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{{short description|Geographical administrative division}}
{{about|the administrative division|other uses|hundred (disambiguation)}}

A '''hundred''' is an [[administrative division]] that is geographically part of a larger region. It was formerly used in England, Wales, some parts of the United States, Denmark, [[Southern Schleswig]], Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Norway, the Ukrainian state of [[Cossack Hetmanate]] and in [[Cumberland County, New South Wales|Cumberland County]] in the British [[Colony of New South Wales]]. It is still used in other places, including in Australia (in [[South Australia]] and the [[Northern Territory]]).

Other terms for the hundred in English and other languages include ''[[#wapentake|wapentake]]'', ''herred'' (Danish and [[Bokmål|Bokmål Norwegian]]), ''herad'' ([[Nynorsk|Nynorsk Norwegian]]), ''hérað'' (Icelandic), ''härad'' or ''hundare'' (Swedish), ''Harde'' (German), ''hiird'' ([[North Frisian language|North Frisian]]), ''[[satakunta]]'' or ''kihlakunta'' (Finnish),  ''kihelkond'' (Estonian), ''[[cantref]]'' (Welsh) and ''[[sotnia]]'' (Slavic).

In Ireland, a similar subdivision of counties is referred to as a [[Barony (Ireland)|barony]], and a hundred is a subdivision of a particularly large [[townland]] (most townlands are not divided into hundreds).

==Etymology==
The origin of the division of counties into hundreds is described by the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (''OED'') as "exceedingly obscure".  It may once have referred to an area of 100 [[Hide (unit)|hides]].  (In the early [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] period a hide was the amount of land farmed by and required to support a peasant family, but by the eleventh century in many areas it supported four families.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last= Faith |first=Rosamund |title=Hide |pages=243–44|year=2014|editor1-first= Michael|editor1-last= Lapidge|editor2-first= John|editor2-last= Blair|editor3-first= Simon|editor3-last= Keynes |editor4-first= Donald|editor4-last= Scragg |encyclopedia=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England|edition=Second|location=Chichester, UK|publisher= Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-470-65632-7}}</ref>) Alternatively the hundred may have been an area originally settled by one "hundred" men at arms, or the area liable to [[Examples of feudalism|provide]] one "hundred" men under arms.<ref name=oed>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/89464?redirectedFrom=hundred#eid|encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary|title=Hundred|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1989}}</ref> (Note that in earlier times the number term "hundred" can itself be unclear, meaning the "short" hundred (100) or in some contexts the [[long hundred]] of 120.)

There was an equivalent traditional [[Germanic tribes|Germanic]] system. In [[Old High German]] a ''huntari'' is a division of a [[Gau (territory)|''gau'']]; but the ''OED'' believes that the link between the two is not established.<ref name=oed/>

==England==
{{see also|List of hundreds of England and Wales}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name = Hundred
| alt_name = Wapentake
| alt_name1 = Ward
| category = County subdivision
| territory = [[England]]
| upper_unit = Shires
| status = [[Royal manor]]
| government = Hundred court
| subdivision = Divisions
| subdivision1 = Half hundreds
| subdivision2 = [[Tithings]]
| subdivision3 = [[Civil parish|Parish]]es
}}

===Administrative functions===
[[file:Kernow Hundreds.png|thumb|250px|Hundreds of [[Cornwall]] in the early 19th century]]
From the 11th century in England, and to a lesser extent from the 16th century in Wales, and until the middle of the 19th century, the annual assemblies had varying degrees of power at a local level in the [[feudal system]].<ref name=mapping /> Of chief importance was their more regular use for taxation, and six centuries of taxation returns for the divisions survive to this day.<ref name=mapping />

Groupings of divisions, [[small shires]], were used to define [[county constituency|parliamentary constituencies]] from 1832 to 1885. On the redistribution of seats in 1885 a different county subdivision, the [[petty sessional division]], was used. Hundreds were also used to administer the first four<ref name=mapping /> national censuses from 1801 to 1841.<ref name=mapping />{{Fix|text=doesn't that make 5?}}

The system of county divisions was not as stable as the system of counties being established at the time, and lists frequently differ on how many hundreds a county had. In many parts of the country, the [[Domesday Book]] contained a radically different set of divisions from that which later became established. The numbers of divisions in each county varied widely. [[Leicestershire]] had six (up from four at Domesday), whereas [[Devon]], nearly three times the size, had 32.

By the end of the 19th century, several single-purpose subdivisions of counties, such as [[poor law union]]s, [[sanitary district]]s, and [[highway district]]s, had sprung up, which, together with the introduction of [[Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland)|urban district]]s and [[rural district]]s in 1894, mostly replaced the role of the parishes, and to a lesser extent the less extensive role of hundreds.  The division names gave their name to multiple modern [[Districts of England|local government districts]].

===Hundred===
[[File:Wenceslas Hollar - Staffordshire (State 3).jpg|thumb|Map of the Hundreds of [[Staffordshire]], c. 1650. North is to the right.]]
In south and western England, a hundred was the division of a [[shire]] for military and judicial purposes under the [[common law]], which could have varying extent of common [[feudalism|feudal]] ownership, from complete [[suzerainty]] to minor royal or ecclesiastical [[prerogative]]s and rights of ownership.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/types/status_page.jsp?unit_status=Hundred |title=Administrative Units Typology: Hundred |website=[[Vision of Britain]]|access-date=31 January 2010}}</ref> Until the introduction of [[Districts of England|districts]] by the [[Local Government Act 1894]], hundreds were the only widely used assessment unit intermediate in size between the parish, with its various administrative functions, and the county, with its formal, ceremonial functions.<ref name=mapping>{{cite web |url=http://www.geog.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/occupations/hundredmapping/ |title=Mapping the Hundreds of England and Wales in GIS |date=8 June 2008 |website=[[Department of Geography, University of Cambridge]] |access-date=12 October 2011}}</ref>

The term "hundred" is first recorded in the laws of [[Edmund I]] (939–46) as a measure of land and the area served by a hundred court. In the [[English Midlands|Midlands]], they often covered an area of about 100 [[Hide (unit)|hides]], but this did not apply in the south; this may suggest that it was an ancient [[Kingdom of the West Saxons|West Saxon]] measure that was applied rigidly when [[Mercia]] became part of the newly established English kingdom in the 10th century. The ''Hundred Ordinance'', which dates to the middle of the century, provided that the court was to meet monthly, and thieves were to be pursued by all the leading men of the district.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England |year=2014 |edition=2nd |publisher=Wiley Blackwell |location=Chichester, UK |isbn=978-0-631-22492-1 |title=Hundreds |first=Sean |last=Miller |editor1-first=Michael |editor1-last=Lapidge |editor2-first=John |editor2-last=Blair |editor3-first=Simon |editor3-last=Keynes |editor4-first=Donald |editor4-last=Scragg |page=249}}</ref> 

During Norman times, the hundred would pay [[danegeld#Norman era|geld]] based on the number of hides.<ref name="bartlett165">{{Cite book |last=Bartlett |first=Robert |title=England Under the Norman and Angevin Kings 1075–1225 |year=2000 |editor=J.M.Roberts |publisher=[[OUP]] |location=London, UK |isbn=978-0-19-925101-8 |pages=165–167}}</ref> To assess how much everyone had to pay, a clerk and a [[knight]] were sent by the king to each county; they sat with the shire-[[Reeve (England)|reeve]] (or [[sheriff]]), of the county and a select group of local knights.<ref name="bartlett165"/> There would be two knights from each hundred. After it was determined what geld had to be paid, the bailiff and knights of the hundred were responsible for getting the money to the sheriff, and the sheriff for getting it to the [[Exchequer]].<ref name="bartlett165"/>

Above the hundred was the [[shire]], under the control of a sheriff. Hundred boundaries were independent of both parish and county boundaries, although often aligned, meaning that a hundred could be split between counties, or a parish could be split between hundreds. Exceptionally, in the counties of [[Kent]] and [[Sussex]], there was a sub-division intermediate in size between the hundred and the shire: several hundreds were grouped together to form [[Lathe (county subdivision)|lathe]]s in [[Kent]] and [[rape (county subdivision)|rape]]s in Sussex. At the time of the [[Norman conquest of England]], Kent was divided into seven lathes and Sussex into four rapes.

====Hundred courts====
Over time, the principal functions of the hundred became the administration of law and the keeping of the peace. By the 12th century, the hundred court was held twelve times a year.<ref>{{Cite book |first=G. G. |last=Coulton |author-link=G. G. Coulton |title=Medieval Panorama |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=1938 |page=367}}</ref> This was later increased to fortnightly, although an ordinance of 1234 reduced the frequency to once every three weeks. In some hundreds, courts were held at a fixed place; while in others, courts moved with each sitting to a different location. The main duty of the hundred court was the maintenance of the [[frankpledge]] system. The court was formed of twelve [[freehold (law)|freehold]]ers, or freemen.<ref name="time"/> According to a 13th-century statute, freeholders did not have to attend their lord's [[manorialism|manorial]] courts, thus any suits involving them would be heard in a hundred court.<ref name="time"/><ref name=time308>Mortimer (2011), p.308. fn.14.</ref>

For especially serious crimes, the hundred was under the jurisdiction of the Crown; the chief magistrate was a sheriff, and his circuit was called the sheriff's [[tourn]].<ref name="time">{{cite book |title=The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century |first=Ian |last=Mortimer |author-link=Ian Mortimer (historian) |year=2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |isbn=978-1-43911-290-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NF_8YUhO7CUC&pg=PA222}}</ref> However, many hundreds came into private hands, with the lordship of the hundred being attached to the principal manor of the area and becoming hereditary. [[Helen Cam]] estimated that even before the Conquest, over 130 hundreds were in private hands; while an inquest of 1316 found that by that date 388 of 628 named hundreds were held, not by the Crown, but by its subjects.<ref>{{cite book |first=Helen |last=Cam |author-link=Helen Cam |title=Law-Finders and Law-Makers |location=London |publisher=Merlin Press |date=1962 |pages=59 & 67–70}}</ref> Where a hundred was under a lord, a [[steward (office)|steward]], acting as a judge and the chief official of the [[lord of the manor]], was appointed in place of a sheriff.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Hundred}}</ref>

The importance of the hundred courts declined from the 17th century, and most of their powers were extinguished with the establishment of [[county court]]s in 1867.<ref>County Courts Act 1867 (30 & 31 Vict. c. 142) s.28</ref> The remaining duty of the inhabitants of a hundred to make good damages caused by riot was ended by the [[Riot (Damages) Act 1886]], when the cost was transferred to the county police rate.<ref>[[Riot (Damages) Act 1886]] (49 & 50 Vict. c. 38), s.2</ref> The jurisdiction of hundred courts was curtailed by the [[Administration of Justice Act 1977]].<ref>{{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|access-date=5 February 2019}}</ref>

====Chiltern====
The steward of the [[Chiltern Hundreds]] is notable as a [[legal fiction]], owing to a quirk of British Parliamentary law. A Crown Steward was appointed to maintain law and order in the area, but these duties ceased to be performed in the 16th century, and the holder ceased to gain any benefits during the 17th century. The position has since been used as a procedural device to allow [[resignation from the British House of Commons]] as a (formerly) remunerated office of the Crown.

===Wapentake=== 
{{Anchor|wapentake}}
A wapentake{{efn|name=ety1|[[Old English]] wǣpen(ge)tæc, from Old Norse vápnatak, from vápn 'weapon' + taka 'take', perhaps with reference to voting in an assembly (known as a [[thing (assembly)|''thing'']]) by weapons taken out at a meeting point.<ref name=ety2>{{Cite web |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=wapentake |website=Online Etymology Dictionary |title=Wapentake |access-date=13 July 2015}}</ref>}} was the equivalent of the Anglo-Saxon hundred in the northern [[Danelaw]]. In the [[Domesday Book]], the term is used instead of hundreds in the [[Five Boroughs of the Danelaw|Five Boroughs]] of [[Derby]], [[Leicester]], [[Lincoln, England|Lincoln]], [[Nottingham]] and [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]], and also sometimes in Northamptonshire and parts of Yorkshire. The laws in wapentakes were similar to those in hundreds with minor variations. According to the first-century historian [[Tacitus]], in Scandinavia the wapentake referred to a vote passed at an assembly by the brandishing of weapons.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|last=Miller |first=Sean  |title=Wapentakes |page=488 |year=2014|editor1-first= Michael|editor1-last= Lapidge|editor2-first= John|editor2-last= Blair|editor3-first= Simon|editor3-last= Keynes |editor4-first= Donald|editor4-last= Scragg |encyclopedia=The Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England|edition=Second|location=Chichester, UK|publisher= Blackwell Publishing|isbn=978-0-470-65632-7}}</ref>

In Yorkshire wapentake usually replaced several Anglo-Saxon hundreds. This process was complete by 1086 in the North and West [[Riding (division)|Riding]]s, but continued in the [[East Riding of Yorkshire|East Riding]] until the mid 12th century. In some counties, such as Leicestershire, the wapentakes recorded at the time of [[Domesday Book]] evolved into hundreds later on. In others, such as [[Lincolnshire]], the term remained in use.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=53616 |chapter=Introduction: Lost vills and other forgotten places |title=Final Concords of the County of Lincoln: 1244–1272 |year=1920 |pages=L–LXV |access-date=23 September 2013}}.</ref> 

Although no longer part of local government, there is some correspondence between the [[rural deanery]] and the former wapentake or hundred, especially in the East Midlands, the Archdeaconry of Buckingham and the Diocese of York (see, for example, [[Beltisloe]] or [[Loveden]]).<ref name=addy4>{{Cite book |last=Addy |first=John |title=Archdeacon and Ecclesiastical Discipline in Yorks., 1598-1714 |publisher=St Anthony's Press |location=York, England |year=1963 |isbn=0-9007-0123-4 |pages=4–5}}</ref>

===Ward===
The term [[ward (politics)|ward]] was a corresponding county division in the four northern counties of [[Cumberland]], [[County Durham|Durham]], [[Northumberland]] and [[Westmorland]].

==Ireland==
Irish counties were divided into [[barony (Ireland)|baronies]].

==Wales==
{{see also|Cantref}}
{{Infobox subdivision type
| name = Cantrefi (sg. Cantref)
| category = land division
| territory = [[Wales]]
| upper_unit = Kingdoms
| government = Uchelwyr
| subdivision = Cwmwd; plural cymydau; English "commote"
| subdivision1 = Maenor (plural: ''maenorau'') ''or'' maenol (plural ''maenolydd'' or ''maenolau'')
| map=Cantrefi.Medieval.Wales.jpg
}}

In Wales an ancient Celtic system of division called ''[[cantrefi]]'' (a hundred farmsteads; singular ''cantref'') had existed for centuries and was of particular importance in the administration of the [[Welsh law]]. The antiquity of the ''cantrefi'' is demonstrated by the fact that they often mark the boundary between [[Welsh language#Dialects|dialects]].{{citation needed|date=December 2017}} Some were originally kingdoms in their own right; others may have been artificial units created later.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Davies |first1=John |first2=Nigel |last2=Jenkins |first3=Menna |last3=Baines |first4=Peredur I. |last4=Lynch |title=The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales |publisher=University of Wales Press |location=Cardiff |date=2008 |pages=113 |isbn=978-0-7083-1953-6}}</ref>

Each ''cantref'' had its own court, which was an assembly of the ''uchelwyr'', the main landowners of the ''cantref''. This would be presided over by the king if he happened to be present, or if he was not present, by his representative. Apart from the judges there would be a clerk, an usher and sometimes two professional pleaders. The ''cantref'' court dealt with crimes, the determination of boundaries, and inheritance.

==Nordic countries==
{{See also|Hundreds of Denmark}}
{{See also|List of hundreds of Sweden}}
[[File:Administrative division of denmark in medieval times.jpg|thumb|Map of medieval Denmark, showing ''{{lang|da|herreder}}'' and ''{{lang|da|[[syssel|sysler]]}}''. The entire country was divided into ''{{lang|da|herreder}}'', shown outlined in red. Coloured areas show Jutland's ''{{lang|da|syssel}}'' divisions. Zealand's four ecclesiastic ''{{lang|da|sysler}}'' are not included.<!--the ones in Jutland also had temporal responsibilities-->]]

The term ''{{lang|sv|hundare}}'' (''hundred'') was used in [[Svealand]] and present-day Finland. The name is assumed to mean an area that should organise 100 men to crew four rowed war boats, which each had 12 pairs of oars and a commander.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

Eventually, that division was superseded by introducing the ''härad'' or ''Herred'', which was the term in the rest of the [[Nordic countries]]. This word was either derived from [[Proto-Norse]] *''harja-raiðō'' (warband) or [[Proto-Germanic]] *''harja-raiða'' (war equipment, cf. ''wapentake)''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://runeberg.org/svetym/0347.html |title=259 (Svensk etymologisk ordbok) |website=Runeberg.org |date=30 July 2009 |access-date=31 January 2010}}</ref> Similar to ''skipreide'', a part of the coast where the inhabitants were responsible for equipping and manning a war ship.

Hundreds were not organized in [[Norrland]], the northern sparsely populated part of Sweden. In Sweden, a countryside ''{{lang|sv|härad}}'' was typically divided in a few ''[[socken (country subdivision)|socken]]'' units (parish), where the ecclesiastical and worldly administrative units often coincided. This began losing its basic significance through the [[Swedish municipal reform of 1862|municipal reform of 1862]]. A ''{{lang|sv|härad}}'' was originally a subdivision of a ''{{lang|sv|landskap}}'' (province), but since the government reform of 1634, ''{{lang|sv|län}}'' ("county") took over all administrative roles of the province. A ''{{lang|sv|härad}}'' functioned also as electoral district for one peasant representative during the [[Riksdag of the Estates]] (Swedish parliament 1436–1866). The ''{{lang|sv|[[häradsrätt]]}}'' (hundred court) was the court of first instance in the countryside, abolished in 1970 and superseded by ''{{lang|sv|[[tingsrätt]]}}'' (modern district courts).

Today, the hundreds serve no administrative role in Sweden, although some judicial district courts still bear the name (e.g. {{lang|sv|[[Attundaland|Attunda]] tingsrätt}}) and the hundreds are occasionally used in expressions, e.g. ''{{lang|sv|Sjuhäradsbygden}}'' (district of seven hundreds).

It is not entirely clear when hundreds were organised in the western part of Finland. The name of the province of [[Satakunta]], roughly meaning ''hundred'' ({{lang|fi|sata}} meaning "one hundred" in Finnish), hints at influences from the times before the [[Northern Crusades]], [[Christianization]], and incorporation into Sweden.

As ''{{lang|fi|kihlakunta}}'', hundreds remained the fundamental administrative division for the state authorities until 2009. Each was subordinated to a ''{{lang|fi|lääni}}'' (province/county) and had its own police department, district court and prosecutors. Typically, cities would comprise an urban ''{{lang|fi|kihlakunta}}'' by themselves, but several rural [[municipalities of Finland|municipalities]] would belong to a rural ''{{lang|fi|kihlakunta}}''. In a rural hundred the [[lensmann]] (chief of local state authorities) was called ''nimismies'' ("appointed man"), or archaically ''vallesmanni'' (from Swedish). In the Swedish era (up to 1809), his main responsibilities were maintenance of [[stagecoach]] stations and [[coaching inn]]s, supplying traveling government personnel with food and lodging, transport of criminal prisoners, police responsibilities, arranging district court proceedings (''[[tingsrätt]]''), collection of taxes, and sometimes arranging hunts to cull the wolf and bear population. Following the abolition of the provinces as an administrative unit in 2009, the territory for each authority could be demarcated separately, i.e. police districts need not equal court districts in number. The title "härad" survives in the honorary title of ''herastuomari'' (Finnish) or ''häradsdomare'' (Swedish), which can be given to [[lay judge]]s after 8–10 years of service.

The term ''herred'' or ''herad'' was used in Norway between 1863 and 1992 for rural municipalities, besides the term kommune (heradskommune). Today, only four municipalities in western Norway call themselves ''herad'', as [[Ulvik]] and [[Kvam herad|Kvam]]. Some Norwegian districts have the word ''herad'' in their name, of historical reasons - among them [[Krødsherad]] and [[Heradsbygd]] in eastern Norway.

==Ukraine==
In 17th and 18th centuries "sotnia" was an administrative-territorial, judicial, and military unit of "polk" in [[Cossack Hetmanate]] and [[Sloboda Ukraine]]. The [[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]] adopted military translation of word as "company".<ref>[http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/oop/d_qfullhit.htw?CiBold=true&CiHiliteColor=blue&CiWebHitsFile=%2Fpages%2Fc%2Fo%2Fcompany%2Ehtm&CiRestriction=%40contents+%22sotnia%22&CiUserParam3=%2Fquery%2Easp&CiUserParam2=%22sotnia%22&CiUserParam1=Company&CiLocale=NEUTRAL&CiHiliteType=Full Company (<< sotnia>> )]. [[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]].</ref>

==United States==
Counties in [[Delaware]], [[New Jersey]] and [[Pennsylvania]] were divided into hundreds in the 17th century, following the English practice familiar to the colonists. They survive in Delaware (see [[List of hundreds of Delaware]]), and were used as tax reporting and [[Constituency|voting district]]s until the 1960s, but now serve no administrative role: their only official legal use is in real estate title descriptions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www2.lib.udel.edu/subj/genealogy/resguide/hund.htm |title=The Hundreds of Delaware |website=[[University of Delaware]] |date=30 August 1999 |access-date=31 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519103644/http://www2.lib.udel.edu/subj/genealogy/resguide/hund.htm |archive-date=19 May 2011 }}</ref>

The hundred was also used as a division of the county in [[Maryland]]. [[Carroll County, Maryland]] was formed in 1836 by taking the following hundreds from [[Baltimore County, Maryland|Baltimore County]]: North Hundred, Pipe Creek Hundred, Delaware Upper Hundred, Delaware Lower Hundred; and from [[Frederick County, Maryland|Frederick County]]: Pipe Creek Hundred, Westminster Hundred, Unity Hundred, Burnt House Hundred, Piney Creek Hundred, and Taneytown Hundred. Maryland's Somerset County, which was established in 1666, was initially divided into six hundreds: [[Mattapony]], Pocomoke, Boquetenorton, Wicomico, and Baltimore Hundreds; later subdivisions of the hundreds added five more: Pitts Creek, Acquango, Queponco, Buckingham, and Worcester Hundreds.

The original borders of [[Talbot County, Maryland|Talbot County]] (founded at some point prior to February 12, 1661<ref>{{cite book |last=Skirven |first=Percy G. |date=1923 |title=The First Parishes of the Province of Maryland |url=https://archive.org/details/firstparishesofp00skir_0 |location=Baltimore |publisher=The Norman, Remington Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/firstparishesofp00skir_0/page/146 146]}}</ref>) contained nine hundreds:  Treadhaven Hundred, Bolenbroke Hundred, Mill Hundred, Tuckahoe Hundred, Worrell Hundred, Bay Hundred, Island Hundred, Lower Kent Island Hundred, Chester Hundred.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/historytalbotco00harrgoog |title=History of Talbot County, Maryland, 1661–1861 |first1=Samuel Alexander |last1=Harrison |first2=Oswald |last2=Tilghman |date=1915 |publisher=Williams & Wilkins Company |page=[https://archive.org/details/historytalbotco00harrgoog/page/n28 6] |access-date=10 July 2018 |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> In 1669 Chester Hundred was given to Kent County.<ref name="auto"/><ref>{{cite web |url=https://mdgensoc.org/upload/files/allowIndex/Tax%20Lists/Kent_County_Chester_Hundred_1749.pdf |title=Tax List: Chester Hundred, Kent County (1749) |first=Karen |last=Walker |date=28 February 2014 |website=Maryland Genealogical Society |access-date=1 January 2019}}</ref> In 1707 [[Queen Anne's County, Maryland|Queen Anne's County]] was created from the northern parts of Talbot County, reducing the latter to seven hundreds (Lower Kent Island Hundred becoming a part of the former). Of these, only Bay Hundred legally remains in existence, as a District 5 in Talbot County.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.usboundary.com/Areas/County%20Subdivision/Maryland/Talbot%20County/District%205%2C%20Bay%20Hundred/133656 |title=District 5, Bay Hundred, Talbot County, Maryland |website=US Boundary.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://maryland.hometownlocator.com/counties/subdivisions/data,n,district%205%20bay%20hundred,id,2404190448,cfips,041.cfm |title=District 5 Bay Hundred MD Demographic Data and Boundary Map |website=Maryland Hometown Locator.com |access-date=1 January 2019}}</ref> The geographic region, which includes several unincorporated communities and part of present-day [[Saint Michaels, Maryland|Saint Michaels]], continues to be known by the name Bay Hundred, with state and local governments using the name in ways ranging from water trail guides<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.shopdnr.com/JanesIslandWaterTrails-6.aspx |title=Tilghman Island and Bay Hundred Water Trails (Talbot County) |website=DNR Outdoor Store}}</ref> to community pools,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stmichaelsmd.com/list/member/bay-hundred-community-pool-st-michael-150 |title=Bay Hundred Community Pool |website=StMichaelsMD.com}}</ref> while local newspapers regularly use the name in reporting news.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stardem.com/print/lettereditor/community-group-forms-in-bay-hundred/article_1632224e-196a-5dd2-92b3-29bdf279d366.html |title=Community group forms in Bay Hundred |first=John |last=Griep |newspaper=[[The Star Democrat]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stardem.com/news/local_news/overnight-rain-floods-bay-hundred/collection_0f58f2a0-4b99-11e2-8750-001a4bcf887a.html  |title=Overnight rain floods Bay Hundred |newspaper=The Star Democrat}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stardem.com/weekend/bay-hundred-elves-to-hold-fundraiser/article_8e496546-9b2d-11df-b62a-001cc4c03286.html |title=Bay Hundred Elves to hold fundraiser |newspaper=The Star Democrat}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stardem.com/news/band-marches-through-bay-hundred/article_e1fdf370-1136-5125-bbd8-34be3c3fd860.html |title=Band marches through Bay Hundred |newspaper=The Star Democrat}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.stardem.com/life/bay-hundred-businesses-give-to-fireman-s-auction/article_02181aee-14be-5cb2-a904-3743bd474366.html |title=Bay Hundred businesses give to Fireman's Auction |newspaper=The Star Democrat}}</ref>

Following American independence, the term "hundred" fell out of favour and was replaced by "election district". However, the names of the old hundreds continue to show up in deeds for another 50 years.

Some plantations in early colonial [[Virginia]] used the term hundred in their names, such as [[Martin's Hundred]], [[Flowerdew Hundred Plantation|Flowerdew Hundred]], and [[Shirley Plantation|West and Shirley Hundred]].<ref>{{cite journal |first=Lyon G. |last=Tyler |title=Title of Westover |journal=William and Mary College Quarterly Historical Magazine |volume=4 |number=3 |date=January 1896 |pages=151–55 |url=http://files.usgwarchives.net/va/schools/wmmary/westover.txt}}.</ref> [[Bermuda Hundred]] was the first incorporated town in the English colony of Virginia. It was founded by Sir Thomas Dale in 1613, six years after [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]].

While debating what became the [[Land Ordinance of 1785]], [[Thomas Jefferson]]'s committee wanted to divide the public lands in the west into "hundreds of ten geographical miles square, each mile containing 6086 and 4-10ths of a foot".<ref name=proposal>{{Cite journal |url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lljc&fileName=027/lljc027.db&recNum=83 |title=A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774-1875 |journal=Journal of Continental Congress |volume=27 |page=446 |date=May 28, 1784 |publisher=[[Library of congress]]}}.</ref> The legislation instead introduced the six-mile square [[Survey township|township]] of the [[Public Land Survey System]].

==Australia==
{{main|Lands administrative divisions of Australia}}

In South Australia, land titles record in which hundred a parcel of land is located. Similar to the notion of the [[Lands administrative divisions of South Australia|South Australian counties]] listed on the system of titles, hundreds are not generally used when referring to a district and are little known by the general population, except when transferring land title. When the land in the region of the present Darwin, in the Northern Territory, was first surveyed, the territory was administered by South Australia, and the surveyed land was divided up into hundreds.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://placenames.nt.gov.au/origins/hundred |work=Place Names Committee |title=Origin of the Term 'Hundred' |publisher=NT Government |location=Darwin, AU |access-date=7 April 2018 |date=2017}}</ref>
The [[Cumberland County, New South Wales|Cumberland County]] ([[Sydney]]) was also allocated hundreds in the nineteenth century, although these were later repealed. A hundred is traditionally one hundred square miles or {{convert|64000|acres}}, although this is often not exact as boundaries often follow local topography.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.atlas.sa.gov.au/go/resources/atlas-of-south-australia-1986/the-course-of-settlement/land-survey-and-disposal |work=Atlas of South Australia |title=Land Survey and Disposal |publisher=SA |location=AU |date=28 April 2004 |access-date=31 January 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090715171658/http://www.atlas.sa.gov.au/go/resources/atlas-of-south-australia-1986/the-course-of-settlement/land-survey-and-disposal |archive-date=15 July 2009 }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Attundaland]]
* [[Feudal measurement]]
* [[Fjärdhundraland]]
* [[Henry de Bracton]]
* [[Hundred Rolls]]
* [[Leidang]]
* [[Moot hall|Moot mound]], the meeting place of an Anglo-Saxon hundred
* [[Roslagen]]
* [[Tiundaland]]

== Explanatory notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Terms for types of administrative territorial entities}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hundred (County Subdivision)}}
[[Category:Hundreds (county division)| ]]
[[Category:Anglo-Norse England]]
[[Category:Defunct types of subdivision in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Former subdivisions of England]]
[[Category:Scandinavian history]]
[[Category:Types of administrative division]]