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Isle of Ely
 
 
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The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely
Ely

Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge.Ely has been informally accounted a city by virtue of being the seat of a diocese....
 now in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a Counties_of_the_United_Kingdom#England in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex, England and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 but previously a county in its own right.

History Until the 17th Century, the area was literally an island surrounded by a large area of Fen
Fen

A fen is a type of wetland fed by surface and/or groundwater. Fens are characterized by their water chemistry, which is pH or alkaline. Fens are different from bogs, which are acidic, fed primarily by rainwater and often dominated by Sphagnum mosses....
 land, a type of swamp.






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The Isle of Ely is a historic region around the city of Ely
Ely

Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge.Ely has been informally accounted a city by virtue of being the seat of a diocese....
 now in Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a Counties_of_the_United_Kingdom#England in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex, England and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west....
, England
England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
 but previously a county in its own right.

Etymology


Its name is said to mean "island of eel
Eel

True eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 19 Family s, 110 genera and approximately 600 species. Most eels are predators....
s", a reference to the creatures that were often caught in the local rivers for food. This etymology was first recorded by the Venerable Bede.

History

Until the 17th Century, the area was literally an island surrounded by a large area of Fen
Fen

A fen is a type of wetland fed by surface and/or groundwater. Fens are characterized by their water chemistry, which is pH or alkaline. Fens are different from bogs, which are acidic, fed primarily by rainwater and often dominated by Sphagnum mosses....
 land, a type of swamp. The Fens were ultimately drained using a network of canals designed by Dutch experts.

The area's natural defences led to it playing a role in the military history of England. Following the Norman Conquest, the Isle became a refuge for Saxon forces under Earl Morcar, Bishop Aethelwine of Durham and Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake

Hereward the Wake , known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxons leader involved in resistance to the Norman conquest of England....
 in 1071. The area was only taken by William after a prolonged struggle. In 1139 civil war
The Anarchy

The Anarchy or The Nineteen Year Winter refers to a period of history of England during the reign of the Normans King, Stephen of England, which was characterised by civil war and unsettled government....
 broke between the forces of King Stephen
Stephen of England

Stephen often known as Stephen of Blois was a grandson of William I of England. He was the last Norman dynasty King of England, from 1135 to his death, and also the Count of Boulogne jure uxoris....
 and the Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda

Empress Matilda, also known as Matilda of England or Maude was the daughter and heir of King Henry I of England. Matilda and her younger brother, William Adelin, were the only legitimate children of King Henry....
. Bishop Nigel of Ely, a supporter of Matilda, unsuccessfully tried to hold the Isle. In 1143 Geoffrey de Mandeville
Geoffrey de Mandeville, 1st Earl of Essex

Geoffrey de Mandeville II, 1st Earl of Essex was one of the prominent players during the reign of King Stephen of England. His biographer, the 19th-century historian J....
 rebelled against Stephen, and made his base in the Isle. Geoffrey was mortally wounded at Burwell
Burwell, Cambridgeshire

Burwell is a large village in Cambridgeshire with a population of 5,833 . Burwell Lode runs along the western edge of the Village, with all land north and west of that being part of the area known as The Fens....
 in 1144.

In 1216, during the First Barons' War
First Barons' War

The First Barons' War was a combination of :* a civil war in the Kingdom of England, between :**the forces of a number of rebellious barons, led by Robert Fitzwalter, and...
, the Isle was unsuccessfully defended against the army of King John
John of England

John reigned as List of English monarchs from 6 April 1199, until his death. He succeeded to the throne as the younger brother of King Richard I of England, who died without issue....
. Ely took part in the Peasants' Revolt
Peasants' Revolt

The Peasants' Revolt, Tyler?s Rebellion, or the Great Rising of AD 1381 was one of a number of popular revolts in late medieval Europe and is a major event in the history of England....
 of 1381.

Administration

From 1107 until 1837 the Isle was under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Ely
Bishop of Ely

The Bishop of Ely is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Ely in the Province of Canterbury.The diocese roughly covers the county of Cambridgeshire , together with a section of north-west Norfolk and has its Episcopal see in the Ely, Cambridgeshire, where the seat is located at the Ely Cathedral....
, who appointed a Chief Justice of Ely and exercised temporal powers within the Liberty of Ely. This temporal jurisdiction originated in a charter granted by King Edgar
Edgar of England

Edgar I the Peaceful or the Peaceable was a king of England.Edgar was the younger son of Edmund I of England. His cognomen, "The Peaceable", was not necessarily a comment on the deeds of his life, for he was a strong leader, shown by his seizure of the Northumbrian and Mercian kingdoms from his older brother, Edwy, in 958....
 in 970, and confirmed by Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor

Saint Edward the Confessor , son of Ethelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxons List of the monarchs of the Kingdom of England and the last of the House of Wessex, ruling from 1042 until his death....
 and Henry I
Henry I of England

Henry I was the fourth son of William I the Conqueror. He succeeded his elder brother William II of England as King of England in 1100 and defeated his eldest brother, Robert Curthose, to become Duke of Normandy in 1106....
 to the abbot of Ely. The latter monarch established Ely as the seat of a bishop in 1107, creating the Isle of Ely a county palatine
County palatine

A county palatine is an area ruled by a count palatine with special authority and autonomy from the rest of the kingdom. In Feudalism times, counts palatine exercised royal authority, and ruled their counties largely independently of the king, though they owed allegiance to him....
 under the bishop. An act of parliament
Act of Parliament

An act of Parliament is a statute wikt:enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. It is broadly equivalent to an act of Congress in the United States....
 in 1535/6 ended the palatine status of the Isle, with all justices of the peace to be appointed by letters patent
Letters patent

Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of an open letter issued by a monarch or government, granting an office, right, government-granted monopoly, title, or status to a person or to some entity such as a corporation....
 issued under the great seal and warrants to be issued in the king's name. However, the bishop retained exclusive jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters, and was custos rotulorum
Custos rotulorum

Custos rotulorum , Latin for "keeper of the rolls", the keeper of the England county records, is by virtue of that office the highest civil officer in the county....
. A chief bailiff was appointed for life by the bishop, and performed the functions of high sheriff
High Sheriff

The High Sheriff is, or was, a law enforcement position in the United Kingdom, Canada and the United States. In England and Wales, the High Sheriff is an unpaid, partly ceremonial post appointed by The Crown through a Warrant from the Privy Council....
 within the liberty, who also headed the government of the city of Ely
Ely

Ely is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, England. It is 14 miles north-northeast of Cambridge.Ely has been informally accounted a city by virtue of being the seat of a diocese....
.

The Liberty of Ely Act, 1837 ended the bishop's secular powers in the Isle. The area was declared a division of Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire

Cambridgeshire is a Counties_of_the_United_Kingdom#England in England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the northeast, Suffolk to the east, Essex, England and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west....
, with the right to appoint justices
Justice of the Peace

A Justice of the Peace is a puisne judicial officer appointed by means of a letters patent to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice and deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions....
 revested in the crown. Following the 1837 Act the Isle maintained separate Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions

The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were periodic courts held in each county and county borough in England and Wales until 1972, when together with the Assize courts they were abolished by the Courts Act 1971 and replaced by a single permanent Crown Court of England and Wales for England and Wales....
, and formed its own constabulary.

Under the Local Government Bill
Local Government Act 1888

The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales....
 of 1888, which proposed the introduction of elected county council
County council

A County council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries....
s, the Isle was to form part of Cambridgeshire. Following the intervention of the local member of parliament
Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators....
, Charles Selwyn, the Isle of Ely was constituted a separate administrative county
Administrative counties of England

Administrative counties were a level of Subdivisions of England used for the purposes of local government from 1889 to 1974. They were created by the Local Government Act 1888 and abolished by the Local Government Act 1972....
 in 1889. The county was small in terms of both area and population, and its abolition was proposed by the Local Government Boundary Commission
Local Government Boundary Commission (1945 - 1949)

The Local Government Boundary Commission was established in 1945 to review the boundaries of local authority areas in England and Wales outside the Counties of County of London and Middlesex....
 in 1947. The report of the LGBC was not acted upon, and the administrative county survived until 1965. Following the recommendations of the Local Government Commission for England, on April 1, 1965 the bulk of the area was merged to form Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely
Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely

Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely was, from 1965 to 1974, an administrative county of England. In 1974 it became part of an enlarged Cambridgeshire....
, with the Thorney Rural District
Thorney Rural District

Thorney was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974, situated to the east of Peterborough.It was created under the Local Government Act 1894, covering the parishes of Thorney, Cambridgeshire and Stanground....
 going to Huntingdon and Peterborough
Huntingdon and Peterborough

Huntingdon and Peterborough was a short-lived administrative county in East Anglia in the United Kingdom. It existed from 1965 to 1974, when it became part of Cambridgeshire....
.

Subdivisions

In 1894 the county was divided into county districts, with the rural districts being Ely Rural District
Ely Rural District

Ely was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Ely, and surrounded it to the west and north. The district was created in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 from the Ely rural sanitary district....
, Thorney Rural District
Thorney Rural District

Thorney was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974, situated to the east of Peterborough.It was created under the Local Government Act 1894, covering the parishes of Thorney, Cambridgeshire and Stanground....
, Whittlesey Rural District
Whittlesey Rural District

Whittlesey was a rural district in the Isle of Ely from 1894 to 1926. It was created by the Local Government Act 1894 based on the Whittlesey rural sanitary district, and consisted of one civil parish - Whittlesey Rural....
, Wisbech Rural District
Wisbech Rural District

Wisbech was a rural district in Cambridgeshire in England from 1894 to 1974.It was formed from that part of the Wisbech rural sanitary district which was in Cambridgeshire, by the Local Government Act 1894....
, North Witchford Rural District
North Witchford Rural District

North Witchford was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after the ancient hundred of North Witchford.It was formed in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894 based on the North Witchford rural sanitary district....
, and the urban districts were Ely, March, Whittlesey
Whittlesey

Whittlesey is an ancient Fenland market town around six miles east of Peterborough in the county of Cambridgeshire in England. It has a population of around 15,000 ....
 and Wisbech
Wisbech

Wisbech is a market town and inland port with a population of about 20,000 in the The Fens area of Cambridgeshire. The tidal River Nene runs through the centre of the town and is spanned by two bridges....
 (the only municipal borough
Municipal borough

Municipal boroughs were a type of local government which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002....
). Whittlesey Rural district consisted of only one parish (Whittlesey Rural), which was added to Whittlesey urban district, in 1926.

A parliamentary constituency called Isle of Ely
Isle of Ely (UK Parliament constituency)

Isle of Ely was a constituency represented in the British House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, centred on the Isle of Ely in Cambridgeshire....
 was created originally as a two member seat in the First
First Protectorate Parliament

The First Protectorate Parliament was summoned by the Lord Protector Oliver Cromwell under the terms of the Instrument of Government . It sat for one term from 3 September 1654 until 22 January 1655 with William Lenthall as the Speaker of the British House of Commons....
 and Second Protectorate Parliament
Second Protectorate Parliament

The Second Protectorate Parliament in England sat for two sessions from 17 September 1656 until 4 February 1658, with Thomas Widdrington as the Speaker of the British House of Commons....
s from 1654 to 1659. The constituency was re-created with a single seat in 1918, but in the boundary changes of 1983 it was replaced by the new constituency of North East Cambridgeshire. Original historical documents relating to the Isle of Ely are held by Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies
Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies

Cambridgeshire Archives and Local Studies Service is a UK local government institution which collects and preserves archives, other historical documents and printed material relating to the modern county of Cambridgeshire, which includes the former counties of Huntingdonshire and the Isle of Ely....
 at the County Record Office in Cambridge
Cambridge

The city status in the United Kingdom of Cambridge is a College town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies about 50 miles north of London....
.

Coat of arms

The Isle of Ely County Council was granted a coat of arms
Coat of arms

A coat of arms, more properly called an armorial achievement, armorial bearings or often just arms for short, in European tradition, is a design belonging to a particular person and used by them in a wide variety of ways....
 on May 1, 1931. Previous to the grant the council had been using the arms of Diocese of Ely
Diocese of Ely

The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely....
: Gules, three ducal coronets, two and one or. In the 1931 grant, silver and blue waves were added to the episcopal arms, to suggest that the county was an "isle". The crest above the shield was a human hand grasping a trident around which an eel was entwined, referring to the popular derivation of "Ely". On the wrist of the hand was a "Wake Knot", representing Hereward the Wake
Hereward the Wake

Hereward the Wake , known in his own times as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile, was an 11th-century Anglo-Saxons leader involved in resistance to the Norman conquest of England....
.

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