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

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a historic county in southeast England. Its area is almost entirely within the wider urbanised area of London and mostly within the ceremonial county of Greater London, with small sections in neighbouri ...

, England. 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 may refer to: *Greatness, the state of being great *Greater than, in inequality * ''Greater'' (film), a 2016 American film *Greater (flamingo), the oldest flamingo on record * "Greater" (song), by MercyMe, 2014 *Greater Bank, an Australian ...

) it mainly corresponds to the London Boroughs of Enfield, a negligible portion of Barnet and a narrow majority of

Haringey The London Borough of Haringey (pronounced , same as Harringay) is a London boroughs, London borough in North London, classified by some definitions as part of Inner London, and by others as part of Outer London. It was created in 1965 by the ...

. Its ancient parish of

South Mimms South Mimms is a village and civil parish in the Hertsmere district of Hertfordshire in the East of England. It is a small settlement located near to the junction of the M25 motorway with the A1(M) motorway and is perhaps more widely known because ...

(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. In 2022 the population was ...

) has since 1965 been part of the

Hertsmere Hertsmere is a local government district and borough in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Borehamwood. Other settlements in the borough include Bushey, Elstree, Radlett and Potters Bar. The borough borders the three north Londo ...

district in

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For gover ...

History

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

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 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

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 Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

, Enfield,

Monken Hadley Monken Hadley is a place in the London Borough of Barnet. An ancient country village north of Barnet, it is now a suburban development on the very edge of Greater London north north-west of Charing Cross, while retaining much of its rural ch ...

and

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthams ...

. It bordered

Ossulstone Ossulstone is an obsolete subdivision (hundred) covering 26.4% of – and the most metropolitan part – of the historic county of Middlesex, England.British History Online Hundreds of Middlesex/ref> It surrounded but did not include th ...

hundred to the south west, and had a boundary with

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Gr ...

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 Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es continue to adjoin

across the (

River Lea The River Lea ( ) is in South East England. 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 Creek. It is one of t ...

) but due to urbanisation the three simple parishes have more Church of England parishes today. The Hundred Moot appears to have originally been held near

. By the seventeenth century the "mote plane" was in an open area of

Enfield Chase Enfield Chase is an area of Enfield that is named for a former royal hunting ground. Much of the former area of the Chase has been developed, but a large part survives between Cockfosters in the west and Enfield in the east as Trent Coun ...

. 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. The United Kingdom does not have ...

. 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 for a parish in England, Wales and some English colonies which originally met in the vestry or sacristy of the parish church, and consequently became known colloquiall ...

. 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 the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was a piece of electoral reform legislation that redistributed the seats in the House of Commons, introducing the concept of equal ...

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) was a piece of British legislation that enfranchised part of the urban male working class in England and Wales for the first ...

which preferred the Poor Law Unions. As to Edmonton Hundred its constituent parts split in 1965 four ways: three parts contributed to

London boroughs The London boroughs are the 32 local authority districts that together with the City of London make up the administrative area of Greater London; each is governed by a London borough council. The present London boroughs were all created at t ...

and one part already constituting

Potters Bar Urban District Potters Bar Urban District was a local government district in England from 1894 to 1974, covering the town of Potters Bar and the village of South Mimms. The district was initially called the South Mimms Rural District, being renamed in 1934. ...

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 United Kingdom. After the 2021 election, it consists of 78 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Part ...

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