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England (Counties as in 1851-1901) => England => Northumberland => Topic started by: Familyhistory on Friday 25 June 04 23:09 BST (UK)
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I live in the United States and I am not familier with the family history resources in England. I am looking for Church records,bio and family histories for the Selby family who owned the Biddlestone Hall/Chapel. I do not know anything on the Selby/Soulsby families except a few names and dates. I am related to Ann Selby who married Ralph Mather. Ann Selby was the daughter of Thomas Selby chr. 4 Nov 1770 and Elizabeth Soulsby chr. 25 Feb 1771.
Any help you could provide would be wonderful.
Take Care,
Melissa
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Hi Melissa,
don't know if this is any help but I have a William Soulsby married yo a Mary Jane Charlton in 1853.I believe most of them came from Chester lestreet I think that's in Durham.
Regards Billabong
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Hi Melissa
I live in a place called Rothbury which is not so far from Biddlestone. There are Soulsbys who live in my village and have done so for a very long time. Can I suggest you check the IGI parish records for Rothbury area http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers/CountyNorthumberland.htm. I've just looked at them and your Elizabeth Soulsby and Thomas Selby were christened in Rothbury. I would presume you probably have some living relatives in this village. If you want to see what the village loks like put Rothbury into google and you'll come up with lots of sites
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Melissa,
Excuse me sticking my nose into your tree queries.
Biddlestone Hall lay in the Parish of Alwinton in the county of Northumberland, to the west of the Parish of Rothbury. The town of Rothbury was the nearest to the Hall.
In C18th & C19th the term "Parish" exclusively meant Anglican/Church of England.
The Selby family were "lords of the manor" and built themselves a Roman Catholic chapel, adjacent to the Hall.
The term " Non-Conformist" was applied to those who did not follow the "established" church of the land.
The County Record Office (CRO)of Northumberland holds the following records of the Biddlestone Hall RC Chapel...
Baptisms 1767-1840
Marriages 1708-1838
Deaths/Burials 1768-1840.
But the CRO has been closed from Sept 2005 and will not reopen until late this year (relocating from Morpeth to Woodhorn)
In the meantime CRO has loaned out some records, including church records, to the public library in Morpeth town ( but I do not know which ones ! )
The IGI contains the above baptisms for Biddlestone Hall RC Chapel for 1767-1840.
Newcastle City Public Library also holds transcipts from this chapel for various periods.
Tessy says there was a christening for Elizabeth Soulsby and Thomas Selby in Rothbury.
Perhaps some of the family followed Roman Catholicism while others were with the "established church".
There are many references to Selbys on web site
communities.northumberland.gov.uk
Go to "Rothbury", then see old photographs of the town. Look into "Printed Material" section and into the Trade Directory... John Selby Shoemaker, Mary Selby Straw Hat Maker, William Soulsby Stone Mason, William Selby, Beer Retailer.
In "Manuscripts" see Selbys listed in the 1762 Militia Lists.
There are also two Selby families listed on the 1824 "Established Poor" list.
Michael Dixon
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Thank you for all your help!
Melissa
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Thank you for all your assistance in my research of the Selby family.
Take care,
Melissa
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Melissa,
I just saw the record ( a transcription rather than film of actual church register) of the baptism of Elizabeth Soulsby.... it was dated 24th of Feb, rather than 25th,
and gave "William Soulsby of Rothbury" as her father.
Michael Dixon
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Thank you Michael for contacting me about this record. I have not found that many records for the Selby/Soulsby (Rothbury)families online. Where did you find the information?
Take care,
Melissa
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Melissa,
I found this "index" of Rothbury Parish ( Church of England) "events" in the City of Newcastle Public Library.
The library holds many church records as well as many other Family History sources, e.g. censuses.
But it does not hold "the full set".
The normal "home" for full church records for the County of Northumberland is the Northumberland County Record Office.
This was situated in the town of Morpeth
(see you map ! ) but closed it's doors in Sept 2005.
It will reopen late this year in another location.. at Woodhorn, near Ashington.
I hope this answers your question.
Michael Dixon,
Blyth
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Thank you!
Melissa
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Hi Melissa
I just saw Michael's post to you and your reply that you hadnot seen many things online for the Soulsby/Selby families. If you go to http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/IGIBatchNumbers/CountyNorthumberland.htm you can go to Rothbury, type in Soulsby or Selby and you wil get a list with dates of baptisms or marriages - youcan see Elizabeth Soulsby's baptism in 1771 and her father is stated as William. You can do the same for Biddlestone Hall from the same site. Hope this is of help.
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Thank you for the tip!!
Melissa
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Dear Melissa: I live a mile from Biddlestone and walk at the estate every day. Some Selbys are buried in Alwinton Church, a Church of England Church at the head of the valley here. The last Selby men apparently had a disagreement with the vicar at Alwinton and are buried on Selby land facing the entrance drive to the old House. A link to some Selby graves at Alwinton is here: https://www.findagrave.com/cemetery/2609604/memorial-search?firstname=&middlename=&lastname=Selby&cemeteryName=St+Michael+and+All+Angels+Churchyard&birthyear=&birthyearfilter=&deathyear=&deathyearfilter=&memorialid=&mcid=&linkedToName=&datefilter=&orderby=r&plot=
The Chapel at Biddlestone is still consecrated (Catholic) and opens a few times a year, and is well attended. Records for Northumberland are held at Woodhorn, a former mining site at Ashington in South East Northumberland, including parish records. There are some professional researchers you can commission to undertake research for you. I'd suggest contacting Woodhorn: https://www.northumberlandarchives.com/services/family-history/ All the best, Elspeth