Ferryhill Civil Parish
Reference: CP/Fe Catalogue Title: Ferryhill Civil Parish Area: Catalogue Category: Local Authority Records Description:
Covering Dates: 1856-2011
Access: Access is restricted for up to 100 years due to Data Protection legislation. Apply to County Archivist for access.
Catalogue Index
Use and to reveal/hide the structure of the catalogue index (requires Javascript to be enabled in your internet browser options). Click to jump directly to information at a specific level of the catalogue.
- Ferryhill Civil Parish
- Ferryhill Civil Parish (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Minutes (Ref: CP/Fe Section 01)
- Vestry and Parish Council minutes 1875-1917 (Ref: CP/Fe section 01)
- Parish Council minutes 1917-1937 (Ref: CP/Fe section 02)
- Parish Council minutes 1937-1971 (Ref: CP/Fe section 03)
- Minutes of Committees (Ref: CP/Fe section 04)
- Minutes of Overseers (Ref: CP/Fe section 05)
- Indexes to minutes (Ref: CP/Fe section 06)
- Elected members (Ref: CP/Fe Section 02)
- Declarations of acceptance of office (Ref: CP/Fe 11)
- Attendance at meetings (Ref: CP/Fe 19)
- Leases and Agreements (Ref: CP/Fe Section 03)
- Financial records (Ref: CP/Fe Section 04)
- General Accounts (Ref: CP/Fe 108, 122-125)
- Receipt and payment books (Ref: CP/Fe 109-117, 175-180)
- Treasurers' bonds (Ref: CP/Fe 149)
- Petty cash books (Ref: CP/Fe 181-183)
- Charities (Ref: CP/Fe 104a-107)
- Correspondence (Ref: CP/Fe Section 05)
- Correspondence on particular subjects (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Burials Joint Committee (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Cases against Individuals (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Celebrations (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Coronation of Elizabeth II (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Coronation of George VI (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Peace Celebrations, 1919 (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Charities (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Commons and Open Spaces (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Market Place, Ferryhill (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Miscellaneous correspondence (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Public Footpaths (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Recreation Facilities (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Road Safety (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Roads (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Street Lighting (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Town Hall (Ref: CP/Fe )
- World War 2 (including Air Raid Precautions) (Ref: CP/Fe )
- General Correspondence (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Letter books (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Allotments (Ref: CP/Fe Section 06)
- Footpaths and Rights of Way (Ref: CP/Fe Section 07)
- Sports Facilities (Ref: CP/Fe Section 08)
- Plans (Ref: CP/Fe Section 09)
- Agriculture (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Housing (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Ordnance Survey Maps (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Political Boundaries (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Town Hall (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Miscellaneous (Ref: CP/Fe Section 10)
- Inventories (Ref: CP/Fe )
- Miscellaneous (Ref: CP/Fe 158, 186-187)
Catalogue Description
Changes in administration leading towards modern structures in the local government system, as we see them today, began before the Local Government Act 1894 came into force. The Representation of the People Act 1832 initiated the whole system of changes in English administration in the 19th Century. Many ancient parishes were turned into new administrative units following the Poor Law Amendment Act 1866. Generally, ecclesiastical parishes were substituted by civil parishes, which became the smallest administrative units. Urban and Rural districts were also introduced in 1894 and, together with Municipal Boroughs which were already in existence, created a middle tier in the administrative system, each comprising several civil parishes. Therefore, at the end of the century, there were three main levels in the local government hierarchy: counties, districts and civil parishes.Civil parishes at first were organised the way the old poor law union and ecclesiastical parishes were. In most cases, boundaries were identical with ecclesiastical parishes, but with time they changed due to several local government reorganisations.
The 1894 Act introduced elected councils on a parish level, having been established in counties first in 1888. Parishes with a population of over 300 had an obligation to elect a council, and parishes over 200 could decide whether they needed one or not. If they chose not to, then all decisions on their behalf were made by the relevant district council and the same procedure applied to small parishes. Initially, members of the parish council were elected from the local government electors for the parish during the parish annual meeting, but this changed after the Representation of the People Act 1948 came into force, making the election process more clear and transparent.
Parish council functions focus on everyday life of the local community and, as we can see in the records they create, they mainly deal with matters relating to footpaths, village greens, allotments, bus shelters, lighting, libraries and local entertainment and leisure centres. Occasionally they deal with cases of public order disturbances and rural crime. Some look after closed churchyards and manage burial grounds after burial boards were abolished under the 1894 Act.
Ferryhill was a township in Merrington ancient parish before becoming a separate civil parish in 1866. It was included in Sedgefield Poor Law Union and Durham Ward.
Following the main local authority reorganisation in 1894, when urban and rural districts were created, it became part of Sedgefield Rural District.
After local government reorganisation in 1974, Sedgefield RDC was absorbed into Sedgefield Borough Council until 2009, when all the districts within the county were amalgamated with the County Council to create a unitary authority, of which Ferryhill is still part.
Catalogue Contents
159-167
Ref: CP/Fe 1591, 168-171
Ref: CP/Fe 12-3, 10
Ref: CP/Fe 24-9, 172-173
Ref: CP/Fe 4174
Ref: CP/Fe 17410
Ref: CP/Fe 1012-14
Ref: CP/Fe 1220-30
Ref: CP/Fe 2031-45
Ref: CP/Fe 3147-59
Ref: CP/Fe 4746, 62-63, 97
Ref: CP/Fe 4661, 96
Ref: CP/Fe 6164
Ref: CP/Fe 6494-95
Ref: CP/Fe 94185
Ref: CP/Fe 18566
Ref: CP/Fe 6668-78, 103
For correspondence re National Playing Fields Association see CP/Fe 96.
80-83
Ref: CP/Fe 8086, 100
Ref: CP/Fe 8687
Ref: CP/Fe 8788-90
Ref: CP/Fe 8892-93
Ref: CP/Fe 9299, 104
Ref: CP/Fe 9984, 102
Ref: CP/Fe 8460, 67, 79, 85, 91, 98, 101, 184
Ref: CP/Fe 6015-18, 65, 118-121, 130
Ref: CP/Fe 15144, 151-155
Ref: CP/Fe 144138-142
Ref: CP/Fe 138126-127, 137
Ref: CP/Fe 126128-129, 131-132
Ref: CP/Fe 128133, 145-146
Ref: CP/Fe 133134-136, 143, 148
Ref: CP/Fe 134147
Ref: CP/Fe 147150, 156-157
Ref: CP/Fe 150