England Jurisdiction Maps (General)

by admin , Forest of Dean, Tuesday, August 18, 2015, 08:31 (3395 days ago)

The following information is distributed by the Federation of Family History Societies and we are sure will be of great interest and help to our users:

The London FamilySearch Centre can be found on the first floor of The National Archives at Kew. It is extensively used by family historians who consult its large stock of films of parish registers and other resources.

The Centre's recently upgraded website now includes a series of interactive maps showing the boundaries of a range of key jurisdictions in England as at 1851. The separate layers available include:

Counties
Civil registration districts
Dioceses
Poor Law Unions
Hundreds

For each layer, you can zoom in to parish level and confirm the relevant jurisdiction. Readers can choose from three different background options:

Map: A simple map
Satellite: Modern arial view
Ordnance Survey: 19th-century Ordnance Survey map

When you find an locality of interest, you can home in on "street view" or follow up a range of options such as compiling a list of parishes within a particular district. Your search can also move on to discover associated material in the Library catalogue and Research Wiki .

Navigation is supported by a written introduction.

This facility is a major boost for anyone with English ancestry. It is particularly helpful if you do not live in the same area as your forebears and are unfamiliar with the record-keeping organisations that operated there in the past.