HERTFORD, county town of Hertfordshire, England, 24 m. N. from London. Pop. (1931) 11,376. Hertford was the scene of a synod in 673. Its communication with London by way of the Lea and the Thames gave it strategic importance during the Danish occupation of East Anglia. In 1066 and later it was a royal garrison and burgh. It made separate payments for aids to the Norman and Angevin kings; and in 1331 was governed by a bailiff. A charter of incorporation (1555) was confirmed under Elizabeth and in 1606. A grant of fairs in 1226 probably origi nated or confirmed those held in 1331 on the feasts of the Assump tion and of St. Simon and St. Jude, their vigils and morrows, which fairs were confirmed by Elizabeth and Charles II. Another on the vigil, morrow and feast of the Nativity of the Virgin was granted by Elizabeth : its date was changed to May-day under James I. Modern fairs are on the third Saturday before Easter, May 12, July 5 and Nov. 8. The modern churches of St. Andrew and of All Saints are on old sites ; the castle retains the wall and part of a tower of the Norman period. The town is one of several twin-towns in eastern England (see W. Page, Archaeologia, vol. lxix., 1918-19). Hertford has a considerable agricultural trade, and there are maltings and breweries. Brushes and gloves are also manufactured. Two miles S.E. of the town is Haileybury College, founded in 1805 by the East India Company for their civil service students, who were then temporarily housed in Hertford Castle.