Kathy Shiell-Stokes wrote: > At 01:40 PM 3/9/2010, you wrote: >> So then what are Ridings? > Ridings are a political designation that may or may not have any > relevancy for genealogy purposes.. A riding is allocated according to > the number of people living in an area and can change at the whim of > the federal or provincial government in power. Usually, MPs or > MLA(for the uninitiated an MP is a Member of Parliament(federal) > while an MLA is a Member of the Legislative Assembly(provincial) > represent a specific geographic area containing about(I think ) > 1,000,000 people.. The geographic area covered can change( and often > does) if the government in power perceives that a different > combination might give the ruling party a stronger power base. The > most recent reallocation of Federal ridings occurred a few years ago > (after the 2001 census)when the number of seats in the house of > Parliament reached 308. The next revision will occur after the next > census. Currently there are 107 seats in the Provincial legislative > assembly(for Ontario). Conceivably our ancestors could have lived in > MANY different ridings and never changed their physical residence. > I'm not sure I understand why recording the riding in which they > lived would have any value if you already have the physical > address...which you would HAVE to have in order to know the riding. > KAthy >
Kathy, Whilst your comments may be true for Canada, my description for Yorkshire is accurate. The three Ridings were created by King Jorvik who ruled over Yorkshire around 800 - 1000AD and were for administrative purposes. They had a long life existing until abolition in 1974. Although a similar system is now in place following local government reorganisation(s). They are, therefore relevant to genealogists for locations up to 1974. Although as I previously said I do not use them myself, I still think in terms of the Ridings when considering Yorkshire. The city of York was not part of the Ridings; I don't think it ever has been, but am not absolutely certain. If I were from Yorkshire I would almost certainly use them, but then I'm a Lancastrian! One genealogy site, off-hand not sure which, still separates Yorkshire into the Ridings. So whilst they may not be relevant to Canada, they are to England. Ron Ferguson PS. I did check, and my memory was correct, the word "Riding" comes from the Scandinavian for 1/3rd. _____________________________________________________ Create your Website with Legacy, see Tutorials at: http://www.fergys.co.uk Includes the family tree for Alan J Grimshaw http://www.fergys.co.uk/Grimshaw/ For The Fergusons of N.W. England http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/fergys/ ____________________________________________________ Legacy User Group guidelines: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Etiquette.asp Archived messages after Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Archived messages from old mail server - before Nov. 21 2009: http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/ Online technical support: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/Help.asp To unsubscribe: http://www.LegacyFamilyTree.com/LegacyLists.asp
