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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.
[edit] History
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.
[edit] Research TipsThe 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 [edit] Research Tools[edit] English Jurisdictions 1851Family 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.
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