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Hundred (county division)

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Ahundredis anadministrative divisionthat is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark,Southern Schleswig,Sweden, Finland, Norway, theBishopric of Ösel–Wiek,Curonia, the Ukrainian state of theCossack Hetmanateand inCumberland Countyin the BritishColony of New South Wales.It is still used in other places, including in Australia (inSouth Australiaand theNorthern Territory).

Other terms for the hundred in English and other languages includewapentake,herred(Danish andBokmål Norwegian),herad(Nynorsk Norwegian),hérað(Icelandic),häradorhundare(Swedish),Harde(German),hiird(North Frisian),kihlakunta(Finnish),kihelkond(Estonian),kiligunda(Livonian),cantref(Welsh) andsotnia(Slavic).

In Ireland, a similar subdivision of counties is referred to as abarony,and a hundred is a subdivision of a particularly largetownland(most townlands are not divided into hundreds).

Etymology

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The origin of the division of counties into hundreds is described by theOxford English Dictionary(OED) as "exceedingly obscure". It may once have referred to an area of 100hides;in earlyAnglo-Saxon Englanda hide was the amount of land farmed by and required to support a peasant family, but by the eleventh century in many areas it supported four families.[1]Alternatively the hundred may have been an area originally settled by one "hundred" men at arms, or the area liable toprovideone "hundred" men under arms.[2]In this early medieval use, the number term "hundred" can itself be unclear, meaning the "short" hundred (100) or in some contexts thelong hundredof 120.

There was an equivalent traditionalGermanicsystem. InOld High Germanahuntariis a division of agau,but theOEDbelieves that the link between the two is not established.[2]

England

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See also:List of hundreds of England
Hundred
  • Also known as:
  • Wapentake
  • Ward
CategoryCounty subdivision
LocationEngland
Found inShires
Possible status
Government
  • Hundred court
Subdivisions

Administrative functions

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Hundreds ofCornwallin the early 19th century

From the 11th century in England, and to a lesser extent from the 16th century in Wales, and until the middle of the 19th century, the annual assemblies had varying degrees of power at a local level in thefeudal system.[3]Of chief importance was their more regular use for taxation, and six centuries of taxation returns for the divisions survive to this day.[3]

Groupings of divisions, smallshires,were used to defineparliamentary constituenciesfrom 1832 to 1885. On the redistribution of seats in 1885 a different county subdivision, thepetty sessional division,was used. Hundreds were also used to administer the first five[3]national censuses from 1801 to 1841.[3]

The system of county divisions was not as stable as the system of counties being established at the time, and lists frequently differ on how many hundreds a county had. In many parts of the country, theDomesday Bookcontained a radically different set of divisions from that which later became established. The numbers of divisions in each county varied widely.Leicestershirehad six (up from four at Domesday), whereasDevon,nearly three times the size, had 32.

By the end of the 19th century, several single-purpose subdivisions of counties, such aspoor law unions,sanitary districts,andhighway districts,had sprung up, which, together with the introduction ofurban districtsandrural districtsin 1894, mostly replaced the role of the parishes, and to a lesser extent the less extensive role of hundreds. The division names gave their name to multiple modernlocal government districts.

Hundred

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Map of the Hundreds ofStaffordshire,c. 1650. North is to the right.

In south and western England, a hundred was the division of ashirefor military and judicial purposes under thecommon law,which could have varying extent of commonfeudalownership, from completesuzeraintyto minor royal or ecclesiasticalprerogativesand rights of ownership.[4]Until the introduction ofdistrictsby theLocal Government Act 1894,hundreds were the only widely used assessment unit intermediate in size between the parish, with its various administrative functions, and the county, with its formal, ceremonial functions.[3]

The term "hundred" is first recorded in the laws ofEdmund I(939–46) as a measure of land and the area served by a hundred court. In theMidlands,they often covered an area of about 100hides,but this did not apply in the south; this may suggest that it was an ancientWest Saxonmeasure that was applied rigidly whenMerciabecame part of the newly established English kingdom in the 10th century. TheHundred Ordinance,which dates to the middle of the century, provided that the court was to meet monthly, and thieves were to be pursued by all the leading men of the district.[5]

During Norman times, the hundred would paygeldbased on the number of hides.[6]To assess how much everyone had to pay, a clerk and aknightwere sent by the king to each county; they sat with the shire-reeve(orsheriff), of the county and a select group of local knights.[6]There would be two knights from each hundred. After it was determined what geld had to be paid, the bailiff and knights of the hundred were responsible for getting the money to the sheriff, and the sheriff for getting it to theExchequer.[6]

Above the hundred was theshire,under the control of a sheriff. Hundred boundaries were independent of both parish and county boundaries, although often aligned, meaning that a hundred could be split between counties, or a parish could be split between hundreds. Exceptionally, in the counties ofKentandSussex,there was a sub-division intermediate in size between the hundred and the shire: several hundreds were grouped together to formlathesinKentandrapesin Sussex. At the time of theNorman conquest of England,Kent was divided into seven lathes and Sussex into four rapes.

Hundred courts

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Over time, the principal functions of the hundred became the administration of law and the keeping of the peace. By the 12th century, the hundred court was held twelve times a year.[7]This was later increased to fortnightly, although an ordinance of 1234 reduced the frequency to once every three weeks. In some hundreds, courts were held at a fixed place; while in others, courts moved with each sitting to a different location. The main duty of the hundred court was the maintenance of thefrankpledgesystem. The court was formed of twelvefreeholders,or freemen.[8]According to a 13th-century statute, freeholders did not have to attend their lord'smanorialcourts, thus any suits involving them would be heard in a hundred court.[8][9]

For especially serious crimes, the hundred was under the jurisdiction of the Crown; the chief magistrate was a sheriff, and his circuit was called the sheriff'stourn.[8]However, many hundreds came into private hands, with the lordship of the hundred being attached to the principal manor of the area and becoming hereditary.Helen Camestimated that even before the Conquest, over 130 hundreds were in private hands; while an inquest of 1316 found that by that date 388 of 628 named hundreds were held, not by the Crown, but by its subjects.[10]Where a hundred was under a lord, asteward,acting as a judge and the chief official of thelord of the manor,was appointed in place of a sheriff.[11]

The importance of the hundred courts declined from the 17th century, and most of their powers were extinguished with the establishment ofcounty courtsin 1867.[12]The remaining duty of the inhabitants of a hundred to make good damages caused by riot was ended by theRiot (Damages) Act 1886,when the cost was transferred to the county police rate.[13]The jurisdiction of hundred courts was curtailed by theAdministration of Justice Act 1977.[14]

Chiltern Hundreds

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The steward of theChiltern Hundredsis notable as alegal fiction,owing to a quirk of British Parliamentary law. A Crown Steward was appointed to maintain law and order in the area, but these duties ceased to be performed in the 16th century, and the holder ceased to gain any benefits during the 17th century. The position has since been used as a procedural device to allowresignation from the British House of Commonsas a (formerly) remunerated office of the Crown.

Wapentake

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A wapentake, anOld Norse-derived term as common inNorthern England,[a]was the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon hundred in the northernDanelaw.In theDomesday Bookof 1086, the term is used instead of hundreds inYorkshire,theFive BoroughsofDerby,Leicester,Lincoln,NottinghamandStamford,and also sometimes in Northamptonshire. The laws in wapentakes were similar to those in hundreds with minor variations. According to the first-century historianTacitus,in Scandinavia the wapentake referred to a vote passed at an assembly by the brandishing of weapons.[16]In some counties, such as Leicestershire, the wapentakes recorded at the time ofDomesday Booklater evolved into hundreds. In others, such asLincolnshire,the term remained in use.[17]

Although no longer part of local government, there is some correspondence between therural deaneryand the former wapentake or hundred; especially in the East Midlands, the Buckingham Archdeaconry and the York Diocese.[18]

Ward

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Areas of Cumberland, Northumberland,
Westmorland and Durham were termed Wards

The term ward is a corresponding county division in the four northern counties ofCumberland,Durham,NorthumberlandandWestmorland.

Ireland

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Irish countieswere divided intocantredsafter theNorman conquestandbaroniesafter theTudor reconquest

Wales

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Main article:Cantref
See also:List of hundreds of Wales
Medieval cantrefi of Wales

In Wales an ancient Celtic system of division calledcantrefi(a hundred farmsteads; singularcantref) had existed for centuries and was of particular importance in the administration of theWelsh law.The antiquity of thecantrefiis demonstrated by the fact that they often mark the boundary betweendialects.Some were originally kingdoms in their own right; others may have been artificial units created later.[19]With the coming of Christianity, thellan(similar to the parish) based Celtic churches often took the borders of the older cantrefi, and the same happened when Norman 'hundreds' were enforced on the people of Wales.

Eachcantrefhad its own court, which was an assembly of theuchelwyr,the main landowners of thecantref.This would be presided over by the king if he happened to be present, or if he was not present, by his representative. Apart from the judges there would be a clerk, an usher and sometimes two professional pleaders. Thecantrefcourt dealt with crimes, the determination of boundaries, and inheritance.[20]

Nordic countries

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See also:Hundreds of Denmark
See also:List of hundreds of Sweden
Map of medieval Denmark, showingherrederandsysler.The entire country was divided intoherreder,shown outlined in red. Coloured areas show Jutland'ssysseldivisions. Zealand's four ecclesiasticsyslerare not included.

The termhundare(hundred) was used inSvealandand present-day Finland. The name is assumed to mean an area that should organise 100 men to crew four rowed war boats, which each had 12 pairs of oars and a commander.[citation needed]

Eventually, that division was superseded by introducing thehäradorHerred,which was the term in the rest of theNordic countries.This word was either derived fromProto-Norse*harja-raiðō(warband) orProto-Germanic*harja-raiða(war equipment, cf.wapentake).[21]Similar toskipreide,a part of the coast where the inhabitants were responsible for equipping and manning a war ship.

Hundreds were not organized inNorrland,the northern sparsely populated part of Sweden. In Sweden, a countrysidehäradwas typically divided in a fewsockenunits (parish), where the ecclesiastical and worldly administrative units often coincided. This began losing its basic significance through themunicipal reform of 1862.Ahäradwas originally a subdivision of alandskap(province), but since the government reform of 1634,län( "county" ) took over all administrative roles of the province. Ahäradfunctioned also as electoral district for one peasant representative during theRiksdag of the Estates(Swedish parliament 1436–1866). Thehäradsrätt(assize court) was the court of first instance in the countryside, abolished in 1971 and superseded bytingsrätt(moderndistrict courts).

Today, the hundreds serve no administrative role in Sweden, although some judicial district courts still bear the name (e.g.Attundatingsrätt) and the hundreds are occasionally used in expressions, e.g.Sjuhäradsbygden(district of seven hundreds).

It is not entirely clear when hundreds were organised in the western part of Finland. The name of the province ofSatakunta,roughly meaninghundred(satameaning "one hundred" in Finnish), hints at influences from the times before theNorthern Crusades,Christianization,and incorporation into Sweden.

Askihlakunta,hundreds remained the fundamental administrative division for the state authorities until 2009. Each was subordinated to alääni(province/county) and had its own police department, district court and prosecutors. Typically, cities would comprise an urbankihlakuntaby themselves, but several ruralmunicipalitieswould belong to a ruralkihlakunta.In a rural hundred thelensmann(chief of local state authorities) was callednimismies( "appointed man" ), or archaicallyvallesmanni(from Swedish). In the Swedish era (up to 1809), his main responsibilities were maintenance ofstagecoachstations andcoaching inns,supplying traveling government personnel with food and lodging, transport of criminal prisoners, police responsibilities, arranging district court proceedings (tingsrätt), collection of taxes, and sometimes arranging hunts to cull the wolf and bear population. Following the abolition of the provinces as an administrative unit in 2009, the territory for each authority could be demarcated separately, i.e. police districts need not equal court districts in number. The title "härad" survives in the honorary title ofherastuomari(Finnish) orhäradsdomare(Swedish), which can be given tolay judgesafter 8–10 years of service.

The termherredorheradwas used in Norway between 1863 and 1992 for rural municipalities, besides the term kommune (heradskommune). Today, only four municipalities in western Norway call themselvesherad,asUlvikandKvam.Some Norwegian districts have the wordheradin their name, of historical reasons - among themKrødsheradandHeradsbygdin eastern Norway.

Ukraine

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In 17th and 18th century, "sotnia"was an administrative-territorial, judicial, and military unit of a"polk"(Regiment) inthe HetmanateandSloboda Ukraine.TheEncyclopedia of Ukrainetranslates the term as "company".[22]

United States

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Counties inDelaware,New JerseyandPennsylvaniawere divided into hundreds in the 17th century, following the English practice familiar to the colonists. They survive in Delaware (seeList of hundreds of Delaware), and were used as tax reporting andvoting districtsuntil the 1960s, but now serve no administrative role: their only official legal use is in real estate title descriptions.[23]

The hundred was also used as a division of the county inMaryland.Carroll County, Marylandwas formed in 1836 by taking the following hundreds fromBaltimore County:North Hundred, Pipe Creek Hundred, Delaware Upper Hundred, Delaware Lower Hundred; and fromFrederick County:Pipe Creek Hundred, Westminster Hundred, Unity Hundred, Burnt House Hundred, Piney Creek Hundred, and Taneytown Hundred. Maryland's Somerset County, which was established in 1666, was initially divided into six hundreds:Mattapony,Pocomoke, Boquetenorton, Wicomico, and Baltimore Hundreds; later subdivisions of the hundreds added five more: Pitts Creek, Acquango, Queponco, Buckingham, and Worcester Hundreds.

The original borders ofTalbot County(founded at some point prior to 12 February 1661[24]) contained nine hundreds: Treadhaven Hundred, Bolenbroke Hundred, Mill Hundred, Tuckahoe Hundred, Worrell Hundred, Bay Hundred, Island Hundred, Lower Kent Island Hundred, Chester Hundred.[25]In 1669 Chester Hundred was given to Kent County.[25][26]In 1707Queen Anne's Countywas created from the northern parts of Talbot County, reducing the latter to seven hundreds (Lower Kent Island Hundred becoming a part of the former). Of these, only Bay Hundred legally remains in existence, as a District 5 in Talbot County.[27][28]The geographic region, which includes several unincorporated communities and part of present-daySaint Michaels,continues to be known by the name Bay Hundred, with state and local governments using the name in ways ranging from water trail guides[29]to community pools,[30]while local newspapers regularly use the name in reporting news.[31][32][33][34][35]

Following American independence, the term "hundred" fell out of favour and was replaced by "election district". However, the names of the old hundreds continue to show up in deeds for another 50 years.

Some plantations in early colonialVirginiaused the term hundred in their names, such asMartin's Hundred,Flowerdew Hundred,andWest and Shirley Hundred.[36]Bermuda Hundredwas the first incorporated town in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years afterJamestown.

While debating what became theLand Ordinance of 1785,Thomas Jefferson's committee wanted to divide the public lands in the west into "hundreds of ten geographical miles square, each mile containing 6086 and 4-10ths of a foot".[37]The legislation instead introduced the six-mile squaretownshipof thePublic Land Survey System.

Australia

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Main article:Lands administrative divisions of Australia

In South Australia, land titles record in which hundred a parcel of land is located. Similar to the notion of theSouth Australian countieslisted on the system of titles, hundreds are not generally used when referring to a district and are little known by the general population, except when transferring land title. When the land in the region of the present Darwin, in the Northern Territory, was first surveyed, the territory was administered by South Australia, and the surveyed land was divided up into hundreds.[38] TheCumberland County(Sydney) was also allocated hundreds in the nineteenth century, although these were later repealed. A hundred is traditionally one hundred square miles or 64,000 acres (26,000 ha), although this is often not exact as boundaries often follow local topography.[39]

See also

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Explanatory notes

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  1. ^Old Englishwǣpen(ge)tæc, from Old Norse]vápnatak,fromvápn'weapon' + taka 'take', perhaps with reference to voting in an assembly (known as athing) by weapons taken out at a meeting point.[15]

References

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  1. ^Faith, Rosamund (2014). "Hide". In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (eds.).The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England(Second ed.). Chichester, UK: Blackwell Publishing. pp. 243–44.ISBN978-0-470-65632-7.
  2. ^ab"Hundred".Oxford English Dictionary.Oxford University Press. 1989.
  3. ^abcde"Mapping the Hundreds of England and Wales in GIS".Department of Geography, University of Cambridge.8 June 2008.Retrieved12 October2011.
  4. ^"Administrative Units Typology: Hundred".Vision of Britain.Retrieved31 January2010.
  5. ^Miller, Sean (2014). "Hundreds". In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (eds.).The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England(2nd ed.). Chichester, UK: Wiley Blackwell. p. 249.ISBN978-0-631-22492-1.
  6. ^abcBartlett, Robert (2000). J.M.Roberts (ed.).England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075–1225.London, UK:OUP.pp. 165–167.ISBN978-0-19-925101-8.
  7. ^Coulton, G. G.(1938).Medieval Panorama.Cambridge University Press. p. 367.
  8. ^abcMortimer, Ian(2011).The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century.Simon & Schuster.ISBN978-1-43911-290-8.
  9. ^Mortimer (2011), p.308. fn.14.
  10. ^Cam, Helen(1962).Law-Finders and Law-Makers.London: Merlin Press. pp. 59 & 67–70.
  11. ^Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911)."Hundred".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  12. ^County Courts Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 142) s.28
  13. ^Riot (Damages) Act 1886(49 & 50 Vict. c. 38), s.2
  14. ^"Administration of Justice Act 1977, Schedule 4"(PDF).The National Archives.Retrieved5 February2019.
  15. ^"Wapentake".Online Etymology Dictionary.Retrieved13 July2015.
  16. ^Miller, Sean (2014). "Wapentakes". In Lapidge, Michael; Blair, John; Keynes, Simon; Scragg, Donald (eds.).The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England(Second ed.). Chichester, UK: Blackwell Publishing. p. 488.ISBN978-0-470-65632-7.
  17. ^"Introduction: Lost vills and other forgotten places".Final Concords of the County of Lincoln: 1244–1272.1920. pp. L–LXV.Retrieved23 September2013..
  18. ^Addy, John (1963).Archdeacon and Ecclesiastical Discipline in Yorks., 1598-1714.York, England: St Anthony's Press. pp. 4–5.ISBN0-9007-0123-4.
  19. ^Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Baines, Menna; Lynch, Peredur I. (2008).The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales.Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 113.ISBN978-0-7083-1953-6.
  20. ^Davies, John; Jenkins, Nigel; Baines, Menna; Lynch, Peredur I. (2008).The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales.Cardiff: University of Wales Press. p. 113.ISBN978-0-7083-1953-6.
  21. ^"259 (Svensk etymologisk ordbok)".Runeberg.org.30 July 2009.Retrieved31 January2010.
  22. ^Company (<< sotnia>> ).Encyclopedia of Ukraine.
  23. ^"The Hundreds of Delaware".University of Delaware.30 August 1999. Archived fromthe originalon 19 May 2011.Retrieved31 January2010.
  24. ^Skirven, Percy G. (1923).The First Parishes of the Province of Maryland.Baltimore: The Norman, Remington Company. p.146.
  25. ^abHarrison, Samuel Alexander; Tilghman, Oswald (1915).History of Talbot County, Maryland, 1661–1861.Williams & Wilkins Company. p.6.Retrieved10 July2018– via Internet Archive.
  26. ^Walker, Karen (28 February 2014)."Tax List: Chester Hundred, Kent County (1749)"(PDF).Maryland Genealogical Society.Retrieved1 January2019.
  27. ^"District 5, Bay Hundred, Talbot County, Maryland".US Boundary.
  28. ^"District 5 Bay Hundred MD Demographic Data and Boundary Map".Maryland Hometown Locator.Retrieved1 January2019.
  29. ^"Tilghman Island and Bay Hundred Water Trails (Talbot County)".DNR Outdoor Store.
  30. ^"Bay Hundred Community Pool".StMichaelsMD.
  31. ^Griep, John."Community group forms in Bay Hundred".The Star Democrat.
  32. ^"Overnight rain floods Bay Hundred".The Star Democrat.
  33. ^"Bay Hundred Elves to hold fundraiser".The Star Democrat.
  34. ^"Band marches through Bay Hundred".The Star Democrat.
  35. ^"Bay Hundred businesses give to Fireman's Auction".The Star Democrat.
  36. ^Tyler, Lyon G. (January 1896)."Title of Westover".William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine.4(3): 151–55.doi:10.2307/1914946.JSTOR1914946..
  37. ^"A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875".Journal of Continental Congress.27.Library of congress:446. 28 May 1784..
  38. ^"Origin of the Term 'Hundred'".Place Names Committee.Darwin, AU: NT Government. 2017. Archived fromthe originalon 19 March 2018.Retrieved7 April2018.
  39. ^"Land Survey and Disposal".Atlas of South Australia.AU: SA. 28 April 2004. Archived fromthe originalon 15 July 2009.Retrieved31 January2010.
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