Cumberland, England Genealogy

Cumberland is a maritime and border county in England, bounded on the north by Scotland.

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CUMBERLAND, a maritime and border county bounded on the N by the Solway frith and Scotland, on the E by Northumberland and Durham, on the SE and S by Westmoreland and Lancashire, and on the W by the Irish sea. Its greatest length, north-eastward, is 64 miles; it greatest breadth, south-eastward, is 35 miles its circuit is about 215 miles; and its area is 1, 001, 273 acres. The surface is very much diversified. A range of mountains, commencing in the Crossfell ridge at the boundary with Durham and Westmoreland, extends along all these borders to the boundary with Scotland, and degenerates in many parts, especially toward the N, into wild expanses of heath...

The county contains 106 parishes and 5 extra-parochial places; and is divided first into the five wards of Cumberland, Eskdale, Leath, Allerdale-above-Derwent, and Allerdale-below-Derwent, and next into the parliamentary sections of East Cumberland and West Cumberland, the former comprising the first three wards, the latter comprising the last two wards, and each sending two members to parliament. The registration county is conterminate with the county proper; and is divided into the districts of Alston, Penrith, Brampton, Longtown, Carlisle, Wigton, Cockermouth, Whitehaven, and Bootle. Carlisle sends two members to parliament; Whitehaven and Cockermouth each send one; eighteen towns are market-towns; and there are upwards of 340 smaller towns, villages, and hamlets...

The county is governed by a lord-lieutenant, a high sheriff, 12 deputy-lieutenants, and about 85 magistrates; and is in the Northern judiciary circuit, and in the diocese of Carlisle. The assizes and the quarter sessions are held at Carlisle... Marriages, in 1860, 1, 501, -of which 650 were not according to the rites of the Established church; births, 6, 716, -of which 815 were illegitimate; deaths, 4, 595, -of which 1, 611 were at ages under 5 years, and 148 at ages above 85. The places of worship in 1851 were 161 of the Church of England, 2 of the Church of Scotland, 5 of the English Presbyterian church, 10 of the United Presbyterian church, 24 of Independents, 9 of Baptists, 20 of Quakers, 1 of Unitarians, 96 of Wesleyan Methodists, 23 of Primitive Methodists, 17 of the Wesleyan Association, 2 of Brethren, 7 of isolated congregations, 4 of Latter Day Saints, and 8 of Roman Catholics... Pop., in 1801, 117, 230; in 1821, 156, 124; in 1841, 178, 038; in 1861, 205, 276.

The above extract is from: John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72). For the full account, go to Vision of Britain.