LOCAL GOVERNMENT.
In the late 13th
century the lord of Netherhall manor had a gallows, and the lords of Netherhall, Upperhall and
the Rectory manors each enjoyed view of frankpledge, and the assizes of bread and of ale. (fn. 23)
There are court rolls and books for Netherhall
manor for 1563-4, 1583-1603, and 1650-1936,
and for Upperhall manor for 1571-1731 and
1832-1902, mostly dealing with copyhold transactions. (fn. 24) For Netherhall manor stewards were
named from 1583, by which time its court and
Upperhall's court, both styled courts baron,
issued ordinances for agricultural management,
and imposed fines for offences such as encroachments. Courts held annually from the mid 17th
century to the mid 19th mostly handled copyhold transfers, but still occasionally made orders
and received presentments.
Expenditure on the poor rose from £143 in
1776 to £264 in 1803, when 29 people received
outside relief. (fn. 25) Between 1813 and 1815 relief
costs fluctuated around £450; the number who
received out relief fell slightly from 44 to 39,
while those occasionally relieved rose from 21 to
28. In 1819 relief cost £562, but by 1821 had
fallen to £305. Between 1776 and 1821 the
amount spent yearly on poor relief, calculated
per head, was always above the average of neighbouring parishes and hundreds, but from 1821
until 1827 it was in line with the hundred
average, with between £305 and £380 being
spent. From 1827 until 1834 it rose above that
average, £659 being spent in 1829, falling to
£449 in 1834. From 1836 Hinton was included
in Chesterton poor-law union, from 1894 in
Chesterton rural district, and from 1974 in
South Cambridgeshire district. (fn. 26)
In 1894 ratepayers voted at a public meeting
against the county council's proposal to divide
the parish into two wards for the purpose of
electing a parish council. (fn. 27) In 1911 the southwestern portion of the parish, the 338 a. (134
ha.) in the ecclesiastical parish of St. John's, was
transferred to the borough of Cambridge, of
which the entire ancient parish became a ward
in 1931. (fn. 28) Coleridge ward was created in 1951
in the western half of the parish. In 1971 the
ward boundaries were reorganized following the
creation of Queen Edith's ward. Coleridge
ward's western boundary ran as far as the railway line, cutting across the original boundary of
Cherry Hinton parish, which was marked by
Rathmore, Derby, Lichfield, Gisborne, and
Montreal Roads. The Cherry Hinton Road
marked the boundary between Coleridge and
Queen Edith's wards. The western boundary of
Cherry Hinton ward, separating it from Queen
Edith's and Coleridge wards, followed Limekiln
Road and the brook. The north-east side of
Brooks Road and the eastern edges of Marmora
and Mill Roads, though part of the ancient
parish of Cherry Hinton, have since 1951 been
part of Romsey ward.