BoAr: Gazetteers:
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http://boar.org.uk/ariwxe1Gazetteers(home.htm
Latest edit 14 Feb 2008.
©2006
R.J.PENHEY
The Bourne Archive
Gazetteers,
Directories and Road Books
Gazetteers
A gazetteer gives
a summary of each place listed. It concentrates on broadly geographical matters
though some may be weighted towards details of political and social
administration.
Directories
A directory is a
form of gazetteer which strongly emphasizes the listing of people, usually
predominantly, in their capacity as traders or service providers.
Itineraries (Road
Books)
Before the days
of satellite navigation and road atlases, it was normal for reasonably
well-heeled travellers to own a road book of the country. In it, the roads were
described according to a formula, landmark by landmark, with the distances
between them and very important for the sales appeal, notes of the notable
residences and their occupants to right and left. Typically, the roads
radiating from the capital were described, then the branch roads leading from
them to places intermediate between the main routes. Lastly, the roads crossing
the radial routes and running between provincial towns, the cross-roads, were
described.
The following
index lists the items so far transcribed.
G. A. Cooke’s topographical
description of
Marrat’s History of
The Parliamentary Gazetteer, 1843:
a gazetteer.
The Parishes of
the Bourne Poor Law Union.
Paterson’s Roads, 1826,
a road book.
White’s Directory, 1882:
a trade directory.