England Visitations

VISITATIONS IN ENGLAND

Bedfordshire	Berkshire	Buckinghamshire	Cambridgeshire	Cheshire
Cornwall	Cumberland	Derbyshire	Devon	Dorset
Durham	Essex	Gloucestershire	Hampshire	Herefordshire
Hertfordshire	Huntingdonshire	Isle of Wight	Kent	Lancashire
Leicestershire	Lincolnshire	London	Middlesex	Norfolk
Northamptonshire	Northumberland	Nottinghamshire	Oxfordshire	Rutland
Shropshire	Somerset	Staffordshire	Suffolk	Surrey
Sussex	Warwickshire	Westmoreland	Wiltshire	Worcestershire
Yorkshire

Also: Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, & Channel Islands.

The visitations in England in the 1500's and 1600's are similar to our census here in the United States. It is a valuable resource when you get that far back in your research. The English call their counties "shires". I have arranged the following visitations by shires. I have listed multifle links to the visitations and given the source where I found it. Sometimes one source may be a bad copy or have missing information and you can go to another source. When you get back so far you will see some Latin terms.

Latin Translations:

daughter = filia
son = filius
uxor = wife
de = from
miles (militis) = soldier, knight
obiit = he/she died, went away, departed

From my cousin Ann Eshelby in Wales

The Visitations of the Heralds

In the 16th and 17th centuries, most of the counties of England were visited by officers of the College of Arms for the purpose of identifying the pedigrees of those entitled to bear arms.

In the 19th-20th centuries, a number of people & institutions (in particular The Harleian and Surtees Societies produced books which pulled together one or more of these Visitations. These books are the best sources of early data on many families which died out before the 19th century and provide a useful supplement for many other families.

These are amongst our most useful (if not always reliable) sources.

The Harleian Society includes a selection of the Visitations. Some of those works include additional information provided by the Harleian editor to extend or correct the Visitation records, in particular:

NOTE: The first census in England was in 1841.

LONDON

Since at least the 19th century, "London" has also referred to the metropolis around this core, historically split between Middlesex, Essex, Surrey, Kent and Hertfordshire,[10][11][12] which today largely makes up Greater London, a region governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly. Ref: Wiki

The visitation of LONDON in the year 1568 : taken by Robert Cooke, and since augumented both with descents and arms (Volume 1) - Cooke, Robert; Armytage, George John, Sir, 1842-; Howard, Joseph Jackson, 1827-1902; College of Arms (Great Britain)

The visitation of LONDON, anno Domini 1633, 1634, and 1635. Made by Sr. Henry St. George, kt., Richmond herald, and deputy and marshal to Sr. Richard St. George, kt., Clarencieux king of armes (Volume 1) - St. George, Henry, 1581-1644

The Visitation of LONDON: Anno Domini 1633, 1634, and 1635. Volume 2