The Historical Antiquities of Hertfordshire

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Sir Henry Chauncy (1632-1719) used public records and ancient manuscripts to compile his history of Hertfordshire. It took him and his paid team of researchers 14 years to create, after which another five years to print. A lawyer before turning historian, Chauncy was known to dine in the manor homes of the nobility, inspect their picture-galleries, note the improvements in their gardens, home farms and estates, and record them in his history. Arranged by hamlet or "vill", the finished work includes much genealogy, tomb inscriptions, illustrations of manor houses, churches and monuments, as well as facts about the founding of monasteries, churches and vicarages. A well-preserved tribute to both Hertfordshire's first great historian and the county. Show more