Editing Markyate (section)

==Governance==
Markyate historically straddled three parishes and two counties. The southern part of the village (south of Buckwood Road and Hicks Road) was in the parish of [[Flamstead]] in Hertfordshire. The north-eastern part of the village (east of High Street and north of Hicks Road) was in the part of the parish of [[Caddington]] which was in Hertfordshire. The north-western part of the village (west of High Street and north of Buckwood Road) was in a detached part of the parish of [[Studham]], known as Humbershoe. Humbershoe became a separate [[civil parish]] in 1866, although remained part of the ecclesiastical parish of Studham.<ref>{{cite web |title=Humbershoe Hamlet / Civil Parish |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/unit/10106163 |website=A Vision of Britain through Time |publisher=GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Humbershoe |url=https://bedsarchives.bedford.gov.uk/CommunityHistories/Humbershoe/HumbershoeInGeneral.aspx |website=Bedfordshire Archives |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref> When [[Poor Law Union]]s were established in 1835, the parish of Flamstead was included in the Hemel Hempstead Poor Law Union, whilst Caddington and Studham parishes were included in the Luton Poor Law Union, meaning that the poor from Markyate were sent to either Hemel Hempstead or Luton workhouses depending on where in the village they lived.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Higginbotham |first1=Peter |title=Hemel Hempstead Poor Law Union |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/HemelHempstead/ |website=The Workhouse |access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Higginbotham |first1=Peter |title=Luton Poor Law Union |url=http://www.workhouses.org.uk/Luton/ |website=The Workhouse |access-date=30 September 2021}}</ref>

An ecclesiastical parish was created on 30 October 1877, called "St John Markyate Street", covering parts of the parishes of Caddington, Flamstead, Studham (Humbershoe) and an [[exclave]] of [[Houghton Regis]] known as Buckwood Stubbs, which was a rural area to the north-west of the village.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=42443 |title=The hundred of Manshead: Introduction &#124; British History Online |publisher=British-history.ac.uk |access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/a2a/records.aspx?cat=046-defl&cid=2-1-7-72#2-1-7-72 |title=Notes concerning the title to Buckwood |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=2973929&CATLN=6&accessmethod=5&j=1 |title=Tithe map of Buckwood Stubbs [Buckwood Stubs&#93; (district in the parish of Houghton... |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref> A chapel dedicated to St John the Baptist had been built in 1734 on the edge of the Markyate Cell estate as a chapel of ease to Caddington, and it became the parish church of the new ecclesiastical parish.<ref>London Gazette, 30 October 1877, page 5853</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Church of St John the Baptist |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1101241 |website=Historic England |access-date=29 September 2021}}</ref>

Proposals to change the civil boundaries to match the ecclesiastical parish were put forward in 1888, but not implemented at that time. When district councils were established in December 1894 under the [[Local Government Act 1894]], the ecclesiastical parish of Markyate found itself straddling three districts: [[Markyate Rural District]], which despite the name only covered the parts of the village in the civil parish of Caddington, [[Hemel Hempstead Rural District]] covering the parts of the village in Flamstead, and [[Luton Rural District]] covering the parts of the village in Humbershoe and Houghton Regis civil parishes. This gave rise to confusion, with one candidate's nomination at the election in December 1894 being invalid for assuming that Humbershoe was in the Markyate district, when it was in the Luton district.<ref>The Guardians’ and Rural  District Councillors’ Nominations, ''Bedfordshire Advertiser'' (Luton), 7 December 1894, page 6</ref>

An inquiry was held at Luton in February 1896 into a proposal to create a civil parish to match the ecclesiastical parish of Markyate and make other changes to rationalise the border between Hertfordshire and Bedfordshire in this area. As an illustration of the absurdity of the existing arrangements in Markyate, it was said that dogs did not have to be muzzled on one side of the road, but they did on the other. There was general agreement that Markyate should be brought into a single parish and district, but some debate as to whether it should be placed in the Luton Rural District in Bedfordshire or the Hemel Hempstead Rural District in Hertfordshire.<ref>The Beds and Herts Boundary Question, ''Bedfordshire Advertiser'' (Luton), 6 March 1896, page 7</ref> Eventually it was decided to place the new civil parish in Hemel Hempstead Rural District in Hertfordshire. The changes came into effect on 30 September 1897, with Markyate then being united as a single civil parish entirely in Hertfordshire.<ref>Last Meeting of the Markyate District Council, ''Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle'', 30 September 1897, page 4</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=Local and Personal Acts |date=1897 |publisher=Her Majesty's Stationery Office |location=London |page=561 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zHU1AQAAMAAJ |access-date=26 September 2021 |quote=The Counties of Bedford and Hertford (Caddington, &c.) Order 1897}}</ref>

The first meeting of Markyate Parish Council was held on 10 November 1897 in the village school. Frederick William Partridge, a [[Liberal Party (UK)|Liberal]], was elected the first chairman of the parish council. He had previously been the chairman of the Markyate Rural District Council.<ref>Markyate Street: Parish Council, ''Luton News'', 18 November 1897, page 3</ref><ref>Death of Mr. F.W. Partridge, ''Herts Advertiser'' (St Albans), 21 July 1900, page 2</ref>

The Hemel Hempstead Rural District was abolished under the [[Local Government Act 1972]], and since 1 April 1974 the civil parish of Markyate has formed part of the [[non-metropolitan district|district]] of Dacorum (which gained borough status in 1984).