Hingham, Norfolk

Hingham is a market town and civil parish in the Forehoe district in the heart of rural Norfolk. Grand architecture surrounds the market place and village green. It was in the 18th century when the socialites of high society built and took residence in Hingham that it became fashionably known as "little London".

Hingham is 17 miles from Norwich, Norfolk’s county town. While many Hingham people now work in Norwich, commuting by car or bus, the town has maintained a strong base, providing work in a wide range of commercial work in its industrial estate on Ironside Way. A major employer in the parish is E. F. Shingfield & Sons, producers of Norfolk stuff. There are several other firms providing a variety of services to agriculture and industry.

The many and varied local shops have the special character of a small market town but are up-to-date in what they provide. Despite the influence and attractions of neighbouring Norwich, an active and independent town life continues to thrive and grow in Hingham.

The civil parish has an area of 14.98 km² and in the 2001 census had a population of 2078 in 944 households. For the purposes of local government, the parish falls within the district of South Norfolk.Office for National Statistics & Norfolk County Council (2001). " [http://www.norfolk.gov.uk/consumption/groups/public/documents/general_resources/ncc017867.xls Census population and household counts for unparished turban areas and all parishes] ". Retrieved December 2, 2005.]

In the early 17th century, a number of Puritan residents of Hingham, led by the former vicar of Hingham Robert Peck and his associate Peter Hobart, emigrated to the then colony of Massachusetts, where they founded the town of Hingham, Massachusetts. Peck had been censored by religious authorities for his Puritan practices, and his daughter had married the son of another well-known Puritan minister, John Rogers (c.1570–1636). [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=WJaMKDJwBY8C&pg=PA135&dq=hingham+norfolk+robert+peck+rogers&ei=09_WSIn0G6jitQPZ58TeDg&sig=ACfU3U1dZdZCaqaVaQxRUQQLDuU-QS9A4A Godly Reformers and Their Opponents in Modern England, Matthew Reynolds, Boydell Press, 2005] ]

Those parishioners who left Hingham with Peck and Hobart were so prominent in the community that the town was forced to petition Parliament for help, claiming that it had been devastated by the loss. Amongst their number were Samuel Lincoln, an ancestor of President Abraham Lincoln, as well as Edward Gilman Sr., ancestor of Nicholas Gilman, New Hampshire delegate to the Continental Congress and signer of the U.S. Constitution. Today the memorials to the family of Gilman, ancestors of those who came to America, are still visible in the St. Andrew's church in Hingham. [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=uRoNAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=The+church+heraldry+of+norfolk+hingham+gilman&source=gbs_book_other_versions_r&cad=1_1#PRA1-PA278,M1 The Church Heraldry of Norfolk: A Description of All Coats of Arms on Brasses, Monuments, Slabs, Hatchments &c., and now to be found in the county, Rev. Edmund Farrar, 1887] ] [ [http://books.google.com/books?id=EDFMAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA4-PA153&lpg=RA4-PA153&dq=history+gillman+gilman+family+alexander+epitaphs+hingham+church&source=web&ots=fdVRkYTT2R&sig=cIjG6EWH9iLYL3BIHEh5f8v8GwI&hl=en Searches Into the History of the Gillman or Gilman Family, Alexander Gillman, London, 1895] ]

References

External links

*oscoor|TG022021_region:GB_scale:100000|Map sources for Hingham.
* [http://www.origins.org.uk/genuki/NFK/places/h/hingham/ Information from Genuki Norfolk] on Hingham.
* [http://hingham-norfolk.4t.com/ The Hingham Norfolk Community Based Website]
* [http://hingham.phpbbnow.com/ The Hingham Norfolk Online Message Board and Forum]
* [http://apling.freeservers.com/Villages/HinghamWIarticle.htm History of Hingham]
* [http://www.norfolkchurches.co.uk/hingham/hingham.htm St. Andrew church, Hingham]
* [http://www.hingham.org.uk/ Hingham Town website]