Croft, Yorkshire Family History Guide
Croft is an Ancient Parish in the county of Yorkshire.
Other places in the parish include: Stapleton near Darlington, Stapleton, Halnaby, Dalton upon Tees, Dalton on Tees, and Croft with Halnaby.
Alternative names: Croft on Tees
Parish church: St. Peter
Parish registers begin:
- Parish registers: 1615
- Bishop’s Transcripts: 1662
Nonconformists include: Roman Catholic, Wesleyan Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist Association.
Table of Contents
Adjacent Parishes
- South Cowton
- Darlington St John, Durham
- Cleasby
- Darlington St Cuthbert, Durham
- Eryholme
- Middleton Tyas
- East Cowton
- Barton
- Great Smeaton
- Hurworth, Durham
Parish History
The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870
CROFT, a village, a township, and a parish in the district of Darlington, and N. R. Yorkshire.
The village stands on the river Tees, adjacent to the York and New-Castle railway, at the boundary with Durham, 2¾ miles S of Darlington; and has, on the Durham side of the river, a station on the railway and a post office under Darlington. It is a watering-place, with sulphureous and saline springs; has a good hotel, lodging-houses, and baths, and a handsome stone bridge; and was the birth-place of Thomas Burnet, the philosopher and divine.
The township includes also the hamlet of Halnaby, and part of the parish of Great Smeaton. Acres, 1,482. Real property, £6,138; of which £725 are in railways. Pop., 466. Houses, 73.
The parish contains also the township of Dalton-upon-Tees, and part of the township of Stapleton. Acres, 7, 030. Assessed property, £9, 105. Pop., 761. Houses, 133. The property is divided among a few. The manor, with Croft Hall, belongs to Sir W. Chaytor, Bart.
The living is a rectory in the diocese of Ripon. Value, £825. Patron, the Crown. The church is English, of various styles; has a quaint, weather-worn, ancient appearance; contains monuments of the Clervaux, ancestors of the Chaytors: and is good. There are charities £10.
Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].
A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848
CROFT (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Darlington, wapentake of Gilling-East, N. riding of York; containing 744 inhabitants, of whom 422 are in the township of Croft, 3½ miles (S.) from Darlington.
The parish comprises the townships of Croft, Dalton-upon-Tees, part of Great Smeaton, and part of Stapleton; and consists by measurement of 6384 acres, of which 5032 are in tillage, and 1352 meadow and pasture. It has been latterly much resorted to for the benefit of its sulphureous springs, which are similar to those of Harrogate.
The spa is in the township of Croft, and on the property of Sir William Chaytor, Bart.: it was first brought into notice in 1668, and so early as 1713 the water had acquired such fame that it was sold in London in sealed bottles at an exorbitant price. In 1808 the proprietor erected a capacious hotel, with suitable conveniences, and a number of lodging-houses for the accommodation of visiters; and over the spring is a splendid suite of baths, built in 1829.
The air is remarkably pure; the surrounding country is pleasant, and the views on the banks of the Tees are delightful, commanding an extensive tract in the highest possible state of cultivation.
The village is neatly built, and situated on the river, over which is a handsome stone bridge of seven arches, about 200 yards distant from the spa; it is 414 feet in length, and from the bed of the river to the top of the iron-railing 59 feet high. At about a quarter of a mile below the village, the York and Newcastle railway crosses the Tees by a splendid oblique viaduct of four arches, at an angle of 45°, and 54 feet above the level of the river; the Croft station is only about one hundred yards from the village, although locally in the parish of Hurworth.
The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £12. 8. 4., and in the patronage of the Crown; net income, £825. The church is an ancient edifice, and exhibits specimens of various styles of English architecture; it contains an altar-tomb to a member of the Milbank family, and another to the family of Clervaux, the ancestors of Sir William Chaytor. Burnet, the author of the Theory of the Earth, was born here in 1635.
Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848
Parish Registers
Marriage Licences and Allegations
London Marriage Licences and Allegations 1521 to 1869
The following have been extracted from London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869.
Abbreviations. — B. Bishop of London’s Office; D. Dean and Chapter of Westminster; F. Faculty Office of Archbishop of Canterbury; V. Registry of the Vicar-General of Canterbury.
AUanson, John, of Croft, co. York, bachelor, and Mary Meriton, of St. Antholin, London, spinster — at St. Nicholas Acon, London. 11 Nov. 1661. B
Source: London Marriage Licences 1521 to 1869; Edited by Joseph Foster; London 1887
Parish Records
FamilySearch
Administration
- County: Yorkshire
- Civil Registration District: Darlington
- Probate Court: Court of the Bishop (Consistory) of the Commissary of the Archdeaconry of Richmond Eastern Deaneries – Richmond
- Diocese: Post-1835 – Ripon, Pre-1836 – York
- Rural Deanery: Richmond
- Poor Law Union: Darlington
- Hundred: East Gilling
- Province: York