Hertfordshire Genealogy

Guide to Old Hertfordshire

 

Herts Past and Present

Hertfordshire Association for Local History

Spring 2009 - No 14

 

Herts Past and Present Issue No 14

 

In this issue

Aldbury, Ashridge, Bishops Stortford, Hatfield House, Hertford, Hitchin, Little Gaddesden, Welwyn

Frances Egerton, Lionel Munby, 4th Earl of Salisbury. Ebenezer Sadler, Abel Smith, Rear Admiral Sir Murray Sueter

 

 

Brief Guide to Sources: Bastardy Records - by David Short

 

Lionel M. Munby: 1918-2009: An Appreciation - by David Short

 

Supporting the poor; Little Gaddesden 1780-1834 - by Francis Kerner

 

Poor law administration in Little Gaddesden changed during the course of fifty years from a laissez-faire approach under Francis Egerton, the 3rd Duke of Bridgewater, to a much more hands-on style with his successor in 1803. This examination of the transition from an open to a closed parish is enlivened with a wide variety of individual cases.

An independent vestry under the 'Canal' duke

The 1802 revaluation and a new rate

Financial Management

Medical Provision

Charity

Settlement examinations and removal orders, 1811-31

A hastily arranged wedding

The case of the war orphans

From an 'open' to a 'close' parish

 

Hertfordshire and the General Strike of 1926 - by Nigel Agar

 

The story of the general strike in this county tells us a bit about both the strike itself and prevailing local political attitudes at the time. One might imagine that the strike had little impact on Hertfordshire which is neither a mining area nor particularly industrial. That would be wrong. Even in the 1920s Hertfordshire was home to many London commuters whose normal work routine was made quite impossible when the railways were taken out.

A transport strike

Fatal accident at Bishops Stortford

Support for the strike

General opinion

 

Welwyn Workhouse  - by M. S. Edwards

 

Here Sue Edwards takes us inside Welwyn workhouse for a look at the care taken in dressing, feeding and clothing the inmates - of all generations - in 1907 and earlier. Fortunately the building itself survives and its present owners have made some interesting discoveries about the interior layout of the building.

 

Ebenezer Sadler, Receiver General to the Cecils - by Paul Barton

 

Paul Barton here looks at the role of Ebenezer Sadler; Receiver General in the late seventeenth-century to the 4th Earl of Salisbury. The earls conversion to Catholicism and support of James I led to arraignment and imprisonment in the Tower for treason for him but an opportunity for promotion for Ebenezer Sadler Further problems for the earl - marriage to an under-age city heiress, a dispute over her dowry, the death of his father in 1683, and his own early death leaving an under-age heir - entailed a great many extra responsibilities for the estate 50 servants, particularly the Receiver General who rose to a position of great influence. Here we look at his management of the family's financial and legal affairs and the administration of their Hertfordshire estates.

Estate administration

The Cecil family and their estate

Executor, guardian, trustee and advisor

The Glorious Revolution

Changing family fortunes

Accounting problems

Administration of the estate's manors

 

Crouchfield: A history of the Herts Training School, 1857-1982 - by Dorothy Abel Smith

 

In March 1982 the Herts Training School at Chapmore End, near Hertford, closed its doors after 125 years. A Reformatory School for Juvenile Offenders was founded there in 1857 and over the years saw many changes. The author's family devoted much time to the school so she wanted to record this piece of industrial history before it was forgotten.

Early History

The School is Built

The School Opens

Funding

The School Management Committee

The Army Cadet Unit and Two World Wars

Change and the Children and Young Persons Act 1969

The Crouchfield Trust

A book, Crouchfield: A history of the Herts Training School, is available from HALS.

 

Also editorial, news items, dates for the diary, and book reviews