Chorography of Suffolk

This database contains the chorography, or description of the physical area of Suffolk County. It is arranged similarly to a gazetteer, with an alphabetical listing of every place-name in the county. The place-names were taken from Christopher Saxton's 1575 map of Suffolk. Information provided about each place includes an indication as to the hundred it is part of, a number for its rural deanery, notes of markets, and literary references to the place. It also provides a historical description of Suffolk. The Chorography of Suffolk is significant because it contains a lot of information on the value of tithe and manor customs, the ownership of land, and the vicissitudes of markets and communities.

Some family researchers believe it is necessary to find an old map to locate an old town. An old map will not necessarily show all towns that existed when the map was printed, because small towns might have been omitted.

A useful tool for locating towns is a gazetteer, which is a geographical dictionary that lists place names (for example, those of states, territories, counties, cities, towns, and townships) alphabetically for a geographical region. The type of information given in various gazetteers differs, but usually the state and county (and sometimes township--for example, U.S. gazetteers) are listed. This information will help to locate a place name on a map and to determine the town or county in which the major records (for example, vital, land, and probate) are located.

Taken from Schiffman, Carol Mehr, "Geographic Tools: Maps, Atlases, and Gazetteers." In Printed Sources: A Guide to Published Genealogical Records, ed. Kory L. Meyerink (Salt Lake City: Ancestry, 1998).