The Durham County Record Office holds the archives for county Durham and the

Borough of Darlington The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority and borough in County Durham, Northern England. The borough is named after the town of Darlington, and in 2011 had a population of 106,000. It is in the Tees Valley mayoralty. The borough border ...

. The archives are held at County Hall, Durham, and the service is run by Durham County Council.

Collection Policy

The Record Office is the approved local repository of

The National Archives National archives are central archives maintained by countries. This article contains a list of national archives. Among its more important tasks are to ensure the accessibility and preservation of the information produced by governments, both ...

so holds official records relating to the County Durham area, potentially covering the pre-1974 county area plus those parts of the North Riding of Yorkshire incorporated into the 1974 county. Modern archives relevant to Sunderland,

South Tyneside South Tyneside is a metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of Tyne and Wear, North East England. It is bordered by all four other boroughs in Tyne and Wear – Gateshead to the west, Sunderland in the south, North Tyneside to the no ...

(South Shields and Jarrow) and Gateshead are held by the Tyne and Wear Archives, and archives relevant to Hartlepool and Stockton are held by the Teesside Archives.

Access Policy

The archives are freely open to the public except for those records subject to statutory closures or data protection restrictions. Charges are made only for copies or for research services. Opening hours are found on the website.

Major Collections

All archive holdings are described in an online catalogue database and, more broadly, in the National Archives' Discovery database.

Local Authority Records

Durham County Council, including records related to Social Services, and Electoral Registers Predecessor District Councils, including Planning records Civil Parish Councils

Darlington Borough Council The Borough of Darlington is a unitary authority and borough in County Durham, Northern England. The borough is named after the town of Darlington, and in 2011 had a population of 106,000. It is in the Tees Valley mayoralty. The borough bord ...

Durham City

Durham Constabulary Durham Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for policing ceremonial county of County Durham in North East England. The force’s area is bordered by Cumbria Constabulary to the west, Cleveland Police to the south east, Nor ...

Other Official Public Records

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

inc. indictment rolls, order books, deposited plans, enclosure awards Durham Prison

Petty Sessions Courts of petty session, established from around the 1730s, were local courts consisting of magistrates, held for each petty sessional division (usually based on the county divisions known as hundreds) in England, Wales, and Ireland. The session ...

and

Magistrates Courts A magistrates' court is a lower court where, in several jurisdictions, all criminal proceedings start. Also some civil matters may be dealt with here, such as family proceedings. Courts * Magistrates' court (England and Wales) * Magistrate's Cour ...

(but not records of divorces, Crown Court, Durham Assizes or wills/probate) County Coroner - inquests Inland Revenue 1910 land valuation Motor Taxation Local Authority Schools and Colleges (but not records of Durham University, except for the College of St Hild and St Bede) Poor Law Unions, including surviving workhouse records Winterton Hospital (the County Asylum) and some other local hospitals

National Coal Board The National Coal Board (NCB) was the statutory corporation created to run the nationalised coal mining industry in the United Kingdom. Set up under the Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946, it took over the United Kingdom's collieries on "ve ...

(NCB) in County Durham, including records of predecessor coal owners and mining companies Charity Commission Newton Aycliffe and Peterlee new towns

Church Records

Ecclesiastical parishes in the

Diocese of Durham The Diocese of Durham is a Church of England diocese, based in Durham, and covering the historic county of Durham (and therefore including the part of Tyne and Wear south of the River Tyne, and excluding southern Teesdale). It was created in ...

, including parish registers, minute books and tithe plans (but not diocesan records which are held by

Durham University Library The Durham University Library is the centrally administered library of Durham University in England. It was founded in January 1833 at Palace Green by a 160 volume donation by the then Bishop of Durham, William Van Mildert, and now holds over ...

) Also records of many non-conformist churches including Baptist, Methodist, Roman Catholic, Society of Friends and United Reform Church

Other Deposited Records

Durham Miners' Association The Durham Miners' Association (DMA) was a trade union in the United Kingdom. History The union was founded in 1869 and its membership quickly rose to 4,000, but within a year had fallen back to 2,000. In December 1870, William Crawford becam ...

, and other Trade Unions Local businesses, including

Consett Iron Company The Consett Iron Company Ltd was an industrial business based in the Consett area of County Durham in the United Kingdom. The company owned coal mines and limestone quarries, and manufactured iron and steel. It was registered on 4 April 1864 a ...

, Weardale Lead Mining Company,

Harrison and Harrison Harrison & Harrison Ltd is a British company that makes and restores pipe organs, based in Durham and established in Rochdale in 1861. It is well known for its work on instruments such as King's College, Cambridge, Westminster Abbey, and the ...

Organs, Vaux Brewery, Castle Eden Brewery, and many others The Co-operative movement, local political parties Solicitors' practices Large estates in County Durham, such as: the Londonderry Estate (Wynyard Hall, Seaham Harbour), Brancepeth Castle and Estate, Strathmore Estate (Streatlam and Gibside, the Bowes family), Salvin of Croxdale Hall, Adamson of Gainford, Edleston of Gainford, Eldon Estate, Sherburn Hospital and Greatham Hospital. (NB Much of County Durham was historically owned by the Bishops of Durham and by Durham Cathedral: some manorial records are held by Durham University Library) (Archives of the Earls of Durham are at Lambton Castle, and those of Lord Barnard are at Raby Castle). Other families' records, including Pease, Backhouse, Mounsey and other Darlington Quaker families, Watson of Barnard Castle Antiquarian collections such as the Bowes Museum collection and the Greenwell Deeds A comprehensive collection of

Ordnance Survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...

plans and other maps The

Durham Light Infantry The Durham Light Infantry (DLI) was a light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1968. It was formed in 1881 under the Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 68th (Durham) Regiment of Foot (Light Infantry) and t ...

regimental archives Local newspapers

Women's Institute The Women's Institute (WI) is a community-based organisation for women in the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. The movement was founded in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada, by Erland and Janet Lee with Adelaide Hoodless being the ...

branches, and other clubs and societies such as Durham Dramatic Society Sports clubs such as Bishop Auckland Football Club and Durham City Cricket Club

County Archivists

Allan Seaman 1962-1974 Keith Bishop 1974-1976 Kenneth Hall 1976-1979 David Butler 1979-1989 Jennifer Gill 1989-2008 Liz Bregazzi 2008-2021

References

{{Authority control County record offices in England Buildings and structures in Durham, England History of County Durham