Names from historical writing:

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

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

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 Grimsby. Click on the links for details of the units and their names:

    Name Unit Type Source
    E240736 Local Government District (CB/MB)
    E240752 Local Government District (RD)
    GREAT GRIMSBY Ancient District (Borough) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 701.
    Constituency (BCon) Richard H.A. Cheffins, Parliamentary Constituencies and their registers since 1832 (London: The British Library, 1998)
    Constituency (PBCon) Richard H.A. Cheffins, Parliamentary Constituencies and their registers since 1832 (London: The British Library, 1998)
    Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.
    Local Government District (CB/MB) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 701.
    Parish-level Unit (CP/AP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.
    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'.
    Sanitary District (USD) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 704.
    GREAT GRIMSBY ST ANDREW Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 263.
    GREAT GRIMSBY ST ANDREW AND ST LUKE Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 263.
    GREAT GRIMSBY ST JAMES Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 263.
    Parish-level Unit (AP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 263.
    GREAT GRIMSBY ST MARY Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 263.
    Parish-level Unit (AP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 263.
    GREAT GRIMSBY ST MARY AND ST JAMES Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.
    Parish-level Unit (CP/AP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.
    GREAT GRIMSBY ST PAUL WEST MARSH Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 263.
    GRIMSBY Constituency (PBCon) 1891 Census of England and Wales, Table 5, 'Parliamentary Counties and Boroughs, and their Divisions; Inhabited Houses and population in 1891'.
    Constituency (BCon/PBCon) Richard H.A. Cheffins, Parliamentary Constituencies and their registers since 1832 (London: The British Library, 1998)
    Local Government District (RD) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 707.
    Local Government District (CB/MB) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 701.
    Parish-level Unit (CP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.
    Poor Law Union/Reg. District (RegD/PLU) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 702.
    Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    Sanitary District (USD) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 704.
    Sanitary District (RSD) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 704.
    Urban Labour Market Great Britain Historical GIS Project
    GRIMSBY 1 Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    GRIMSBY 2 Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    GRIMSBY ALL SAINTS Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.
    GRIMSBY AND CLEETHORPES Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    GRIMSBY GREAT Parish-level Unit (CP/AP) 1801 Census of Great Britain, Table [1], 'Population Abstract'.
    GRIMSBY I Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    GRIMSBY NORTH Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    GRIMSBY SOUTH Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    Rural Deanery F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 867.
    GRIMSBY ST AUGUSTINE Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.
    GRIMSBY ST LUKE Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.
    GRIMSBY ST STEPHEN Ecclesiastical Parish (EP) F. Youngs, Local Administrative Units: Northern England (London: Royal Historical Society, 1991), p. 262.

    NB: These are all the names of all the administrative units which we have associated with Grimsby, 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 Grimsby, 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 Grimsby in North East Lincolnshire | Place names, A Vision of Britain through Time.

    URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5/names

    Date accessed: 30th October 2024