Rebound with brown antiqued calf, black title plate, gilt banding and title.

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First Edition. A fine informative copy magnificently rebound by Mr Brian Cole. Physical description: 855 pages. Subjects; West-Riding of Yorkshire. City of York. Port of Hull. History. Gazetteer. Directory. Author William White born 1799 who produced many gazetteers of English counties during the early 19th century.

Historic Note:

The West Riding of Yorkshire was one of three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the riding was an administrative county named County of York, West Riding. The lieutenancy at that time included the city of York and as such was named “West Riding of the County of York and the County of the City of York”. The riding ceased to be used for administrative purposes in 1974, when England’s local government was reformed.

Contemporary local government boundaries in Yorkshire largely do not follow those of the riding. The entirety of South Yorkshire and West Yorkshire were historically within its the boundaries, as were the south-western areas of North Yorkshire (including Ripon), the Sedbergh area of Cumbria, the Barnoldswick and Slaidburn areas of Lancashire, and the part of the East Riding of Yorkshire around Goole.

History: The subdivision of Yorkshire into three ridings or “thirds” (Old Norse: Þriðungr) is of Scandinavian origin. The West Riding was first recorded (in the form West Treding) in the Domesday Book of 1086. Unlike most English counties, Yorkshire, being so large, was divided first into the three ridings (East, North and West) and, later, the city of York (which lay within the city walls and was not part of any riding). Each riding was then divided into wapentakes, a division comparable to the hundreds of southern and western England and the wards of England’s four northernmost historic counties.

Wapentakes: Within the West Riding of Yorkshire there were ten wapentakes in total, four of which were split into two divisions; those were: Claro (Upper and Lower), Skyrack (Upper and Lower), Strafforth and Tickhill (Upper and Lower) and Staincliffe (East and West). The wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley was created with two divisions but was later split into two wapentakes. A wapentake known as the Ainsty to the west of York was until the 15th century a wapentake of the West Riding, but since then has come under the administration of the City of York.