Anglo-Saxon times

The earliest English settlers in the district were the Gyrwas

Gyrwas

Gyrwas was the name of an Anglo-Saxon population of the Fens, divided into northern and southern groups and recorded in the Tribal Hidage; related to the name of Jarrow....

, an East Anglian tribe, who early in the 6th century worked their way up the Ouse and the Cam as far as Huntingdon. After their conquest of East Anglia

East Anglia

East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...

 in the latter half of the 9th century, Huntingdon became an important seat of the Danes

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, and the Danish origin of the shire is borne out by an entry in the Saxon Chronicle referring to Huntingdon as a military centre to which the surrounding district owed allegiance, while the shire itself is mentioned in the Historia Eliensis in connection with events which took place before or shortly after the death of Edgar.

About 915 Edward the Elder

Edward the Elder

Edward the Elder was an English king. He became king in 899 upon the death of his father, Alfred the Great. His court was at Winchester, previously the capital of Wessex...

 wrested the fen-country from the Danes, repairing and fortifying Huntingdon, and a few years later the district was included in the earldom of East Anglia. Religious foundations were established at Ramsey

Ramsey Abbey

Ramsey Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Peterborough and north of Huntingdon, UK.-History:...

, Huntingdon and St Neots in the 10th century, and that of Ramsey accumulated vast wealth and influence, owning twenty-six manors in this county alone at the time of the Domesday Survey. In 1011 Huntingdonshire was again overrun by the Danes and in 1016 was attacked by Canute. A few years later the shire was included in the earldom of Thored (of the Middle Angles), but in 1051 it was detached from Mercia and formed part of the East Anglian earldom of Harold. Shortly before the Conquest, however, it was bestowed on Siward, as a reward for his part in Godwins overthrow, and became an outlying portion of the earldom of Northumberland, passing through Waltheof, Earl of Northumbria and Simon de St Liz, Earl of Northampton to David I of Scotland

David I of Scotland

David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians and later King of the Scots...

. After the separation of the earldom from the crown of Scotland during the Bruce and Balliol disputes, it was conferred in 1336 on William Clinton

William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon

William de Clinton, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and Lord High Admiral, was the younger son of Baron John Clinton of Maxstoke and Ida De Odingsells, who was a great-great-granddaughter of Henry II. The Clintons were a great Norman family who had arrived with William the Conqueror in 1066...

; in 1377 on Guichard d'Angle

Guichard d'Angle

Guichard d'Angle, Earl of Huntingdon, KG was a Poitevin knight, a Knight of the Garter and a companion of Edward the Black Prince. He was born in a noble family from Angles-sur-l'Anglin in North-Eastern Poitou, sometime between 1305 and 1315....

; in 1387 on John Holland

John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter

John Holland, 1st Duke of Exeter KG , also 1st Earl of Huntingdon, was an English nobleman, primarily remembered for helping cause the downfall of Thomas of Woodstock, 1st Duke of Gloucester and then for conspiring against Henry IV.He was the third son of Thomas Holland, 1st Earl of Kent and Joan...

; in 1471 on Thomas Grey

Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset

Thomas Grey, 7th Baron Ferrers of Groby, 1st Earl of Huntingdon and 1st Marquess of Dorset, KG , was an English nobleman, courtier and a man of mediocre abilities pushed into prominence by his mother Elizabeth Woodville's second marriage to the king, Edward IV.-Family:Thomas was born about 1455,...

, afterwards marquess

Marquess

A marquess or marquis is a nobleman of hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The term is also used to translate equivalent oriental styles, as in imperial China, Japan, and Vietnam...

 of Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

; and in 1529 on George, Baron Hastings

George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon

George Hastings, 1st Earl of Huntingdon was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch, the son of Edward Hastings, 2nd Baron Hastings and Mary Hungerford. George Hastings was created the first Earl of Huntingdon by Henry VIII of England on 3 November 1529. On the same day his son Francis gained a seat at the...

, whose descendants hold it at the present day.

Norman Conquest

The Norman Conquest was followed by a general confiscation of estates, and only four or five thanes retained lands that they or their fathers had held in the time of Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor

Edward the Confessor also known as St. Edward the Confessor , son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was one of the last Anglo-Saxon kings of England and is usually regarded as the last king of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 to 1066....

. Large estates were held by the church, and the rest of the County for the most part formed outlying portions of the fiefs of William's Norman favourites, that of Count Eustace of Boulogne, the sheriff, of whose tyrannous exactions bitter complaints are recorded, being by far the most considerable. Kimbolton

Kimbolton

Kimbolton could be:*Kimbolton, Herefordshire*Kimbolton, Cambridgeshire**Kimbolton School**Kimbolton Castle**Kimbolton Airfield*Kimbolton Fireworks, the UK's only fireworks manufacturer*Kimbolton, Ohio*Kimbolton, New Zealand...

 was fortified by Geoffrey de Mandeville

Geoffrey de Mandeville

Geoffrey de Mandeville is the name of several important medieval English barons:*Geoffrey de Mandeville , was one of the great magnates of the reign of William the Conqueror*Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex Geoffrey de Mandeville is the name of several important medieval English...

 and afterwards passed to the families of Bohun and Stafford.

The Hundreds of Huntingdonshire

Hundreds of Huntingdonshire

Between Anglo-Saxon times and the nineteenth century Huntingdonshire was divided for administrative purposes into 4 hundreds, plus the borough of Huntingdon...

 were probably of very early origin, and that of Norman Cross is referred to in 963. The Domesday Survey, besides the four existing divisions of Norman Cross, Toseland, Hurstingstone and Leightonstone, which from their assessment appear to have been double hundreds, mentions an additional hundred of Kimbolton, since absorbed in Leightonstone, while Huntingdon was assessed separately at 50 hides. The boundaries of the county have scarcely changed since the time of the Domesday Survey, except that parts of the Bedfordshire parishes of Everton, Pertenhall and Keysoe and the Northamptonshire parish of Hargrave were then assessed under Huntingdonshire.

Huntingdonshire was formerly in the diocese of Lincoln

Diocese of Lincoln

The Diocese of Lincoln forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. The present diocese covers the ceremonial county of Lincolnshire.- History :...

, but in 1837 was transferred to Ely

Diocese of Ely

The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now covers Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk...

. In 1291 it constituted an archdeacon

Archdeacon

An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in Anglicanism, Syrian Malabar Nasrani, Chaldean Catholic, and some other Christian denominations, above that of most clergy and below a bishop. In the High Middle Ages it was the most senior diocesan position below a bishop in the Roman Catholic Church...

ry, comprising the deaneries of Huntingdon, St Ives, Yaxley and Leightonstone, and the divisions remained unchanged until the creation of the deanery of Kimbolton in 1879.

At the time of the Domesday Survey Huntingdonshire had an independent shrievalty, but from 1154 it was united with Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a county in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west...

 under one sheriff, until in 1637 the two Counties were separated for six years, after which they were reunited and have remained so to the present day. The shire court

Shire Court

Shire Court or Shire Moot was an Anglo-Saxon institution dating back to the earliest days of English society. The Shire Court referred to the magnates, both lay and spiritual, who were entitled to sit in council for the shire and was a very early form of representative democracy. The practice of...

 was held at Huntingdon.

Medieval

In 1174 Henry II

Henry II of England

Henry II ruled as King of England , Count of Anjou, Count of Maine, Duke of Normandy, Duke of Aquitaine, Duke of Gascony, Count of Nantes, Lord of Ireland and, at various times, controlled parts of Wales, Scotland and western France. Henry, the great-grandson of William the Conqueror, was the...

 captured and destroyed Huntingdon Castle. After signing the Great Charter

Magna Carta

Magna Carta is an English charter, originally issued in the year 1215 and reissued later in the 13th century in modified versions, which included the most direct challenges to the monarch's authority to date. The charter first passed into law in 1225...

 John

John of England

John , also known as John Lackland , was King of England from 6 April 1199 until his death...

 sent an army to ravage this county under William, earl of Salisbury

William de Longespee, 3rd Earl of Salisbury

William Longespée, jure uxoris 3rd Earl of Salisbury was an English noble, primarily remembered for his command of the English forces at the Battle of Damme and for remaining loyal to King John.-Early life:...

, and Falkes de Breauté

Falkes de Breauté

Sir Falkes de Breauté was an Anglo-Norman soldier who earned high office by loyally serving first King John and later King Henry III in First Barons' War. He played a key role in the Battle of Lincoln Fair in 1217. He attempted to rival Hubert de Burgh, and as a result fell from power in 1224...

.

During the Wars of the Roses

Wars of the Roses

The Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...

 Huntingdon was sacked by the Lancastrians

House of Lancaster

The House of Lancaster was a branch of the royal House of Plantagenet. It was one of the opposing factions involved in the Wars of the Roses, an intermittent civil war which affected England and Wales during the 15th century...

. The county resisted the illegal taxation of Charles I and joined in a protest against the arrest of the five members. In 1642 it was one of the seven associated counties in which the king had no visible party. Hinchingbrooke House

Hinchingbrooke House

Hinchingbrooke House in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, was built around an 11th century nunnery. After the Reformation it passed into the hands of the Cromwell family, and subsequently, became the home of the Earls of Sandwich, including John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, reputedly the "inventor" of...

, however, was held for Charles by Sir Sidney Montagu

Sidney Montagu

Sir Sidney Montagu was an English politician who sat in the House of Commons at various times between 1593 and 1642. He supported the Royalist cause in the English Civil War....

, and in 1645 Huntingdon was captured and plundered by the Royalist forces.

The chief historic family connected with this county were the Cromwells, who held considerable estates in the 16th century.

19th century

Norman Cross

Norman Cross

Norman Cross lies near Peterborough, Cambridgeshire. Traditionally in Huntingdonshire, it gave its name to a hundred and, from 1894 to 1974, Norman Cross Rural District....

, on the Great North Road, marks the site of the place of confinement of several thousand French soldiers during the Napoleonic wars.