The "Home Counties?"

[Naphtali]

In Britain what are the "Home Counties?" Why this sobriquet?

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

The Home Counties are the ones surrounding London: Surrey, Hampshire, Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire and Middlesex et al. I have lived in them all my life and I have actually no idea why they are called that... off to Google it! lol

Edit: there's a Wikipedia entry - not particularly enlightening but explains the theory:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_counties

 

[stephen1965]

As the wikipedia entry points out, the term is often used to describe a certain sector of middle class society - the so called 'twin set and pearls brigade'. Not always, but sometimes, there's an insinuation that the home counties 'type' has a culturally and politically conservative mentality. It could therefore be a reference to those who dress a certain way too, perhaps in a typically conservative English style. It would be interesting to know in which context the term is being used...

 

[Story]

Take your pick!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-25652,00.html

 

[LondonLuke]

It's synonymous with civilisation...

And as Fleur pointed out, just those Counties immediately surrounding London. My own view is that their the home area for most of the City workers?

 

[Max Flash]

My own view is that their the home area for most of the City workers?

Whilst this may be true now, I think it is unlikely to be the origin of the phrase. The term "Home Counties" has been in use for over 150 years - far longer than most modern rail travel has been around which would require the necessary means for City workers to commute daily into London from these areas.

 

[helenhighwater]

My boyfriend's Scottish and as a result finds the term deeply annoying. "Home counties? Well, doesn't that depend on where you live?" It's symptomatic of the London-centric culture of Englishness. then again, I'm from the Home Counties myself, so... erm....

I remember first encountering it as a child on a game show where the teams were divided up according to where they were from in the UK. So you had the Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, then England divided up into "north east" and "north west", the Midlands, south west... then East Anglia, then the Home Counties. The trouble is, Essex is both in the Home Counties (being right next to London) and in East Anglia. So it's rather confusing.

 

[H.Johnson]

In this meaning 'home' means close - the opposite of distant. So, in England*, as someone points out, the Home Farm is the farm nearest to the 'Big House' of a land-owner (traced back at least to the 18thC).

In railway signalling (developed in the mid 19thC) there are 'Home' and 'Distant' signals in each 'Block' of line - the Home signal being the closest to the train.

So if this is the reason, by implication, the Home Counties are those nearest to the Capital. Biased? Yes. But all countries have a capital. These are the English Home Counties. If Scotland or Wales wanted their own, they could adopt the term.

* I can't speak for the rest of the UK.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

No-one read the Wikipedia entry then?

The term originated in the late nineteenth century, and is probably derived from the Home Circuit of the itinerant Assize Court.[1]

Though a little speculative (note the use of "probably"), it would be a little strange if the counties covered by the Home Circuit ended up being referred to as the Home Counties, and these terms were not linked … "Home" for the Home Circuit may very well be based upon H.Johnson's schema above (close, opposite of distant) as by then the centre for legal issues was London.


bk