Place:Usworth, Durham, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

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

"USWORTH, a township-chapelry, with a village, in Washington parish, Durham; adjacent to the North-eastern railway, 4 miles SE of Gateshead. It has a post office under Gateshead, and a [railway] station. Acres: 2,548. Real property: £13,711; of which £7,225 are in mines, £109 in quarries, and £20 in the railway. Population in 1851: 2,051; in 1861: 3,677. Houses: 691. The increase of population arose chiefly from extension of collieries. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Durham. Value: £161. Patron: the Rector of Washington. The church was built in 1832. There are a Wesleyan chapel, and an endowed school with £30 a year."

Usworth was originally a chapelry in the ancient parish of Washington, Durham. It became a separate civil parish in 1866. From 1894 it was part of Chester le Street Rural District. In 1922 it was transferred to Washington Urban District and in 1937 it was abolished and absorbed into Washington civil parish. Since 1974 it has been part of the City of Sunderland metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear.

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.