Place:Berkshire, England

Watchers
NameBerkshire
Alt namesBerkssource: old abbreviation
BRKsource: Chapman county code (GENUKI)
TypeHistoric county, Administrative county, Modern county
Coordinates51.517°N 1.333°W
Located inEngland
See alsoBuckinghamshire, Englandcounty from which Slough and Eton transferred 1974
Oxfordshire, Englandcounty to which Abingdon, Didcot and Wantage and their surrounding areas transferred 1974
Contained Places
Ancient parish
Sonning
Borough (county)
Reading
Borough (municipal)
Abingdon ( 860 - 1974 )
Maidenhead
Newbury
Wallingford ( - 1974 )
Wantage ( - 1974 )
Windsor
Wokingham
Chapelry
Ruscombe
Sandhurst
Wokingham
Civil parish
Abingdon St. Helen Without ( 1894 - 1974 )
Abingdon St. Nicholas ( - 1894 )
Aldermaston
Aldworth
Appleford ( - 1974 )
Appleton with Eaton ( - 1974 )
Arborfield and Newland
Arborfield
Ardington ( - 1974 )
Ashampstead
Ashbury ( - 1974 )
Aston Tirrold ( - 1974 )
Aston Upthorpe ( - 1974 )
Avington ( - 1934 )
Barkham
Basildon
Baulking ( - 1974 )
Beedon
Beenham
Besselsleigh ( - 1974 )
Binfield
Bisham
Blewbury ( - 1974 )
Bourton ( - 1974 )
Boxford
Bracknell
Bradfield
Bray
Brightwalton
Brightwell cum Sotwell ( 1948 - 1974 )
Brightwell ( - 1948 )
Brimpton
Broad Hinton ( 1844 - )
Buckland ( - 1974 )
Bucklebury
Burghfield
Buscot ( - 1974 )
Catmore
Caversham ( 1911 - )
Chaddleworth
Charlton ( - 1934 )
Charney Bassett ( - 1974 )
Charvil
Chieveley
Childrey ( - 1974 )
Chilton ( - 1974 )
Cholsey ( - 1974 )
Coleshill ( - 1974 )
Combe ( 1895 - )
Compton Beauchamp ( - 1974 )
Compton
Cookham
Cox Green
Crowthorne
Culham
Cumnor ( - 1974 )
Datchet ( 1974 - )
Denchworth ( - 1974 )
Didcot ( - 1974 )
Draycot Moor ( - 1974 )
Drayton (near Abingdon) ( - 1974 )
Earley
East Challow ( - 1974 )
East Hanney ( - 1974 )
East Hendred ( - 1974 )
East Ilsley
East Lockinge ( - 1934 )
East Shefford
Easthampstead
Eaton Hastings ( - 1974 )
Enborne
Englefield
Eton ( 1974 - )
Farnborough
Fawley
Fernham ( - 1974 )
Finchampstead
Frilford ( - 1974 )
Frilsham
Fyfield and Tubney ( 1952 - 1974 )
Fyfield ( - 1974 )
Garford ( - 1974 )
Goosey ( - 1974 )
Grazeley
Great Coxwell ( - 1974 )
Great Faringdon ( - 1974 )
Great Shefford
Greenham
Grove ( - 1974 )
Hampstead Marshall
Harwell ( - 1974 )
Hatford ( - 1974 )
Hinton Waldrist ( - 1974 )
Holybrook
Horton ( 1974 - present )
Hungerford
Hurley
Inkpen
Kennington ( 1936 - 1974 )
Kingston Bagpuize with Southmoor ( 1971 - 1974 )
Kingston Bagpuize ( - 1974 )
Kingston Lisle
Lambourn
Langford ( 1300 - 1844 )
Leckhampstead
Letcombe Bassett ( - 1974 )
Letcombe Regis ( - 1974 )
Little Coxwell ( - 1974 )
Little Faringdon ( 1300 - 1844 )
Little Wittenham ( - 1974 )
Lockinge ( 1934 - 1974 )
Long Wittenham ( - 1974 )
Longcot ( - 1974 )
Longworth ( - 1974 )
Lyford ( - 1974 )
Marcham ( - 1974 )
Midgham
Milton ( - 1974 )
Mortimer West End ( - 1879 )
Moulsford ( - 1974 )
Newland
North Hinksey ( - 1974 )
North Moreton ( - 1974 )
Old Windsor
Padworth
Pangbourne
Peasemore
Purley
Pusey ( - 1974 )
Radley ( - 1974 )
Reading St. Giles ( - 1888 )
Reading St. Lawrence ( - 1888 )
Reading St. Mary
Remenham
Ruscombe
Sandhurst
Sandleford
Shalbourne ( - 1895 )
Shaw cum Donnington
Shellingford ( - 1974 )
Shinfield ( 1844 - )
Shottesbrooke
Sonning
Sotwell ( - 1948 )
South Hinksey ( - 1974 )
South Moreton ( - 1974 )
Sparsholt ( - 1974 )
Speen
St. Nicholas Hurst ( 1844 - )
Stanford Dingley
Stanford in the Vale ( - 1974 )
Steventon ( - 1974 )
Stratfield Mortimer
Streatley
Sulham
Sulhamstead Abbots
Sulhamstead Bannister
Sunningdale
Sunninghill and Ascot
Sunninghill
Sunningwell ( - 1974 )
Sutton Courtenay ( - 1974 )
Sutton Wick ( - 1974 )
Swallowfield ( 1844 - )
Thatcham
Theale
Tidmarsh
Tilehurst
Tubney ( - 1974 )
Twyford
Uffington ( - 1974 )
Ufton Nervet
Upton ( - 1974 )
Wallingford All Hallows ( - 1919 )
Wallingford St. Leonard ( - 1919 )
Wallingford St. Mary le More ( - 1919 )
Wallingford St. Peter ( - 1919 )
Wallingford ( - 1974 )
Waltham St. Lawrence
Warfield
Wargrave
Wasing
Watchfield ( - 1974 )
Welford
West Challow ( - 1974 )
West Hanney ( - 1974 )
West Hendred ( - 1974 )
West Ilsley
West Lockinge ( - 1934 )
West Woodhay
White Waltham
Windsor
Winkfield
Winnersh
Winterbourne
Wokefield
Wokingham Without ( 1894 - )
Wokingham
Woodley and Sandford
Woolhampton
Woolstone ( - 1974 )
Wootton ( - 1974 )
Wraysbury ( 1974 - )
Yattendon
District municipality
Bracknell District ( 1974 - 1998 )
Bracknell Forest District ( 1998 - )
Newbury District ( 1974 - 1998 )
Reading District ( 1974 - )
Slough District ( 1974 - )
West Berkshire District ( 1998 - )
Windsor and Maidenhead District ( 1974 - )
Wokingham District ( 1974 - )
Former parish
Bagley Wood ( - 1974 )
Eton Wick ( 1974 - )
Langley Marish ( 1974 - )
Former village
Eaton Hastings ( - 1974 )
Seacourt ( - 1974 )
Hamlet
Bayworth ( - 1974 )
Chalvey ( 1974 - )
Charlton ( - 1934 )
Compton Beauchamp ( - 1974 )
Cookham Dean
Cookham Rise
Ditton ( 1974 - )
Draycot Moor ( - 1974 )
Fernham ( - 1974 )
Frilford ( - 1974 )
Little Faringdon ( 1300 - 1844 )
Littlewick Green
Shottesbrooke
Hundred
Aldermaston Hundred ( - 1600 )
Beynhurst Hundred
Bray Hundred
Charlton Hundred
Compton Hundred
Cookham Hundred
Faircross Hundred
Faringdon Hundred
Ganfield Hundred
Hormer Hundred
Kintbury Eagle Hundred
Lambourn Hundred
Moreton Hundred
Ock Hundred
Reading Hundred
Ripplesmere Hundred
Shrivenham Hundred
Sonning Hundred
Theale Hundred
Wantage Hundred
Wargrave Hundred
Inhabited place
Ascot
Ashampstead
Ashmore Green
Bagnor
Barkham
Baulking ( - 1974 )
Beech Hill
Besselsleigh ( - 1974 )
Binfield
Bisham
Boars Hill ( - 1974 )
Botley ( - 1974 )
Bourton ( - 1974 )
Bracknell
Bray
Brightwell cum Sotwell ( 1948 - 1974 )
Buckland ( - 1974 )
California
Charney Bassett ( - 1974 )
Charvil
Chilton ( - 1974 )
Cold Ash
Colnbrook ( 1974 - )
Cookham
Crookham
Crowthorne
Cumnor ( - 1974 )
Datchet ( 1974 - )
Dedworth
Didcot ( - 1974 )
Drayton (near Abingdon) ( - 1974 )
Earley
East Challow ( - 1974 )
East Garston
East Hanney ( - 1974 )
Eddington
Eton Wick ( 1974 - )
Eton ( 1974 - )
Garford ( - 1974 )
Goosey ( - 1974 )
Greenham
Grove ( - 1974 )
Hampstead Norreys
Harwell ( - 1974 )
Hatford ( - 1974 )
Hermitage
Hinton Waldrist ( - 1974 )
Horton ( 1974 - present )
Hurley
Hythe End
Kingscote
Kingston Lisle
Kintbury
Langley Marish ( 1974 - )
Langley
Leckhampstead
Letcombe Bassett ( - 1974 )
Letcombe Regis ( - 1974 )
Leverton
Little Coxwell ( - 1974 )
Longcot ( - 1974 )
Lyford ( - 1974 )
Martin's Heron
Midgham
North Hinksey ( - 1974 )
Poyle
Pusey ( - 1974 )
Radley ( - 1974 )
Reading
Remenham
Scarlets
Shellingford ( - 1974 )
Shrivenham ( - 1974 )
Slough ( 1974 - )
South Hinksey ( - 1974 )
Stanford in the Vale ( - 1974 )
Streatley
Sulhamstead
Sunningdale
Sunningwell ( - 1974 )
Twyford
Uffington ( - 1974 )
Upton ( - 1974 )
Waltham St. Lawrence
Warfield
Wargrave
Wash Common
Watchfield ( - 1974 )
West Challow ( - 1974 )
Weston
White Waltham
Whitley
Wootton ( - 1974 )
World's End
Wraysbury ( 1974 - )
Wytham ( - 1974 )
Liberty (parochial)
Clapcot
Locality
Ashridge ( 1844 - )
Chandlings Farm ( - 1974 )
Parish
Clewer
Parish (ancient)
Abingdon St. Helen
Abingdon St. Nicholas ( - 1894 )
Aldermaston
Aldworth
Appleton with Eaton ( - 1974 )
Arborfield
Ardington ( - 1974 )
Ashbury ( - 1974 )
Aston Tirrold ( - 1974 )
Avington ( - 1934 )
Basildon
Beenham
Blewbury ( - 1974 )
Boxford
Bradfield
Brightwalton
Brightwell ( - 1948 )
Brimpton
Bucklebury
Burghfield
Buscot ( - 1974 )
Catmore
Caversham ( 1911 - )
Chaddleworth
Chieveley
Childrey ( - 1974 )
Clewer
Coleshill ( - 1974 )
Combe ( 1895 - )
Compton Beauchamp ( - 1974 )
Compton
Culham
Denchworth ( - 1974 )
Didcot ( - 1974 )
East Hendred ( - 1974 )
East Ilsley
East Lockinge ( - 1934 )
East Shefford
Easthampstead
Eaton Hastings ( - 1974 )
Enborne
Englefield
Farnborough
Fawley
Finchampstead
Frilsham
Fyfield ( - 1974 )
Great Coxwell ( - 1974 )
Great Faringdon ( - 1974 )
Great Shefford
Hampstead Marshall
Hungerford
Inkpen
Kingston Bagpuize ( - 1974 )
Lambourn
Langford ( 1300 - 1844 )
Little Wittenham ( - 1974 )
Long Wittenham ( - 1974 )
Longworth ( - 1974 )
Marcham ( - 1974 )
Milton ( - 1974 )
North Moreton ( - 1974 )
Old Windsor
Padworth
Pangbourne
Peasemore
Purley
Reading St. Giles ( - 1888 )
Reading St. Lawrence ( - 1888 )
Reading St. Mary
Shalbourne ( - 1895 )
Shaw cum Donnington
Shinfield ( 1844 - )
Shottesbrooke
Sotwell ( - 1948 )
South Moreton ( - 1974 )
Sparsholt ( - 1974 )
Speen
Stanford Dingley
Steventon ( - 1974 )
Stratfield Mortimer
Streatley
Sulham
Sulhamstead Abbots
Sulhamstead Bannister
Sunninghill
Sutton Courtenay ( - 1974 )
Thatcham
Tidmarsh
Tilehurst
Tubney ( - 1974 )
Ufton Nervet
Wallingford All Hallows ( - 1919 )
Wallingford St. Leonard ( - 1919 )
Wallingford St. Mary le More ( - 1919 )
Wallingford St. Peter ( - 1919 )
Wantage ( - 1974 )
Wasing
Welford
West Hanney ( - 1974 )
West Hendred ( - 1974 )
West Ilsley
West Woodhay
Windsor
Winkfield
Woolhampton
Yattendon
Parochial area
Newland
Winnersh
Woodley and Sandford
Registration district
Abingdon Registration District ( 1837 - 1974 )
Bracknell Forest Registration District ( 1998 - )
Bracknell Registration District ( 1974 - 1998 )
Bradfield Registration District ( 1837 - 1932 )
Cookham Registration District ( 1837 - 1896 )
Easthampstead Registration District (early) ( 1837 - 1937 )
Easthampstead Registration District (late) ( 1967 - 1974 )
Faringdon Registration District ( 1837 - 1937 )
Hungerford Registration District ( 1837 - 1937 )
Maidenhead Registration District ( 1896 - 1974 )
Newbury Registration District ( 1837 - 1998 )
Reading Registration District (early) ( 1837 - 1974 )
Reading Registration District (late) ( 1998 - )
Reading and Wokingham Registration District ( 1974 - 1998 )
Slough Registration District ( 1974 - )
Wallingford Registration District ( 1837 - 1974 )
Wantage Registration District ( 1837 - 1974 )
West Berkshire Registration District ( 1998 - )
Windsor Registration District ( 1837 - 1974 )
Windsor and Maidenhead Registration District ( 1974 - )
Wokingham Registration District (early) ( 1837 - 1974 )
Wokingham Registration District (late) ( 1998 - )
Wokingham Registration District ( 1837 - 1844 )
Rural district
Abingdon Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Bradfield Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Cookham Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Easthampstead Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Faringdon Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Hungerford Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Newbury Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Wallingford Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Wantage Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Windsor Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Wokingham Rural ( 1894 - 1974 )
Suburb
Botley ( - 1974 )
Boyn Hill
Calcot
Caversham ( 1911 - )
Chalvey ( 1974 - )
Cox Green
Southcote
Tilehurst
Township
West Lockinge ( - 1934 )
Unitary authority
Bracknell Forest District ( 1998 - )
Reading District ( 1974 - )
Slough District ( 1974 - )
West Berkshire District ( 1998 - )
Windsor and Maidenhead District ( 1974 - )
Wokingham District ( 1974 - )
Unknown
Buckhold
Chandlings
Littleworth
Shalford
South Ascot
Stubbings
Wickham
Urban district
Caversham ( 1911 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names


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

Berkshire (abbreviated Berks) is a county in southeast England, located to the west of London. It has also been known as the Royal County of Berkshire since at the least the 19th century because of the presence of Windsor Castle; this was recognised by the Queen in 1957 and letters patent were issued confirming this in 1974. Berkshire is a county of historic origin and is currently both a ceremonial county and a non-metropolitan county without a county council. Berkshire County Council was the main county governing body from 1889 to 1998, but the County Borough of Reading was separately administered.

In 1974 the towns of Abingdon, Didcot and Wantage were transferred to Oxfordshire, and Slough (actually the Borough of Slough and Eton) was gained from Buckinghamshire. The separate administration of Reading ended.

Since 1998 Berkshire has been governed by the six unitary authorities of Bracknell Forest, Reading, Slough, West Berkshire, Windsor and Maidenhead and Wokingham.

The county borders the counties of Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Greater London, Surrey, Wiltshire and Hampshire.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

According to Asser's biography of King Alfred, written in 893 AD, its old name Bearrocscir takes its name from a wood of box trees, which was called Bearroc (a Celtic word meaning "hilly"). This wood, perhaps no longer extant, was west of Frilsham, near Newbury.

Much of the early history of the county is recorded in the Chronicles of the Abingdon Abbey, which at the time of the survey was second only to the crown in the extent and number of its possessions, such as The Abbey, Sutton Courtenay. The abbot also exercised considerable judicial and administrative powers, and his court was endowed with the privileges of the hundred court and was freed from liability to interference by the sheriff. Berkshire and Oxfordshire had a common sheriff until the reign of Elizabeth I, and the shire court was held at Grandpont. The assizes were formerly held at Reading, Abingdon, and Newbury, but by 1911 were held entirely at Reading.

Berkshire has been the scene of some notable battles throughout its history. Alfred the Great's campaign against the Danes included the battles of Englefield, Ashdown and Reading. Newbury was the site of two English Civil War battles: the First Battle of Newbury (at Wash Common) in 1643 and the Second Battle of Newbury (at Speen) in 1644. The nearby Donnington Castle was reduced to a ruin in the aftermath of the second battle. Another Battle of Reading took place on 9 December 1688. It was the only substantial military action in England during the Glorious Revolution and ended in a decisive victory for forces loyal to William of Orange.

Reading became the new county town in 1867, taking over from Abingdon, which remained in the county. Under the Local Government Act 1888, Berkshire County Council took over functions of the Berkshire Quarter Sessions, covering the administrative county of Berkshire, which excluded the county borough of Reading. Boundary alterations in the early part of the 20th century were minor, with Caversham from Oxfordshire becoming part of the Reading county borough and cessions in the Oxford area.

On 1 April 1974, Berkshire's boundaries changed under the Local Government Act 1972. Berkshire took over administration of Slough and Eton and part of the former Eton Rural District from Buckinghamshire.[1] The northern part of the county became part of Oxfordshire, with Faringdon, Wantage and Abingdon and their hinterland becoming the Vale of White Horse district, and Didcot and Wallingford added to South Oxfordshire district.[1] 94 (Berkshire Yeomanry) Signal Squadron still keep the Uffington White Horse in their insignia, even though the White Horse is now in Oxfordshire. The original Local Government White Paper would have transferred Henley-on-Thames from Oxfordshire to Berkshire: this proposal did not make it into the Bill as introduced.

On 1 April 1998 Berkshire County Council was abolished under a recommendation of the Banham Commission, and the districts became unitary authorities. Unlike similar reforms elsewhere at the same time, the non-metropolitan county was not abolished. Signs saying "Welcome to the Royal County of Berkshire" exist on borders of West Berkshire, on the east side of Virginia Water, on the M4 motorway, on the south side of Sonning Bridge, on the A404 southbound by Marlow, and northbound on the A33 past Stratfield Saye.

A flag for the historic county of Berkshire was registered with the Flag Institute in 2017.

(footnote references may be found in Wikipedia)

Research Tips

The Berkshire Record Office, 9 Coley Avenue, Reading, Berkshire, RG1 6AF, continues to be maintained by the six unitary authorities that previously made up Berkshire. The Record Office houses archives covering the nearly 900 years of Berkshire's history.

The GENUKI pages on Berkshire hold a plethora of information. A lot of this has been provided by the Berkshire Family History Society.

Refer also to WeRelate's own England research guide

Research Tools

English Jurisdictions 1851

Family Search maps have provided this finding aid or "app". Type a location in the search box, select Parish, County, Civil Registration District, Diocese, Rural Deanery, Poor Law Uniion, Hundred or Division from the pulldown list and you are provided with a box locating the place on a Google map. The Info tab gives the dates of creation of the parish, its predecessor(s) and the availability of Parish Records and Bishops Transcripts. The Jurisdictions tab gives the Civil Registration District, the Probate Court, the Diocese, the Rural Deanery, the Poor Law Union, the Hundred and the Ecclesiastical Province. Under options you have a choice of listing contiguous parishes, doing a radius place search, searching the Family History Catalog, the Family History Historical Records, or the FamilySearch Research Wiki, or simply moving on to another search. A layer system allows you to search under more than one category at a time. Remember that history “stops” at 1851 on this finding aid.

source: Family History Library Catalog
This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Berkshire. 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.