Alan E. Mann, AG

alan.familyhistory@gmail.com                                                                                                           Accredited Genealogist

BYU History 413                                                                                                                                          Winter 2007

A.        Gazetteers -- an alphabetical listing of place names. It is helpful in determining many things about a place, including correct spelling, county (or shire) name, the parish name for the place, population, and description. The most used are:

Imperial Gazetteer                                                  Ref 942 E5i    - gives civil jurisdiction. 1866. Basis for FHLC.

Lewis' Topographical Dictionary                          942 E5l  -  gives ecclesiastical jurisdictions; various editions.

Bartholomew's Gazetteer                                       Ref 942 E5ba   -  more modern (backup authority FHLC)

Cassell's Gazetteer                                                  942 E5ca  -  more descriptive

       Ordnance Survey Gazetteer                                    Ref 942 E5o (also online; see C, below) – most comprehensive; complete index to all places mentioned on all maps produced by the Ordnance Survey Office. Uses post-1974 counties, but map references apply to all map series, including pre-1974. Intro explains the British National Grid Reference system.

Place Name Society books                                     Ref 942 B4pn - Use for difficult place name problems.

B.        Maps are helpful in obtaining a visual idea of the relationship of various towns and parishes in England. A person should never search a map if they do not know the location of a place (a gazetteer should first be consulted in this case). There are maps in the atlas stand as well as on the reference row. Some of those most helpful to you are:

Landranger Map Series                                          Atlas 942 E7lan (on Atlas tables in 3 volumes--usually most detailed maps FHL has. Use Ordnance Survey Gazetteer (A above or online, C below) as index. Copies of each sheet map can be found in the book area under the same call # and sheet #)

Atlas of England and Wales                                  Ref Q 942 E5L 1849 – Samuel Lewis’ maps.

Bartholomew's One-half Inch Maps                       942 E7bm (on Atlas Stand - The scale is 1/2" to a mile. There are 62 parts for this map [includes Scotland]. Copies of each sheet are found in the book area under the same call # and sheet #).

Gazetteer of the British Isles                                  Ref E5ba 1977 (especially helpful for the index to place names in the front which refer to maps at the back).

Phillimore's Atlas & Index of Parish Registers    Ref 942 E7pa 2000 (shows parish boundaries in the counties of England and Wales and gives a map reference to places in the index.)

C.        Online gazetter: www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/oswebsite/freefun/didyouknow/ (enter place name in box, then click Search)

Online maps: www.old-maps.co.uk/ (need name of parish to see map) and uk.multimap.com for street maps.

D.                Online collection of photos mapped by Ordnance Survey : www.geograph.org.uk/  (helps to understand National Grid, see Landranger)

E.                 Name/Place standardization by LDS Church. First application is the Standard Finder at http://209.90.97.166/stdfinder/PlaceStandardLookup.jsp (or go to familysearchlabs.com, click on Standard Finder). Use this to find variant spellings, particularly in old LDS records.

 

Please note Computer #507535, Ordnance Surveyor’s drawings, 1789-1840

Terms to know -- hundred, parish, chapelry, wapentake, rape, lathe, soke, shire, district.