Place:Byers Green, Durham, England

source: Family History Library Catalog

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Byers Green is a village in County Durham, in England. It is situated to the north of Bishop Auckland, between Willington and Spennymoor, and a short distance from the River Wear.

Byers Green Hall has been the home of the Trotter family since the 15th century.

Thomas Wright, (1711–1786) a famous 18th-century astronomer, architect and mathematician was born and died here. Wright was educated in King James I Grammar School in Bishop Auckland before being apprenticed to a clockmaker in the town. By 1734, after various adventures, Wright had progressed to making a huge working model of the universe (an orrery) for an aristocratic London patron. This set him on his remarkable career that included the first accurate description of the Milky Way.

Professor Harold Orton, (1898–1975) a noted 20th-century linguist and English dialectologist was also born here. Harold Orton was the son of a schoolmaster at Byers Green and attended King James I Grammar School in Bishop Auckland followed by Merton College, Oxford. His 1933 book The Phonology of a South Durham Dialect, based on the dialect of the area, was re-published by Routledge in 2015.

Sir Percy Cradock, GCMG, (1923–2010) a senior British civil servant, was born in Byers Green. He was educated at Alderman Wraith Grammar School, Spennymoor followed by St John's College, Cambridge, where he read law. Having trained as a barrister Cradock joined the Diplomatic Service and during his career held a number of senior diplomatic posts, including Ambassador to China. Later in his career he was labelled by the media as the 'UK's most senior spy' because he chaired the Joint Intelligence Committee (UK) under Margaret Thatcher's government. Cradock died in London on 22 January 2010, aged 86.

It is not known whether there was a village at Byers Green in the Anglo-Saxon period. The village name is quite late; it was first recorded in 1345 as Bires. It is probably the exact equivalent of the modern word 'byres'. The village name thus means '(the green by the) cowsheds'.

Byers Green remained a farming area throughout the medieval period and into the 16th and 17th century. Most people would have worked on the land.

end of Wikipedia contribution

Byers Green was originally a township in the ancient parish of Auckland St. Andrew in County Durham. It became a separate civil parish in 1866. From 1894 it was part of Auckland Rural District until 1937 when it was abolished. Most of the parish was absorbed into Crook and Willington but some acreage went to Bishop Auckland and Spennymoor. Between 1974 and 2009 the area became part of the larger Wear Valley non-metropolitan district. Since 2009 County Durham has been a unitary authority.

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.