From 'The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Difussion of Useful Knowledge', 1840

'The township of Belford contained, in 1831, a population of 1354, about one- fourth agricultural. The town stands on a gradual slope about two miles from the sea. It consists of two principal streets; the houses are in general neat and well built.

The church, or chapel, is an irregular building capable of containing 600 or 700 persons; there are two or three dissenting places of worship. There is a little weaving done; and several of the townsmen are employed in stone-quarries and coal-pits near the town.

There is a market on Tuesday, at which a considerable quantity of corn is sold for exportation, and there are two small cattle-fairs in the year...

...There were, in 1833, in the township of Belford, five day- schools, with 181 children; three boarding-schools, with 26 children; and two Sunday- schools, with from 80 to 140 children. In the other townships of the parish were three day-schools, with 102 children, and one Sunday-school, with 42 children.'

Rambles in Northumberland and on the Scottish Border, 1835

'Belford, a small town about fifteen miles north of Alnwick, contains little to interest the tourist; though from the rising ground in the neighbourhood he may obtain an excellent view of Bambrough Castle and Holy Island, should he have neither time nor inclination to visit those places.

The corn-market, which is held every Tuesday at Belford, is well attended ; and considerable quantities both of wheat and barley are sold there.

Much of the barley which is sold at Belford is sent to Berwick; and of the wheat a considerable portion is purchased by the proprietors of Waren Mills, about three miles eastward of Belford, who supply flour not only to the villages in the neighbourhood, but also send considerable quantities by sea to Newcastle and other places.'

The Guide to Knowledge, 1833

'Belford is a small town, but one of the neatest in the north of England. It is situated on the ridge of a hill, on the high road to Berwick. Near this town are the remains of a Danish camp. It is 15 miles from Berwick, and 326 from London.'

A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen, 1835

'Sir John Cochrane being engaged in Argyle's rebellion against James the Second, was taken prisoner after a desperate resistance, and condemned to be hanged.

His daughter [Grizel Cochrane] having noticed that the death warrant was expected from London, attired herself in men's clothes, and twice attacked and robbed the mails (betwixt Berwick and Belford,) which conveyed the death warrants; thus by delaying the execution, giving time to Sir John Cochrane's father, the earl of Dundonald, to make interest with father Petre, (a Jesuit) King James' confessor, who, for the sum of five thousand pounds, agreed to intercede with his royal master in behalf of Sir John Cochrane, and to procure his pardon, which was effected.'

The Works of the Rev. John Wesley, 1826

'Thursday 22 [June 1766], At eleven I preached in the street at Belford, fifteen miles beyond Alnwick. The hearers were seriously attentive, and a few seemed to understand what was spoken. Between six and seven I preached in the town-hall at Berwick. I had an uncommon liberty in speaking, and a solemn awe sat on the faces of all the hearers. Is God again visiting this poor, barren place?'

Cobbett's Political Register, 1832

'When at NEWCASTLE I learned that Scotch vagrants were regularly sent from that place back into Scotland by pass-carts; that the conveyance of them was contracted for; and that the contractor received two pounds two shillings for each journey: that this contractor put them down at a place called KYLOE, a place five miles distant from BELFORD, on the road to BERWICK; that the vagrants were delivered into the custody of a police-officer, who saw them deposited in the parish in Scotland named in the pass; and that the contractor had sometimes taken the same individuals as often as ten or twelve times!'