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England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Rokeby St Mary

 

The Parish

The parish Rokeby lies in the extreme north of Yorkshire forming part of the border with neighbouring County Durham, here formed by the River Tees. Rokeby is located about 3 miles southeast of the Durham market town of Barnard Castle and sits less than a half mile north of the busy A66 trans-Pennine route connecting the A1 at Scotch Corner with the Cumbrian town of Penrith. Rokeby parish is dominated by the grounds of Rokeby Park, an estate parish where most land was held by a single landowner and inbound migration was restricted so a distinct village did not arise. The estate has a picturesque setting between the twin rivers of Tees and Greta and standing above their confluence. The grounds are dominated by Rokeby Hall, a Palladian style house of the early 18th century. The local economy would have been dominated by the affairs of the satate being predominantly pastoral in nature. The Tees drains the parish eastwards reaching the North Sea through its estuary. Rokeby is sited at around 130 metres above the sea but land rises steadily westwards onto the Pennines quickly reaching 311 metres within 2 or 3 miles. Rokeby parish was not extensive by northern standards, covering just over 1,100 acres it was more reminiscent of a lowland rural parish in extent, that acreage would have supported a population of just over 150 parishioners. In Domesday times Rokeby, sitting almost on the northern edge of that book's coverage, was held by Count Alan of Brittany but was described as "waste" with potential only for a pair of ploughs.


The Church

St Mary's church has an unfortunate situation sitting, as it does, on the northern side of the busy A66 and almost a mile west of Rokeby Park; busy traffic rushes within metres of the churchyard. An unusual and rather recent church it is not orientated in the usual east to west alignment being on a north/south axis. The church was completed in 1778 which is an unusually late date for a pre-Victorian church, built to the direction of the Robinson family at the hall some 50 years after the present house. A century after completion a chancel was added to the building. The church is no longer in use for worship and its abandonment and its precarious position have made it the frequent recipient of heritage crime, its future at time of writing is in some doubt. A lay-by sits opposite the church's site and great care is needed to cross the busy road to reach it. The site has no obstacles whatsoever to photography being open and rather bleak in poor weather.


The Records

Register No Covering Dates Deposited With Register Style Quality Standard Comments
1
23rd May 1754 - 13th May 1812
Durham County Record Office - Reference - RP/Rok/1/4
Plain, ruled & margined book containing combined Banns & Marriages
Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads
None
2 25th October 1813 - 27th May 1837 Durham County Record Office - Reference - RP/Rok/1/5 Standard Rose style preprinted and prenumbered Marriage register Grade 2 Register - not a perfect read but with a low likelihood of misreads None


Startforth Holy Trinity
Startforth Holy Trinity
Gainford St Mary, Durham
Gainford St Mary, Durham
Bowes St Giles
Wycliffe St Mary
Bowes St Giles
Brignall St Mary
Barningham St Michael
Wycliffe St Mary

1760 1770 1780 1790 1800 1810 1820 1830

Register Reference Date Groom Forename Groom Surname Groom Status Groom Abode Bride Forename Bride Surname Bride Status Bride Abode
19/02/1754 Francis APPLEBY Barningham Ann ROOKSBY
23/05/1754 Thomas STODART Barnard Castle, Durham Jane BRADLEY
21/12/1756 Matthew DODDS Elizabeth GREEN
26/11/1757 Thomas LAYTON Single Frances SMURTHWAITE Single
14/06/1758 John PRATT Jane LANE
20/11/1758 Christopher THORNTON Mary WALTON
15/03/1759 Robert NAITBY Elizabeth PEACOCK
05/11/1759 John HODGSON Mary WILLENS
29/12/1760 George COATES Mary HESLOP
01/11/1761 Johnson WACE Anne BENSON
11/05/1762 Robert BENSON Elizabeth MACKARETH
15/05/1762 James BENSON Hannah NICHOLSON
12/12/1763 Robert GARTHWAITE Single Ann WALL Single
05/02/1765 Abraham NIGHT Single Mary ROOKBY Single
08/05/1765 William EWBANK Elizabeth PEACOCK
03/05/1767 Luke MASON Mary KELLET
17/05/1768 Robert TEASDALE Elizabeth BARNES
00/00/1769 John LOADMAN Startforth Elizabeth PARKIN
04/08/1769 John RIDDLE Margaret TEASDALE
25/08/1770 Christopher THORNTON Widower Margaret LAMBERT Widow
26/08/1770 Joseph RICHARDSON Mary STEWARD
22/10/1771 John LITELL Margaret COULTON
15/09/1772 John HARRISON Anne PLACE
26/09/1772 Alexander CHURNSIDE Merrell MASON
19/11/1772 John MIXON Esther LODGE
16/01/1773 Thomas THOMPSON Brignall Mary EWBANK
16/05/1773 John HALL Deborah ALDERSON
19/02/1776 Thomas BELL Margaret CAMPLIN
13/05/1777 Joshua BELL Gilling West Ann HUNTER
19/03/1778 Robert PROCTOR Mary WESTGARTH
23/08/1778 Henry THOMPSON Mary HOPS
03/05/1779 Robert GREY Barnard Castle, Durham Jane KIPLING
16/05/1779 Ralph HODGSON Winston, Durham Mary HODGSON
09/08/1779 William BRADFORD Jane BEVIS
23/08/1779 William ROBINSON Elizabeth ALDERSON
03/03/1782 John LONG Hull Rachel BENTLEY
10/11/1783 Joseph HIND Ann MAZZERELLA
24/11/1783 John BINKS Ann PICKERING
25/11/1783 Robert MILNER Margaret SAYER Barnard Castle, Durham
24/02/1784 Thomas THOMPSON Barbara KIRKBRIDE
29/03/1784 Matthew MARLEY Forcett Margaret AWDE
25/11/1784 Thomas SOFTLY Barnard Castle, Durham Sarah SOFTLEY
25/11/1785 Thomas GLENTON Mary SOFTLEY
05/02/1788 William NICHOLSON Cawood Mary WARD
21/02/1788 Edward KELLETT Brignall Nancy SAYER
13/04/1788 George ROBSON Hannah PARKIN Barnard Castle, Durham
09/12/1788 Joseph SAYER Bowes Ann MILNER
19/05/1792 Hugh MORSBY Brignall Ann ROBSON
21/11/1792 John SEWEL Barnard Castle, Durham Esther ROBSON
08/09/1793 William RUTTER Barnard Castle, Durham Jane RAINE
24/12/1793 William HOOKER Barnard Castle, Durham Mary LAIDMAN
14/04/1794 John SHEARMAN Winwick, Lancashire Mary BROWN
29/05/1796 John TINKLER Mary HODGSON Startforth
14/12/1797 William WILSON Jane KAY
27/03/1799 John HOWGILL Mary ANDERSON
01/02/1800 Thomas STEPHENSON Single Bowes Jane BRASS Single
20/04/1800 John DOWNEY Single Jane ATKINSON Widow
30/01/1806 Giles GRAY Single Ann WATSON Single
29/04/1806 Richard EDRINGTON Jane SHAW
31/05/1806 Richard BRASS Ann HALL Widow
07/01/1808 James BAINBRIDGE Gainford, Durham Mary MILNER
01/02/1808 Thomas BARNES Barningham Elizabeth MAUXBY
16/05/1808 George WATERWORTH Gilling West Elizabeth NEESHAM
08/06/1808 Thomas WAPPET Single Eleanor RAINE Single
10/08/1808 Ralph SIMPSON Single Barnard Castle, Durham Mary THOMPSON Single
26/01/1810 William JACKSON Single Mary PATTERSON Single
05/08/1811 Henry HAUXWELL Single Jane DENT Single
13/05/1812 James SAYER Single Ann SCOTT Single
1 25/10/1813 Thomas CLARK Widower Startforth Sarah BOLTON Single
2 18/12/1813 John STUBBS Single Jane BRADWELL Single
3 13/05/1815 Christopher WOOD Widower Sarah GARFORTH Single
4 09/03/1816 Thomas NICHOLSON Single Mary PATTINSON Single Gilling West
5 27/01/1817 William STRONNACK Widower Mary RIDSDALE Single
6 07/04/1817 George HART Single Brignall Mary GILL Single
7 24/05/1817 James ALDERSON Single Mary SIMPSON Single
8 06/12/1817 William LIFE Single Isabella SIMPSON Single
9 14/05/1818 John COULSON Single Ann WILKINSON Single
10 08/05/1819 William LITTLE Single Jane MILNER Single
11 12/06/1819 Robert LAYTON Single Mary SHAW Single
12 20/04/1820 Thomas COOPER Single Bedale Mary BONKS Single
13 09/10/1820 Joseph DENT Widower Stanwick St John Isabella SMITH Widow
14 04/10/1823 George CARTER Single Ann JOHNSON Single Brignall
15 27/11/1824 Jonathan BOWRON Single Mary MILNER Single
16 19/10/1825 Henry KAYTON Single Startforth Elizabeth DIXON Single
17 03/05/1826 Ralph HODGSON Single Staindrop, Durham Ann PROCTOR Single
18 13/05/1826 Robert SHAW Single Elizabeth SCARR Single
19 16/07/1827 John WILLIS Single Sarah NAITBY Single
20 02/02/1828 Ralph John COATES Single Staindrop, Durham Mary PROCTOR Single
21 01/12/1828 Joseph RHODES Single Barnard Castle, Durham Jane JACKSON Single
22 06/02/1830 Robert SPENSLEY Single Barningham Ann HARKER Single
23 30/10/1830 James DIXON Single Jane RODHAM Single
24 14/05/1832 Robert HARRISON Single Startforth Ann WAISTELL Single
25 21/05/1832 George THIRKELL Single Isabella ARMSTRONG Single
26 22/12/1832 Jackson DAWSON Single Startforth Mary Jane HUTCHINSON Single
27 09/03/1833 Frederick CROW Single Rachel OATES Single
28 23/11/1833 William ROBINSON Single Ann ANDERSON Single
29 25/11/1833 Leonard LODGE Single Wycliffe Eleanor POWNEY Single
30 30/11/1833 George OLIVER Single Elizabeth BICKERDIKE Single
31 14/04/1834 Joseph BROWN Jane TREWHITT
32 31/05/1834 William CHARLTON Mary HOBSON
33 21/03/1835 Henry Edward MORRITT Single Scotland Ann MORRITT Single
34 14/05/1835 Robert FLETCHER Single Bishopton, Durham Mary POVERELL Single
35 28/05/1835 Ernest HEINEKY Single Scarborough Margaret BINKS Single
36 26/12/1835 John GALLOWAY Single Barningham Ann CHARLTON Single
37 14/05/1836 Thomas WILKINSON Single Startforth Mary Jane MATSON Single
38 22/11/1836 Thomas ROBINSON Single Brignall Elizabeth HOBSON Single
39 24/11/1836 Edward WILSON Single Spennithorne Ann TAYLOR Single
40 03/12/1836 John STRAKER Single Barnard Castle, Durham Elizabeth HOBSON Single
41 27/05/1837 George MIDDLETON Single Whorlton, Durham Ann EADES Single

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