Mitford Northumberland Family History Guide

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Mitford is an Ancient Parish in the county of Northumberland.

Other places in the parish include: Thropple, Throphill, Throp Hill, Spittle Hill, Spittal Hill, Spital Hill, Pigdon, Nunriding, Nunridge, Nun-Riding, Newton Underwood, Newton Park, Molesden, Highlaw-Gate, High and Low Highley, High and Low Highlaws, Heighley, Espley, Edington, and Benridge.

Parish registers begin:

  • Parish registers: 1651
  • Bishop’s Transcripts: 1769

Nonconformists include: Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Presbyterian, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Adjacent Parishes

Mitford Parish Registers

Bishops Transcripts

Explore the Bishops’ Transcripts for the Diocese of Durham (1639–1919) – This collection offers parish register copies submitted annually to the Bishop, covering baptisms, marriages, and burials across Durham, Northumberland, and parts of Yorkshire and Cumberland. Ideal for tracing ancestors when original registers are missing or incomplete.

Mitford Bishops Transcripts 1769-1851

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

MITFORD, a village, a township, and a parish, in Morpeth district, Northumberland. The village stands at the confluence of the rivers Font and Wansbeck, near the Wansbeck Valley railway, 2½ miles W by S of Morpeth; was originally called Midford; was once a market-town; and has a post-office under Morpeth. The township includes the village, and extends into the country. Pop., 210. Houses, 35.

The parish contains also the townships of Molesden, Spittal-Hill, Edington, Benridge, Newton-Underwood, Newton-Park, Throphill, Nunriding, Pigdon, and High and Low Highlaws. Acres, 9,595. Real property, £7,252. Pop., 646. Houses, 118. The property is divided among a few.

The manor belonged, before the Norman conquest, to the Mitfords; passed by marriage, soon after the Conquest, to Sir Richard Bertram; was ravaged by the Flemish Rutars, in consequence of Roger Bertram having joined the barons against King John; was forfeited in 1264, in consequence of another Bertram having rebelled against Henry III.; passed to the Earls of Pembroke and Athole, and to the Percys; went back to the Mitfords in the time of Charles II.; belongs now to Admiral Mitford; and is associated with William Mitford, author of the “History of Greece,” and with Mary Russell Mitford, author of “Our Village.”

A castle was built here in 1150-70, by W. Bertram; and is still represented by a ruined massive keep, with two posterns, and two waggon-headed vaults. The old manor house was built in 1637, out of materials of the castle; and is still represented by a turreted porch and some offices. The present mansion, the seat of Admiral Mitford, is a modern edifice after designs by Dobson. Spittal-Hill House is the seat of the Bullock family; and occupies the site of an hospital, founded by Sir William Bertram.

The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Durham. Value, £100. Patron, the Bishop of Durham. The church stands embosomed in trees; is cruciform, 109 feet long, with Norman nave, a good Norman door, and an early English chancel; has a picturesque W turret; and contains an effigies of a Bertram.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

Maps

Vision of Britain Historical Maps – includes topographic maps, boundary maps and land use maps

Administration

  • County: Northumberland
  • Civil Registration District: Morpeth
  • Probate Court: Court of the Bishop of Durham (Episcopal Consistory)
  • Diocese: Durham
  • Rural Deanery: Morpeth
  • Poor Law Union: Morpeth
  • Hundred: Castle Ward; Morpeth Ward
  • Province: York