notes Robson 1839

	Research Notes Map Group ROBSON 1839

Robson 1839
	Map, Hampshire with the Isle of Wight, scale about 4.5 miles to 1 inch, by William Robson and Co, London Directory and Court Guide Office, 4 Cloak Lane, Cheapside, London, 1839; published from about 1820 onwards.
	The copy of Robson's Map of Hampshire, published 1839, in the Library Collection of Hampshire CC Museums Service is item HMCMS:B2002.76.
	The directory size is:- wxh = 16x25.5cm, a rebound volume; the map size is:- wxh, sheet = 38x48cm; wxh, map = 454x352mm.
	The 1839 edition is, perhaps, the 20th edition of the map which might have originated in 1820. It has overprinted material; electoral data from the Reform Act 1832, Parish Union areas etc from the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, and the London and Southampton Railway which was partly opened by 1839.

	MAP FEATURES
	ROBSON'S DIRECTORY
	ITEMS in the Collection

MAP FEATURES
title map maker	Printed upper left is:- HAMPSHIRE Printed at the bottom is:- [William] Robson & Co. Directory Office London
orientation compass rose up is N	Printed on the left is a compass rose; no circle, star points for the cardinal and half cardinal directions, North marked by a fleur de lys. The map is printed with North at the top of the page.
scale line scale	Printed below the title is a:- SCALE chequered at mile intervals to 5 miles then in 5 mile intervals, the 15 miles = 84.3 mm gives a scale 1 to 286360; the map scale is about:- 1 to 290000 4.5 miles to 1 inch
lat and long scales	Scales of latitude and longitude are printed in the borders, divided at minute intervals, labelled a 10 minute intervals; the bottom scale labelled:- Longitude West from Greenwich This accords with longitude, Winchester = 1d 18.5m West The lat and long scales suggest a trapezoid projection.
table of symbols	Printed on the right is a table of symbols:- EXPLANATION Market Towns with the Distance from London in Measured Miles as ... WINCHESTER 63 Churches and Chapels ... [cross (+)] Turnpike Roads ... [double line, bold light] Mail Roads ... [triple line, bold light light] Bye Roads ... [double line, narrower, light light] Rivers ... [wiggly lines] Navigable Canals ... [triple line, light bold light] Parks and Gentlemens Seats ... [outline with fence palings, pecked interior] N.B. The figures on the Turnpike Roads shew the distance in Measured Miles between one Market Town and another. The stars prefixed to the Towns denote the number of Members returned to the unreformed Parliament. Principal Place of County Election N. Divn. WINCHESTER Do. ... Do. ... S. Divn. SOUTHAMPTON Do. ... ... Isle of Wight NEWPORT Boroughs Returning two Members ... [double circle] Do. ... one Do. ... [single circle] Polling Places ... [maltese cross] Northern Divn. ... [rectangle] Southern Divn. ... [rectangle] The last pair of symbols is not understood; they do not seem to correspond to anything on the map? The convention of single and double circles, and the maltese cross, are the same as used on the electoral data map drawn by Creighton, engraved by J and C Walker, published by Lewis, 1835.
sea area sea plain	The sea is plain. Some sea areas are labelled, eg:- ENGLISH CHANNEL THE SOLENT North Channel The last being one of the two approaches to the west of The Solent.
coast line coast shaded	The coast line is shaded.
coastal defence castles	Only one of the coastal defence castles is noticed:- Hurst Cas. marked by a little crenellated tower. No fortifications are drawn around Portsmouth etc.
rivers bridges ponds	Rivers are drawn by wiggly lines tapering upstream. There is some attempt to show the size of the stream by the size of the drawing. Braiding, south of Stockbridge and north of Winchester for examples, is shown by what looks like a narrow pond with from lines. Some river are named, eg:- Boldre R. Enborn Riv. Avon R. The last being the water between Milford and Lymington. Most of the county's major rivers are shown, with some tributaries. A pond might be drawn in outline, with form lines, for example:- Fleet Pond Bridges are not drawn but are implied by a road crossing and interrupting a river. Most are not labelled, but see:- Hartford Br. Bakers Br The first being a settlement as well as the bridge; the second being a bridge nearby.
relief hill hachuring	Some relief is shown by hill hachuring, for example in the north of the county, and the edge of the South Downs in the east.
woods forests	Wooded areas might be indicated by little tree symbols with pecked undergrowth. There are example in the:- NEW FOREST area, west of Minstead. And at:- Alice Holt Wd. Labelled, without trees is:- Bere Forest which is East Bere Forest north of Havant.
parks	Parks are drawn in outline with fence palings, their interior pecked. They might be unlabelled, might have a block for a house, or might be labelled, eg:- Hodwood Park [Hackwood] or by the house name, eg:- Basing Ho. near 'Floxfield' ie Froxfield.
county	The county boundary is a dotted line. Adjacent counties are labelled, eg:- WILTSHIRE The map includes hampshire, the Christchurch area that is now in Dorset, and the Isle of Wight. The detached part of Hampshire in Sussex is not shown. Two small detached parts of Wiltshire are shown on the north border, east of Silchester. Little is included outside the county; Newbury, Farnham, and Ludgershall are marked being nodes in the road system.
hundreds table of hundreds	Hundred boundaries are fine dotted lines, which are rather lost in the clutter. The hundred areas are numbered:- 33 referring to a table of hundreds lower right:- REFERENCE to the HUNDREDS Andover ... 1 Alton ... 2 ... Redbridge ... 33 ... Wherwell Forest ... 40 The 40 including 2 on the Isle of Wight; Andover extra is not numbered separately. Parts of hundreds seem to be unnumbered?
parish unions table of data	Parish Unions, created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, have dot dash boundaries tinted not as closely as they should be in red, overprinted on the map which dates from the 1820s. These areas are lettered, A..W, engraved and printed in black:- Index of Reference to Parochial Unions L referring to a table of data lower right:- A Alresford B Alton ... L Hursley ... W Winchester Note - for a complete Statistical view of each Union, see Topography ie read the directory. The boundaries and key letters added after 1834, sometimes obscure other matter on the map.
settlements distances from London electoral data	Settlements are marked by groups of blocks, differentiated by style of labelling. The original map, from the 1820s had stars attached to places that returned members to Parliament, a familiar convention. This edition of the map still has the stars, presumably too difficult to erase, but has a new way of indicating which boroughs return how many members after the Reform Act 1832. This information is engraved on top of the existing map, sometimes obscuring other stuff. The convention is explained in the table of symbols.
city town	group of blocks, perhaps with a cross for a church; labelled in upright block caps, eg:- WINCHESTER / 63 [double circle] PETERSFIELD / 54 [circle; cross] ALTON / 47 [cross] The figure is the distance from London. Winchester with a double circle, returns two members to Parliament under the new rules; Petersfield with a single circle, returns one member, but two stars can be seen as well, it used to return two members; Alton has no circles, any stars are obscured. Petersfield and Alton have a maltese cross indicating they are polling places. The marking of Portsmouth is a mess, the older blocks show under the new double circles, there are two stars, and a maltese cross.

village	group of blocks and/or a cross; labelled in upright lowercase text, eg:- Bramdean [blocks and cross] Lyndhurst [cross] Bramshaw [blocks]

hamlet	a block or three; labelled in italic lowercase text, eg:- Middle Wallop This lettering is used for all sorts of less important place names, etc.
roads road distances turnpike roads post roads	Roads are drawn by double lines; wide or narrow for major or minor roads, dotted on continuous for fenced or unfenced, an added line for a mail coach route. The convention is explained in the table of symbols. Turnpike roads have a bold and light line; the post roads, mail coach routes, have bold light light lines; minor roads are narrower. Road distances are marked from some towns. For example from Basingstoke eastwards miles 2..14 are marked to near the county boundary; and westwards miles 2..10 are marked to Whitchurch, but no carried further. From Andover westwards miles 1..3 take the traveller to a junction from which the mile numbering continues 4..6 towards Ludgershall in Wiltshire, and 4..8 to the Wiltshire border, towards Amesbury, Salisbury, and Lands End. The system is not carried out consistently, or really usefully. Destinations of roads outwith the county are given in a few instances, for example:- To Staines 14 Ms. From Wimborne 6 Miles
canals	Canals are drawn by a curvy triple line, light bold light. The following canals are noticed:-
Basingstoke Canal	from Basingstoke to the Surrey border; the tunnel at Greywell shown dotted; the canal has a gap at Dogmersfield, the loop round the park is not drawn; labelled:- Basingstoke C.

Andover Canal	from Up Clatford near Andover to Redbrideg; labelled:- Andover C.

Salisbury and Southampton Canal	from The Wiltshire border near East Dean to join the Andover Canal, near Mottisfont; not to Southampton.

Itchen Navigation	from Winchester to the head of the Itchen estuary near South Stoneham.

Titchfield Canal	from Titchfield to The Solent near Hillhead.

railways	A railway is drawn by a line with cross lines, a convention that is still familiar today. The one line is the:- London & Southampton Railway which was partially open in 1839, and became the London and South Western Railway later that year (?). It was opened throughout in 1840. This line is engraved on the old plate, and obscures yet more stuff on the original map.
miscellaneous
inns	A few inns are labelled, eg:- Rising Sun on a minor road north of Bashley. And:- Dean Gate Inn suggesting a turnpike gate, west of Church Oakley.
mills water mills	On the Test south west of Whitchurch is:- Mill
race courses	On Worthy Down above Winchester is an oavl track:- Race Course
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ROBSON'S	DIRECTORY
	Robson's Commercial Directory of the Seven Counties of Middlesex, Essex, Herts, Kent, Surrey, Sussex, and Hants with the Isle of Wight, published by William Robson and Co, London Directory and Court Guide Office, 4 Cloak Lane, Cheapside, London, 20th edition, 1839.
	The title page of the directory mentions the maps:-
	ROBSON'S COMMERCIAL DIRECTORY OF THE SEVEN COUNTIES OF MIDDLESEX, ESSEX, HERTS, KENT, SURREY, SUSSEX, AND HANTS, WITH THE ISLE OF WIGHT, AN ALPHABETICAL LIST OF THE NAMES, RESIDENCES AND PROFESSIONS OF THE COMMERCIAL ESTABLISHMENTS IN THE ABOVE COUNTIES: A CLASSIFICATION OF TRADES To all Market Towns therein, with every information connected with the Arrival and Departure of Mails and other Coaches, Posting Houses, Commercial Inns, &c. &c. Accompanied by an Historical and Statistical Display of the Area in Statute Acres; the Annual Value thereof, as assessed to the Property Tax in 1815; the Annual Income of the Beneficed Clergy, as returned to Parliament in 1834; WITH A BEAUTIFULLY ENGRAVED MAP OF EACH OF THE SEVEN COUNTIES, ON WHICH IS DELINEATED THE NEW DIVISIONS OR PAROCHIAL UNIONS, FORMED UNDER THE POOR LAW AMENDMENT ACT OF 3 & 4 WILLIAM IV. 1834. ALSO, THE NAMES OF UNIONS, NUMBER OF PARISHES AND GUARDIANS TO EACH UNION, THE DATE AND PLACE OF MEETING, WITH THE NAMES OF CLERKS TO EACH BOARD OF GUARDIANS THROUGHOUT THE SEVEN COUNTIES ABOVE NAMED; SUPERINTENDENT REGISTRARS, REGISTRARS OF MARRIAGES, AND OF BIRTHS AND DEATHS; Coaches, Carriers, Coasting Vessels, Steam Packets, INLAND NAVIGATION & RAILROADS. FOR 1839. TWENTIETH EDITION.
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ITEMS	in HMCMS Map Collection (scanned item in bold)
	HMCMS:B2002.76 -- directory
	HMCMS:B2002.76.7 -- map
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