The larger towns, the city, and the two boroughs have Education
Committees of their own; but for the rest of the county a Committee of
this nature is appointed by the County Council.
Hertfordshire has four parliamentary divisions, namely, Hertford,
Hitchin, St Albans, and Watford, each of which returns one member to
the House of Commons. The county is thus represented only by four
members, as against fifteen for Kent.
21. The Roll of Honour of the County.
Hertfordshire cannot hope to rival such counties as Norfolk or Kent in
its roll of distinguished names, but it can show a fairly long list of
persons connected with the county who have been famous.
Since reference has already been made in several of the foregoing
sections to the visits of English sovereigns to the county, or to their
residence within its borders, very brief mention of the connection
between royalty and the county will suffice in this place. Neither here
nor elsewhere in these pages is any attempt made to give a complete
list of such visits.
The names of Boadicea, queen of the Iceni, and of Offa, king of
Mercia, who had his palace at Offley, dying there in 796, will always
be specially connected with Hertfordshire. In a somewhat less degree
the same may be said of William the Conqueror, to whom, as already
mentioned, the crown of this realm was offered at Berkhampstead. Edward
II and Edward III frequently resided at Langley Palace, where Edmund de
Langley, the founder of the White Rose faction, was born in 1341; and
the same residence was also used by Richard II. Henry I and his consort
Matilda were present at the dedication of St Albans’ Abbey on its
completion by Abbot Paul; and Henry VI was at the first battle of St
Albans, where he was wounded. Henry VIII, as mentioned on page 82, was
still more intimately connected with Hertfordshire, and the manor of
Hitchin was conferred by him in turn on Anne Boleyn and her successors.
Reference has already been made to the residence of Queen Mary, in her
youth, at Ashridge, and of Queen Elizabeth (before her ascent to the
throne) both there and at Hatfield; while, as sovereign, Elizabeth
also visited St Albans on two or three occasions as the guest of Sir
Nicholas Bacon at Gorhambury, and also went to other great houses in
the county. James I, as mentioned on the same page, spent much time
at Royston, and died at Theobalds. The Rye House plot, so called from
the meeting-place of the conspirators at Broxbourne, as stated in an
earlier section, was devised for the purpose of assassinating Charles
II while on his way through the county.
In connection with personages of royal blood, mention may be made of
Humphry, Duke of Gloucester, whose name is so intimately associated
with St Albans’ Abbey, to the monastery of which he was admitted a
member in 1423; and also of Sarah, Duchess of Marlborough, who was
born at Sandridge in the eighteenth century, and built and endowed the
almshouses bearing her name in St Albans.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account