I'm sure you are wondering why I have called this blog "The Chiltern 100s and 1000s", indeed, some of you may well be familiar with the first part of the title, especially my political colleagues. Well, it is a slight play on words, The Chiltern 100s is a real term, the 1000s is just my little add on. For those of you who have done a little bit of baking,100s and 1000s refer to those tiny multi coloured sugar sprinkles which are used to decorate cakes. In a way this blog will be somewhat multi coloured as I will touch upon many a diverse subject, from politics to entertainment, sport to social conscience, weird to the just plain bonkers, all composed with my own candid and sometimes humorous take on the issue. There will also be one or two more serious subjects that will evoke a lot of thought and debate. Anyway, to get back to The Chiltern 100s. The term actually has two definitions which in turn are connected to me. 1. The Chiltern 100s geographically - areas of Buckinghamshire.A "hundred" or 100 refers to an administrative division of a shire going back to approximately the 10th or 11th century. The hundred refers to a 100 hides within the division. A hide, which was possibly an Anglo Saxon term, referred to a piece of land approximately 100 to 120 acres in size suitable for a family to live and farm. Although more recently it is thought hides may well refer to the dwellings within a hundred. Whichever term is correct each hundred consisted of homesteads with families who worked the land and paid taxes to the crown. Each hundred was supervised by an elder chosen from the existing occupants. From around the 16th century this changed to a much more disciplined and organised administration.
The Chiltern Hundreds consist of three areas, Desborough, Stoke and Burnham and it was within the Burnham hundred, where I was born, in the town of Chesham. The history of my very first house and any other relevant and interesting facts relating to the area will appear very soon in my History Blog.
Map showing the three Chiltern 100s, Desborough, Burnham and Stoke
2. The Chiltern 100s more political - In the early days of the hundreds, it was found that many of them were becoming exceptionally unruly and a haven for criminal activity, so it was decided that a steward and bailiff would be appointed directly by the crown to bring about law and order. This role was later superseded by Sheriffs, Justices of the Peace and a Lord Lieutenant of the county. The role of the steward and bailiff then became redundant but the title was still kept as a crown office. The office of Steward of the Chiltern Hundreds has long been purely a nominal one. The passing of the Place Act 1742 made it possible to use this appointment for Parliamentary purposes as a pretext for enabling members of the House of Commons to resign their seats. So "Taking the Chiltern Hundreds" refers to the legal procedure for an MP to resign from the House of Commons. Other titles have been used in the past to effect this process but now only the Chiltern Hundreds office and the Crown Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead are used. If you would like to read more on this subject then there is an excellent factsheet available from parliament which explains everything in a little more detail, it is quite short unlike most government documents. THE CHILTERN HUNDREDSAs for my link to this use of the Chiltern Hundreds, well, I am not an MP that has resigned their seat, but I am connected to politics as I work for one of the top political monitoring companies in the UK and have done so for a number of years. I don't think I have ever worked with such a kind, friendly and supportive bunch of people. Celebrated my eighth year with them couple of months back. Cheers guys, here's to a few more years !
A birthday vid sent to me couple of weeks back from the A Team in London office. Such a kind thought. This is a still from the vid, will try and get it running on here..
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