‘The Parochial History and Antiquities of Stockton-upon-Tees’

By Research Volunteer, Alison

I’m a volunteer for the Collections team and I have recently started working on a project on John Brewster’s original copy of ‘The Parochial History and Antiquities of Stockton-upon-Tees’. This first edition was written in 1796 and is in the collection at Preston Park Museum.

I am comparing this copy with a revised version (online) that John Brewster wrote in 1829 that has amendments and additions with the passage of time. The original handwriting can be a bit difficult to follow with the long ‘S’ still being in use, along with the elaborate way of writing of that period. They certainly had a way of making things very wordy!

This is the first known image of Preston Hall from Brewster’s 2^nd Edition and dates from 1829. Four years after the Hall was constructed.

This is an exciting and interesting project for me that promises to give a fascinating insight into the Stockton of times past. Being a ‘Stockton girl’ I already know quite a bit about Stockton and this project gives me the opportunity to discover a lot more, from the first inhabitants of the area to the beginnings of the town through to a growing market town.

Image from the 2^nd Edition of Stockton Market Place, taken from the book itself.

You can read John Brewster’s 1829 second version of ‘The Parochial History and Antiquities of Stockton-upon-Tees’ here.