It can be helpful to understand the differing structures used within England when searching for and using genealogical records. Each town or village that an ancestor resided in is known as a 'parish' and these are found within a county. However, matters can become confused as parish boundaries and county boundaries have changed over time. You may therefore need to search for two different counties records, despite researching the same parish. As well as this, there are also manorial boundaries to consider when using manorial records, such as court minutes and surveys. Manorial boundaries do not always match that of the parish boundary.
Other factors to consider with regards to the administrative structure of England are registration districts, peculiars, dioceses and the emergence of county councils. By understanding the structures and boundaries within England from a genealogical perspective, you may discover new records that are held in different libraries and archives.
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Parish BoundariesParish Boundaries
One of the more familiar terms associated with the English administrative structure is that of the parish. This tends to be the village or town where your ancestor lived and its surrounding area. These were originally areas of ecclesiastical administration prior to civil parishes being established in the 19th century. The boundaries of some parishes have changed over time. Each of our ancestors belonged to a named parish who was responsible for their residents in times of need, such as the request of poor relief. Parish life was highly important in the past, with each parish looked after by the church vestry. Officials were elected within each parish including churchwardens and a constable. It was possible to change the parish to which an ancestor belonged, such as through apprenticeship, work or marriage. It is therefore common to find our ancestors moving between parishes within England or further afield.
English CountiesEnglish Counties
England is broken up into 48 ceremonial counties and 39 historic counties. The ceremonial counties are what we recognise today as English counties, such as West Yorkshire and the City of London. The historic counties are more condensed, such as combining the ceremonial counties of East Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire into simply 'Yorkshire'. In genealogy, both types of county are used depending on the way the record sets have been divided by an archive. The historic counties are what our ancestors would have known, with ceremonial counties not being divised until 1974,[1] and it is these historic counties that you will therefore see referred to in the historic documents themselves.
The boundaries of counties have changed multiple times, some more often than others. There are also 'new' counties created for administrative reasons. One example is that of West Midlands county, created in 1974, which contains parishes that were previously in Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. If you are tracing an ancestor from a region such as this, you may therefore find records relating to them in the 'new' or 'old' county. This is also true to parishes which changed from one existing county to another, such as Bournemouth being reallocated to Dorset from Hampshire.
Manor BoundariesManor Boundaries
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Manors originated in the Middle Ages and were territorial and administrative divisions of land tenancy. Some manors covered more than one parish, whereas some parishes contained more than one manor. The boundaries of a manor can be seen in surviving maps and surveys, however they do not survive for every manor. You can check which records survive by using the Manorial Documents Register available via The National Archives. This can be searched using the name of the parish or the name of the manor. Manorial records are not always held by the relevant county archive so it is always best to consult the register to find related documentation.
Registration DistrictsRegistration Districts
Civil registration began in England on 1st July 1837. For this revolutionary new system, England was divided into registration districts. These aligned with the pre-existing Poor Law Unions of 1834. A registration district can be seen on every birth, marriage and death certificate showing where the event was registered. These are then further categorised into sub-districts.
As with most boundaries, those of registration districts have changed multiple times. For example, the registration district of Sturminster was created in 1837. In 1974 this was regrouped under the title of North Dorset, before being again reallocated to the registration district of Dorset in 2005. It is therefore wise to be careful when searching for an ancestor's life event not to narrow results down by registration district alone unless you are confident with the correct terminology of the time.
Ecclesiastical DivisionsEcclesiastical Divisions
Prior to civil registration, the Church of England was responsible for recording baptisms, marriages and burials. Administratviey speaking, there are many ecclesiastical divisions within England that may impact on genealogical research.
- Provinces- There are two provinces of the Church of England; The Province of Canterbury (covering the south) and the Province of York (covering the north). Any probate information that covered land in both provinces was overseen by the Province of Canterbury
- Dioceses- There are dioceses headed by a Bishop within each province. The copies of parish registers known as Bishops Transcripts were sent to the relevant diocesan registry
- Archdeaconries- Dioceses are divided into archdeaconries whom helped to enforce church laws
- Deaneries- Archdeaconries are divided into deaneries which are a small group of parishes. These are lastly split into each individual parish
Alternatively, baptisms, marriages and burials may have been recorded under a nonconformist chapel. It is not always easy to discover what religion your ancestor followed and even where this is known it is then not always easy to find their nearest chapel of their chosen faith. As new chapels were established and later closed, you may find your ancestor had to travel varying distances to attend services. You can research some nonconformist sectors, such as Methodist circuits and Catholic dioceses, to see which areas of England each covered.
See alsoSee also
Explore more about the Administrative Structure of EnglandExplore more about the Administrative Structure of England
- Administrative Geographies of England at Office of National Statistics
- Census Geographies at Office of National Statistics
References
- ↑ The Strange Case of the Counties That Didn’t Change. The Association of British Counties