Huntingdonshire

Huntingdonshire, usually abbreviated Hunts., is a county in south eastern central England, lying between the Midlands and East Anglia. The county borders Northamptonshire to the north and west, Cambridgeshire to the east and Bedfordshire to the south. As of 2021, the population of Huntingdonshire is just under 212,000. It geographical area is 366 square miles; making it England's third-smallest county behind Rutland and Middlesex.

The county town is Huntingdon, with the larger cathedral city Peterborough being partly located in the north of the county, although it is mainly located in Northamptonshire.

Administration

The county Huntingdonshire is mainly administered by Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC), which has been the case since the Local Government Act 1972 (LGA 72) came into effect in April 1974. However, since administrative areas do not alter the boundaries of historic counties (according to Edward Heath's government, who introduced the LGA 72). Part of northern Huntingdonshire is also under Peterborough City Council.

Huntingdonshire lends its name to the local government district of Huntingdonshire District Council within the CCC area. However, the boundaries of this local government district and the county proper Huntingdonshire are different, and the two are legally distinct.

Notable people

Huntingdonshire is perhaps best known worldwide as the birthplace of Oliver Cromwell (1599-1658), Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland (1653-1658), the Parliamentarian military dictatorship and republic that controlled the British Isles between the Second English Civil War (1648) and the Stuart Restoration (1660).