Hertfordshire Genealogy: Places: Hitchin

Postcard of Hitchin Parish Church
Published by B & D "Kromo" Series No 21307 - card seen posted 1907

Postcard of Bridge Street, Hitchin
Published by B & D "Kromo" Series No 21214

Walsworth Road Baptist Church
Postcard published by Miss Peacock, Confectioner, Stationer, Toy Dealer, Registry Office for Servants, 147 Nightingale Road, Hitchin

Lavender Field, Mount Pleasant, Hitchin
No publisher details but number 6233. Posted 1913 - but format suggests perhaps 1905
Same photo on sepia card, Paternoster & Hales, Hitchin, No 46655, posted 1944

Lavender had been grown in Hitchin since 1568
Advert from Hitchin Official Coronation Programme, 1953

Hitchin Church Gates

Frith's Postcard No 49733 - photo taken 1903, posted 1907.

Sign over Shop reads

G. Savage, Tailors

1902 Directory: George Savage, tailor & woollen draper, 8 Market Place

Smaller sign reads

H. G. Houldens, Studio

[no reference found]

The Biggin, Courtyard

Frith's Postcard No 49743 - photo taken 1903, copy known posted 1907.

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The Biggin has a complex history. It was built in 1361 by Sir Edward de Kendale as a priory for three Gilbertine canons. In 1585 it was the home of the Croocar family, and soon after Robert Snagge rebuilt it in its current form. By 1635 it was a school, and in 1723 it was used as a parish poor house. In 1812 it again became a school, and later in the century it became an alms house of old ladies.

[more pictures and history in Old Hitchin]