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The town of Basingstoke is situate on the main line of the L. and S. W. R., forty-seven miles from London. There is a splendid service of trains to and from all parts of the country, and the Metropolis can be reached in less than an hour. The town is built on two slopes, the one running from the south towards the north, the other from the north towards the south. It is the centre of an agricultural district, the subsoil is chalk, and the air is very bracing.

Basingstoke is a very ancient borough, its history reaching back to the time of the Roman occupation of the country, traces of which are still to he found in the neighbourhood. But its history becomes clearer at the time of the Danish invasion, as it was the scene of a battle between the Danes and Ethelred, and numerous traces of those stirring times in English history still remain. After the Norman Conquest Basingstoke became a Royal manor, and in those early times it had a Church dedicated to St. Michael, probably on the site of the present Church. The town obtained considerable importance in the days of the Civil War, owing to its proximity to Basing House, which for more than two years was held by the fifth Marquis of Winchester on behalf of the King against the Parliamentary troops.

As to the extent of the population of the town in those days there is no record; but it must have been very small compared with what it is today. Indeed the principal growth of the population was during the latter half of the Nineteenth Century. At the beginning of that century the population was only 2,500, half way through it had risen to 4,260, but at the end of the century it was nearly 10,000, and by now that figure has been considerably exceeded. Much of the growth of the town is doubtless due to its position as a railway centre, the most important between London and Southampton. Indeed its growth has been to a large extent concurrent with the development of the railway service, the population having more than doubled since the railway was opened.

The municipal history of the town goes back to 1256, when King Henry III granted a charter' to the "Approved Men" of Basingstoke, which charter was confirmed by subsequent monarchs. James 1 granted on July 1st, 1622, a new charter, whereby two bailiffs and fourteen chief burgesses were appointed to manage the affairs of the town. Nineteen years later Charles I granted another charter, by which the form of government was altered to a Mayor, seven Aldermen, and seven Burgesses, with a High Steward, a Recorder, a Town Clerk, and two Sergeants-at-Mace. This continued till the passing of the Municipal Corporations Act in 1835, when the town became governed by four Aldermen and twelve Councillors, a Mayor to be annually elected from that number, the form of government which still prevails. The Town Clerk and the Sergeants-at-Mace remain, but the. High Steward and the Recorder are officials of the past. Before leaving this side of the town's history, it may be noted that for nearly seven hundred years Wednesday has been, and still is, the Market Day.

The oldest public buildings in the town are the fine old Parish Church, which still bears marks of the havoc wrought by the Cromwellian soldiers in the days of the Civil War, and the ruins of the ancient Chapel of the Holy Ghost, which stand in the centre of the public cemetery, adjoining the L. and S.W. Railway. Those of modern date comprise the Town Hall, Corn Exchange, Drill Hall, and Cottage Hospital (all of which have some connection with the subject of this volume), as well as several places of worship and large Elementary Schools.

The town is rapidly developing on all sides, and bids fair to become an important industrial and manufacturing centre; indeed its manufactures already find their way to all parts of the country. The surroundings of the town are very interesting and charming, both from an historical and a natural point of view, and although in the town itself there is still much to be desired, yet on the whole it will compare favourably with any other old town of its size in the kingdom, and in one respect it stands out prominently, viz., in its exceptionally low death rate.

However, the object of the writer is not to produce a history of Basingstoke or a treatise on its advantages or shortcomings, but rather to give the history of a family which has done much to make Basingstoke what it is today, and more particularly to speak of the last bearer of a name which will always be held in esteem in the old borough. In short, what the author has attempted is to tell as far as possible the story of the May family, and the part which members of that family have played in the public life of Basingstoke, in all its many phases, and the share they have taken in the larger sphere of County and National affairs.

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