Middlestone in the Parish of Merrington, County Durham: People and Places in 1879

 Enjoy a glimpse of history about Middlestone in the Parish of Merrington, County Durham, England, UK.

The Post Office Directory of Durham and Northumberland

by Kelly and Company

Published in 1879

MERRINGTON-with-MIDDLESTONE is a division of Darlington ward, union and county court parish and township, and a polling place for the district of Auckland, rural deanery of north Darling-Southern division of the county, in the south-eastern ton, archdeaconry and diocese of Durham, 252 miles

from London, 8 from Durham and 4 from Bishop Auckland. The church of St. John the Evangelist was rebuilt in 1850-51: it is a handsome building in the Norman style, with a square tower 60 feet high and 2 bells. The register dates from the year 1579. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £211, with residence, in the gift of the Dean and Chapter of Durham and held by the Rev. David Bruce, M.A. Jesus College, Cambridge, Canon of Durham. The Wesleyans have a chapel here, and also one at Low Spennymoor in this parish. The Dean and Chapter of Durham are lords of the manor. The principal landowners are Sir William Eden, bart. and the Dean and Chapter of Durham. The soil is gravelly; subsoil, limestone. The chief crops are wheat, barley, turnips and potatoes. The area of the whole parish is 1,660 acres; rateable value, £6,527; and the population in 1871 of the whole parish was 1,313.

Parish Clerk, Robert Charlton.

POST OFFICE.—William Sedgwick, receiver. Letters arrive through Ferry Hill at 7.30 a.m.; dispatched at 3.30 p.m. No post on sundays. Ferryhill & Spennymoor are the nearest money order offices. Letters for Merrington lane should be addressed viâ Spennymoor

National School (mixed), George Bird, master

CARRIER—John Taylor, to Barnard Castle, wednesday; to Durham on saturday

Middlestone is a small township in this parish, 3 miles north-east from Bishop Auckland. LEASINGTHORNE is a hamlet in this township chiefly consisting of miners’ cottages. Here is a coal mine, named the Leasingthorne colliery, the property of Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan & Co. Limited. The Dean and Chapter of Durham are lords of the manor. The principal landowner is Mr. John Lindsey. The Primitive Methodists have a chapel at Leasingthorne, and a Board school was built there in 1878. The area is 750 acres; rateable value £6,002; and the population in 1871 was 482.

POST OFFICE, Leasingthorne.—John Little, receiver. Letters arrive through Bishop Auckland at 11.10 a.m.; dispatched at 3.45 p.m. on weeks days only. The nearest money order office is at Coundon

Board School, Leasingthorne, John Lloyd, master

Merrington.

Brown Robert

Bruce Rev. Canon David, m.a. [vicar], Vicarage

Richardson Mrs

COMMERCIAL.

Brown John, farmer, Hall

Bulmer Elizabeth (Mrs.), Half Moon

Charlton John, carpenter

Charlton Robert, shoe maker

Cooper William, beer retailer

Dodgson William, blacksmith

English George, wheelwright

Farrow William, farmer

Gamsby Jane (Mrs.), grocer

Heslop Christopher, farmer

Holmes David, assistant overseer

Johnson Robert, blacksmith

Knox James, farmer

Lidster William, beer retailer

Mein James, farmer

Metcalfe James, Flying Horse

Oliver Robert, tailor & draper

Ramshaw Elizabeth (Mrs.), farmer

Scott Henry, shoe maker

Scurr John, farmer

Sedgwick William, grocer

Shaw Thomas, farmer

Sidgwick Thomas, beer retailer

Stewart Charles, Eden Arms

Taylor John, carrier

Thompson James, butcher

Watson Henry, farmer

Wheatley Elizabeth (Miss), grocer

Wood John Walter, Fox & Hounds

Wright Ralph, shoe maker

Merrington Lane.

Baines Thomas, Garden House inn

Bates Joseph, grocer & beer seller

Berryman Bernard, beer retailer

Coulson M. & Co. ironfounders & engineers, Merrington Lane iron works

Dobson Christopher, grocer

Dobson Thos. Young, corn & flour wareho

Dodds Thomas, butcher

Foster William, Railway inn

Hardy Francis, grocer

Maddison William, beer retailer

McKenzie Ellen (Mrs.), grocer

Parkin John, miller

Piercy Samuel, Steam Mill inn

Shaw Thomas, butcher

Topping Titus, beer retailer

Vasey Nathaniel, carter

Middlestone.

Adamson John, joiner & cartwright, Moor

Brass John, farmer

Boddy Thompson, butch r. Leasingthorne

Bolckow, Vaughan & Co. Limited, colliery owners (Thomas Stephenson, viewer), Leasingthorne colliery

Harkinson William, assistant overseer, Leasingthorne

Henderson Timothy, grocer, Moor

Kirkup Thomas, farmer

Lindsay John, Leasingthorne

Lindsey George, farmer

Little John, grocer, Leasingthorne

Paley John, grocer

Renwick Joseph, Colliery inn, Moor

Stanwick Wm. Masons’ Arms, Moor

Stephenson Benj. farmer, Leasingthorne

Toomey James, Ship inn

Tulip Robert, grocer, Moor

Watson Henry, farmer

Welch Joseph, farmer

Wheatley William, shoe maker, Moor