Like Fivelingo, Hunsingo was originally a
Frisian region.
Ludger was assigned in 787 the mission areas including the regions of Hugmerthi (Humsterland), Hunusga and Fivilga. The monastery of
Fulda received in the ninth century a donation in Middelstum "in pago Hunergewe in regione fresonum". In 1057 the region of "Hunsingo" is mentioned as part of a county donated by the Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV, under the regency of his mother, to the Archbishop of Hamburg,
Adalbert. Before that, the Saxon noble house of
Brunonen had the fief of the county. In the eleventh century, coins were minted in Winsum, which suggests that Winsum was the capital of the region. In later times
Onderdendam became the central place of the region. The population always spoke an
East Frisian, but, by uniting the city of
Groningen with the surrounding district, East Frisian has merged with
Low Saxon (Platduuts) of the city, although the language of the surrounding countryside still retains a strong East Frisian substrate. In the 13th century laws were recorded in Latin or in the Hunsingoer dialect of East Frisian. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Hunsingo was the first member of the Ommelander Union. The most important place in Hunsingo, Winsum, was for a brief period where the Ommelander
jonkers held their meetings. Winsum was originally therefore a settlement with an urban character. The proximity of the city of Groningen, however, did not allow it the opportunity to become a real city. The region was originally divided into two or three subdistricts, which coincided with the oldest
seenddistricts (
sees or mother parishes). Of these the parishes of Usquert and Leens were the oldest: • Marne (capital
Leens) • Westerambt (
western district, chief town
Baflo, with the subdivisions Halfambt (north of the Winsumerdiep, capital
Baflo) and a southern half, which divided into Upgo or Ubbega (between Winsumerdiep and Reitdiep, capital Winsum) and Middag (south of the Reitdiep, capital Garnwerd) • Oosterambt (
eastern district, capital
Usquert) De Marne was originally part of the region Humsterland (Westerkwartier); however, the emergence of the Reitdiep and the exploitation of the underlying
peat led to it becoming a separate seenddistrict. The district, Middag, is also recognized in Westerkwartier since the sixteenth century. The peat area of Innersdijk (around Bedum) was separated from the Oosterambt around the fourteenth century, while De Marne in the fifteenth century temporarily disintegrated into an eastern and a western part. The various districts were characterized by considerable autonomy, the joint representatives gathered in Onderdendam, that was exactly on the border of the main subdivisions. In 1659 a new classification was ordered by the States General: • Marnsteradeel • Halfambsteradeel, consisting of the subdivisions Halfambt and Ubbega • Oostambtsteradeel, consisting of the subdivisions Oosterambt and Innersdijk Between 1830 and 1880, 5,900 people emigrated from Hunsingo, almost all going to the United States. This was two-thirds of all emigrations from the entire province of Groningen. Most of the emigrants from Hunsingo ended up in
western Michigan, followed by
Chicago and a smaller group going to
Lafayette, Indiana. Hunsingo was also the name of the water authority in the area, charged with the management of water levels, canals, dykes and storm barriers. The Hunsingo water board existed from 1856 to 1994 when it was merged into the
Noorderzijlvest water board. ==Character==