Chapman County Codes: England

Index:

• Introduction
• Table 1: Counties before April 1974
• Table 2: Counties after April 1974
• Notes

Introduction

The two following tables provide basic information about the major administrative regions of England. There are different systems of administration in the UK, and the administrative units bear different names: county, region, and district. In addition, large-scale reorganisations of local authorities occurred in the early and mid 1970s, resulting in new counties, the "disappearance" of old counties, adjustments to county boundaries, and so on. For many family history purposes, it is the "old" administrative regions which are relevant. However, a knowledge of the present arrangements is also needed, so that the records you need can be found.

Also, these are administrative regions, whereas for many purposes the old counties continue to have an existence, at least in the minds of people who disagreed with the changes.

Information is listed for each region, in the form of tables, and includes the following information:

• full name of region. In some case, it is uncertain what the official name is, and variants are found. For instance, the suffix "shire" may be absent or present, as in Devon - Devonshire, Fife - Fifeshire. The most acceptable and least confusing names are used. It is not recommended to omit the "shire" in cases where the resulting name could be either a county or a city, e.g. Lincoln(shire);
• a recognised abbreviation of the full name. There is no standard, and many (easily recognisable) truncations are in use. The more commonly met abbreviations are included, some of which are not easily recognisable;
• the Chapman County Code (CCC). This is a unique three-letter code identifying the region, and used extensively by family historians when recording and exchanging place information;
• the administrative centre of the modern region;
• notes, shown as ^{1 2 3} etc.

Further information is provided at the end of the tables for each country. Following legislation passed in 1972, and the report of the Local Government Boundaries Commission, new county names and boundaries came into effect in England from 1st April 1974.

English Counties: Pre 1974 Boundaries

English Counties - Pre 1974 Boundaries

Table 1: Counties before April 1974

County	Abbreviation	CCC
Bedfordshire	Beds	BDF
Berkshire	Berks	BRK
Buckinghamshire	Bucks	BKM
Cambridgeshire 1	Cambs	CAM
Cheshire	n\a	CHS
Cornwall 2	Corn	CON
Cumberland	n\a	CUL
Derbyshire	Derbys	DBY
Devonshire	n\a	DEV
Dorset	n\a	DOR
Durham 3	n\a	DUR
Essex	n\a	ESS
Gloucestershire	Glos	GLS
Hampshire 5	Hants	HAM
Herefordshire	n\a	HEF
Hertfordshire	Herts	HRT
Huntingdonshire 6	Hunts	HUN
Kent	n\a	KEN
Lancashire	Lancs	LAN
Leicestershire	Leics	LEI
Lincolnshire	Lincs	LIN
London 4	London	LND
Middlesex 4	M'sex	MDX
Norfolk	n\a	NFK
Northamptonshire	Northants	NTH
Northumberland	Northumb	NBL
Nottinghamshire	Notts	NTT
Oxfordshire	Oxon 7	OXF
Rutland	n\a	RUT
Shropshire	Salop 8	SAL
Somerset	n\a	SOM
Staffordshire	Staffs	STS
Suffolk	n\a	SFK
Surrey	n\a	SRY
Sussex	n\a	SSX
Warwickshire	Warks	WAR
Westmorland	n\a	WES
Wiltshire	Wilts	WIL
Worcestershire	Worcs	WOR
Yorkshire 9	Yorks	YKS

Table 2: Counties after April 1974

County	Abbreviation	CCC	Administrative Centre
Avon	n\a	AVN	Bristol
Bedfordshire	Beds	BDF	Bedford
Berkshire	Berks	BRK	Reading
Buckinghamshire	Bucks	BKM	Aylesbury
Cambridgeshire 1	Cambs	CAM	Cambridge
Cheshire	n\a	CHS	Chester
Cleveland	n\a	CLV	Middlesbrough
Cornwall 2	Corn	CON	Truro
Cumbria	n\a	CMA	Carlisle
Derbyshire	Derbys	DBY	Matlock
Devonshire	n\a	DEV	Exeter
Dorset	n\a	DOR	Dorchester
Durham 3	n\a	DUR	Durham
East Sussex	n\a	SXE	Lewes
Essex	n\a	ESS	Chelsmford
Gloucestershire	Glos	GLS	Gloucester
Greater London 4	London	LND	London
Greater Manchester	n\a	GTM	Manchester
Hampshire 5	Hants	HAM	Winchester
Herefordshire and Worcester	n\a	HWR	Worcester
Hertfordshire	Herts	HRT	Hertford
Humberside	n\a	HUM	Beverley
Isle of Wight 10	I.O.W.	IOW	Newport
Kent	n\a	KEN	Maidstone
Lancashire	Lancs	LAN	Preston
Leicestershire	Leics	LEI	Leicester
Lincolnshire	Lincs	LIN	Lincoln
Merseyside	n\a	MSY	Liverpool
Norfolk	n\a	NFK	Norfolk
Northamptonshire	Northants	NTH	Northampton
Northumberland	Northumb	NBL	Morpeth
North Yorkshire	N. Yorks	NYK	Northallerton
Nottinghamshire	Notts	NTT	Nottingham
Oxfordshire	Oxon 7	OXF	Oxford
Shropshire	Salop 8	SAL	Shrewsbury
Somerset	n\a	SOM	Taunton
South Yorkshire	S. Yorks	SYK	Barnsley
Staffordshire	Staffs	STS	Stafford
Suffolk	n\a	SFK	Ipswich
Surrey	n\a	SUR	Kingston 11
Tyne and Wear	n\a	TWR	Newcastle
Warwickshire	Warks	WAR	Warwick
West Midlands	n\a	WMD	Birmingham
West Sussex	n\a	SXW	Chichester
West Yorkshire	W. Yorks	WYK	Wakefield
Wiltshire	Wilts	WIL	Trowbridge

Notes

¹ Also known as "Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely".

² Includes the Isles of Scilly.

³ Durham is often referred to as "County Durham". No other English county is normally prefixed in this way.

⁴ Following the London Government Act 1963, Greater London was formed from: London (CCC=LND), Middlesex (Middx, CCC=MDX), and parts of Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent and Surrey.

⁵ The abbreviation "Hants" derives from "Hantshaving", the original name for this county.

⁶ Also known as "Huntingdon and Peterborough".

⁷ "Oxon" is an abbreviation of "Oxonia", the Latin name for Oxford. It is often used in addresses as an abbreviation for the county name "Oxfordshire".

⁸ "Salop" derives from "Sloppesberie", the original Anglo-French name for this county. This is sometimes used as a short form in addresses. It appears that the official modern naming is actually "Salop", though most people would refer to "Shropshire".

⁹ Yorkshire, the largest of the English counties, used to be administered in three divisions, or "ridings": East Riding (CCC=ERY), North Riding (CCC=NRY), West Riding (CCC=WRY).

¹⁰ Before October 1974, the Isle of Wight was administered with the county of Hampshire.

¹¹ Kingston itself is no longer in Surrey, but is in Greater London.