Place:Weardale Rural, Durham, England

the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Weardale was a rural district in County Durham, England from 1894 to 1974. It was formed under the Local Government Act 1894 as a successor to the Weardale rural sanitary district.

It originally consisted of the parishes of Edmundbyers, Hunstanworth, and Wolsingham. It was expanded in 1937 by taking in parts of parishes in the disbanded Auckland Rural District, and also adding Stanhope which had previously been an independent urban district.

The district was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and its area went to form part of the new Wear Valley non-metropolitan district.

List of Parishes

Ancient parishes are listed in bold type.

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.