Places to Search

Gazetteers

Topographical Dictionaries of England, Ireland, and Scotland Originally prepared by Samuel Lewis, the gazetteers reproduced on this Family Archive contain detailed information on English, Irish, and Scottish locales as they existed in the mid-1800s. A gazetteer is a topographical (or geographical) dictionary in which a location's political and physical features are defined. For example, for a location listed you may learn information on local industry, nearby towns, population, and primary landholders.

Gazetteer of England and Wales

This database contains The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, which provides a complete description of these countries and an alphabetical dictionary of their counties, dioceses, parishes, boroughs, etc. Gazetteers are very useful sources for genealogists because they help us locate and learn about the places our ancestor's lived.

England Topographical Dictionary

This well-known dictionary contains over 30,000 historical and statistical descriptions of the counties, cities, townships, and parishes of England as well as the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey and Man. The description includes the name of the place, its location, the number of inhabitants, and when available, any interesting facts such as landmark descriptions, industries, prominent individuals, schools, churches, and local activities.

Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland

This database contains the six volume series, the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland. It is a geographical dictionary providing statistical, biographical, and historical information on Scotland's topography, as well as a general survey of Scotland as a whole. Gazetteers like this one are very useful sources for genealogists because they help us locate and learn about the places our ancestor's lived.

Ireland Gazetteer and Surname Guide

Beginning in the nineteenth century, large numbers of Irish natives left the Emerald Isle seeking new lives around the world. For genealogists unfamiliar with the towns and parishes of Ireland, research into the lives of these ancestors can be a tedious search of endless maps and atlases. This database contains a gazetteer of the island nation and a surname guide intended to help researchers in their study. The gazetteer contains over 1800 locales and provides the county in which it is located. The surname guide includes information on the most common Irish surnames. For researchers of Irish ancestry, this database can be a great aid in locating important information.

Additional Information

Newspapers in Family History Research
by Phil Westwood

Newspapers began to appear in the late Seventeenth Century and became more widespread in the early Eighteenth Century. From around 1750 onwards regional Newspapers started to report local events and references to individuals became more common. Resourcing older Newspapers can seem hard work at first. The print is often small and the accounts sometimes appear stilted and formal. However, with some persistance the rewards can be great.

A Gazetteer of Scotland on CD-ROM
by Dick Eastman

A gazetteer is a book that contains a list of names of places, along with a description of each place. It may be thought of as the text equivalent of an atlas. A gazetteer typically has words, not maps. Gazetteers are great references for genealogists trying to find the places of origins of ancestors. One excellent gazetteer resource is now available on CD-ROM disk.

Immigrants to England, 1550 to 1850
by Sherry Irvine, CGRS, FSA

Several readers suggested the topic to this article, which gives a brief history of immigration to England. It also explains basic English naturalization laws and points out some record types that might be helpful for researchers.

 

 

See also: GenDirectory: Gazetteers and Live Roots Genealogy Search