Warwickshire is a landlocked county in the centre of England, famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare and George Eliot. Its county boundaries have seen various changes since 1889, notably the loss of the cities of Birmingham (see the June 2013 issue of the Periodical) and Coventry and the town of Solihull.

The market towns of northern and eastern Warwickshire were industrialised in the 19th century; the south of the county remains largely rural and sparsely populated, and includes a small area of the Cotswolds.

Much of western Warwickshire, including that area now forming part of Coventry, Solihull and Birmingham, was covered by the ancient Forest of Arden (most of which was cut down to provide fuel for industrialisation).

Warwickshire came into being as a division of the kingdom of Mercia in the early 11th century. The Norman period saw the foundation of many castles, including Warwick and Kenilworth.

During the Middle Ages Warwickshire was dominated by Coventry, which was at the time one of the most important cities in England due to its textiles trade in the heart of England.

Some of the Gunpowder Plot conspirators came from Warwickshire and much of the plotting took place in the county. Warwickshire also played a key part in the English Civil War (generally on the Parliamentarian side), with the Battle of Edgehill and other skirmishes taking place in the county.

During the 18th and 19th centuries Warwickshire became one of Britain’s foremost industrial counties. The coalfields of northern Warwickshire were amongst the most productive in the country, and greatly enhanced the industrial growth of Coventry and Birmingham. Other major industries in the county included textiles, engineering and cement production.

One notable exception was the town of Leamington Spa which grew from a small village to a medium sized town during the 19th century on the back of the fashionable spa water tourist movement of the time.

Census data provided exclusively by TheGenealogist.co.uk reflects industrial expansion, with the population surging from 400,000 in 1841 to over a million in 1911. The earlier census shows the importance of textiles, with many people working as weavers, dressmakers and tailors; 1911 reflects the rise of coal mining.

Warwickshire became a centre of the national canal system, with major arterial routes such as the Oxford Canal, the Coventry Canal and what is now the Grand Union Canal being constructed through the county.

One of the first inter-city railway lines, the London and Birmingham Railway, ran through Warwickshire. And during the 19th century, the county developed a dense railway network.

Common Warwickshire surnames across the census era (as revealed by data from TheGenealogist.co.uk) include Ward, Harris, Clarke, Hill and Cooper; plus Baker, Parker, White and Allen in 1841; and Moore, Morris and Turner in 1911. See for details of Warwickshire Record Office. For further details of research resources and heritage sites to visit in the county, visit www.heritagehunter.co.uk/ .

In the print edition
Read more about researching roots around the UK and Ireland in Issue 4 of Discover Your Ancestors.