North Bedburn, County Durham: People and Places of 1879

 Enjoy a glimpse of history about North Bedburn, in County Durham, England, UK.

The Post Office Directory of Durham and Northumberland

by Kelly and Company

Published in 1879

NORTH BEDBURN is a township in the civil parish of Wilton-le-Wear, and forms the ecclesiastical parish of Fir Tree, which was formed in 1862 from the parish of Wilton-le-Wear. North Bedburn township comprises the villages of Howden-le-Wear, Fir Tree, High and Low Bitchburn, Thistle Flat and Hargil Hill ; it is 16 miles from Darlington, 5 from Bishop Auckland, and 255 from London. There is a small station at Harperley on the Wear Valley branch of the Stockton and Darlington section of the North Eastern railway, and another called Beechburn on the main line from Saltburn to Benfieldside : it is in the southern division of the county, union and county court district of Bishop Auckland, rural deanery of northern division of Darlington, archdeaconry and diocese of Durham, north-west division of Darlington ward. The church of St. Mary, situate at Howden-le-Wear, in the most populous part, is a Gothic stone building, erected in 1870 at a cost of £1,400, capable of seating 300 persons, and comprising chancel, nave, and belfry

DIRECTORY.] DURHAM. BELMONT. 27

with 1 bell. The register dates from the year 1869. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £300, in the gift of the Bishop of Durham and Crown alternately, and held by the Rev. John Mason, b.a. of Trinity College, Dublin, who resides at the vicarage. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists at Howden-le-Wear, also one for Wesleyan Methodists at Fir Tree. A school board was formed in 1875. Here are very extensive collieries; and the manufacture of a superior kind of brick is largely carried on. Harperley Hall, the seat of the Rev. George Pearson Wilkinson, m.a., j.p. is a plain mansion situated in an extensive park, and commands a beautiful view of the surrounding country. Henry Chaytor, esq. j.p. is lord of the manor. R. Duncombe Shafto, esq., Joseph Fryer, esq., Rev. G. P. Wilkinson, m.a., j.p. and Henry Chaytor esq., j.p. are chief landowners. The soil is various ; subsoil, stiff. The chief crops are wheat, oats and barley. The area is 2,100 acres ; rateable value, £9,098 ; and the population in 1871 was 2,305.

Sexton, Joseph Watson.

Post & Money Order Office & Savings Bank, Howden-le-Wear.—Thomas Young, postmaster. Letters arrive at 7 a.m. ; dispatched at 5 p.m

Insurance Agent for Howden, Royal, W. Snowden, Clough house, High lane, Stockport

Schools:—

Board, Hargil Hill, Joseph Charles Ducker, head master; Mrs. Hogg, mistress

Board, Fir Tree, Mrs Currie, mistress

Assistant Overseer, Joseph Patterson

Railway Stations, Beechburn, John Parker, station master ; Harperley, Wm. Richardson, station master

Howden-le-Wear.

Private Residents.

Ducker Joseph Charles

Fell Robt. Stephenson, Woodifield house

Fryer Joseph, Smelt house

Jacques John

Manson Richard Taylor

Mason Rev. John b.a. [vicar] Vicarage

Mitchell Francis

Thompson Thomas, Greenhead house

Walton William

Widdas Cornelius

Wilkinson Francis

Commercial.

Adamson John, Green Tree

Adamson William, Plantation inn

Allanson Benjamin, farmer, Old Wadley

Balmer Robert, butcher

Bateman William, shoe maker

Crook Co-operative Stores (Howden-le-Wear branch, George Clouston, manager)

Daniel John Samuel, news agent

Dunwoody Thomas, tailor

Elliott James, grocer

Elliott Robert, boot & shoe maker

Etherington Thomas, shopkeeper

Gibson William Forest, ironmonger & cabinet maker

Gill William, beer retailer

Hackworth William, farmer, White ho

Hanson John, shopkeeper

Hedley Robert, blacksmith

Helmsley Elizabeth (Mrs.), shopkeeper

Heslop Thomas, shopkeeper, Valley ter

Howden Coal & Brick Co. (George Hutchinson, manager)

Howe John, greengrocer

Jolley Thomas, Quarryman's Arms

Manson Richard Taylor, surgeon

Mechanics' Institute (John Parker, secretary)

Miller James, farmer, White house

Miller James, jun. farmer, Pit close

North Bitchburn Sanitary Pipe Works & Sanitary Pipe Manufacturers (Matthew Smith, manager)

Parker John, station master

Patterson Joseph, general dealer

Peat William, shopkeeper

Robinson Thomas, grocer

Robson William, grocer

Rowe Thos. Coleman, farmer, Woodifid

Sharp John, firebrick maker & colliery owner

Shaw Jonathan, beer retailer

Shaw Ralph, Australian hotel

Simpson Mark, farmer, Woodifield

Stitt James, grocer & draper

Surtees John, greengrocer

Thompson John, draper

Thompson Thomas, draper

Walburn Richard, farmer & grocer

Watson Joseph, farmer, White house

Wilkinson Christopher, farmer, Greenhd

Wilkinson John, clockmaker

Wooler, Chapman & Co., firebrick makers & colliery owners, Hargill colly

Young John, butcher

Young John, Surtees hotel, Valley ter

Young Thomas, grocer & post office

Fir Tree.

Hutchinson Geo. Quarry ho. Harperley

Wilkinson Rev. Geo. Pearson, m.a., j.p. [vicar of Thornley], Harperley hall

Commercial.

Dods William Pringle Miller, farmer, Macniel farm

Henderson John, grocer

Hodgson William, blacksmith

Holmes Robert, farmer, Coal bank

Hutchinson George & Co. joiners & cartwrights, Black hall

Longstaff Thomas, farmer, Holly hall

Robinson Robert, land steward to Rev. Geo. P. Wilkinson, m.a., j.p.

Sanderson Fras. farmer, Harperley farm

Tallentire Thos. Watson, Fir Tree inn

Ward William John, Duke of York

High Bitchburn.

Morson George

Sharp John

Jolley John, farmer

Jolly Thomas, Grey Horse

Hargil Hill.

Atkinson George, Hargil inn, & farmer

Graham Robert, farmer

Hall Anthony, farmer

Thistle Flat.

Wilkinson Very Rev. Canon [Catholic]

Gill William, beer retailer

Harding Frederick, Colliery inn

Shaw Jonathan, beer retailer

---

BELMONT was constituted an ecclesiastical parish in 1852, comprising within its boundary nearly all that part of the ancient parish of St. Giles which lies without the boundary of the borough of Durham, and embraces the following places :—BELMONT, BROOMSIDE, CARRVILLE, KEPIER GRANGE, OLD GRANGE, NEW DURHAM, and greater part of GILESGATE MOOR : it is in the Northern division of the county, ward of Easington, union and county court district of Durham, south division of rural deanery of Easington, archdeaconry and diocese of Durham, and extends from 1 to 3 miles north-east from the city, principally on the Sunderland road. There is a goods station here on the North Eastern railway. The church of St. Mary Magdalen, built in 1857, is prettily situated near Broomside : it is in the Early Decorated style, and consists of chancel and nave. The register dates from the year 1857. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £300, in the gift of the Queen and Bishop alternately, and held by the Rev. Thomas Crossman ; the Marquis of Londonderry is lay rector and impropriator. There is a Church of England school, with a certificated master, Belmont Hall is a picturesque building, the property of R. L. Pemberton, esq. of Hawthorne Tower, and is at present occupied by Mr. John Jarratt.

BROOMSIDE is a colliery village belonging to Belmont, consisting of numerous houses, chiefly inhabited by pitmen employed by the Broomside Coal Company and by the workpeople of the Grange Iron Company. The Wesleyans have a chapel (a small building) at this place.

CARR VILLE is a village in this parish, 2 miles north-east from Durham, on the Sunderland road.

GILESGATE MOOR adjoins the city of Durham. The Primitive Methodists have chapels at Carr Ville and at Gilesgate Moor. The Marquess of Londonderry is lord of the manor and lay rector. The chief landowners are R. L. Pemberton, esq. the University of Durham, and the Standish family. The soil is various—in some parts marl, in others gravelly, with some clay ; the subsoil is principally clay and gravel ; the population in 1871 was 3,238.

Post & Money Order Office & Savings Bank, Gilesgate moor.—Lumley Stephenson, sub-postmaster. Letters from Durham arrive at 8 a.m. ; dispatched at 2.25

Post Office Receiving Houses:—

Carr Ville.—Thomas Errington, receiver. Letters from Durham arrive at 8.10 a.m. ; dispatched at 2 p.m. Nearest money order office is at Gilesgate moor

New Durham.—Thomas Wilkinson, receiver. Letters arrive from Durham at 8 a.m. ; dispatched at 5.55 p.m. Gilesgate moor is the nearest money order office

Schools:—

National, Broomside, William Robert Johnson Randall, master ; Miss Catherine Robson, mistress

Marquis of Londonderry's, Dragon vill, Francis Shuckburgh, master ; Mrs. Mary Jane Shuckburgh, mistress