HATFIELD, a town in the Mid or St Albans parliamentary division of Hertfordshire, England, 17½ m. N. of London by the Great Northern railway. Pop. (1901), 4754. It lies picturesquely on the flank of a wooded hill, and about its foot, past which runs the Great North Road. The church of St Etheldreda, well situated towards the top of the hill, contains an Early English round arch with the dog-tooth moulding, but for the rest is Decorated and Perpendicular, and largely restored. The chapel north of the chancel is known as the Salisbury chapel, and was erected by Robert Cecil, first earl of Salisbury (d. 1612), who was buried here. It is in a mixture of classic and Gothic styles. In a private portion of the churchyard is buried, among others of the family, the third marquess of Salisbury (d. 1903). In the vicinity is Hatfield House, close to the site of a palace of the bishops of Ely, which was erected about the beginning of the 12th century. From this palace comes the proper form of the name of the town, Bishop’s Hatfield. In 1538 the manor was resigned to Henry VIII. by Bishop Thomas Goodrich of Ely, in exchange for certain lands in Cambridge, Essex and Norfolk; and after that monarch the palace was successively the residence of Edward VI. immediately before his accession, of Queen Elizabeth during the reign of her sister Mary, and of James I. The last-named exchanged it in 1607 for Theobalds, near Cheshunt, in the same county, an estate of Robert Cecil, earl of Salisbury, in whose family Hatfield House has since remained. The west wing of the present mansion, built for Cecil in 1608-1611, was destroyed by fire in November 1835, the dowager marchioness of Salisbury, widow of the 1st marquess, perishing in the flames. Hatfield House was built, and has been restored and maintained, in the richest style of its period, both without and within. The buildings of mellowed red brick now used as stables and offices are, however, of a period far anterior to Cecil’s time, and are probably part of the erection of John Morton, bishop of Ely in 1478-1486. The park measures some 10 m. in circumference. From the eminence on which the mansion stands the ground falls towards the river Lea, which here expands into a small lake. Beyond this is a rare example of a monks’ walled vineyard. In the park is also an ancient oak under which Elizabeth is said to have been seated when the news of her sister’s death was brought to her. Brocket Park is another fine demesne, at the neighbouring village of Lemsford, and the Brocket chapel in Hatfield church contains memorials of the families who have held this seat.
HATHERLEY, WILLIAM PAGE WOOD, 1st Baron (1801-1881), lord chancellor of Great Britain, son of Sir Matthew Wood, a London alderman and lord mayor who became famous for befriending Queen Caroline and braving George IV., was born in London on the 29th of November 1801. He was educated at Winchester, Geneva University, and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he became a fellow after being 24th wrangler in 1824. He entered Lincoln’s Inn, and was called to the bar in 1824, studying conveyancing in Mr John Tyrrell’s chambers. He soon obtained a good practice as an equity draughtsman and before parliamentary committees, and in 1830 married Miss Charlotte Moor. In 1845 he became Q.C., and in 1847 was elected to parliament for the city of Oxford as a Liberal. In 1849 he was appointed vice-chancellor of the county palatine of Lancaster, and in 1851 was made solicitor-general and knighted, vacating that position in 1852. When his party returned to power in 1853, he was raised to the bench as a vice-chancellor. In 1868 he was made a lord justice of appeal, but before the end of the year was selected by Mr Gladstone to be lord chancellor, and was raised to the peerage as Lord Hatherley of Down Hatherley. He retired in 1872 owing to failing eyesight, but sat occasionally as a law lord. His wife’s death in 1878 was a great blow, from which he never recovered, and he died in London on the 10th of July 1881. Dean Hook said that Lord Hatherley—who was a sound and benevolent supporter of the Church of England—was the best man he had ever known. He was a particularly clear-headed lawyer, and his judgments—always delivered extempore—commanded the greatest confidence both with the public and the legal profession. He left no issue and the title became extinct on his death.
HATHERTON, EDWARD JOHN LITTLETON, 1st Baron (1791-1863), was born on the 18th of March 1791 and was educated at Rugby school and at Brasenose College, Oxford. He was the only son of Moreton Walhouse of Hatherton, Staffordshire; but in 1812, in accordance with the will of his great-uncle Sir Edward Littleton, Bart. (d. 1812), he took the name of Littleton. From 1812 to 1832 he was member of parliament for Staffordshire and from 1832 to 1835 for the southern division of that county, being specially prominent in the House of Commons as an advocate of Roman Catholic emancipation. In January 1833, against his own wish, he was put forward by the Radicals as a candidate for the office of speaker, but he was not elected and in May 1833 he became chief secretary to the lord-lieutenant of Ireland in the ministry of Earl Grey. His duties in this capacity brought him frequently into conflict with O’Connell, but he was obviously unequal to the great Irishman, although he told his colleagues to “leave me to manage Dan.” He had to deal with the vexed and difficult question of the Irish tithes on which the government was divided, and with his colleagues had to face the problem of a new coercion act. Rather hastily he made a compact with O’Connell on the assumption that the new act could not contain certain clauses which were part of the old act. The clauses, however, were inserted; O’Connell charged Littleton with deception; and in July 1834 Grey, Althorp (afterwards Earl Spencer) and the Irish secretary resigned. The two latter were induced to serve under the new premier, Lord Melbourne, and they remained in office until Melbourne was dismissed in November 1834. In 1835 Littleton was created Baron Hatherton, and he died at his Staffordshire residence, Teddesley Hall, on the 4th of May 1863. In 1888 his grandson, Edward George Littleton (b. 1842), became 3rd Baron Hatherton.
See Hatherton’s Memoirs and Correspondence relating to Political Occurrences, June-July 1834, edited by H. Reeve (1872); and Sir S. Walpole, History of England, vol. iii. (1890).
HATHRAS, a town of British India, in the Aligarh district of the United Provinces, 29 m. N. of Agra. Pop. (1901), 42,578. At the end of the 18th century it was held by a Jat chieftain, whose ruined fort still stands at the east end of the town, and was annexed by the British in 1803, but insubordination on the part of the chief necessitated the siege of the fort in 1817. Since it came under British rule, Hathras has rapidly risen to commercial importance, and now ranks second to Cawnpore among the trading centres of the Doab. The chief articles of commerce are sugar and grain, there are also factories for ginning and pressing cotton, and a cotton spinning-mill. Hathras is connected by a light railway with Muttra, and by a branch with Hathras junction, on the East Indian main line.