A New Parish

By the early 1700s the wealthy urban élite of Sunderland were complaining that  most pews in Bishopwearmouth were owned by local landowners. Well-placed seats in St Michael and All Angels were at a premium, valued so much that rights to them appeared in a marriage contract, that of Richard Richardson jun. of Sunderland and Thomasine Holmes in 1704. St Michael’s could accommodate only a quarter of parishioners. When Stockton was given a new parish in 1712, Sunderland was prompted to lobby for its own. An appeal for funds raised pledges of £1,000, and land on the town moor was allocated for Holy Trinity church and graveyard