Place:Aldershot, Hampshire, England

Watchers
NameAldershot
Alt namesAldershottsource: old former spelling
Aldershot Garrisonsource: army base on edge of town
Aldershot Military Townsource: "town" on army base
TypeChapelry, Civil parish, Urban district, Military base
Coordinates51.25°N 0.783°W
Located inHampshire, England
See alsoCrondall Hundred, Hampshire, Englandancient county division in which it was located
Rushmoor District, Hampshire, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area since 1974
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Aldershot is a town in the Rushmoor District or Borough of Hampshire, located on heathland about 60 km (37 mi) southwest of London. The town has a population of approximately 36,000, while the Aldershot Urban Area, a loose conurbation (which also includes other towns such as Camberley and Farnham in Surrey and Farnborough in Hampshire has a population of 243,000, making it the thirtieth-largest urban area in the UK. Aldershot is sufficiently close enough to the border with the county of Surrey that parts of the town may be considered to be within Surrey rather than Hampshire.

Aldershot is known as the "Home of the British Army", a connection which led to its rapid growth from a small village to a Victorian town.

Prior to 1850, Aldershott was little known. The area was a vast stretch of common land, a lonely wasteland unsuitable for most forms of agriculture with scant population. In 1854, at the time of the Crimean War, Aldershot Garrison was established as the first permanent training camp for the British Army. This led to a rapid expansion of Aldershot's population going from 875 in 1851, to in excess of 16,000 by 1861 (including about 9,000 from the military). The town continued to grow, reaching a peak in the 1950s.

Aldershot Military Town (Aldershot Garrison)

Aldershot Military Town is located between Aldershot and North Camp near Farnborough. It is a garrison town that serves as the location for the military presence in the area. It houses Aldershot Garrison's married quarters, barracks, Army playing fields and other sporting facilities. The military town includes some local landmarks, such as the Aldershot Military Cemetery, Aldershot Observatory, the Royal Garrison Church and other churches. Aldershot Military Town comes under its own military jurisdiction.

Research Tips

  • Victoria County History of Hampshire, volume 4, chapter on Aldershot.
  • GENUKI has a list of archive holders in Hampshire including the Hampshire Record Office, various museums in Portsmouth and Southhampton, the Isle of Wight Record Office and Archives.
  • The Hampshire Online Parish Clerk project has a large collection of transcriptions from Parish Registers across Hampshire.
  • A listing of all the Registration Districts in England and Wales since their introduction in 1837 together with tables listing the parishes that were part of each district and the time period covered, along with detailed notes on changes of parish name, mergers, etc. Do respect the copyright on this material.
  • The three-storey City Museum in Winchester covers the Iron Age and Roman periods, the Middle Ages, and the Victorian period.
  • Volumes in The Victoria County History Series are available for Hampshire through British History Online. There are three volumes and the county is covered by parishes within the old divisions of "hundreds".
A collection of maps on the A Vision of Britain through Time website illustrating the English county of Hampshire over the period 1832-1932 (the last two are expandible):
  • A group of maps of the post-1974 municipal districts or boroughs of Hampshire on Wikipedia Commons
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Aldershot. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.