parishes of Seaton Delaval to the north and Monkseaton to the south.

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.