Lincolnshire, England Genealogy

Lincolnshire, or Lincoln, is a maritime county and is located in the east-central part of 'England'.

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"LINCOLNSHIRE, or LINCOLN, a maritime county on the E of England. It is bounded on the N and NE, by the Humber, which separates it from Yorkshire; on the E, by the German ocean; on the SE, for about 3 miles, by Norfolk; on the S, by Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire; on the SW, by Rutlandshire; on the W, by Leicestershire and Notts; and on the NW, by Yorkshire.

"Lincolnshire contains 620 parishes, part of another parish, and 43 extra-parochial places. It is divided into the Parts of Holland, Kesteven, and Lindsey, each containing several wapentakes... It is divided again, for parliamentary representation, into North and South, the former consisting of the Parts of Lindsey, the latter of the Parts of Kesteven and the Parts of Holland...

"The county is governed by a lord lieutenant, about 110 deputy lieutenants, and about 500magistrates; and is in the Home military district, the Midland judiciary circuit, and the diocese of Lincoln. The assizes are held at Lincoln; and the quarter sessions for the Parts of Lindsey, at Kirton and Spilsby, -for the Parts of Kesteven, at Bourn and Sleaford, -for the Parts of Holland, at Boston and Spalding...

"The places of worship within the electoral county, in 1851, were 657 of the Church of England, 38 of Independents, 22 of Particular Baptists, 3 of General Baptists, 31 of New Connexion General Baptists, 6 of undefined Baptists, 9 of Quakers, 1 of Lady Huntingdon's Connexion, 462 of Wesleyan Methodists, 6 of New Connexion Methodists, 221 of Primitive Methodists, 14 of Wesleyan Reformers, 5 of Unitarians, 8 of isolated congregations, 5 of Latter Day Saints, and 13 of Roman Catholics.

"Population in 1801 was 208,625; in 1821, 283,058; in 1841, 362,602; in 1861, 412,246."

The above extract was taken from: John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72). You can read the full account online at Vision of Britain.

Civil Districts
When civil registration of births, marriages and deaths began in 1837, Lincolnshire was divided into a number of registration districts, each containing several parishes. The index to the civil records gives the name of the district where an event took place. Click here to see a list of the civil districts in Lincolnshire and the parishes covered by each. Read more about England Civil Registration.

Parishes
See a list of parishes of Lincolnshire with links to articles.

Probate Jurisdictions
Before 1858, every town and parish in Lincolnshire was under the probate jurisdiction of several ecclesiastical courts. To read more about probate records and see a list of Lincolnshire towns and parishes and the probate courts that had jurisdiction over them, go to Lincolnshire Probate Records.