Malcolm Bull's Calderdale Companion : Background Information : H

Background Information

H



A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z


H-plan house
A house with two cross-wings at right-angles to the main hall, giving an H shaped plan.

See Halifax house and Hall-and-cross-wing

Habick
A mediæval instrument used in cloth making to hold the fabric under tension during the final preparation and dressing.

See Tenter

Haigh
Used in place names – such as Haigh House which was recorded as Le Hagh House [1498] - the element is derived from hagh or hage, meaning a hedge or a copse near a valley.

See Haigh

Hairy wood ant
A large ant – Formica lugubris – found at Hardcastle Crags. It is a scavenger and hunts other invertebrates in woodlands. It builds prominent nest mounds in upland areas at sites which are exposed to the sun, typically along woodland paths and clearings

Half & half
An alcoholic drink, half ale, half porter

Half-baptised
Someone who was baptised at a private christening and not in church

Halfcrown
Unit of currency before decimalisation equivalent to 30d = 2s/6d = two shillings and sixpence. Henry VIII issued a halfcrown in 1526. The modern equivalent is 12½p

See Crown

Halfpenny
Unit of currency before decimalisation equivalent to ½d = half a penny. A halfpenny coin was issued by Alfred the Great in 886. The copper half-penny was introduced by Charles II in 1672 and carried the portrait of Britannia – see token. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the halfpenny was known as an ob. After decimalisation, the name was used for ½p coin. The coin was eventually discontinued in February 1984.

Abbreviated to ha'penny the word is pronounced like hayp'ney; the plural is halfpennies, pronounced hayp'nies

The value of 1½d was pronounced three-haypence. This should not be confused with the value of 3½d which was pronounced thruppence hayp'ney

Halh
The Old English element halh or holh means a hollow, and may be used in names such as Halifax and Ridehalgh.

See Haugh

Hall-and-cross-wing
A house design with a central hall – possibly with an aisle and/or a cross-passage – and either:

  • A single cross-wing at right-angles to the main hall, giving a T or L plan, or
  • Two cross-wings at right-angles to the main hall, giving an H or U plan

This design evolved from the 15th century – 1400 to 1580 – by adding extensions to an existing hall. This is probably the most common form of houses in the district. In some cases – such as Elland New Hall and Shibden Hall – the house was built to this design. Around 1580, this was superseded by the cross passage design.

Amongst the many examples are

Akroyd Farm, Wadsworth

Bin Royd, Norland
Brearley Hall, Luddendenfoot

Carr House Farm, Todmorden

Dean House, Shelf

Grain Farm, Pecket Well
Great House, Elland
Great House, Midgley
Greenwood Lee, Heptonstall

Hartley Royd Farm, Warley
Howroyd Hall, Barkisland

Lane Ends Farm, Norland
Low Bentley Farm, Shelf

Marsh Hall, Northowram
Mayroyd House, Hebden Bridge

New Hall, Elland
Peel House, Luddenden

Roebucks, Warley

The Stubb, Cragg Vale

Town House, Norland

Upper Foot Farm, Luddendenfoot 

Hall in the Wood Wheel
The original name of Samuel Crompton's spinning mule. He developed the mule for use in his own home at Bolton which was called Hall i'th' wood

Hallmoot
Aka Hallmote, Halmote. A manorial court – combining a court leet and a court customary – and presided over by the lord's steward or bailiff

Hallmote
See Hallmoot

Halloween
A festivity on 31st October.

This was the eve of Samhain, the Celtic new year, when all laws of space and time were suspended and the spirit world mixed with the living. It was customary to dress up and to make noise to frighten away the spirits.

The Romans grafted their own autumn celebrations for Pomona, the goddess of fruit and trees – apple bobbing may originate in this.

The Irish took the Celtic belief with them when they emigrated to the USA in the 19th century

Halls & Houses
A great many splendid halls and houses were built in the district in the mediæval and post-mediæval period, especially the aisled houses and Halifax houses.

Typically, these were originally timber buildings, and cased in stone at a later date.

There are individual entries for the more important halls and houses.

Many of these have been demolished, whilst others remain as public buildings and others as private houses

Halmote
See Hallmoot

Hamel
Used in place names – such as Black Hameldon Hill – the element means scarred

Hamlet
A division of a township with specific boundaries, but not taxed separately from the township. A hamlet usually had no church, as distinct from a village

Hampden Club
Groups of Radicals and reformers which appeared at the beginning of the 19th century. Named after John Hampden

Some had reading rooms where newspapers were read aloud for those who were unable to read for themselves

Hamsoken
An assault on a man in his own home

See Abatement

Hand
A unit of length equal to the width of a man's hand. Approximately 4 inches.

It is now used to express the height of a horse at its withers (shoulders) 

Hand-grith
Protection given by the King with his own hand

Hand-habend
Holding in the hand, having in one's possession.

See Right of Gallows and Gibbet Law

Handloom
A hand-powered loom – such as a broad loom – as distinct from a power loom. These were used for handling cotton, woollen, worsted and carpet production.

Around 1800, a handloom weaver could earn around 20/- per week.

In Heptonstall [1851], most of the handloom weaving was of worsted cloth.

See Jack at Bog Eggs and Weavers' windows

Handspike
A wooden bar which used as a lever to operate a type of lock paddle that is unique to the Calder & Hebble Navigation. Some examples are Salterhebble Top Lock

Hang, draw & quarter
The punishment for men – typically for high treason – in which the victim was hanged, cut down whilst still alive, disembowelled, and then cut into pieces which were exposed at different locations.

The head and quarters were parboiled to prevent them rotting too quickly when they were on display.

For the sake of decency, women convicted of treason were burned at the stake

Hanging
In England, the first public execution by hanging took place at London's Newgate Prison in December 1783. From the mid-19th century, public hanging was reserved as the punishment for murderers – see dissection.

From 1868, under the Capital Punishment within Prisons Act [1868] public executions were abolished and hanging was carried out within the walls of county prisons – see Miles Weatherill. The last man to be hanged like this was Michael Barrett on 26th May 1868 at Newgate Prison, who was accused of killing 12 people with a bomb.

The earliest form of hanging was the short drop method where the victim stood on a platform which was then removed. This and the later standard drop method were not always sufficient to break the prisoner's neck but simply caused a slow death by asphyxiation, and friends and relatives often pulled on the victim's feet, or lifted and then dropped the body, in order to cause death. In 1874, William Marwood introduced the long drop – in which the victim falls a pre-determined distance before being brought back up with a sharp jerk by the rope, thereby breaking the prisoner's neck – as a scientific means of inducing a humane death.

The Children's Act [1908] laid down a minimum age of 16 for execution, but the age was raised to 18 years by the Children & Young Persons Act [1933].

The last woman to be hanged in Britain was Ruth Ellis who was executed at Holloway Prison, London on 13th July 1955 for shooting her boyfriend. The last man to hang was Gwynne Evans who was executed at Manchester on 13th August 1964.

Hanging was abolished in 1965

See Right of Gallows and Last dying speech

Hank
A measure of yarn.

The size varies for different materials:

  • A wool hank and a cotton hank are 840 yards long
  • A worsted hank is 560 yards long

Several hanks make up a bunch or a spindle

Hansard
The daily official record of debates in Parliament. Named for the English printer Thomas Hansard [1776-1833]

Hansen's disease
Aka Leprosy

Hard coal
A type of coal containing a high proportion of carbon and fewer impurities than other types This is of a higher quality than soft coal.

This is found in certain eastern parts of the district, including: 36 yard band coal, Fenny Farm, Hipperholme and Hard Bed Pit, Siddal

Hard labour
19th century punishment in which prisoners were forced to work in quarrying, stone-breaking, road-buildings, and general labouring (possibly on the docks).

Some were forced to spend 1 or 2 sessions a day, each of up to 3 hours, on a treadmill.

The crank was another form of punishment

See W. H. L.

Harden cloth
A coarse cloth made of hemp

Hare coursing
Along with bear-baiting, bull-baiting, cock-fighting and rabbit-coursing, hare-coursing was popular at markets, fairs and feasts until the early 20th century.

It was introduced into Halifax by Joshua Horton in 1754

Harington
In 1613, James I gave Lord Harington a patent to produce a copper farthing – the coins were popularly known as Haringtons

Harness loom
Aka Jacquard loom

Harrying of the north
During the period following the Norman Conquest, many areas rebelled against the Normans. The forces of William I marched north and punished the rebels, burning homes and lands and laying the countryside waste

Harvest Home
In pre-industrial Britain, the last load of grain was carried home on a decorated wagon, with the men singing and shouting. The driver was often dressed as a woman. The harvest supper was held in the evening

Hat tax
There was a tax on hats from 1784 to 1811.

This was 3d for hats costing less than 4/- and 2/- for hats costing more than 12/-

Hats
In 1797, James Hetherington was arrested in London and charged with causing a breach of the peace when he:
appeared on the public highway wearing a tall structure of shining lustre and calculated to disturb timid people
when he wore a top hat in public.

See Hat making industry

Hatters

Hattock
A measure of corn and wheat. A bundle of 3 (sometimes 12) sheaves of corn

Hauberk
Originally armour for the neck, it evolved into a long coat of chain mail, often with trousers The haubergeon is a shorter version

Haugh
Used in place names – such as Haugh Shaw and surprisingly Siddal – the word may be Old English, meaning an enclosure, or meadow, or Norse, meaning a rock.

Pronunciation: This may be pronounced either like hoff, as in Haugh Shaw, or like haw, as in Old Haugh End.

See Halh

Hay box
A box, packed with hay or dried grass, which was used to keep cooked food warm. It could also be used as a slow-cooker for soups and other foods which were brought to the boil on a fire, and then placed in the hay to continue cooking.

The use of hay boxes was encouraged in times of austerity during the Second World War

Haybote
The right of the tenants of a manor to gather wood and thorns for making and repairing fences.

See Bote

Hayward
An official who was responsible for maintaining hedges and fences and for preventing animals and cattle from straying.

See Pinder

Head of household
The person whose name appears first in the census return for a family or group of people living together. Until 1850, these were the only names to appear in the census returns

Headborough
Head of a tithing group

Headland
The piece of land at the end of a furrow which is left for turning the plough around

Heald
Aka Heddle. Part of a loom made up of a series of eyes through which the warp passes so that the alternate sets of warp can be raised and lowered to produce the shed through which the shuttle carrying the weft is passed during weaving. The heald is raised and lowered by means of a treadle.

See John Cooker and Draw-boy

Health & Morals of Apprentices in Cotton Mills Act [1802]
This required that children should have some instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic during working hours.

The Factory Act [1833] required that children aged between 9 and 13 spend 2 hours each day in school.

A consequence of this was that some Sunday Schools were used as day schools

Health, illness & disease
In 1664, a local historian described the town
Halifax was arranged somewhat in the form of a cross, its centre being Old Market from which the four principal thoroughfares radiated. The streets were narrow and overhung by the houses. The by-lanes were footpaths. The streets were innocent of paving and consisted of the native earth down which ran open gutters into which the good folk poured their slops and dishwashing with impunity, and waited for the next shower of rain to complete the process. A man might and often did keep a dunghill in front of his door until it began to smell so badly as to excite attention, and he was then ordered to remove it within a given time by a Manor court. The scavenging of the streets was done principally by a legion of half-starved dogs and cats assisted by flocks of pigeons. The water supply in the town was in some places open to pollution and ran in open channels."

As the industrialisation of the woollen industry grew, the population of Halifax increased by people moving into the town, and by existing families growing. One consequence of this was poor, unhealthy housing.

In 1849, a Mr Reach wrote that:

The corporation of Halifax have a perfect Augean stable to clean, and the sooner they set about it the better for the health and character of their town

Hearth
A local name for the mound beneath which wood was burned in the production of charcoal

Hearth-passage
17th century hall design similar to the through-passage design but in which the back of the firehood formed a wall for the passage.

See Howroyd Hall, Barkisland

Hearth Tax
Aka Peter Pence, Smoke Penny, Smoke Tax, and Smoke Silver and later as Chimney Tax and Fumage in Domesday Book.

This was a tax levied according to the number of hearths / fires within a household, and goes back to Anglo-Saxon times, being recorded in the 7th century. The tax was revived in 1662/3, and applied to all houses worth more than £1; it was then 2/- for each hearth and stove.

Families and occupiers were exempt from paying hearth tax:

  • If they were already exempt from paying tax locally for the poor or for the church
  • If they owned goods valued at less than £10
  • If their annual rent was not greater than 20s per year

The tax was collected twice a year: on Lady Day and at Michaelmas, and it was a major part of the government's revenue during the reigns of Charles II and James II.


Hearth Tax: Lady Day, 25th March 1672
TownshipHousesHearths
Halifax4801240
Sowerby351684
Warley188370
Heptonstall102169
Stainland91128
Rishworth70112

The highest national yield, intended to finance Charles 11, reached £216,000 in 1684-9

It was abolished in 1689 and replaced by the Window Tax in 1696. Returns recording details of those who paid the tax can be found at the Country Records Office

Hearth tin
A decorative, enamelled metal sheet placed inside the fender to protect the floor and the carpet from the coals and ashes of an open fire.

See Fire screen

Heather
The plant – calluna vulgaris – grows on the damp, acid soil of most moorland in the district. It is a shrub, about 2 ft high and has pale pink-purple flowers for a few weeks in mid-August. The rest of the year it has a drab, brown appearance.

See Collon bobs and Hathershelf

Heb
Also Hep. Used in place names – such as Hebden and Heptonstall – the element means wild rose, dog rose, or wild rose-hip

Hebble
This element is used in several local place names – including the river Hebble and other places far from the river, such as Hebble End Dye Works, Erringden, Hebble End, Hebden Bridge and Hebble Hole Bridge, Colden.

It also appears in the surname Hebblethwaite.

The word has been translated as a bridge, a plank bridge, a bridge with a handrail, and the handrail of a bridge

Hebden
Using the elements hep and den, the name means valley where rose-hips or brambles grow or rose valley.

The name appears as Hebedene in Domesday Book.

In 1334, it is recorded as Hepden where it refers to the stream also known as Hebden Water


Pronunciation: The word is always pronounced with the stress on the first syllable and with the final syllable having the neutral schwa vowel: heb-dən
 

See Hebden surname

Hebrew names

Hebrew words
Many Hebrew words are encountered in the names of local features, especially those with a religious connection. Some examples are

See Hebrew names

Heckle
A hand comb used in heckling, that is, combing wool or silk. Heckling was carried out in a heckling shop. Flax-heckling, also known as flax dressing, was mechanised around 1808.

The name gives rise to the term heckling, as at a political meeting

Heddle

Heddle loom
A simple loom which produces a plain weave

Heelball
A mixture of hard wax and lampblack which was used by shoemakers for polishing.

It is now used in brass rubbing

Heir
A person which is designated by a will – or by the court – to receive the property of the deceased.

See Bequeath and Bequest

Heirloom
An object of sentimental or other value, which is passed down from generation to generation within the family

Heling
A cover for a bed

Helm
A small enclosure or shed at the side of the smithy, where horses were shod

Helm
A coin worth 6d issued in 1344 by Edward III

Helpales
Harvest or feast time merry-making. Often, at the completion of work done with the help of neighbours, such as getting in the hay.

See William de Stansfeld

Hemp
A plant – Cannabis Sativa – which is grown to produce rope. The stems of the plant are cut and then tied into bundles and immersed in water. This causes the outer layers of the plant to decay – a process known as retting – and the remaining fibres are spun into yarn. With heat and sunlight, hemp behaves much like cotton. Hemp is moth resistant, but not to mildew. Coarse hemp fibres and yarns are woven into cordage, rope, sacking and heavy-duty tarpaulins. In Italy, fine hemp fibres are used for interior design and apparel fabrics. Harden cloth was a coarse cloth made of hemp. Manila hempmusa textilis – is unrelated to true hemp, and is also used in the manufacture of rope

Hemp industry
Hemp can be grown in most temperate countries and is valued for its fibres, produced in the outer layer of the stem, and used in the manufacture of ropes, twines, and of a type of linen or lace.

See Jute industry, Linen industry, Industry and Rope industry

Hep
Also Heb. Used in place names – such as Hebden and Heptonstall – the element means wild rose, dog rose, or wild rose-hip

Heraldry
The design, description and regulation of coats of arms

See Argent, Azure, Coat of Arms, Couchant, Dexter, Gules, Murrey, Or, Passant, Purpure, Sable, Sanguine, Sinister, Tenn, Trippant and Vert

Herbalist
Someone who used and prescribed plants for their medicinal properties.

In the 19th century, the term botanist might also mean a herbalist.

Some local herbalists were John Anderton, C. W. Bentley, John Bull Herbal Remedy Company, S. Challice, Prof Fairbairn, Samuel Fleming, George Galloway, Greenwood Hanson, Henry Hanson, Mrs Ann Helliwell, C. H. Hitchen, A. Lambert, W. Burns Lingard, M. Ringrose and Mrs Mary Ann Vowles

Hereditament
Property which can be inherited

Heriot
A fee – such as a sum of money, or a live animal – which was paid to the lord of the manor by an incoming tenant, or on the death of a tenant by their heirs in respect of bondhold land.

The animal was usually the best beast.

Contrasts with relief

Heushire
The rent paid on a house

Hey
Used in place names, such as Brier Hey, Greenhurst Hey, Darcey Hey, and Hebden Hey the element means enclosure

Hidage
A document recording land assessment of towns and shires, measured in hides

Hide
The unit of assessment used in the Domesday book for south and west of England. Equivalent to the carucate in the Danelaw. It was the area of land which was sufficient to support a family. The size of a hide varied between 90 and 120 acres, according to the nature and productivity of the land, and local custom.

See Familia, Hidage, Hundred, Sulong and Virgate

High farming
A system in which the lord retained demesne lands which were cultivated with wage or unfree labour, and the produce consumed or sold for profit

High treason
An act of betrayal, especially that against the sovereign or the state to which the offender owes allegiance. It has also included offences as counterfeiting money and coining.

See Misprision of Treason and Petty treason

Hind
A domestic servant or farm labourer

Hippings
Also Hippins. Used in place names – such as Hippings, Hippings End, Hippins Farm, and Hippins Stone - the word means stepping stones across a stream or river

Hiring Fair
A fair held at Martinmas – November, the end of the farming year – when farmers hired their servants for the coming year. They may also be held at Lady Day and Michaelmas. The workers were free to discuss with each other their employers and their experiences at work, and, when hired, the bargain was sealed with a fastening penny.

In order to indicate what type of work was being sought, a shepherd might have a tuft of wool in his hatband, a farm hand might have a bunch of oats, a kitchen maid might carry a wooden spoon.

It derives from the Statute of Labourers.

In some parts of the country, the event was known as Pack Rag Day, because the servants would pack their clothes and spend a short time at home with their family before moving on to a new employer.

See Mop Fair, Tide Fair, Stattis Fair and Statute Fair

Hirst
Aka Hurst

Historical Directories
A University of Leicester project which offers a digital library of trade directories for England and Wales from 1750 to 1919

Hob
Also Hobbit. An imp, the devil, a spirit – as in hob goblin. Used in place names – such as Hob Cote, Hebden Bridge, Hob Lane, Luddendenfoot, and Hob Lane, Norland - this usually means an imp, a spirit or the Devil.

See Boggart

Hocktide
The second Monday and Tuesday after Easter Day, when the men of a parish symbolically tied up the women until they paid a ransom for their release. On the following day – Hock Tuesday – the women tied up the men. The money was given to the church. The custom began in the 15th century and endured until the Reformation, and may be the origin of the term in hock.

Hocktide signalled the start of the summer half of the year.

Rents and other dues were paid on this day. The other half was paid at Michaelmas

Hoggard
Someone who tended and/or herded pigs

Hogget Holes

Hogshead
A large cask. Also a dry or liquid measure of around 50 imperial gallons

Hoist
An internal or external crane or lifting device for raising raw materials and goods from ground level on to the individual floors of a mill.

Typically, this comprises an overhanging hook above a series of doors – crane doors – of each floor.

These features can still be identified on mills and other buildings where they no longer serve their original purpose

Holiday home
Many charitable institutions established holiday homes for children from the industrial towns and cities.

See

Hollands
Dutch gin

Hollins
Aka Hollin, Holling, Hullen. The element is used in many local place names and surnames – such as Hollin Lane, Norland, Hollingrake, The Hollins, Warley, Hullen Edge, and Thick Hollins - and comes from the Old English word holling meaning holly.

Henry of Holynes is recorded in 1405

Holloway's Pills
A 19th century patent medicine produced by Thomas Holloway

Holme
Also Holm, Holmes. Used in place names – such as Gauxholme – the element means a flat, fertile, water meadow or grassy hill by the water which was likely to flood, probably from the Norse word for an island.

Compare this with the word mytholm.

Hipperholme does not use this element

Holographic will
A will which is handwritten and signed by the testator

Holt
Used in place names, the element means a wood

Homage
The ceremony at which a vassal swore an oath of fealty to his lord

Home Guard
Defence organisation during World War II. It was made up of local volunteers who were not eligible for regular military service.

See Halifax Home Guard, Major Alan Lumb and Southowram Home Guard

Home Rule
The question of Irish independency and Home Rule for Ireland dominated British and Irish politics from the 1870s.

See Frederick Cavendish, John Dyson Hutchinson and United Irish League of Great Britain

Home Rule Club
A Club for those who supported the Irish Home Rule movement.

A Halifax Branch was recorded in 1915.

The Home Rule Branch was recorded in 1917 at Ward's End when J. W. Lawless was secretary.

See Irish immigrants

Honour
A large collection of estates or manors, usually centred around a castle.

See Court of the honour and Honour of Pontefract

Honour of Pontefract
Aka Barony of Pontefract. A group of 204 small manors which included areas around Pontefract and also the townships of Brighouse, Elland, Greetland and Southowram.

See Honour, Robert de Lacy, Edward Wallace Norris, Robert Parker and Richard Towne

Honour of Wakefield
A group of manors which included areas around Wakefield.

See Sir John Savile

Hoo
The element is used in placenames – such as Hoo Hole – and comes from the Old English hoh meaning the spur of a hill.

It also has the form hough

Hook
As in the phrase By hook or by crook..

See Pannage and Puture

Hope
Also op. Used in place names – such as Widdop, Bacup, and Oxenhope - the element comes from Old English and means a shallow shelf or shallow valley.

See Shelf

Hope chest
A wooden chest which was made by, or given to, a young woman before she got married. This was similar to the bottom-drawer of more recent times.

See Elland Parish Church Hope Chest

Hops
The female fruit-heads of the hop plant Humulus lupulus. These are dried and used in flavouring beer. They also preserve the beer and allow it to be brewed longer, thus producing the stronger ale.

They were used for dyeing by the Anglo-Saxons. They were used in brewing when they were introduced from Flanders about 1420. Seedless hops produced by the unpollinated female plant contain a higher proportion of the acid that gives beer its bitter taste.

Hops are grown in Kent, Hereford, and Worcester.

In 1711, a hop duty was imposed on the use of hops. This was abolished in 1862

Horehound beer
A non-alcoholic drink brewed with horehound [marrubium vulgare], hops and cane sugar

See F. Crossley and Ginger beer

Horse-drawn transport
Horses have long been used on the canals, and in agriculture.

Horse and cart was a familiar sight for general transport and particularly for deliveries of beer, milk and coal. Around 1900, there were 3,250,000 horses used in this way. This figure fell to 3,000,000 in the 1920s.

Cars appeared after the First World War and virtually replaced the horse after the Second World War

Horse marine
A hired hand who owned a horse which he hitched to a barge or dumb boat, pulling it along a stretch of the canal.

It was also someone who pulled a barge along stretches of a canal where a horse could not be used

Horse mill
Or Horse Gin. A piece of equipment in which a central shaft was turned by a horse to drive agricultural or industrial machinery such as in mines

Horse trough
There used to be many horse troughs around the district for dogs and horses – and less frequently, cattle – to drink. Some were ornate and sponsored by welfare organisations such as the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain & Cattle Trough Association. With the demise of horse-drawn transport, most of these were demolished.

Some older examples can still be seen set into walls and fed by springs and streams. This is particularly so along packhorse routes on hills and steep inclines.


Question: I have read that two 9 ft 6 ins troughs made from special polished red-granite were erected by the Metropolitan Drinking Fountain & Cattle Trough Association somewhere in Halifax in 1910.

Does anyone know where these are/were?

Contributor Keith Marsden suggests that one of these may have been one at Salterhebble

 

Some local troughs can be seen at

See Drinking Fountains

Horses & canals
When horses were used to tow vessels along the canals, they were stabled at various places along the waterway.

The horses were generally:

  • Crossbred Shires

  • Mares or geldings

  • About 5 ft high

  • Aged 5 to 12 years, although older animals were often used

Horse-power was last used around 1953

Horseshoe head
An old name for the disease later known as hydrocephalus, or water on the brain

Hot Ague
Aka New ague.

A name for influenza in the Tudor period.

See Ague

Hot Cross Bun
A spicy cake eaten on Good Friday

Hotel
In mediæval times, this was the town house of a nobleman

Hough
See Hoo

House-body
The hall or living-room of a house

House Duty
A tax which replaced Window Tax in 1851

House of Commons
The elected lower house of Parliament. This comprises Members elected by the voters in a constituency.

See Jeremiah Dyson and Speaker of the House of Commons

House of Correction
A prison where offenders – usually those accused of minor offences – were put to hard labour.

See Vagrants

House of industry
Aka Workhouse

House-over-house
Another name for top-and-bottom houses or a dwelling and underdwelling house

Housebote
The right of the tenants of a manor to collect wood from common land for repairing and maintaining their houses.

See Bote

Housecarl
A personal bodyguard for the Danish and Anglo-Saxon kings introduce by King Canute

Housewife
A small pouch or container for needle, thread and similar articles.


Pronunciation: Hussif
 

Hove
Used in place names – such as Hove Edge – the element means ale-hoof, ground ivy

Hovel
An open shed or outhouse for housing cattle, or for storing things such as grain or tools

Howdy wife
A midwife

Huddersfield Broad Canal
3¾ miles long. Its nine 14 ft wide locks were designed for the Calder Keel boats.

See Huddersfield Narrow Canal

The Huddersfield Chronicle & West Yorkshire Advertiser
Newspaper. Published Saturdays [1890]

The Huddersfield Daily Chronicle
Newspaper. Recorded in 1891

Huddersfield Narrow Canal
Built for the standard 70 feet x 7 feet narrow boats.

The waterway is just under 20 miles long and runs from the junction with the Huddersfield Broad Canal near Aspley Basin at Huddersfield to the junction with the Ashton Canal at Whitelands Basin in Ashton-under-Lyne.

It was started on 4th April 1794, and opened in 1811. The canal connected the Colne and Upper Calder valleys

See Calder Navigation Society

Hudson Bay Company
An organisation established in 1670 as The Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay.

See Joseph Frobisher, Hudson Bay House, Halifax and The North-West Company

Hue & cry
A call for able bodied men to pursue criminals who are to be arrested. Anyone within earshot was obliged to come to the aid of the victim or to the witness of the crime and to pursue the felon. There was a penalty for failure to raise the hue, or for failure of the community to respond to the hue. This was abolished in 1828

Hull
Used in place names, the element means a hill

Humber keel
A type of vessel used on the canal

Hundred
A division of the counties of southern England, originally comprising 100 hides or 100 tithings.

Within the Danelaw, the term wapentake was used instead of hundred

Hundredweight
A unit of weight equal to 1/20th of a ton = 112 pounds. In some parts of Britain, this is 120 pounds. Abbreviated to cwt

Hunting
From the 14th century, the right to hunt game – deer, pheasant, rabbit, and partridge – was restricted to those with an income of £40 or more per annum. In 1671, this was extended to people who had freeholds of £100 or more per annum.

See Falconry and John Greenwood

Hurst
Aka Hirst. This Old English element is used in place names – such as Hazlehurst – and means a scrub, brushwood, copse, thicket, wood, woodland or a hillock

Husslements
Aka householdments, hustylment, hushelles, husoulment

Hymn
In the early / mediæval church, the daily offices were the only sung form of worship. Metrical versions of the psalms appeared in the 16th and 17th century. Charles Wesley's Collection of 1737 is probably the first hymnal for congregational worship with hymns as we know today


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© Malcolm Bull 2017 / [email protected]
Revised 19:13 on 7th September 2017 / b113_h / 69