SHIRE

A 'shire' is an administrative area of Great Britain and Australia. 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. In modern English usage shires are sub-divided into districts.
Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland, the word is pronounced (to rhyme with "fire"). As a suffix in an English or Welsh place name it is pronounced (rhymes with "fir").

Contents

Shires in Great Britain

Shires in England

Shires in Wales

Non-county shires

Shires in Scotland

Shires in Australia

Shires in United States (Virginia)

See also

Shires in Great Britain

In England and Wales, the term "shire county" is used to refer to county-level entities which are not metropolitan counties.
It can also be used in a narrower sense, referring only to traditional counties ending in "shire". These counties are typically (though not always) named after their county town.

Shires in England

Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire, 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, North, South and West Yorkshire, 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.

Shires in Wales

Brecknockshire, Caernarvonshire, Cardiganshire, Carmarthenshire, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Monmouthshire, Montgomeryshire, Pembrokeshire, 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 was used for many hundreds, wapentakes and liberties such as Allertonshire, Blackburnshire, Halfshire, Howdenshire, Leylandshire, Powdershire, Pydenshire, 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

Non-county shires were very common in Scotland. Kinross-shire and Clackmannanshire are probably survivals from such districts. 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.
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, 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.

Shires in Australia

Shire is the most common word in Australia for the smallest local government areas by population. The states of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia use shire for this unit. South Australia and Tasmania use district. A shire has the same powers as the next largest units, the town and city. In Sydney, the expression 'The Shire' commonly refers to the Sutherland shire.

Shires in United States (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:

★ Accomack

★ Charles City Shire (now Charles City County, Virginia)

★ Charles River Shire (now York County, Virginia)

★ Elizabeth City Shire

★ Henrico (now Henrico County, Virginia)

★ James City Shire (now James City County, Virginia)

★ Warwick River Shire

★ Warrosquyoake Shire now (Isle of Wight County, Virginia)
Of these, five are considered still extant in essentially their same political form in Virginia as of 2006, although most boundaries have changed during the last 400 years.

See also

★ Counties of England

★ Counties of Scotland

★ Counties of Wales

★ Traditional counties of the British Isles

★ Gau

★ Scirii

★ The Shire in the Lord of the Rings