Hertford 656 4,265

In 1881 the population of the county was 203,069; in 1891 it had
increased by about one-eleventh to 220,162; in 1921 it was 333,236.

In the days of William I. the whole of the possessions and estates of
Hertfordshire belonged to the King and forty-four persons who shared his
favour, amongst whom may be mentioned the Archbishop of Canterbury, the
Bishops of London, Winchester, Chester, Bayeux and Liseux, and the
Abbots of Westminster, Ely, St. Albans, Charteris and Ramsey.

To go as far back as the Heptarchy, we find the land mostly owned by
Mercians, East Saxons and by the Kings of Kent, and thus there gradually
sprang up that "Middle English" population which for so long formed a
large proportion of the inhabitants of Hertfordshire, Middlesex and Essex.
How thoroughly such persons separated into small communities and settled
down in every part of the county may be ascertained by the many "buries"
found at a little distance from the town or village--Redbourn-bury,
Ardeley-bury, Bayford-bury, Langley-bury, Harpenden-bury, etc.


VI. COMMUNICATIONS

1. _Roads._--Hertfordshire, as one of the home-counties, is crossed by
many fine roads from the N.E., E. and N.W., as they gradually converge
towards their common goal--London. Among them may be mentioned the Old
North Road, from Royston through Buntingford and Ware to Waltham Cross;
the Great North Road from Baldock through Stevenage, Welwyn and Hatfield
to Barnet; and the Dunstable Road through Market Street, Redbourn and
St. Albans, which meets the last-mentioned road at Barnet.[1] We may