The data below serves to illustrate a general shift in the Plant distribution between 1600 and 1850. Around 1601-50, most Plants were clustered around adjoining east Cheshire and north Staffordshire. There was also a secondary cluster around Ingoldmells in east Lincolnshire. The proportion of Plants in both Cheshire and Lincolnshire declined however and, by 1801-50, most Plants were to be found in Staffordshire (and nearby counties).
| County | 1601-1650 | 1651-1700 | 1701-1750 | 1751-1800 | 1801-1850 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Staffordshire | ... | 25.8% | 47.5% | 51.1% | 43.3% | 51.5% |
| Cheshire | ... | 30.1% | 9.7% | 8.8% | 6.5% | 2.7% |
| Lancashire | ... | 2.2% | 4.9% | 6.7% | 7.1% | 7.5% |
| Lincolnshire | ... | 21.4% | 14.3% | 11.4% | 5.8% | 3.4% |
In the 13th century, there are extant records mainly for the region around Norfolk and for Oxford whereas, in recent times, the Plant name is found mainly in the region around Staffordshire IGI records for a broad swathe of counties including these areas have been used to produce the above table. The region considered covers most of England and the total numbers of Plant IGI records, counted for this region in the 1984 version of the IGI, for the 5 date ranges listed above, are 229, 412, 1233, 2192, and 4196. The above table shows the percentages of these totals found in particular key counties.
Reference: John S Plant (1998) in Roots and Branches, Issues 16 and 17.
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