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Name | Morpeth |
Type | Township, Parish (ancient), Civil parish, Borough (municipal) |
Coordinates | 55.167°N 1.683°W |
Located in | Northumberland, England |
See also | Morpeth Ward, Northumberland, England | ancient county division in which it was part located | | Castle Ward, Northumberland, England | ancient county division in which it was part located | | Castle Morpeth District, Northumberland, England | district municipality covering the area 1974-2009 |
- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
:the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Morpeth is a town in Northumberland in the northeast of England, lying on the River Wansbeck. Nearby villages include Mitford and Pegswood. In the 2011 census, the population of Morpeth was given as 14,017, up from 13,833 in the 2001 census.
Morpeth received its first charter of incorporation from Charles II. The corporation it created was controlled by seven companies or trade guilds: the Merchant Tailors, the Tanners, the Fullers and Dyers, the Smiths, the Cordwainers, the Weavers and the Butchers. This remained the governing charter until the borough was reformed by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. From 1835 until 1974 Morpeth was a municipal borough. It then became a civil parish within the non-metropolitan District of Castle Morpeth. The district ceased to exist in 2009 when Northumberland became a unitary authority.
Until the 19th century Morpeth had one of the main markets in Northern England for live cattle. The opening of the railways made transport to Newcastle easier, and the market accordingly declined.
- end of Wikipedia contribution
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A Vision of Britain through Time provides a very extensive description of Morpeth from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72, expanding on the excerpt from Wikipedia above. The statistical part of Wilson's article is reproduced below:
- "The town is a borough by prescription; is governed, under the new act, by a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors; and sent two members to parliament prior to the reform act, but now sends only one. The municipal boundaries include the greater part of Morpeth township, and a small part of Newminster Abbey township; and the parliamentary boundaries include the entire townships of Morpeth, Newminster-Abbey, Bullers-Green, Hepscott, Morpeth-Castle, and Tranwell-and-High-Church, and the parish of Bedlington. Corporation income in 1855, £745. Amount of property and income tax charged in 1863, £3,289. Electors in 1833: 321; in 1863: 440. Population of the [municipal] borough, in 1851: 4,096; in 1861: 4,296. Houses: 654. Population of the [parliamentary] borough, in 1851: 10,012; in 1861: 13,794. Houses: 2,312.
- "The township comprises 537 acres. Population in 1851: 4,102; in 1861: 4,521. Houses: 658.
- "The parish contains also the other townships of the [parliamentary] borough, likewise the townships of Twizell and Shilvington. Acres: 8,177. Real property: £18,765; of which £909 are in mines, £21 in quarries, and £30 in gas-works. Pop. in 1851: 5,020; in 1861: 5,612. Houses: 846. The living is a rectory, united with the [perpetual] curacy of Ulgham, in the diocese of Durham. Value: £1,611. Patron: the Earl of Carlisle.
Townships in parish
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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.
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