Westmorland, England Genealogy

Westmorland, is an inland county located in the upper north western part of 'England'.

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WESTMORELAND is an inland county bounded on the NW and the N by Cumberland, on the NE by Durham, on the E and the SE by Yorkshire, and on the S and the SW by Lancashire. Its boundaries, to considerable extent, and at intervals, are formed by Windermere, Ulleswater, and the rivers Eamont and Lune. Its greatest length, south-south-westward, is 40 miles; its greatest breadth is 25 miles; its circuit is about 135 miles; and its area is 485,432 acres. The surface is mainly a congeries of high uplands, diversified with moor, studded with mountain summits, and intersected with deep valleys. The heights are generally rugged and irregular; and they rise, in most parts, particularly in the NE and in the W, to altitudes of from 1,098 to 3,055 feet. Much of the scenery is romantic or picturesque; and that in the W forms a main part of the features of the English lake region...

The county contains 31 parishes and a part; is divided into Kendal borough, and East, West, Kendal, and Lonsdale wards; and sends one member to parliament for Kendal, and two for the four wards. The registration county includes a township of Lancashire; comprises 487,567 acres; and is divided into the districts of East Ward, West Ward, and Kendal. The only town with more than 2,000 inhabitants is Kendal; but there are about 220 smaller towns, villages, and hamlets...

The county is governed by a lord lieutenant and custos, a hereditary high sheriff, 15 deputy lieutenants, and about 105 magistrates; and is in the NE military district, the Northern judiciary circuit, and the diocese of Carlisle. The assizes are held at Appleby; and the quarter sessions are held there and at Kendal... Marriages in 1863, 436, -of which 63 were not according to the rites of the Established church; births, 1,819,-of which 168 were illegitimate; deaths, 1,069,-of which 352 were at ages under 5 years, and 35 at ages above 85. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 3,870; births, 17,696; deaths, 10,902. The places of worship within the electoral county, in 1851, were 78 of the Church of England, 1 of United Presbyterians, 9 of Independents, 4 of Baptists, 4 of Quakers, 1 of Unitarians, 29 of Wesleyans, 16 of Primitive Methodists, 13 of the Wesleyan Association, 1 of Wesleyan Reformers, 2 of Sandemanians, 1 of Brethren, 4 of isolated congregations, and 2 of Roman Catholics...  Pop. in 1801, 40,805; in 1821, 51,359; in 1841, 56,454; in 1861, 60,817...

The above extract is from: John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72). See the full account on Vision of Britain.