Talking in to the Void

 Sundry annoyances

BCE before common era is the fashionable label for what has been for decades BC (before Christ) and AD (anno domino).

Cynically, the younger generations seem hell-bent on re-naming just for the sheer ludicrousness of it.

Far less thought is required with BCE; everything can be 'fudged' aka obscured.

History has gone from dates and events to a mish-mash of 'experiences'. Heaven help future generations. 

English counties have long, intriguing and complex histories.

Yorkshire with its Ridings, a shortened version of 'Thirdings; aka three

East, North and West.

In genealogy, as you delve deeper, complexities abound. 

Before the Reformation 1534, Lancashire came under the Diocese of LITCHFIELD which contained parts Carlisle and Ripon. 

Lancashire was divided into six HUNDREDS,

Amounderness, Blackburn, Leyland, Lonsdale, Salford and West Derby.

Ecclesiastically, the County came under the Province of York and the Diocese of Chester.

To make things more complicated, the County was divided in to two Archdeaneries, Chester (South) and Richmond, 'Richmondshire' (North). 

West Derby 

By the 1800s congregations were also grouped as Catholic, Dissenting chapels, Wesleyan Methodists and so on.

Hundreds being the areas for each Wapentake.

Place-names evolved over the years.

To distinguish between two Lancashire towns with the name BOLTON they were described (sensibly) as

BOLTON le MOORS now known as Bolton, Greater Manchester

BOLTON le SANDS near Lancaster.