Find A New Direction

Maps are a valuable resource often overlooked by family historians. Pam Ross explains why they’re worth exploring.

Maps are often one of the last documents consulted in a family history search, but there’s an argument for moving them further up any list of priorities, particularly now that so many can be accessed online – and free! They can be used as a research tool, a source of information about an area or an individual person, and to provide inspiration for a wider search. The free online collections at The National Library of Scotland and the British Library are phenomenal and even a simple internet search opens up new possibilities.

The British Isles has been divided into different administrative areas during its history. The same village could be covered by different church and state jurisdictions simultaneously. This is difficult to understand without looking at maps, because you might want to see documents from all of the relevant bodies and they won’t necessarily be stored in the same place. 

Some searches are blissfully straightforward – the city of Worcester in the county of Worcestershire was in Worcester Church of England diocese, Worcester civil registration district, Worcester poor law union and its parishes have Worcester appended to their saints’ names. Where to start to look for documents? You’ve guessed it: Worcester.

The village of Harborne, however, now part of the city of Birmingham, was initially in Staffordshire, but moved to Warwickshire in 1891. Its civil registers up to 1908 are currently held at Sandwell Register Office. After 1908, Harborne counted as part of Kings Norton registration district, its records currently held by Birmingham Register Office. Kings Norton itself was in the county of Worcestershire. Harborne parish church was in the diocese of Lichfield, which is in Staffordshire. Now would be a good time to reach for a map.