Glenwright Name Study - Whitley Chapel Origins

Date: 1597 to 1850
Location: Whitley Chapel, Northumberland, England
Surname/tag: Glenwright

The story of the Glenwright family of Whitley Chapel

Hugh Glenwright (abt.1708-1769) headed what appears to be a smaller branch of the Glenwright family in the parish of Whitley Chapel, about 7 miles southeast of Haydon Bridge. Until 1763, Whitley was a small chapel attached to the larger parish in the Market town of Hexham along the Tyne river – about 5 miles downstream (east) from Haydon Bridge.

The parish records for Whitley Chapel do not begin until 1764 (marriages 1765) which means that we must look in Hexham for earlier records. Still, I haven’t seen the records to tie the various children in this family together and to the other parishes. But in addition to the geographic connection, we have circumstantial evidence for the relationships among the siblings in the form of marriage witnesses. Cuthbert was a witness to the marriages of Isabella and Jane. Joseph Bell (probably a near relative of their mother Elizabeth Bell) was a witness to Cuthbert’s marriage.

We do not know how this family relates to the others, but we notice that there are record fragments for a Hugh Glenwright in the Haltwhistle family two generations earlier.

This branch of the Glenwright name may have died out, although we find two male descendants in the last generation who appear to have disappeared. They could have had families as well.