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England Leicester

Guide to Leicester history, family history, and genealogy: parish registers, census records, birth records, marriage records, and death records.



History
Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, with a history going back at least two millennia. The native Iron Age settlement encountered by the Romans at the site seems to have developed in the 2nd or 1st centuries BC. Little is known about this settlement or the condition of the River Soar at this time, although roundhouses from this era have been excavated and seem to have clustered along roughly 8 hectares (20 acres) of the east bank of the Soar above its confluence with the Trent. This area of the Soar was split into two channels: a main stream to the east and a narrower channel on the west, with a presumably marshy island between. The settlement seems to have controlled a ford across the larger channel. The later Roman name was a latinate form of the Brittonic word for "ramparts" (cf. Gaelic rath & the nearby villages of Ratby and Ratcliffe, suggesting the site was an oppidum. The plural form of the name suggests it was initially composed of several villages. The Celtic tribe holding the area was later recorded as the "Coritanians" but an inscription recovered in 1983 showed this to have been a corruption of the original "Corieltauvians". The Corieltauvians are believed to have ruled over roughly the area of the East Midlands.

It is believed that the Romans arrived in the Leicester area around AD 47, during their conquest of southern Britain. To verify this, in 2013, the discovery of a Roman cemetery found just outside the old city walls and dating back to AD 300.

Following the Norman conquest, Leicester was recorded by William's Domesday Book as Ledecestre. It was noted as a city (civitas) but lost this status in the 11th century owing to power struggles between the Church and the aristocracy and did not become a legal city again until 1919.

Leicester's entry into the Industrial era began with the construction of the Grand Union Canal in the 1790s which linked Leicester to London and Birmingham. In 1832, the railway arrived in Leicester in the form of The Leicester and Swannington Railway which provided a supply of coal to the town from nearby collieries.

Leicester was finally recognized as a legal city once more in 1919 and, in 1927, again became a cathedral city on the consecration of St Martin's. A second major extension to the boundaries following the changes in 1892 took place in 1935, with the annexation of the remainder of Evington, Humberstone, Beaumont Leys, and part of Braunstone. A third major revision of the boundaries took place in 1966, with the net addition to the city of just over 450 acres (182 ha). The boundary has remained unchanged since that time.

Parishes
Leicester and the surrounding locales have many civic parishes. To access these, enter the site below:

Use an interactive mapto find jurisdictions for each parish in Leicestershire.

Non Conformists
Leicester is one of the most culturally diverse cities in the UK. Populations include: White (45.1% White British, 0.8% White Irish, 0.1% Gypsy or Irish Traveller, 4.6% Other White), 37.1% Asian (28.3% Indian, 2.4% Pakistani, 1.1% Bangladeshi, 1.3% Chinese, 4.0% Other Asian), 3.5% of mixed race (1.4% White and Black Caribbean, 0.4% White and Black African, 1.0% White and Asian, 0.7% Other Mixed), 6.3% Black (3.8% African, 1.5% Caribbean, 1.0% Other Black), 1.0% Arab and 1.6% of other ethnic heritage. Because of this racial mix, there are many religious groups to be found in the city.


 * Baptist
 * Catholic
 * Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
 * Greek Orthodox
 * Jehovah's Witness
 * Methodist
 * Plymouth Brethren
 * Seventh Day Adventist

Non Christian groups include:


 * Animist
 * Confusian
 * Hare Krishtna
 * Hindu
 * Muslim
 * Sikh
 * Voodoo