 Linlithgow Palace Gateway |
Linlithgowshire, also sometimes known as the County of Linlithgow, was one of the 34 traditional counties into which Scotland was divided for administrative purposes. It lay on the south side of the River Forth to the west of Edinburgh and was traditionally a centre for oil shale and coal mining.
 Linlithgowshire, 1890 to 1921 Note About Image Copyright |
The main settlements in Linlithgowshire were Armadale, Bathgate, Linlithgow, Whitburn, Bo'ness and South Queensferry. The county town was Linlithgow. Linlithgowshire was bordered by the traditional counties of Stirlingshire, Lanarkshire, Peeblesshire and County of Edinburgh.
A tidying up of the map of Scotland's counties which reduced their number to 33 in 1890 had no effect on Linlithgowshire, It was, however, affected by a more minor reorganisation of local government which applied to this part of Scotland in 1921. The result was that Linlithgowshire formally changed its name to West Lothian: and we continue the story of the development of local government in the area on our West Lothian page.
