Huntingdon

Huntingdon, the county town of Huntingdonshire, on the left bank of the Ouse, and the Ermine Street of the Romans, 59 miles N. of London. It became the seat of a royal castle in 917, and was incorporated in 1189. It has breweries, brickworks, carriage-works, and nursery gardens. Here Oliver Cromwell was born (1599), and here the poet Cowper lived for a couple of years (1765-67); the chronicler, Henry of Huntingdon (q.v.), was Archdeacon of Huntingdon. With the municipal borough of Godmanchester (pop. 2095), on the opposite bank, it formed a parliamentary borough, returning till 1867 two members, till 1885 one. Pop. (1851) 3882; (1891) 4346.