824 
H E R 
the caftle fro'm king John; but Henry III. recovered it. 
Edward III. gave the town a charter for a market on 
Thurfdays and Saturdays; and in his grant of it to 
John of Gaunt, it is called, “-the Honour of Hartford.” 
The town fent members to parliament as early as the 
reign of Edward I. but after the 7th of Henry V. the 
bailiff and burgeffes defiring to be excufed on account 
of their poverty, its reprefentation was difcontinued till 
the_22d of James I. Henry'VI. who kept his Eafter 
here in 1429, ordained by his charter, confirming their 
market, that no other ihould be kept on the fame days 
within fever, miles, on pain of having the goods feized 
by the bailiffs of Hertford. This manor being then part 
of queen Margaret’s jointure, the courts were held in 
her name, and the appointed a horfe-fair to be kept in 
what part of the town the bailiff and conftables thought 
lit. In the reign of Henry VII. the ftandard of weights 
and meafures was fixed here ; and queen Mary rendered 
it a corporation, by the name of bailiff's and fix teen 
burgeffes. In the 25th and 35th years of queen Eliza¬ 
beth, when the plague raged in London, Michaelmas 
term was kept here ; and a new charter was granted by 
that-queen, by the ltyle of a bailiff, eleven capital bur- 
geffes, and fixteen affiflants; but the town is now go¬ 
verned by a mayor, a high fteward, recorder, nine aider- 
men, a town-clerk, chamberlain, ten capital burgeffes, 
fixteen afliftants, and two fergeants at mace. 
Here was once a monaftery, and five parochial churches, 
which are now reduced to two; All Saints, and St. An¬ 
drew’s. There is a noble free-fchool; the falary is 40I. 
a-year for the matter, and 20I. for an afliftant, with a 
good houfe and premifes. Here is alfo a large fchool, 
called “the Buildings,” forthe boys and girls belonging 
$0 Chrjfl’s Hofpital in London; to it belong’a mafter, 
two miftreffes, twenty nurfes for the boys, and a propor¬ 
tionate number for the girts. Here is alfo a charity- 
fchool for boys and girls, under the guardianfhip of the 
mayor and alderman. At One end of the town is the 
county-gaol, and a penitentiary-houfe, newly ereCted. 
It has four fairs in the year: the firlt is on the fecond 
Saturday before Eafter Sunday; the fecond Old May- 
day*; the third Old Midfummer-day; and the Jaft is on 
the 8th of November; for horfes, cows, fheep, hogs, 
&c. Market-day,, Saturday. The chief commodities 
•f its market are wheat, malt, and wool; and it is faid 
to fend five thoufand quarters of malt to London weekly 
"by the river Lea. 
HERT'FORD, a county of the American States, in 
Edenton diftriCt, North Carolina; bounded north by the 
ffate of Virginia, fouth by Bertie county, eaft by Chowan, 
and we(t by Northampton ; and contains, by the cenfus, 
5828 inhabitants. Chief town, Wynton. 
HERT'FORD, a port-town of the American States, 
North Carolina, in Edenton diftriCt, and capital of Gates 
county, fituated on the weft fide of Perqnimin’s river. 
It contains a court-houfe and gaol; and is eighteen 
miles north-north-euft of Wilmington, and thirty-eight 
fouth-by-wert of Suffolk in Virginia. 
HEREFORDSHIRE, an inland county of England, 
bounded on the north by Bedfordlhire and Cambridge- 
fhire, on the eaft by Eflex, on the fouth by Middlefex, 
and on the weft by Buckinghamlhire and Bedfordlhire. 
During' the Saxon heptarchy, it belonged part to the 
kingdom of the Eaft Saxons, and the other part to the 
Mercians. It is now included in the province of Can¬ 
terbury, in the dioceles of Lincoln and London, and in 
the home circuit. Its form is nearly circular, being 35 
miles from eaft. to weft, 27 miles from north to fouth, 
and not lefs than 190 in circuit; containing 660 fquare 
miles, or 422,400 fquare acres, divided into eight hun¬ 
dreds, h iving eighteen, market-towns, viz. Hertford, 
the county-town, which gives the title of earl to the 
Conway family; St. Alban’s, which gives the title of 
duke to the Beaucierk family; part of Royfton, which 
gives the title of vifcount to the family of Yorke; and 
HER 
part of Barnet, '\yith Ware, Hitchin, Baldock, Biftiop’s 
Stortford, Berkhamftead, Buntingford, Hemel Hamp- 
fted, Hatfield, Hoddefdon, Rickmanfworth, Standon, 
Stevenage, Tring, and Watford ; including 120 parilhes, 
54 vicarages, and 950 villages. The principal rivers 
are the Lea, Coin, Stort, Gade, Bean, Tame, and Rib; 
betides the New River, which fupplies London with 
water. This county fends fix members to parliament, 
two for the fiiire, and t\yo each for Hertford and St. 
Alban’s. It has feveral fine woods, mineral fprings, and 
a great number of beautiful parks, &c. and its products 
are fat cattle, ffieep, corn, and river-fifti. Its boundaries 
are no where marked by nature, except where the river 
Lea feparates it from Eilex. The northern tkirt is hilly, 
forming a fcattered part of the chalky ridge which 
extends acrofs the kingdom in this direction. A number 
of ftreains take their rife from this fide, which, by their 
clearnefs, ftiow the general nature of the foil to be cal¬ 
careous for a confiderable depth, to their bed. Flint 
ftones are fcattered in great profufion over this part of 
the county ; and beds of chalk are frequently to be met 
with. It is found,' however, with the aid of proper 
culture, to be extremely favourable to corn, both 
wheat and barley, which come to as great perfection 
here as in any part of England. The weftern fide of 
the county is in general a rich foil, and under excellent 
cultivation. 
The Lea, which is its principal river, riling, out’of 
Leagrave marlh, in the fouth of Bedfordlhire, flows 
obliquely to the eaftern fide, walhing the towns of 
Hertford and Ware, from both of which places it is 
navigable to the Thames. It collects in its courfe all 
the ftreams of the northern and eaftern parts. On the 
fouth.weftern fide, the Coin unites various ftreams, and 
conveys them out of the county near Rickmanfworth. 
The wholefome air and pleafant fituations of Hertford- 
lliire, added to its vicinity to the metropolis, have 
rendered it a favourite reddence to perfons of rank, both 
in ancient and modern times; hence it poffefles many 
country feats of the prefent nobility, and affords various 
remains of antiquity. Its towns, however, are without 
manufactures. The great bufinefs of the county is the 
traffic of corn, and the malting trade; which lalt is 
carried on to a great extent in the towns of Hertford, 
Hitchin, Baldock, Royfton, and Ware. The latter 
town fends a greater fupply of malt to London' than 
any other market. The Hertfordlhire malt is not, how¬ 
ever, all grown in the county; but large quantities of 
barley are purchafed from the furrounding ones, which, 
after being malted in tliefe towns, is fent to London by 
the navigation of the Lea. In this county, near St. 
Alban’s, were fought two of the principal battles in the 
bloody wars of York and Lancafter. That in 1455 
was the firft conflict between the parties, and terminated 
in favour of the Yorkifts. The valiant Clifford, and 
the great earl of Somerfet, were flain in it, and king Henry 
VI. taken prifoner.* The fecond battle, in 1461, ended 
in a complete victory to queen Margaret, at the head 
of the Lancaftrians. Near St. Alban’s are the veftiges 
of the ancient town ofVerulam, fo famous in the time of 
the Romans. The field of Barnet, between St. Alban’s 
and London, was alfo the fcene of a bloody battle in 
thofe deftruCtive wars of the two houfes, which battle 
proved decifive in favour of Edward IV. for therein 
his great foe, the king-making earl of Warwick, was 
flain. It was fought on Eafter-day in the year 1471. 
HERT'GOTT (Marquard), or, as he was more com¬ 
monly called, John-James Hertgott, a learned Bene¬ 
dictine, born in 1694, at Friebourg. In his twentieth 
year he entered into the order of the Benedictines of 
St. Blaife; and, having paired through various degrees 
of promotion, died at Vienna in 1762. He is autnor of 
the following work, which will be a lading monument 
of his learning and diligence: Genealogia diplomatica 
Augujfe gentis Habflurgica, jtom. ii. vol. III. Viemne, 1737, 
folio* 
