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Counties

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Gramps63

Gramps63 Report 24 Jan 2011 02:19

Geography is not one of my favourite subjects! I recently found information on 1841 census (on Ancestry) for my gggrandfather with the following location: Mere,Dorset,Somerset,Wiltshire, England. What does this all mean? Was his location in two counties or whatever? Many thanks for any help. Bob

Researching:
Warby, Curtis in England and Australia

Lindsey*

Lindsey* Report 24 Jan 2011 03:55

Mere is probably covered by that registration area. Google for maps etc.

Researching:
For better results please give all the details ,name, date place as you can {pictures by me }

jax

jax Report 24 Jan 2011 04:40

The Parish of Mere is situated in the extreme south-west corner of the County of Wiltshire and the parish boundary also forms the Dorset County boundary. Nestling beneath the South Wiltshire Downs, large parts of the surroundings are designated as Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There are also a number of sites in and around Mere that provide a wealth of historical and archaeological interest.



jax

Researching:
Nothing much

mgnv

mgnv Report 24 Jan 2011 04:46

Mere is a parish in Wilts - before 1837, it was also the head of a poor law union which union became a registration district in 1837. Mere RD was mostly in Wilts, but it did extend into Dorset and Somerset. In the 1890s the county borders were rationalized, and the Somerset bits were transferred to Wilts. The Mere RD boundary was also tweaked, and the Dorset bits were transferred to Shaftesbury RD which was then, and had always been, a purely Dorset RD.

If I search FreeBMD for, say, the death of Smith in 1841 in Mere, I get:

Deaths Sep 1841 (>99%)
SMITH Thomas Mere 8 246

Now click on the "Mere" link in this hit, then the more info "here" link, and you'll see the villages etc that comprised Mere RD.
,

Gramps63

Gramps63 Report 24 Jan 2011 05:34

Many thanks for all your help everyone. I live in Australia and find some of the information that I find a bit confusing. Is there a site by anychance that shows all the counties on say one map?

Researching:
Warby, Curtis in England and Australia

Lindsey*

Lindsey* Report 24 Jan 2011 06:32

http://www.picturesofengland.com/mapofengland/counties-map.html

Researching:
For better results please give all the details ,name, date place as you can {pictures by me }

+++DetEcTive+++

+++DetEcTive+++ Report 24 Jan 2011 08:46

One thing that you have to remember, is that county boundaries have changed over the years,or even wiped out of existence - so things can get confusing :0

Researching:
Dormant member as from 20 Sep 2019 . Click on my board name to send a message

ElizabethK

ElizabethK Report 24 Jan 2011 12:04

Yes-the last time was 1974 and possibly going to happen again.

Even the natives get confused Robert

Barbara

Barbara Report 24 Jan 2011 14:43

You could try this link:-

http://www.genuki.org.uk/cgi-bin/places

Gramps63

Gramps63 Report 25 Jan 2011 04:12

Thank you everyone for your help once again - it is greatly appreciated.

Researching:
Warby, Curtis in England and Australia