Edmonton is one of six hundreds (obsolete subdivisions) of the historic county of

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. A rotated L-shape, its area has been in the south and east firmly part of the urban growth of London. Since the 1965 formation of London boroughs (see

Greater London Greater London is an administrative area in England, coterminous with the London region, containing most of the continuous urban area of London. It contains 33 local government districts: the 32 London boroughs, which form a Ceremonial count ...

) it mainly corresponds to the London Boroughs of Enfield, a negligible portion of Barnet and a narrow majority of Haringey. Its ancient parish of

South Mimms South Mimms is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of South Mimms and Ridge, in the borough of Hertsmere in Hertfordshire in the East of England. It is a small settlement located near the junction of the M25 motorway with the ...

(including the later civil parish of

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882.Hertsmere Hertsmere is a local government district with borough status in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other settlements in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar. The borough contains several fi ...

district in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and one of the home counties. It borders Bedfordshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the north-east, Essex to the east, Greater London to the ...

History

The hundred's name means 'farm/settlement of Eadhelm'. The hundred was listed in

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

in 1086, after which there were only very minor boundary changes. It was sometimes known as the ''Half Hundred of Mimms''. It contained the parishes and settlements of

Edmonton Edmonton is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Central Alberta ...

, Enfield,

Monken Hadley Monken Hadley is an area in the London Borough of Barnet, at the northern edge of Greater London, England, lying some north north-west of Charing Cross. Anciently a country village near Chipping Barnet in Middlesex, and from 1889 to 1965 in Her ...

and

Tottenham Tottenham (, , , ) is a district in north London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, ...

. It bordered Ossulstone hundred to the south west, and had a boundary with

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

to the east. To the north then west it projected into

(containing South Mimms and Monken Hadley) which county had long borders with all of the parishes except for Tottenham. The eastern successors to the three easterly

ecclesiastical parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es continue to adjoin

across the (

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in the East of England and Greater London. It originates in Bedfordshire, in the Chiltern Hills, and flows southeast through Hertfordshire, along the Essex border and into Greater London, to meet the River Thames at Bow Cr ...

) but due to urbanisation the three simple parishes have more

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

parishes today. The Hundred Moot appears to have originally been held near

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882.Enfield Chase. The court for the hundred eventually moved to a public house in Enfield prior to its abolition in 1846. In 1889, under the Local Government Act 1888, the area forming the small civil parish of

was transferred to

reflecting the growth of Barnet as a town.

Area and population change

The following is the population of the parishes in Edmonton Hundred as given at each ten-yearly census from 1801 - 1881:

Replacement

The hundreds of England declined in administrative use because of the rise of various ''ad-hoc'' boards and the gradual takeover of all types of jurisdiction by the King's courts, the

courts of England and Wales The Courts of England and Wales, supported administratively by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service, are the civil and criminal courts responsible for the administration of justice in England and Wales. Except in constitutional matters, ...

. In the sixteenth century many of the powers of the manorial lords who would convene at the Hundred Court was stripped by placing their taxation powers and responsibilities in the board of each parish, the

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

. By 1894 whatever residual significance they had was replaced by a system of uniform local government districts, which were consolidated over time. Hundreds had been used in the

Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 (48 & 49 Vict. c. 23) was an Act of Parliament (United Kingdom), act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (sometimes called the "Reform Act of 1885"). It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that r ...

to define many constituencies but not by the

Reform Act 1867 The Representation of the People Act 1867 ( 30 & 31 Vict. c. 102), known as the Reform Act 1867 or the Second Reform Act, is an act of the British Parliament that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the ...

which preferred the

Poor Law Union A poor law union was a geographical territory, and early local government unit, in Great Britain and Ireland. Poor law unions existed in England and Wales from 1834 to 1930 for the administration of poor relief. Prior to the Poor Law Amendment ...

s. As to Edmonton Hundred its constituent parts split in 1965 four ways: three parts contributed to

London boroughs The London boroughs are the current 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London, England; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs wer ...

and one part already constituting Potters Bar Urban District moved to

as its senior local government body which in 1974 united into a wider non-metropolitan district ranking beneath

Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England. The council was created in 1889. It is responsible for a wide range of public services in the county, including social c ...

named Hertsmere.

References

{{Coord, 51.645, -0.060, region:GB-ENF_type:adm1st_dim:10000, display=title Hundreds and divisions of Middlesex History of the London Borough of Barnet History of the London Borough of Enfield History of the London Borough of Haringey History of local government in London (pre-1855)

History

Area and population change

Replacement

See also

Further reading

References