Yorkshire (3,208), the largest county in England, is divided into three Ridings (i.e. thirdings or thirds) for administrative purposes, North, East, and West, with a fourth called the Ainsty, under the jurisdiction of the Lord Mayor and aldermen of York; of these the West is the wealthiest and the most populous; contains a large coal-field, and is the centre of the woollen manufacture of the county; the East being mainly agricultural, with iron-works and shipbuilding-works; and the North mainly pastoral, with industries connected with mining and shipping. Leeds (q.v.) is the largest town.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Yorke, Oliver * Yorktown