Rutland in the context of "Brownist"

Middlesex (/ˈmɪdəlsɛks/ ; abbreviation: Middx) was one of the counties of England until it was abolished in 1965. The county boundaries largely followed three rivers: the Thames in the south, the Lea to the east and the Colne to the west, with a line of hills forming its northern boundary with Hertfordshire. The former area of Middlesex now lies almost entirely in the ceremonial county of Greater London, with smaller parts in the counties of Hertfordshire and Surrey. The county was the second smallest of the historic counties of England, after Rutland.

The name of the county derives from its origin as a homeland for the Middle Saxons in the early Middle Ages, with the county subsequently part of that territory in the ninth or tenth century. The City of London, formerly part of the county, became a self governing county corporate in the twelfth century; the City was still able to exert influence as the sheriffs of London maintained their jurisdiction in Middlesex, though the county otherwise remained separate. To the east of the City, the Tower Division (or Tower Hamlets) had considerable autonomy under its own Lord Lieutenant. To the west, precincts around Westminster and Charing Cross became built up.

The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire), Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, and Rutland. The region has a land area of 15,623 km (6,032 sq mi), with an estimated population 5,063,164 in 2024. With a sufficiency-level world city ranking, Nottingham is the only settlement in the region to be classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

The main cities in the region are Derby, Leicester, Lincoln and Nottingham. The largest towns in these counties are Boston, Chesterfield, Coalville, Corby, Glossop, Grantham, Kettering, Loughborough, Newark-on-Trent, Northampton, Mansfield, Oakham, Swadlincote and Wellingborough.

Lincolnshire (/ˈlɪŋkənʃər, -ʃɪər/) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands and Yorkshire and the Humber regions of England. It is bordered by the East Riding of Yorkshire across the Humber estuary to the north, the North Sea to the east, Norfolk, Cambridgeshire, Northamptonshire and Rutland to the south, and Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and South Yorkshire to the west.

The county is predominantly rural, with an area of 6,959 km (2,687 sq mi) and a population of 1,120,749 in 2024. The port town of Grimsby is located in the north-east coast of the county, Boston in the south-east, Grantham in the south-west, the city of Lincoln in the west, and Scunthorpe in the north-west. For local government purposes Lincolnshire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with seven districts, and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. The last two areas are part of the Yorkshire and the Humber region, and the rest of the county is in the East Midlands. The non-metropolitan county council and two unitary councils collaborate through the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority.

Leicestershire (/ˈlɛstərʃɪər, -ʃər/ LEST-ər-sheer, -⁠shər) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, and Staffordshire to the west. The city of Leicester is the largest settlement.

The county has an area of 2,156 km (832 sq mi) and an estimated population of 1,133,921 in 2024. Leicester is located in the centre of the county and is by far the largest settlement; its urban area includes the towns of Wigston and Oadby immediately to the south-east. The rest of the county is largely rural, and its settlements include the university town of Loughborough in the north, Melton Mowbray in the north-east, Hinckley in the south-west, and Coalville in the north-west. For local government purposes Leicestershire comprises a non-metropolitan county, with seven districts, and the unitary authority area of Leicester.

James Wright (1643–1713), was an antiquary and writer, author of a county history of Rutland (1684), and the Historia Histrionica (1699), an account of theatre in England in the seventeenth century.

The Midlands is the central part of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, West Midlands and Worcestershire. For statistical purposes, the Midlands is divided into two statistical regions: the West Midlands and East Midlands. These had a combined population of 10.9 million at the 2021 census, and an area of 28,622 km (11,051 square miles). The northern part of Lincolnshire is part of the Yorkshire and the Humber statistical region, and not part of the Midlands.

The modern region also corresponds broadly to the early-medieval kingdom of Mercia. The Midlands became important in the Industrial Revolution of the 18th and 19th centuries, which led to one of its parts being named the Black Country. Culturally, the Midlands is distinct, but contains elements from both Northern and Southern England in the North-South divide. The Midlands' largest city, Birmingham, is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom. Other cities include Coventry, Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Wolverhampton, and Worcester.

Northamptonshire (/nɔːrˈθæmptənʃər, -ʃɪər/ nor-THAMP-tən-shər, -⁠sheer; abbreviated Northants.) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It is bordered by Leicestershire, Rutland and Lincolnshire to the north; Cambridgeshire to the east; Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire to the south; Oxfordshire to the south west; and Warwickshire to the west. Northampton is the largest settlement.

The county has an area of 2,364 km (913 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 813,682 in 2024. Northampton is located in the centre of the county, and its other principal towns include Corby and Kettering in the north-east and Wellingborough in the centre. The east and south-west are rural. For local government purposes Northamptonshire comprises two unitary authority areas, North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. The county historically included Peterborough and its surrounding area, called the Soke.