HERTFORD, a borough and market-town, having separate jurisdiction,
locally in the hundred of Hertford, county of HERTFORD, of which it
is the chief town 21 miles (N.) from London, containing, exclusively
of that part of the parish of All-Saints which is within the hundred,
4265 inhabitants. Hertford is supposed by Sir Henry Chauncy to have
been the Roman station called Durocobrivce, which has by subsequent
writers, with greater probability, been referred to as
Dunstable. The modern name is of somewhat doubtful
etymology: according to Bede it is derived from Herudford,
or red ford, while Salmon deduces it from Here-ford,
a military ford, whence, by corruption, Hertford. Its antiquity
however, is unquestionable, for so early as the
year 673, Theodore, a native of Tarsus in Cilicia, and then
Archbishop of Canterbury, convened a council here; and
about 905, Edward the Elder, to protect the inhabitants
from the incursions of the Danes, erected a castle, the
custody of which, and the government of the town, were
given by William the Conqueror to Peter de Valoignes.
In the reign of Henry III. William de Valence was governor,
and at his deatlj it descended to Aymen de Valence;
it was subsequently surrendered to the crown. The
town is pleasantly situated on the river Lea, in a dry
valley surrounded by hills, and consists of three principal
streets meeting obliquely in the centre, parallel with
one of which is the high thoroughfare through the-town.
Over the Lea, which is navigable to Hertford for small
vessels, is the toll-bridge; beyond this is an opening
leading to Cow-bridge, a structure of brick with two
arches across the river Beane, which flows into the Lea,
as also does the Mimram, which runs through the castle
grounds, and is crossed by a wooden bridge; about a
mile above the toll-bridge in this direction are some neat
modern cottages, and on the north road is a handsome
range of buildings, called the North Crescent. In Castlestreet,
on the site of the ancient castle, of -which little
remains except a line of embattled wall and a mound, is
a handsome brick edifice, fitted up some years since at
considerable expense, by the late Marquis of Downshire,
for his own residence: it was afterwards taken by the
East India Company, as a temporary college during the
erection of one at Haileybury, to which it was subsequently
appropriated as a preparatory establishment,
but is now occupied as a ladies boarding-school. " The
Herts, Cambridgeshire, and Country Fire Office," established
in 1824, is situated at the lower part of Forestreet.
At a small distance from the town, on the
river Lea, are the gas works, erected in November 1825,
formerly under the direction of the International Gas-
Light Company, but now the property of private individuals,
-who have purchased them of the Company. The
buildings in general are so irregular that not one street
presents anentire row of uniform, houses; the inhabitants
are amply supplied with excellent water. A considerable
trade is carried on in corn, malt, and flour, of
which large quantities are annually sent to the metropol-
is. The market, by charter of Charles II., is held under
the shire-hall every Saturday, and the business transacted
in grain is scarcely equalled in any other provincial
market: another, formerly held on Wednesday, is now
disused. Fairs, chiefly for cattle, three of which are by
charter of Mary, and one by charter of Charles II., are
held on the third Saturday before Easter, May 12th,
July 5th, and November 8th, with courts of pie-powder
attached. On the north side of Fore-street is the butchers'
market, constructed at the sole expense of Alderman
Kirby, and forming three sides of a quadrangle.
The inhabitants were first incorporated by Queen Mary, in
the year 1554; Elizabeth granted them a new charter in the
31st of her reign, which was confirmed and modified by
James I., and further enlarged by Charles II., in the
23rd of his reign. James I. changed the style into may or,
burgesses, and assistants, and by the last charter,
dated in the 32nd of Charles II., the government is
vested in a mayor, high steward, recorder, chamberlain,
and ten aldermen (who constitute the common
council),, with sixteen assistants, a town clerk, two
Serjeants at mace, and inferior officers; the mayor is
annually chosen, by the corporation at large, from two
aldermen nominated by the mayor, recorder, and aldermen;
the mayor, the late mayor, recorder, together
with one alderman, or freeman, learned in the laws of
England, who is chosen by the mayor and common
council, to continue during pleasure, are justices of the
peace within the borough and liberties. The county
magistrates have concurrent jurisdiction, which however
is but rarely exercised. The corporation possess,
by virtue of their charter from Charles, the tolls of the
market, and are empowered to prevent any but freemen
from trading within the borough; they also have
authority to hold a court of record for pleas, actions,
and suits under the value of & 60, every Wednesday, at
which the mayor or his deputy, being an alderman, and
the recorder or his deputy, preside; this court, after
having been discontinued for many years, has very recently
been revived. The usual Lent and Summer assizes
are held in the shire-hall, and there is a gaol delivery in
December. The quarter sessions for the county and the
borough are held in the same place, the former always
beginning on Monday, and the latter usually two days
afterwards. A court leet for the manor is held annually
in the townhall. This borough sent two members to
parliament from the reign of Edward I. to" the 50th of
Edward III., from which period elections were discontinued
till the time of James I., when, on petition, their
ancient right was restored. The members are chosen by
the inhabitant householders, by freemen who were resident
when their freedom was granted, and by three honorary
freemen, who may be non-residents; the number
of voters is seven hundred and fifty; the mayor is the
returning officer. The shire-hall, a spacious edifice,
erected in 1780, and situated in the market-place, contains-
in-addition to the courts of law, a handsome
assembly-room: a good clock, with a projecting dial,
has been recently put up in it by public subscription. The
common gaol for the borough, and the common gaol and
house of correction for the county, are adjacent buildings,
and comprehended within the same walls, enclosing an.
area of about four acres; the borough gaol contains only
one division, with one airing-yard and four sleepingcells;
the county gaol contains four wards for male and
two for female criminals, and one for male and one for
female debtors, and is well adapted to the classification
of prisoners; the house of correction, also well fitted for
that purpose, contains four wards, four day-rooms, four
airing-yards, in which is a tread-wheel, with four divisions
and two yards for females; these prisons are all under
the same regulations, and under one governor, assisted
by turnkeys and other officers appointed annually by the
sheriff for the county, and the mayor and corporation.
Hertford comprises the united parishes of All Saints
and St. John, and the liberties of Little Amwell and
Brickendon within the parish of All Saints, together with
the united parishes of St. Andrew, St. Mary, and St.
Nicholas, in the archdeaconry of Huntingdon, and diocese
of Lincoln. The living of All Saints is a vicarage with
that of St. John's, rated together in the king's books
at £10. 8. 65., and in the alternate patronage of the
Crown and the proprietor of the estate of Balls in this
parish: the church has been recently repaired, and enlarged
with three hundred and four additional sittings,
of which one hundred and sixty-three are free, and towards
defraying the expense of which the Incorporated
Society for enlarging churches and chapels granted £ 200,
and the Governors of Christ's Hospital £100, the latter
having previously erected a gallery containing sittings
for about two hundred boys, at their own expense; it
is a spacious cruciform structure in the later style of
English architecture, with a tower surmounted by a
spire; within are several ancient monuments, the. inscriptions
on which are nearly obliterated, and some of
modern erection. The living of St. Andrew's is a rectory
with the vicarages of St. Mary and St. Nicholas,
rated together in the king's books at £12. 7. 3., and in
the patronage of the King, as Duke of Lancaster; the
church is a neat edifice, with a low embattled tower surmounted
by a small spire; the churches of the other
three parishes have fallen into ruins. There are places
of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents,
those in the Countess of Huntingdon's connexion,
and Wesleyan Methodists. At the entrance into
the town from London is a branch establishment in
connexion with Christ's hospital, London, appropriated
to the reception of junior boys, who are sent from this
to the parent institution, as vacancies arise; it includes
three sides of a quadrangle, the two opposite sides being
occupied by the several wards for the children, and terminated
by residences for the steward and the beadle;
on the third side are the reading and writing-school, a
spacious brick building capable of accommodating upwards
of two hundred and fifty boys, and affording a residence
for the master: in a line with the writing-school,
westward, is the dining-hall, in dimensions about onehundred
feet by thirty, and behind it the infirmary for about
one hundred patients; eastward of the great gates in
front of the buildings is the grammar school, besides the
residence for the master; and on the opposite side, the
porter's lodge, with a continuation of buildings within
the walls for the girls, of whom there are usually from
sixty to seventy, with a residence for the governess and
matron. The children are instructed on Dr. Bell's system,
and the officers of the establishment are the grammar
and writing-masters, a governess, matron, steward,
surgeon, nine nurses, three ushers, beadle, porter, &c. A
free grammar school for the children of the inhabitants
was founded in 1617, by Richard Hale, Esq., of Cheshunt
in this county, and endowed by him with £800,
to be laid out in lands and tenements in the town and
neighbourhood; which direction was carried into effect
by Rowland Hale, a descendant of the founder; and an
estate in the parish of Tewin is now chargeable with
the payment of £40 per annum, of which £20 are
appropriated to the master, £ 10 to his assistant, and
the remainder to repairing the school. A commodious
house for the master was built in the town, in 1727, by
subscription, which has lately undergone a thorough
repair by means of the liberal contributions of the nobility,
gentry, and inhabitants. The master, who is appointed
by Lord Melbourne, or,, in the event of his minority,
by the mayor and corporation, is allowed to receive
boarders; and the boys on the foundation, in consideration
of being taught writing and arithmetic, pay half a
guinea per quarter. Bernard Hale, D.D., gave £ 100 per
annum to maintain seven poor scholars at St. Peter's
College, Cambridge, for seven years, the candidates
to be appointed from this grammar school by Lord
Melbourne; each scholarship is now of the value of £ 14
per annum. A Green-coat school, for clothing and
educating forty boys, was erected in 1812, and is supported
by funds which arise partly from £26 per annum,
the gift of Mr. Gabriel Newton, of Leicester, and paid
to the corporation for this purpose, and partly from
voluntary contributions: there are likewise two other
schools supported by subscription. The East India College,
instituted in 1806, for the education of young men
intended for the civil service of the Hon. East India
Company in India, is situated two miles on the London
side of the town of Hertford, and will admit one hundred
and five students, who are under the tuition of a
principal student, and several professors. Lady Harrison,
who died in 1706, founded four almshouses, and gave
£50 towards clothing the inmates; and there is another
almshouse for poor widows. Theprincipal charity, called
Grass _ Money, was formerly at the disposal of the
corporation, but is now vested in trustees appointed
under a decree of the Court of Chancery; it produces
a net income of about £250 per annum. A county
dispensary was established in January, 1822. Eastward
of the town was formerly a monastery, founded
by Ralph de Limesi, a nephew of William the Conqueror,
who, afterwards assuming the cowl, became its first
prior, and was interred in the church belonging to the
convent: at the dissolution it was valued at £86,14.2.:
the site is now occupied by a dwelling-house still called
the Priory, which, about sixty years ago was inhabited by
Thomas Dimsdale, M.D., a native of Thoydon-Garnon, in
Essex, who spent the earlypart of his professional lifeherej
and having received his diploma in 1768, went to Russi
where he inoculated the Empress Catherine, for which
he received £12,000 and a pension, with the title of
Baron, which descends to his family: he also inoculated
the late Emperor and his brother, and wrote a treatise
on inoculation; he died here in the year 1800, at the
advanced age of eighty-seven, and was interred in the
burial-ground belonging to the Society of Friends, at
Bishop's Stortford. His son Nathaniel, who accompanied
him to Russia, and also recieved the title of
baron, was twice representative of this borough in parliament.
Hertford confers the title of marquis on the
family of Seymour Conway.