England Victoria County Histories and Current Local History Projects

Victoria County Histories
The Victoria History of the Counties of England, usually shortened to Victoria County Histories or VCH is the most definitive description of places in England. The first volume was published in 1899 and with 200 volumes so far the series is far from complete. A summary of progress and availability to date is given in Chart 101 where it can be seen that most is on film and a few also online. Summaries of the history of writing and publishing the series are given by David Hey in The Oxford Companion to Local and Family History, and by a General Editor, Christopher Elrington in his article Lordship and Lineage: The Descent of Manors in the Victoria County History.

The series is divided into sets for each historic county and the general volumes cover the geology, natural history, pre-history and earthworks, Roman and Anglo-Saxon periods, the Domesday Book, political and administrative history, population, ecclesiastical history and religious houses, social and economic history, forests, endowed schools and sports. The topographical volumes are divided into their old hundreds (or sokes, wapentakes, rapes or lathes) and each city, town, township, village, estate and manor described in turn. These include the landscape, settlement, buildings, land ownership, agriculture, trade, industry, economic history, local government, Church of England and nonconformity, education and charities. Detailed descriptions and history of all the parish buildings and institutions are given together with plans and illustrations. Every item of information is footnoted as to its source.

All are based on meticulous research in original records, many of which have never been published, but the older volumes are much less detailed than the modern ones and many are out-of-date. The newer VCH volumes merge the best scholarship of the antiquarian tradition with that of the 20th century local historian. The researcher should become familiar with the VCH site.

Chart: Victoria County Histories

20th Century County Topography
Topographical descriptions of every village in England and Wales, Isle of Man and the Channel Islands, its buildings, history, colourful events and people can be found in series such as:


 * The King’s England edited by Arthur Mee, published by Hodder and Stoughton.
 * The Buildings of England by Nikolaus Pevsner and collaborators, published by Penguin Books. This classic is now on CD (Gurnett 1997).
 * The County Books edited by Brian Vesey-Fitzgerald, published by Robert Hale.
 * Highways and Byways by various authors, published by MacMillan

Many of these excellent volumes are out of print and should be sought at your public library (inter loans) and second-hand book dealers. More modern books tend to be rather sketchy and more for the tourist, but include:


 * Shell Guides and Books by various editors, and several publishers.
 * Portrait of (County or Area) by various authors, published by Robert Hale.
 * Shire County Guides by various authors, published by Shire Publications.

For the derivation of place names see the National Institute for Genealogical Studies course English: Understanding Names in Genealogy, and the references by Ekwall (The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names) and the EPNS (English Place Name Society) edited by Gover et al.

The quarterly Amateur Historian commenced in 1952 and in 1968 was renamed The Local Historian. Family historians will frequently find it most useful, and its book reviews and bibliographies are noteworthy. Another good publication is Local History which started in 1984 and comes every two months.

There is a valuable ongoing series of county bibliographies called British Genealogical Library Guides by Raymond with volumes covering History, archives and journals; Parish registers, monumental inscriptions and wills; Lists of names; Administrative records; Occupations; and Family histories and pedigrees. Older and newer books and articles are included.

One-Place Studies involve the study of the people of a community within the context of the place they live. If one has been developed for your ancestors’ village or parish it would be worth accessing and contributing to their information.

Online-Parish-Clerks (OPCs) are volunteers who collect, collate and transcribe records for a chosen specific parish. The data originates from as many sources as can be accessed, including census, parish registers, cemetery records and parish histories with an emphasis on genealogy. The Cornwall gives access to Devon, Dorset, Lancashire, Sussex, and Wiltshire (so far).

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