Geneapedia
Counties in the UK
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The origins of counties
Administrative functions of counties
County records in the Genhound database
Origin
Most countries of any size are subdivided into regions for the purposes of local administration. In the United Kingdom these subdivisions were called counties. County records provide an excellent source of information for genealogists.
The development of counties began in England from around the 12th century, often derived from the earlier adminstrative boundaries of the old kingdoms. In central and southern England in the 9th and 10th centuries the Anglo-Saxons created administrative areas called 'shires'. This is origin of the -shire suffix for many English counties such as Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire etc. The shires were controlled by a royal official known as a "shire reeve" or sheriff. The process by which regions of the UK were organised into counties is called 'shiring'. Most of Wales was shired in 1535.
County boundaries however were fluid and continued to change until as late as the 16th century in some cases. Borders were fairly static from 16th century until the Local Government Act 1888, and were totally reorganised as administrative units in 1972. The counties usually referred to in a genealogical context are what we call the 'historic' counties of the UK that existed during the period of the 16th through to the 19th century.
Counties in Scotland developed in a similar manner as in England, but independently, as it was a seperate kingdom until the Act of Union in 1707 united Scotland with England and Wales. Traditionally Scottish counties were referred to as shires and many of them have the -shire suffix.
In Ireland the development of counties was linked to the progress of the English invasion, with the process beginning in the 12th century with the Norman invasion and culminating in the shiring of the province of Ulster in the 16th century.
Administrative functions
The historic counties acted as administrative units for a variety of roles - for law enforcement, defence, parliamentary representation and local government. All of these administrative functions required the keeping of records which provide a rich source of information for those researching their family history.
Justice
Courts of Assize, or Assizes, were periodic criminal courts held several times a year in the county towns of England and Wales from the medieval period through to 1971. Counties were grouped together into assize 'circuits', with visiting judges from the High Court of Justice.
Defence
Each county was required to raise and organise a militia of local able bodied men to be available to fight if called upon.
Parliamentary representation
Each county sent two Knights of the Shire to the House of Commons. The Great Reform Act of 1832 reapportioned members throughout the counties, many of which were also split into parliamentary divisions. Constituencies based on the historic county boundaries remained in use until 1918.
Local government
From the 16th century onwards the county was increasingly used as a unit of local government as the justices of the peace took on various administrative functions known as "county business". Business was conducted at the quarter sessions, held four times a year. Business conducted by the county magistrates included licensing of various trades and activities, construction and maintenance of bridges, roads, public buildings etc, supervision of prisons, asylums and charitable institutions and the levying and collecton of local taxes to support these activities.
Non-county administrative units
A number of towns and cities obtained control over their own
administration, usually by charter from the sovereign. They were
commonly called burghs or boroughs and were usually governed by a
council of the wealthier townspeople and could usually send a
representative to parliament.
More about boroughs, burghs and burgesses
Another type of local government unit was the liberty. Originating in the Middle Ages, liberties were areas varying size which were independent of the usual system of counties and boroughs for a number of different reasons, usually to do with peculiarities of tenure.
County subdivisions
The two largest counties, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire were further partioned into three areas. Yorkshire was divided into ridings: East Riding, West Riding and North Riding. Lincolnshire was also divided into three parts: Lindsey, Holland and Kesteven.
English counties were further divided into smaller units called
hundreds or wapentakes. These were made up of the basic unit of
administration in the UK, the parish.
More about hundreds, wapentakes and parishes
