Essex

Essex

¹

2nd Earl of, title of Robert Devereux. ?1566--1601, English soldier and favourite of Queen Elizabeth I; executed for treason

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Essex

²

1. a county of SE England, on the North Sea and the Thames estuary; the geographical and ceremonial county includes Thurrock and Southend-on-Sea, which became independent unitary authorities in 1998. Administrative centre: Chelmsford. Pop. (excluding unitary authorities): 1 324 100 (2003 est.). Area (excluding unitary authorities): 3446 sq. km (1310 sq. miles)

2. an Anglo-Saxon kingdom that in the early 7th century ad comprised the modern county of Essex and much of Hertfordshire and Surrey. By the late 8th century, Essex had become a dependency of the kingdom of Mercia

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Essex

 

a county in southeastern Great Britain, on the North Sea. Population, 1.4 million (1976). The capital is Chelmsford.

The coastline of Essex is indented by the estuaries of the Thames, Blackwater, and Stour rivers. The county has an intensive agriculture that includes the raising of wheat, barley, and sugar beets; fruit and vegetable growing; and dairy cattle raising. The main industrial centers are the cities of Southend-on-Sea, Shell Haven, Colchester, and Harwich, which is a port.

The Saxons founded the kingdom of Essex in the early sixth century, during the Anglo-Saxon conquest of Britain. The kingdom probably included not only the territory of the present-day county of Essex but also the areas that are now Middlesex and London. The Christianization of Essex was completed in the midseventh century. Essex became subject to Mercia in the late eighth century and was conquered by Egbert, king of Wessex, in 825.

The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.