England Jurisdictions 1851

England Jurisdictions, 1851 is a powerful Internet based Geographic Information System (GIS) showing parish maps of the 40 counties in England. This mapping system simplifies research by consolidating data from many finding aids into a single searchable repository that can be accessed through the mere click of a mouse in a parish boundary. The program can be accessed at: http://maps.familysearch.org. This is a research tool provided by FamilySearch using Google Maps to visually display maps and information. For tips on using the website, look beneath the two blue buttons on the left side of the home page and click the "Find out here" link.

Information Included
Metadata collected about counties and places include the following:


 * All counties in England, as of 1851
 * Places (Ancient parish, Ecclesiastical parish, Chapelry, Extra-parochial place), including places partly in one county and partly in another; detached portions of places
 * Changes to a place prior to 1851, including the year of the change, any places involved in the change, whether the place was created from, absorbed into, or combined with other places
 * Other places within the selected place, such as villages, hamlets, tithings, etc.
 * Years the extant parish registers and Bishops’ transcripts begin
 * Non-Church of England denominations identified in the parish or chapelry
 * Civil registration district
 * Hundred, borough, or liberty
 * Probate court
 * Church of England diocese with cathedral
 * Province
 * Rural deanery
 * Poor law union
 * Divisions - Yorkshire Ridings, Lincoln Divisions, Kent Lathes
 * Ordnance Survey underlay

Features
The ability to quickly access data in a meaningful way is critical to speeding the research process. This application will allow the speedy access of information using the following features:


 * Maps can be accessed by double-clicking on the physical map or by using the search box. The ability to zoom in and out will provide a general view of counties in England, or a close-up view of parishes in a county.
 * Layers showing the boundaries of record creating jurisdictions provide the detail and context needed to find records. Access to these jurisdictions is provided both visually and textually.
 * The Search feature is enhanced with additional place names extracted from a variety of sources, variant spellings, see references, and names of places smaller than a parish. Thousands of place names and spellings increase the user’s chance of finding a place in the database. A search for a place which is smaller than a parish will take the user to the data from the related parish or chapelry, thereby leading the user to appropriate records for doing research.
 * An information bubble appears when a jurisdiction is selected. The Info tab in that bubble will give significant information about the place, such as what type the place is, i.e., Ancient parish, Chapelry, Ecclesiastical parish, lists of places smaller than a parish. Also included are the dates the extant parish registers or Bishops’ transcripts begin and any Non-Church of England denominations identified in that specific place.
 * In that same bubble is a Jurisdictions tab which lists the relevant record-creating jurisdictions for the place.
 * A third tab in the bubble is the Options tab which provides links to data and experiences available for the user, namely:
 * List contiguous parishes
 * Radius search ¼, ½, 1, 3, 5, 10, 15 miles or km
 * Search the Family History Library Catalog
 * Search Record Search
 * Search the FamilySearch Research Wiki
 * Due to the parish structure and the complexity and availability of finding aids, it is often difficult to identify groupings of places in a jurisdiction or surrounding jurisdictions. This product generates printable lists for many helpful jurisdictional groupings, such as the following:
 * Contiguous parishes
 * Parishes within a radius
 * Parishes in a county
 * Parishes in a civil registration district
 * Parishes in a hundred
 * Parishes in a probate district
 * Parishes in a diocese
 * Others
 * All data and map views can be printed. The print function gives the choice of printing:
 * Map only
 * Information only
 * Lists only
 * Map and information
 * Map, information, and lists
 * 8 ½ x 11 or A4 paper

Works Referenced
Multiple sources were used to compile the data which drives the maps and information. The major ones used are:

List of Places, Changes to Places


 * National Index of Parish Registers Series. Vols. 4, pt. 1; 6, pts. 1-5; 7; 8, pts. 1-6; 9, pts 1, 3-6; 10, pts. 1-3; 11, pts. 1-3. London: Society of Genealogists, various.
 * Youngs, Frederic A., Jr. Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. 2 vols. London: Royal Historical Society, c 1980-c1991.

Base Map


 * Kain, Roger J.P. and Richard R. Oliver, comps. Historic Parishes of England &amp; Wales: Electronic Map-Gazetteer-Metadata. Colchester [England]: History Data Service, 2001. 3 CDs.
 * Lobel, M.D., gen.ed. The Atlas of Historic Towns. Vol. 2. Ilkeley, England: Scholar Press, 1975.

Various parish maps in the Family History Library collection were used to verify and identify places.

Market Towns


 * Lewis, Samuel. Atlas to the Topographical Dictionaries of England and Wales: Comprising a General Map of England and Wales, a Plan of London, and Maps of the Counties. London: S. Lewis, 1849.

Other Places in the Parish, See References, Variant Spellings

Other places in the parish were compiled from each source used as data was collected. A concerted effort was made to collect these from:


 * Wilson, John Marius. The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales. Edinburgh: A. Fullarton &amp; Co., [1871?].

Civil Registration Districts


 * Public Records Office. Class List of All 1851 Census Returns. 7 vols. [London: Public Record Office, 19--].
 * Census of Great Britain, 1851. Population tables: Numbers of the inhabitants in the years 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831, 1841, 1851. Vol 1 pt 3&amp;4. [S.I.: s.n., 19--?].

Hundreds


 * Public Records Office. Class List of All 1841 Census Returns. 5 vols. [London: Public Record Office, 19--].
 * Youngs, Frederic A., Jr. Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. 2 vols. London: Royal Historical Society, c 1980-c1991.

Probate Courts


 * Camp, Anthony J. Wills and Their Whereabouts. London: Anthony J. Camp, c 1974.
 * Gibson, J.S.W. and Else Churchill. Probate Jurisdictions: Where to Look for Wills. Baltimore, Maryland: Genealogical Pub. Co., c 2002.
 * Gibson. J.S.W. Wills and Where to Find Them. Chichester: Phillimore and Co., Ltd., 1974.

Information was sometimes taken from introductory material in county probate indexes and a variety of additional sources.

Diocese, Rural Deanery, Poor Law Union


 * Youngs, Frederic A., Jr. Guide to the Local Administrative Units of England. 2 vols. London: Royal Historical Society, c 1980-c1991.