Hertfordshire

by Richard Lydekker

The chief officers of the county are the Lord Lieutenant and the High Sheriff; the former (who in Hertfordshire is always a nobleman) being the direct local representative of the sovereign, and having the appointment of magistrates and the officers of the territorial forces, while the latter (who is a commoner) is the head of the executive department in the administration of justice. The Lord Lieutenant holds office for life, or during the sovereign’s pleasure, but the Sheriff is appointed annually by the Crown. Deputy Lieutenants are supposed to act, in case of need, for the Lord Lieutenant.

Formerly the greater part of the business of the county was conducted by the Justices of the Peace, or Magistrates, at Quarter Sessions, but most of this is now transferred to the County Council, which, as previously stated, often meets in London. This County Council, which was first established in 1888, is composed of Aldermen and Councillors; the latter of whom are elected, while the former are what is called “co-opted,” that is to say, selected by the Council itself, either from its own body, or from the general public. The duties of the County Council include the maintenance of high roads and bridges; the appointment and control, in conjunction with the magistrates, of the police; the management of reformatories and lunatic asylums; and, in a word, the general carrying out of the laws enacted by Parliament.

According to a scheme elaborated in an Act of Parliament passed in 1894, the more important minor local bodies are denominated District Councils, and those whose function is less Parish Councils; the former having control of the more populous towns and villages, other than cities and boroughs, and the latter those with fewer inhabitants. For this purpose many parishes are divided into a more populous Urban and a less populous Rural District. Certain towns in the county rank, however, as cities, or boroughs, and have larger powers and different forms of government; being ruled by a Mayor and Corporation, and having magistrates and a police force distinct from those of the county. Among these privileged towns, St Albans ranks as a city, while Hertford and Hemel Hempstead are boroughs. Hemel Hempstead is a very ancient borough, and has, in addition to its Mayor, an official known as the High Bailiff.

The county is likewise divided into a number of Poor Law Unions, each with a Board of Guardians, whose duty it is to manage the workhouses, and appoint officers to carry out the work of relieving the poor and those incapacitated by age or other cause from earning their own living.

The Shire Hall, Hertford

As regards the administration of justice, Assizes are held by His Majesty’s Judges three or four times a year at the Shire Hall, Hertford, for the whole county; the Grand Jury on such occasions being composed entirely, or mainly, of magistrates. Quarter Sessions, on the other hand, are held four times a year at Hertford for the eastern, and at the Court House, St Albans, for the western division of the county; these courts being constituted by the magistrates for the county and the mayors of the boroughs and city. Petty Sessions are held weekly, fortnightly, or monthly at a number of the towns and larger villages. In most cases the county magistrates in the immediate neighbourhood preside at these sessions; but the city of St Albans and the two boroughs have magistrates of their own, who also hold petty sessions for trying cases which occur within the area of their jurisdiction.

St Albans is the centre of an episcopal diocese, which includes most of that portion of London situated within the county of Essex. Arrangements are, however, now in progress for relieving the Bishop of St Albans of the care of that part of the diocese commonly known as “London Over the Border.”

The diocese, so far as Hertfordshire is concerned, is divided into archdeaconries, rural deaneries, and parishes. The latter are very numerous, although somewhat less so than the civil parishes, for the purposes of which, as already mentioned, the ecclesiastical parishes are frequently split into an urban and a rural section. There are 170 ecclesiastical parishes situated wholly or partly within the old county, of which 164 are included in the diocese of St Albans; while three belong to Ely, two to Oxford, and part of one (Northwood) to London.