ROMFORD, the capital of the Liberty of Havering-atte-Bower, and the head of a large Union, and of a Polling District, in the South Division of Essex, is an ancient and improving market-town, pleasantly situated on the banks of the small river Rom, and on the high road from London to Colchester. It has a station on the Eastern Counties Railway, and is 12 miles E.N.E. of Whitechapel, 6 miles E.N.E. of Ilford, 6 miles W.S.W. of Brentwood, and 17 miles S.W. of Chelmsford. Its parish was assessed to the property tax in 1843, at £17,763, and contains about 6,119 acres of land, of which 1,260 acres are tithe free. It increased its population from 3,179 in 1801, to 5,317 souls, in 1841; and now contains nearly 7,000 inhabitants, many houses having been erected in the town and suburbs, since the opening of the railway. David Mackintosh, Esq., is lord of the manor and liberty, as noticed at page 372, but the soil of the parish is freehold, and a great part of it belongs to Sir Thos. Neave, Bart., Lady Mildmay, the Warden and Fellows of New College, Oxford, Mrs. Alice Black, Octavius Mashiter, Esq., Mr. W. H. Tolbutt, and several smaller owners. The parish includes the hamlet of HARE STREET, from 1 to 2 miles E. of the town; COLLER ROW, 1 mile N.; and many scattered houses. GIDEA HALL, a large square brick mansion, with a well wooded park, and small lake, about a mile east of the town, is occupied by Mrs. Black and family, and belongs to Alfred Hamilton, Esq., and Mr. Wm.Neave, who derived it from the co-heiresses of the late Alex. Black Esq. Sir Thos. Cooke, who was deeply involved in the troubles of the wars of the roses, built part of the original castellated mansion, about 1465, and it was finished by his great-grandson, Sir Anthony Cooke, who entertained Queen Elizabeth here, in 1568, in one of her "progresses" through the Eastern Counties. Sir John Eyles, Bart., pulled down the old hall, about the year 1720, and erected the present handsome mansion on its site. He also formed the lake, and greatly improved the park. The estate has been held by the Elmes, Bird, Hethersale, and Styles families. In 1745, it was sold to the late Richd. Benyon, Esq., who resided here, and had been governor of Fort St. George. HARE HALL, on the south side of the road, opposite Gidea Hall, is a handsome mansion of Portland stone, which was built by its late owner, J. A. Wallenger, Esq., in 1769; but is now unoccupied, and belongs to the Eastern Counties Railway Company. In the pleasure grounds is part of a petrified tree, brought from the Isle of Portland. Marshalls, an old seat on the north side of the town, is the property of David Mackintosh, Esq. Priests, is the pleasant seat of Octavius Mashiter, Esq.; and the old manor house, called Stewards, belongs to Mr. W. H. Tolbutt. The latter was the seat of the Quarles family, in the 16th and 17th centuries, and in it was born Francis Quarles, the celebrated author of the Book of Emblems, who lost much of his property by his adherence to the cause of Charles I. Marks Hall, about 2 miles W.N.W. of the town, near Hainault Forest, has been uninhabited for many years, and belongs to Lady Mildmay. It has been long falling into decay, and has been held by the Hervey, and other families. In Hare Street, is REPTON COTTAGE, a tasteful dwelling, which was erected by the late Humphrey Repton, who attained great celebrity as a landscape gardener, and published several works on that