Place:Hedley, Northumberland, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

"HEDLEY-ON-THE-HILL, and HEDLEY-WOODSIDE, two townships in Ovingham parish, Northumberland; adjacent to the boundary with Durham, 3 miles SE of Stocksfield [railway] station, and 10 ESE of Hexham. Acres: 1,399 and 1,364. Populations: 241 and 69. Houses: 48 and 8. The manor belongs to the Duke of Northumberland. There is a Wesleyan chapel."

Hedley was a township in the ancient parish of Ovingham and became a separate civil parish in 1866. It absorbed the similarly named parish of Hedley Woodside in 1887. From 1894 it was part of Hexham Rural District. In 1955 it absorbed the small neighbouring parish of Dukes Hagg. In 1974 Hexham Rural District was abolished and the civil parish became part of the Tynedale District until 2009 when Northumberland became a unitary authority.

See also Wikipedia for an article on present-day Hedley.

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.