HERTFORD HOUSE 



acquired by Magdalen Hall. In its 

 turn Magdalen Hall was dissolved 

 in 1874, when a new charter was 



Hertford College, Oxford 



the chapel, with the h 



Frith 



The quadrangle seen fro 

 all on the left 



obtained establishing Hertford as 

 its successor and giving it all the 

 privileges enjoyed by the other 

 colleges. T. C. Baring, M.P., pro- 

 vided funds for its endowment. 

 The society consists of a principal, 

 fellows, and scholars, and its build- 

 ings, all modern, are at the corner 

 of Broad Street and New College 

 Lane. 



Hertford House. Name of two 

 London mansions, both associated 

 with the Seymour family. The 

 house at 105, Piccadilly, was sold 

 to Sir Julian Goldsmid, after whose 

 death it became the home of the 

 Isthmian Club, which vacated it in 

 1920, the mansion being afterwards 

 put up for sale. That in Manches- 

 ter Square, W., was begun in 1776 

 by the 4th duke of Manchester, 

 after whom it was first named. In 

 1788 it became the Spanish em- 

 bassy ; later it passed to the 2nd 

 marquess of Hertford, whose 

 second wife was the attraction that 

 drew George IV to become an al- 

 most daily visitor. It was under 

 the patronage of Lady Hertford 

 that Theodore Hook here made his 

 entry into fashionable life. 



The 4th marquess bequeathed the 

 house and his famous art treasures 

 to Sir Richard Wallace, who recon- 

 structed the building for their ac- 

 commodation in 1875, and whose 

 widow in 1897 bequeathed them, 

 with additions, to the nation. Hert- 

 ford House was bought by Par- 

 liament and opened as a public 

 art gallery in 1900. During the 

 Great "War much of the collection 

 was removed to a place of safety 

 and the emptied rooms used by 

 the admiralty and, later, the 

 ministry of munitions. See Wal- 

 lace Collection. 



Hertfordshire OR HERTS. S. 

 Midland county of England. One 

 of the six home counties, it has an 

 area of 632 sq. m. and is bounded 

 N. by Cambridgeshire, S. by 



3971 



Middlesex, E. by Essex, N.W. by 

 Bedfordshire, and S.W. by Buck- 

 inghamshire. Picturesque, espe- 

 , cially on the W., 

 its winding lanes 

 and woods, manor 

 houses and old 

 churches make it 

 a favourite with 

 lovers of rural 

 scenery. The chief 

 geological forma- 

 tions are the Cre- 

 taceous and the 

 Tertiary. Much of 

 the S. is London 

 clay, characteristic 

 of the Thames 

 Valley. Along the 

 N. border high 

 ground runs in 

 from Cambridge- 

 shire, part of the chalk range of E. 

 England ; the county is generally 

 undulating, and has a dry soil. 



Of its 17 small streams the more 

 important are the Colne and Lea. 

 The former rises between Hatfield 

 and St. Albans, is joined by the Ver 

 near Watford, and the Gadeand 

 Chess at Rickmansworth, and then 

 enters Middlesex. The Lea, the 

 largest river of the county, rises 



,. , in Bedfordshire 



and enters Essex 

 at W a 1 1 h a m 

 Abbey. Nearly 

 parallel with the 

 Lea is the artifi- 

 cial New River 

 which, fed by 

 springs near 

 Hertfordshire arms j&tfo^ brings 



water to London. The Grand 

 Junction Canal passes through 

 Rickmansworth, Boxmoor, and 

 Berkhampstead. 



Agriculture, market gardening, 

 and the cultivation of fruit for the 

 London market are leading pur- 

 suits ; permanent pasture abounds, 

 and hay is largely produced. There 

 are no minerals of commercial im- 

 portance and no manufactures on 



Hertford House, Manchester Square, London, in which 

 the Wallace Collection is exhibited 



HERTFORDSHIRE 



an extensive scale. The industries 

 include straw-plaiting, paper-mak- 

 ing, malting, brewing, lace and 

 silk, and there are agricultural 

 machinery and some minor manu- 

 factories. 



The G.N.R., M.R., L. & N.W.R., 

 G.E.R., Met. Rly., and an electric 

 service from London to Watford 

 afford excellent means of commu- 

 nication, which are supplemented 

 by several motor-' bus services. Of 

 the roads the chief are the Old 

 North Road, the Great North 

 Road, and the Dunstable Road; 

 and there are remains of three 

 Roman roads, Watling Street, 

 Ermine Street, and the Icknield 

 Way. The chief towns are Hert- 

 ford (co. town), St. Albans (a 

 cathedral city), .Watford, Hitchin, 

 Barnet, Berkhampstead, Hemel 

 Hempstead, Hatfield, Bishop's 

 Stortford, and Ware. 



The county was once part of 

 Mercia and of Essex. St. Albans, 

 as Verulamium, was a Roman city. 

 William I held a council at Berk- 

 hampstead, where, as at Hertford, 

 are remains of an old castle. Henry 

 III had a palace at King's Langley. 

 Elizabeth lived at Ashridge Park, 

 was a prisoner at Hatfield, the his- 

 toric home of the Cecils, and had a 

 hunting lodge at Hunsdon. Rye 

 House is associated with a plot to 

 murder Charles II and James, 

 duke of York. St. Albans and 

 Barnet were the scenes of historic 

 battles. Four members are returned 

 to Parliament. Pop. (1921)333,236. 

 LITERARY ASSOCIATIONS. Bacon 

 lived at Gorhambury, took his title 

 of viscount from St. Albans, and was 

 buried in the church of S. Michael. 

 Chaucer was a clerk at Berkhamp- 

 stead Castle. With St. Albans are 

 associated the names of Matthew 

 Paris, Sir John Mandeville, Dr. 

 Cotton, and the background of 

 Dickens' s novel, Bleak House. 

 Chapman lived at Hitchin ; Young, 

 author of Night Thoughts, was 

 rector of Welwyn, and is buried 



there. Cowper was 



born at Berk- 

 hampstead, and 

 introduced Ware in 

 his John" Gilpin. 

 Isaac Watts lived 

 at Theobalds. 

 Yarrell, the na- 

 turalist, was born 

 at Bayford. Bul- 

 wer Lytton lived 

 at Knebworth. 

 With Charles 

 Lamb are asso- 

 ciated Mackery 

 End and Wid- 

 ford. Sir John 

 Evans, the anti- 

 quary, lived at 

 Hemel Hempstead. 



