Workshops / Workshop 2
Reading old maps, directories and registers
Every source was made by someone, at some time, for some reason. Reading it well starts with asking which.
In brief
Local historians use maps, directories, registers, censuses, newspapers and spoken memories. Each can answer some questions and not others. For every source ask who made it, when, why and for whom, then check it against a second source.
What the main sources are
| Source | What it can tell you | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Maps | Streets, buildings, boundaries, the river course, land use; change when two dates are compared | Maps show what the maker chose to show; scale, date and survey method matter |
| Trade directories | Who lived and worked where; trades, shops and services | Entries were paid for or collected unevenly, so not everyone appears |
| Parish registers | Baptisms, marriages and burials, often with occupations in some periods | Not everyone belonged to the parish church; gaps and damage occur |
| Civil registration | Births, marriages and deaths recorded by the state | Dates of event and of registration can differ |
| Censuses | Households, ages, occupations, birthplaces at one date | Answers were given by one person for the household; spellings vary |
| Newspapers | Events, opinions, adverts, disputes, openings | A paper has its own viewpoint and leaves out much |
| Spoken memories | Daily life, trades, names and details that are not written down | Memory shifts over time; check against documents |
Why it matters: the judgment questions
Historians distinguish primary sources, made at the time of the events by those involved or present, from secondary sources, which discuss events later. A good habit for any source is to ask five questions:
- Who made it?
- When was it made, and how long after the events?
- Why was it made: to sell, to tax, to record, to persuade?
- For whom was it made?
- What did it leave out?
This is sometimes called checking the provenance of a source. When two independent sources agree, you can be more confident. This is called corroboration. When they disagree, that is not a failure: it is a puzzle, and often the most interesting part of the work.
How to read each kind
Maps
Check the scale, the date, the orientation (which way is up) and the key. Lay a modern map beside an old one and list what has changed: roads, boundaries, buildings, the course of the river itself. In Britain the national mapping agency, the Ordnance Survey, was founded in 1791, and its first published one-inch sheets appeared in 1801. Tithe maps, drawn after an 1836 law that turned payments in kind into money payments, record who owned and farmed each plot in parts of England and Wales in the following decade or two.
Registers and censuses
In England, parish priests were ordered to keep registers in 1538. Civil registration of births, marriages and deaths in England and Wales began on 1 July 1837. Britain has held a census roughly every ten years since 1801, but only from 1841 did it record every person by name. The United States has held one since 1790. Individual returns stay closed for many decades: 100 years in Britain and 72 years in the United States.
Dates
Dates can mislead. Britain and its colonies changed from the old Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar in September 1752: 2 September was followed by 14 September. Before that, the legal year in England began on 25 March, so a date in February of what a record calls 1700 may belong to what we now call 1701. Historians write such dates as 1700/01.
What good habits give you
- A list of sources with enough detail that someone else can find them again: author or body, title, date, where you found it.
- A clear difference between what a source says and what you infer.
- A record of gaps: “no source found for 1850 to 1870” is a useful finding.
- Conclusions that say how sure you are, such as “probably” or “by 1851 at the latest”.
Worked example (invented for teaching). A directory of Town X shows three millers in one year and one in a later year. That could mean two mills closed, or that the later directory left some out. A map of the same years and a census would help decide.
Try it
- Choose one source (a map, a directory page, a newspaper cutting). Answer the five judgment questions in writing.
- Find a second source that mentions the same place or person. Do the two agree? If not, say how.
- Write a one-line reference for each: who, what, when, where you found it.
Check yourself
Read the question, think of your answer, then open it with a tap or the Enter key.
What is the difference between a primary and a secondary source?
A primary source was made at the time by someone involved or present; a secondary source discusses events afterwards.
What are the five judgment questions?
Who made it, when, why, for whom, and what it left out.
When did civil registration of births, marriages and deaths begin in England and Wales?
1 July 1837.
From which census did Britain record every person by name?
1841.
What happened to the calendar in Britain in September 1752?
Britain moved to the Gregorian calendar: 2 September was followed by 14 September.
What does corroboration mean?
Confirming a fact with a second, independent source.
Basis of the facts
Where these facts come from. Parish registers (1538) and civil registration (1837) are described in Tate (1969) and in Hey (1996). The census facts (British censuses roughly every ten years since 1801, names from 1841; US since 1790; 100-year and 72-year closures) are in the same reference works. The tithe maps are covered by Kain and Prince (1985). The founding date of the Ordnance Survey (1791) and its first published sheets (1801) are standard. The calendar change of 1752 is part of the Calendar (New Style) Act of 1750. The worked example is invented and labelled as such. See the sources list.