Editing Riding (division)

{{Short description|Administrative jurisdiction}}
{{More citations needed|date=August 2010}}
A '''riding''' is an [[administrative division|administrative jurisdiction]] or [[electoral district]], particularly in several current or former [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth]] countries.<ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary Merriam Webster Online]</ref>

==Etymology==
{{wikt|riding}}
The word ''riding'' is descended from late [[Old English]] {{lang|ang|þriðing}} or {{lang|ang|*þriding}} (recorded only in Latin contexts or forms, e.g., {{Lang|ang|trehing}}, {{Lang|ang|treding}}, {{Lang|ang|trithing}}, with Latin initial ''t'' here representing the Old English letter [[thorn (letter)|thorn]]).  It came into Old English as a loanword from [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|þriðjungr}}, meaning a third part (especially of a county) – the original "ridings", in the English counties of Yorkshire and [[Lincolnshire]], were in each case a set of three, though once the term was adopted elsewhere it was used for other numbers (compare to [[farthings of Iceland|farthings]]).  The modern form ''riding'' was the result of the initial ''th'' [[rebracketing|being absorbed]] in the final ''th'' or ''t'' of the words ''north'', ''south'', ''east'' and ''west'', by which it was normally preceded.<ref name=EB1911>{{EB1911 |wstitle=Ridings |volume=23 |page=319 |inline=1}}</ref><ref>Oxford English Dictionary, second edition, edited by John Simpson and Edmund Weiner, Clarendon Press, 1989, twenty volumes, hardcover, {{ISBN|0-19-861186-2}}.</ref><ref name=entymologyriding>[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=riding&searchmode=none Online Etymology Dictionary – riding]. URL accessed 21 April 2007.</ref>

A [[folk etymology|common misconception]] holds that the term arose from some association between the size of the district and the distance that can be covered or encircled on horseback in a certain amount of time (compare the [[Walking Purchase]]).

==Australia==
The term was used in [[Australia]] as a division of some [[shire]] councils, similar to a [[ward (politics)|ward]] in [[city]], [[borough]], [[town]] and many shire councils.<ref>{{cite web |title=Ivanhoe riding, shire of Heidelberg, counties of Bourke and Evelyn [cartographic material]. |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/version/9015787 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Canada==<!-- This section is linked from [[George-Étienne Cartier]] -->
{{Main|Electoral district (Canada)}}
The term was used in 19th-century [[Canada]] to refer to subdivisions of counties.

In [[Politics of Canada|Canadian politics]], ''riding'' is a colloquial term for a [[constituency]] or [[Electoral district (Canada)|electoral district]]. Officially, ''electoral district'' is generally used, although government documents sometimes use the colloquial term. In colloquial Canadian French, a riding is known as {{Lang|fr-ca|comté}}, i.e., 'county', as the electoral districts in Quebec were historically identical to its [[List of Quebec counties|counties]]; the official French term is {{Lang|fr|circonscription}}.

The Canadian use of ''riding'' is derived from the [[United Kingdom|English]] 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]], 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 descriptions of the electoral districts of Canada West in the [[Province of Canada]].  It was later used in the description of the new electoral districts which were created by the ''[[Constitution Act, 1867]]'', for the first elections to the new federal [[House of Commons of Canada|House of Commons]] and the new provincial [[Legislative Assembly of Ontario]], immediately following [[Canadian Confederation|Confederation]]. 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]].

==England==
===Yorkshire=== <!--Referenced from article [[Yorkshire]] -->

{{More citations needed section|date=August 2010}}

The ancient county of [[Yorkshire]] had three ridings,<ref name="entymologyriding"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://yorkshireridingssociety.org.uk/ |title= The Yorkshire Ridings |publisher=The Yorkshire Ridings Society |access-date = 2017-12-03}}</ref><ref>[http://www.northeastengland.talktalk.net/About_Yorkshire.htm About Yorkshire – The Yorkshire Ridings]. URL accessed 21 April 2007.</ref> [[North Riding of Yorkshire|North]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire|West]] and [[East Riding of Yorkshire|East]], originally each subdivided into [[wapentake]]s which were created by the Vikings. Note that the bounds of the City of York lay outside all the ridings to emphasise its political impartiality.

The Yorkshire ridings were in many ways treated as separate administrative counties, having had separate [[quarter session]]s and also separate [[Lord-lieutenant|lieutenancies]] since the [[English Restoration|Restoration]]. This practice was followed by the ''[[Local Government Act 1888]]'', which made each of the three ridings an [[administrative counties of England|administrative county]] with an elected county council.  These county councils, along with the ancient lieutenancies, were abolished in 1974 under the ''[[Local Government Act 1972]]''.

A local government area, [[East Riding of Yorkshire]], 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]]'', the riding was the third part of a county ({{Lang|la|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.<ref name=EB1911/>

Riding courts were held after the [[Norman Conquest]]. A charter which [[Henry I of England|Henry I]] granted to the Church of St Peters at York mentions {{Lang|enm|wapentacmot}}'','' {{Lang|enm|'''triding'''mot}} and {{Lang|enm|shiresmot}} (-mot designates popular assemblies), and exemptions from suit to the {{Lang|enm|thriding}} or riding are described 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.<ref name=EB1911/>

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|current usage of West Riding of Yorkshire]]). [[Winifred Holtby]]'s 1936 novel ''[[South Riding (novel)|South Riding]]'' and its adaptations were set in a fictional fourth riding. The title of the novel trilogy ''Red Riding'' by [[David Peace]], set in Yorkshire, is a play on the word.

The [[Yorkshire Ridings Society]] calls for wider recognition of the historic borders of Yorkshire.

===Lindsey, Lincolnshire===

The [[Parts of Lindsey]], one of the [[Parts of Lincolnshire]], also possessed ridings, in this case the [[North Riding of Lindsey|North]], [[West Riding of Lindsey|West]], and [[South Riding of Lindsey|South]] ridings.

==Ireland==
The ''[[Grand Jury (Ireland) Act 1836]]'' empowered the [[Lord Lieutenant of Ireland]] to divide [[counties of Ireland|Irish counties]] into ridings with separate [[assizes]] held in different towns.<ref>Murphy 1994 p.291; {{cite web |title=Grand Jury (Ireland) Act, 1836 ss.176–177 |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1836/act/116/section/176/enacted/en/html |website=electronic Irish Statute Book |access-date=21 August 2018 |language=en}}</ref> This was to allow [[County Tipperary]] to be divided in 1838 into a [[North Tipperary|North Riding]] and [[South Tipperary|South Riding]], because the [[county town]] of [[Clonmel]] was inconveniently far south for jurors from the north.<ref>Murphy 1994 p.251</ref> [[Nenagh]] became the North Riding's assize town.<ref>Murphy 1994 p.91</ref> The ridings became separate [[administrative counties of Ireland|administrative counties]], with minor boundary adjustments, under the ''[[Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898]]'',<ref>Murphy 1994 p.109</ref><ref name="Potter2012"/> and were redenominated as counties "North Tipperary" and "South Tipperary" under the ''[[Local Government Act 2001]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Government Act, 2001 s.10(4)(a) |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2001/act/37/section/10/enacted/en/html#sec10 |website=electronic Irish Statute Book (eISB) |access-date=21 August 2018 |language=en}}</ref> They were merged back into a single County Tipperary by the ''[[Local Government Reform Act 2014]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Local Government Reform Act 2014 s.9(1)(b) |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2014/act/1/section/9/enacted/en/html#sec9 |website=electronic Irish Statute Book |access-date=21 August 2018 |language=en}}</ref>

[[County Cork]] had been divided in 1823 into East and West Ridings for [[quarter sessions]] and [[petty sessions]],<ref>{{cite book |title=Public General Acts and General Synod Measures  |volume=47 |date=1823 |publisher=Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lzxHAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA199 |pages=199 |chapter=4 George 3 c.93 |language=en}}; {{cite book |title=A Topographical Dictionary of Ireland |year=1837 |publisher=Samuel Lewis |chapter=Cork Baronies and Towns |chapter-url=https://www.libraryireland.com/topog/C/Cork-Baronies-and-Towns.php |access-date=21 August 2018}}</ref> but not for assizes, and so had a single [[county council]] after the 1898 changes.<ref name="Potter2012"/> [[County Galway]] from 1837 had East and West Ridings for [[Royal Irish Constabulary]] and [[county surveyor]] purposes.<ref name="Potter2012"/> The Cork and Galway ridings became largely obsolete after independence in 1922,<ref name="Potter2012">{{cite journal |last1=Potter |first1=Matthew |title='Geographical loyalty'? Counties, palatinates, boroughs and ridings |jstor=41588745 |journal=History Ireland |date=2012 |volume=20 |issue=5 |pages=24–27 |url=https://www.historyireland.com/early-modern-history-1500-1700/geographical-loyalty-counties-palatinates-boroughs-and-ridings/ |access-date=21 August 2018}}</ref> although the names "Cork East[/West] Riding" were used for the relevant [[Garda Síochána]] (police) [[Police division|divisions]] into the 1990s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Written Answers. - Garda Graduates. |url=https://www.oireachtas.ie/en/debates/debate/dail/1991-10-30/117/ |website=Dáil Éireann debate |access-date=21 August 2018 |language=en-ie |date=30 October 1991}}; {{cite news |title=An able commissioner in a time of need |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/an-able-commissioner-in-a-time-of-need-1.276886 |access-date=21 August 2018 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=3 February 2001 |quote=He subsequently became chief superintendent in charge of the old Cork East Riding Division, which has since been split into the two divisions of Cork City and Cork East. }}; {{cite book |title=Report on Crime, 1991 |date=August 1992 |publisher=Garda Síochána |page=6 |chapter-url=https://www.garda.ie/en/About-Us/Publications/Annual%20Reports/An-Garda-Siochana-Annual-Reports/1991-Commissioner-s-Report.pdf#page=10 |chapter=Indictable Offences per 1,000 population by Garda Divisions - 1991}}</ref>

==New Zealand==
Ridings existed in rural [[New Zealand]] 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, New Zealand|Waitara]] (east).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Cyc06Cycl-t1-body1-d1-d10.html|title=Taranaki County Council|work=nzetc.org}}</ref>

As use of the automobile became more popular with the improvement of roads, combined with the concurrent trend of [[Urbanization|urban drift]] ({{Circa|1950s}}), the ridings were either merged back into their parent councils or separated off into county councils in their own right. The Taranaki County Council's three ridings eventually split, with the Omata Riding remaining part of the Taranaki County Council, the Moa riding merging with the [[Inglewood, New Zealand|Inglewood]] Borough Council and the Waitara Riding becoming part of the [[Clifton County]] Council.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzart.org.nz/NZART/awards/NZART_NZ_Counties_Map.pdf |title=Archived copy |website=www.nzart.org.nz |access-date=15 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051215171135/http://www.nzart.org.nz/NZART/awards/NZART_NZ_Counties_Map.pdf |archive-date=15 December 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In [[Timeline of New Zealand history#1989|1989]] 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.

'''Examples:'''
* [http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=DSC18761130.2.16&e=-------10--1----0-- Daily Southern Cross, 30 November 1876, Page 3]
* [http://atojs.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/atojs?a=d&d=AJHR1917-I.2.2.4.79&e=-------10--1------0-- Census, 1916. Return Showing the Population of the Dominion]

==Scandinavia==
Ridings are originally [[Scandinavia]]n institutions.
 
In [[Iceland]] the third part of a ''[[Thing (assembly)|thing]]'' which corresponded roughly to an English county was called {{Lang|non|þrithjungr}}. The island of [[Gotland]] and the Swedish provinces [[Närke]] and [[Hälsingland]] were also divided into {{Lang|non|þrithjungar}} instead of [[Hundred (county division)|hundreds]].

In [[Norway]], the {{Lang|non|þrithjungr}} seems to have been an ecclesiastical division.

==Farthings==
The term is analogous to fourths of a county, in a fashion similar to the [[Farthing (British coin)|old British farthing]]. They have also been found in [[Farthings of Iceland|Iceland]] and [[Gloucestershire]].{{citation needed|date=August 2018}} [[Tolkien|J. R. R. Tolkien]]'s fictional world of [[Middle-earth]], [[Shire (Middle-earth)|The Shire]], is divided into farthings, into the [[Fourth Age]].

==See also==
* [[Lathe (county subdivision)|Lathe]]
* [[Rape (county subdivision)|Rape]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{more footnotes needed|date=August 2018}}
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |author-link=Richard Cleasby |first=Richard |last=Cleasby |title=Icelandic Dictionary }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |chapter-url = https://archive.org/stream/ANewEnglishDictionaryOnHistoricalPrinciples.10VolumesWithSupplement/08.p1.NEDHP.QR.Oxford.Murray.1914.#page/n689 |title=Oxford English Dictionary |edition=1st |volume=8 |editor-link=W. A. Craigie |editor-first=W. A. |editor-last=Craigie |date=1914 |publisher=Clarendon Press |location=Oxford |page=689 |article=Riding ''sb.''<sup>1</sup> |access-date=28 August 2018}}
* {{cite book |author-link=William Dugdale |first=William |last=Dugdale |title=Monasticon Anglicanum |volume=VI |editor1-link=John Caley  |editor1-first=John |editor1-last=Caley |year = 1846 }} [https://books.google.com/books?id=WmtPAAAAcAAJ&pg=PR3 Part I], [https://books.google.com/books?id=a10RAQAAMAAJ&pg=PR3 Part II], 
* {{cite book |author-link=Felix Liebermann |first=Felix |last=Liebermann |title=Die Gesetze der Angelsachsen |location=Halle |year = 1888–89 }}
* {{cite book |last = Murphy |first = Donal A. |title = The two Tipperarys: the national and local politics, devolution and self-determination, of the unique 1838 division into two ridings, and the aftermath |year = 1994 |publisher = Relay |isbn = 9780946327133 |language = en |series = Regional studies in political and administrative history |number = 1 |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/twotipperarysnat0000murp }}
* {{cite book |author-link=William Stubbs |first=William |last=Stubbs |title=Constitutional History of England |year=1896 |url=https://archive.org/details/constitutionalh11stubgoog }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*[http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=riding&searchmode=none Etymology on line]
*[http://www.canpolitics.com Information about Canadian ridings]

{{Terms for types of administrative territorial entities|state=expanded}}

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[[Category:Canadian electoral districts| ]]
[[Category:Types of administrative division]]
[[Category:Former subdivisions of England]]