Ongar Hundred 1863 Whites directory
ONGAR HUNDRED
Is of an irregular figure, about 16 miles in length, from north to south, and varying from 8 to 5 miles in breadth. It is bounded by the Hundreds of Waltham and Harlow, on the west; Dunmow on the north ; Dunmow, Chelmsford, and Barstable, on the east; and by Chafford, Havering-atte-Bower, and Becontree, on the south.
It is traversed throughout its whole length by the river Roding, which winds in a circuitous route through a fertile and picturesque valley, and receives here many tributary streams. Epping and Hainault Forests are on the opposite sides of the south-western part of the Hundred, and are partly within its limits. There are many handsome seats in various parts of the Hundred. The railway from London to Loughton, terminates in the southern part of the Hundred, but is to be extended northward to Epping, Ongar, and Dunmow. This Hundred is the western part of the Southern Parliamentary Division of Essex, and forms part of Epping Polling District. It is all in the Diocese of Rochester, and Archdeaconry of Essex; and in the Deaneries of Ongar, Lambourne, and Barking. The following enumeration of its 26 parishes shews their territorial extent, and their population in 1851 :-
Parishes . Acres. Population in 1851
Bobbingworth+ 1628 Acres, 341
*Chigwell 4522 Acres, 1965
Fyfield 2590 Acres, 589
Greensted+ 674 Acres, 136
Kelvedon Hatch+ 1656 Acres, 502
Lambourne 2415 Acres, 842
Laver (High) 1894 Acres, 534
Laver(Little) 886 Acres, 119
*LaverMagdalen+ 1000 Acres, 236
*Loughton+ 3508 Acres, 1237
Moreton 1435 Acres, 544
Navestock+ 4152 Acres, 982
*North Weald Bassett 4377 Acres, 842
Norton Mandevillet. 727 Acres, 135
Ongar (Chipping) 352 Acres, 843
Ongar (High) 4181 Acres, 1147
Roothing (Abbot’s)+ 1965 Acres, 216
Roothing(Beauchamp) 1259 Acres, 250
Shelley 600 Acres, 215
Stanford Rivers+ 4386 Acres, 1082
Stapleford Abbot’s 2300 Acres, 493
Stapleford Tawney+ 1552 Acres, 333
Stondon Massey 1025 Acres, 268
*Thoydon Bois 1718 Acres, 591
*Thoydon Garnon+ 3160 Acres, 1237
Thoydon Mount 1468 Acres, 194
Total 55,330 Acres, 15,972
UNIONS :-Those marked are in Epping Union, and the other 20 parishes are in Ongar Union.
+The 11 parishes marked + are in the Liberty of the Duchy of Lancaster.
Ongar Hundred is in Epping Police Division, but has a Police Office and Petty Sessions at Chipping Ongar. Its High Constables are Mr. Samuel Josling, of High Ongar; and Mr. Wm. Sworder, of Tawney Hall.
The County Courts are held at Brentwood, Romford, Dunmow, and Waltham Abbey.
ONGAR UNION comprises 20 parishes in Ongar Hundred, as noticed above, and also the six parishes of Blackmore, in Chelmsford Hundred ; Doddinghurst, in Barstable Hundred; and Willingale Doe, Willingale Spain, Roothing Berners, and Shellow Bowels, in Dunmow Hundred. Its 26 parishes comprise an area of 74 square miles, and in 1861, they contained 11,314 inhabitants. Their aggregate average annual expenditure on the poor during the three years preceding the formation of the Union, was £5440; but it has since averaged about £8000 per annum. The WORKHOUSE, at Stanford-Rivers, was built in 1831, and was enlarged in 1838, at the cost of about £7000. It has room for 240 paupers ; but it had only 145 inmates when the census was taken in 1851. William Baker, Esq. , of Chipping Ongar, is the Union Clerk and Supt. Registrar; and Messrs. Thomas Thompson amd Henry Hughes are the relieving officers and registrars of births and deaths . Mr. Rt. William and Mrs. Low, are master and matron of the Workhouse, and the Rev. J. P. Smith, chaplain. Mr. Jeremiah Playl, of Chipping Ongar, is registrar of marriages.