History of Chester in Cheshire

Place:

Chester Cheshire

Names from historical writing:

The following appear as names for Chester. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name	Author	Source
ABBEY PRECINCTS	John Bartholomew	Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
CHESTER	John Bartholomew	Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
CHESTER	John Marius Wilson	Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.

Names for administrative units:

These names were used for units associated with Chester. Click on the links for details of the units and their names:

Name	Unit Type	Source
13UB	District/Unitary Authority	Census of Population (2001 Key Statistics)
ABBEY PRECINCTS	Parish-level Unit (CP/ExP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
BRIDGET ST	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
CAER	Ancient District (AD_City/CntyOfIt)	M. Richards, Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969), p. 41.
	Ancient District (Borough)	M. Richards, Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969), p. 41.
	Local Government District (RD)	M. Richards, Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969), p. 41.
	Parish-level Unit (CP)	M. Richards, Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969), p. 41.
CAERLLEON	Ancient District (AD_City/CntyOfIt)	M. Richards, Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969), p. 41.
	Ancient District (Borough)	M. Richards, Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969), p. 41.
	Local Government District (RD)	M. Richards, Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969), p. 41.
	Parish-level Unit (CP)	M. Richards, Welsh Administrative and Territorial Units (Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1969), p. 41.
CATHEDRAL CHURCH AND LITTLE JOHN STREET	Parish-level Unit (CP/ExP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
CATHEDRAL CHURCH PRECINCT AND LITTLE ST JOHN	Parish-level Unit (CP/ExP)	1821 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
CATHEDRAL CHURCH PRECINCT AND LITTLE ST JOHN	Parish-level Unit (CP/ExP)	1821 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
CATHEDRAL CHURCH PRECINCTS	Parish-level Unit (CP/ExP)	1861 Census of England and Wales, Table 1, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1851 and 1861, in Districts, Sub-districts, Parishes and Places'.
CATHEDRAL DIVISION	Registration sub-District	1851 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Ages of the People'.
CATHEDRAL PRECINCTS	Parish-level Unit (CP/ExP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
CHESHIRE CHESTER	Constituency (PDivCon)	Richard H.A. Cheffins, Parliamentary Constituencies and their registers since 1832 (London: The British Library, 1998)
CHESHIRE CITY OF CHESTER	Constituency (PDivCon)	Richard H.A. Cheffins, Parliamentary Constituencies and their registers since 1832 (London: The British Library, 1998)
CHESHIRE CITY OF CHESTER	Constituency (CCon)	Boundary Commission for England, First Periodical Report (London: H.M.S.O., 1954)
CHESTER	1841 Occupation reporting area	1841 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Occupation Abstract'.
	Ancient District (Borough)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 640.
	Ancient District (AD_City/CntyOfIt)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
	Archdeaconry	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 862.
	Constituency (PBCon)	Richard H.A. Cheffins, Parliamentary Constituencies and their registers since 1832 (London: The British Library, 1998)
	Diocese	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 862.
	District/Unitary Authority	Census of Population (2001 Key Statistics)
	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
	Local Government District (RD)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 644.
	Local Government District (MB/CB)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 640.
	Parish-level Unit (CP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
	Poor Law Union/Reg. District (Inc/PLU)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 641.
	Poor Law Union/Reg. District (RegD)	1911 Census of England and Wales, Table 5, 'Registration Counties, Districts and Sub-districts with their constituent civil parishes. - Urban or Rural District in which each parish is situated; Area; families or separate occupiers, and population, 1901 and 1911; and population enumerated in Institutions, large establishments, and on vessels, &c., 1911'.
	Rural Deanery	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 862.
	Sanitary District (RSD)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 643.
	Sanitary District (USD)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 643.
	Urban Labour Market	Great Britain Historical GIS Project
CHESTER ABBEY PRECINCTS	Parish-level Unit (CP/ExP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
CHESTER CASTLE	Parish-level Unit (CP/ExP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
CHESTER CASTLE	Registration sub-District	1911 Census of England and Wales, Table 5, 'Registration Counties, Districts and Sub-districts with their constituent civil parishes. - Urban or Rural District in which each parish is situated; Area; families or separate occupiers, and population, 1901 and 1911; and population enumerated in Institutions, large establishments, and on vessels, &c., 1911'.
CHESTER CATHEDRAL	Registration sub-District	1911 Census of England and Wales, Table 5, 'Registration Counties, Districts and Sub-districts with their constituent civil parishes. - Urban or Rural District in which each parish is situated; Area; families or separate occupiers, and population, 1901 and 1911; and population enumerated in Institutions, large establishments, and on vessels, &c., 1911'.
CHESTER CATHEDRAL CHURCH PRECINCT	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
CHESTER CHRIST CHURCH	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
CHESTER CITY	Ancient District (Borough)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
CHESTER CITY OF	Constituency (CCon)
CHESTER CITY OF	Local Government District (MB/CB)	1901 Census of England and Wales, Table 24, 'Ages of Persons, Males and Females, in Municipal Boroughs and other Urban Districts, 1901'.
CHESTER HOLY TRINITY	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
CHESTER HOLY TRINITY	Parish-level Unit (Tn/CP/AP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
CHESTER HOLY TRINITY WITHOUT THE WALLS	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 13.
CHESTER LITTLE ST JOHN	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP/EExP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST BRIDGET	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST BRIDGET	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST BRIDGET AND ST MARTIN	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST JOHN BAPTIST	Parish-level Unit (Tn/CP/AP)	1861 Census of England and Wales, Table 1, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1851 and 1861, in Districts, Sub-districts, Parishes and Places'.
CHESTER ST JOHN THE BAPTIST	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST JOHN THE BAPTIST	Parish-level Unit (Tn/CP/AP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST MARTIN	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST MARTIN	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST MARY ON THE HILL	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST MARY ON THE HILL	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST MARY WITHOUT THE WALLS	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST MICHAEL	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST MICHAEL	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST MICHAEL WITH ST OLAVE	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST OLAVE	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST OLAVE	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST OSWALD	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST OSWALD	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST OSWALD WITH LITTLE ST JOHN	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST PAUL	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST PETER	Ecclesiastical Parish (EP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CHESTER ST PETER	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 14.
CITY OF CHESTER	Constituency (CCon)	Richard H.A. Cheffins, Parliamentary Constituencies and their registers since 1832 (London: The British Library, 1998)
E050069	Local Government District (MB/CB)
E050109	Local Government District (RD)
GREAT BOUGHTON	Poor Law Union/Reg. District (PLU)	F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 640.
GREAT BOUGHTON	Poor Law Union/Reg. District (RegD)	1851 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
HOLY TRINITY	Parish-level Unit (Tn/CP/AP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
JOHN ST BAPTIST	Parish-level Unit (Tn/CP/AP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
MARTIN ST	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
MARY ST	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
MARY ST UPON THE HILL	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
MICHAEL ST	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
OLAVES ST	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
OSWALDS ST	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
OSWALD ST	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
PETER ST	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
ST BRIDGET	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
ST JOHN THE BAPTIST	Parish-level Unit (Tn/CP/AP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
ST MARTIN	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
ST MARY ON THE HILL	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
ST MICHAEL	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
ST OLAVE	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
ST OSWALD	Parish-level Unit (AP/CP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
ST PETER	Parish-level Unit (CP/AP)	1871 Census of England and Wales, Table 4, 'Area; Houses and Inhabitants, 1861 and 1871, in the Parishes and Places comprised in each Superintendent Registrar's District'.
TRINITY HOLY AND UNDIVIDED	Parish-level Unit (Tn/CP/AP)	1831 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.

NB: These are all the names of all the administrative units which we have associated with Chester, and you must judge whether all or even any of them are variant names for the place. They may well include the names of other locations or areas:

For cities, the associated administrative units will usually include parishes, especially ecclesiastical parishes, one of whose names is the name of the city followed by a saint's dedication, with just the saint's name as another variant. Parish names will sometimes also include "places" within towns.
Districts usually contain more than one settlement, and some districts had their names changed to take the name of a completely different settlement. As we link each administrative unit to just one of our "places", usually the last place the unit was named after, in these cases the name for a completely different place will appear on this page.
Similarly, a unit may sometimes be named after a particular settlement it contains and sometimes to indicate its location within a higher level unit. This was very common among British parliamentary constituencies in rural areas, one name referring to their main town and another indicating that they were in, say, the southern part of the relevant county.

Every name listed here is linked to the particular historical source in which it appears, but we cannot claim that these are all the historical names of Chester, or that our references are to the first usage of the names. Similarly, we have tried to ensure that names included here are not transcription errors by ourselves, but it is possible they are the result of errors made when the historical sources were printed, or the result of visiting authors or census officials mis-hearing local names.

How to reference this page:

GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Chester in Cheshire | Place names, A Vision of Britain through Time.

URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/363/names

Date accessed: 05th November 2024