Paul wrote: it's important to keep in the mind that "Registration County" was a creation purely for statistical purposes. It had no other significance. A small correction. Registration Districts were usually based on the former Unions. The borders of these Unions in turn had been created for ease of transport - on foot. The centre of administration of a Union (usually close to the site of the Workhouse) was designed so that people could travel there and back from anywhere in the Union (or out and back in the case of officials) in ONE DAY. If there were steep hills or uncrossable rivers, then the Union border would not necessarily follow a county border. In my own area of West Dorset, Lyme Regis has always been in Dorset but was in the RD of Axminster, Devon. Try walking from Lyme Regis to Bridport (very hilly) - the nearest Dorset RD administrative centre - and you will understand why it was put with Axminster (easy walk). To understand how this affected your area of interest in 1851, I strongly suggest that you make use of the LDS Historical maps at http://maps.familysearch.org/ Use the drop-down menu immediately at the top of the map to change the borders for Civil Registration (RDs), Ecclesiastical records (parish, diocese) as well as county etc. It can be quite an eye-opener. Diana

Hi Diana: What you say concerns Registration Districts, and is quite correct. But the concept of a "Registration County" is, as I said, purely a statistical artefact, with no other purpose. Paul On 28 January 2013 12:45, Diana Trenchard <diana@trenchar.demon.co.uk> wrote: > Paul wrote: > > it's important to keep > in the mind that "Registration County" was a creation purely for > statistical purposes. It had no other significance. > > A small correction. Registration Districts were usually based on the > former Unions. The borders of these Unions in turn had been created > for ease of transport - on foot. The centre of administration of a > Union (usually close to the site of the Workhouse) was designed so > that people could travel there and back from anywhere in the Union (or > out and back in the case of officials) in ONE DAY. If there were > steep hills or uncrossable rivers, then the Union border would not > necessarily follow a county border. In my own area of West Dorset, > Lyme Regis has always been in Dorset but was in the RD of Axminster, > Devon. Try walking from Lyme Regis to Bridport (very hilly) - the > nearest Dorset RD administrative centre - and you will understand why > it was put with Axminster (easy walk). > > To understand how this affected your area of interest in 1851, I > strongly suggest that you make use of the LDS Historical maps at > http://maps.familysearch.org/ > Use the drop-down menu immediately at the top of the map to change the > borders for Civil Registration (RDs), Ecclesiastical records (parish, > diocese) as well as county etc. It can be quite an eye-opener. > > Diana > > > ****************************** > ATTENTION TO ALL:- When replying please remove the details that do not apply to your mail and change the SUBJECT LINE for best useage of ARCHIVED MATERIALS. > ****************************** > PLEASE keep your Anti-Virus and Anti-Malware software up to date. BEWARE of messages making it onto the List with a single URL. NEVER follow the link. It's usually from an infected source! > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to STAFFORDSHIRE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message