Maps

Isle of Wight Medieval Parishes

Isle of Wight Pre-Victorian Parishes (pre-1837)

Present day Civil Parishes

The Civil Parishes marked on this map are those that are named on the 1:25 000 scale Ordnance Survey, Outdoor Leisure map.
These are not Ecclesiastical parishes but Administrative areas. East Cowes is also a Civil Parish but it was not named, nor was its boundary shown on the map used. Newport and Ryde are administered directly from the County Council.

Sub Registration Districts

This map shows the approximate areas of the first Sub Registration Districts on the Island.In 1837 the Island was divided into 5 Sub Registration Districts: Calbourne, Cowes, Godshill, Newport and Ryde

By 1890 the population in the area covered by Ryde had grown considerably and it was decided to split this area up by creating the new area of Brading

From April 1934 the six districts were further augmented by the addition of two more districts, Sandown/Shanklin and Ventnor.

In July 1948 the system changed to a division of 4 districts only, which were called North, South, East and West. This division lasted until March 1952 when the Island then was divided into 2 districts only, North/West (NW) and South/East (SE). The last changes were made in January 1968 when the terms A and B were given. A and B no longer indicate districts as all registrations are done centrally and only refer to the books in which the registration has been entered. Subsequent computerisation has meant that references beginning 1A, 1B etc are used and again have no geographic meaning.

As far as the General Register Office was concerned, all registrations for the Island were listed under 'Isle of Wight' so in order to narrow down the area in which an event was registered, it is necessary to search the local indexes.

Antony Barton has created a document listing his understanding of which Island roads and streets had their names changed. It's a useful source to find the present location of a street named on old Census returns, etc.

National Library of Scotland

A considerable number of OS maps have been digitised by the NLS and are free to view