:Narberth Hundred
{{Short description|Former Hundred in Pembrokeshire, Wales}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{coord|51.798|-4.743|display=title|region:GB_scale:50000}}
The Hundred of Narberth was a hundred in Pembrokeshire, Wales. An administrative and legal division, it was formed by the Act of Union of 1536 from parts of the pre-Norman cantrefs of Penfro (the commote of Coedrath) and Cantref Gwarthaf (the commote of Efelfre).{{cite book|last= Charles |first= B. G. |title=The Placenames of Pembrokeshire |publisher= National Library of Wales |place=Aberystwyth |year= 1992 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SHSHrgEACAAJ |isbn=978-0907158585}}{{rp|463}}
Name
It derived its Welsh name, Arberth, from the town and district of the same name, which means "(district) by the wood" (i.e. the forest of Coedrath),{{rp|531}} and which was the headquarters of the hundred.{{cite web|title=Narberth Town Council|url=http://www.pembstcc.co.uk/narberth-town-council|accessdate=7 June 2020}}
Region
The hundred spanned the linguistic boundary, with the parishes of Velfrey being identified by George OwenOwen, George, The Description of Pembrokeshire Dillwyn Miles (Ed), Gomer, 1994, {{ISBN|185902-120-4}}, p 51 as Welsh-speaking, and the southern coastal part being English-speaking, part of Little England beyond Wales. The area in 1887 was {{convert|55813|acre}}.{{cite web|title=Gazetteer of the British Isles|date=1887|publisher=Bartholomew|url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/descriptions/1741920|accessdate=8 June 2020}}
Demographics
The hundred incorporated twenty two parishes.{{cite web|title=GENUKI:Narberth Hundred|url=https://www.genuki.org.uk/big/wal/PEM/NarberthMap|accessdate=7 June 2020}} The parliamentary election polling book for 1812 is held at the National Library of Wales.{{cite web|title=Pembrokeshire parliamentary election polling book, 1812|url=https://archives.library.wales/index.php/pembrokeshire-parliamentary-election-polling-book-2;isad?sf_culture=en|accessdate=8 June 2020}} The 1821 census provided detailed demographics for the hundred. The total population was 11,321, living in 2,249 properties.{{cite book|title=Population of Great Britain, 1821|date=1822|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4dPAQAAMAAJ&dq=Narberth+hundred|pages=479–480|accessdate=7 June 2020|last1=Census Office|first1=Great Britain}} At the 1831 census, the hundred had a population of 11,942 in 2,343 houses.{{cite book|title=The parliamentary gazetteer of England and Wales|date=1840|publisher=Oxford University|page=460|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=itgHAAAAQAAJ&dq=Narberth+hundred|accessdate=8 June 2020}} The population was quoted as 11,469 in an 1887 gazetteer.
Land tax assessments for 1857 to 1949 are held at Pembrokeshire Archives.{{cite web|title=National Archives: Narberth Hundred Land Tax|url=https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/N13812025|accessdate=7 June 2020}}
Discontinuation
The hundred courts declined from the 17th century, and most of their powers were extinguished with the establishment of county courts in 1867.County Courts Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 142) s.28 Until 1974 Wales was divided into civil parishes, which to some extent coincided with ecclesiastical parishes, and in 1975 it was divided into communities.
{{cite web|url=http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/administrative/england/parishes-and-communities/index.html |title=Parishes and Communities |publisher=Office for National Statistics |accessdate=17 January 2016 }} The jurisdiction of hundred courts was finally curtailed by the Administration of Justice Act 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1977/38/data.pdf|title=Administration of Justice Act 1977, Schedule 4|publisher=The National Archives|accessdate=5 February 2019}}