Archives
- Durham Record Office
Find out what records they hold and how to view them. DRO is the official archive for County Durham and Darlington.
- Gateshead Archive
See what collections they hold and how to access them.
Births, Marriages, Deaths & Parish Records
- Durham Records Online
Search parish records including christenings, confirmations, marriages and burials for Durham ancestors. Over 3 million records available.
- Durham Baptisms
Find out when your ancestors were baptised and who their parents were.
- Durham Marriages
Search more than 700,000 records from many Durham parishes.
- Durham Marriage Licence Bonds & Allegations 1821–1837
- Durham Burials
- Durham Burial Index 1813–1837
- Durham Parish Registers (FreeREG)
Over 500,000 parish records available to search for free.
- Durham Diocese Bishop's Transcripts 1639–1919
- Durham Obituaries 1856–1916 Archived
An index to obituaries of prominent Durham City inhabitants, and other important individuals in the county.
- Tees Valley Indexes
Refer to the registers of births, deaths and marriages held at Middlesbrough, Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees and Redcar & Cleveland Register Offices.
- Stockton Roots
Search and view birth, death, marriage and burial records for Stockton-on-Tees.
- Durham Cathedral Church of Christ & Blessed Mary, Records 1609–1896
- Bishopwearmouth, St. Michael's Church, Marriages 1841–1949
- Castle Eden Parish Registers 1661–1812
- Coniscliffe Parish Registers 1590–1812
- Croxdale Baptisms 1813–1893
- Croxdale Marriages 1732–1837
- Elvet, St. Oswald's 1538–1751
Baptisms, marriages and burials.
- Gateshead Fell Baptisms 1825–1837
- Muggleswick Marriages
- Muggleswick Burials 1813–1837
- Penshaw, All Saints, Marriages 1837–1986
- Ryton Marriages 1581–1812
- Seaham Parish Registers 1646–1812
- Southwick Cemetery Burials 1884–1998
- Southwick, Holy Trinity Church, Marriages 1846–1989
- Stockton-on-Tees Baptisms 1637–1780
- Sunderland Grangetown Cemetery Burials 1858–1999
- Sunderland, Holy Trinity Church, Burials 1798–1819
- Winston
Cemeteries & Graves
- Durham Find a Grave
Records and images from more than 160 cemeteries and graveyards in the county.
- Durham Crematorium Book of Remembrance
View the records by selecting a day and month. The years are listed together.
- Sunderland Burial Records
The Sunderland cemetery index has thousands of burial and cemetery records for you to view. Viewing records is free. However, if you'd like a picture of a headstone, there's a small charge for it.
- Durham Gravestones
Many cemetery locations in the county that have been indexed, and sometimes photographed.
- Interment
Has a good selection of burial records from across the county.
Census Records
- Census 1841–1921
Search the census records for Durham from 1841–1921, plus the 1939 Register all at once.
- FreeCen
Has a good, but not complete, selection of free records to search and view.
Electoral Registers
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Durham Register of Voters 1868–9
Lists of those who registered to vote.
- Electoral Registers 1910–1932
There are over 8.7 million registers for Durham in this collection.
- Sunderland Electoral Registers 1832–1867
Images of the poll books which can be viewed alphabetically by surname.
Historical Directories
Contain the lists of streets, people and businesses in the following places.
- Darlington 1847
- Durham 1828
- Durham 1847
- Sunderland 1827
Contains a list of inhabitants and tradespeople. The details included are name, surname, occupation and street.
- Sunderland 1847
- County Durham Directories
Local History
- Durham Mining Museum
Covers mining in the Northern part of England, including County Durham. It also includes lists of coal miners and workers, disaster reports and a photo gallery.
- History of the Durham Miners' Association
How and why the association was formed and its history between 1870–1904.
- Place-Names of Durham
The history of the places in Durham.
- Historic Durham Maps
Military
- Soldiers of the North East
The records in this database are the accumulation of more than ten years work by historian Stephen Nicholson. Focusing on his home town of Darlington, Stephen has recorded the details of more than 1,200 soldiers who died in the war and who have some connection with the town.
- Durham Home Guard 1939–1945
These are records of over 80,000 individuals who served in the Home Guard in the county of Durham between 1939 and 1945. The records consist of the enrolment forms that were completed when men joined the Durham Home Guard.
- War history of the 18th (S.) Battalion Durham Light Infantry
Printed in 1920, this book includes the history of wars, a roll of officers and non-commissioned officers.
Additional Records
- Durham Family History Society
Has a research centre in Newcastle where you can search for your family history. There are different branches throughout the region where monthly meetings are held. Anyone can join the society and get help and advice.
- Early Durham Surnames
An analysis of the historic distribution and incidence of surnames in County Durham during the Tudor period (1485–1603).
- Durham Workhouse Inmates 1861
Lists of inmates for various towns in Durham.
- North East Inheritance Database
An online database of pre-1858 probate records (wills and related documents), from Northumberland and County Durham.
- Teesdale Mercury Archive
Has been developed by converting approximately 45,000-microfilmed pages of the Teesdale Mercury into searchable images. These images digitally preserve every page of the newspaper from its first issue in July 1854 until December 2005.
School Records
- Durham School Register 1840–1912
An online book that you can search that contains the names of headmasters, teachers, students and more. There's an index at the back of the book so you can quickly see if your ancestor is in it.
- School Admission Registers & Log-Books 1870–1914
Search nearly 700,000 records of admissions in Durham.