Pembrokeshire was a maritime county at the south-western extremity of Wales. Administratively it comprised the hundreds of Castlemartin, Cemaes, Cilgerran, Dewisland, Dungleddy (Daugleddau), Narberth and Roose (Rhos). Parl. Gazetteer of England and Wales (1844), iii. 611-12. Besides Haverfordwest (Hwlffordd), a county of itself, and the cathedral city of St.
The castellated Marcher and county town of Montgomery, strategically built overlooking the Severn Valley, lay 21 miles west of Shrewsbury, 23 north-west of Ludlow and 39 south-by-east of Machynlleth, with which it shared the assizes and right to hold county elections. Parl. Gazetteer of England and Wales (1844), iii.
Montgomeryshire had the lowest incidence of middle ranking estates in Wales. D.W. Howell, Land and People in 19th Cent. Wales, 21-22. Its nine hundreds (47 parishes) lay chiefly in the diocese of St. Asaph, but there were also substantial areas in the dioceses of Bangor, Hereford and St. Davids. The corn-growing eastern hundreds and a flannel district extending some 21 miles by 19 from Dolobran in the north-east to Llanidloes in the south-west were served by the Montgomeryshire and Shropshire canal, which by 1820 was open from Llanymynech to Newtown. W.
Merioneth (Meirionydd) was a rugged county on Cardigan Bay, where slate quarrying, lead mining and the manufacture of woollen goods were locally important. The Mawddach estuary formed a natural north-south barrier within the county and the River Dee flowed north-eastwards towards Chester from Llyn Tegid (Bala Lake) in the north-east. Administratively, Merioneth comprised five hundreds: Ardudwy; Edeirnion; Estumaner (Ystumanner); Penllyn, and Talybont and Mawddwy. Bala and Dolgellau shared the assizes and the other market towns were Barmouth (Y Bermo), Corwen and Towyn.Parl.
Banffshire’s agriculture was dominated by sheep and cattle rearing, and oats was the chief arable crop. Fishing, whisky distilling and some small-scale textile manufacturing were other sources of employment. Its royal burghs were the coastal towns of Banff and Cullen. The other significant settlements were Aberchider, Dufftown and Keith and the small ports of Buckie, Macduff and Portsoy.Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1895), i.
Kincardineshire (sometimes known as ‘The Mearns’) contained the eastern extremity of the Grampians and much fertile agricultural land, whose cultivation had benefited greatly from the improving Norfolk-model techniques pioneered by Robert Barclay Allardice of Urie (1732-97), Member for the county, 1788-97, and made rapid strides in the early nineteenth century. There was no significant industry, but fishing sustained the coastal communities. The only royal burgh was Inverbervie, on the coast.
Andover was situated on one of the main westward coaching routes from London, and its trade in malt, hops and fine woollens had prospered with the opening of a canal link with Southampton. R. Mudie, Hants (1838), i. 165; Pigot’s Commercial Dir. (1823-4), 307; J.
