Hadham Rural District was a

rural district Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

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 govern ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

from 1894 to 1935, covering an area in the east of the county.

Evolution

The district had its origins in the

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town in Hertfordshire, England, just west of the M11 motorway on the county boundary with Essex, north-east of central London, and by rail from Liverpool Street station. Stortford had an estimated po ...

Rural Sanitary District Sanitary districts were established in England and Wales in 1872 and in Ireland in 1878. The districts were of two types, based on existing structures: *Urban sanitary districts in towns with existing local government bodies *Rural sanitary dis ...

. This had been created in 1872, giving public health and local government responsibilities for rural areas to the existing

boards of guardians Boards of guardians were ''ad hoc'' authorities that administered Poor Law in the United Kingdom from 1835 to 1930. England and Wales Boards of guardians were created by the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834, replacing the parish overseers of the poor ...

of poor law unions. The Bishop's Stortford Rural Sanitary District surrounded but did not include the town of Bishop's Stortford, which had a

local board Local boards or local boards of health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate environmenta ...

. Under the

Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...

, rural sanitary districts became rural districts from 28 December 1894. Where they straddled county boundaries, as Bishop's Stortford Rural Sanitary District did, they were to be split into separate rural districts in each county, unless boundary changes could be agreed. In July 1894, a joint committee of Hertfordshire and Essex County Councils narrowly decided (on the chairman's casting vote) to transfer the ten Essex parishes of the Bishop's Stortford Rural Sanitary District into Hertfordshire. The proposal was not popular with the Essex parishes, and at a public meeting in October 1894 the councils reversed the decision, deciding instead to allow the Essex parishes to become a separate rural district called the

Stansted Rural District Stansted was a rural district in Essex, England from to . It was created under the Local Government Act 1894 from the part of the Bishop's Stortford rural sanitary district which was in Essex (the rest becoming Bishop's Stortford Rural Distri ...

. The new rural district for the Hertfordshire part of the rural sanitary district was initially given the name "Bishop's Stortford Rural District". However, even before it came into being discussions began on whether to rename it after either

Sawbridgeworth Sawbridgeworth is a town and civil parish in Hertfordshire, England, close to the border with Essex. It is east of Hertford and north of Epping. It is the northernmost part of the Greater London Built-up Area. History Prior to the Norman ...

, its most populous parish, or

Much Hadham Much Hadham, formerly known as Great Hadham, is a village and civil parish in the district of East Hertfordshire, Hertfordshire, England. The parish of Much Hadham contains the hamlets of Perry Green and Green Tye, as well as the village of Muc ...

as a central place within the district. The new council held its initial meeting on 3 January 1895 in Bishop's Stortford, where William Chamberlain Mole was elected the first chairman of the council, and it was decided that subsequent meetings would be held at Much Hadham. From the council's next meeting on 4 February 1895 it called itself the Hadham Rural District, and met at the Public Hall in Much Hadham (now known as Much Hadham Village Hall).

Parishes

Hadham Rural District consisted of the following parishes:

Premises

The Public Hall in Much Hadham did not serve as the council's meeting place for long; by 1899 the council had reverted to meeting in Bishop's Stortford. By 1902, the Hadham Rural District Council, Stansted Rural District Council and Bishop's Stortford Board of Guardians had set up joint offices at 29 North Street in Bishop's Stortford. In 1926 the two councils and the board of guardians built a new headquarters at 2 Hockerill Street (later also called Riverside House), a neo-Tudor building beside the River Stort.

Abolition

Sawbridgeworth became an urban district in 1901, removing it from the Hadham Rural District, although the western, more rural, part of the old Sawbridgeworth parish was excluded from the new urban district, becoming a separate parish called High Wych, which remained in the Hadham Rural District. Hadham Rural District was abolished in 1935 under a

County Review Order The Local Government Act 1929 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that made changes to the Poor Law and local government in England and Wales. The Act abolished the system of poor law unions in England and Wales and their boar ...

. The bulk of the district became part of the new

Braughing Rural District Braughing was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1935 to 1974. Creation Braughing Rural District was created on 1 April 1935 under a County Review Order by the merger of most of the Hadham Rural District and most of the Buntingf ...

(along with most of the

Buntingford Rural District Buntingford Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1935, covering the town of Buntingford and a number of surrounding parishes in the north-east of the county. Formation Buntingford Poor Law Union had been ...

), with small parts going to Bishop's Stortford Urban District and to the

Ware Rural District Ware Rural District was a rural district in Hertfordshire, England from 1894 to 1974, covering an area in the east of the county. Evolution The district had its origins in the Ware Rural Sanitary District. This had been created under the P ...

. Since 1974 the area has formed part of

East Hertfordshire East Hertfordshire is a local government district in Hertfordshire, England. Its council is based in Hertford, the county town of Hertfordshire. The largest town in the district is Bishop's Stortford, and the other main towns are Ware, Bunti ...

References

{{reflist History of Hertfordshire Local government in Hertfordshire Districts of England created by the Local Government Act 1894 Rural districts of England