England Maps

Maps can help you find where your ancestors lived. There are many types of maps. Each can help you in a different way. Historical maps describe economic growth and development, boundaries, migration and settlement patterns, military campaigns, transportation development, effects of plagues, and other historical information. Road maps provide details on highways, rivers, and town size. Other types include parish maps, county maps, topographical maps, enclosure maps, civil district maps, and church diocesan maps.

Maps are published separately or in bound collections, called atlases. You may find maps in gazetteers, guidebooks, local histories, directories, or history texts.

Use FamilySearch's 1851 Jurisdiction Map, an interactive map revealing the various levels of jurisdictions in each county in England showing parishes, registration districts (post-1834), probate courts, and many other jurisdictions, as well as an Ordnance Survey map base map.

See maps downloaded from Research Guidance: England and Wales pre 1974, England and Wales 1974-1976, Map of The British Isles.

Since 1800 the Ordinance Survey has been the major source of topographical maps. English, Welsh, Scottish, and Irish maps are available in 1, 6, and 25 inches to the mile. The series has been revised and published at different dates. There are also Ordnance Survey maps of greater detail (up to 10 feet to the mile).

City and street maps are helpful for research in large cities. A partial list of such maps available at the Family History Library is:


 * Rural and City Maps.Typescript. Salt Lake City, Utah: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985. (FHL book 942 E73c.)

Using Maps
Use maps carefully for the following reasons:


 * Several places may have the same name. For example, 100 places are called Mount Pleasant in England.
 * The place-name on the map may not be spelled as expected, because names were often spelled as they sounded.
 * Parish boundaries are seldom indicated.

Finding a Specific Place on the Map

To do successful research in English records, you must identify where your ancestor lived. Because many localities have the same name, you may need some additional information before you can find the correct area on a map. Search gazetteers, histories, family records, and other sources to learn all you can about the area, including the following:


 * The parish and county where the place is located
 * The civil registration district that served your ancestor’s parish (after 1837)
 * The names of the churches
 * The size of the town and parish
 * The names of other villages in the parish
 * Your ancestor’s occupation
 * Nearby localities, such as large cities
 * Places where related ancestors lived
 * Nearby features, such as rivers and mountains
 * The area’s industries

This information will help you distinguish between places of the same name and help you locate the correct place on a map. See England Gazetteers for more information.

Finding Maps and Atlases
Collections of maps and atlases are available at historical societies, county record offices, and public and university libraries. Major collections for England are at the British Library (see England Archives and Libraries for address) and the Bodleian Library at Oxford:


 * Bodleian Library Broad Street Oxford OX1 3BG England

The Family History Library has a good collection of English maps and atlases. These are listed in the Place Search of the FamilySearch Catalog under one of the following:

GREAT BRITAIN - MAPS

ENGLAND - MAPS

ENGLAND, [COUNTY] - MAPS

ENGLAND, [COUNTY], [PARISH] - MAPS

Some helpful maps at the Family History Library are:

Humphery-Smith, Cecil R., The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers. Second Edition. Chichester, Sussex, England: Phillimore &amp; Company, 1995. ( book 942 E7pa 1995. BYU Family History Library book G 1816 .E42 P5x 2003.) This includes an indexed parish boundary map and general topographical maps for each county.

Mason, Oliver, comp. Bartholomew Gazetteer of Places in Britain. Scale 1:300,000. Edinburgh, Scotland: John Bartholomew &amp; Son Limited, 1986. ( book 942 E5bb, 1986.)

Landranger Series. Southampton, England: Ordnance Survey, 1987–89. ( map 942 E7lan nos. 1–204.)

''National Map Series. Scale 1:100,000''. Various editions. Edinburgh, Scotland: John Bartholomew &amp; Son, 1978–81. ( book 942 E7bm.) These are detailed, modern sheet maps, roughly one inch to the mile.

The Old Series Ordnance Survey Maps of England and Wales, Scale 1:64,000. Lympne Castle, Kent, England: Harry Margary, 1986–. ( book Q 942 E3os.) These original-release, one-inch-to-the-mile maps (published from 1805 to 1873) have been republished in ten volumes.

An Atlas Available online:

A Genealogical Atlas of England and Wales

Other useful publications on maps include:

Harley, J. B. Ordnance Survey Maps: A Descriptive Manual. Southampton, England: Ordnance Survey, 1975. ( book 942 E3osa.) This explains the history of and detail on ordinance survey maps.

Hindle, Brian Paul. Maps for Local History. London, England: B. T. Batsford, Ltd., 1988. ( book 942 E77h.) This explains types of maps and contains a bibliography.

Masters, Charles. ''Essential Maps for Family Historians. ''Newbury, Berkshire: Countryside Books, 2009. ( book 942 D27 mch). Discusses county maps, estate surveys, enclosure maps and awards, town maps, tithe maps and awards, Valuation Office Survey, National Farm Survey. Gives case studies for each.

Watt, Ian, comp. A Directory of United Kingdom Map Collections. London, England: McCarta, Limited, 1985. ( book 942 E74w.) This is a brief description of map repositories (including county record offices) that describes the holdings, hours, and copying facilities.

Contact your local bookstore to order maps of England, or you may purchase maps by writing to either of the two following places:


 * John Bartholomew &amp; Sons, Limited 12 Duncan Street Edinburgh, EH9 1TA Scotland


 * Ordnance Survey Office Department LM Romsey Road Southampton, SO9 4DH England Internet: Ordnance Survey

Old Maps of the Great Britain
Providing access to Britain's most extensive digital historical map archive, jointly owned by the Ordnance Survey, Britain’s national mapping agency is this website:


 * Old Maps of the United Kingdom
 * Ordnance Maps of England

To locate a map, enter a place name, address or coordinate (OS Grid Reference) then click the Search button.

Cost is free, with an option to purchase decorative maps. All information contained on this site is subject to copyright and/or database right. Any reproduction, duplication, copying, sale or resale or exploitation for commercial purposes of any information held on or accessed via this site is expressly prohibited.

Cambridge University Digital Library has the outstanding early 1600 John Speed (66) maps of Great Britain which have been published online at no cost.

Village by Village Maps in the United Kingdom and Ireland
Village by village maps and message boards in the United Kingdom and Ireland available on the internet.

You can search this website either by village, surname, or browse all villages by county. Each village page includes links to historic maps as well as a message forum where people can post messages about things relating to that village, family history questions, tips, requests or look ups.

Each village webpage might include:


 * Historic map of the village
 * Street map of the village
 * Maps of surrounding area
 * Message board for each village

Internet: CuriousFox

Or search on www.google.com for villages United Kingdom genealogy.

Cost is free with added features if a membership is purchased.


 * You must join as either a free or paid member to post messages.
 * One person of each message correspondence must be a paid member, therefore if you are a free member you can only contact paid members, and only paid members can contact you.
 * Cost for membership is an annual fee.
 * To use the “Search Surname” feature, you must be signed in as a free or paid user.
 * To search for villages you do not have to be signed in.

Websites
Information is also accessible through the GENUKI Internet website at:


 * GENUKI UK
 * RootsWeb Genmaps

England Map Websites
Many Websites have maps. The following links are a few of the sites on the Internet.

The Family History Library at www.familysearch.org has a collection of maps for England. Use the Place Search in the FamilySearch Catalog for a locality and the topic of Maps.