The history of the Freemen of Huntingdon goes back to pre-Norman times: there were 256 Freemen in the Domesday Book (1086); only 54 in 1522; but 210 by 1705. Now there are only 10 left. They had the right to graze cattle on specific lands (e.g. in 1680 a Freeman could graze three cows, forty sheep and two horses).

Since the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835, the sons of Freemen, if born and living in the borough, became Freemen themselves at the age of 21 . In more recent years the Freemen did not keep animals themselves but rented the lands to others. The income from this, and the sale of hay and timber, was shared among the Freemen and their widows. Not a great deal of money – by 1977 it was about £300 a year each.

During the property boom in the 1980s some land was sold for development (including some of the Stukeley Meadows land) and the funds started to increase dramatically. Most controversially, a part of Spring Common was sold for about £2½ million - with the potential for the interest making a huge jump in the Freemen’s incomes.

A group of campaigners succeeded in bringing the whole subject to the High Court and in 1993 Lord Justice Morritt ruled that an entirely new charity -‘The Huntingdon Freemen’s Charity’ - should be set up, with its assets used for the benefit of all the people of Huntingdon. He set out what the money could be used for and how it should be administered. In particular new Trustees were appointed. They are regularly replaced by: nominations from each of the County, District and Town Councils and the remaining Freemen (until their numbers fall below eight); plus three co-opted Trustees.

The new charity has now been in operation for over 14 years and has total assets of over £13 million – but only the income can be spent.