66-661: The Salford Hundred (also known as Salfordshire ) was one of the subdivisions (a hundred) of the historic county of Lancashire in Northern England . Its name alludes to its judicial centre being the township of Salford (the suffix - shire meaning the territory was appropriated to the prefixed settlement). It was also known as the Royal Manor of Salford and the Salford wapentake . The Manor or Hundred of Salford had Anglo-Saxon origins. The Domesday Book recorded that
132-580: A landskap (province), but since the government reform of 1634, län ("county") took over all administrative roles of the province. A härad functioned also as electoral district for one peasant representative during the Riksdag of the Estates (Swedish parliament 1436–1866). The häradsrätt ( assize court ) was the court of first instance in the countryside, abolished in 1971 and superseded by tingsrätt (modern district courts ). Today,
198-461: A clerk and a knight were sent by the king to each county; they sat with the shire- reeve (or sheriff ), of the county and a select group of local knights. There would be two knights from each hundred. After it was determined what geld had to be paid, the bailiff and knights of the hundred were responsible for getting the money to the sheriff, and the sheriff for getting it to the Exchequer . Above
264-454: A commander. Eventually, that division was superseded by introducing the härad or Herred , which was the term in the rest of the Nordic countries . This word was either derived from Proto-Norse * harja-raiðō (warband) or Proto-Germanic * harja-raiða (war equipment, cf. wapentake) . Similar to skipreide , a part of the coast where the inhabitants were responsible for equipping and manning
330-434: A fixed place; while in others, courts moved with each sitting to a different location. The main duty of the hundred court was the maintenance of the frankpledge system. The court was formed of twelve freeholders , or freemen. According to a 13th-century statute, freeholders did not have to attend their lord's manorial courts, thus any suits involving them would be heard in a hundred court. For especially serious crimes,
396-563: A foot". The legislation instead introduced the six-mile square township of the Public Land Survey System . In South Australia, land titles record in which hundred a parcel of land is located. Similar to the notion of the South Australian counties listed on the system of titles, hundreds are not generally used when referring to a district and are little known by the general population, except when transferring land title. When
462-443: A hide was the amount of land farmed by and required to support a peasant family, but by the eleventh century in many areas it supported four families. Alternatively the hundred may have been an area originally settled by one "hundred" men at arms, or the area liable to provide one "hundred" men under arms. In this early medieval use, the number term "hundred" can itself be unclear, meaning the "short" hundred (100) or in some contexts
528-477: A hundred was the division of a shire for military and judicial purposes under the common law , which could have varying extent of common feudal ownership, from complete suzerainty to minor royal or ecclesiastical prerogatives and rights of ownership. Until the introduction of districts by the Local Government Act 1894 , hundreds were the only widely used assessment unit intermediate in size between
594-440: A local level in the feudal system . Of chief importance was their more regular use for taxation, and six centuries of taxation returns for the divisions survive to this day. Groupings of divisions, small shires , were used to define parliamentary constituencies from 1832 to 1885. On the redistribution of seats in 1885 a different county subdivision, the petty sessional division , was used. Hundreds were also used to administer
660-589: A rural kihlakunta . In a rural hundred the lensmann (chief of local state authorities) was called nimismies ("appointed man"), or archaically vallesmanni (from Swedish). In the Swedish era (up to 1809), his main responsibilities were maintenance of stagecoach stations and coaching inns , supplying traveling government personnel with food and lodging, transport of criminal prisoners, police responsibilities, arranging district court proceedings ( tingsrätt ), collection of taxes, and sometimes arranging hunts to cull
726-600: A separate jurisdiction for the administration of justice, known as the Court Leet, View of frankpledge , and Court of Record of our Sovereign Lord the King for his Hundred or Wapentake of Salford . Exceptionally for hundred courts , Salford survived until the 19th century. The lordship of Salford passed with the Duchy of Lancaster to the Crown, and a serjeant or bailiff was appointed to administer
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#1732851572730792-465: A similar subdivision of counties is referred to as a barony , and a hundred is a subdivision of a particularly large townland (most townlands are not divided into hundreds). The origin of the division of counties into hundreds is described by the Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) as "exceedingly obscure". It may once have referred to an area of 100 hides ; in early Anglo-Saxon England
858-458: A statute was enacted which formally defined four assize circuits. For centuries, many justices of the Court of King's Bench , those of the Court of Common Pleas , and barons of the Exchequer of Pleas in some seasons of the year travelled around the country contributing to five commissions: their civil commissions were those of assize and of nisi prius ; their criminal law commissions were those of
924-453: A war ship. Hundreds were not organized in Norrland , the northern sparsely populated part of Sweden. In Sweden, a countryside härad was typically divided in a few socken units (parish), where the ecclesiastical and worldly administrative units often coincided. This began losing its basic significance through the municipal reform of 1862 . A härad was originally a subdivision of
990-664: Is now Greater Manchester, including parts of Rossendale and Todmorden . The parish of Manchester formed part of Salfordshire. It has been suggested that a Manchester-shire hundred was not favoured over one centred at Salford because Manchester had been ravaged as part of the Viking occupation . The parish of Rochdale , in Salfordshire, included the chapelry of Saddleworth from the historic county boundaries of Yorkshire . Salfordshire comprised several parishes and townships during its history. These were not static, but fragmented with
1056-498: Is often not exact as boundaries often follow local topography. Assizes The assizes ( / ə ˈ s aɪ z ɪ z / ), or courts of assize , were periodic courts held around England and Wales until 1972, when together with the quarter sessions they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court . The assizes exercised both civil and criminal jurisdiction, though most of their work
1122-570: The Salford Hundred Court of Record Act 1868 ( 31 & 32 Vict. c. cxxx). The court had jurisdiction in personal actions only. The municipal boroughs of Oldham , Bolton , Heywood and Rochdale successively had their areas exempted from the jurisdiction of the Hundred Court by Order in Council or private Act of Parliament between 1878 and 1893. In 1910 a committee was appointed by
1188-557: The Assize of Clarendon of 1166 King Henry II established trial by jury by a grand assize of twelve knights in land disputes, and itinerant justices to set up county courts . Before Magna Carta was passed (enacted) in 1215, writs of assize had to be tried at Westminster or await trial at the septennial circuit of justices in eyre . The great charter provided for land disputes to be tried by annual assizes at more convenient places. This work soon expanded, becoming five commissions. In 1293,
1254-629: The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster to report on the practices, area and jurisdiction of the court, and whether it was "of benefit to the parties for whose use it was intended". One member of the three-man committee recommended the abolition of the court which had "little but its age to justify its continuance", while the majority called for amending legislation. Accordingly, the Salford Hundred Court of Record Act 1911 ( 1 & 2 Geo. 5 . c. clxxii)
1320-685: The Domesday Book of 1086, the term is used instead of hundreds in Yorkshire , the Five Boroughs of Derby , Leicester , Lincoln , Nottingham and Stamford , and also sometimes in Northamptonshire. The laws in wapentakes were similar to those in hundreds with minor variations. According to the first-century historian Tacitus , in Scandinavia the wapentake referred to a vote passed at an assembly by
1386-641: The Supreme Court of Judicature , transferred the jurisdiction of the commissions of assize (e.g. the possessory assizes that heard actions relating to the dispossession of land) to the High Court of Justice , and established district registries of the High Court across the country, leaving a minimal civil jurisdiction to the (travelling) assizes. In 1956, crown courts were set up in Liverpool and Manchester , replacing
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#17328515727301452-551: The long hundred of 120. There was an equivalent traditional Germanic system. In Old High German a huntari is a division of a gau , but the OED believes that the link between the two is not established. From the 11th century in England, and to a lesser extent from the 16th century in Wales, and until the middle of the 19th century, the annual assemblies had varying degrees of power at
1518-511: The 16th century, and the holder ceased to gain any benefits during the 17th century. The position has since been used as a procedural device to allow resignation from the British House of Commons as a (formerly) remunerated office of the Crown. A wapentake, an Old Norse -derived term as common in Northern England , was the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon hundred in the northern Danelaw . In
1584-564: The 17th century, following the English practice familiar to the colonists. They survive in Delaware (see List of hundreds of Delaware ), and were used as tax reporting and voting districts until the 1960s, but now serve no administrative role: their only official legal use is in real estate title descriptions. The hundred was also used as a division of the county in Maryland . Carroll County, Maryland
1650-589: The 19th century. From 1832 onwards, Wales and the palatine county of Chester , served by the Court of Great Sessions , were merged into the circuit system. The commissions for (the City of) London and Middlesex were replaced with a Central Criminal Court , serving London's broadened metropolis, and county courts were established widely to hear many civil cases which had taken the writ-action form of nisi prius . The Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1873 , which merged judges of equity and common law competing systems into
1716-439: The Crown, but by its subjects. Where a hundred was under a lord, a steward , acting as a judge and the chief official of the lord of the manor , was appointed in place of a sheriff. The importance of the hundred courts declined from the 17th century, and most of their powers were extinguished with the establishment of county courts in 1867. The remaining duty of the inhabitants of a hundred to make good damages caused by riot
1782-489: The Hundred Court was left with few powers. By 1828 the activities of the court consisted of the following: In 1846 the court was reformed to become a Court of Record with its jurisdiction extended to debts not exceeding fifty pounds in value. In 1838 Manchester was incorporated as a municipal borough and granted its own court of record. The two courts were merged as the Salford Hundred Court of Record in 1869 by
1848-555: The York Diocese. In Wales an ancient Celtic system of division called cantrefi (a hundred farmsteads; singular cantref ) had existed for centuries and was of particular importance in the administration of the Welsh law . The antiquity of the cantrefi is demonstrated by the fact that they often mark the boundary between dialects . Some were originally kingdoms in their own right; others may have been artificial units created later. With
1914-573: The area was held in 1066 by Edward the Confessor . Salford was recorded as part of the territory of Inter Ripam et Mersam or "Between Ribble and Mersey", and it was included with the information about Cheshire , though it cannot be said clearly to have been part of Cheshire. The area became a subdivision of the County Palatine of Lancaster (or Lancashire) on its creation in 1182. In spite of its incorporation into Lancashire, Salford Hundred retained
1980-531: The assizes and quarter sessions. This was extended nationwide in 1972 following the recommendations of a royal commission . From 1293, sets of judges toured across four circuits ; from 1328, six circuits which changed in content until an extra was added in 1876. As at 1831 they were: Yorkshire was for a time removed from the Northern Circuit and placed on the Midland Circuit. The North-eastern Circuit
2046-545: The brandishing of weapons. In some counties, such as Leicestershire, the wapentakes recorded at the time of Domesday Book later evolved into hundreds. In others, such as Lincolnshire , the term remained in use. Although no longer part of local government, there is some correspondence between the rural deanery and the former wapentake or hundred; especially in the East Midlands, the Buckingham Archdeaconry and
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2112-407: The coming of Christianity, the llan (similar to the parish) based Celtic churches often took the borders of the older cantrefi, and the same happened when Norman 'hundreds' were enforced on the people of Wales. Each cantref had its own court, which was an assembly of the uchelwyr , the main landowners of the cantref . This would be presided over by the king if he happened to be present, or if he
2178-533: The entire County Borough of Stockport , which was deemed to belong to the County of Lancashire and the Hundred of Salford for the purposes of assizes , quarter sessions and licensing. The Court of Record for the Hundred of Salford was abolished by section 43(1)(d) of the Courts Act 1971 . The last hereditary steward, Hugh Molyneux, 7th Earl of Sefton died on 13 April 1972. Separate places of detention were maintained for
2244-427: The establishment of daughter churches and chapels and increases in population. The parish of Prestwich-cum-Oldham originally included the parishes of Bury , Middleton and Radcliffe , and the parish of Manchester originally included the parish of Ashton-under-Lyne . The township of Hundersfield was one of Rochdale parish's four original townships, but was itself split into four. Similarly, Prestwich-cum-Oldham
2310-509: The first five national censuses from 1801 to 1841. The system of county divisions was not as stable as the system of counties being established at the time, and lists frequently differ on how many hundreds a county had. In many parts of the country, the Domesday Book contained a radically different set of divisions from that which later became established. The numbers of divisions in each county varied widely. Leicestershire had six (up from four at Domesday), whereas Devon , nearly three times
2376-741: The gaols. Historically, all justices who visited Cornwall were also permanent members of the Prince's Council, which oversees the Duchy and advises the Duke. Before the creation of the Duchy, the Earls of Cornwall had control over the assizes. In the 13th century Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall , feted as 'King of the Romans', moved the assizes to the new administrative palace complex in Lostwithiel but they later returned to Launceston . Few substantial changes occurred until
2442-696: The hundred on the king's behalf. In 1436 the office of Hereditary Steward of the Wapentake of Salfordshire was granted to Sir Richard Molyneux of Sefton. The office was held by Sir Richard's successors, the Earls of Sefton until 1972. The Portmote of the Borough of Salford merged with the Hundred Court in the 17th century, and the latter body took over the administrative business of the manorial borough. In 1792 police commissioners were established in Manchester and Salford, and
2508-582: The hundred was the shire , under the control of a sheriff. Hundred boundaries were independent of both parish and county boundaries, although often aligned, meaning that a hundred could be split between counties, or a parish could be split between hundreds. Exceptionally, in the counties of Kent and Sussex , there was a sub-division intermediate in size between the hundred and the shire: several hundreds were grouped together to form lathes in Kent and rapes in Sussex. At
2574-533: The hundred was under the jurisdiction of the Crown; the chief magistrate was a sheriff, and his circuit was called the sheriff's tourn . However, many hundreds came into private hands, with the lordship of the hundred being attached to the principal manor of the area and becoming hereditary. Helen Cam estimated that even before the Conquest, over 130 hundreds were in private hands; while an inquest of 1316 found that by that date 388 of 628 named hundreds were held, not by
2640-551: The hundred: the New Bailey Prison in Salford, which was replaced by Strangeways Prison in 1868. The area it occupied, 212,170 acres (859 km), corresponds loosely to the modern metropolitan county of Greater Manchester , though excludes those parts from the historic county boundaries of Cheshire , as well as most of that that forms the modern Metropolitan Borough of Wigan . Its area also extended into territory north of what
2706-403: The hundreds added five more: Pitts Creek, Acquango, Queponco, Buckingham, and Worcester Hundreds. The original borders of Talbot County (founded at some point prior to 12 February 1661 ) contained nine hundreds: Treadhaven Hundred, Bolenbroke Hundred, Mill Hundred, Tuckahoe Hundred, Worrell Hundred, Bay Hundred, Island Hundred, Lower Kent Island Hundred, Chester Hundred. In 1669 Chester Hundred
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2772-581: The hundreds serve no administrative role in Sweden, although some judicial district courts still bear the name (e.g. Attunda tingsrätt ) and the hundreds are occasionally used in expressions, e.g. Sjuhäradsbygden (district of seven hundreds). It is not entirely clear when hundreds were organised in the western part of Finland. The name of the province of Satakunta , roughly meaning hundred ( sata meaning "one hundred" in Finnish), hints at influences from
2838-483: The land in the region of the present Darwin, in the Northern Territory, was first surveyed, the territory was administered by South Australia, and the surveyed land was divided up into hundreds. The Cumberland County ( Sydney ) was also allocated hundreds in the nineteenth century, although these were later repealed. A hundred is traditionally one hundred square miles or 64,000 acres (26,000 ha), although this
2904-458: The name Bay Hundred, with state and local governments using the name in ways ranging from water trail guides to community pools, while local newspapers regularly use the name in reporting news. Following American independence, the term "hundred" fell out of favour and was replaced by "election district". However, the names of the old hundreds continue to show up in deeds for another 50 years. Some plantations in early colonial Virginia used
2970-402: The name of which means 'boundary river' is known to have divided the kingdoms of Northumbria and Mercia and there is no doubt that this was the real boundary. 53°33′38″N 2°17′57″W / 53.5606°N 2.2991°W / 53.5606; -2.2991 Hundred (county division) A hundred is an administrative division that is geographically part of a larger region. It
3036-466: The parish, with its various administrative functions, and the county, with its formal, ceremonial functions. The term "hundred" is first recorded in the laws of Edmund I (939–46) as a measure of land and the area served by a hundred court. In the Midlands , they often covered an area of about 100 hides , but this did not apply in the south; this may suggest that it was an ancient West Saxon measure that
3102-421: The peace, of oyer and terminer and of (or for) gaol delivery. The second commission heard cases which plaintiffs sought to receive priority. From an Act passed in the reign of King Edward I plaintiffs (claimants) could file pleadings at Westminster for the court to issue a writ to summon a jury to Westminster to appoint a time and place for hearing the causes there, stating the county of origin. Such writs used
3168-674: The sittings or sessions ( Old French assises ) of the judges, known as "justices of assize", who were judges who travelled across the seven circuits of England and Wales on commissions of " oyer and terminer ", setting up court and summoning juries at the various assize towns. The courts of assize were the English equivalent of the still-existing French Cours d'assise . The term is derived by Middle English assise < Old French assise ("session, legal action" – past participle of asseoir , "to seat") < Vulgar Latin * assedēre < Latin assidēre ("to sit beside, aside, elsewhere") < ad + sedēre ("to sit"). By
3234-497: The size, had 32. By the end of the 19th century, several single-purpose subdivisions of counties, such as poor law unions , sanitary districts , and highway districts , had sprung up, which, together with the introduction of urban districts and rural districts in 1894, mostly replaced the role of the parishes, and to a lesser extent the less extensive role of hundreds. The division names gave their name to multiple modern local government districts . In south and western England,
3300-553: The term hundred in their names, such as Martin's Hundred , Flowerdew Hundred , and West and Shirley Hundred . Bermuda Hundred was the first incorporated town in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years after Jamestown . While debating what became the Land Ordinance of 1785 , Thomas Jefferson 's committee wanted to divide the public lands in the west into "hundreds of ten geographical miles square, each mile containing 6086 and 4-10ths of
3366-499: The time of the Norman conquest of England , Kent was divided into seven lathes and Sussex into four rapes. Over time, the principal functions of the hundred became the administration of law and the keeping of the peace. By the 12th century, the hundred court was held twelve times a year. This was later increased to fortnightly, although an ordinance of 1234 reduced the frequency to once every three weeks. In some hundreds, courts were held at
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#17328515727303432-522: The times before the Northern Crusades , Christianization , and incorporation into Sweden. As kihlakunta , hundreds remained the fundamental administrative division for the state authorities until 2009. Each was subordinated to a lääni (province/county) and had its own police department, district court and prosecutors. Typically, cities would comprise an urban kihlakunta by themselves, but several rural municipalities would belong to
3498-434: The wolf and bear population. Following the abolition of the provinces as an administrative unit in 2009, the territory for each authority could be demarcated separately, i.e. police districts need not equal court districts in number. The title "härad" survives in the honorary title of herastuomari (Finnish) or häradsdomare (Swedish), which can be given to lay judges after 8–10 years of service. The term herred or herad
3564-418: The words and form of nisi prius (Latin: "unless before"). The writ called the parties to Westminster (on a longstop date) unless the king's justices had assembled a court in the county to deal with the case beforehand. The commission of oyer and terminer, was a general commission to hear and decide cases. The commission of gaol delivery required the justices to try all prisoners not yet tried by judges held in
3630-415: Was applied rigidly when Mercia became part of the newly established English kingdom in the 10th century. The Hundred Ordinance , which dates to the middle of the century, provided that the court was to meet monthly, and thieves were to be pursued by all the leading men of the district. During Norman times, the hundred would pay geld based on the number of hides. To assess how much everyone had to pay,
3696-590: Was ended by the Riot (Damages) Act 1886 , when the cost was transferred to the county police rate. The jurisdiction of hundred courts was curtailed by the Administration of Justice Act 1977 . The steward of the Chiltern Hundreds is notable as a legal fiction , owing to a quirk of British Parliamentary law. A Crown Steward was appointed to maintain law and order in the area, but these duties ceased to be performed in
3762-503: Was formed in 1836 by taking the following hundreds from Baltimore County : North Hundred, Pipe Creek Hundred, Delaware Upper Hundred, Delaware Lower Hundred; and from Frederick County : Pipe Creek Hundred, Westminster Hundred, Unity Hundred, Burnt House Hundred, Piney Creek Hundred, and Taneytown Hundred. Maryland's Somerset County, which was established in 1666, was initially divided into six hundreds: Mattapony , Pocomoke, Boquetenorton, Wicomico, and Baltimore Hundreds; later subdivisions of
3828-516: Was formed in 1876 and contained Yorkshire, Durham and Northumberland. By 1960 these seven circuits saw no longer a Home nor a Norfolk Circuit, instead a South-eastern Circuit and a Wales and Chester Circuit. In 1972, the Midland Circuit and the Oxford Circuit were combined and became the Midland and Oxford Circuit . Each had its own bar and mess (also called a circuit mess or bar mess). The mess
3894-922: Was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and in Cumberland County in the British Colony of New South Wales . It is still used in other places, including in Australia (in South Australia and the Northern Territory ). Other terms for the hundred in English and other languages include wapentake , herred (Danish and Bokmål Norwegian ), herad ( Nynorsk Norwegian ), härad or hundare (Swedish), Harde (German), hiird ( North Frisian ), kihlakunta (Finnish), and cantref (Welsh). In Ireland,
3960-497: Was given to Kent County. In 1707 Queen Anne's County was created from the northern parts of Talbot County, reducing the latter to seven hundreds (Lower Kent Island Hundred becoming a part of the former). Of these, only Bay Hundred legally remains in existence, as a District 5 in Talbot County. The geographic region, which includes several unincorporated communities and part of present-day Saint Michaels , continues to be known by
4026-490: Was later split into two separate parishes of Prestwich and Oldham. In 1830, Salfordshire was documented to consist of the following parishes and townships: Certainly there were links between Cheshire and south Lancashire before 1000, when Wulfric Spot held lands in both territories. Wulfric's estates remained grouped together after his death, when they were left to his brother Aelfhelm, and indeed there still seems to have been some kind of connexion in 1086, when south Lancashire
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#17328515727304092-492: Was not present, by his representative. Apart from the judges there would be a clerk, an usher and sometimes two professional pleaders. The cantref court dealt with crimes, the determination of boundaries, and inheritance. The term hundare ( hundred ) was used in Svealand and present-day Finland. The name is assumed to mean an area that should organise 100 men to crew four rowed war boats, which each had 12 pairs of oars and
4158-429: Was on the criminal side. The assizes heard the most serious cases, most notably those subject to capital punishment or, later, life imprisonment . Other serious cases were dealt with by the quarter sessions (local county courts held four times per year), while the more minor offences were dealt with summarily by justices of the peace in petty sessions (also known as magistrates' courts ). The word assize refers to
4224-412: Was passed to restrict the area of the court to the county court areas of Manchester and Salford and to alter its procedures and costs. Forty years later the court was again referred to a review committee. The committee's report recommended that the court be retained as it provided "a popular and speedy remedy for a large number of litigants in the area". In 1956 the court's area was extended to encompass
4290-556: Was surveyed together with Cheshire by the Domesday commissioners. Nevertheless, the two territories do seem to have been distinguished from one another in some way and it is not certain that the shire-moot and the reeves referred to in the south Lancashire section of Domesday were the Cheshire ones. The Domesday Survey (1086) included south Lancashire with Cheshire for convenience, but the Mersey ,
4356-539: Was used in Norway between 1863 and 1992 for rural municipalities, besides the term kommune (heradskommune). Today, only four municipalities in western Norway call themselves herad , as Ulvik and Kvam . Some Norwegian districts have the word herad in their name, of historical reasons - among them Krødsherad and Heradsbygd in eastern Norway. Counties in Delaware , New Jersey and Pennsylvania were divided into hundreds in
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