Loncolnshire vs Yorkshire help

Question

I hope someone can clear up my confusion.

I am researching a Robert Whitehead (I have not put up the profile yet - need some clarification first).

This Robert died in 1868 at Amcotts, Lincolnshire England.

From FindMyPast;

1861 UK Census his residence is listed as being in:   Amcotts, Thorne, Lincolnshire, England

His death record: Robert Whitehead in 1868, England & Wales Deaths 1837-2007, Thorne, Yorkshire, England

Both mention Thorne.   

I am not familiar with English places. 

Any help would be appreciated. 

Comments

Thanks to everyone who answered my post.

I have the knowledge now to go forward.

Answer 1

Thorne registration district covers places in both Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. The place is the same just described differently. 

Answer 2

I've looked up Robert's death on the FreeBMD website, which gives the index to the General Register Office records. This page explains that the Thorne registration district actually straddles Yorkshire and Lincolnshire, but if you click on the "here" link on that page it will direct you to another page which gives you a breakdown of the district. This clarifies that Amcotts in in Lincolnshire, but bear in mind that Robert may have moved to a different part of the same registration district between the 1861 census and his death in 1868.
https://www.freebmd.org.uk/cgi/districts.pl?r=43839191:5654&d=bmd_1680086578
Hope that helps!

Answer 3

I'm not sure where you are getting the death record from, but the original index does not give a county, just a district. The county has been added by whatever site you are using. Authoritative places to look are FreeBMD for the 19th century index and GRO for the 21st century re-indexing. Both are free to use.

Answer 4

Hello,

It’s well to know that in the case of registrations of births, deaths, and marriages in the part of the United Kingdom designated together as England and Wales, which started on 1 July 1837, registration districts could overlap with more than one county. They were named for and listed as belonging to the place where the registration district was headquartered. In the case of Thorne r.d., this was Thorne in the West Riding of Yorkshire, a county adjacent to Lincolnshire on its northern border. (As a side note, ridings are something to google too as are the traditional divisions of Lincolnshire such as Lindsey and Holland)

If you google “Thorne registration district”, you will get some answers which explain this. A good place to visit is the first one appearing in my feed: www.ukbmd.org.uk/reg/districts/thorne.html

If you scroll through the listings, you will see that some places are in Lincolnshire (note the spelling as it’s mistyped in the question line and the tag) and others in Yorkshire.

You will find Amcotts at number two in the listings of the sub-districts of Thorne (YKS, for Yorkshire) registration district, and that it covered parts of Lincolnshire. The registration district existed from 1837-1947 when it was abolished and added to Don Valley registration district. The history of that r.d. is to be found on a a page you can visit from the Thorne r.d. page via the clickable link.

You will also learn there that even while Thorne r.d. existed til 1947, parts of Amcotts were transferred from Goole r.d. to Thorne r.d. in 1885, while Amcotts ceased existence as a sub-district of Thorne r.d. in 1938 when the sub-d. was transferred to Scunthorpe r.d. which was created in 1938 as headquartered in Lincolnshire. The subsequent developments in that r.d. can be followed on that clickable link in the notes for Amcotts sub-d. under Thorne r.d.

Counties generally have to be covered by several registrations districts. Not all registration districts started in 1837 exist today. They have changed with bureaucratic needs over the last 185+ years since their inception.

I hope this helps you get a handle on an important facet of jurisdictional knowledge that will help forward your research.

Regards,

Upton

Answer 5

Thorne came under the West Riding of Yorkshire until approx 1970 when it then came under South Yorkshire. It is a parish of Doncaster, which is very Yorkshire too. Thorne has always been part of Yorkshire (and they're very proud of that ), they wouldn't thank you for calling them "Yellow Bellies"!

Amcotts is part of the Isle of Axholme which is part of North Lincolnshire. Historically, Amcotts was part of Althorpe, which in turn has always been part of Lincolnshire/North Lincolnshire. Amcotts was made it's own parish circa 1865 and remained within Lincolnshire/North Lincolnshire. Thorne and Amcotts are about 14 miles from one another and historically depending on where the family orginated (Yorkshire or Lincolnshire) would depend where they would then register themselves. It is not unusual to find a burial record for the same person registered in both districts as a lot of people, even now, stipulate that they wish to be buried in their "home" county.

Source: I'm a local with a Yorkshire mother and a Lincolnshire father (yes, it made for fun heated discussions lol). We have a historical society locally who have researched this going back to the Domesday Book. Traditionally, the Trent separates Lincolnshire and Yorkshire - and that's how they like it! Haha.

edit: fixing typos