Pat Carson wrote: >1928 is when Forfarshire reverted to being called Angus. >Politically, Dundee is now on its own (ie not part of Angus) and I'm unclear >as to how we should cite it for the present-day. Maybe someone could help on >this? > > There have been other changes in name and territory. In 1891, the boundaries of the County and various of its parishes were re-aligned, and for 20 years starting in 1974, the County was effectively suppressed, becoming part of Tayside Region. In 1995, the County name of Angus was resurrected (although I don't know whether the "new" Angus has the same boundaries as the old - Aberdeenshire similarly disappeared in 1974, but the "new, improved" version that has existed since 1995 has swallowed up the former county of Kincardine, and half of Banffshire). In the context of genealogy, various major data sources (OPRs, Civil BDMs, Census, Poor Law) are catalogued according to the county and parish boundaries that applied from 1891-1974 *. As there are now very few people around who can remember when it was "Forfarshire", and as that form was no more than a passing Anglicism (which also gave us such tonguetwisters as "Haddingtonshire", "Edinburghshire" and "Linlithgowshire") I would suggest that "Angus" is the best term to use. The main things are to avoid the LDS nonsense of referring to the county as "Forfar", or using forms like "County Angus". Gavin Bell * although some awareness of the 1891 changes may be needed to locate relevant records in some sources.

<<snipped>> I would suggest that "Angus" is the best term to use. <<snipped>> I started recording my data before I really understood the historical nature of the name "Angus", so I've ended up with loads of references to "Dundee, Forfarshire, Scotland". Now, I could bite the bullet and change them all to Angus - but having unknowingly, as it were, used Forfarshire, there is an advantage.... GG-grandfather went bankrupt and was examined by the Sheriff Substitute of Forfarshire. It makes sense to have him living in Dundee, Forfarshire and being examined by a representative of Forfarshire, whereas having him living in Dundee, Angus and being examined by a representative of Forfarshire doesn't make sense. And Sheriff Substitute of Forfarshire is the title so can't be altered to Sheriff Substitute of Angus. Guess what - there's no easy answer! Adrian B