Shire
From Open Encyclopedia
- For other uses of "Shire", see Shire (disambiguation).
A shire is an administrative area of Britain and Australia. The first shires were created by the Anglo-Saxons in what is now England and south eastern Scotland. Shires were controlled by a royal official known as a "shire reeve" or sheriff. Historically shires were sub-divided into hundreds or wapentakes although other less common sub-divisions existed. In modern English usage shires are sub-divided into districts.
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Shires in Britain
In Britain, the term "shire county" is used to refer to shire counties.
It can also be used in a narrower sense, referring only to traditional counties ending in "shire". These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town.
Shires in England
Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, Yorkshire.
Of these, all but Huntingdonshire and Yorkshire are also administrative counties (but with different boundaries). Huntingdonshire is now administered as a district of Cambridgeshire, and Yorkshire is split between East, North, South and West Yorkshire.
The counties of Devon, Dorset, Rutland and Somerset were occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. This usage is now considered archaic.
Shires in Scotland
Aberdeenshire, Ayrshire, Banffshire, Berwickshire, Clackmannanshire, Cromartyshire, Dumfriesshire, Dunbartonshire, Inverness-shire, Kincardineshire, Kinross-shire, Kirkcudbrightshire, Lanarkshire, Morayshire, Nairnshire, Peeblesshire, Perthshire, Renfrewshire, Ross-shire, Roxburghshire, Selkirkshire, Stirlingshire, Wigtownshire
In Scotland four counties have alternative names with the "shire" suffix: Angus (Forfarshire), East Lothian (Haddingtonshire), Midlothian (Edinburghshire) and West Lothian (Linlithgowshire).
Sutherland is occasionally still referred to as Sutherlandshire, despite there being no town called Sutherland. Similarly, Argyllshire, Buteshire and Caithness-shire are sometimes found. Also, Morayshire is sometimes called Elginshire.
Shires in Wales
Brecknockshire, Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire,Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, Radnorshire
In Wales, the counties of Merioneth and Glamorgan are occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. The only traditional Welsh county that never takes "shire" is Anglesey.
Non-county shires
The suffix –shire was a generalised term referring to a district. It did not acquire the strong association with county until later, though the former Hexhamshire and Winchcombeshire were considered counties. The area of Richmondshire in North Yorkshire is today a local government district. The term shire thus predates the creation of England's counties, referring originally to a more local jurisdiction.
Other than these, the term was used for several other districts. Bedlingtonshire, Norhamshire and Islandshire were exclaves of County Durham, which were incorporated into Northumberland in 1844. The suffix was also was used for many hundreds, wapentakes and liberties such as Allertonshire, Blackburnshire, Howdenshire, Leylandshire, Powdershire, Pydenshire, Salfordshire, Triggshire, Tynemouthshire, West Derbyshire and Wivelshire, counties corporate such as Hullshire, and other districts such as Applebyshire, Bamburghshire, Bunkleshire, Carlisleshire, Coldinghamshire, Coxwoldshire, Cravenshire, Halfshire, Hallamshire and Yetholmshire.
The term "shire" is shared by the Germanic people: Scirii.
Shires in Australia
Shire is the most common word in Australia for the smallest local government areas by population. The states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia use shire for this unit. South Australia and Tasmania use district. A shire has the same powers as the next largest units, the town and city.
Shires in United States (Virginia)
In 1634, eight shires were created in the Virginia Colony by order of the King of England. They were renamed as counties only a few years later. They were:
- Accomack
- Charles City Shire (now Charles City County, Virginia)
- Charles River Shire (now York County, Virginia)
- Elizabeth City Shire
- Henrico (now Henrico County, Virginia)
- James City Shire (now James City County, Virginia)
- Warwick River Shire
- Warrosquyoake Shire now (Isle of Wight County, Virginia)
Of these, five are considered still extant in essentially their same political form in Virginia as of 2005, although most boundaries have changed in almost 400 years.
