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Shire
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A shire is a traditional administrative division of Great Britain and Australia. Shire has been effectively synonymous with county since the Norman Conquest. Although counties are very rarely refered to as shires in modern British usage, terms such as Shire Hall remain common. Shire also remains a common part of many county names. In parts of Australia, a shire is still an official territorial unit.
The first shires were created by the Anglo-Saxons in what is now central and southern England.
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A shire is a traditional administrative division of Great Britain and Australia. Shire has been effectively synonymous with county since the Norman Conquest. Although counties are very rarely refered to as shires in modern British usage, terms such as Shire Hall remain common. Shire also remains a common part of many county names. In parts of Australia, a shire is still an official territorial unit.
The first shires were created by the Anglo-Saxons in what is now central and southern England. 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.
Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far northeast of England, the word is (to rhyme with "fire"). As a suffix in an English or Welsh place name, it is in most regions pronounced , as "shuh," or sometimes , a homophone of "sheer".
Shires in Great Britain
"Shire" can also be used in a narrower sense, referring only to ancient counties ending in "shire". These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town.
Shires in England
Shires in England include Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, and 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 Riding of Yorkshire, North Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire. Other northern counties include Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Cumbria and County Durham.
The counties of Devon, Dorset, Rutland and Somerset were occasionally referred to with the "shire" suffix. This usage is now considered archaic, although residents are known to refer to these counties as "the Shire".
Shires in Wales
Shires in Wales include Brecknockshire (or Breconshire), Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, and 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, Craikshire, Norhamshire and Islandshire were exclaves of County Durham, which were incorporated into Northumberland or Yorkshire in 1844. The suffix was also used for many hundreds, wapentakes and liberties such as Allertonshire, Blackburnshire, Halfshire, Howdenshire, Leylandshire, Powdershire, Pydarshire, Riponshire, Salfordshire, Triggshire, Tynemouthshire, West Derbyshire and Wivelshire, counties corporate such as Hullshire, and other districts such as Applebyshire, Bamburghshire, Bunkleshire, Carlisleshire, Coldinghamshire, Coxwoldshire, Cravenshire, Hallamshire, Leekshire , Mashamshire and Yetholmshire.
Shires in Scotland
In Scotland the term shire county is unknown, and the use of shire to refer to sheriffdoms or counties was intermittent, dating largely from the 19th century. It may be seen as an anglification or an example of the power of analogy. The traditional names, insofar as this is a reasonable term to employ, omit the suffix -shire.
Shires in Scotland include 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, and 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, Caithness-shire and Fifeshire are sometimes found. Also, Morayshire was previously called Elginshire.
Non-county shires were very common in Scotland. Kinross-shire and Clackmannanshire are probably survivals from such districts. Non-county shires in Scotland include Bunkleshire, Coldinghamshire and Yetholmshire.
Shires in Australia
"Shire" is the most common word in Australia for rural Local Government Areas (LGA). The states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia use Shire for this unit.
In contrast, South Australia uses district and region for its rural LGA units, while Tasmania uses municipality.
Shires are generally functionally indistinguishable from towns, municipalities, or cities.
Three LGAs in outer metropolitan Sydney have populations exceeding that of towns or municipalities, but retain significant bushlands and/or semi-rural areas, have continued to use the title of 'Shire', possibly due to community demand or popularity, or for financial and socio-political gain. These three 'City-Shires' are:
- Sutherland Shire (which is commonly referred to as 'The Shire' )
- The Hills Shire ( 'The Garden Shire' , previously 'Baulkham Hills Shire' )
- Hornsby Shire ( 'The Bushland Shire' )
Shires in the United States (the Commonwealth of Virginia)
In 1634, eight "shires" were created in the Virginia Colony by order of Charles I, King of England. They were renamed as counties only a few years later. They were:
Of these, the five noted above are considered to be still existant in somewhat their same political form in Virginia as of 2006, though three of them have vanished. Most of their boundaries have changed in the intervening centuries. As we can see, the basic forms of local government in Virginia are the county and the independent city (which function as the equivalent of a county), such as Falls Church.
See also
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