An administrative subdivision of an English shire between the 10th century and the Local Government Act (1894), which established District Councils. Hundreds were probably based upon units of 100 hides. (A hide was a measure of land, calculated to be enough to support a family and its dependants, ranging from 25 to 50 ha. (60–120 acres) according to locality.) They did not exist in every shire. Their equivalents in the Danelaw were wapentakes, in Kent lathes, in Yorkshire ridings, and in Sussex rapes. The hundred court of freeholders met once a month to deal with military defence, private pleas, tax levies, and to prepare indictments for the royal justices. The hundred bailiff served the sheriff’s writs and the constable maintained law and order.