Does anyone know if any county boundaries changed in the early 19th century?
I get the impression that county boundaries never changed. Parish
boundaries did and you could end up with a parish split between two counties.
I cannot think of any mechanism for changing county boundaries other than
by statute. (The use of the royal prerogative would, surely, have been
unacceptable by the 19th century). I can think of enclosure Acts which
changed parish boundaries but I have never heard of one changing county
boundaries. And I can find no general legislation doing it. In any event,
I strongly suspect that in the early 19th century the county was not
sufficiently important for anyone to worry about their boundaries. I would
guess that the first time anyone did anything was when county councils were
set up in 1888.
Nevertheless Ivor Noel Hume tells me, in a current email correspondence,
that the 1851 census refers to Alveley in Staffordshire, when everyone
knows it is, and always has been, in Shropshire. Is it likely that the
local inhabitants, and the census taker, were mistaken about what county
they were in? Or did the boundaries in fact change?
All advice and suggestions would be happily received. (The reason we want
to know about this is that Noel is trying to get details of a large jug,
made by a previously unknown maker in Bradley, near Bilston, and inscribed
to another John Bacon, who appears to live in Alveley. Trying to track
down this man when it is unclear where Alveley is, is proving tricky).
With thanks and best wishes to all,
Frank Sharman
Wolverhampton
01902 763246
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