Riding
Encyclopedia
A riding is an administrative jurisdiction or electoral district
Electoral district
An electoral district is a distinct territorial subdivision for holding a separate election for one or more seats in a legislative body...

, particularly in several current or former Commonwealth
Commonwealth
Commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has sometimes been synonymous with "republic."More recently it has been used for fraternal associations of some sovereign nations...

 countries.

Word history

The word riding is descended from late Old English *þriðing or *þriding (recorded only in Latin contexts or forms, e.g., trehing, treding, trithing, with Latin initial t here representing the Old English letter thorn
Thorn (letter)
Thorn or þorn , is a letter in the Old English, Old Norse, and Icelandic alphabets, as well as some dialects of Middle English. It was also used in medieval Scandinavia, but was later replaced with the digraph th. The letter originated from the rune in the Elder Fuþark, called thorn in the...

). It came into Old English as a loanword from Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 þriðjungr, meaning a third part (especially of a county), cf. farthing
Farthings of Iceland
Historically, Iceland was divided into four landsfjórðungar or farthings, that were named after the Cardinal directions. These were administrative divisions established in 965 for the purpose of organising regional assemblies and for regional courts...

. The modern form riding was the result of initial th being absorbed in the final th or t of the words north, south, east and west, by which it was normally preceded.

A common misconception holds that the term arose from some association between the size of the district and the distance that can be covered on horseback in a certain amount of time.

Norse states

Ridings are originally Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...

n institutions.

In Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 the third part of a thing
Thing (assembly)
A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...

which corresponded roughly to an English county was called þrithjungr. The island of Gotland
Gotland
Gotland is a county, province, municipality and diocese of Sweden; it is Sweden's largest island and the largest island in the Baltic Sea. At 3,140 square kilometers in area, the region makes up less than one percent of Sweden's total land area...

 and the Swedish province Närke
Närke
' is a Swedish traditional province, or landskap, situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the southwest, and Värmland to the northwest...

 were also divided into þrithjungar instead of hundreds.

In Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 (excluding Iceland) the þrithjungr seems to have been an ecclesiastical division.

Yorkshire


The ancient county of Yorkshire had three ridings,
North
North Riding of Yorkshire
The North Riding of Yorkshire was one of the three historic subdivisions of the English county of Yorkshire, alongside the East and West Ridings. From the Restoration it was used as a Lieutenancy area. The three ridings were treated as three counties for many purposes, such as having separate...

, West
West Riding of Yorkshire
The West Riding of Yorkshire is one of the three historic subdivisions of Yorkshire, England. From 1889 to 1974 the administrative county, County of York, West Riding , was based closely on the historic boundaries...

 and East
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

, originally each subdivided into wapentakes.

The Yorkshire ridings were in many ways treated as separate counties , having had separate Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions
The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...

and also separate Lieutenancies
Lord Lieutenant
The title Lord Lieutenant is given to the British monarch's personal representatives in the United Kingdom, usually in a county or similar circumscription, with varying tasks throughout history. Usually a retired local notable, senior military officer, peer or business person is given the post...

since the Restoration
English Restoration
The Restoration of the English monarchy began in 1660 when the English, Scottish and Irish monarchies were all restored under Charles II after the Interregnum that followed the Wars of the Three Kingdoms...

. This practice was followed by the Local Government Act 1888
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...

, which made each of the three ridings an administrative county
Administrative counties of England
Administrative counties were a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1888 as the areas for which county councils were elected. Some large counties were divided into several administrative...

 with an elected county council. These county councils, along with the ancient lieutenancies, were abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....

.

A local government area East Riding of Yorkshire
East Riding of Yorkshire
The East Riding of Yorkshire, or simply East Yorkshire, is a local government district with unitary authority status, and a ceremonial county of England. For ceremonial purposes the county also includes the city of Kingston upon Hull, which is a separate unitary authority...

 was created in 1996, but this does not cover the entire area of the former East Riding and includes areas from the historical West Riding.

According to the 12th century compilation known as the Leges Edwardi Confessoris
Leges Edwardi Confessoris
The title Leges Edwardi Confessoris "Laws of Edward the Confessor" refers to an early twelfth-century English collection of 39 laws .-Historical value:The text’s own promises are both false and misleading...

, the riding was the third part of a county (provincia); to it causes were brought which could not be determined in the wapentake, and a matter which could not be determined in the riding was brought into the court of the shire.

There is abundant evidence that riding courts were held after the Norman Conquest. A charter which Henry I
Henry I of England
Henry I was the fourth son of William I of England. He succeeded his elder brother William II as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106...

 granted to the Church of St Peters at York mentions wapentacmot, tridingmot and shiresmot (-mot designates popular assemblies), and exemptions from suit to the thriding or riding may be noticed frequently in the charters of the Norman kings. As yet, however, the jurisdiction and functions of these courts have not been ascertained. It seems probable from the silence of the records that they had already fallen into disuse early in the 13th century.

Although no longer having any administrative role the ridings of Yorkshire still play a part as cultural entities - they are used for the names of a number of groups and organisations and some people in Yorkshire associate themselves with one riding or another (see West Riding of Yorkshire#Current usage and Yorkshire Ridings Society
Yorkshire Ridings Society
The Yorkshire Ridings Society is a group affiliated to the Association of British Counties calling for the wider recognition of the historic borders of Yorkshire, and its traditional subdivisions, the North, East and West Ridings.-History:...

).

Elsewhere

Lindsey
Lindsey
Lindsey was a unit of local government until 1974 in Lincolnshire, England, covering the northern part of the county. The Isle of Axholme, which is on the west side of the River Trent, has normally formed part of it...

, one of the 'Parts
Parts of Lincolnshire
The three Parts of the English county of Lincolnshire are or were divisions of the second-largest county in England. They existed as units of local government until it was reviewed in the 1970s...

' (subdivisions) of Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...

, also possessed ridings, in this case the North
North Riding of Lindsey
The North Riding of Lindsey was a division of the Lindsey part of Lincolnshire in England. It consisted of the north eastern part of the county, and included the Bradley-Haverstoe, Ludborough, Walshcroft and Yarborough wapentakes....

, West
West Riding of Lindsey
The West Riding of Lindsey was a division of the Lindsey part of Lincolnshire in England. It consisted of the north western part of the county, and included the Isle of Axholme and the Aslacoe, Corringham, Manley, Lawress and Well wapentakes....

, and South
South Riding of Lindsey
The South Riding of Lindsey was a division of the Lindsey part of Lincolnshire in England. It consisted of the eastern part of the county, and included the Calceworth, Candleshoe, Gartree, Hill, Louth-Eske and Wraggoe wapentakes....

 ridings.

Ireland

County Tipperary
County Tipperary
County Tipperary is a county of Ireland. It is located in the province of Munster and is named after the town of Tipperary. The area of the county does not have a single local authority; local government is split between two authorities. In North Tipperary, part of the Mid-West Region, local...

 in the Republic of Ireland
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...

 was divided in 1838 into two (not three) ridings, Tipperary North Riding
North Tipperary
North Tipperary is a county in Ireland. It is part of the Mid-West Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the town of Tipperary and consists of 48% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. The county was established in 1898 and has had a county...

 and Tipperary South Riding
South Tipperary
South Tipperary is a county in Ireland. It is part of the South-East Region and is also located in the province of Munster. It is named after the town of Tipperary and consists of 52% of the land area of the traditional county of Tipperary. The county was established in 1898 and has had a county...

 — the divisions remain as local government counties, but were renamed simply 'North Tipperary' and 'South Tipperary' in 2002.

County Cork
County Cork
County Cork is a county in Ireland. It is located in the South-West Region and is also part of the province of Munster. It is named after the city of Cork . Cork County Council is the local authority for the county...

 was divided into East and West Ridings in 1823. The ridings still exist for judicial purposes, and Garda Síochána
Garda Síochána
, more commonly referred to as the Gardaí , is the police force of Ireland. The service is headed by the Commissioner who is appointed by the Irish Government. Its headquarters are located in the Phoenix Park in Dublin.- Terminology :...

 divisions are based on them. Cork county council is divided for some purposes into the two ridings, with councillors for the ridings meeting separately to perform some functions. County Galway
County Galway
County Galway is a county in Ireland. It is located in the West Region and is also part of the province of Connacht. It is named after the city of Galway. Galway County Council is the local authority for the county. There are several strongly Irish-speaking areas in the west of the county...

 was also divided into East and West Ridings.

Canada

The term was used in 19th century Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 to refer to subdivisions of counties.

In Canadian politics
Politics of Canada
The politics of Canada function within a framework of parliamentary democracy and a federal system of parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Canada is a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is head of state...

, "riding" is a colloquial term for a constituency or electoral district. Officially, "electoral district
Electoral district (Canada)
An electoral district in Canada, also known as a constituency or a riding, is a geographical constituency upon which Canada's representative democracy is based...

" is generally used, although government documents sometimes use the colloquial term. In colloquial Canadian French, a riding is confusingly known as comté, i.e., "county", as the electoral districts in Quebec were historically identical to its counties; the official French term is circonscription.

The Canadian use of "riding" is derived from the English
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 local government term, which was widely used in Canada in the 19th century. Most Canadian counties never had sufficient population to justify administrative subdivisions. Nonetheless, it was common, especially in Ontario
Ontario
Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

, to divide counties with sufficient population into multiple electoral districts, which thus became known as "ridings" in official documents. The term was used in the legal description of the electoral districts of Canada West, which were grandfathered, by means of a schedule to the new constitution
Constitution Act, 1867
The Constitution Act, 1867 , is a major part of Canada's Constitution. The Act created a federal dominion and defines much of the operation of the Government of Canada, including its federal structure, the House of Commons, the Senate, the justice system, and the taxation system...

, as the electoral districts for the first elections to the new Canadian House of Commons, immediately following Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...

. Soon after Confederation, the urban population grew (and more importantly, most city dwellers gained the franchise after property ownership was no longer required to gain the vote). Rural constituencies therefore became geographically larger through the 20th century and generally encompassed one or more counties each, and the word "riding" was then used to refer to any electoral division.

The local association for a political party, which legally is known as an "electoral district association", is often referred to as a riding association
Riding association
In Canadian politics a riding association , officially called an electoral district association is the basic unit of a political party, that is it is the party's organization at the level of the electoral district, or "riding"...

.

Australia

The term is also used in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 as a division of Shire
Shire
A shire is a traditional term for a division of land, found in the United Kingdom and in Australia. In parts of Australia, a shire is an administrative unit, but it is not synonymous with "county" there, which is a land registration unit. Individually, or as a suffix in Scotland and in the far...

 Councils, similar to a Ward in City councils.

New Zealand

Ridings existed in rural New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 in the late 19th and early to mid 20th century as part of larger county councils in the area. For example, The Taranaki County Council was divided into three separate ridings: Moa (south), Omata (west) and Waitara (east).

As use of the automobile became more popular with the improvement of roads, combined with the concurrent trend of
urban drift
Urbanization
Urbanization, urbanisation or urban drift is the physical growth of urban areas as a result of global change. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008....

 (c. ), the ridings were either merged back into their parent councils
County council
A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries.-United Kingdom:...

 or separated off into county councils in their own right. The Taranaki Country Council's three ridings eventually split, with the Omata Riding remaining part of the Taranaki County Council, the Moa riding merging with the Inglewood Borough Council and the Waitara Riding becoming part of the Clifton County Council.

In these were again merged reorganised into district and/or city councils. For example, the above three all merged with the New Plymouth Council and Waitara Borough Councils to form the New Plymouth District Council.

See also

The term farthing
Farthings of Iceland
Historically, Iceland was divided into four landsfjórðungar or farthings, that were named after the Cardinal directions. These were administrative divisions established in 965 for the purpose of organising regional assemblies and for regional courts...

is analogous for quarters of a county. Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn, and the entire Forest of Dean....

 was once divided into Farthings. In Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth
Middle-earth
Middle-earth is the fictional setting of the majority of author J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy writings. The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings take place entirely in Middle-earth, as does much of The Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales....

, the Shire
Shire (Middle-earth)
The Shire is a region of J. R. R. Tolkien's fictional Middle-earth, described in The Lord of the Rings and other works. The Shire refers to an area settled exclusively by Hobbits and largely removed from the goings-on in the rest of Middle-earth. It is located in the northwest of the continent, in...

 is divided into four Farthings, into the Fourth Age
Fourth Age
In the fictional world of middle earth "'the fourth age'" and the ages that preceded it, are time periods from J. R. R. Tolkien's universe of Middle-earth, described in his fantasy writings...

.
  • Lathe
  • Parts of Lincolnshire
    Parts of Lincolnshire
    The three Parts of the English county of Lincolnshire are or were divisions of the second-largest county in England. They existed as units of local government until it was reviewed in the 1970s...

  • Rape

External links

  • Etymology on line
  • Information about Canadian ridings
  • Felix Liebermann
    Felix Liebermann
    Felix Liebermann was a Jewish German historian, who is celebrated for his scholarly contributions to the study of medieval English history, particularly that of Anglo-Saxon and Anglo-Norman law. Born in 1851, Berlin, he came from a Jewish-German family and was the younger brother of the painter...

    , Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen (Halle, 1888–89)
  • William Stubbs
    William Stubbs
    William Stubbs was an English historian and Bishop of Oxford.The son of William Morley Stubbs, a solicitor, he was born at Knaresborough, Yorkshire, and was educated at Ripon Grammar School and Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated in 1848, obtaining a first-class in classics and a third in...

    , Constitutional History of England
  • Richard Cleasby
    Richard Cleasby
    Richard Cleasby was an English philologist, author with Guðbrandur Vigfússon of the first Icelandic-English dictionary.-Life:He was eldest son of Stephen Cleasby, and brother of Anthony Cleasby, born on 30 November 1797...

    , Icelandic Dictionary
  • New English Dictionary
  • William Dugdale
    William Dugdale
    Sir William Dugdale was an English antiquary and herald. As a scholar he was influential in the development of medieval history as an academic subject.-Life:...

    , Monasticon Anglicanum, vol. vi., edited by John Caley
    John Caley
    -Life:He was the eldest son of John Caley, a grocer in Bishopsgate Street, London. Acquaintance with Thomas Astle led to a place in the Record Office in the Tower of London. In 1787 he received from Lord William Bentinck, as clerk of the pipe, the keepership of the records in the Augmentation...

    and others (1846).
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