Sir Henry Chauncy (12 April 1632 – April 1719) was an English lawyer, topographer and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

. He is best known for his

county history English county histories, in other words historical and topographical (or "Chorography, chorographical") works concerned with individual ancient counties of England, were produced by antiquarians from the late 16th century onwards. The content was ...

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 ...

, published in 1700.

Life

He was born in

Ardeley Ardeley is a small village and civil parish in East Hertfordshire, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Cromer, as well as Wood End and Moor Green. Ardeley is located east of Stevenage. Description Ardeley village has a number of that ...

(then known as Yardley),

, son of Henry Chauncy and Anne Parke, daughter of Peter Parke of

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, Waltham ...

. The

manor Manor may refer to: Land ownership *Manorialism or "manor system", the method of land ownership (or "tenure") in parts of medieval Europe, notably England *Lord of the manor, the owner of an agreed area of land (or "manor") under manorialism *Man ...

of Ardeley had belonged to

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...

since before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

. Chauncy stated that the

manor house A manor house was historically the main residence of the lord of the manor. The house formed the administrative centre of a manor in the European feudal system; within its great hall were held the lord's manorial courts, communal meals w ...

(Ardeley Bury) and

demesne A demesne ( ) or domain was all the land retained and managed by a lord of the manor under the feudal system for his own use, occupation, or support. This distinguished it from land sub-enfeoffed by him to others as sub-tenants. The concept or ...

had been held for above 200 years by his ancestors, who had had several leases for lives from the

Dean and Chapter of St Paul's The Dean and Chapter of St Paul's Cathedral was the titular corporate body of St Paul's Cathedral in London up to the end of the twentieth century. It consisted of the dean and the canons, priests attached to the cathedral who were known as "prebe ...

.Chauncy, ''The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire''.

Charles Chauncy Charles Chauncy (baptised 5 November 1592 – 19 February 1672) was an Anglo-American Congregational clergyman, educator, and secondarily, a physician. He is also known as the 2nd President of Harvard. Life Charles Chauncy was born at Arde ...

(1592–1672), President of Harvard College, was his great-uncle. He attended Stevenage Grammar School, then spent a year at Bishop's Stortford Grammar School before going to

Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Gonville and Caius College, often referred to simply as Caius ( ), is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1348, it is the fourth-oldest of the University of Cambridge's 31 colleges and one of th ...

followed by the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn an ...

. Although his main residence was at Ardeley Bury, which he inherited at his father's death in 1681, he also lived at Lombard House,

Hertford Hertford ( ) is the county town of Hertfordshire, England, and is also a civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district of the county. The parish had a population of 26,783 at the 2011 census. The town grew around a ford on the River Lea, ne ...

. He held various offices in Hertford, serving as steward of the borough court and

recorder Recorder or The Recorder may refer to: Newspapers * ''Indianapolis Recorder'', a weekly newspaper * ''The Recorder'' (Massachusetts newspaper), a daily newspaper published in Greenfield, Massachusetts, US * ''The Recorder'' (Port Pirie), a news ...

. In 1712, the year he turned 80, Chauncy was involved in one of England's last

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...

s. The alleged witch, Jane Wenham, lived at

Walkern Walkern is a village and civil parish in East Hertfordshire, England. It is about two miles from Stevenage. The village has several shops, including a convenience store, a hair and beauty salon, a craft shop, a shop that features homestyle produ ...

, near Ardeley. Initially, Wenham approached Chauncy as the local

justice Justice, in its broadest sense, is the principle that people receive that which they deserve, with the interpretation of what then constitutes "deserving" being impacted upon by numerous fields, with many differing viewpoints and perspective ...

for help with a claim against a farmer who had called her a witch. Chauncy asked the rector of Walkern to arbitrate, but when complaints about Wenham continued he issued a warrant for her arrest and gave instructions that she be searched for " witch marks". Although no such marks were found, it was decided that there was sufficient evidence for Wenham to be tried at the assize court in Hertford. The judge was profoundly sceptical: when told that she had been seen flying, he said that there is no law against flying. The verdict was Guilty, but the judge obtained a reprieve, and later persuaded the Crown to grant Wenham a

royal pardon In the English and British tradition, the royal prerogative of mercy is one of the historic royal prerogatives of the British monarch, by which they can grant pardons (informally known as a royal pardon) to convicted persons. The royal preroga ...

. Chauncy died in 1719 and is buried in the chancel of St Lawrence Ardeley with other generations of his family. There is a plaque on the wall of the church to commemorate his life.

Works

In about 1680 he began work on his

, ''The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire''. It took him 14 years to write. By 1695 he was seeking 500 subscribers to pay for the costs of printing, and the volume was finally published in 1700. In writing the work Chauncy paid a team of researchers to gather historical anecdotes and determine genealogical lines for him. It was dedicated to its principal sponsor, the third Earl of Bridgewater; and was illustrated by forty-six engravings (thirty-three of them by

Jan Drapentier Jan Drapentier (fl. 1674–1713), was an engraver. Drapentier was the son of D. Drapentier or Drappentier, a native of Dordrecht, who engraved some medals commemorative of the great events connected with the reign of William III and Mary II, and a ...

), most of which were bird's-eye views of the seats of the major subscribers.

Family

St Lawrence Church, Ardeley, Herts - Wall monument - geograph

Chauncy had three wives: Jane Flyer (m. 1657), daughter of Francis Flyer, High Sheriff of Hertfordshire, by whom he had three sons and four daughters before her death in 1672; Elizabeth Gouldsmith (née Wood) (m. 1674), a widow, who died in 1677; and Elizabeth Thruston (m. 1679), daughter of Nathaniel Thruston of

Suffolk Suffolk () is a ceremonial county of England in East Anglia. It borders Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south; the North Sea lies to the east. The county town is Ipswich; other important towns include Lowes ...

, by whom he had a son and daughter, and who died in 1706. In 1692, his eldest surviving son, Henry, married Jane Boteler, a marriage of which Sir Henry strongly disapproved: this brought him into a protracted legal dispute with Jane's father, Sir Nicholas Boteler, and a permanent estrangement from his son, who died in 1703. In the family pedigree published in the ''Antiquities'' he did not record the marriage, although in the preface he speaks darkly of degenerate relatives and their malicious accomplices. The bulk of his estate passed to his grandson Henry, who died in 1722 without issue.

References

External links

Short biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chauncy, Henry 1632 births 1719 deaths People from East Hertfordshire District English antiquarians 17th-century antiquarians 18th-century antiquarians Alumni of Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge Burials in Hertfordshire Witch hunters Witchcraft in England Witch trials in England