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  • It's easier than ever before to check your entries from the 1881 Census - more details here

Vintage County Maps

A surprising result for one of my key families (Bousfield) in 1881. The name was unknown in Nottinghamshire apparently and large numbers of my Bousfield ancestors were in Nottinghamshire at the the time of the 1881 census.
 
I too have found the web site very useful and has shown 3 of my 4 major lines at their greatest concentration (excluding London) in the counties of Worcestershire with overlaps to include Birmingham/Warwickshire just as they relate in my Tree. I was also pleased to see my paternal Spiers showing its Scottish roots. As for my 4th major line (Adams), that, as expected, was more widely scattered but again with Birmingham and Staffordshire getting honourable mention.

It also bore out what I already knew of my wife's two major lines -following extensive research of both - that her 'Willmott' line had a wide base in Northamptonshire, and this was indeed born out by the map. To an even greater degree this also applied to her 'Ainge' line which indeed had its only major concentration in Northamptonshire and immediate surrounding counties. I did not pursue her 'Smith' connections for obvious reasons.
 
I now realise that I left out the all-important word "yet" in my reply above: "The name was unknown in Nottinghamshire apparently and large numbers of my Bousfield ancestors were in Nottinghamshire at the the time of the 1881 census." That isn't quite what I meant. Had I included the "yet", it would have read: "The name was unknown in Nottinghamshire apparently and YET large numbers of my Bousfield ancestors were in Nottinghamshire at the the time of the 1881 census." Slightly different! However, I was luckier with most of my other key families, who were more or less where I would have expected them to be. Interesting, but not surprising, is how the names have spread by 1998.
 
I will have to wait until I get home to look at the website!
My tablet is missing a plugin, but it doesn't tell me which one.
I will look on my computer when I get home.
I think I will be mainly North East.
K
 
I agree - this is a fascinating website. One of my key families is shown as being present in Colchester in significant numbers in 1881 (which I knew from copious evidence) but almost totally absent in 1998. This is not really a surprise as I had discovered that most of the men of that line had moved away from the town to find work elsewhere, but somehow the reality is brought home when you see the coloured areas on the map! And perhaps it's an encouragement to follow the female family members whose surname changed on marriage, to see how many of them stayed in the area where they were born.
 
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