Widford, Hertfordshire

Historical Description

Widford, a parish, with a village, in Herts, on the river Ash, with a station on the Buntingford branch of the G.E.R,, 4 miles E by N of Ware. It has a post office under Ware; money order and telegraph office, Much Hadham. Acreage, 1168; population, 461. The manor belongs to the Parry-Mitchell family. There are two barrows. The living is a, rectory in the diocese of St Albans; net value, £186 with residence. The church is a small but ancient building of flint and stone in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles. Charles Lamb has immortalized Widford in his " Essays of Elia." He lays the scene of Rosmond Gray here. The father of Archbishop Whately was rector of Widford, John Eliot, " Apostle to the Indians," was born here, and his descendants have erected a window to his memory in the church.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

Findmypast, in association with the Hertfordshire Archives & Local Studies have the Baptisms, Banns, Marriages, and Burials online for Widford

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Widford from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Widford (St. John the Baptist))

Land and Property

A full transcript of the Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Hertfordshire is online.

Maps

Online maps of Widford are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Hertfordshire newspapers online:

• Hertford Mercury and Reformer
• Herts Guardian, Agricultural Journal, and General Advertiser
• Watford Observer

Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Hertfordshire, 1572 and 1634. Edited by Walter C. Metcalfe, F.S.A. is available on the Heraldry page.