You should start searching the Census records for Durham, Northumberland. I have an "English" connection by marriage from Lowick in Northumberland.You should see if you can find your husband's grandmother or try to get her birth certificate. This will show her parents and area they were from. It is a hard slog I am afraid as there are so many people with the same names. If you want to go further back than 1841,then you will have to access the Parish Records for baptisms etc.

Good luck,
Peta Walker-Robson