The Conn families of Durham

Coniscliffe Sedgefield Sunderland

The Conn families of these three towns are of varied origin. Coniscliffe is a Viking settlement probably from the 9th. century, but when the Conns arrived is not known. The records show them to be in the village in the late 1500s, but they rapidly died out. The Conns in Sedgefield arrived from Whitby in Yorkshire in the 1750s. This is a large and dynamic family that spread widely across Durham and in the 1850s to Australasia. Sunderland is a major port and as such has been a staging post for many of the families from Durham, Yorkshire and wider afield.

This map shows the parishes in the eastern part of the County of Durham, along with the date that the parish registers started. The area of the map is roughly 25 miles by 35 miles. The three main parishes are shown in yellow, although Sunderland originally consisted of the two parishes of Monkwearmouth and Bishopwearmouth. Sunderland was not created until 1719.