Editing Stevenage (section)

===Tudor, Stuart and Georgian eras===
[[File:The history of England, from the accession of James the Second (1914) (14779982211).jpg|thumb|James Whitney, the [[dandy]] [[highwayman]].]]
[[File:37 High Street, Stevenage (27432952625).jpg|thumb|Henry Trigg's house, 37 High Street.]]
In 1558 [[Thomas Alleyne]], then the Rector of Stevenage, founded a free [[grammar school]] for boys, [[The Thomas Alleyne Academy|Alleyne's Grammar School]], which, despite becoming a boys' comprehensive school in 1967 (starting with the 1969 year), had an unbroken existence (unlike the grammar school in neighbouring [[Hitchin]]) until 1989, when it was merged with Stevenage Girls' School to become the Thomas Alleyne School. [[Francis Cammaerts]] was Headmaster of Alleyne's Grammar School from 1952 to 1961. The school, which has been since 1989 a mixed [[comprehensive school]] and is now an [[academy]] as of 2013, still exists on its original site at the north end of the High Street.  It was intended to move the school to [[Great Ashby]], but the [[Cameron–Clegg coalition|Coalition government (2010–15)]] scrapped the move owing to [[Building Schools for the Future|budget cuts]].

During the 17th century, the Elizabethan<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101101168-37-high-street-stevenage-old-town-ward|title=37, High Street, Old Town, Hertfordshire|first=Good|last=Stuff|website=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk}}</ref> house at 37 High Street was the home of greengrocer and [[churchwarden]] [[Henry Trigg (testator)|Henry Trigg]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourstevenage.org.uk/content/place/old-town/buried-in-the-loft-the-legend-of-henry-trigg-and-the-old-castle-inn|title=Buried in the loft: The legend of Henry Trigg and the Old Castle Inn}}</ref> Trigg was a philanthropist who donated another of his properties to serve as Stevenage's first workhouse.<ref name="Herts genealogy"/> When Henry died in 1724 his coffin was placed in the rafters of the adjoining barn to prevent [[Body snatching|resurrection men]] from stealing his remains.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101096090-triggs-barn-stevenage-old-town-ward|title=Triggs Barn, Old Town, Hertfordshire|first=Good|last=Stuff|website=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk}}</ref> In 1774, Trigg's house became the Old Castle [[coaching inn]], and was used as a [[staging post]] by the [[Royal Mail]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk/data/books/books-5/book-0559-notes-on-stevenage.htm|title=Book: Notes on Stevenage Illustrated: by E. V. Methold, 1902 (Hertfordshire Genealogy)|website=www.hertfordshire-genealogy.co.uk}}</ref> From 1999 until 2016 it served as a branch of [[NatWest]], and as of 2022 it has been converted into a [[dentist]]'s [[surgery]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hertsmemories.org.uk/content/herts-history/topics/supernatural-and-unexplained-phenomena/henry-triggs-house-buried-roof|title=Henry Trigg's House - Buried in the Roof}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.thecomet.net/news/22417235.former-natwest-branch-building-stevenage-old-town-home-henry-triggs-coffin-auction/|title=Former NatWest branch building in Stevenage Old Town which has been home to Henry Trigg's coffin up for auction|date=25 April 2016|website=The Comet}}</ref>

Stevenage's prosperity came in part from the Great North Road, which was turnpiked in the early 18th century on the site of the present day [[Marquess of Granby]] pub. Many inns in the High Street served the [[stagecoach]]es, 21 of which passed through Stevenage each day in 1800. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the road now known as [[Six Hills]] Way was the haunt of [[highwaymen]] who would use the ancient [[burial mounds]] as a hiding place. James Whitney, the namesake of the Highwayman pub in [[Graveley, Hertfordshire|Graveley]], was hanged at [[Newgate]] in 1693 for robbing travellers in this area.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stevenage.gov.uk/stevenage-museum/history-of-stevenage/stevenage-through-the-ages/tudor-and-stuart-stevenage|title=Tudor and Stuart Stevenage|first=Stevenage Borough|last=Council|website=www.stevenage.gov.uk}}</ref> Whitney, a [[Jacobitism|Jacobite]], was born in Stevenage c.1660 and was apprenticed to a [[butcher]] in Hitchin before opening an [[inn]] in [[Cheshunt]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9coiAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA140|title=Lives and Exploits of the Most Noted Highwaymen, Robbers and Murderers, of All Nations|first=Charles|last=Whitehead|date=18 January 1854|publisher=Silas Andrus|via=Google Books}}</ref> Due to the failure of his business, Whitney began robbing wealthy travellers and by 1690 he had a gang of over 50 men.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/people/22575367.james-whitney-hertfordshires-dandy-highwayman/|title=James Whitney: Hertfordshire's dandy highwayman|date=12 August 2019|website=Great British Life}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.executedtoday.com/2014/12/19/1694-james-whitney-highwayman/|title=1694: James Whitney, highwayman &#124; Executed Today|date=19 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pascalbonenfant.com/18c/newgatecalendar/james_whitney.html|title=The Newgate Calendar: James Whitney|website=www.pascalbonenfant.com}}</ref>

On 10 July 1807, the '''Great Fire of Stevenage'''<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=12roo9kpwTQC&pg=PA546|title=The chronological historian; or A record of public events illustrative of the history of Great Britain and its dependencies|first=William|last=Toone|date=18 January 1826|via=Google Books}}</ref> destroyed 42 properties in Middle Row, including Hellard's [[almshouse]] of 1501.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hertsmemories.org.uk/content/herts-history/towns-and-villages/stevenage/stevenage-hellard|title=Stevenage. Hellard}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4iKoAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT130|title=Stevenage Through Time|first=Hugh|last=Madgin|date=15 November 2009|publisher=Amberley Publishing Limited|isbn=978-1-4456-3112-7 |via=Google Books}}</ref> The fire is believed to have been started when a young girl employed as a [[chambermaid]] at one of the [[coaching inn]]s emptied embers from the fireplace into the street.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=acM7AQAAMAAJ|title=The New Annual Register: Or General Repository of History, Politics, Arts, Sciences, and Literature|date=18 January 1808|publisher=G. Robinson|via=Google Books}}</ref> Sparks from the embers ignited the thatched roof of a nearby [[wheelwright]]'s shop, and quickly engulfed the other [[timber framed building]]s in the north end of the Old Town due to a strong North wind.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://localhistories.org/a-history-of-stevenage/|title=A History of Stevenage|first=Tim|last=Lambert|date=14 March 2021}}</ref> The conflagration was only stopped from engulfing the entire street by demolishing a house to serve as a [[firebreak]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bFOAQAAMAAJ|title=The Athenaeum|date=18 January 1807|publisher=Longmans, Hurst, Rees, and Orme|via=Google Books}}</ref> After the fire was extinguished by Stevenage's [[volunteer firefighter]]s using a hand-operated [[fire engine]] made in 1763, the houses and inns were rebuilt with brick facades<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/101348066-the-two-diamonds-public-house-stevenage-old-town-ward|title=The Two Diamonds Public House, Old Town, Hertfordshire|first=Good|last=Stuff|website=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk}}</ref> and tiled roofs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.ourstevenage.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/cms/Oxfam_Middle_Row_History.pdf|title=Oxfam Stevenage}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/herts/vol3/pp139-148|title=Parishes: Stevenage &#124; British History Online|website=www.british-history.ac.uk}}</ref> Troopers from the [[Hertfordshire Yeomanry]] assisted the firefighters in the operation.<ref>{{cite journal | url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44222686 | jstor=44222686 | title=Local Military Forces in Hertfordshire, 1793-1814 | last1=Busby | first1=J. H. | journal=Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research | date=1953 | volume=31 | issue=125 | pages=15–24 }}</ref>