Heritage

A Quaker Town

It's not hard to find reference to Quakers in Darlington as they crop up everywhere! There are plenty of groups and activities in town bearing the name "Quaker" which have no links: think football team, pub, scaffolding, dog walking...the list is endless! It is a tribute to the influence Quakers had in building the town.

However, we are concerned with the real Quaker heritage in Darlington, and its very rich. Quaker families from the very well known Pease and Backhouse who built the railways, to less well known but equally important Proctor sisters who founded Polam Hall school.

The Burial ground

An undiscovered gem, a place of tranquility, right in the heart of the town

Behind the Friends Meeting House lies a large and peaceful burial ground where many of the names on the simple headstones record the Quaker families who influenced the history of Darlington.

PDF document records are attached to view at the bottom of the page. 

Earliest burials 

This land has been used as a burial ground by Darlington’s Quaker population since the 18th century. Before that time there are suggestions adjacent plots were used, but what happened to these graves when buildings were erected is not clear. Initially, all headstones were banned. Marking a person in this way could be seen as elevating them above others, which goes against the testimony of equality. By the time of our first headstone, Quakers had come to an agreement that a small, simple stone would be appropriate, marking the name, date of death, and age. However, Quakers objected to using those names of days and months which derived from pagan gods; they substituted numbers, thus Sunday was for them "First Day." The move from the Julian Calendar to the Gregorian calendar in 1752 can therefore cause some confusion, as the first month was March and then became January. Thankfully The oldest headstone at Darlington is 1789, so all first months refer to January. Headstones were never obligatory, and many burials have no marker.

20th Century

Some time in the 1950’s full burials were ceased, but interment of ashes is still performed. Plots can be subdivided for family and where interment of ashes has been performed up to six subdivisions can be possible per plot. These are indicated by letters (A-F) appended to the plot number. Some Quakers also request that ashes are scattered, which is a less formal process. These scatterings are sometimes in common areas with no plot number, or around a plot where there is a family connection. This list will indicate, where known, the status of the burial/scattering.

Records

We publish burials from 1789 as show in the attached document records. We do not hold the earlier records, all burial records within Durham General Meeting as existing in 1840 were surrendered to the Public Record Office following public registration in 1837.  Friends within the Yearly Meeting made digests of all burials c. 1660- 1837 based on Quarterly Meeting boundaries. These digests are held at Durham County Records Office under the following references:

1628-1837, SF/Du/QM/7/8, M5/128

1655-1840, SF/Du/QM/7/6, M5/128

1655-1816, SF/Du/QM/7/9, M5/128

1789, SF/Du/QM/7/12, M5/128

Our Burial Ground Records - to view

Burial Ground records - by Surname

Burial Ground records - by plot number