Middlesex, London et al.

[TerryD 0]

How do other people handle the transition from Middlesex to the current counties, which of course to a large part are now Greater London? I have lots of Middlesex entries that when I am tracking a family who stayed in one area have "moved" to the London Boroughs that replaced the famous County of Middesex. Do you just repeat the same address and add Greater London?

 

Also I use Chapman codes and I am unsure what the code for Greater London is (or how it should be handled)?

 

Has anybody else faced and succesfully concluded what should be done?

 

Thanks in advance - Terry

Edited August 26, 2010 by TerryD

[Terry Reigel 0]

Terry,

 

I'm not familiar with the situation in Middlesex/Greater London, but I've encountered lots of places that have changed names, become part of a different county (some more than once) or different state, or merged into another entity. I always report the place as it was at the time. If I figure it's important to the story I sometimes add an explanation in the Memo of the event Tag. Something like "later known as..." or "later part of..."

[TerryD 0]

Thanks Terry.

 

That is what I have done and tend to leave the same Chapman code in place to link them together i.e. ignore county and use the Chapman field (replaces Temple) and then Shropshire and Salop (two names for the same county) both are SAL, likewise the more obvious Devon and Devonshire with DEV.

 

Middlesex itself is an interesting case as it surrounded the City of London (the square mile) from the SW to the East. Then Greater London appeared and we have London Borough of xxxxxx. Middlesex disappeared... except that our main cricket club is the MCC (Middlesex cricket club) and it is oddly a postal county without having a proper boundary. That isn't technically correct, but people still know Twickenham as being in Middlesex and address mail that way.

 

By the way, that is a big generalisation so anyone who wants to disagree, feel free to do so, I only used it to make the point that our Capital City has changed radically from the old format to the new.

 

Thanks again Terry.

 

Regards - another Terry

 

Terry,

 

I'm not familiar with the situation in Middlesex/Greater London, but I've encountered lots of places that have changed names, become part of a different county (some more than once) or different state, or merged into another entity. I always report the place as it was at the time. If I figure it's important to the story I sometimes add an explanation in the Memo of the event Tag. Something like "later known as..." or "later part of..."

[half pint 0]

Hi Terry

 

I asked a very similar question on a site here in the UK re Cumberland / Cumbria and was told the following, in no uncertain terms.

 

"Contrary to popular belief the counties of Cumberland, Rutland and the like, did not disappear in the great shake up of 1974. The counties did and still do exist, it is only the administrative centres that have altered".

 

I agree with Terry R in that I put in the address as it was at the time of the event ie my dad was born in 1933 so is listed as being born in Cumberland but for my nephew who was born in 2007 it is listed as being Cumbria.

 

I hope this helps.

 

Half Pint

 

 

 

That is what I have done and tend to leave the same Chapman code in place to link them together i.e. ignore county and use the Chapman field (replaces Temple) and then Shropshire and Salop (two names for the same county) both are SAL, likewise the more obvious Devon and Devonshire with DEV.

 

Middlesex itself is an interesting case as it surrounded the City of London (the square mile) from the SW to the East. Then Greater London appeared and we have London Borough of xxxxxx. Middlesex disappeared... except that our main cricket club is the MCC (Middlesex cricket club) and it is oddly a postal county without having a proper boundary. That isn't technically correct, but people still know Twickenham as being in Middlesex and address mail that way.

 

By the way, that is a big generalisation so anyone who wants to disagree, feel free to do so, I only used it to make the point that our Capital City has changed radically from the old format to the new.

[TerryD 0]

Good points.

 

Humberside is an interesting one as it appeared and then disappeared to be replaced by what was there before (more or less).

 

Middlesex and London are a bit different I would say. If you take the Square Mile as the only bit of London that is London we could have problems.

 

I am more than happy to stick with whatever it was at the time (and do) but I have 23 Acacia Avenue, Middlesex and a "different" address as 23 Acacia Avenue, "Greater London".

 

I am not losing sleep over it, I just wanted to hear from others which is the best way to tackle this so I don't have to backtrack later.

 

Thanks again for the reply.

 

Regards - Terry

[half pint 0]

I think it was one of those instances where there is no "right or wrong way" and so as long as we stay consistent in our own projects we will be ok [lol]

 

 

Good points.

 

Humberside is an interesting one as it appeared and then disappeared to be replaced by what was there before (more or less).

 

Middlesex and London are a bit different I would say. If you take the Square Mile as the only bit of London that is London we could have problems.

 

I am more than happy to stick with whatever it was at the time (and do) but I have 23 Acacia Avenue, Middlesex and a "different" address as 23 Acacia Avenue, "Greater London".

 

I am not losing sleep over it, I just wanted to hear from others which is the best way to tackle this so I don't have to backtrack later.

 

Thanks again for the reply.

 

Regards - Terry