Family Historian User Group

A shire is an administrative area of Great Britain and Australia. The first shires were created by the Anglo-Saxons in what is now England and south eastern Scotland. Shires were controlled by a royal official known as a 'shire reeve' or sheriff. Historically shires were sub-divided into hundreds or wapentakes although other less common sub-divisons existed. In modern English usage shires are sub-divided into districts.