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Leicestershire Maps
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Maps are a valuable aid to understanding the physical barriers and political borders our ancestors had to deal with. Large scale maps cover a small area and may show detail of trails and prominent buildings. Small scale maps cover large areas, like an entire county. These resources may help you with your search:
- There is a fine online map at the Family History Library in Salt Lake City.
- The Institute of Heraldic & Genealogical Studies produces a series of maps covering every county of England, Wales and Scotland giving the name of each parish, showing parochial boundaries, probate jurisdiction in colour and the dates of the commencement of registers. Size 17" x 14". Each is approx. £6.00.
- For small scale county map (showing a large area) of great Britain, try Genuki's County Map.
- For large scale street maps (showing a small area), try Streetmap.co.uk.
- For historic maps, try Old-Maps.co.uk.
- My favorites are the large scale Ordnance Survey Maps from the 1840's, showing churches, manor houses, dirt trails, etc. Visit Landmark Information Group and Ordnance Survey to see what they have. To order in North America, see Commercial Sources below.
- Or you can go directly to the Ordnance Survey site.
- Often one needs to find how to get there from here. Go to Mapquest and put in the names of the town from where you're starting and to where you're going and it'll draw you a map with the distance.
- Don't have any idea where the parish is? Use the Genuki Parish Locator and get your bearings.
- See if you can find "The County Maps of Old England," by Thomas MOULE, published by Studio Editions, Ltd., London, 1990, ISBN 1-85170-403-5 or one of the more recent reprints. It does not have a gazetteer, but includes many places not found on modern maps.
- The London Ancestor site has some great historic boundary maps, Leicestershire included.
Commercial Sources
In the UK:
- Get a full range of maps from the CentreMaps site.
- Get the wonderful Landranger Series from the Elstead Company.
- Get a motoring atlas and/or Ordnance Survey map from Michelin House, 81 Fulham Road, London, SW3 6RB.
- There is a great book: Humphrey-Smith, Cecil R., 1995, 'The Phillimore Atlas and Index of Parish Registers', Phillimore & Co, England. In 2000, it could be purchased from Amazon.Com for 50 pounds. It lists the locations of the parishes and their registers and has maps of all the counties of the UK.
In North America:
- Maps WorldWide may be able to provide you with a Landranger map of the Leicestershire area you seek.