Church Records

You will find our holdings on microfilm and to see them you must make an appointment.

You will find information on each parish, its location (including a map) and the availability of parish registers and indexes on our website. Our Place Names Index can help you to determine which Church of England parish a County Durham place/settlement was situated in, at any given date.

The Record Office holds parish records for the diocese of Durham (the area between the rivers Tyne and Tees) including some areas not in the present county of Durham, for example, Sunderland and Billingham. It also holds records of parishes in the diocese of Ripon, if the parish is in the present county of Durham, for example, Romaldkirk (Ripon).

You will find a map showing the deaneries included in the Diocese of Durhamon their website. You will find information and contact details, for the churches, included in each deanery by using the links on the map.

In the registers of each church you will find details of baptisms, banns, marriages and burials. The amount of detail given in the earliest registers varies from parish to parish, but most entries are very brief. The writing in the earliest registers may provide difficulties for searchers as many entries were made in Latin. During the Civil War and the Commonwealth period, approximately the 1640s and 1650s, many registers contain gaps in the entries. Also during the Commonwealth period births rather than baptisms were recorded.

From 1754, as a result of Hardwicke’s Marriage Act, banns and marriages were recorded in volumes separate from those used for baptisms and burials. After 1754 the marriage registers give the names and parishes of the parties, the date and place of marriage, whether by banns or licence, whether with consent of parents or guardians, and the name of the officiating minister. Also given are the names of the witnesses and signatures or marks of the spouses. After 1754 searchers may find either separate banns registers, banns kept in the first half of the marriage register or entries for banns and marriages on the same page. After 1754 all non-conformists, except Quakers and Jews, were required to marry in the parish church until 1837, when non-conformists were allowed to marry in their own place of worship.
In the diocese of Durham between 1798 and 1813, the bishop ordered that more detailed information should be kept in baptism and burial registers. Between these dates each baptism entry should give the date of baptism, name of the child, date of birth, position in the family, the occupation and abode of the father, and the maiden name and place of origin of the mother. Burial registers give the name and abode of the deceased, his parentage, occupation, the date of death, date of burial, and age.
In 1813 separate registers for marriages, baptisms and burials in a set format were introduced throughout England and Wales. From 1813 onwards baptism registers give the name of the child, the christian names and surname of the parents, the father’s occupation and address and by whom the ceremony was performed. Burial registers give the date of burial, name, age and abode of the deceased and by whom the ceremony was performed.
In 1837 new marriage registers were introduced which incorporated columns for the age of the spouses and for the name and occupation of each father.
From the first quarter of the nineteenth century the registers of the Church of England became less comprehensive as new denominations emerged and people moved to large towns. This process was reinforced by the introduction of civil registration of all births, marriages and deaths on 1 July 1837. You will find a brief guide to civil registration on our website.

After the beginning of the nineteenth century registers may be relied on only for voluntary registration by church members.

Many new parishes were created in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, especially in the industrial areas. It is possible, therefore, for a town or village to be in a different parish at different times. You will find a Place Names Index that will help you determine which Church of England parish a County Durham place/settlement was situated in at any given time.

If you are not sure of the location of a place/settlement you may find the Geographic Information System (GIS) of some assistance. The GIS is an interactive mapping service which allows you to interact with both modern and historical maps of County Durham and the immediate surrounding area.

Many parish registers have been transcribed and/or indexed and you will find the transcripts/indexes available in the Record Office listed in our modern transcripts and indexes handlist.

Many baptism and marriage registers of parish churches have been included in the International Genealogical Index (IGI) produced by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church). You will find the 1992 edition of the International Genealogical Index (IGI), for the counties of Durham, Northumberland, Yorkshire, Cumberland and Westmorland, available in the Record Office on microfiche. You will find a handlist of the parishes included in the IGI on our website. The index can also be searched on the FamilySearch website.

Many parish marriage registers have been included in Boyd’s Index to Marriages in Durham Parishes and the index is available in the Record Office on microfiche. You will find a list of the parishes included in Boyd's Index on our website.

Northumberland Collections Service holds the original registers, or microfilm copies of them, for the majority of parishes in the diocese of Newcastle, which includes all the geographical county of Northumberland and Newcastle, and the parishes of Hunstanworth in County Durham and Alston, Garrigill and Nenthead in Cumbria.

Tyne and Wear Archives Service holds no original Church of England registers but has microfilm copies of registers for most parishes in Tyne and Wear.

Teesside Archives Service holds original Church of England registers.