Bristol, Gloucestershire : Historical writing

Descriptive gazetteer entries

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

Place Type of entry Source
Bristol city, municipal and parliamentary borough, seaport, and county of itself Bartholomew
BRISTOL a city, with special jurisdiction Imperial
BRISTOL AND GLOUCESTER RAILWAY a railway Imperial
BRISTOL AND SOUTH WALES UNION RAILWAY a railway Imperial
BRISTOL PORT AND PIER RAILWAY a railway Imperial
Castle Precincts parish Bartholomew
Redcliff, St Mary parish Bartholomew

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 Bristol 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.
Charles Wesley Apr. 3 - Sept. 22, 1741: Bristol and S. Wales again 13
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 2: Oxford, Bristol and Gloucester 13
Daniel Defoe Letter 4, Part 2: Somerset and Wiltshire 12
Daniel Defoe Letter 10: Lancashire, Westmorland and Cumberland 11
Charles Wesley 1745: London, Bristol and South Wales 10
John Wesley 1739: Field-Preaching; "All the World my Parish"; Whitefield; Wales 10
William Gilpin Bristol to London 9
William Camden Dorset and Somerset 8
John Wesley 1740-2: Preaching Incidents; Wesley's Labor Colony; Dispute with Whitefield 8
John Wesley 1749-50: Wesley and the Soldiers; In Ireland and Wales Again; Wesley Burned in Effigy 7
Charles Wesley May 1 - Aug. 6, 1740: London,and then to Bristol 6
Charles Wesley 1749: Marriage to Sally Gwynne 6
John Wesley 1751-3: Wesley's Marriage; Cornwall Smugglers; Illness and Recovery 6
John Wesley 1754-6: Retirement in Paddington; Wesley Slandered; Premonitions 6
Charles Wesley May 2 - Aug. 31, 1744: Cornwall 5
Charles Wesley Jan. 1 - Aug. 31, 1746: Bristol and Cornwall 5
Daniel Defoe Letter 6, Part 3: Worcester, Hereford and Wales 5
Daniel Defoe Appendix to the second volume 5
John Wesley 1757-9: "I do Indeed Live by Preaching"; Advice to Travelers; French Prisoners 5
Henry Vincent Feb. 28 to Mar. 9: Bristol, Cirencester and Stroud 5
Charles Wesley Sept. 1 - Nov. 6, 1739: Preaching around Bristol and Bath 4
Charles Wesley May 3 - Dec. 28, 1747: Wales and Ireland 4
Charles Wesley May 1 - Aug. 31, 1748: London, Wales and Ireland 4
Charles Wesley Sept. 1- Dec. 31, 1748: Ireland and central Wales 4
Charles Wesley Nov. 29 - Dec. 6,1753: London and Bristol 4
Daniel Defoe Letter 7, Part 1: Cheshire and North-West Midlands 4
John Wesley 1744-5: First Methodist Conference; Pressgangs and Mobs 4
Henry Vincent Apr. 15 to 20: Bristol and Newport 4
Charles Wesley May 1 - Aug. 31, 1739: Gloucestershire and Bristol 3
Charles Wesley Sept. 7 - Dec. 31, 1740: First visit to South Wales 3
Charles Wesley 1750: Bristol and London 3
Charles Wesley Jan. 1 - Aug. 26, 1751: London to Bristol and the north 3
Charles Wesley Sept. 17 - Nov. 5, 1756: Midlands, Yorkshire and Manchester 3
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 3: Norfolk and Cambridgeshire 3
Daniel Defoe Letter 9: Eastern Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland 3
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Shrewsbury to Bristol 3
John Wesley 1746-8: Severe Weather; Ireland; Wesley's Protest against Lawlessness 3
John Wesley 1763-4: In Scotland Again; Methodist's Wealth; "No Law for Methodists"; Exhausting Days 3
John Wesley 1769-70: Opens a New Church; Comments on Rousseau; Geology; Swedenborg 3
John Wesley 1781-4: An Ideal Circuit; Wesley in his Eighties; Wesley Visits Holland; Scotland 3
Henry Vincent Mar. 24 to Apr. 1: Newport and Stroud 3
George Borrow To Swansea 2
William Camden Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire 2
William Camden Ireland (1) 2
Charles Wesley Sept. 2 - Dec. 30, 1745: Yorkshire and Durham 2
Charles Wesley Jan. 1- Apr. 27, 1747: Yorkshire, Manchester and Bristol 2
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 3: South and West Yorkshire 2
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Bristol to Plymouth 2
Robert Gammage Election to the Chartist National Convention in 1852 2
John Wesley 1760-2: Letter to an Editor; Impositions and Declarations; Speaking Statue; Pentecost 2
John Wesley 1765-8: Justice for Methodists; Methodist Character; Instructions to Parents 2
John Wesley 1774-6: Wesley Arrested; A Terrible Ride; A Methodist Isaac Newton; the American War 2
John Wesley 1777-80: On the Isle of Man; City Road Chapel; Wesley Visits Lord George Gordon 2
Feargus O'Connor O'Connor's tour of Scotland, January 1839 2
Henry Vincent Mar. 16 to 23: Wye valley, Newport and Devizes 2
William Camden The Division of Britaine 1
William Camden Wiltshire and Hampshire 1
William Camden Durham, Lancashire and Westmorland 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 4 - Dec. 30, 1736: Massachusetts, and back to England 1
Charles Wesley Jan. 2 - Apr. 30, 1739: London and Oxford 1
Charles Wesley Jan. 2 - Feb. 27, 1743: Bristol and Bath 1
Charles Wesley May 17 - Aug. 28, 1743: Bristol to Newcastle, then Cornwall 1
Charles Wesley Sept. 2 - Dec. 31, 1743: The Midlands 1
Charles Wesley July 8 - Aug. 13, 1754: Norfolk 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 1, Part 2: Harwich and Suffolk 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 1: London to Winchester 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 2: Salisbury and Dorset 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 3, Part 3: From Exeter to Land's End 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 5 (London), Part 1: Overview and Suburbs 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 1: The Trent Valley 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 8, Part 2: The Peak District 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 11: South-Eastern Scotland 1
Daniel Defoe Letter 12, Part 2: Glasgow and central Scotland 1
Celia Fiennes INTRODUCTION BY THE HON. MRS GRIFFITHS 1
Celia Fiennes Buckinghamshire, Oxford and Chichester 1
Celia Fiennes To Herefordshire 1
Celia Fiennes 1697 Tour: York and Scarborough 1
Celia Fiennes 1698 Tour: Plymouth to Penzance 1
Robert Gammage Touring South Wales 1
Robert Gammage Standing for Parliament in Cheltenham, 1852 1
William Gilpin Ross to Monmouth 1
John Wesley 1785-90: Collects Money for the Poor; Visits House of Lords; Reasons for his Long Life 1
Karl Moritz Chapter 10: Windsor to Oxford 1
Thomas Pennant Wybunbury to Darlaston 1
Henry Vincent Apr. 22 to 27: the Welsh Valleys 1
Henry Vincent Apr. 29 to May 4: Trowbridge and London 1
Arthur Young 1776 Tour from Essex to Shropshire 1
Arthur Young 1791 Tour from Cambridgeshire to Birmingham 1
Arthur Young 1791 Tour from Birmingham to Suffolk 1
Arthur Young 21st to 31st July 1776: Down, Armagh and Antrim 1
Arthur Young 1st to 10th September 1776: Galway, Clare, Limerick and Cork 1
Arthur Young 11th to 20th September 1776: Cork 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
Redland 0 1
Bishopston 0 2
Kingsdown 0 1
Tyndalls Park 0 1
Montpelier 0 1
Henleaze 0 1
Stoke Bishop 0 2
Clifton 0 2
Weir 0 2
Baptist Mills 17 0
Horfield 0 2
Westbury on Trym 0 2
Sea Mills 0 2
Easton 0 3
Leigh Woods 0 1
Lawrence Hill 0 1
Barton Hill 0 1
Bedminster 2 2
Bower Ashton 0 2
Moorfields 0 1

Names from historical writing

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

Name Author Source
BRIGHTSTOW William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
BRIGHTSTOWE John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
BRISTOL John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
BRISTOL AND GLOUCESTER RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
BRISTOL AND SOUTH WALES UNION RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
BRISTOLE Celia Fiennes Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press, 1888).
BRISTOLL William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
BRISTOL PORT AND PIER RAILWAY John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
BRISTOW William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
BRITOSTOW John Marius Wilson Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (Edinburgh: A Fullarton & Co., 1870-72).
CAER BRITO William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CAER ODER NANT BADON William Camden Britain, or, a Chorographicall Description of the most flourishing Kingdomes, England, Scotland, and Ireland (London: George Bishop and John Norton, 1610).
CASTLE PRECINCTS John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
REDCLIFF John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
REDCLIFF ST MARY John Bartholomew Gazetteer of the British Isles (Edinburgh: Bartholomew, 1887).
ST MARY REDCLIFF 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.