Holborn, Middlesex : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

These other entries in our collection of descriptive gazetteers are also about Holborn. You may be able to find further references to Holborn in the descriptive gazetteers by doing a full-text search here.

Place Type of entry Source
HOLBORN a part of the metropolis, a parish, and a district Imperial
Holborn (St Andrew above the Bars) parish Bartholomew
Holborn (St Andrew below the Bars) parish Bartholomew
Staple Inn parish Bartholomew
St Sepulchre parish Bartholomew

This additional information from our descriptive gazetteers is for locations within the parish or parishes associated with Holborn.

Place Type of entry Source
GRAYS INN ROAD a chapelry Imperial

Travel writing

This website includes the complete texts of books describing journeys around Britain, written between the twelfth and nineteenth centuries. Selecting one of the links below will take you to the first reference to Holborn within the selected text. This will not always be a description of a visit: travellers often mention places other than where they are, for example as a basis for comparison.

Traveller Section No. of Refs.
Daniel Defoe Letter 5 (London), Part 1: Overview and Suburbs 3
William Camden Middlesex and London 2
Charles Wesley 1745: London, Bristol and South Wales 1
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: London to Yorkshire 1
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: Coventry to London 1
Robert Gammage Liverpool and London in 1842 1
Paul Hentzner Arrival and London 1
John Wesley 1737-8: Troubles in Georgia; Return to England 1
Thomas Pennant Nantwich 1

This website includes two large libraries, of historical travel writing and of entries from nineteenth century gazetteers describing places. We have text from these sources available for these places near your location:

Place Mentioned in Travel Writing Mentioned in Historical Gazetteer
Lincolns Inn 1 2
Grays Inn 3 2
Furnivals Inn 1 2
Covent Garden 3 1
Duchy of Lancaster 0 1
Middle Temple 1 2
St Giles 1 3
Saffron Hill 1 2
Grays Inn Road 0 2
Strand 2 5
Inner Temple 1 1
Clerkenwell 2 2
Bloomsbury 6 2
Smithfield 4 0
Soho 0 2
Charing Cross 1 4
Newgate 2 0
Aldersgate 3 1
Charter House 0 1
Glasshouse Yard 0 2

Names from historical writing

The following appear as names for Holborn. Follow the links for what the author actually said:

Name Author Source
HOLBORN John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
HOLBORNE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
HOLBORN ST ANDREW ABOVE THE BARS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
HOLBORN ST ANDREW BELOW THE BARS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
HOLBOURN Daniel Defoe A tour thro' the whole island of Great Britain, divided into circuits or journies (London: JM Dent and Co, 1927).
OLDBORNE William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
STAPLE INN John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
ST SEPULCHRE John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).

NB: These variant names come from our collections of historical travel writing and descriptive gazetteers:

  • The above links take you to the first reference to this particular version of the name within a book of travel writing, or to the relevant gazetteer entry.
  • Some names may derive from research by antiquarian writers such as William Camden and Thomas Pennant into the Roman, Saxon and medieval names of places. Their claims are not always supported by modern place-name researchers.
  • References by travel writers to the place using its "normal" name are not included. Descriptive gazetteer entries are included only if the name does not appear anywhere else.