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PAST AND PPvESENT. 






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YORKSHIRE 



PAST AND PRESENT 



A IIISTOia' AND A DESCIUPTION OF 



THE THREE RIDINGS OF THE GREAT COUNTY OF YORK, 

FROM THE EARLIEST AGES TO THE YEAR 1875; 

WirU AN ACCOUNT OF ITS 

MANUFACTURES, COMMERCE, AND CIVIL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING. 

By THOMAS BAINES, 

AUTHOR OF " LANCASIIIILK AND CI IKSUi U4<'^AST AND I'lIKSKNT," ETC. 

INCLUDING 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE WOOLLEN TRADE OF YORKSHIRE. 

By EDWARD BAINES, M.P., 

AUT1II>K OF " TUh. IlISToIiY OF TlilC COTTON MAN Ut ACTU UK," KTC, ETC. 



VOL. H, 



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PAST AND PRESENT. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF HALIFAX. 

Haying, in a preYious section of this work, described the position 
and traced the history of the city of York, and given an account 
of the two great parhamentary and municipal boroughs of Leeds 
and Bradford, the chief seats of the woollen manufacture in or 
near to the valley of the river Aire, we next proceed to describe 
and trace the history of the four other great manufacturing towns 
of the West Eiding engaged in the same branch of national 
industry, situate on or near to the river Calder ; namely, Halifax, 
Huddersfield, Wakefield, and Dewsbury, all which places have 
risen to the rank and position of municipal and parliamentary 
boroughs during the present century. 

Halifax, which we propose to describe first, is the third manu- 
facturing town connected with the woollen trade of Yorkshire, 
which after a quiet and gradual progress of many ages has sprung 
up into great wealth and importance in the nineteenth century. 
Like Leeds and Bradford, Halifax owes its progress to the energy 
and skill with which great natural advantages for textile industry 
have been seized and applied by an industrious and ingenious 
population. The natural resources of the very extensive parish 
of which the town of Halifax is the chief place, consist of the 
abundant water-power furnished by the rapid, copious, and wind- 
ing river Calder, which rises in the mountains of the Pennine 
Chain or Backbone of England at a height of more than 1000 
feet above the level of the sea, beyond the western boundary of 
Yorkshire, and flows through the whole parish of Halifax from 
west to east ; of ten or twelve large brooks and rivulets discharg- 
ing their waters into the river Calder at different points in its 
course through this jAarish ; and of large beds of coal, iron, 
building stone, and other minerals, found in the adjoining hills 
and valleys.* Tlie town of Halifax stands on tlie banks of 

* Geolofrical Jlap of England and Wa'e8, by Andrew C. l.'ainsay, F.R.S. & <i.S., Local Diicctur of llie 
Geological Snrvcy ol Great Britain, I'rofissor of Gii.logy in tlie Government .Siliool of lliiies, London. Edward 
Stanford, Charing Cross. 

VOL. n. 2 V 



354 YORKSHIRE: 



the Hebble or Salterhebble, sometimes called Halifax Brook, one of 
the most abundarit of the streams whicli flow into the Calder join- 
ing it at Brooksraouth. Halifax is situated on the north-western 
edge of the great coal-field of Yorkshire ; and the coal district 
of Halifax contains from thirty to forty collieries, which yield 
amongst them about half a million tons of coal every year.* From 
tlie east of the town the coal measures extend over great part 
of the West Riding ; whilst on the west the rugged hills of the 
millstone grit formation reach to and beyond the borders of 
Lancashire, and send down their steep and rugged sides numerous 
streams into the valley of the Calder. The large supplies of coal 
found on the eastern side of the parish of Halifax furnish the 
means of producing or employing steam, fire, and machinery, the 
great moving powers of industry in modern times, as water-power 
and simpler machines were in earlier ages. 

Much the greater part of the land of the extensive parish of 
Halifax, covering an area of 82,539 acres 12 perches, of which 
302 acres 18 perches are under water, and t containing in the 
year 1871 upwards of one hundred and seventy thousand (173,313) 
inhabitants,;]: is naturally wild and barren, covered with heath and 
not with grass, except in the valleys, generally unfit for cultivation 
by the plough, and yielding superior herbage only along the banks of 
the river Calder and in a few favoured positions, which have been 
cultivated with industry and skill. But in the earliest times this 
hilly and even mountainous district was well suited for the rearing 
of the wilder breeds of cattle which roamed over it, with or without 
owners, down to the time of the Tudor kings, and also of a native 
breed of mountain sheep, yielding a very x^arm and thick wool, 
suited for the manufactures of the district. The Hardwick or 
Erdwick sheep, now bred chiefly on the loftier mountains of West- 
moreland and Cumberland, but which formerly grazed on the hills 
and mountains forming the Backbone of England, from the Trent 
to the Cheviots, were probably the native sheep of this district, and 
may have taken their name from the district known as the Forest 
of Hardwick, which commenced on the east, near the town of Hali- 
fax, and extended westward to the borders of Lancashire. Li early 
ages, when the transport of all kinds of raw materials was efi"ected 

* Mineral Statistics of tlie United Kingdom, 1S71. 

f Index to the Ordnance Survey of Yorkshire; West Riding, Table of Areas; Ilalifas parisli. 

:|; Census of England and Wale^, 1871. 



PAST AXJ) I'UESENT. 355 



l>y means of pack-lir.rso.s, and was vciy costly and difficult, especially 
in mountainous districts like this, the avooIIcu goods of Halifiix were 
no doubt -woven and spun from the wool of the native sheeji, and 
were fulled with rude machinery worked by the abundant A\ater- 
]uiwer of the adjoining streams. But about the time of the Tudor 
kings and quccns-^from 1485, the 1st Henry YIL, to 1G03, the 45th 
Queen Elizabeth — the woollen manufactures of Halifax, and of 
England generally, began to improve and extend rapidlj^, under the 
influence of better machinery introduced from Flanders; of internal 
]ieace and the security derived from wiser laws and a more firmly 
established public order ; and of the immense impulse given to 
commerce and manufactures by the discovery of America, and by 
the influx of gold and silver into this country from Mexico and Peru, 
in quantities never before known, in exchange for the manufactures 
of England. From that time the wool produced on the Yorkshire 
hills became insufficient to meet the demand of the looms of Halifax 
and the other manufacturing towns of the West Pdding ; supplies 
had then to be drawn from more distant parts of England, 
and ultimately from foreign countries. Halifax now began to 
rise from the position of a smaU market town or village, not 
containing a fixed population of more than from fifty to a hundred 
persons,'" to that of a trading town with some hundreds of inhabi- 
tants, which number slowly increased to a few thousands. From 
early times the markets of Halifax were held three days a week, to 
supply the wants of this extensive parish ; and yearly, on the feast 
of St. John the Baptist, fairs were held, which were frequented 
by the scattered population of the district extending from the 
boundaries of Bradford and Huddersfield to those of Kochdale 
and Burnley, as w^ell as by numerous strangers from difterent parts 
of Yorkshire, and from more distant parts of the kingdom. 

Many remains of the great military roads of the PLomans have 
been discovered, and may still be traced, in the parish of Halifax, 
besides a number of the older stone-works of the Britons. From 
veiy early times an ancient road, descriljcd as "the great road," 
ran through the parish; and when the learned Camden visited 
Halifax and the surrounding country a little before the year 1580, 
in the reign of (^»ueen Elizabeth, he believed that he liad found the 
bite of the Roman station of Cambodunum at Alnioiidbury, which 

* Tlie History and Antiquities of tlio I'.nisli of Halifax, in Yoik^liiic, lllu^tl•ated witb Copper- |ilates. By 
tlje Rev. Jolin Watsuii, M.A. London, 1775. 



356 YORKSHIRE: 



he desCTibes as six miles distant from Halifax, and as agi-eeing with 
the distances between Calcaria or Tadcaster on the north-east, and 
Mancunium or Manchester on the south-west, which are given to 
it in the Antonine Itinerary."" But tlie question of the position 
of Cambodunum has since been carefully examined, first by the 
Rev. John Watson, the historian of Halifax about a hundred years 
ago, and within the last few years by the Archgeological Society 
of Huddersfleld ; and its position is now placed, and has been laid 
down in the Ordnance maps,t six or eight miles south-west 
of Halifax, at Slack, on the borders of the two great parishes 
of Halifax and Huddersfleld. There several roads coming west- 
ward from the neighbourhoods of Halifax, Elland, Brighouse, 
Huddersfield, and Almondbury, join or approach each other at 
a point convenient for passing over the great range of the 
Pennine Chain, by Roman roads which can still be traced in 
the passes of the mountains. ;j: Some of these roads seem to 
have existed from the earliest ages, though frequently repaired 
or reconstructed ; and one or more of them no doubt follow the 
course of the Roman road described in the second Iter of Antoninus, 
which extended from the coast of Kent to the Caledonian Wall, 
and in its Avindings between Mancunium or Manchester and Ebora- 
cum or York, crossed the Pennine chain near Cambodunum. 

But nearly the whole of the present towns and villages in the 
parish of Halifax appear from their names to have been founded 
by the Anglian, that is, Teutonic conquerors of England, after the 
departure of the Romans from Britain. "One of the officers belong- 
ing to the lord of the manor was called a grave, from the Anglo- 
Saxon word 'gerefe' or the German 'graf,' originally an earl or 
count, but afterwards a collector of the lord's rents."§ In the 
Anglian times there were three graveships, or Saxon districts, at 
Fixby, Rastrick, and Hipperholme, in the parish. || In the words 
of the Rev. Mr. Watson, the " parish or vicarage of Halifax, in the 
West Riding of Yorkshire and Wapentake of Agbrigg and Morley, 
consists of twenty-six toAvnships or hamlets — namely, Barkisland, 
Brighouse, Elland, Erringden, Fixby, Greetland, Halifax, Hep- 
tonstall, Hipperholme, Langfield, Linley, Midgley, Northowram, 

* Camden's Britannia, Edition 1590, p. 558. 

t Ordnance Survey of York^liire. No. 88 in One-Inch Map. 

t Ordnance Survey of Yorksliiic. No. 88 in One-incli Map. 

§ Watson's Halifax, p. 13i. |1 Watson's Halifax, p. 205, 



PAST AND PRESENT. 357 



Norlaiul, Ovonden, Eastrick, Piisliwrntb, Stainland, Stausfield, Shelf, 
Skircoat, Sowerby, So}land, Southowrain, Waidey, and Wads- 
Avorth."""' The whole of the abuve names, with the exception of 
Ovenden, which Mi: Wat«on derives from the British words "avon" 
and " den," meanino- the river dale, appear to be derived from the 
Eno'lish lano-unge, in the form in whicli it was first spoken or 
wrlttea in this part of England, with the exception of the words 
ending in "by," "holme," "stall," and one or two others, which 
are probably of Norse or Danish origin. t 

The origin of the name of Halifax, which is not only that of 
a large town, but of the most extensive parish in Yorkshire, has 
given rise to much controversy. Camden, whose authority is justly 
great amongst topographers, was informed when he visited this 
neighbourhood in the time of Queen Elizabeth, that the original 
name of what is now called Halifax was Horton, and that Halifax 
was a comparatively recent name, derived from the two Anglian words 
'■halig" and "fax," meaning the "Holy Halr."| But there is no 
other evidence that the present Halifax w-as ever called Horton ; 
and what renders it very improbable that it should have been 
so named is that there are two townships of that name, Great and 
Little Horton, in the adjoining parish of Bradford. Moreover, 
Camden was mistaken in supposing that Halifax was a recent 
name, for the church of Halifax is mentioned in deeds and records 
of the time of the Norman kings, and cei-tainly not later than the 
middle of the twelfth century. This was at least 500 years 
before Camden's visit to Halifax, and 800 years previous to the 
present time. 

AYith regard to the origin of the name of Halifax, the Eev. 
John Watson, a good Anglo-Saxon scholar, who resided at Halifax 
about the middle of the last century, and whose History of 
that town and parish is justly admired for the learning and 
judgment which it displays, makes the following observations :— 
" How long Halifax has been called by its present name, or how it 
originally got the name, is a little uncertain. Camden, and on his 
authority several others, have told us that it is 'of no great 
antiquity,' for that 'not many ages since' it was called Horton; 
and that the iuhabitants accamted for the change in the name by 

♦ Walsim's Ilalif.ix, p. 1. 

t U.t of Yorksliire Names of Anglo-Saxon, Frisian and Dani.-l, Origin, in first volu.nc of tin. Work. 

JCaindcn'a Britannia, Lalin Editii,n, 1590, p. 088. 



358 YORKSHIRE : 



the story of a young woman there, who, having rejected the unlaw- 
ful solicitations of one of the monks, he cut off her head, which was 
afterwards hung up in a yew tree, and by the credulous vulgar was 
looked upon as holy. Of this the clergy taking the advantage, 
improved the fallacy into a miracle, and persuaded the people that 
the little veins, which like hairs were spread between the bark and 
the tree, were the very hairs of the virgin. This caused such a 
great resort of pilgrims to it that from the little village of Horton 
it became a large town, and assumed the new name of Halig-fax 
or the holy hair, for " fax " he (Camden) observes, is (or was) used 
by the English, on the north side of Trent, to signify ' hair ' ; hence 
the noble family of Fairfax in Yorkshire were so called from their 
fair hair." 

To this wonderful story Mr. Watson very reasonably demurs, not 
only on the ground of the excessive improbability of the legend 
from which the name is said to be derived, but also because 
Camden's account of the time at which the supposed new name was 
given, does not at all agree with what is known from ancient deeds 
of the time at which that name was in common use. " This 
relation," says Mr. Watson, "our author (Camden) had from some 
of the inhabitants ; but it is something strange that so judicious an 
antiquary should give such entire credit to it, for some paxi:s of the 
story are very suspicious and others untrue. At the time of the 
Norman survey (1084-86) we meet with no name at all of this place, 
for there is not the least mention of it in Domesday Book, though 
several places are mentioned in the neighbourhood. Supposing 
therefore the above story to be true, the date of it must be fixed 
subsequent to that event, or as our author has expressed himself, 
' not many ages since.' I take Camden to have been in these parts 
a little before the year 1580 (:Z2nd and 23rd Elizabeth), and it was 
therefore a sort of contradiction for him in one place to say that, 
'not many ages before,' it grew up from a little village to a large 
town, and in another place, that about the year 1443 there were 
but in Halifax thirteen houses. Be that as it will, we find 
William, Earl Warren, who died in 1138, giving the church here to 
the monks of Lewes, in Sussex, by the express name of Ecclesia 
de Halifax, almost .500 years before Camden's 'Britannia' made 
its appearance. It cannot, therefore, be true that the name is of 
no great antiquity ; and this very much invalidates the credit of 
the whole story, which is authenticated by no record, and depends 



PAST AND PRESENT. 359 



entiivly on tnulition.'' Mr. Watson then piouueds to give another 

origin of the name lIaUf;i\-, still founding it on the old Anglian 

words "halig" and " flix," which he says signified the "holy 

flice," and arose from the belief that there was a relic in the 

chapel that formerly st(.)od (if it does not still stand) on part of 

the site of the parish church of Halifax, which was supposed to 

possess much sanctity, and to lie nothing less sacred than a 

portion of the face of John the Baptist. This opinion was put 

forth by the author of the book called " Halifax and its Gibbet 

Law," published in 1708; it was also adopted, as rather less 

improbable than the tradition preserved by Camden, by the 

Rev. Mr. "Wright, the author of a subsequent history of Halifax, 

piublished about the year 1736 ; and it receives a certain amount of 

suf)port in Mr. Watson's excellent "History of Halifax" published 

in the year 1775. He states that the parish church of Halifax 

has been dedicated to St. John Baptist from the earliest ages ; 

that there are still the remains of an ancient chapel, which may 

have been a hermitage, within the church ; and that the word 

"fax" did meair a face, in the old Anglian language of Yorkshire, 

as well as hair, and may therefore form the syllable required to 

complete the name of Halifax, which would thus mean the " holy 

face." But an entirely different derivation of this name has since 

been devised by the Ptev. Dr. Thomas Dunham Whitaker in his 

history of the Yorkshire district of " Loidis and Elmete." He 

combines with the two first syllables, " halig," which are evidently 

Anglian, a third syllable of "voies," of Norman origin, and which 

in course of time had, he fancies, been converted into " fax," being 

the last syllable in the name of Halifax. As a case in point he 

states that the word Carfax, the name of a well-known street 

at Oxford, was derived from the Norman words Quatre-voies, and 

supposes that the name of Hafifax had also been so transformed 

after the Norman conquest. But Hafifax must certainly have had a 

name before as well as after the Norman conquest, the more 

especially as it is the largest parish in Yorkshire. Halifax in its 

present form was no doubt the name a few yeai^s after the Conquest; 

and as botli tlie words " halig " and " fax " are genuine English 

words, and are found in the p<jems of C;odmon several hundred 

years before the Normans" made their appearance in England, 

we are disposed to think that they spring from the old English 

• Cffidrnon's Purms. See vol. i. of this Work. 



3G0 YORKSHIRE : 



language, wLicli is found in the names of a hundred places in the 
parish of Halifax, and not from the Anglo-Norman, of which we 
find very few traces in this then wild and secluded district. The 
legends above referred to are scarcely worth discussing ; but the 
church of Halifax has always been sacred to St. John the Baptist, 
and was probably supposed to contain some relics connected 
with him. 

Although neither the manor, church, nor the town of Halifax 
is mentioned by name in Domesday Book, which was drawn up 
about twenty years after the Norman conquest, yet seven or 
eight of the townships in this ancient parish are described in 
it by names differing little from their modern forms.'"' There is, 7 J 

indeed, ample evidence from early records that not only the 
parish of Halifax, but nearly the whole valley of the Calder, 
and the hills on both sides of it, were at that time "terra regis," 
and were in the hands of William the Conqueror himself, as 
part of his great lordship of Wakefield, which extended, Avith a 
few small exceptions, over the whole vale of the Calder. t The 
possessions of the Conqueror in Yorkshire at that time included 
upwards of 300 manors or lordships, forming part of the still 
greater estates of the crown, which then comprised altogether 
upwards of 1200 manors in different parts of England, and are 
said to have produced an income of 1000 lbs. of silver daily, equal 
to about £15,000 a day of modern money. The whole lordship 
of Wakefield, and most of the manors in the valley of the Calder, 
had been " terra regis " in the reign of Edward the Confessor, 
and had passed at the time of the Conquest into the hands of 
the Norman king. But although Halifax formed a portion of the 
estates held by the king at the time when the Domesday survey 

* W:itson's Halifax. 

f Mr. Watson say<, " In order to give a proper account of the manor of Halifax it will be necessary, in some 
measure, to describe that of Wakefield, of which Halifax is only a parcel. The manor of Wakefield is very 
extensive, the greatest part of the country west from Normanton, four miles east of Wakefield, to Lancashire 
belonging to it, being more than thirty English miles in length. It contains 118 towns, villages, or hamhts, 
of which Wakefield and Ilalitax are the chief." "It must be observed," adds Mr. Watson, " tljat at Halilax 
there has of long standing been a manor within a manor. In Kiikby's inquest, being an inquisition taken by 
John de Kirkby, treasurer to King Edward I., and his fellows, commissioners assigned to inquire of the fees 
holden in chief in the county of York of the said king, and the rents of assize then due to him, being the 
twenty-fourth year of his reign, the piior of Lewes was found to hold Halifax; this must have been then by 
grant from some of the earls of Warren. To this priory it continued to belong till the dissolution thereof by 
King Henry VIII. The last court which the prior and convent held here, Wright (b. iii.) says, was April '24, 
1537, after which the king became lord of tliis manor, and held his court January following, by Sir Henry 
Suvile, Knight, and John Green, stewards." 



PAST AND TRESENT. 361 



was made in 1084-86, it soon passed into the hands of one of his 
great Norman followers. Soon after the Domesday survey either 
the Conqueror, ^\■ho died a year or two after it was completed, 
or one of his two sons, William Eufus or Henry I., granted the 
lordship of Wakefield, including the present towns of Halifax and 
Dewsbury, to one of the earls of Warren, the first of whom had 
married a daughter of the Conqueror.* The lordship of Wake- 
field, Mith the manor of Halifax, remained in the hands of the 
succeeding earls of Warren, eight in number, for a period of 
nearly 300 years after the Norman conquest. But in the year 
1347, the 21st Edward III., John, the eighth and last earl of 
Warren, died without lawful issue. At his death the lordship 
of Wakefield, with the great castle of Sandal near that town, 
and the still stronger castle of Conisbro' on the river Don, 
together with the towns and manors of Halifax, Wakefield, and 
Dewsbury, and all the other possessions of the earls of Warren to 
the north of the river Trent, were granted by King Edward HI. 
to his own youthful son, Edmund Plantagenet. He was known 
as Edmund of Langley from the place of his birth, was created 
earl of Cambridge by his father, and was afterwards raised to 
the new honour of duke of York by his cousin. King Kichard II. 
This was the commencement of the power and wealth of the dukes 
of York of the royal race of Plantagenet, the great rivals of the 
house of Lancaster in subsequent conflicts for the crown. The 
descendants of Edmund of Langley held the dukedom of York, with 
occasional interruptions arising out of the wars of York and Lan- 
caster, until the time when Edward IV., the hero of that race, 
succeeded in seizing on the throne of England. After the over- 
throw of King Richard III. in the battle of Bosworth Field, and 
the accession of Henry VII., the great estates both of York 
and Lancaster passed into the hands of the kings and queens of 
the Tudor race. Soon after that time they were broken up and 
divided — the manor of Halifax, amongst others, passing first into 
the hands of Thomas Cromwell, earl of Essex, the fiwourite 
councillor of Henry VIII. ; then into those of Anne of Cleves ; 
afterwards into those of several members of the good old Halifax 
family of the Waterhouses ; and ultimately into those of Sir Arthur 
Ingram, Bart., whose descendants, ennobled as Viscounts Irwin, 
have held it almost to the present time. 

' Watsoi's Halifax. 

2 z 



VOL. n 



362 YORKSHIRE : 



Although much the largev portion of the valley of the Calder 
and of the manors along its banks was held by the crown, at the 
time of the Domesday survey, as part of its lordship of Wakefield, 
and though the whole of that extensive loi-dship was soon after 
granted to the earls of Warren, we fiud from the Domesday record 
that the still gieater estates of the most warlike and powerful 
family of De Laci, who were the lords of the castles of Pontefract 
and Clitheroe and of about 150 manors in the county of York, 
extended very close to the river Calder at two or three points, 
namely, at Southowram near Halifax, and Elland on the Calder; 
and that at Huddersfield and Almondbury they stretched beyond 
that river. At those points the estates of the De Lacis were inter- 
locked with the possessions of the crown in the valley of the Calder 
at the time of the Domesday survey, and afterwards with those of 
the earls of Warren. The object of this arrangement probably was 
to give additional strength to the crown and to its great military 
retainers at those im^iortaut points, and thus more effectually to 
secure to them the command of the i^oads, the fords, and the 
bridges (if any bridges existed in this then thinly peopled country) ; 
thus enabling them to keep open the commtmication from east 
to west across this part of the kingdom, and more especially 
from the city of York, the great fortress of the north, to Chester, 
the bulwark of the north-west. With a view to this object 
the strongest position held by the De Lacis at the time of the 
Domesday survey was at Heptonstall, at the point whei-e the 
river Hebden falls into the Calder — a position of great natural 
strength, from which they commanded the whole of the upper 
part of the valley of the Calder, and were within a very short 
distance of the mountain passes lying between that river and the 
river Roch, which flows down into Lancashire through Rochdale. 

Our princijDal information with regard to the early history of 
the parish and manor of Halifax under the Norman and Planta- 
genet kings and the earls of Warren, is derived from the muni- 
ments of the priory of Lewes, in the county of Sussex, which 
was founded by the first earl of Warren and by his countess, a 
daughter of William the Conqueror. Either then or soon after, 
one of the earls of Warren settled upon the priory of Lewes the 
churches of Wakefield, Halifax, and otlier parishes in Yorkshire. 
According to Sir William Dugdale, this settlement was made by 
the first earl of Warren, who died in 1088. That is only two 



PAST AND PRESENT. 3G3 



years after the tlmo when the 1 )()inoR(Liy survey was com])letecl ; and 
as there is no mention of the ehurch of IlaUfax in that record, 
it AA'as thought by the Eev. Mr. Watson, who investigated this 
question with great eare, that tlie settlement may have bHeii made 
by the seeond earl of Warren, who died in the year 11:38, the third 
year of the reign of the Conqueror's nephew, King Stephen. But 
even this date has been questioned by Hunter, the historian of 
Sheffield and l)oncaster, and an antiquary of the highest standing, 
who quotes a grant of the churches of Halifax and Wakefield 
without any date from the chart ulary of the priory of Lewes, made 
in the presence of several witnesses, including Archbishop Theobald, 
which renders it probable that the grant was made by the third 
earl of Warren, and subsequent to the year 1138, in which 
the second earl died. But there is no doubt that the church of 
Halifax, in its present name, was granted by one of the earls of 
Warren in the time of the Nortnan kings to the priory of Lewes, 
and that it was held by it down to the time of the Reformation. 
The vicarage of Halifax was established, as we are informed by Islr. 
Watson, in the year 1273.* 

Manufactures and Population of HaUfax in Early Times. — 
The woollen manufacture, always the great source of wealth and 
employment in this part of Yorkshire, seems to have been 
established in the parish of Halifax at a very early period. Mr. 
Watson mentions in his " History of Halifax " that he had a copy of 
a court roll, dated at the court of the prior of Lewes held at 
HaUfax on the Thursday next after the feast of St. Thomas, in the 
second year of Henry V., 1414, wherein Richard de Sunderland 
and Joan his wife suiTendered into the hands of the lord of the 
manor an inclosure in Halifax, called the Tenter Croft.t He also 
mentions that two fulling mills were erected at Rastrick in the 
same parish about the 17th Edward IV., 1477-78. These facts 
show a considerable advance in the manufacture of woollen cloth 
at that time, and we know from other sources that both employ- 
ment and population began to increase very rapidly about the 
middle of this the fifteenth century. But nearly 200 years earlier 
there must have been very considerable sources of wealth in the 
parish of Halifax, though most of them prolxibly were derived from 
the grazing of cattle and sheep, and the wool yielded by the latter. 
So early as the years 1291-92 we have a valuation of the several 

• Watson's History of Iliilifax, p. :;:i7. f Ibid. p. CO. 



3C4: YOKKSHIfiE ; 



church hvings in the West Hiding, made by order of King Edward I. 
with the concurrence of Pope Nicholas IV., from which it appears 
that the vahie of the tithes of the church and vicarage of HaHfax 
was at that time higher than that of the tithes of Leeds, Bradford, 
Huddersfield, or any other of the great parishes in this part of the 
West Riding. At that time the vahie of the income of the churcli 
of HaUfax yearly w^'as £93 6s. 8d., '"' and that of the vicarage, which 
was separate from the rectory, was £16. These sums may be taken 
as amounting together in round numbers to £120 of the money of 
that time. But in that age £120 meant a weight of 120 lbs. of 
silver, of 12 ozs. to the pound; and in addition to that it must be 
remembered that silver was then three times as valuable, weight 
for weight, as it has been since the discovery and the working of 
the silver mines of Mexico and Peru. Hence this sum of £120 
of the reign of Edward I., which was the then yearly value of the 
church and vicarage of Halifax, would be equal to from £1800 to 
£2000 in the money of this time ; and if it only formed a tenth part 
of the value of the produce of the parish of Halifax, the value of 
the whole would be something like £18,000 to £20,000 per annum. 
When it is considered that the parish extends over an area of 
82,000 acres, this is not at all incredible. 

With regard to the population of Halifax, in the earliest 
times at which we can obtain any light on the subject, which is 
about the year 1442, the 20th Henry VL, the Rev. Mr. Watson 
observes, in his " History of Halifax," p. 147 : — " But the most strik- 
ing instance of the increase of inhabitants in this neighbourhood is 
from an old paper in my possession, which I shall here faithfully 
transcribe. ' By this imderwritten you may gather the great encrese 
of bowsing and people within the town of Halifax in not many 
years by paste, written by John Waterhouse of Shibden, and some- 
time Lord of the Manor of Hahfax. Note. — There is in Hahfax, 
this year 1566, of householders that keeps fires and answers Mr. 
Vicar in his fermours (farmers) of dutyes as housholders, twenty and 
six score (520), and no more, as I am credibly informed ; and in the 
time of John Waterhouse, late of Halifax deceased, who died at 
Candlemass twenty-six years agoe, at his death being very near 100 
years of age (I trow three years under), and when he was but a child 
there were but in Halifax in all thirteen houses' (or families, say, of five 
each — sixty-five persons in all.) ' God be praised for his increase.' " 

• See vol. ii. of thib Work. [i. 250. 



PAST AND PKESENT. 365 



The progress of the ^v<l(>lle^ manut'auture of Ilalifix, including 
town and parish, is wry rlcarly sliowu in tta^ preainblc of an Act 
of Parliament of the r)tli Philip and Mary, 1555, which was passed 
by Parliament for the rehet' oF tlie ^\■eavers of PlaliCax, by exempting 
them from the operation of a, general Act of the previous year, 
reo-ulatino- the sale of ^\■o<A, and confinino- it to the wealthier class 
of staplers. These persons, it appea.rs, did not sell w(jol in sufficiently 
small quantities to suit the small weavers of the parisli of Halifax. 
Hence the preamble, in providing a remedy, recites as follows : — 
•■ Forasmuch as the parish of Halifax and other places thereunto 
adjoining, being planted on great wastes and moors, where fertility 
of the ground is not apt to bring forth any corn nor good grass 
but in rare places and by exceeding and great industry of the 
inhabitants ; and the same inhabitants altogether do live by cloth- 
making, and the great part of them neither getteth corn, nor is able 
to keep a horse to carry wools, nor yet to buy much wool at once, 
but hath ever used only to repair to the town of Halifax, &c., and 
there to buy upon" (from) "the wool-driver" (or dealer), "some a 
stone, some two, and some three and four, according to their ability, 
and to carry the same to their houses, some three, four, five, and six 
miles off, upon theh head and backs, and so to make and convert the 
same either into yarn or cloth, and to sell the same, and so to buy 
more wool of the wool-driver" (dealer); "by means of which industry 
the barren grounds in those parts be now much inhabited, and 
above 500 households there newly increased within these forty years 
past, which are now likely to be undone and driven to beggary by 
reason of the late estatute (5th Edward YI. c. 7, 1553) that taketh 
away the wool-drivers" (or retailers of wool), "so that they" (the 
weavers) "cannot now have their wool by such small portions as 
they were wont to have ; and that also they are not able to keep 
any horses whereupon to ride, or fet" (fetch) "their wool further 
from them in other places, unless some remedy may be provided. 
It is therefore enacted tliat it shall be lawful to any person or 
persons inhabited within the parish of Halifax, to buy any wool or 
wools at such time as the clothiers may buy the same, otherwise 
than by engrossing and f jrestalling, so that the persons so buying 
the same do carry or cause t(.. be carried the said wools so bought 
by them to the town of Halifax, and there to sell the same to such 
poor folks of that and other ])arishes adjoining as shall w^ork the 
same into cloth or yarn to theh knowledge, and not to the rich 



366 YORKSHIRE : 



and -wealthier clothier, nor to any other to sell again. Offenders 
against this Act to forfeit double the value of the wool so sold. 
Justices of Peace to hear and determine the offences." * 

The Criminal Law of Halifax and of the adjoining Forest of 
Hardwicl-c. — From a very early age the town of Halifax was the 
seat of a criminal jurisdiction extending over the neighbouring 
district, known by the name of the Forest of Hardwick. The 
bailiff of Halifax presided at the sittings of this court, supported 
by four jurymen of Halifax, and four others from each of the town- 
ships in which the offence under trial by the court was said to 
have been committed. A similar jurisdiction and mode of punish- 
ment seem to have existed at other places in very early times, 
although they went out of use sooner there than they did at Halifax. 
The Halifax gibbet law, like the laws of Draco, had only one 
punishment — namely, that of death; and that punishment was 
inflicted by decapitation, or beheading, on all felons convicted of 
stealing, especially cloth exposed on the tenters, in the Forest 
of Hardwick, of the value of 13^c?. in the money of that time.t 

The best account of the stern jurisdiction of the gibbet law of 
Halifax is found in Defoe's account of Halifax contained in his 
"Tour through the whole Island of Great Britain." "I must not," 
he says, " quit Halifax till I give you some account of the famous 
cou.rse of justice anciently executed here, to prevent the stealing of 
cloth. Modern accounts pretend to say it was for all sorts of felonies, 
but I am well assured it was first erected purely, or at least princi- 
pally, for such thieves as were apprehended stealing cloth from the 
tenters ; and it seems very reasonable to think it was so, because 
of the conditions of the trial. The case was thus : the erecting of 
the woollen manufacture here was about the year 1485" (or rather 
its revival and rapid extension, after the long wars of York and 
Lancaster), "when King Henry VIL, by giving encouragement to 
foreigners to settle in England, and to set up woollen manufactures, 

* Watson's Plalifax, 1775. 

•f According to the earliest local history of Halifax and its gibbet law, the Forest of Hardwick, which nearly 
corresponded in its limits with the parish of Halifax, " had its beginning on the west from the bounds dividing 
the counties of York and Lancaster ; on the east from Salterhebble Brook, as the same runneth from lUing- 
worth" (down by the town of Halifax) "to tlie river Calder; on the north it bordered on the vicarage (or 
parish) of Bradford ; and on the south on the rivers of Riburn and Calder, and contained within its circuit the 
following towns and hamlets : — Halifax, Ovenden, Illingworth, Mixenden, Bradshaw, Skircoat, Warley, Sowerby 
Rishworth, Luddenden, Midgley, Erringden, Heptonstall, Eottenstall, Stanfield, Cross-stone, and LangBeld," to 
which Jlr. Wright adds Wadsworth. Mr. Watson gives a fuller and more precise account of the Forest of 
Hardwick, and also of the Forest of Sowerbyshire connected with it. 



PAST AND PRESKNT. 367 

caused an Act to pass prohibiting the exportation of wool into 
foreign parts unw rough t, and to encourage foreigners" (chiefly 
Flemish weavers) " to come and settle here ' (this had als(j been 
done in a previous century by Edward III). "Of these, several 
coming over settled the manufactures of various kinds of cloth in 
different parts of the kingdom, as they found the people tractable 
and as the country best suited them ; as, for instance, the cloth 
named bays at Colchester ; the says at Sudbury ; the broadcloth 
in AYilts and other counties, and the trade of kersies and narrow 
cloth, at this place" (Halifax), "and other adjacent towns. When 
this trade began to settle nothing was more frequent than for young 
workmen to leave their cloths out all night" (and indeed for many 
days and nights) " upon the tenters ; and the idle fellows would 
come in upon them, and tearing it off without notice, steal the 
cloth. Now, as it was absolutely necessary to preserve the trade 
in its infancy, this severe law was made, giving the power of life 
and death so far into the hands of the magistrates of Halifax, as to 
see the law executed upon them. But the power was not given 
unless in one of these three plain cases, namely, hand-having, back- 
bearing, or tongue-confessing. This being the case, if the criminal 
was taken he was brought before the magistrate of the town, and 
those who were to judge and sentence and execute the offender, or 
to clear him, within so many days. Then there were frithborghs 
(or jurors) also to judge of the fact, who were to be good and 
sober men, and by the magistrates of the town to be approved as 
such. If these acquitted him he was immediately discharged ; if 
those censured (convicted) him nobody could reprieve him but the 
town. The manner of execution was very remarkable ; the engine, 
indeed, is can-ied away, but the scaffold on which it stood is there 
to this time (172 7), and may continue for many ages, being not 
a frame of Avood but a square building of stone, with stone steps to 
go up, and the engine itself was made in the following manner." 

The execution was performed by means of an engine called 
gibbet, which was raised upon a platform four feet high and thirteen 
feet square, fliced on every side with stone, and ascended l)y a flight 
of steps. In the middle of this platform were placed two upright 
pieces of timber, fifteen feet high, joined at the top by a ti-aus^erse 
beam. Within these was a square block of wood four and a half 
feet long, which moved up and down by means of grooves made for 
that purpose; and to the lower part of this sliding block was 



a 



368 YORKSHIRE: 



fastened a sharp iron axe of the weight of seven pounds twelve 
ounces. The axe thus fixed was drawn up to the top of the grooves 
by a cord and pulley. At the end of the cord was a pin, which, 
being fixed to the block, kept it suspended till the moment of 
execution, when the culprit, having placed his head on the block, 
the pin was withdrawn, the axe fell suddenly and violently on the 
criminal's neck, and his head was instantly severed from his body. 
"The force of this engine," says Defoe, "is so strong, the head of 
the axe being loaded with a weight of lead to make it fall heavy, 
and the execution so secure, that it takes away all possibility of its 
failing to cut off the head." It is said that the celebrated Douglas, 
earl of Morton, who was regent of Scotland during the reign of 
our Queen Elizabeth, in passing through Halifax saw one of their 
executions, and was so much struck with the thoroughness of the 
work that he caused a model to be made of the Halifax axe and 
scaffold, and to be sent to Scotland. The story adds that he was 
himself the first person put to death in Scotland by this instru- 
ment, which seems to have closely resembled the modern guillotine 
introduced in France about the time of the Pteign of Terror, 
and still used in inflicting capital punishment in that country. 
So great was the terror excited by this sanguinary instrument in 
former times, that the thieves had a gTaceless prayer which ran — 

" From Hull, Hell, and Halifax, 
Good Ijord, deliver us : " 

Hull also being a place where very sharp and short justice was 
dealt out to criminals. 

The last execution under the criminal law of Halifax took place 
in the time of the Commonwealth, in the year 1650, when three 
prisoners were tried there, named Abraham Wilkinson, John Wil- 
kinson, and Anthony Mitchell.'" The jury that tried them consisted 
of sixteen men; four of Halifax, and four each of Warley, Sowerby, 
and Skircoat. The prisoners were charged with taking off and 
stealing fi-om the tenters of Samuel Colbeck of Warley, in the 
parish of Halifax, sixteen yards of russet-coloured kersey cloth ; the 
first and second of them were also charged with stealing a black 
colt belonging to John Cusforth of Durker, in Sandal parish (close 
to the town of Wakefield), and also with stealing a whole piece of 
kersey cloth at Brierley Hall. Evidence was heard, and the trial 

* Bently's Halilax and its Gibbet Law placed in its True Light, p. 55. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 3G9 

seems to have been fairly conducted. Two of the prisoners, namely, 
Abraham Wilkinson and Anthony ]\litchell, were found guilty, but 
the thu'd was acquitted ; and the same day, " because it was Satur- 
day, or the great market," the two former were sentenced to suffer 
death by having their heads severed and cut off their bodies, 
which punishment was carried out in the usual form. This was the 
last capital punishment inflicted in this manner and under this law. 
It occurred in the year immediately after the beheading of King 
Charles I., and it is not improbable that the horror inspired by the 
execution of the king may have given the final blow to it. 

Halifax in the Feign of Queen Elizabeth. — The progress of Halifax 
during the reign of Queen Elizabeth was very rapid, in comparison 
with previous times, owing to the general causes mentioned at the 
commencement of this work, to the breaking up of the wastes of the 
manor into more moderate portions, and to a great improvement 
in agriculture as well as in manufactures. On this subject Mr. 
AVatson observes: — "If Camden's information was anything near 
the truth, which he received as he travelled through these parts 
(about the years 1575-80), the number of inhabitants in this 
parish was about 12,000 men (includmg women and children) ; in 
which I am apt to think he was not very much mistaken, for in 
the certificate of the archbishop of York and others, 2nd Edward 
VL, 1548-49, concerning chantries, &c., it is said that in the 
parish of Hahfax the number of houselying people" (householders) 
"is 8500, and it is a great wide parish, and during the Rebellion 
in the North, when every Protestant who could carry arms was 
zealous to show his attachment to his religion and the queen. 
Archbishop Gryndall (of York) says, in a letter to Queen Elizabeth, 
that the parish of Halifax was ready to bring three or four thousand 
able men mto the field." This estimate is confirmed by facts stated 
in Mr Cartwright's recently published "Chapters from the History 
of Yorkshire," from which it appears that 3000 to 4000 persons 
signed the declaration of the Protestant Association in this neigh- 
Ijourhood, pledging themselves to defend the queen with their lives 
and fortunes.'"" From that time to the present the population of 
Hahfax, both in town and parish, has continued to increase rapidly. 

. The petition of the Protestant Association, according to a letter of the earl of Huntingdon to Sir FK>ncis 
Walsingham, which was got «p in the year 1584, was signed in the city of York by 2000 persons and above , 
about Halifa;, Wakefield, and Bradford, by about 5300 freeholders and clothrers ; and the whole number of 
seals, which were then used in signing, attached to it was 7600. ^ ' ^" 

VOL. n. 



p. 159. 

a A 



370 YORKSHIRE : 



When Daniel Defoe described Halifax about the year 1727, 
he stated that there had been a very great increase in the forty 
years which followed the Revolution of 1688. The Rev. Mr. 
Watson stated that the number of inhabitants in the jDarish at the 
commencement of the reign of King George III. (1763-64) was 
41,220 ; the number of families (on the average of five each) 
in the vicar's Easter Books at that time beiag 8244. Since 
that date the population of the parish of Halifax has increased, in 
the present limits of the borough, to 65,510, and in the parish 
to 173,313, as appears from the returns of the Census of 1871."" 
The Bectory and Vicarage of Halifax. — Mention is made in the 
records of the priory of Lewes of the church of Halifax very soon 
after the Norman conquest ; and not long after Hugh de Copley, of 
Copley in Skircoat, is spoken of as one of the rectors of Hahfax, 
and as being the grandson of Adam de Copley, who was slain at the 
siege of York by the Normans in the year 1070. There are very 
clear accounts of the parish church of Hahfax from the commence- 
ment of the reign of King John, when the celebrated restorer of 
York minster. Archbishop Walter Gray, commenced his register of 
the diocese of York, which has been brought clown to the present 
time. The succession of the rectors of Halifax is clear and certain 
from this early period. In this archbishopric Ingolard Turbard 
was solemnly inducted as rector of Halifax by Gilbert de Sancto 
Leopardo, vicar-general to the archbishop, in the presence of Gilbert 
de Angel, rector of Thornhill ; Thomas de Boleau, rector of Birstall ; 
and Thomas, rector of Heaton, then rural dean ; and others. In 
the year 1273 the rectory of Halifax became impropriate, and the 
vicarage was fixed in one clergyman, who was called the perpetual 
vicar thereof, being bound to perpetual residence. In the year 1275, 
a dispute having arisen between the prior and convent of Lewes and 
the vicar of Halifax, a composition was made, by which Walter 
Gifford, archbishop of York, decided that the vicar and his successors 
for ever should enjoy the tithes of mills and calves, and also mortu- 
aries, paying yearly to the prior and convent the sum of £i 13s. 
(equal to about £70 a year of modern money), which former 
sum the impropriator still receives from the vicar yearly. Shortly 
before the Pteformation, in the year 1537, the 27th Henry VIII., a 
money composition was agreed upon between the parishioners 

• Census of England and Wales, 1871 (33rd and 34th Vict, c 107). Index to the Population Tables, p. 644. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 371 



of Halifax and the prior and convent of Lewes on the following 
articles or tithes : — ^^^heat, rye, barley, oats, beans, pease, and hay.'" 
This was a most unlucky time for the priory to change a corn 
rent for a fixed rent in money, for it was just at the period 
when o-old and silver were sinkino: to somethinfif like the fourth 
part of their previous value, under the influence of immense 
importations of the precious metals from the newly-discovered 
mines of Mexico and Peru, and when every kind of grain and 
all other articles whatever was rising rapidly in comparison 
with their previous prices in gold and silver. The lessees 
from the prior and convent, who seem to have been members 
of the very ancient family of Waterhouse, were naturally dis- 
satisfied with a bargain which must have reduced the value of 
their lease by at least two -thirds; but the parishioners stuck 
firmly to the terms of the agreement, and succeeded in 
establishing their legal right. This appears from the following 
document of the year 1572, 15th Elizabeth: — "On an inquiiy 
before the earls of Sussex and Leicester, commissioners of the 
court of Star Chamber, to hear and determine the causes of con- 
troversy between cei-tain persons, inhabitants of the parish of 
Halifax, plaintiffs, and the Waterhouses, the lessees of the prior 
and convent" (of Lewes), •'defendants, it was ordered that all manner 
of persons, their heirs and assigns, that had any lands, &c., within 
the said vicarage of Halifax, should have, hold, and enjoy their 
tithes of corn and hay and other tithes whatsoever, without inter- 
ruption of the said Waterhouses or their assigns, and pay yearly, 
during the interest of the said Waterhouses therein, such sum of 
money as is particularly expressed in the said composition." Four 
years later, in the year 1576, the 18th Elizabeth, an Act of Par- 
liament was passed for establishing this composition, and so the 
rectorial or great tithes of the parish were commuted. Mr. Crab- 
tree in his "History of Halifax," published in the year 1836, says : 
" Happily both for the church and the people in this parish, there 
are now neither great nor small tithes in the vicarage of Halifax ; 
the former having been commuted in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 

* Composition made between Robert Crowliam, prior of St. I'ancrace, at Lcwe,=, and tbe convent there, 
proprietors of the parish church of Halifax, &c., and Henry Savile, Knight, and many others therein named, 
landowners and inhabitants of the said parish, concerning the tithes of wheat, rye, barley, oats, beans, pease, 
and hay, by which it was arranged that they should pay to the said prior and convent yearly certain sums of 
money in the said composition mentioned, in lieu and full compensation of aU tithes as above mentioned for 
ever. Watson's Hahfax, p. 313. 



372 YORKSHIRE 



and the latter in that of George IV., bj an Act passed in the year 
1829." That was entitled an Act for extinguishing tithes and 
payments, in lieu of tithes, mortuaries, and Easter offerings, and 
other vicarial dues and payments within the parish of Hahfax, in 
the diocese of York, and for making compensation to the vicar in 
lieu thereof, and enabling him to grant certain leases of land 
belonging to the vicarage. By this Act it was provided that the 
vicar should receive a clear annual stipend of £1409 15s. Qd., free 
from all taxes, except the ancient annual payment of £4 13s. 
payable by the vicar to the King's (or Queen's) Most Excellent 
Majesty as rector of the parish. 

The Free Grammar School of Halifax. — The free grammar 
school of Halifax at Skircoats, in this parish, was founded by 
Queen Elizabeth on the 15th February, 1585, at the "humble 
suit of the inhabitants of the parish and vicarage of Halifax." 
" Although Queen Elizabeth was the founder, and Gilbert, earl 
of Shrewsbury, and Edward Savile, son and heir of Sir John 
Savile, lord of EUand and Skircoat, gave betwixt them, by their 
grant dated at Wesminster the 15th February, the 37th Elizabeth, 
seven acres of land on which the school-house is built, and which 
are now improved (with the) appurtenances thereto belonging ; 
notwithstanding all these grants and privileges, the school was 
endowed at the sole cost and charges of the town and parish of 
Halifax, they settling lands upon it of between forty and sixty 
pounds value for ever (at least three times as much in modern 
money), besides what incomes do accrue unto the master by 
foreigners (non-parishioners) who come thither to be instructed." 
The grammar school of Halifax has given the benefits of education 
to many excellent scholars, some of whom will be afterwards men- 
tioned, besides maintaining the light of knowledge for nearly 300 
years in a district which at the beginning of that period possessed 
k'w, if any, other sources of instruction.'" 

Charter of Incorporation for the Workhouse of Halifax in the 
Beign of Charles I. (1638-39). — The system of poor laws was estab- 
lished in this country in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and many 
attempts were made at that time, and have been made since, to 
introduce indoor labour in large workhouses, though up to the 
present time with indifferent success. In the year 1638 a number 
of the leading inhabitants of Halifax obtained letters patent from 

• Halifax, by William Bently, p. 10. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 373 



V 



King- Charles I., autliorlzing them to estabhsh a public workhouse 
there for the employiueiit of tlie destitute poor, and for the testing 
of the reality of alleged distress, by the application of what is now 
called the labour test. The charter in question was granted at the 
request of Nathaniel Waterhouse of Halifiix, a man of great bene- 
rolence, and one of the earlier members of the family of the 
same name, which has held a distinguished position in Halifax and 
the neighl)Ourliood for several hundred years, and is at present, 
(1874-75) represented by Jjieutenant-colonel Waterhouse, M.P., one 
of the members for the borough of Pontefract. The preamble of 
this charter, which explains its object, was as follows : — " Charles, 
by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and 
Ireland, defender of the faith, &c., to all to whom these presents 
shall come, greeting. Whereas by the humble petition of our well- 
beloved and faithful subjects, the inhabitants of the town and 
parish of Halifax, in the county of York, we are given to under- 
stand that the said town of Halifax being anciently and yet a place 
of great clothing, most of the inhabitants within the same town and 
parish being clothiers, is now of late much impoverished and likely 
to be ruined, by reason of the great multitudes of poor people there 
daily increasing," (or rather, probably, the want of employment 
for them), " which has occasioned many able men within the said 
town and parish to remove from thence to other places, being 
oppressed with the heavy burden of the assessments towards the 
maintenance of the poor within the said parish, there being about 
forty pounds" fi:40) "paid monthly" (£480 yearly) "to the poor 
there, and most years eighteen or nineteen months' assessments 
collected for one year" (or about £800 a year). "And for that 
Nathaniel Waterhouse, gentleman, one of the petitioners, hath given 
a large house within the said town, to the end that the same might 
be employed for a workhouse to set the poor within the said town 
and parish on work ; yet in regard there are no justices of the 
jjeace within or near the said town to govern and well-order the 
■said house, the poor people" (paupers) "in the said town and 
parish being most of them idle and disorderly, embezzling or 
spoihng the work brought, the said house is become of no use, but 
is likely to return to the donor, it being not employed according to 
his intent. Wherefore the inhabitants of the said town and parish 
have humbly besought us, that we would be graciously pleased to 
take the premises into our royal and gracious consideration, and to 



374 YORKSHIRE : 



grant unto tlie petitioners that the said house may, by our letters 
patent under the Great Seal of England, be made and established 
a workhouse for ever, for the setting of the poor within the said 
town and parish on work, by the name of the workhouse for the said 
poor within the said town and parish of Halifax ; and likewise to 
grant unto the petitioners that thirteen of the most able and 
discreet persons within the said town and parish may be nominated 
or elected governors of the said house, by the name of the master 
and governors of the workhouse within the said town and parish ; 
and that the said master and governors may be a body politic for 
ever ; and that they, or the greater number of them, may have 
power to make bye-laws and constitutions for the well - ordering 
and governing the said workhouse, and may have power to search 
any suspected houses for idle vagabonds, ruffians, and sturdy 
beggars, and to place them in the said workhouse, there to be set 
to work, and to be corrected and punished according to the good 
and wholesome laws of this our realm of England." The names 
of the thirteen persons appointed by the letters patent to govern 
the workhouse were Nathaniel Waterhouse, prime governor, Anthony 
Foxcroft, gent., Robert Exley, Thomas Binns, John Power, Thomas 
Piadcliffe, Richard Barraclough, Thomas Lister, Simon Binns, Hugh 
Currer, Samuel Clough, Samuel Mitchell, and John Wade. Mr. 
Watson observes that there is a remarkable chasm in the books 
of the workhouse from December, 1638, to October, 1682, though 
the letters patent continued in existence down to the year 1721, 
if not longer.* 

27^6 Great Civil TFar. — The arming of all Yorkshire to meet the 
threatened invasion by the army of the Scottish Presbyterians, 
quickly followed by the breaking out of the great civU war, which 
continued at intervals from 1639 to 1660, very sufficiently accounts 
not only for the " great chasm " in the books of the Halifax work- 
house, but for a variety of other events of greater importance. 
For several years a desperate contest took the place of the 
peaceful pursuits of industry ; and though there were considerable 
intervals of peace after the year 1644, there was no settled tran- 
quillity until the restoration of Charles II. in the year 1660; if 
indeed there was any real peace until after the Revolution of 
1688-89, which established a constitution satisfactory to all classes 
of Englishmen. 

* Watson's Halifa.i, p. C09. 



PAST AND PllESENT. 375 



At the breakino- out of the creat civil war between the adher- 
ents of the king and those of the Parhanieut, as we are informed 
by Lord Clarendon m his famous history of these events, " Leeds, 
Halifax, and I>radford, three very populous and rich towns (which 
depending wholly upon clothiers, too much maligned the gentry) 
were wholly at the disposition of the Parliament," and took arms 
against the king. It would appear, however, from a statement of 
Mr. Watson, that the royalists of the district seized a strong position 
at Heptonstall, and for a while made a stand for King Charles. For 
some time, however, the parliamentary party had the ascendancy 
in this part of Yorkshire, under the able command of Sir Thomas 
Fairfax, of General Lambert, and of Captain Hodgson of Halifax, 
who, though originally what is now called a civilian, took arms 
at the beginning of the civH war, and proved himself to be a 
very able and resolute officer to its close. In the second year of 
the civil war the king's commander in Yorkshire, William Caven- 
dish, marquis of Newcastle, having collected a royalist army of 
about 8000 men at York, marched into the West Eiding and 
defeated Sir Thomas Fairfax and the parliamentary army in a 
general battle fought on Adwalton Moor, near Birstall. After 
that battle the marquis and the royalist army captured Leeds, 
Bradford, and Halifax; and pushing by the last-named place 
marched up the valley of the Calder, and made an attempt to 
enter Lancashire by crossing Blackstone Edge. There, however, the 
marquis' further advance Avas stopped by the parliamentary army 
of Lancashire, which had defeated James, earl of Derby, and at 
Blackstone Edge had the advantage of a strong line of works, 
the remains of which can still be traced, constructed by Colonel 
Bosworm, a German engineer who was then in the service of 
Parhament. In the advance of the royal army westward after 
the battle of Adwalton, it obtained possession of the town of 
Halifax after a sharp engagement fought on the neighbouring 
heights, at a place called Bloody Field on Overton Bank. -" But 
after the marquis of Newcastle had failed to force his way 

• " It appears from various authorities that Halifax was made use of as a garrison for tlie Parliament against 
Kmg Charles I. Heptonstall appears to have been a garrison for the king, as Halifax was for the Parliament ; 
this, considering their situations, would naturally bring on such struggles that one must fall at last a sacrifice 
to the other. And accordingly this appears to have been the case ; for I was informed in the neighbourhood of 
Heptonstall, that the Roundheads and Cavaliers bad fought thereabouts, and that great part of the town of 
Heptonstall' was burnt." The account of the fortifying of Blackstone Edge by Lieut. Col. John Eosworm is 
given in Watson's Halifax, pp. 62-61. 



37 G YORKSHIRE : 



into Lancashire, lie withdrew his army and marched into Lincoln- 
shire, where he encountered the army of the counties associated 
in favour of the parliamentaiy cause, under the command of Charles 
Montague, earl of Manchester, assisted by Oliver Cromwell as his 
general of horse, and by Sir Thomas Fairfax, who had crossed 
the Humber with his forces, and had effected a junction near 
Gainsborough with the army of the associated counties. After 
sustaining serious defeats from Cromwell and Fairfax at Gains- 
borough and Horncastle, the marquis of Newcastle was compelled 
to fall back into Yorkshire, where he continued to carry on the 
war with varying success until the middle of the year 1644, when 
in the month of July the whole of the royalist armies under the 
command of Prince Rupert (who had advanced out of Lancashire 
down Wharfedale to the neighbourhood of York), the marquis of 
Newcastle, and other royalist leaders, were totally defeated on 
Marston Moor, by Manchester, Cromwell, Fairfax, and the Scottish 
army under the command of the earl of Leven. After that 
great victory the parliamentary cause became completely prepon- 
derant in this part of Yorkshire, and continued so until the close 
of the civil war; the people of Halifax returning members 
to two of the parliaments summoned in Cromwell's time, and 
sending their trained bands to assist the Commonwealth in its 
battles. One of the best officers of the parliamentary party in 
this district was Captain Hodgson of Halifax, who left a written 
account of his adventures, which was republished by Sir Walter 
Scott in the year 1806, along with the memoirs of a distinguisbed 
Yorkshire royalist. Sir Henry Slingsby of Scriven, Bart. This 
memorial of Captain Hodgson has furnished valuable materials 
to Thomas Carlyle in his "Life and Letters of Oliver Cromwell," 
and also to Mr. Clement Markham 'in his recent '' Life of Thomas, 
the Great Lord Fairfax." At the commencement of the civil war 
Captain Hodgson raised a body of volunteers in the parish of 
Halifax, wliich soon became a nvimerous and very good regiment. 
He was present with his regiment at the battle of Preston, between 
the Scotch Presbyterians under the duke of Hamilton and Oliver 
Cromwell in the year 1648, and in that great battle he received 
the personal commands of Oliver Cromwell to lead the attack of 
the forlorn hope, which commenced the battle. He and his regi- 
ment afterwards served with high reputation in the Scottish war, 
and distinguished themselves in the great battle of Dunbar. 



PAST AXD PRESENT. 377 



Captain Hodgson thus Joscvibes the manner in which Cromwell 
forced him into battle at Preston, before he was at all ready : — 
"On that night, 16th August, 1648, we pitched our camp at 
Stanyer's Hall" (Stonc}-hurst), "a Papist house, one Shervans" (Sher- 
burne), "and the next morning a forlorn hope of horse and foot 
was drawn out. And at Langridge Chapel our liorse came upon 
Sir !Marmaduke " (Langdale, one of the king's best cavalry officers) 
"drawn up very formidably. One Major Pownel and myself com- 
manded the forlorn" (hope) "of foot. And here being drawn up by 
the moorside, a mere scantling of us, as yet not half the number 
we should have been, the General" (Cromwell) "comes up to us, 
orders us to march. We, not having half our men come up, 
desired a little patience ; he gives out the word ' march,' not having 
any patience at this moment." "And so," says Carlyle, "the battle 
of Preston, the first day of it, is begun. Poor Langdale did not 
know at first, and poor Hamilton did not know all day, that it 
was Cromwell who was now upon them. Sir Marmaduke complains 
bitterly that he was not supported, that they did not even send 
him pow-dei-, marched away the body of their force, as if this 
matter had been nothing, merely some flying party, Ashton and 
the Lancashire Presbyterians.'" 

At the end of the seventeenth century and the beginning of 
the eighteenth Ralph Thoresby, the Leeds antiquary, paid repeated 
^■isits to Hahfax to visit Mr. Brearcliffi3, the Halifax antiquary, and 
the Ptev. Mr. Wilkinson, the vicar of Halifax, who was also a zealous 
antiquary. In 1673, February 6, he was at Halifax, and had the 
pleasant society of Mr. Brearcliflfe, the ingenious antiquary, who 
kindly lent him his manuscript collection. In 1695, August 7, 
Mr. Thoresby writes :—" Pode through Wibsey by the Beacon, 
down the easiest, if any at all be so, of the steep banks by 
Ovenden to Halifax, yet had like to have been twice overturned." 
Again in the year 1702, August 29, he notes:— "Rode to Halifax; 
visited the Rev. Mr. WUkinson at the vicarage. Went to see the 
church and new library, which he has exceedingly beautified." In 
the same year. May 7, Thoresby writes as follows :— " Rode with 
Mr. Peters to Northowram to the funeral of good old Mr. Oliver 
Heywood." In 1722 he mentions the great flood at Ripponden 
Chapel in the parish of Halifax, and the difficulty of travelling 
owing to the floods, t 

• Thomas Carlvle's CromweU'B Letters and Speeches, vol. 1. p. sr.'i. f Thoreeb/s Diary. 

3 B 
VOL. II. 



378 YOEKSHIRE : 



Halifax at the Beginning of the Eighteenth Century. — From the 
close of the great civil war, in 1660, the progress of Halifax 
was very rapid in comparison with previous times, as we learn 
both from local writers and from distinguished travellers. One 
of the earliest local works respecting Halifax was published 
in the year 1708, in the reign of Queen Anne, under the name 
of " Hallifax and its Gibbet Law placed in a true Light." This 
work bears the name of William Bently of Halifax ; but the Rev. 
Mr. Watson states that it was really written by Samuel Midgley, 
an unfortunate man of letters, who was a prisoner for debt in 
York Castle in the year 1684, and was afterwards three times in 
Halifax jail for debt, where he wrote the above history, and where 
he died July 18, 1695. "His poverty," we are told by Mr. Watson, 
"prevented him from printing the book, which he wrote for his 
own support ; and he not only lost the benefit of his labours in 
his lifetime, but had another man's name put to his work when 
he was dead. Sic vos, non vohis, &c. He practised physic, and 
was the son of WiUiam Midgley, who was buried at Luddenden 
August 21, 1695, aged eighty-one. His account of Halifax is 
not without merit, though rather quaint and antiquated : — 
" Halliflix," for so he spells it, " is situated within the Forest of 
Hardwick in the West Riding of Yorkshire, upon a rising ground 
neither uneasy or troublesome to travellers, laborers, or carriages, 
whether on horseback or by carts and waggons " (in this opinion 
he differed from Thoresby and all other writers and travellers). 
" Skirted it is on the east part with a good and convenient rivolet 
or small brook, from whence the town gradually ascends, the 
soil whereof is acknowledged to be sandy, cold, and barren, but 
replenished with many wholesome and delightful springs ; these, 
by the diligence and industry of the inhabitants, have not only 
made the ground fruitful, but also adorned the place with strong, 
beautiful, and well-built houses, and all other necessary accom- 
modations thereunto belonging." 

After cjuoting Camden's account of the site of Halifax in its 
original state, as " a place situate at the foot of a mighty and 
almost inaccessible rock, all overgrown with trees and thick under- 
woods, intermixed with great and bulky stones, standing very 
high above ground in a dark and solemn grove on the bank of a 
small murmuring rivolet," the writer proceeds as follows : — " But 
were that worthy " (Camden) " now living, and with his curious 



PAST AND TRESENT. 379 



pen to desig-n and make a. drsrri]:'tion of tlie (own of Ilallifax, we 
slioiild largely hoar of tlio groat benefits and advantages of th(.ise 
inaooessible rooks and nmuntaius, A\hioli l)y cost and industry are 
now formed into easy and deelining banks, out of \\'liiise pregnant 
bowels are produced not onl}' good and excellent stones wherewith 
to Iniild strong, stately, and beautiful houses, but also great plenty 
of coals wherewith to keep warm and healthful the several inhab- 
itants, the more cheerfully to follow their several callino-s. From 
all which great aclyantages, S(i compact is now the town and so 
contrived Ity art, that from the hill which leads to and from Wake- 
field it represents the side of a cross, or rather two large beams 
laid cross one upon another, ^Aith the left arm rather declining, 
the whole consisting chiefly of four streets, in the midst whereof 
stands the market cross. Under the town thus described are 
annexed many well- walled regular closes, variably checjuered with 
the diflerent beauties of corn and grass, that from the aforesaid 
heights, perhaps, the most experienced and observing traveller hath 
not beheld a more delightful and curious landscape, when such 
prospects are viewed in their proper season. The air is fresh and 
sharp, but good and wholesome, not subject to any epidemical 
diseases to corrupt its salubrity; a true specimen (evidence) whereof 
may be received from the clear and sound complexion of the 
natives, together with their compact and well-built bodies. Their 
tempers and dispositions is {sic) debonnair and ingenious, generally 
inclined to good manners and hospitality, giving civil and respectful 
reception not only to strangers, but unto all others with whom they 
Ijave occasion to converse." With regard to the trade of Halifax 
a.t that time, this author says that it "hath a principal relation to 
the woollen manufacture, consisting in making, buying, and selling 
of cloth. To that purpose, and for the greater convenience in 
managing and promoting this their trade, the lord of the manor" 
(TIscount Irwin, who also assisted in the building of the first cloth 
hall erected at Leeds, near which place he had large estates) 
"hath, towards the upper end of the town" (of Halifax) "erected 
a larr/-e and spacious hall where the weavers and the buyers of 
cloth do weekly meet, na,nie]y, every Saturday morning. And at 
this hall-market such groat cpTantlties of undressed cloth is weekly 
sold that the lord's (■.ollcctor " (who has reserved to himself a 
penny sterling for every piece so sold, as a quit-rent) "doth one 
week with another receive the sum of 30,s. In those pennies, and 



380 YORKSHIRE : 



sometimes it Avill advance to 40s." (on 480 pieces sold) "when 
trade is open and free. Besides this hall where undressed cloth 
is sold, there is every Saturday morning, at the times above 
prefixed, great quantities of coloured cloth sold in the butchers' 
shambles, orderly placed on their stalls, a,nd sold before any other 
markets do begin. Likewise on the Saturday morning merchants 
from Leeds or their factors do buy great quantities of white 
dressed kersies, which they transport to Hambro' and Holland. 
Furthermore, for the more effectual providing of the cloth trade, 
there are in this town three market days, chiefly for corn and 
wool (that is to say, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, where 
tradesmen may be plentifully furnished, both to manage their 
callings and to make provision for their families), at which times 
very great returns are made, which may sufficiently discover the 
vastness of the cloth trade, Avhich hath here been managed, and is 
still carried on, through the blessing of God upon men's honest 
endeavours. 

" Nothing more," our author says, " remains worthy of the 
reader's consideration, but to close this chapter with a short 
description of the benefit which accrues to the town by the small 
river which skirts it at the east end. This river hath its current 
from two small rivolets, which unite at a place called Lee-Brigg, 
about a quarter of a mile from the town, and run in a semicircle 
stream from that place to the river Calder, which may contain in 
length not above four miles. During which space there is erected 
for the use and service of the town, in the carrying on of their 
trade, twenty-four milns " (mills) " all of them constantly carried 
about by the strength of the stream. Namely, eleven milns for 
the grinding of all sorts of corn, which discovers to us the multi- 
tude of the inhabitants ; eight fulling milns to prepare raw cloth 
for the dressers ; two woollen milns for grinding all sorts of wood 
that is used by dyers, whose trade it is to dye both wool and 
cloth, and a great trade this is, by which many have gotten, and 
do still get, very considerable estates ; one paper miln, chiefly 
emjoloyed in making such paper as is proper and useful to cloth- 
w-orkers ; one shear-grinder's forge, managed by an accomplished 
workman, for making and grinding of shears for the use of 
the cloth-dressers ; one miln for the friezing of cloth, which is so 
well performed that few come nigh it for fineness and firmness of 
W'ork. Besides these milns there are in this town two good tan- 



I'yXST AND rilKSENT. 381 



yards, to fuvnisli the inliabitants Avith It^athcr of all sorts for 
makino- shoes and boots." 

Daniel Defoe s Aeeovnt of the l/nrl-efs anel Trade of Halifax. — 
About tAventy yoars after the date of the above account of Halifax, 
and in the year 17l!7, tliat town was visited more than once and 
described wllh ofreat spirit by one of the best authors who ever 
wrote the iMiglish langviii^'e — namely, by Daniel Defoe, the well- 
known author ot " Eobinson Crusoe" and of numerous other works, 
Ijoth historical and imayinative. He seems to have taken great 
delight in the industry and intelligence which he found to be so 
extensively diffused even at that time in every part of the West 
Eiding, and more especially in the town of Halifax and amongst 
the wild but jjopulous hills and valleys around that town. He 
mentions the flxct of his having made repeated visits to this part of 
Yorkshire, and from the fullness and clearness of his account of the 
district some of those visits must have been of considerable duration. 
It has even been stated that he Avrote one or two of his works 
at Halifax, and there was at one time a belief that he was a native 
of that town. But neither of these statements is confirmed by 
recent inquiries, although it is clear that he was well acquainted 
both with the town and neighbourhood. After mentioning Camden's 
account of the populousness and industry of Halifax even in the 
reign of Queen Elizabeth, when it was supposed by that writer that 
there were about 12,000 inhabitants in the parish, Defoe says: "If 
the town and parish were so populous at that time, how much must 
thev be increased since, and especially since the late Revolution" 
(16SS-89), "the trade having been prodigiously encouraged and 
increased by the great demand for their kersies for clothing the 
armies abroad ; insomuch that it is the opinion of some that know 
the town and its boundaries very well, that the number of people 
in the vicaracje of Halifax is increased one-fourth at least within 
the last forty }eors. Nor is that improbable at all ; for besides the 
number of houses which are increased, they have entered upon a 
new manufacture which was never made in these parts before, at 
least not in any quantities, I mean the manufacture of shalloons, of 
which they now make, if flxme does not belie them, a hundred 
thousand pieces a year in tliis parish only, and yet they do not 
make much fewe-r kersies than they did before. The ti'ade in 
kersies is so grout, that I was told by very creditable honest men 
hen I was there— men not given to gasconading or boasting, and 



w 



382 YORKSHIEE : 



still less to lying — that there was one dealer in the vicarage who 
traded by commission for threescore thousand pounds a year " 
(£60,000) "in kersies only, and all that to Holland and Hambro'. 
But not to enter into particulars, it is evident that the trade must 
be exceedingly great, in that it employs such a very great number 
of people, and that in this one town only. The town of Leeds chal- 
lenges a pre-eminence, and I believe merits the dignity it claims, 
besides the towns of Bradford, Wakefield, and others." Defoe was 
particularly struck with the multitudes of people who crowded into 
the town of Halifax on the three market days, and more especially 
on Saturday, which was called the Great Market. He also shows, 
in his own clear and striking manner, how closely the prosperity 
of extensive districts of the kingdom was mixed up with and 
dependent upon the industry and activity of Halifax, and of other 
great seats of manufacturing industry. On this subject he says : — 
"Their corn comes up in great quantities out of Lincoln, Notting- 
ham, and the East Biding ; their black cattle and horses from the 
North Biding ; their sheep and mutton from the adjoining counties 
every way ; their butter from the East and North Biding ; their 
cheese out of Cheshire and Warwickshire ; more black cattle also 
from Lancashire ; and here the breeders, the feeders, the farmers, 
and coimtry -people find money flowing in plenty from manufactures 
and commerce : so that at Halifax, Leeds, and the other great 
manufacturing towns so often mentioned, and adjacent to these, 
for the two months of September and October a prodigious quantity 
of black cattle is sold. This demand for beef is occasioned thus : 
the usage of the people is to buy in that season beef suflicient 
for the whole year, which they kUl and salt and hang up in the 
smoke to dry. This way of curing their beef keeps it all the 
winter, and they eat their smoked beef as a very great rarity. 
Upon this it is ordinary for a clothier that has a large familv to 
come to Halifax on a market day, and buy two or three large 
bullocks from £8 to £10 a piece; these he carries home and kills 
for his store, and this is the reason that the markets at all those 
times of the year are thronged with black cattle, as Smith field is 
on a Friday" (then the market day for cattle in London), "whereas 
all the rest of the year there is little extraordinary sold there. 
Thus this one trading, manufacturing part of the country supports 
all the countries round it, and numbers of people settle here as 
bees about a hive." 



PAST AND PRESKNT. 



Improreinent aj the li'ircr Cahlcr, ai/d Ii/frochiction of Wuicr-cdr- 
runje at Ilalifux. — Until past tin; middle of the eiglitecnth century 
Halilax, thoug-h, as we have seen, a flourishing manufacturing 
town, was greatl)- impeded in its progress by the want of water- 
earrlage, which was at that time the only cheap mode of 
transpiort for goods and merelKUidise. The trading capabilities 
of English towns were at that time in a great degree dependent 
ou their nearness to or their distance from a navigable river, for 
the roads were in general bad, and neither canals nor still less rail- 
ways existed. At that time Halifax was worse situated in that 
respiect than any .other manufacturing town of the West Riding. 
As early as the year 1701 cheap water-carriage was established 
at Leeds and Wakefield, by the improvement and deepening of the 
rivers Aire and Calder from the navigable streams of the Ouse and 
the Humber up to those towns; and by the same process Bradford, 
and even Huddersfield, though much higher up the valleys of the 
Calder and the Aire, were brought within ten or twelve miles 
of the water-carriage of Leeds and Wakefield. But Halifax was 
still more than twenty miles distant from the navigable part of 
those two rivers, besides being rendered very difficult of approach 
by lofty bills both on the east and the west. Although abundantly 
supplied with water for manufacturing purposes from numerous 
small streams, and possessing a fine river upwards of fifty miles 
in length in the Calder, neither that river nor any of the other 
smaller ones were navigable, owing to the rapid fall of their 
beds. They were all mountain streams, rising at a height of 
1000 to 1200 feet above the level of the sea, descending with a 
rapid and winding course, and rushing down in immense floods 
in the rainy season, whilst they were almost dry during the heats 
of summer. The rise of the Calder, between the navigable part of 
the stream at Wakefield and the point at which the river passed 
nearest to Halifax, was 192 feet, in a distance of twenty-two miles ; 
and there was still a height of nearly 100 feet to be overcome, 
between the junction of the Salterhebble brook with the Calder and 
the centre of the town of Halifax. Previous to the discovery and 
establishment of the m<jdera system of locks on navigable rivers 
and canals, by the inventive genius of the great engineer, James 
Brindley, which may be dated about the year 1759-60, such a 
diff"erence of levels in a flowing stream as that which existed 
between Halifax and Wakefield was unconquerable by any means 



384 YORKSHIRE 



then known to the skill of engineers. When first commenced 
under the Act of 1757, the work was found to be impracticable, 
though conducted by John Snieaton, the great Yorkshire engineer, 
who may be regarded as the second civil engineer of the eighteenth 
century. For many years the difficulties were too great to 
be overcome, and it is doubtful Avhether the undertaking could 
have been completed without the assistance of Brindley, the engi- 
neer of the Bridgewater Canal, who may justly be regarded as the 
greatest engineer of that age, so far as relates to river and canal 
navigation. The improvement of the Calder may be regarded as 
their joint work, and it was not completed until near the end of the 
eighteenth century. "The extension of the improved navigation of 
the river Calder," says Mr. Crabtree in his valuable "History of 
Halifax," published in 1836, "was first projected with the sole 
object of giving facility of intercourse with the populous manu- 
facturing districts westward of the town of Wakefield ; but it has 
subsequently, by its connection with the Rochdale and Huddersfield 
canals, become a very important part of the line of inland navigation 
between the ports of Liverpool, Goole, and Hull, thus connecting 
the German Ocean and the Irish Sea. This spirited and important 
undertaking," adds Mr. Crabtree, "may be looked upon as one 
of the greatest improvements that could possibly be effected in 
this part of the country; and at the period of its formation its 
benefits must have been incalculable, nor are they less so at the 
present day (1836). We have only to imagine the state of the 
roads between the large manufacturing towns of which Halifax 
was the centre, when, as we are informed, the carriage of raw wool 
and manufactured goods was performed on the backs of single 
horses (pack-horses) at a disadvantage of nearly 200 to 1 compared 
to carriage by water." Even in a tolerably level country, in which 
broad-wheeled waggons could be employed, it was considered that 
water-carriage was cheaper than land carriage in the conveyance 
of heavy goods in the proportion of at least 20 to 1, but 
still more so in hilly or mountainous countries. Halifax, Avhich 
stands several hundred feet above the level of the sea, was the 
highest of the great towns of England that was reached by river 
or canal navigation, as it is now one of the highest towns of the 
first class in trade and population that has been rendered accessible 
by the railway system. The difficulty of establishing water-carriage 
from Halifax to the western seas at Liverpool, was even greater than 



PAST AND PRESENT. 385 



■that of opening communication witli tlie German Ocean at Hull. 
Westward there was no navigable river nearer than Manchester, 
and everything had to be done by means of canals. The main 
line of canal from HaUfax westward commenced at Sowerby Bridge, 
near to the town of Halifax, and was carried by a succession of 
locks and cuttings through or over the mountains forming the 
Backbone of England. The rise from the point of commencement 
to the top of the summit level is '.^78 feet, and thence the fall is 
43 S feet to the level of the Irwell, the great tributary of the 
Mersey at jManchester. The Halifax and Salterhebble Canal from 
the Calder up to the town of Halifax, though only two or 
three miles in length, had a rise of nearly 100 feet between the 
river and the town ; and so great were the difficulties that it 
was not finally completed until the year 1829, the very year m 
which that new and wonderful means of communication, the rail- 
w^ay, was established between Liverpool and Manchester, forming 
the first portion of another and far swifter mode of communication, 
soon extending from the Atlantic, through the town of Halifax, 
to the German Ocean. 

Halifax a Hundred Years Ago. — It is just a hundred years since 
the Rev. John Watson wrote his " History of the Town and Parish 
of Halifax," which was published in the year 1775. At that time 
the population of the town was not much more than 8000 persons 
— about an eighth part of the inhabitants of the borough as 
ascertained at the census of 1871. In tracing the rise of the 
poprdation, he speaks of Halifax as being already one of the most 
considerable towns of the West Riding of Yorkshire. He repeats 
that in the year 1443 there were not more than thirteen families, 
or about sixty persons resident here ; that in 123 years from 
that time the number had increased to 520 in the year 1560; 
and that in 200 years more, in the year 1764, the number of 
families had increased to 12 72, or to about 6000 persons. This 
rate of increase continued to at least the year 1775, when Mr. 
Watson's History was published, and at that time the population 
of the town may probably have amounted to from 7000 to 8000 
persons, and that of the parish to httle less than 50,000. Mr- 
Watson states that he had in his possession a plan of the town 
and precincts of Halifax, which he copied from n,n old one drawn 
by Mr. Brearcliflfe, one of the earliest antiquaries of Halifax, who 
was living at the l)eginning of the eighteenth century. The 
VOL. n. 2 ^ 



386 YORKSHIRE 



places of note marked in that plan were the Church, Bayley Hall, 
Moulter Hall, Crosshill, Norbrigg, Stannery, and the Gibbet. 
There was at that time no vicarage house, and scarcely any houses 
near the church. The greatest number of buUdings were towards 
the top of the town as it existed in the year 1775 ; "but," says 
Mr. Watson, "there seems not to have been a regular street in 
the whole place." At the time when Mr. Watson wrote there 
were altogether forty-seven streets, lanes, or places of sufficient 
consequence to be named in the plan which he gave in his work 
of 1775. "The places of note in Halifax" of which he gives 
a rather more detailed description " are, amongst others, Bull- 
green, where in former times was carried on the diversion of bull- 
baiting, an exercise which our forefathers were so fond of that 
one may hear or see of some remain of this kind in almost every 
town." Clark-bridge he supposes "to have been first built by the 
clergy, or clerks, for the conveniency of passing from the church, 
either to their habitations or to some place set apart for religious 
exercises ; the latter is more probable, as there was a spring of 
water in the opposite bank called the Holy Well. It is not 
many years," adds Mr. Watson, " since some workmen informed me 
that they had found a stone trough there, which they imagined 
might have belonged to the holy well. Cripplegate," Mr. Watson 
thought, " might take its name from the lame going this way to 
be cured at the supposed holy place." " The jayl for debtors," kept 
by the lord's bailiflP, the antiquity of which does not appear from 
records; "but doubtless," Mr. Watson says, "it existed in the 
times of the earls of Warren and Surrey, not to confine debtors 
only, but such felons as were taken within the liberties of the 
Forest of Hardwick, and were there triable by the custom of 
the said forest." The " market-place," properly so called, "though 
the town," Mr. Watson says, " never had a charter for the holding 
of a market, for this may be held by prescription, and length of 
time will make this as good a title as any charter can give. Here 
is a cross of some antiquity, though not curious ; a pillory and 
stocks close by to it ; and a little higher in the street, at what is 
called the corn -market end, a square remain, in the centre of 
which was once fixed a Maypole. Eatton-row," Mr. Watson states, 
"is the name of some ground adjoined to the churchyard on the 
north side of the church, where the fair was kept. In early times 
these fairs were held in churchyards, as appears fron] Archbishop 



I'AST AND X^RESENT. 387 



Staftord's oi'der forbidding the holding of fairs and luarkets in 



c 



liurcliyards tliroiigliout liis province in the year 1444, as they had 
been bcloro, 13th Edward I., by the statute of Winchester. As 
the church of Hahfax is dedicated to St. John the Baptist, we may 
suppose the ieasts of dedication were kept originally on that day, 
and more especially as the great yearly fair at Halifax is still 
held on that saint's day, unless it happens on a Sunday." Mr. 
Watson informs us that there were about one hundred water- 
mills in the parish of Halifax ; for the steam-engine, though 
invented, had not yet made its way into a district in which water- 
power was so abundant. He gives the names and situations of 
upwards of ninety mills, and adds that in addition there were " a 
great number of liaising - mills or gig -mills." The names and 
positions of the mills on Halifax brook, were as follows : — 
[Nlixenden corn mill and fulling mill, Farrer fulling mill, Wheatly 
corn mill, Crowther fulling mill, Lee Bridge shear -grinder's mill, 
paper mill near Halifax, Halifax corn mill, Halifax friezing mill, 
little mill for corn, Lilly fiTlling and friezing mills, new friezing 
mill, Bowyes friezing miU, Farrer corn mill, Roger fulling mill. 
Bank-house rasp mill ; on a brook between Ovenden and North- 
owram Bottom, Ford corn mill. Old-lane corn miU, Old-lane fulling 
mill ; on the Eedbeck, Shibden corn mill, Salterly fulling mill, 
Brookfoot corn mill, and on a small brook in Hipperholme, Coley 
com mill. 

Tlie Parish Church of Halijax a Hundred Years since. — " The 
present fabric of Halifax church," says Mr. Watson in his " History 
of Hahfax," published in the year 1775, p. 359, "is a large Gothic 
structure, dedicated to St. John Baptist. It stands at the east 
end of the town, and has a good appearance, excelling in several 
respects most parochial churches of this kind. It is 64 yards long, 
including the belfry, which is 6 yards square. It is more than 
20 yards broad within. The choir or chancel is above 20 yards 
from north to south, and 1 7 yards from east to west. Under the 
chancel are large rooms upon a level with the lower part of the 
churdiyard, in one of which is a library of books. The age of 
the present building cannot be determined ; it seems to have 
been re-edified at difTerent times, as part of the north side looks 
older than the rest, and is worse built. It has undergone very 
considerable alteratinns, as is evident from the broken arches 
between the body of the church and the chancel. This last seems 



388 YORKSHIRE : 



to have been added to the other. The body of the old church 
(or so much of it as remains) is 66 feet long. 

" There are two chapels within this church, one on the north 
side and the other on the south. That on the north is called 
E,okeby's chapel, and was erected under the will of Dr. William 
Rokeby, some time vicar of Halifax, and who died archbishop of 
Dublin in the year 1521. The chapel on the south side, more than 
16-^ yards long and about 5^ yards broad, contains a monument 
from which it appears that it was erected by Ptobert Holdsworth, 
LL.D., the twelfth vicar, who built it at his own proper charge in 
1554. The tower or steeple is well proportioned, and is 39 yards 
from the ground to the top of the pinnacles. It was commenced 
about the year 1450, and was finished in 1470 ; the great contri- 
butors to which, as Mr. Wright states in his ' History of Halifax,' 
p. 31, were the Lacys and the Saviles. It contains eight musical 
bells, the first of which was cast in the year of the Restoration. " '''* 

The Piece Hall at Halifax. — We have already mentioned that 
the original piece hall at Halifax was erected by one of the 
lords of the manor. Viscount Irwin, about the year 1708, which 
is two years before the first cloth hall at Leeds was built, 
and a few years after the cloth hall at Wakefield was erected. 
But at the close of the first American war, when trade again 
began to advance rapidly, the old piece hall of Halifax 
became insufficient for the wants of the town, and about the 
year 1780-5 a much larger and handsomer piece hall was 
erected. It was built of free-stone, stood in the lower part of 
the town, and was erected at a cost of £12,000. This hall was 
a large quadrangle, occupying the space of 10,000 square yards. 
It had a rustic basement story, and above that two other stories 
fronted with colonnades, within which were spacious walks leading 
to arched rooms, where the goods of the respective manufacturers 
in the unfinished state were deposited, and exhibited for sale to 
the merchants every Saturday, from ten to twelve o'clock ; this 
building, called the Piece Hall, was considered to unite elegance, 
convenience, and security. It contained 315 separate rooms, and 
had the merit of being proof both against fire and thieves. The 
principal merchants and manufacturers in the town and neigh- 
bourhood formed a committee for the management of the Piece 
Hall, and manufacturers from all parts of the neighbourhood 

♦ Watson's Halifax, p. 859. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 389 



attended there to sell their goods. About the bcgiuning of the 
nineteenth century the steam-engine, and a great variety of new 
and improved machines for .s}iinning and weaving cloth, began 
to be introduced in this part of the country. From the abund- 
ance of water - power, the introduction of steam was less 
rapid here than in some otlier places. But fortunately for 
Halifax it possessed abundant supplies of coal as well as of 
water, and gTadually the steam-engine established itself here as 
the rival, the ally, or the successor of the water-mill. The check 
given to the industry of Halifax by the change in the motive 
power soon passed away, and in the year 1821 the popu- 
lation of the town, including those parts of it which extend 
into the townships of Northowram and Southowi^am, had risen 
to 14,064 persons, of whom 12,628 wei-e in the township of 
Halifax. At that time, 1821, the population of the parish of 
Halifax amounted to 93,050 persons, having considerably more 
than doubled itself during the sixty years which elapsed between 
the commencement of the reign of King George III., 1760, when it 
amounted in round numbers to 40,000 persons. 

The following may be regarded as a good summary of the 
position of Halifax fifty years ago. It is from the pen of 
the first Edward Baines, with whom the writer of this work, 
himself then a boy, frequently visited Halifax. " Turning from 
these ancient usages, on which for their singularity we have been 
induced to bestow more than common attention, we come to the 
history of modern Halifax. And here the manufactures of the 
town and neighbourhood first claim attention. This parish is 
admirably adapted, by its situation and local advantages, for the 
purposes of manufacture and commerce. The Calder passes within 
a mile and a half of the town, the nearest point being at Salter- 
hebble, from whence merchandise is forwarded to Hull and London. 
To the west there is another wharf at Sowerby Bridge, about two 
miles from the town, where goods are sent to Rochdale, Man- 
chester, and Liverpool, by the Rochdale and the Duke of Bridge- 
water's Canal. Although Halifax has been noted for several 
centuries for the manufacture of woollen goods, it was not till the 
time of Henry VII. that it ribtained any considerable importance 
In the beginning of the eighteenth century the manufacture of 
woollen stuffs was introduced : and shalloons, tammies, duroys, 
everlastings, calimancoes, moreens, shags, serges, baize, &c., have 



3iJ0 YORKSHIHE : 



since been made in gi'eat perfection. The shalloons are woven 
expressly for the Turkey market, and after being dyed a scarlet 
colour are sent by the merchants to the Levant, where they are 
chiefly used for turbans. Formerly the greater part of these 
goods passed through the hands of the London merchants, but 
they are now (1823-25) principally exported by the merchants 
of Halifax and Leeds. The cotton trade has extended into this 
neighbourhood, where it has taken considerable root ; and the 
cards used in the early operations of the manufacture, both of 
wool and cotton, are made here in great perfection and to a con- 
siderable extent."""' 

The following are a few other particulars with regard to Halifax 
as it was fifty years ago : — " The baths at Halifax, it is stated, 
which are situated at the lower part of the town, in a delightful 
valley to the left of the road leachng to Huddersfield, afibrd a very 
salubrious accommodation both to the inhabitants and to strangers ; 
they are amply supplied with fine spring water rising in the pre- 
mises, and comprehend in their suite cold, warm, and swimming 
baths. The places of amusement are the theatre at Ward's End, 
and the Assembly Rooms adjoining the Talbot Inn. The police 
office is in Copper Street ; the constables for the present year are 
George Pollard, Esq., and Samuel Farrer, Escj. ; deputy constable, 
Mr. John Brierley. The magisterial duties of the district are 
performed by John Dearden, Thomas Horton, Michael Stocks, and 
William Barstow, Esqs., and attendance is given every Saturday 
at the magistrates' office. Ward's End, for that purpose. The 
management of the water-works, and the repair and lighting the 
public streets, are vested by Act of Parliament in ceii:ain trustees, 
who are empowered to assess the inhabitants for the same. The 
town is amply supplied with good water, principally from two 
springs rising near Pellon, about a mile north-west of the town. 
Mr. Michael Garlick is clerk to the trustees, to which gentleman 
the editor of this work is mainly indebted for the accuracy and 
extent of his topographical information relating to the modern 
state of Halifax." t 

At this time the communication of Halifax with other parts of 
England was kept up by seven coaches running to Leeds, York, 
Bradford, Shefiield, Wakefield, Liverpool, Rochdale, and Manches- 
ter ; by twelve carriers by water from Salterhebble and Sowerby 

* History, &c., of County of York, by Edward Baines, 1823, vol. i p. 18(1. j Ibid. p. 187. 



I'AST AND I'IMOSKA'l'. 



391 



Bridge ; by fifteen carriers by la-nd ; and by nine country carriers. 
Tlie coaclioft ^^'ere well served, and the ride up the valley of Tod- 
morden was justly considered one of tire pleasantest rides in 
Yorkshire. 

Ilahjax L'ej^rcsoited in Parliament. — In tlie year 1832 Halifax 
became a parliamentary borough, and from that time to the 
present it has been represented by two members in the great 
council of the nation. We subjoin a list of the representatives of 
Halifax from the year 18o2, when the borough was enfranchised 
under Earl Grey's Reform Bill, to the year 1874, when the last 
o-eneral election took place. It will be seen that amongst the 
members selected by the burgesses of Halifax to represent them 
in Parliament have been several statesmen, who have taken a 
leadiuL^- part in public affairs, along with others distinguished 
by their local position and the confidence and respect of their 
fellow-townsmen. The names of the members returned under the 
present constitution of Parliament, between the years 1832 and 
1^74, were as follows: — 



Decemljer, Ls32, 3 William IV. 
February, 1S34, 4 William IX. 



January, 


1835, 


5 William IV. 


July, 


1&37, 


1 Victoria. 


July, 


LS41, 


4 Victoria. 


■July, 


1S47, 


10 Victoria. 


July, 


1802, 


15 Victoria. 


March, 


1857, 


20 Victoria. 



( The Eight Hon. Charles Wood (now Viscount Halifax), 
( Eawdon Briggs, Esq. 

( The Eight Hon. Charles Wood ; The Hon. John S. 
I. ^^'ortley, afterwards Lord Wharncliffe. 

( The Eight Hon. Charles Wood, Bart. ; Edward Pro- 
\ theroe, Esq. 

The Eight Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Bart. ; Captain 
Edwards (now Sir Henry Edwards, b'art.) 

The Eight Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Bart. ; Frank 
Crossley, Esq. (afterwards Sir Francis Crossley, 
Bart.) 
3 The Eight Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Bart. ; The Eight 
? Hon. Jas. Stausfeld. 
The Eight Hon. Jas. Stansfeld ; Edward Alcroyd, Esq. 
The Eight Hon. Jas. Stansfeld ; Edward Akroyd, Esq. 
The Eight Hon. Jas. Stansfeld ; John Crossley, Esii. 

Halifax made a Municipal Borougli. — In 1848 Halifax was 
incorporated as a municipal borough, governed by a mayor, alder- 
men, and common council, elected by tlie burgesses, under a royal 
charter gi-anted by (>)ueen Victoria in that year. In ancient times, 
as we have already seen, Halifax ^vas governed by a bailiff, \vho 
was no doubt appointed by the lord of the manor, and who exer- 
cised much greater powers than any munici[)al officer of modern 



April, 1859, 22 Victoria. 

July, ] 8fJ5, 28 Victoria. 

Is ovember, LSOB, 31 Victoria. 
February, 1874, 37 Vii;toria. 



392 



YORKSHIllE : 



times, having had the right of inflicting the punishment of death 
by beheading, on all criminals convicted of theft within the Forest 
of Hardwick, of which the town of Halifax was the chief place. 
But these extraordinary powers ceased to exist in the year 1650, 
and from that time to the date of the granting of the municipal 
charter, in 1848, Halifax was governed by constables, and by the 
magistrates resident in the town and neighbourhood. From the 
time of the granting of the municipal charter to the present day 
the following gentlemen have held the office of mayor of Halifax : — 



LIST OF MAYOES OF HALIFAX FEOM 


John Baldwin, Esq., .... 


1848 


" " " 


1848-49 


John Crossley, Esq., .... 


1 849-50 


a a u 


1850-51 


Samuel Waterhouse, Esq., . . 


1851-52 


U U i^ 


1852-53 


Joshua Appleyard, Esq., . . . 


1853-54 


u a u 


1854-55 


1. a .. 


1855-56 


John Whitworth, Esq., . . . 


1856-67 


Thomas Selby Walsh, Esq., . . 


1857-68 


(( U U ( 


1868-59 


ii (t U I. 


1859-60 


Daniel Eamsden, Esq., . . . 
Tmiirnnp/mp.nf. nnrl nflie-i 


1860-61 



THE YEAE 1848 TO THE YEAR 1874. 



John Crossley, Esq., . 
W. J. Holdsworth, Esn 



William Wightman, Esq., JI.D 
Thomas Shaw, Esq., . . . 



John Dyson Hutchinson, Esq., 
H. 0. M'Crea, Esq., . . . 



John Dyson Hiitchinson, Esq, 
Thomas Wayman, Esq., . . 



1861- 62 
1862-63 
1863-64 
1864-65 
1865-66 
1866-67 
1867-68 
1868-69 
1869-70 
1870-71 
1871-72 
1872-73 
1873-74 



ing to Halifax. — A list of the 
local Acts of Parhament relating to any particular town, shows 
very clearly the point of time at which various objects of public 
interest, that can only be accomphshed by a co-operation of the 
whole community, had become of so much importance as to be 
thought worthy of the trouble and expense of an application to 
Parliament. The following are some of the principal local Acts 
relating to Halifax passed since the town was raised to the 
position of a municipal borough in the year 1848 : — 

1853.— 16th and 17th Victoria, c. 167— "Act for the Improvement of the Borough 
of Halifax and for other purposes, entitled 'The Halifax Improvement Act.'" 

1855.— 18th and 19th Victoria, c. 144— " Act to enable the Halifax Gas-light and 
Coke Company to transfer their vmdertaking and powers to the Halifax Local Board of 
Health, and for other purposes." 

1858.— 21st and 22nd Victoria c. 91 — " Act for confirming the Gift by Francis 
Crossley, Esq.," (afterwards Sir Francis Crossley, Bart., M.P.) " of a Public Park 
to the Borough of Halifax, and for authorizing the Mayor, Aldermen, and Burgesses 
of the borough to maintain and regulate the Park, and to provide, maintain, and regu- 
late Public Baths in the Park, and for making a Cemetery." 

1862.— 25th Victoria, c. 41— "Act for the further Improvement of the Borough of 
Halifax, and for other purposes." 



PAST AND PRESENT. 393 



ISi;,-).— iStJi and 2:)tli Victoria, c. 140— " Act for the lAlnisioii of the Boundaries 
of the Municipal Borough and District of lialifax, and otlicrwiso improvhig the 
said Borough." 

ISliS.— 31st and 32nd Victoria, c. 127— "Act to eiialilo tlie Mayor, Ahha-incn, and 
Burgesses of the Borough of Halifax to conslruct new Vorlis in ixtcnsion of their Water- 
works ; to extend their limits of Sii]iiily ; to acquire the Blanufacturers' Hall; to 
improve the Borough of Halifax, and for other purposes." 

ISTO. — 33rd and 34th Victoria, e. i).')- "Act for amending and extending the Acts 
relating to the Supply of AVater and (las in the Borough of Halifax and its neighljour- 
hood, and to the Improvemeut of that Borough, and for other purposes." 

It will be seen that the above list includes the chief objects 
which an enlightened municipal goverument considers to be its 
duty to furnish, in the present age, to meet the wants of a 
great and flourishing community. Things are certainly changed 
from the time (1823) when a couple of wells at Pellon "amply 
supplied the wants of Halifax with excellent water." In that 
year the gas-works were only just commenced, which now 
extend not only over the town, but far into the country. Many 
other objects, some connected with the wants of the population, 
others with their tastes, their health, and their enjoyments, will 
be found mentioned in the above list of objects eftected by the 
burgesses in their municipal capacity. In addition to municipal 
works Halifax has become rich, during the last thirty or forty 
years, in handsome public buildings, many of them originating 
in the good taste and the benevolence of individuals, and others 
produced by the united efforts of companies and associations 
formed for purposes of public utility. 

The Town Hall of Halifax. — This handsome building was erected 
and finally completed in the year 1863, at a cost of upwards of 
,£G0,000. The corner stone of the Victoria Tower, the most com- 
manding part of the building, was laid on the 2nd of October, 
1861, by Daniel Ramsden, Esq. of Kingston, wlio was the seventh 
mayor of the borough of Halif;ix. The Town Hall was opened 
by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, in August, 1863. 
It stands in Crussley Street, opposite the end of Princess Street. 
It was built on tlie plans of the late Sir Charles Barry, R.A., and 
unites the beauties of the Gothic and the Italian styles of archi- 
tecture. The basement covers a parallelogram of 9.5 feet wide and 
148 feet deep. The princip.il entrance is beneath a handsome 
porch. The tower rises by four stages, in the front of which 
is placed the clock, and it is sininonnted l)y a spire, springing 
to a height of more than 160 feet. The interior of the building 

VAT TT_ O D 



394 YORKSHIRE 



is well arranged, and richly furnished and decorated. The large 
central hall, measuring 50 feet by 40 feet, rises to the whole height 
of the building. It has a finely inlaid pavement, and is surrounded 
by a gallery giving access to the offices of the town clerk, the 
borough engineer and surveyor, the mayor's parlour, council cham- 
ber, committee and reception rooms. Doors open on the basement 
into committee rooms, rooms for magistrates and clerks, and offices 
for the borough accountant. 

Visit of H.E.H. the Prince of ]Vules to Halifax. — The new Town 
Hall of Halifax was opened by the Prince of Wales on the 4th 
August, 1863, an event which enabled the whole of the inhabitants 
of Halifax and neighbourhood to express their warm attachment 
to the prince, to her Majesty the queen, and to H.R.H. the Prince 
Consort, who had then been recently cut off by death m the midst 
of a career of the highest usefulness. The royal party arrived at 
Manor Heath, Skircoat, Halifax, the residence of the mayor (the 
late John Crossley, Esq.), on the afternoon of the 3rd August, 
and after lunching there proceeded to visit some of those extensive 
manufactories for which the town is distinguished. Amongst the 
works visited by the royal party were the great carpet works of 
Messrs. John Crossley & Sons, at Dean Clough ; the extensive 
worsted manufactory of Messrs. James Akroyd & Son, at Haley 
Hill ; and the card-making works of Messrs. John Whitley & Sons, 
Brunswick Mills, West Bank — selected as presenting some of 
the finest specimens of the great branches of industry which have 
raised Halifax to its present high position. A select party was 
entertained by the mayor and mayoress the same evening at a 
banquet at Manor Heath, including the bishop of Ptipon, Earl 
Fitzwilliam, the present marquis and marchioness of Ptipon, Earl 
Mount Edgcombe, the Ptight Hon. Sir Charles Wood, Bart., M.P. 
(now Viscount Halifax), Sir Francis Crossley, Bart., and Lady Cross- 
ley, Sir John W. Eamsden, Bart., Colonel Edwards, M.P. (now 
Sir Henry Edwards, Bart.), the Eight Hon. James Stansfeld, M.P., 
Colonel Akroyd, M.P., Captain Firth, Mr. L. J. Crossley, Miss 
Crossley, and other members of the most distinguished families 
in the town and neighbourhood. On the morning of the 4th 
H.Pt.H. the Prince of Wales went in procession to the new Town 
Hall, accompanied by the mayor, the members of the corporation, 
the magistrates of the district, the members for the West llidino- 
and the borough of Halifax, his honour Mr. Stansfeld (the judge 



PAST AND PRESENT. 395 



of the county coui't), the lord bishop of Ripon, the vicar of PlaUfax 
(the Yenerable Aichtlcacou Musgrave, D.D.), and many others. 
The interior of the hall presented a very striking sight, there 
being present, in addition to several thousands of the inhabitants, 
no less than 1G,000 Sunday scholars and teacheis, with a fine band 
consisting of 300 instrumental and 200 vocal performers. 

His worship the mayor presented an address to his royal 
highness in his own name and that of the aldermen and burgesses, 
in which thev all expressed their high gratification at the honour 
of being the first provincial municipality on which his royal 
highness had conferred the distinguished favour of a sj)ecial visit. 
They further stated that "the consideration which the town and 
borough of Halifax enjoyed, alike from its antiquity, from the fact 
that it w^as the commercial centre of an important manufacturing 
district, and from other causes, would henceforth be greatly enhanced 
by the distinction which it received that day, in the dedication to the 
public service by H.Pt.H. the Prince of Wales of the edifice in which 
they were assembled. Through the development of its trade the 
town of Halifax had for several years enjoyed much prosperity, 
and the erection of a town hall had become a pressing necessity. 
This building w^as the last design of that eminent architect, the late 
Su- Charles Barry, of whose genius and skill they trusted that it 
would loncf remain an admired and useful monument." 

His royal highness, after receiving the address from the mayor, 
read in reply one of those brief answers, full of intelligence and 
of sympathy with all the best interests of the nation, which his 
father, the prince consort, introduced in this country, and which 
have been so well sustained by the Prince of Wales and the other 
members of the royal family. The address of the prince was as 
follows : — " Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, I return you my cordial 
thanks for your address, and for the terms in wliich you have 
alluded to the part I am proud to take in the ceremony of 
inaugurating your Town Hall, in which I see so much to 
admire in regard to the design and execution. Indeed, the 
general prosperity of your town, and the industry which, aided 
by the most ingenious machinery, has so long distiiiguislied 
its inhabitants, and which I witnessed yesterday developed 
to its full extent, cannot IJul to strike every visitor with wonder 
and admiration. I have also to tliank you for the earnest wisht-s 
you have expressed f(jr mj h;i.ppiness and that of the princess. 



396 YORKSHIRE : 



Conscious of the duties which you so impressively remind me of, 
I feel that I cannot better perform them than by following the 
bright example of the queen and that of my beloved father." 
The jorince then said, "I declare this hall to be now open;" 
;ind afterwards proceeding to a balcony erected outside the 
hall, at the base of Victoria Tower and facing Princess Street, 
his royal highness repeated, in the presence of thousands assem- 
bled in the streets and upon extensive platforms : — " I declare 
the Town Hall of Plalifax now opened." His royal highness 
took his departui'e from Halifax between three and four o'clock. 
From this time the progress of Halifax, not only in industry, but 
in the magnificence and beauty of its buildings, and the nobleness 
of its foundations for objects of benevolence and for institutions 
calculated to increase the health and the pleasures of all classes 
of the inhabitants, has been rapid beyond all j^receding times. 

The Halifax Water-ioorks in the Liiddenden Valley. — In the year 
1864 the first sod was cut of the Halifax water-works, for drawing 
a supply of pure water from the Luddenden valley. Under the 
powers of this Act a vast reservoir was formed upon Warley Moor, 
at Fly, to collect the surplus water off the high moorlands, and 
to use it as compensation water to the mill-owners. The spring 
water was to be collected at lower levels on the hill-sides, and 
impounded in separate reservoirs in the Luddenden valley, for 
the use of the town of Halifax. That valley, viewed from below, 
has the appearance of being scooped out on the hillside. In 
the lower part of the valley, the works were constructed by 
means of an embankment thrown across it. In these were a 
series of three-storied reservoirs, m which was collected the 
spring water ; and this was conveyed in culverts along the 
Warley side of the valley, by Upper Salton stall, Lower Salton- 
stall. Catty Well, and thence, by a tunnel through a hill 
called Mount Tabor, to the Halifax CorjDoration reservoirs at 
P^amsden W(jod in the Hebble valley. Thence the water was 
brought to Halifax by the already existing system of water-works. 
The three reservoirs were named the Upper Dean Head, Dean 
Head, and Castlecar reservoirs. Since these works wei-e completed 
the boundaries of the borough of Halifax have been extended, and 
its population has greatly increased, and new and more extensive 
water-works are now in course of construction. 

The I'eople's Parli. — This park was presented to the people of 



VAST ANL> I'llESENT. 397 



Halifax, for tlie recreation and Iiealtli (if the whole of the inhahitants 
of the town, liy the late 8ir Fraiieis Crossley, Bart., then Francis 
Crossloy, Esq., M.P., the head of a benevolent and wealthy family 
of Halifax meivhants, A\ho ha^'e perniaiicntly associated their name 
with much that is Avorthy of admiration in their native town. The 
cost to the donor was nearly 1'4:0,000, expended in forming and 
laving out the park, which comprises about twelve and a half 
acres of ground. In addition to handsome promenades, it includes 
ornamental buildings, lakes, seats, fountains, terraces, and lofty 
mounds, constructed from designs by Sir Joseph Paxton. Within 
the precincts of the park are spacious public baths, erected by the 
corporation of Halifax in the year 1859, at a cost of £6000. 

Tlie Crosslci/ Orplian Home. — This noble building, situate in 
SaviJe Park, Halifax, is a splendid quadrilateral stone structure 
of the architecture of the reio'n of Kino- James I., with a 
mixture of the Italian style. It was commenced in 18.57, and 
completed in 1864, at a cost of £56,000, by the late Sir Francis 
Crossley, Bart., and his brothers, John and Joseph Crossley, Esqs., 
acting conjointly, and ^^'as furnished by them with a noble endow- 
ment of £3000 a year. The building rises to the height of three 
stories, and from the centre of the principal front springs a hand- 
some clock tower, surmounted by a dome. The roofs are of high 
pitch, and are crested with a light gilt railing. In this benevolent 
establishment there is accommodation for 450 children of both sexes, 
who are lodged, boarded, clothed, and educated. In oi-der to be 
admitted to the benefits of this institution, they must either have 
lost both parents or their father, and when once admitted they are 
instnicted and maintained for six years and upwards. Boys may 
remain in the Orpjhanage till they are fifteen, and giids till they 
are seventeen years of age. 

Modiivn CliurcJies and Chapels of Ilcdifax. — We have already 
spoken of the parish church of Halifax, which has been for many 
ages the noblest and most venerable church in this extensive parish. 
In its present form it dates from the year 1447, though there is 
no doubt that a church existed on the same site probably from the 
time of the introduction of Christianity into this district. Amongst 
the most beautiful of modern churches is that of All Souls, 
Haley Hill, Halifax, which is considered one of the finest of the 
many beautiful churches erected by Sir Gilbert G. Scott. It is the 
church of the new parish of Haley Hill, a district already containing 



398 YOE-KSHIRE 



a population of several thousand inhabitants. This beautiful church 
was erected by Edward Akroyd, Esq., who also endowed it liberally, 
and the cost of the church is said to have amounted to at least 
£70,000. 

Many large and handsome chapels of various classes of Dissenters 
have been erected at Halifax, and one of the finest objects on enter- 
ing the town is the spire of the new Independent chapel, completed 
in the year 1857 at a cost of more than £15,000, of which J. James, 
Esq., was the architect. This is a beautiful and very tasteful erec- 
tion, and only one amongst a great number of handsome and com- 
modious chaj^els erected by the numerous Protestant dissenters of 
this populous district. Halifax is remarkable for the number and 
energy of its Nonconformist bodies, and insepai-able from these 
the name of Dr. Mellor will ever be held as one of the ablest 
Nonconformist ministers of the present day. 

The Modern Schools of Halifax. — In addition to the ancient 
grammar school of Halifax, founded in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, 
the town possesses the old National school, built in the year 1815; 
St. James' school, erected in 1832; Crossbill school, built in 1844; 
and King Cross school, erected in 1849; besides the parish church 
school, erected in 1845; Trinity school in 1869; and a number 
of schools erected or now in progress under the powers of the 
Education Act. The British school was built in 1818 ; the Square 
Chapel school was founded by the Independents in 1844. The Blue 
Coat school and Almshouses in Harrison Boad were erected 
in 1855-56, in place of the old ones, at a cost of about £10,000, by 
the trustees of Nathaniel Waterhouse, Esq., who so early as the 
years 1636 and 1642 left property for charitable and educational 
purposes in the town of Halifax and the neighbourhood. 

The Charities of Halifax. — Few towns possess a greater number 
of charitable and benevolent institutions than Halifax, and from 
the earliest times to the present there have been found wealthy 
and benevolent inhabitants, who have contributed large portions of 
their property to these objects. In addition to the Crossley Orphan 
Home, already mentioned, the late Sir Francis Crossley, Bart, pre- 
sented, two or three years previous to his death, the sum of £10,000 
to the infirmary and dispensary ; he also presented £10,000 for a loan 
fund which is of great use to young tradesmen. Mr. John Abbot 
has also within the last few years bequeathed upwards of £60,000 
to charitable purposes in Halifax, of which noble sum £10,000 has 



VAWV AND TRESENT. 399 



been devoted to the ( 'rossley OrpLan Home, and large sums to other 
pubhc charitable iiiKtitutions in Halifax. The Crossley Almshouses, 
near Hopwood Lane, were !)uilt and endowed in 1855 by Francis 
Crossley, Esq., INI. P., afterwards Sir Francis Crossley, Bart., for 
twenty-five poor men and women, who are allowed IO5. each per 
week. The buildings, constructed in the domestic Gothic style, 
are raised a story higher in the centre and at each end, so as to 
give the appearance of towers. A similar set of almshouses, near 
King Cross Lane, were built and endowed in 1863 by Joseph 
Crossley, Esq., and further enlai^ged and endowed by him in 
1SG9-70; the whole now forming a fine pile of forty-eight houses 
in the Gothic style. The following charitable institutions also exist 
in Halifox — The Halifax Dispensary and Infirmary, the latter 
instituted in 1S07, and the former in 1836. These now occupy 
a handsome building erected in 1856, enlarged by the addition 
of a new wing in 1864, and further enlarged in 1872. 

Literarji and Scientific Institutions. — Amongst the literary and 
scientific institutions of Halifax are the School of Art in Crossley 
Street, and the Halifax Literary and Philosophical Institution, 
founded in 1830. The latter occupies an elegant hall, in Harrison 
Road, erected in 1854. The Halifax Subscription Library was 
founded as early as the year 1767, and contains a valuable museum 
and library. The Halifax Mechanics' Institution and Mutual Im- 
provement Society, formed in 1825, has a good library. It occupies 
a large and handsome building in Crossley Street, erected in 1857 
at a cost, including the site, of about .£9000. The Church Institute 
in George Street has a library and reading-room. The Assembly 
Piooms, &c., in Harrison Eoad, form a spacious and handsome 
Ijuilding, erected in 1828, and contain assembly, billiard, and 
concert rooms. The Exchange and news-room at the Town Hall 
has a numerous list of subscribers. The newspaper press of Halifax 
consists of the Halifax Guardian, the Halifax Courier, and the 
Halifax Times. 

The Volurdeer Movement. — Halifax is the head-quarters of the 
2nd West Yorkshire yeomanry ca.valry, raised in 1843, and com- 
prising two Llalifax troops, a Pluddersficld troop, and a Bradford 
troop. Lieutenant-colonel Sir Henry Edwards, Bart., is the com- 
mandant. The Halifiix rifle volunteers (4th West York) were 
formed in 1859, and now numljcr a,l>out 700 members. There are 
nine companies, of which seven belong to Halifax, and the remaining 



400 YORKSHIRE : 



two to the districts of Sowerby Bridge and Brighouse. The armoury 
and drill shed is a handsome Gothic structure, fronting Prescott and 
Union Streets, erected at a cost of £5000. It contains officers' 
quarters; sergeant-major's residence; gymnasium, a large hall 140 
feet by 56 feet, with a gallery at one end; reading and smoking 
rooms, and a well-arranged armoury. The hall will seat 700 persons. 
An artillery volunteer corps has also been formed. 

Men of Note connected loitli Science and Literature in Halifax. — 
Since the founding of the church and free grammar school of Hali- 
fax many good scholars have been produced in this parish, and a 
fair share of authors connected with it have written works that 
have obtained and deserved the notice of the world. It was long 
supposed that the famous mathematican, only known by his Latin 
name of Johannes de Sacro Bosco, the author of a very early work 
entitled " De Sphsera," was a native of Halifax; but this is 
now considered doubtful, there being no evidence of it except 
that supjDlied by his name of Sacro Bosco, which was supposed 
to be an attempt at a Latin translation of the name, 
Halifax. Leland, in his " Commentary on British Writers," 
supposed this to be the case, and Thoresby affirms it, and says 
that he lay on his back on the hill at Halifax to observe the 
motion of the stars. The authority of Leland is entitled to some 
consideration, on the ground of judgment as well as of scholarship ; 
but Mr. Watson points out the fact that the meaning of Sacro 
Bosco is neither the Holy Hair, nor the Holy Face, nor the 
Holy Road, but tlie Holy Wood, and therefore hesitates to admit 
the bearer of that very honourable name into the list of the 
scholars of Halifax. The Saviles of the parish of Halifax have been 
alike distinguished as scholars and as politicians. Sir Henry Savile 
of Bradley, in this parish, was an eminent scholar in the sixteenth 
century, having entered Merton Cohege, Oxford, where he obtained 
the reputation of possessing a very superior knowledge both of 
the Greek language and of mathematics. He was teacher of the 
Greek language to Queen Elizabeth, whom he assisted in makino- 
an excellent scholar. In 1619 he founded two lectui^es or professor- 
ships in the university of Oxford, one for geometry and the other 
for astronomy, which he endowed with what was then the large and 
liberal salary of £160 a year, besides a legacy of £600, and a library 
of mathematical books for the use of the professors and their 
students. His works are very extensive, and show a most intimate 



PAST AND PRESKNT. 401 



knowledge, not only of Latin and Greek, but of early English 
literature. Another of the Saviles, namely, Henry Savile of Shaw 
Hill, in Skircoat, was a great friend of learning, and presented the 
learned Camden with an ancient copy of the old British writer, 
Asserius Menevensis, which he published in 1602. At a later 
period the Saviles of Elland, Avho rose to the rank of marquises of 
Halifax, acquired a high literary reputation, though they were 
cbielly distinguished for their enlightened yet strictly constitutional 
views of piolitics and government. The n)arquis of Halifax, who 
was employed by Charles II., and dismissed from office by James 
II. to make way for the men who brought about his ruin, was one 
of the best writers as well as of the ablest men of his time. When 
the title of Halifax had become extinct in the Savile family, it was 
re-created in favour of Charles Montague, earl of Halifax, one of 
the most accomplished scholars of the reign of Queen Anne, and a 
warm friend and supporter of all the literary men of that most 
enlightened age. In the department of religion and controversy, the 
grammar school of Halifax and the well-endowed living have produced 
many very able writers. Such a one was Dr. Favour, a scholar of 
great learning in the reign of James I. and his successor, who held 
the vicarage of Halifax for nearly forty years, and who was the 
author of many able works connected with religion. A still more 
famous native of the parish of Halifax was Archbishop Tillotson, 
the son of a manufacturer at Sowerby, which is within the present 
limits of the borough of Halifax. His influence in upholding 
moderate views in the Church of England, as well as his great 
learning, his fine talents, and the excellence of his character, raised 
him to the highest position in the church soon after the Revo- 
lution. In the same age Dr. Lake, who received the elements of 
his education in the grammar school of Halifax, rose to the rank 
of bishop of Chichester, to which he was raised by King James II. 
He had at least the merit of consistency ; for after having accepted 
a bishopric from James II. he stuck firmly to his opinions, and on 
his deathbed asserted the doctrine of non-resistance and passive 
obedience. His opinions did not preserve the throne to James II., 
thouo-h they probably had some influence for a short time - in 
weakening the authority of William and Mary, and of the two 
first kings of the house of Brunswick. They are now utteily for- 
gotten in England. 

The history of Halifax has been well written by several Avriters 
VOL, n. ^ ^ 



402 YORKSHIRE : 



resident on the spot, of whom the Kev. John Watson, to whom we 
and all writers on the same subject are so much indebted, is 
much the ablest. Mr. Watson was not only a good classical scholar, 
but was also well acquainted with the German and Danish 
languages, from which so large a portion, not only of the English 
language, but of the local dialects of this district are derived. He 
was also a man of candid and moderate temper, and wrote with 
singular moderation on subjects which often excite great warmth. At 
the end of a hundred years Mr. Watson's histoiy of Halifax has been 
republished by Mr. F, A. Leyland of that town, whose love and know- 
ledge of local anticjuities will insure justice to the excellent writer 
whose work he is thus assisting to preserve. The earlier history of 
Halifax, commonly known as William Bently's, and published about 
the year 1708, is said to have been really written by Samuel 
Midgley, an unfox'tunate scholar. The history of Halifax written 
in the year 1738 by the Rev. Mr. Wright, is greatly superior 
to the last-named work, though not to be compared with that 
of his successor, the Rev. Mr. Watson. The noble science of 
astronomy, which delighted Johannes de Sacrobosco, whether it was 
at Halifax or somewhere else, has still warm admirers in that place ; 
amongst whom we will mention as indefatigable observers of 
the sublime phenomena of the heavens, Mr. Edmund Crossley, 
M.R.I., F.M.S,., and Mr. GledhiU. Here also Sir William Herschel, 
the great explorer of the heavens, spent a short portion of his 
noble career, as musician and organist of the parish church. 

The Observatory, Bermerside, is a handsome stone building con- 
sisting of two equatorial rooms, a meridian room, and a computing 
room. The equatorials, the larger by Cooke, and the smaller by 
A. Clark, are of 9^ inches and 4-^ inches aperture, and are fitted 
with all the best modern accessories. The transit circle has an 
object glass 3^ inches in diameter, and is by Cooke. The equa- 
torial rooms are surmounted by cylindrical wooden domes, covered 
with sheet copper. At present the instruments are devoted to 
the measurement of double stars, and the delineation of the physical 
features of the planets. In this work Mr. Edward Crossley, 
F.R.A.S., is assisted by Mr. Joseph GledhiU, F.R.A.S., F.G.S., &c. 

The Meteorological Ohservatory, Moorsiilc, Halifax. — This is by far 
the best-equipped private meteor observatory in England. The 
barometer, anemometer, rain-gauge, and hygrometer are self- 
registering, some by mechanical means, and others by means of 



PAST AND TRKSENT. 403 



lihotogTaph)'. At tliis ul)sri-\';itoiy the pressure and direction of the 
wind, the weight of the atmosphere, the teiii})(M-ature of the air, 
and the amount of rain are registered, day and ni^ht, by the 
above instruments. A special feature is the fine Kiny's liaroni-apli. 

Jlahfax Ldcrnrji aiul I'/n'/osapJ/iral Sarief//. — Tlie amalgamation 
of the Halifax Literary and Philosophical Society with the Halifax 
Circulating- Library \\'as made a few yeru-s ago. A lecture theatre 
and library were also built contiguous to the museum. There are 
now upwards uf lo.OOO books in the library. 

Population ami Occupations of Halifax at the Census o/'1871. — 
We find a groat variety of interesting facts recorded in the Census 
of England and Wales for the year 1871, which enable us to 
trace the progress of Halifax down to the present time. It 
appears from these returns that in the borough of Halifax, within 
the limits which existed in the year 1861, thei'e were then 7807 
inhabited houses, and a population of 37,014 persons. But these 
boundaries were very considerably enlarged in the ten years 
between 1861 and 1871, so that in the latter year the number of 
inhabited houses in the borough of Halifax, with its increased limits, 
was 13,79.5, and the number of inhabitants was 6.5,124, showing 
an increase of inhabitants in the parliamentary borough of 1871, 
in comparison with that of 1861, of 28,110 persons. The tables 
supplied by this Census — the last volume of which was published 
in 1873 — show what weve the great sources of employment and 
Avealth in this populous town. The} consisted of various branches 
of textile manufacture formed from the materials of wool, worsted, 
silk, fax, cotton, hair, straw, and hemp. The leading manufac- 
tures of the town, with the irumbers of persons of the male 
sex, above twenty years of age, employed in them in all capacities 
in Halifax, were as fdlows in the year 1871: — Woolstaplers, 
164; wool and cloth manufacture, 809; fullers, 10; wool and woollen 
dyers, 84; Avorsted manufacture, 1280; cloth merchants and dealers, 
19 ; stuff ruanufacture, 2.5:5 ; blanket manufacture, 1 ; carpet, rug 
manufacture, 990; silk and satin manufacture, 73; silk dyers, 
piinters, 4; silk meichauts, dealers, 4; ribbon manufacture, 1; 
flax, linen manufacture, 29; cotton manufacture, 489; fustian 
manufacture, 2 ; muslin manufacture, ; calico, cotton dyers, 5 ; 
others of the same class, 'SCj; weavers (not otherwise dosci-ibed), 
89 ; bleachers, 2; hemp manufactui-e, 3 ; rope and cord makers, 34.'" 

' ('niuus Kelurns, ]«7I, vul iii. p 1«-J. 



404 YOKKSHIIiE : 



But the above occupations also gave employment to a great 
number of females, as will be seen from the following account of 
the amount of labour of females, above twenty years of age, em- 
ployed in these occupations in 1871 : — Wool and cloth manufacture, 
339; worsted manufacture, 2416; stuff manufacture, 23; flannel 
manufacture, 1 ; blanket manufacture, 2 ; carpet rug manufacture, 
669 ; silk and satin manufacture, 12 ; lace manufacture, 65 ; cotton 
manufacture, 455 ; cotton printers, 2 ; weavers (not otherwise 
described), 65. The number of children employed is not given. 

The minerals found in the Halifax district are, as we have 
already stated, amongst the chief sources of its wealth and popu- 
lation, furnishing the steam-power for a large portion of its manu- 
factures, for locomotion on railways, and for domestic use. The 
building stone and slate of this neighbourhood are very abundant 
and of excellent quality, and hence Halifax has an advantage, in 
the construction both of its public and private buildings, which few 
of the towns of Yorkshire possess in an equal degree. Most of 
these occupations are carried on beyond the limits of the borough 
of Halifax ; but a large portion of the prosperity of the town de- 
pends on the fact that the coal mines of the Halifax district now 
yield some hundred thousand tons of coal every year. Within the 
borough the population includes the following number of persons 
employed in the working of minerals: — Coal miners, 91 ; iron miners, 
10; miners (branch undefined), 11 ; coal merchants and dealers, 68 ; 
labourers in quarries, 22; labourers in stone quarries, 166; stone 
merchants, cutters, and dressers, 6 7 ; labourers in clay, 1 ; brick- 
makers and dealers, 101 ; railway labourers, platelayers, and navvies, 
141; road contractors, inspectors, and surveyors, 4 ; earthenware 
manufacture, 16; glass manufacture, 2; iron manufacture, 357; 
wire workers and drawers, 380 ; brass manufacture, 60 ; zinc 
manufacture, 1 ; ironmongers, hardware dealers, 29 ; steel manufac- 
ture, 2; other workers in metals, 11. These figures, which were 
collected by the government oflficials at the time when the census 
was taken in 1871, form the best data that exist as to the occupa- 
tions of the people ; but there are so many sources of error in such 
returns that we merely give them as approximations. They, at all 
events, show what were the great and prevailing branches of industry 
in the towns and distiicts to which they relate. 

The Great Manufactories of Halifax. — We have already mentioned 
that amongst the manufactories which were visited and admired 



PAST AND PRESENT. 405 



by His Eoyal Hi^lmess the prince of Wales, were those of 
Dean Clongh, and Haley Hill. The Dean CHouf^^h Mill of Messrs. 
Crossley was originally a tliree-storied building on the left bank 
of the river Hobble, and was built by Messrs. Waterhouse for 
their own use. It was pulled down in the year 1857, and 
afterwards rebuilt. In 1800 the number of hands employed at 
Dean Clough was about o.lOO, and in 1870 the number had 
increased to 5000. The buildings in 1874 covered about twenty- 
five acres. The following is a brief notice of its founder : — John 
Crossley, the founder of the eminent firm "John Crossley & Sons," 
was born in 1772 near Halifax. At the age of sixteen he w^as 
put apprentice to his uncle, Mr. John Webster, of the Clay Pits, 
to learn carpet weaving. At the expiration of his apprenticeship 
he went to weave carpets for j\lr. Currie at Luddenden Foot. At 
this factory, then the largest carpet factory in I'orkshire, what were 
known as Scotch carpets were made. In 1800 he went into part- 
nership with Mr. Job Lees, who had a factory in the Lower George 
Yard, in Halifax. At this place John Crossley also acted as manager. 
His partner dying soon after, a new firm was formed, consisting 
of Piobert Abbott, John Crossley, and Francis EUerton, its style 
being "Abbott, Crossley, & Co." At the end of the first year John 
Crossley 's share of the profits was =£70. The partnership was, 
however, soon dissolved, and John Crossley took all the spinning 
and dyeing for the firm into Ins own hands, the worsted being 
spun on two frames at the paper mill under the North Bridge. 
In 1802 he went into partnership with his brother, Thomas 
Crossley, and Mr. James Travis, and they took Dean Clough mill 
on a lease for twenty years, at an annual rent oi £'250 ; but they 
also still continued to dye and spin for the Messrs. Abbot & 
EUerton. Besides carpets they made shalloons and plain backs, and 
at one time employed 160 hand weavers. The brace \\ebs and 
body belts manufactured by John Crossley were sold to the Irish, 
Avho then hawked them about the country. When the lease ran 
out eacli pai'tner drew £1400. Al>out 1830 John Crossley pur- 
chased Messrs. Abbott's carpet business, which embraced from 
twenty to twenty-five hand looms. His three sons, John, Joseph, 
and Francis, assisted him in the business for some years before 
his death, which took place in 18:57. The three brothers then 
took entire charge of the concern, and about 1841 it began to 
grow rapidly. At the death of the founder about 300 hands were 



406 TOEKSHIRE : 



employed. Tapestry, velvet, Brussels, Touruay velvet, and Scotcli 
or Kidderminster ingrain carpets, togetlier witlr rugs, sofa carpets, 
table covers, church mats, &c., are now manufactured, and are sent 
to nearly all parts of the world. The works at Dean Clough, as 
already mentioned, extend over an area of twenty-five acres, and 
give employment to about 5000 persons. 

The Worsted Manufactory of James Akroyd & Son, Limited. — 
This is one of the laro;est and the oldest manufactories of Halifax. 
In the year 1871 Mr. Edward Akroyd, then sole partner in the 
firm, converted it into a joint stock comjiany, limited. He is 
grandson of Mr. James Akroyd, the original founder of the firm, 
and remains chairman of the board of directors. For many years 
he was one of the members for this borough, and sat previously 
for the borough of Huddersfield, from 18-57 to 1859. 

History of the Firm of James Akroyd tt Son, Limited, Llalifax. 
— Mr. James Akroyd, of Brookhouse, Ovenden, the founder of 
the firm, born in 1753, was a yeoman manufacturer, as his fore- 
fathers had been for generations. In early life he was a partner 
with his elder brother Jonathan, of Lane Head, Ovenden, as 
manufacturers of narrow eighteen-inch lastings, calimancoes, and 
low wildbores, called " Little Joans," very similar to the modern 
bunting used for signal flags ; as also of figured " Aniens "■ — 
a name derived from Amiens in France, whence the article orimn- 
ally came — woven by tlie aid of a " draw-boy " at the side of the 
loom, whose office it was, by means of gearing and harness, to pull 
up the proper healds at the right time. He had two sons, Jona- 
than and James, whom in due time he admitted into partnei'ship 
under the firm of James Akroyd & Sous, and who raised the 
prosjierity of the firm, whilst they did much towards the develop- 
ment of the worsted manufacture of the district. The elder of 
the two, Jonathan, was born in 1782, about three years after the 
erection of the Halifax Piece Hall. During their youth and eaidy 
manhood both sons remained at Brookhouse, associated with their 
father in the business. 

This happened to be a critical stage in the growth of the worsted 
manufacture, when the recent invention by Arkwright of the spin- 
ning-jenny, or mule, was being first applied to the production of 
worsted yarn. By the enterprise and perseverance of the two 
junior partners a spinning-mill was erected at Brookhouse, near 
Halifax, about the year lb05, and a supply of water ibr turning 



PAST AM) rUE.=^EXT. 407 



the Avater-v:hool ^vas obtniiKMl finm the 'ni'ook hy a side o-oit of 
about half a mile in length, t'anicd i]i some places in tunnel, in 
othei'S upon an a(pioduct. It w;is a clever engineering work for 
that period, and remains to this day a striking proof of the skill 
and boldness of these hardy }>ioneers of manufacturing industry. 

The first intention at the starting of Brookhouse Mill was to 
employ it as a spinning establishment ; but from the difficulty of 
selling the vastly increased production of machine-spun yarn to 
small manutactiu-ers, hitherto limited to the scanty supply from 
hand-spinning wheels scattered over the country, it soon became 
necessary to add weaving to spinning. A profitable manufacture of 
moreens for ciu'taius was introduced about the year 1811 from 
Xorwich ; and the leading Yorkshire manufacturers of the article 
were Messrs. James Akroyd & Sons, of Brookhouse, and Mr. John 
Holland of Slcad House, near Brighouse; although it remains a moot 
point which of the two firms first transplanted the weavdng of the 
article into the district. 

In the year 1808 Mr. Jonathan Akroyd was married, and about 
the same time his brother ; both entei'ing upon their married 
life in houses yet remaining, situated near each other, between 
Lane Head and Brookhouse. 

About the year 1811 Mr. James Akroyd, junior, withdrew from 
Brookhouse, and started an independent manufacturing concern 
at Old Lane, near Halifax. Being of an inventive genius, and a 
gO'jd mechanician, he turned his attention to every improvement 
and novelty in the art of weaving. About the year 1822 he 
first introduced power-looms, and encouraged by the success of 
his experiments, he proceeded to erect the large fire-proof mill in 
Old Lane, aided pecuniarily by his bankers — Messrs. Bawson, the 
founders of the present Union Banking Co., Halifax. In the year 
1827 the weaving factory was opened with a supper and dance 
for the weavers, and was the greatest undertaking of the period 
in the worsted manufacture. Here he perfected the weaving by 
power, of lastings, camlets, and other goods. To him also is due 
the credit of introducirjg the Jacquai-d engine for weaving damasks 
and other descriptions of figured goods, al)out the year 182 7. The 
first Jacfpiard engines injpoited into England \\'ere brought to 
Manchester, from Lyons, by a Frenchman of tlie name of Sago. 
One of these was purchased l»y Mr. Jaines Akroyd, and set up in 
March, 1827, being the first brought into Yorkshire. 



408 YORKSHIRE : 



So early as 1825 Mr. James Akroyd supplied Messrs. Macintosh 
of Manchester, inventors of the new process of rendering cloth 
water-proof by a coating of india-rubber, with a light worsted 
fabric suited for their process. But about the year 1830 to 1832 
he turned his attention to the manufacture of mixed goods of 
cotton and worsted, and especially to the difficult art of dyeing 
both materials in the piece, so as to produce one luiiform shade 
suitable not only for Messrs. Macintosh, but for the trade generally. 
In this art, technically called " union dyeing," he was remarkably 
successfuL At the same time he introduced cotton warjjs freely 
into other goods, especially cotton and worsted damasks of various 
shades, in which his firm achieved a high reputation. But his career 
was cut short, and he died in 1836, at the age of fifty-one years. 
After the withdrawal of Mr. James Akroyd, Mr. Jonathan 
Akroyd continued the Brookhouse Mill with his father, under the 
old style of James Akroyd & Sons, along with his younger brother, 
Mr. Thomas, who remained as j)artner in the business until 
1823. With a thorough experience of every detail of the business, 
in which he had taken a leading part since his first admission in 
1803, its chief conduct and management devolved upon Mr. Jona- 
than for many years before and after the death of his father in 
1830 The name of the firm remained unchanged after this event; 
and on the withdrawal of the junior partner, Mr. Thomas, in 1823, 
the only charige was to James Akroyd & Son, instead of James 
Akroyd & Sons. 

In 1818 Mr. Jonathan removed to Halifax and purchased a 
steam mill at Bowling Dyke, which forms a portion of the present 
premises. In June, 1839, he received his two sons, Edward and 
Henry, into partnership, and under their joint management the 
business was conducted until the death of the princi23al, in 1847. 
From that period until the end of 18.53 Edward Akroyd and Henry 
Akroyd represented the firm as sole partners. In December of 
the year 1853, by mutual consent, a dissolution of partnership 
took place, and the business was continued by the seniol' partner. 
Lastly, in December, 1871, the firm was enrolled as a joint stock 
company, limited, under the old name, with the following list of 
directors :— Edward Akroyd, Esq., M.P., Bank Field, Halifax, 
chairman ; John Wright Child, Esq., Copley Wood, HaHfax ; Henry 
Akroyd Ptidgway, Esq., Woodlands, Halifax ; John Edward Champ- 
ney, Esq., Halifax; Mr. John Eichardson, Halifax; Mr. Richard 



PAST AND PRESENT. 409 



Micklethwaite Stansfield, Halifax ; Mv. Thomas llebbletliwaite, 
Halifax. 

One of the main objects of this change was to obviate the 
antagonism between capital and labour, and to give to those who 
had contributed to the past prosperity of the business an oppor- 
tunity of obtaining as proprietors an interest in its future success. 
The premises of the firm were originally confined to the spin- 
ning mill at Bowling Dyke, purchased by the late ]\lr. Jonathan 
Akroyd at the time of his migration from Brookhouse, in the 
year IS 1.3. By the growth and prosperity of the business the 
premises have been gradually enlarged, and now include : — 1. The 
works at Bowling Dyke, comprising two large fire-proof mills, 
with wool warehouses and other buildings. 2. The weaving-shed, 
the combing-shed, fire-proof mill, warehouse, and other buildings, 
at Haley Hill. 3, The compact estate, consisting of the ware- 
house and chief offices of the firm, the Commercial Inn, numerous 
shops, dwelling-houses, and vacant land at Cross Hills and North 
Pai-ade. 4. The dye-works recently purchased from Messrs. 
Edleston adjoining the Bowling Dyke Works, and where new 
buildings are now in course of erection adapted for slubbing, 
dyeing, and other simple operations for the use of the firm. 5. 
The dye-houses at North Bridge, now in the occupation of Messrs. 
John Walshaw and Sons, and of Mr. Hanson, as tenants. (The 
above are all situate in the town of Halifax). 6. Copley Mills 
and the village of Copley, beyond, but nearly adjoining the limits 
of the borough of Halifax, having the river Calder on the south, 
and the main line of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway on the 
north. The estate comprises an area of nearly twenty acres, 
including the site of two large mills, warehouses, shed, and 150 
dwelling-houses, generally occupied by persons employed at the 
works. Copley Mills, which form one of the most striking features 
of manufacturing industry in the West Riding, were designed 
with much solicitude and care, and may be regarded as most 
perfectly appointed for the purposes of business, possessing also 
associated arrangements which are specially adapted to promote 
the comfort and advantage of those employed on the premises. 
In the erection of the dwelling-houses, which are of modern con- 
struction, every cai-e has been bestowed to secure comfort and 
convenience. 

In this schedule of the premises in the occupation of the firm, 
\oi,. n. 3 F 



410 YORKSHIRE; 



Brookhouse is not included. So long as Mr. Jonathan Akroyd 
lived this cradle of the manufactory was retained, although the 
attachment of the founder was weakened, if not estranged, by 
a fire which burned down the warehouse and a heavy stock of 
moreens in the winter of 1828. Tlie fire was attributed to incen- 
diarism, and the blackened walls yet remain standing. At present 
the mill is occupied by a spinner of cotton spindle bands. 

After this rapid sketch of the successive changes in the mem- 
bership of the firm, and the growth of the establishment from a 
small beginning, it may be interesting to add a short history of 
some of the branches of manufacture introduced by Mr. Jonathan 
Akroyd, as has already been furnished with regard to his brother 
and former partner, Mr. James. 

In the "History of the Worsted Manufacture," by the late Mr. John 
James, F.S.A., of Bradford, and published in 1857, allusion is made 
to the introduction of the manufacture of bombazines and Norwich 
crapes in 1819. The bold attempt to cultivate this article as a 
permanent trade was made by Mr. Jonathan Akroyd, and for a 
few years was very successful — until about 1834-36. At this time 
a similar article in fine double cotton warp, called Paramatta, was 
introduced, which gradually replaced bombazines, untU in its turn 
it gave way to the modern Coburg, of fine single cotton warp. In 
1819, also, the art of weaving camlets was introduced through the 
same channel; and to the present day large quantities of these 
and other goods are sent from Halifax to the markets of China 
and Japan. 

In estimating the difiiculties attendant upon the transplanting 
of the manufacture of these goods, then unknown in Yorkshire, 
we must not forget that a knowledge of the art of weaving them 
in hand -looms was essential to success. For camlets a peculiar 
knack was required on the part of the weaver in managing his 
treadles, so as to bring down the warp suddenly by the healds to 
curve round the weft, whereby each thread of weft became a distinct 
rib or roll across the piece. To produce this efiect with four treadles 
the weaver had to exercise what was called a "jumping" motion with 
the healds at an early part of the stroke ; and for this purpose he 
had a movable seat revolving on a pivot, which enabled him to 
throw the whole weight of his body upon the two treadles at 
each stroke. To acquire this knack personal observation was neces- 
sary, and accordingly trusty emissaries were sent to Norwich in 



VAST AND PRESENT. 411 



1S19, who learned and brought l)ark the sceret of weaving camlets, 
as well as bombazines and Norwich crapes. It is due to these 
trusty emissaries, both dead many years since, to record their names. 
The arduous introduction of N\'oaving Norwich crapes and bomba- 
zines into Yorkshire was efi'eeted by an ingenious handloom weaver 
of the name of Michael Greenwood, a native of Shibden Dale, near 
Halifax, and in tlie employment of the firm. Camlet weaving was 
mastered by Eobert Wood, sent over specially for that purpose. On 
their return from Norwich the first camlet warp spun at Bowling 
Dyke, Hahfi\x, was put in the camlet loom in January, 1820 ; and 
as there were no regular twisters invented at that time, the 
first experimental warp was twisted by hand hi what was called a 
" twinino- mill." 

For the home and continental trade there sprang up a good 
demand for yarn-dyed camlets in indigo blue, dark brown, and 
green, which continued brisk from about 1822 to 1850. These 
yarn-dyed camlets were used for waterproof cloaks, then much in 
vogue, until the fashion gave ^^'ay to the taste for Macintosh water- 
proof cloth, already mentioned as the production of Mr. James 
Akroyd, jun., of Old Lane. 

The circumstances of the period were peculiarly favourable to 
the transplanting of various branches of manufacture from Norwich, 
where trade of all kinds was fettered by trades unions and technical 
restrictions. Another cause favourable to the change was the con- 
temporaneous introduction of steam-power, and the advantage which 
the manufacturing towns of the West Kiding possessed in their 
close contiguity to coal-fields. Fostered by these favourable con- 
ditions, the worsted manufacture of Halifax, Bradford, Keighley, and 
the district, soon took firm root. Besides the articles introduced 
from Norwich, there were other novelties invented by Yorkshke 
ingenuity. 

About 1818 three-quarter dobbies, or bird's-eyes, were introduced, 
and caused a large and increasing demand. The inventors were the 
same jMichael Greenwood who was afterwards sent to Norwich, and 
another hand-loom weaver of the name of David Tidswell, from 
Queenshead, also employed by this firm. They took their idea con- 
jointly from the barrel of a box organ, and concluded that by having 
the circular drum ribbed and cut into "slots," they might by means 
of horizontal layers of wood, called "jacks," lift up the sixteen 
healds required for the bird's-eye pattern. In like manner they 



412 YORKSHIRE 



produced other patterns, one called the "cup and ball." The first 
manufacturers of these dobbies were undoubtedly James Akroyd & 
Son, who retained the trade until their competitors got hold of 
it. Very large sales were made of this article until the year 1824, 
when a fresh demand sprung up for damasks. 

In February, 1825, James Akroyd & Son commenced the manu- 
facture of damasks, although several years later than at the rival 
manufactory in Old Lane. So early as 1818 Mr. James Akroyd, 
junr., had turned his attention to the article, and by the aid of 
a Scotch table-cover weaver from Paisley well acquainted with the 
" plash " loom, popularly called " Scotch Jemmy," and a fancy 
weaver of the name of Bannister, from Stockport, he originated 
an improved damask loom, which he carefully guarded upon the 
"shop system," by having both looms and weavers under lock and 
key. Under this seal of secrecy he preserved the monopoly until 
1824, when Mr. Jonas Eobertshaw of Ovenden started a few looms, 
and was followed by others. All these looms were worked by 
drawboys, until replaced by the Jacquard engines. As already 
stated, the first of these machines, from Lyons, was set up by Mr. 
James Akroyd, junr., at Old Lane, in 1827, but he was not 
allowed to retain the sole use -more than a few months, when his 
brother, Mr. Jonathan, also succeeded in purchasing a similar 
machine. Henceforth the trade became open and general. A new 
style of silk damask was introduced by Mr. Jonathan with silk 
Aveft, which had a considerable run. 

The Jacquard engine was soon applied to other descriptions of 
figured goods besides damasks. James Akroyd & Son had started 
a stout figured worsted satin, called " figured Eussell," some years 
previously by means of the dobby engine, already mentioned ; but 
the dobby was soon replaced by the Jacquard. It is desirable 
to record the names of the ingenious workmen by whom these 
inventions were perfected; and for this reason the name of a 
most useful servant of the firm should be preserved, viz., George 
Dawson, often called Dobby Dawson, originally a carpet weaver 
at Dean Clough, under Mr. John Crossley, senr. His speciality 
was the apphcation of the Jacquard to a two-lift engine, used 
for all descriptions, of figured goods with plain ground ; such as 
figured Russells, just mentioned, and figured Orleans of a similar 
texture to the old bird's-eye. These goods, some of them wefted 
with mohair in imitation of silk linings, had a great run for 



FAST AND PRESENT. 413 



several years, and are still maimt'actured to a limited extent. In 
1S29 to 1S30 an ingenions joiner and cabin ut-niaker of the name 
of Samuel Dracup, of Great Horton, commenced making numbers 
of "two-lift" Jacquard engines, for which he had a rapid and 
prolonged sale. He supplied the firm of James Akroyd & Son 
with these engines for several years. In 1834 the same ingenious 
]\lichael Greenwood exercised his inventive genius in the prepara- 
tion of a new figured -worsted cloth, called "French figure." From 
the name it is evident that the original cloth was French, and 
the problem Avhich Greenwood had to solve was, how to produce 
a similar cloth. This he accomplished effectually, and thereby led 
the way to a flourishing trade. He was at the time a small 
manufacturer on his own account ; but it was impossible for him 
to keep his invention a secret, and other small manufacturers soon 
followed his steps. In 1836 the two largest manufacturers of 
this article were Messrs. James Akroyd & Son, of Halifax, and 
Messrs. John Foster & Son, of Queenshead (now Queensbury), 
After the all-worsted cloth had a run, it was followed by cotton 
warp figures, copied from the French and styled Parisians. For 
these goods there was a large demand, both in the home and 
foreign trade. All this class of goods was woven by "one 
treadle," in contradistinction to the "two-lift" engines, previously 
mentioned, for plain cloth. The trying part of this performance to 
the hand-loom weaver was, that with only one treadle he could 
only use one leg — a fatiguing operation to one unaccustomed to 
the motion. The power-loom, when subsequently introduced, had 
this advantage over the hand-loom weaver, that it could work 
as well with one leg as two, and was insensible to fatigue. By 
way of variety in the appearance of the all-worsted French figure, 
some of the Bradford manufacturers introduced black and brown 
Alpaca from the weft, being the first attempt to use this material 
extensively in the worsted manufacture. Doubtless the success of 
these first trials paved the way for the future princely fortunes 
made by Messrs. Titus Salt & Co., of Bradford, and by Messrs. 
John Foster & Son, of Queensbury, from the same material. 

Havino- thus finished our sketch of the manufacture of figured 
goods, it only remains to add a few comments upon plain articles. 
In 1824 a powerful impulse was given to the manufactin-e of 
lastings, serge de Berri, and other stout goods made from two- 
fold warps, all woven by handloom weavers. Some of the best 



414 YORKSHIRE 



of the weavers resided in the Luddenden Valley ; and partly for the 
purpose of more ready access to these weavers, and for the sake of 
increased production, Messrs. James Akroyd & Son became occupants 
of Boy Mill, Luddenden Foot. These premises they retained in 
their possession until they purchased Copley Mills, when they 
gradually withdrew, and made way for Messrs. Whitw^orth in 
1847-48. 

Besides the trade in two-fold lastings, the firm also transacted 
a large business in French merinoes, made with a single worsted 
warp, sized. The original width was three-quarters, but in 1830-34 
the demand changed to six-quarters wide. In 1824-25 a large 
and steady demand sprang up for Spain in a merino cloth of 
peculiar dimensions, five-quarters wide and sixty-three yards long, 
called Alepines. These continued until 1852-55. At the same 
time there was a demand, for the monastic orders in Spain and 
Italy, for says and also for wildbores or tammies, finished with a 
glazed finish, for the nunneries. All these were woven with single 
warps, sized. 

In the " History of Worsted Manufacture," by Mr. James, a 
synopsis obtained from the books of the firm was given, affording 
a chronicle of the periods when difierent articles were first intro- 
duced, and this synopsis is here appended. 

The following synopsis, obtained from the hooks of Messrs. James Akioyd & Son, showing 
when certain descriptions of goods began to be made by them, will afford much aid in 
obtaining a correct view of the progress of the worsted manufacture in Halifax during the 
present century : — 

1798. — Calimancoes, plain and ribbed ; lastings; prunelles. 

1803. — Serges de Berri, shalloons, Russells, wildbores. 

1811. — Moreens, says, duroys. 

1813. — Three-fourth bombazetts or plain backs. 

1819. — Bombazines and Norwich crapes. 

1829.— Camlets, taborines, fancy Russells, dobbies. 

1824. — Damasks. 

1826-27. — French merinoes and full twills. 

1834.— French figures— a damask made six-fom-ths wide, of single-worked warp and fine 
English or merino weft, wrought by Jacquard engine, and producing a most 
beautiful and exact design. 

1836. — Alpaca figures. 

1836-40.— Figured Orleans, on a similar principle to the French figures, only substitut- 
ing cotton warp, producing a light fabric, and a great and agreeable vai-iety of 
figure. 

The large power-loom weaving shed of the firm at Haley Hill 
was erected by the late Mr. Jonathan Akroyd in the year 1836, 
and opened in January, 1837. It was at the time the largest 



PAST AND I'UESENT. 415 



weaving shed in the worsted district, covering about an acre of 
ground ; although now-a-days it ranks small compared with other 
mammoth structures. Before this shed was opened, experience 
had been gained in the employment of a few power-looms for 
lastings, camlets, and other heavy goods. 

So far, we have seen in the history of the firm the gradual 
substitution of machine for baud labour by the introduction, first, 
of the spinning-jenny ; second, of the power-loom. It remained 
to complete the series by the ingenious invention of the combing 
machine, which slowly but surely replaced hand-combing. The 
combing shed was opened in June, 1856, after the dissolution of 
partnership between Mr. Edward and Mr. Henry Akroyd. The 
change of employment was a serious question for the hand-combers, 
of whom the firm employed about 1000 to 1500 ; but by care, 
prudence, and foresight, and by the slow development of the in- 
evitable change, the revolution was peacefully effected without the 
pressure which might have been expected. All the young men 
found other work ; the middle-aged were gradually weaned from 
then- old occupation, although not without hardship ; some were 
assisted to emigrate to the United States ; the old and superan- 
nuated, where long and faithful service deserved the consideration, 
received a small weekly allowance, and were enabled to end their 
days shielded from cruel penury and want. Some few of the old 
combers were engaged to tend the combing machines, and with 
their practical experience, soon saw the hopelessness of a hand 
struggle with the machine. 

For the perfecting of the combing machine the trade is mainly 
indebted to Samuel Cunliffe Lister, Esq., of Manningham, Bradford, 
who has tliere recently erected gigantic works for combing, spinning, 
and manufacturing waste silk. An essential part of his completed 
machine is what is called Heilman's patent. This patent was 
purchased conjointly by the firm of James Akroyd & Son, and 
Titus (now Sir Titus) Salt, Sons, & Co., about the year 1852, and 
resold to Mr. Lister for about i'40,000, the amount of the original 
purchase money, with the right of use for the vendors. Mr. J. W. 
Child, now one of the directors of James Akroyd & Sons (Limited), 
was the chief negotiator in this transaction, both with ]\Ir. Ileilman, 
the original patentee, and Mr. Lister. The same Mr. Child planned 
and ably completed the combing shed of James Akroyd & Son, 
opened, as alreadly stated, in 185G. 



416 



YORKSHIRE : 



LIST OF THE TICAES OF HALIFAX. 



1273 



20. Henry Eamsden, 1629 

21. Richard Marsh, D.D., . . . 1638 

22. Eichard Hooke, D.D., . . . 1662 

23. Edmund Hough, M.A., . . . 1689 

24. Joseph Wilkinson, M.A., . . 1691 

25. Thomas Burton, M.A., . . . 1712 

26. George Legh, LL.D., . . . 1731 

27. Henry Wood, D.D., . . . . 1776 

28. Henry William Coulthurst, 
D.D., 1790 

29. Samuel Knight, M.A., . . . 1817 

30. Charles Musgrave, B.D., of 
Trinity College, Cambridge, 
vicar of Whitkirk, in this 
county, the present venerable 
and respected vicar, was insti- 
tuted on the 30th March, 1827, 
and inducted on the following 
day. This gentleman has since 
been presented to the preben- 
dal stall of Givendale, in the 
cathedral of York, .... 1827 



1. Ingolard Turbard (first vicar) 

2. John, sometimes called Aaron 

de Grydinton, 1315 

3. Thomas de Gaytington, . . . 1321 

4. John de Standford, . . . . 1349 

5. Eichard de Heton, .... 1362 

6. John Kynge, 1389 

7. Thomas Wilkynson, .... 1439 

8. Eichard Simmys, or Simms, . 1480 

9. Thomas Brent, L.D. (resigned), 1496 

10. William Eokeby (afterwards 

archbishop of Dublin), . . . 1502 

11. John Taylor, LL.D., .... 1621 

12. Eobert Holdesworth, L.D., . — 

13. John Harrison, 1556 

14. Christopher Ashburu, . . . 1559 

15. Francis Ashbiurn, 1573 

16. Heiuy Ledsam, or Ledsham, 

D.D., 1585 

17. John Favour, L.D., .... 1593 

18. Eobert Clay, D.D., .... 1623 

19. Hugh Eamsden, B.D., . . . 1628 

DATES OF THE PKINCEPAL EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE HISTOET OF HALIFAX. 

Roman Period, A.d, 41-420. — Remains of the great military roads of the 
Romans in the parish of Halifax, and of the Roman station of Cambodunum on 
its vyestern edge. In addition to which numerous Roman coins, extending 
over a period of upwards of 300 years, have been discovered from the age of the 
Emperor Augustus * to that of Constantine the Great. — Yorkshire : Past and 
Present, vol. ii. p. 356. 

Anglian Period, A.D. 450 to 850. — Hardwlck, or the Strong, or Steep Camp, 
afterwards the name of the Forest of Hardwick, extending over great part of 
the parish of Halifax, occupied by the Angles or Anglo-Saxons, from whose 
language the name is derived. — Vol. ii. pp. 354, 366. 

Danish Period, a.d. 850 to 1050. — Sowerbyshire and many other places in 
this parish occupied and named by the Danes. — Vol. ii. p. 366 (Note). 

Halifax. — Origin of the name. — Vol. ii. p. 357. 

1138. — The church, Ecclesia de Halifax, mentioned in grant of William, 
Earl Warren. — Vol. ii. p. 358. 

1273. — Vicarage (not rectory) of Halifax established. — Vol. ii. p. 370. 

1295. — Manor of Halifax mentioned as belonging to the prior of Lewes in 
Kirkby's inquest held this year. — Vol. ii. p. 360. 

1347. — Halifax given to Edmund Plantagenet, commonly known as 
Edmund of Langley, the father of the first duke of York. — Vol. ii. p. 361. 

* This coin of Augustus must have teen strudi several years prior to the invasion of Britain by the Emperor 
Claudius, and was probably brought over by one of the first invaders. The Eev. Mr. Watson says that it was 
struck by Plotius, one of the three mint masters in the reign of Augustus, the second Eoman emperor. It was 
a middle-sized red copper coin, or medal, and was found in the township of Skircoat, near King Cross 
Hahfax. — (Watson's Halifax, p. 56). We do not give the coins of the other emperors, as they extend over a 
period of 300 years. 



VAST AND PRUSENT. 417 



1347. — Criminal law of llalidix and the roioyt of Ilardwick. — A^ol. ii. 
p. oGG. 

1414. — ?»!auufaclures and population of Halifax in caidy times. — Vol. ii. 
p. oG3. 

1548-49. — .Vrclibisliop Gryndall's account of Halifax at tliis time. — Vol. 
ii. p. r>i!;). 

1555. — Act of 5th Philip and Mary, authorizing the sale of wool by 
retail in the parish of Halifax. — Yv\. ii. p. .">G5. 

1575-S(). — Camden's visit to Halifax and. account of the town and parish 
in the reign of (^ucen Elizabeth. — \'ol. ii. pi. 3G9. 

15^4. — 3000 to 4000 persons signed the Protestant declaration. — Vol. ii. 
p. 369. 

1584. — The Free Grammar School of Halifax founded by Queen Elizabeth. 
— Vol. ii. p"). 372. 

lGo8-1639. — Charter of incorporation for the public workhouse of Halifax 
in tlic reign of Charles I. — Vol. ii. p. 372. 

1G39-1640. — The great civil war. Halifax first occupied by the par- 
liamentary party, afterwards by the marquis of Newcastle for the king. — Vol. 
ii. pp. 374, 375. 

1644. — Halifax again occupied by the parliamentary party, after the battle 
of ilarston ]\Ioor. — Vol. ii. p. 376. 

1648. — Captain Hodgson, Halifax regiment of volunteers, at the battle of 
Preston. — Aol. ii. p. 376. 

1650. — Last trial and execution under the criminal law of Hardwick 
Forest. — Vol. ii. p. 368. 

1673. — Pialph Thoresby's visit to Mr. BrearclifFe, the Halifax antiquary. — • 
Vol. ii. p. 377. 

1701. — Halifax at the beginning of the eighteenth century. — Vol. ii. 
p. 37.-. 

1702. — Thoresby's account of improvements by the Eev. Mr. Wilkinson in 
the church and new library. — Vol. ii. p. 377. 

1708. — '■ Halifax and its Gibbet Law placed in a true Light," published by 
"William Bently of Halifax, but said to have been written by Samuel Midgley. 
— Yol. ii. p. 378. 

1708. — Large and spacious hall for sale of woollen goods erected by Viscount 
Irwin, lord of the manor of Halifax, previous to this date. — Vol. ii. p. 379. 

1727. Daniel Defoe's account of the markets and trade of Halifax. — Vol. 

ii. p. 381 ; and Vol. i. p. 610. 

17.37. Commencement of improvement of the river Calder, and ultimate 

introduction of water carriage from Halifax to Wakefield and to the Plumber 
by that river, and formation of canal from Halifax to the rivers L'well and 
Aler.-ey. — Vol. ii. p. 383. 

177.3. Halifax a hundred years ago, as described in the " History of the 

Town and Parish of Hafifax," published in that year by the Kcv. John 
Watson. — A"ol. ii. p. 385. 

1775. — The parish church of Halifax as described by Mr. Watson. — Vol. 

ii. p. 387. 

VOL. II. "^ *^ 



418 YORKSHIRE : 



1780. — Large and handsome Piece Hall erected at Halifax. — Vol. ii. p. 388. 
1823, — Halifax described by the late Edward Baines. — Vol. ii. p. 389. 
1832. — Halifax made a parliamentary borough. — Vol. ii. p. 391. 
1843. — The volunteer movement — Vol. ii. p. 399. 
1848. — Halifax made a municipal borough. — Vol. ii. p. 391. 
1848. — List of the mayors of Halifax from 1848 to 1874. — Vol. ii. p. 392. 
1855.— The charities of Halifax. — Vol. ii. p. 398. 
1857. — Modern churches. — Vol ii. pp. 397, 398. 

1858. — Public park presented to the town by Sir Francis Crossley, Bart., 
]\l.p. — Vol. ii. p. 396. 

1863.— The Town Hallof Pklifax opened by H.K.H. the Prince of Wales. — 
Vol. ii. p. 393. 

1864. — The new Halifax Waterworks in the Luddenden Valley. — Vol. ii. 
p. 396. 

1871. — Population and occupations of Hahfax at the Census taken this 
year. — Vol. ii. p. 403. 

1874. — Observatories, Bermerside and Moorside. — Vol. ii. p. 402. 
1874. — Halifax Literary and Philosophical Society. — Vol. ii. p. 403. 
Men of note connected with science and literature in Halifax.^ — Vol. 
ii. p. 400. 

Improvement and other Acts relating to Halifax. — Vol. ii. p. 392. 
Literary and Scientific Institutions. — Vol. ii. p. 399. 
The great manufactories of Halifax. — Vol. ii. p. 404. 

The Dean Clough carpet manufactory of John Crossley & Sons. — Vol. ii. 
p. 405. 

History of the Grm of James Akroyd & Co., Limited. — Vol. ii. p. 406. 
List of Vicars of Halifax. — Vol. ii. p. 416. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 419 



CITArTER V. 

THE HTSTOPY OF THE BOPvOUGH OF HUDDECSFIELD. 

The parliamentary and municipal borough of Huddersfield is 
situated on the Colne, a tributary of the river Calder, and on 
the -u'estem part of the great coal-field of Yorkshire. It is a 
large manufacturing town, with a population of upwards of 74,000 
inhabitants, chiefly engaged in the woollen trade, and is a place 
of considerable antiquity, being mentioned under the name of 
Oderesfelt in Domesday Book, in A.D. 1084-86. It was supposed 
by the learned Camden that the site of the Roman station of 
Cambodunum was to be found at Almondbury, which is within 
the present limits of the borough of Huddersfield ; but it is now 
generally believed that the site of Cambodunum was not at 
Almondbury, but at Slack, in tlie western part of the parish 
of Huddersfield, near the point where several roads join to pass 
tln-nuo'h the mountains of the Pennine chain — the Backbone of 
England — by Imes that can still be traced. That opinion was 
strongly confirmed by careful researches made in the year 1865, 
by the members of the Huddersfield Archaeological Society, who 
found in and around Slack the remains of Ptoman baths, pave- 
ments, and inscriptions, with numerous coins. These, joined to 
the results of previous examinations and discoveries at the same 
spot, leave little doubt of the former existence of a Ptoman station, 
supposed to be Cambodunum, on the western side of this exten- 
sive parish." 

After the retreat of tlie Ilomans from this island the Britons 
rif the Celtic race, and the Angles of the Teutonic race, contended 
for dominion in this part of Yorkshire. Some of the local names 
around Huddersfield, inch-KUng that of the river Colne, and that 
of Curnberworth, evidently belong to the time whe7i the British 
Cymri or Cumbers, from whom Cumberland was named, still 

» Huddersfield, its nistory and Natural Ilifttory. A descriptive, historical, geological, botanical, and zoo- 
logical sketch of the town and neighbourhood, by Charles V. Ilobkirk. Huddersfield: George Tindall, Minerva 
Press, New Street. London: Simjjkin, Marshall, & Co., Paternoster Row, l.sGS. 



420 YORKSHIRE : 



occupied these hills ; and a recent writer has hazarded the opinion 

that the chief Oder or Other, from whom the name of Hudders- 

field or Oderesfelt is derived, was a no less distinguished person 

than the British chief, Uther, the father of the British king, 

Arthur, whose name is familiar to the readers of Milton in 

the hnes — 

" And what resounds 
In fable or romance of Utlier's son, 
Begirt "with British and Armoric knights.'" * 

Tlie Angles of Northumbria, after subduing the Britons, appear 
to have erected a fortress, the remains of which still exist at 
Almondbury, the meaning of which word probably is "the All or 
well protected burgh or fort," as that of Godmondham, named in 
the same age, is the "God-protected home;" numd being an 
Anglian word implying protection. The Anglo-Saxons also, 
probably here formed a mark, or the territory of a sept or tribe, 
the memory of which is preserved in the two Marsdens, or Marks- 
dens, the one in Almondbury, the other in Huddersfield. f At a 
later period the Danes of Northumbria, whose capital was York and 
whose southern boundary extended beyond the Humber, penetrated 
through the valley of the Calder, from the eastern to the western 
side of England, and established themselves in the more fertile 
parts of the valley of the Colne, which enters the Calder three or 
four miles below the town of Huddersfield. Amongst the Danish 
names are Birkby, " the town of the birch trees," Quernby, "the town 
of the quern or millstone," Slathwaite, or Slaithwaite, " the clear- 
ance in the Sloe-trees," and Kirkheaton, "the church of the high 
tu^^■n," a prefix which is seldom found in England except in 
places that were occupied by the Danes at or after their conversion 
to Christianity. It is not unlikely that the local names of Kether 
Thong and Upper Thong in this neighbourhood are both of 
them corruptions of the Danish word Thiiig, which was the name 
(liven by that free and warlike people to the places at which they 
held their military gatherings and their national assemblies. 

Huddersfield, or Oderesfelt, is mentioned in Domesday Book as 
one of the numerous manors of Yorkshire that then belonged 
to the Norman earl, Ilbert de Laci, the lord of the honour of 
Pontefract, whose possessions extended over the greater part 
of the valley of the river Aire, including the sites of the towns of 

* Milton's Paradise Lost, Book i. f Census, 1871. Index, p. (JS5. 



PAST AND 1'RI']S|.:NT. 421 

Leeds and Bradford, and stivtclu-d into the valley of the CaJder 
and its tributaries at ITudder-s field and Alnioiidbiiry, as well as at 
EUand, one of the fords of tlie C'alder, at Soiithowi'am, and at 
Heptonstall. The following- is the l)i-ief but interesting account 
given of Huddei'stield in l)on>esda,v I'ook : --" Tn < )dcresfelt (before 
the Conquest), Godwin, a f>axon tliaiie, had six caiiicates of land to 
be taxed (together ecjual to 1000 to 1l!0() acres), being sufficient to 
employ eight ploughs. Now (in 1084-SG) the same (Godwin) has 
or holds it of Ilbert (de Laci), but it is waste. Wood pasture one 
mile k^ng and one "wide. In the time of King Edward (the Con- 
fessor), it was valued at 100s. a year" (equal to about £75 a year 
in modern money). ^Vith regard to Almondbury Domesday Book 
says: — '"In Almaneberie, Chetel and Suuen (Ketel and Sweyn, 
two Danish chiefs, judging from their names), held four caru- 
cates of land to be taxed, and four ploughs might be employed 
there. Xow Leusin holds it of Ilbert (de Laci), but it is waste. 
In the time of King Edward the value \\'as £3 a year 
(£45 modern money). Wood pasture one mile long and one 
mile broad." 

Ilnddersfidd under tlie De Lacis. — Huddersfield appears to have 
remained in the hands of the De Lacis, lords of the honour of 
Pontefract, for nearly 300 years after the N(jrman conquest 
(thouc;]! once or twice forfeited and restored) ; and the little that 
we know of their proceedings on this part of their great estates 
is favourable to them, and is consistent with a fair amount of 
improvement according to the notions of those times. AVe have 
already mentioned, in our accounts of Leeds and Bradford, the 
improvement which took place in those two towns under their 
rule. We have fewer particulars with regard to Huddersfield; 
but it would appear that the De Lacis established burgage tenure 
(the freest of all then existing tenures) at Huddersfield and 
Almondbury, as they also did at Leeds, Bradford, Clitheroe, 
and several otlier places. Buigagc tenure is expressly mentioned 
as existing at Huddersfield. AVe find also that there were mills, 
probably both corn and fulling mills, at Lluddersfield and Almond- 
bury at that time, and that the De Lacis made grants for the repair 
of those mills. AVith regard to the land and also to the lordship 
of Huddersfield, we find accounts of several grants made by 
them both to laymen and t<j the priory of Nostel, of which they 
were the founders and the liberal patrons. Thus we learn from 



422 YORKSHIRE : 



the ItoUs of the thkd year of King Richard I., 1191-92, that 
Ptoger de Laci granted free wai-ren in tlie manor of Hudders- 
field, or the right of hunting and hawking, to the jorior and the 
canons of NosteL It also appears that in the first year of the 
reign of King John, 1199-1200, the same Ptoger de Laci granted 
to Wihiam de Bellemont or Beaumont, an ancestor of tlie ancient 
family of the Beaumonts of Whitley Hall, near Huddersfield, 
twelve bovates or ox-gangs of land within that manor. Ptoger 
also granted to another of his followers, Colin de Danville, no less 
than twenty-four bovates of land in Huddersfield, and all his lord- 
ship there, with other lands in the same neighbourhood, together 
with twenty shillings a year (equal to £15 of modem money), from 
the mill at Huddersfield, with other appurtenances in the same 
town. It further appears that Roger de Laci granted a jDortion 
of the rents of the mill on the river Colne at Huddersfield, to 
the prior and monks of Whalley, near Clitheroe. At a somewhat 
later time Colin de Danville, who had received, as above stated, 
large estates in Huddersfield from Ptoger de Laci, made a will, by 
which " for the soul of his lord, Roger de Laci, he gave to God, 
to the blessed St. Mary, and to the abbot and monks of Stanelaw " 
(another religious house founded by the De Laci family, and situated 
on the Cheshire side of the river Mersey), "all his part of the mill 
at LIudresfelt upon the river Caune" (Colne), "and 20s. annual 
rent," equal, as akeady stated, to about £1.5 a year of modern 
money. 

The Vicarage of Huddersfield. — The original church of Hudders- 
field is supposed to have been built by one of the Lacies, the holders 
of the honour of Pontefract, to whom it w-as given by Wilham the 
Conqueror when he divided the lands of the dispossessed Saxon 
thanes amongst his Norman followers. The living, however, seems 
to have been first granted to St. Oswald's Priory at Nostel by 
Hugh de la Val (during the temporary attainder of the Lacies) 
in the time of Archbishop Thurston a.d. 1114, as appears 
from the chartulary in the British museum. At this period the 
incumbent apipointed by the priory enjoyed the entire profits of 
the living, and continued to do so until the time of Archbishop 
Walter Gray, when the most valuable portions of it, consisting 
of the tithes of hay, corn, and pulse, were awarded to the canon's 
f Nostel Priory, leaving to the clerk only the oblations and 
emoluments from offerings at the altar, as appears from the fol- 



o 



PAST AND PRESENT. 423 



lowing deed uf ordination : — ()rdLnMtion of the vicarage of Ilud- 
dersfield, extr. cliartulary of tlio priory of St. Oswald of Nostcl 
(Brit. Mus. Cotton MSS. (Vespasian E. 19, fol. 182, et seq.) 
■'A.D. 1216. — Walter, by the graee of God archbishop of York, 
iirimate of England, to all the fixithful in Christ, u'reetino- in th(^ 
Lord. Know ye that we, on the presentation of the prior and 
convent of St. Oswald, have admitted Michael de Wakefield, cliap- 
lain, to the vicarage of Hudderslield, and have canonically instituted 
hini to the said vicarage, and caused him to be inducted into 
corp)oral possession of the same, which vicar also, in resj)ect of 
his vicarage, shall receive all the oblations and emoluments from 
ofterings at the altar, reserving to the said prior and convent the 
tithes of corn, hay, of pease and beans, in the lands and farms 
belonging to the said church, save a suitable manse for the vicar 
to be assigned to him by the same (prior and convent) ; and the 
vicar himself shall sustain all customary charges and obligations 
of the said church : and that this may remain firm and stable for 
ever, we have directed that our seal shall be affixed to the 
present writing." 

The Cotton MSS. (Vespasian E. 19, fob 436) contains also the 
foUowino- confirmation of the church of Huddersfield to Nostel 
Priory by Archbishop Walter Gray : — 

"AValter, by the grace of God, archbishop of York, primate of 
England, to his beloved son in Christ, the dean of Pontefract, 
lieaith, ei'ace, and benediction. Whereas, we have understood that 
the church of Huddersfield was granted to the sons in Christ, the 
prior and convent of St. Oswald, for their own use, previous to our 
having the government of the church of York, [and] unwilhng that 
what was granted to them for pious uses should be in any wxy 
Invalidated, we command you, as much as in you lies, that you 
permit them to enjoy peaceable possession of the said church ; 
unwilling also to be prejudicial in any way to them, because 
^Master Kobert [no name, but proljably Talbot] held the church 
in farm of them, as appears to us by deeds which we have seen 
concerning this matter, perfected between them. Given at London 
the 17 Kalends of February, in the 27th year of our pontificate. 
Fare-ye-well." 

The following grant of the church of Huddersfield to Robert 
Talbot by the prior and convent, is without seal or date. Deed 
of John the prior, and of the convent of St. Oswald, of the 



424 YORKSHIRE : 



cliurch of Huddersfield, granted to Master Eobert Talbot: — "To 
all tlie faitliful [servants] of Christ wlio shall inspect this present 
deed, John the prior and the convent of St. Oswald, of Nostel 
(wish), health in the Lord for ever. Knovs^ ye, from a regard to 
piety, we have granted our church of Huddersfield to our beloved 
clerk. Master Eobert Talbot, during his Hfe, to be held with all its 
appurtenances, and that he shall render to us annually eight marks 
(about £80 of modern money); namely, four within fifteen days 
from the day of Pentecost, and four within fifteen days from 
the day of St. Martin in winter ; and that he shall undertake 
all the duties of the said church, and every year in which he shall 
not pay to us our rent (unless by our will he shall be excused), 
he shall pay to us as a fine half a mark ; and that he will be 
faithful to us, he hath taken an oath in our ChajDter. That, 
however, this grant may be held good and stable for the future, 
we have thought it right to confirm and strengthen it by affixing 
our seal to the present deed." (Cotton MSS. Vespasian E. 19, 
folio 43.) 

Huddersfield at the Time of Pope Nicholas' Valuation, 1292. — 
The value of the church and vicarage of Huddersfield is shown in 
an extract from the valuation of English livings, made in the 
reign of Edward I., with the sanction of Pope Nicholas IV., in 
the year above named. The following are amongst the principal 
livings in the deanery of Pontefract and the archdeaconry of 
York, with their value given in the money of that time, as well 
as in the money of the present day : — ■ 

Money in Time of Equal in Money of 

Edward I. the Present Time to about 

Chiirch of Halifax, £93 6 8 > 

Vicarage of the same, 16 \ •^I'^OO 

Church of Almondbury, 40 600 

Churcli of Huddersfield, 9 6 8 ) 

Vicarage of the same, 6 13 4 f ^'^'^ ^ ^ 

Church of Heton, 20 300 

The entry with regard to Huddersfield, viz., £9 6s. Sd for the 
church, and £6 13s. 4c?. for the vicarage, is mentioned m another 
part of this volume. 

The Manor of Huddersfield. — The manor of Huddersfield 
remained in the hands of the De Laci family, with occasional 
breaks in the possession, until the time of the marriage of Alicia 
De Laci, the heiress of that great house, to Thomas Plantagenet, 



PART AND rUESENT. 425 



the second earl of Lancaster, wlicn it be<-:uiie part of the 
possessions of the honst' of Lancaster. In the 9th Edward II., 
1315, Thomas, earl of Lancaster, was lord of Iluddcrsilokl, as well 
as of a multitude of iHher loidsliips and manors in the West 
Eiding of Ycakshiro, and in many other parts of England. But 
his possession was short; for in the year 132:2, the 15th-lGth 
Edward II., the earl headed a formidable rol)cllion airainst the 
kinc', was defeated in a severe battle fou'dit at Boroiio-hbrid^'C, 
in Yorkshire, was taken pris(^ner, and was afterwards conducted 
to his own castle of Pontefract, where he was tried, convicted 
of high treason, and executed as a traitor. The whole of 
his estates were forfeited to the crown during the life of 
Edward II., and though most of them were afterwards restored 
or re-granted to Henry, earl of Lancaster, the brother of Earl 
Thomas, ou the accession of King Edward III., this does not 
appear to have been the case, at least immediately, \^'ith the 
manor of Huddersfield. That manor we find in the year 1333, 
the 6tli Edward III., in possession of Sir Ptichard de Birton, who 
in that year bequeathed to his son, John de Birton, all his manor 
of Hodresfield, wdth the rents and services of his tenants, Ptichard 
de Hanley, Margery de Quernby, Adam de Hepworth, Adam de 
Lockwood, and Adam de Blackburne ; the witnesses of the will 
beino" Sir John de Elland, Brian de Thornhill, and John de Hem- 
miner, Kts. But in course of time the manor of Huddersfield, 
like most of the manors of this district, got back into the hands 
of the dukes of Lancaster, and ultimately into those of the 
crown; and we find that on the 30th August, 1599, 41st Eliza- 
beth, the manor of Huddersfield was sold by the crown to AVilliam 
Tiamsden, Esq., whose descendants hold it to the present time. 
AVe learn from Mr. Joseph J. Cartwright's interesting " Cliapters 
of Yorkshire History," recently publislied, that there was an inqui- 
sition as to the estates of AVilliam Prunsdcn, J's(|., taken at Plalifax 
on the 28th August, 1G2;], shortly after his (hvith, before Thomas 
Lovell, Esq., the esclieator of A'orksliii-e, ;uul a, jury, ^\'llo found 
that William Pamsden de Longley, was seized of the manor of 
Saddleworth, formerly pa,rt of tht^ prioiy of Ivirklees ; of the 
manor of Huddersiiold, and all liousos, Imlldings, lands, tenements, 
meadows, pastures, roads, reversions, and hcicdilanu'nts belong- 
ing to the same; a,nd of a capital messuag(i in the town of 
Almondbury called Longley Hall, &c., &c. Sir John Pamsden, 
VOL. n. •' " 



426 YonKSTiTKE: 



Kt,, is declared to be the son and heir of the above William, 
and to have been twenty-eight years old at the time of his 
father's death. 

Grant of a Market to Huddersfield. — The progress of the town 
of Huddersfield dov/n to the time when it passed into the hands 
of the Ramsden family, and for some years later, appears to have 
been considerably impeded by the want of a charter or prescription 
authorizing the holdiug of a weekly market there. We are told 
by the E,ev. Mr. Watson that there was a market at Halifax, not 
by charter but by prescription, which, as he states, is just as good as 
a charter when once it is established. Attempts were also made 
to create a market at Elland on the river Calder, betAveen Halifax 
and Huddersfield ; but although a charter was obtained there the 
course of the local trade of the district could not be drawn 
to that point, although Dr. T. D. Whitaker stoutly maintains that 
Elland is incomparably the best position for a market, far sur- 
passing in that respect, not merely Huddersfield, but Halifax. 
This does not appear to have been the opinion of those \\l\o were 
engaged in the trade of the district; and hence the markets 
of Halifax were well attended from very early times, and those of 
Huddersfield from the time when the crown authorized them to 
be held. It was not until after the close of the gi^eat civil war, 
and in the reign of Charles II., that the Eamsdens, the lords of 
the manor of Huddersfield, obtained the right of holding a weekly 
market there, which market has gradually grown up and extended 
until it has become one of the most important in Yorkshire. The 
following is the charter granted by King Charles II. in the 23rd 
year of his reign, 1671-72 : — 

Cliarfer of Iluddersfiehl — "I, the Kiug, to whom tliese presents 
shall come send greeting : — Whereas, from a certain Inquisition 
taken by our command at Huddersfield, in the county of York, 
the 12th day of September last past, before the date of these 
presents, and returned in due form, and now to be found remain- 
ing upon record, it appears to us that it will not be to the 
damage or prejudice of us or any others if we do grant unto John 
Ramsden, Esq., that he and his heirs may have and hold one 
market in the town of Huddersfield, on Tuesday in every 
week for ever, for the buying and selling of all manner of 
goods and merchandise, and receive the tolls, profits, and 
advantages from thence coming and arising for him and his 



PAST AND PRESKNT. 427 



lieirs for over, as by tlio said inquisition may mure fully and 
at large appear. 

"Know ye therefore that we, fir divers good causes and con- 
siderations us hereunto especially moving, have given and granted, 
and bv tliese presents fur us, our heirs and successors, do give and 
grant unto the said John llainsden, his heirs and assigns, that he 
and they shall have and hold one market in the town of ITud- 
dersfield aforesaid, upon Tuesday in every week for ever, for the 
buving and selling of all sorts of cattle, goods, and merchandise 
wdiatsoever ; and further, that the said John Eamsden, his heirs 
and assigns, shall and may have, take and receive to his and 
their own proper use and uses, all and singular tlae tolls and 
profits, and ad^'antages, and emoluments, to such market in any 
wise belonging, or of right appertaining, or from thence coming 
and arising, and may liave, hold, and enjoy the aforesaid tolls, 
profits, and other the premises aforesaid, unto the said John 
Ramsden, his heirs and assigns, to his and their own proper use 
and uses for ever, without anything to us, our heirs or successors, 
to be paid or performed. And we do by these presents finally 
command that the said John Eamsden, his heirs and assigns, shall 
freely, lawfully, and wholly have, hold, and enjoy the aforesaid 
market and the tolls and profits to the same belonging, or from 
thence from time to time coming and arising, according to the 
tenour and true meaning of these our letters-patent, without any 
molestation, hindrance, or denial of us, our heirs or successors, or 
of our sherifCs, Imilifis, officers, or ministers, or any other persons 
whatsoever. 

" Dated the first day of No^■enlber, in the twenty-third year 
of our reign. (Chailes II., 1G71-72)." 

Danid I'rfoes Vi>^it to IIudhrKfield. — The progress of the trade 
of Huddersfield was tolerably rapid during the wdiole of the 
eighteenth centuiy, but it greatly increased after canal and river 
navigation had been introduced. About the year 11^17 Hudders- 
field was visited by Daniel Defoc^ on his tour through England. 
It was at that time a considerable town and the market of the 
whole of the surrounding country, even to the loot of the Lanca- 
shire hills. Defoe speaks of the tiade as chiefly consisting in the 
Avoollen goods called kersies, which were iirodiiced in abundance 
in all the neighbouring villages, and were sold at Huddersfield. 
Oaten bread and oat-cakes were the favourite food of the people, 



428 YOE,KSHIKE : 



and lie speaks of tlie ale of Huddersfiekl as being remarkably 
good. About twenty years later another celebrated man, John 
Wesley, visited Huddersfield, in his successful attempts to spread 
his opinions and doctrines ; and after encountering and over- 
coming great difficulties, he was very successful, and obtained a 
strong hold on the respect and affection of large classes of the 
people of this district, which his followers retain to the pre- 
sent day. 

Introduction of Bivcr and Canal Navigation at Iludderfijidd. — 
Great as were the natural advantages of Huddersfield for manu- 
facturing purposes, owing to the water-power furnished by its 
numerous streams, and the large sujoplies of coal obtained from 
the great coal-field of Yorkshire, on the western border of which it 
stands, it had to contend with great disadvantages up to the middle 
of the last century, from the want of good roads over the hills 
that approach it on the west, and from the want of river and canal 
navigation for the cheap conveyance of minerals and merchandise 
on the east. The river Calder is the great natural outlet from this 
district towards the east, and the first step towards the improve- 
ment of Huddersfield was the rendering of that river navigable 
from Wakefield to Plalifax, about the year 1780. This established 
cheap water-carriage within three or four miles of the town of 
Huddersfield; and soon after the improvement of the Calder was 
completed a short canal was formed, named the Ramsden Canal, 
which started from the Calder at Cooper's Bridge, passed under 
the Blackhouse Brook and the high road from Huddersfield to 
Leeds, and reached Huddersfield near the King's MUls. In this 
manner an excellent communication was formed eastward from 
Huddersfield to the great trading towns of Halifax, Dewsbury, 
Wakefield, Leeds, and York, as well as to the port of Hull. But 
far greater and more costly undertakings were required, for the 
purpose of establishing a system of water-carriage from Huddersfield 
westward, through and over the mountains forming the Backbone 
of England, and thence to the city of Manchester and the port 
of Liverpool. This object was at length effected by means of the 
Huddersfield Canal, which joined the Ramsden Canal at the south 
end of tlie town of LIuddersfield, and conveyed goods westward 
by way of Longwood, Slaithwaite, and Marsden, to the foot of 
wdiat have been called the English Apennines. There a tunnel, 
nearly three miles and a half in length, was cut throuo-fi the 



to' 



FAST AND ri!,I-:SENT. 429 



mountains to Avltliin two miles of Dobci-oss on tlie western side of 
the hills, throun'h ^\hieh the canal was ea,n-ied to the liver Tame. 
After following' the valK'y of the Tame in several of its windings, 
the riuddorstield I'anal united with the Ashton and Oldham 
C\in;d near Ashton-under-Lyne. The further navigation to Man- 
chester was tlien direct, and thence communication was made to 
Liverpool by a line of water carriage, which was the shortest then 
existing between Leeds and Liverpool. Tlie forming of the Hudders- 
field Canal Avas one of the most difficult and costly works of the last 
century, especially the cutting of the tunnel, about three miles in 
length, through the almost impenetrable rocks of the millstone grit. 
The labour of no less than eighteen years was required to finish 
this great undertaking; and its projectors, whilst they conferred a 
great service on the trade of the district, failed to reap any ade- 
quate retui'n for their great expenditure. Early in the j^resent 
century good roads were formed over Standedge (one of the 
highest and steepest parts of the chain of hills), by means of 
which a rapid coach communication was kept up for several 
years between Leeds, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Oldham, and Man- 
chester. But about the thirtieth year of the present century the 
railway system was introduced between Liverpool and Manchester, 
and during the next twenty years that system was extended 
through the deep valleys and the lofty ridges of this district ; 
thus connecting Huddersfield and the whole of the manufacturing 
district by which it is sun'ounded, with every part of Yorkshire 
and Lancashire, and ultimately with the whole of England, and 
with the German Ocean on one side, and the Atlantic Ocean on 
the other. 

Tlie Mayiufadiires of Huddersfield. — The manufactures of Hudders- 
field in early times consisted chiefly of kersies, and the manufactures 
of the town and neighbourhood are still principally woollens. 
Down to the middle of the last century the small manufacturers 
brouo-ht their coods to market, and exposed them for sale in the 
open square in the middle of the town. But in the year 1768 a 
commodious Piece Hall was erected for their accommodation, by the 
Sir John Itarnsden, Bart., of that time, which was further improved 
by his son ab(jut the year 17.S(). "The Cloth Hall," says Mr. Charles 
P. Hobkirk in his "Huddersfield; its History and Natural History," 
"is a circular brick-building, situated at the top of the street to which 
it f'ives its name. It is two stories high externally, and has an 



430 YOKKSHIBE : 



internal diametrical range one story high, which divides the interior 
into two semicircles. Above the door a cupola supported on pillars 
is placed, containing a clock and bell for the piu-pose of regulating 
the time for commencing and terminating the business of the day. 
The doors are opened early on the morning of the market day 
(Tuesday), and closed for business at half-past twelve at noon. 
They are again re-opened at three o'clock for the removal of cloth, 
&c., and also on Friday afternoon." Friday has now become, in 
fact, a second market-day. 

Huddersfield obtained an unenviable notoriety in 1812, in con- 
nection with the Luddite insurrections. The leaders in the famous 
attack on Mr. Cartwright's mill at Rawfolds, Cleckheaton, were 
Huddersfield croppers ; and partly in revenge of their failure in 
that attack, these men plotted and perpetrated that murder of 
Mr. Horsfall, a local manufacturer, wliich really brought about 
the overthrow of their igfnorant and baneful movement ag-ainst 
machinery. For the sharp retribution which overtook both them- 
selves and many of their confederates, in the Ptawfold expedition, 
cowed and dissolved their bands ; many of whom, indeed, were 
relieved to be rid of leaders whom- they had followed more in 
fear than in sympathy. 

Progress of Huddersfield daring tlie Present Century. — At the 
commencement of the nineteenth century, at the census of 1801, 
the population of the town of Huddersfield did not amount to more 
than 7268 persons. During the next ten years, although it was 
a period of great distress caused by war, by high prices of food, 
and by the introduction of machinery, which diminished the demand 
for labour at first, although it has increased it enormously in later 
times, the population rose to 9671 persons. After the restoration 
of peace the progress of the town was somewhat more rapid, the 
population having increased to 13,284 persons in the year 1821 ; 
to 19,03.5 in 1831 ; to 25,068 in 1841 ; and to 30,880 at the middle 
of the present century, according to the census returns for 1851. 
During the next ten years the population continued to increase, 
and in 1861 had risen to 34,877 persons. But between the census 
of 1861 and that of 1871 the boundaries of the borough of Hudders- 
field were very considerably enlarged for parliamentary purposes ; 
and partly owing to the increase of the trade and prosperity 
of the district, and partly to this enlargement in the area 
of the town, the population of the parliamentary borough of 



PAST AND PRESENT. 431 



Hudderstiekl had increased at the census of 1871 to 74,358, 
beino- about tea tunes as lame as it was at the bea-inninrr of 
the century, when, as it was seen, it amounted to not more than 
7il GS persons. 

Prcsod Appearance of the Town of IIiAddersfield. — Huddersfield 
has always been a handsome town, having been well laid out by 
the Ilamsden family, the sole proprietors, and having great 
abundance of fine buildinij- stone in the neio-hbourhood. It is well 
paved, drained, and lighted, and for a manufacturing town, remark- 
ably clean. The new part of the towm, north of the old market- 
place, is laid out in wide and handsome streets. It has, moreover, 
many fine buildings. Amongst these are the Ptailway Station, 
which gave the first impetus to the recent improvements of the 
towTi, and caused the opening up of the new part ; the Lion Arcade, 
which faces the station from the lower side of St. George's Square ; 
the Britannia Buildings in the same square; several of the banks; 
and perhaps finest of all, the lofty and extensive Ptamsden Estate 
Buildings, in which the Huddersfield club has its location. Of 
late years, too, a portion of the adjoining Thornhill Estate, on 
the hillside north-east of the town, having become available, the 
prosperous men of Huddersfield have built themselves commodious 
and, in many cases, beautiful residences, in great variety. The 
entrance to the town from that side is unusually attractive. 
The statue of Sir Ptobert Peel in St. George's Square, in 
front of the Pailway Station, deserves high rank amongst 
the many that have been erected to the memory of that eminent 
statesman. 

Cliurclies and CJiapels. — In what may be called the town proper, 
and without including the districts which have been incorporated 
within the very modern municipality of Huddersfield, there are 
six Episcopalian churches, one Ptoman Catholic, and twelve Protest- 
ant Dissenters' churches and chapels. The original parish church, 
as we have already seen, was of great antiquity. It was dedicated 
to St. Peter, and according to Mr. Hobkirk it "is said to have been 
built by Walter de Laci in 1073, in pursuance of a vow made when 
liis life was in danfer in the morass situate between this ])lace and 
Halifax. It was a very plain specimen of Norman architecture, 
small, and furnished with a spire." Its patronage remained in the 
gift of the prior of St. Oswald of Nostel until the reign of Hemy 
YIII. During the reign of Henry VII. (1.506) it was rebuilt and 



432 YOUKSiiiRE : 



somewhat enlarged. In 183G it was again rebuilt, at a cost of 
nearly £10,000, in the form in which it at jjresent stands, with a 
tower instead of the old siiire." In the annexed list of the vicars 
of Pluddersfield will be found the name of Henry Venn, the 
eminent author of " The Complete Duty of Man," whom Sir 
James Stephen, in his celebrated essay " The Evangelical Suc- 
cession," ranks along with John Newton, Thomas Scott, and 
Josej)h Milner, as one of the four great evangelists of the Church 
of England in these latter days. " The church of Holy Trinity 
situate in Trinity Street, opposite the entrance of Greenhead 
Park, was erected by B. Haigh Allen, Esq., at a cost, including 
site and endowment, of upwards of £16,000. It was oj^ened for 
public worship on Sunday, 10th October, 1819, and contaiDS 
upwards of 1500 sitthigs, of which one-third are free. St. Paul's 
Church in Piamsden Street was built in 1829-30, and contains 
1243 sittings. Some few years since this church was thoroughly 
renovated and beautified inside, and in 1SG5 the organ was com- 
pletely rebuilt at an expense of more than £300. St. John's 
Church, Birkby, was buUt and endowed by Lady Ptamsden in 
1852-53, and is one of the handsomest churches in the town. 
Built in the ornamental Gothic style from designs by Mr. Butter- 
worth of London, it is not, like the older ones, of a mixed char- 
acter, but every part is in strict harmony. Situate almost in the 
country, surrounded by pasture land, and backed to the north by 
the Fixby Hills and Grimscar Wood, it presents from every point 
of view a very pleasing aspect ; a neat parsonage house has 
recently been built on the west side. St. Thomas' Church near 
Longroyd Bridge is the gift of the Starkey family, and is a very 
handsome building, rivalling, if not surpassing, St. John's in 
beauty and character of architecture, but so buried by factories 
and houses that it is almost impossible to obtain a good view of 
it from any point : the best is certainly from the canal bridge at 
Folly Hall." St. Andrew's Church, opened in August 1870, was 
built by public subscription on land of the value of £1000, given 
by Sir John William Eamsden, Bart. The cost of the church was 
a little over £5000, and it contains 550 sittings, all free and 
unappropriated. The adjoining school buildings cost a little more 
than £1600, and accommodate 250 scholars. There are good 
school-buildings connected with each of the other churches above 
mentioned. 



r.\ST AND I'UICSKNT. 



433 



LIST OF THE TICAIfS OF Iini)DEI!,SFIEI,n. 





WlIKN 


Ins 


nil Ti n. 


Soi.t 


.1 


1311!, 


1 Jan. 


1!1, 


1334, 


May 


lo 


13:!.-., 


Sept 


1.3 


, 134!\ 


1 Oct. 


31, 


13(;:1, 


' Feb. 


■1':; 


1406, 


; June 


,-,, 


140!1, 


Oct. 


16. 


14ii;i, 


June 


5, 


li-20, 


Oct. 


is. 


14i3, 


April li 


, 14i:ii 


Jan. 


nn 


] ji IS, 


! Feb. 


S^ 


— 


Ai)ril .5, 


i.i.r.2. 


(Jrt. 


-'-\ 


15.34, 


June 


5, 


loSl, 


Jan. 


11, 


I.-V.1S, 


Sept 





1619, 


May 


10 


1673, 


March 9, 1673 



Dec. 10, 17;il, 
Dec. i4, 18:^;;, 
Aiii'. 20, 1^411. 
Oct^ 10, IS.').'.. 
Au2. 4, 1SG7. 



JvAllKS I.I.- Vic.MlS. 



Kc.l.cvt do Poutcburo-h, . . 

Robert de Apcthnrpo, . . . 

Ivobcit de Sartiiic, .... 

Thomas L'b]ipi'stoii, . . . 

\ William dc Itnltdii.or Wdliam 

) do Lath do Bolton, chaplain, 

Jlobcrt de L., 

John de Watli 

John de Thornton, .... 

John de Byngham, .... 

John ]\Iorlay, 

Tliomas Fauwell, .... 

William Bentloy, , . . . 

Rodger Hicks, 

Peter Longfellowe, .... 

Phil. Erode, D.D., .... 

Gabriel Eaynes, 

Edward Bayncs, 

Hugo GledhiU 

Robert Eamsden, A.M., arch- 
deacon, 

Joshua Smyth, 

Edward Hill, A.M., . . . 

Henry Hyrst, 

Richard Wilson, 

j Thomas Clarke, 

, Thomas Heald, 

I Thomas Twissellow, . . . 

Charles Danbtiry, .... 

Samuel Sandford, .... 

I Henry Venn, 

j Harcar Brook, 

I Joseph Trotter, 

John Lowe, B.A., .... 

John Eam.sden, LL.B., . . 

John Coates, M.A., .... 

James C. Franks, M.A., . . 

•Josiah Bateman, M.A., . . 

Samuel Holmes, M.A., . . 

W. B. Calvert, M.A., . . . 



Tatkonr. 


How 

Vacant. 


Priory of Nostel, 
" 


Died. 

it 
U 





Eosiiiiied. 




]l|C(l. 




Resigned. 




Died. 




Resigned. 




Died. 


Archbishop, 


Deprived. 


William Ramsdcn, 






Died. 


John Eamsden, 


U 


William Ramsden, 


11 


John Ramsden, 


" 


u 


Died, 1734. 


ii 


" 1741. 


" 


Resigned, 175.3. 


'^ 


1759. 


'■ 


1772. 


•' 


Died, 1773. 


'■ 


" 17s4. 


" 


Resigned, 1780. 


'' 


1791. 


" 


Died, 1823. 




Resigned, 1839. 




Exchanged, 1855. 




1860. 



The vicar priys an annual pension to the parish church of I)o\\-,s- 
Ijury (the mother church of this neighbourhood) of .£2 I'.^s. Gd., 
which also receives the following amounts from the parishes named 
below : — 



Kirkheaton, n 3 4 

Almondbury, 2 6 8 

Kirkburton, 4 



Bradf.ird, i'o 8 

Thornhih, o 14 



All the other Christian bodies have tlieir places of public 
worship at IIuddcrslii.:ld. TIk: Iiiilr|iendeuts oi- < 'oiigirgation- 
ahsts have four; namely, Ilighfield, where theh' hrst chajicl was 
vor.. H. ■' I 



434 YORKSHIKE : 



opened in 1772, and where a second was erected, on the same 
site but on a larger scale, in 1844, containing 1086 sittings, and 
built at a cost of nearly £4770. A former minister of this chapel 
was Dr. Samuel Boothroyd, whose translation of the Hebrew 
Scriptures obtained for him deserved repute. The Independent 
chapel in E-amsden Street contains 1400 sittings, and was built 
in 1825 at a cost of £6500. The first minister of this chapel, 
the Rev. John Eagleton, was a preacher of rare ability and elo- 
quence, as appears from his published sermons. His sermons, on 
special occasions, drew crowds from many miles around. Mr. 
Eaoieton died in 1832. The Hillhouse Conm-eo-ational Church, 
ojoened on the 15th February, 1865, contains about 750 sittmgs, 
and cost £3650, The George Street Independent chapel, originally 
built for membei's of the Evangelical Union in 1856, contains about 
750 sittings, and cost £3650. The Baptists have a chapel in Bath 
Buildings. The Unitarians have a handsome chapel in Fitzwilliam 
Street, built in 1854 in the Gothic style, at a cost of about £3000. 
The Ptoman Catholic chapel in New North Bead, built by subscrip- 
tion in 1832 at a cost of £2000, is a neat and commodious building, 
dedicated to St. Patrick. The Wesleyan Methodists have a chapel 
in Queen Street, which is one of the largest in the kingdom. It 
replaced an old one, was built in 1819 at a cost of £15,000, and 
has accommodation for about 2000 persons. The other Wesleyan 
chapel, in Buxton Bead, was built in the year 1775, but rebuilt 
in 1837 at a cost of £10,000, and contains about 1400 sittings. 
The New Connection Methodists have a superb Gothic chapel in 
High Street, rebuilt in the year 1867, which has cost nearly 
£10,000, and affords accommodation for 1500 persons. Brunswick 
Street chapel, in the New North Road, was built by the Free 
Wesleyans in 1859 at a cost of £7500, and has 1400 sittings. 
They are also just finishing a new and beautiful chnpel at 
Hillhouse. The Primitive Methodists have one large chapel in 
Northumberland Street, and a small one in South Street. Tliere 
are Sunday schools connected Avith all the above chapels, and some 
of them have separate buildings, both large and handsome, as 
Queen Street, High Street, and Highfield, whilst Ramsden Street 
chapel has turned the old court house into a series of class-rooms. 

Litercmj Scierdifie and Educational Institutions. — Huddersfield is 
well supphed with literary and scientific institutions. The hall of 
the Mechanics' Institution, a large and commodious building situate 



to 



PAST AND riMORENT. 435 



in Northumberland Street, ^vas erected in 18G0 at a cost of 
about .£4000, the previous Imildlng having become too small. This 
institution was founded in 1840, mainly through the zeal of Mr. 
Frederic Selnvann, avIio, not succeeding in his first efforts to obtain 
co-operation, conducted e\ening classes for young men in his own 
warehouse for many months. It has long been known as one of the 
best, in England, of the valuable class of institutions to which it 
belongs. Its work is more decidedly and methodically educational 
than that of most mechanics' institutes ; having in the year 1873 
671 pupils in its classes, and a large staff of paid and unpaid 
teachers. The total number of members was 1459. It has a library 
of more than 5000 volumes. The buildinsf contains a lecture- 
hall, a reading-room, library, class-rooms, and a penny bank; the 
latter is in a very flourishing condition, the deposits having 
in 1873 amounted to nearly £2700, and the depositors to ujDwards 
of 7u00 persons. The Huddersfield Subscription Library is of 
many years' standing, and well supplied with books. The Hud- 
dersfield Literary and Scientific Society, formed in 1857, has for 
its object the study of the higher branches of science, literature, 
and art. During the winter months meetings are held every 
foilnight, at whicli papers on various subjects are read and 
discussed ; and in the summer months excursions are taken by 
the members to different parts of the neighbourhood for the 
practical study of natural history. There is in connection with 
this society a small museum, containing a good collection of 
specimens, geological, mineralogical, entomological, and concho- 
logical, and a small herbarium ; there is also a standard library 
of reference. The Huddersfield Naturalist Society was formed 
in 1848 under the patronage of the earl of Dartmouth, one of 
the great landowners of the neighbourhood. The Huddersfield 
Arch.Tjolofj-ical and Topographical Association was established in 
1863 for the purpose of examining, preserving, and illustrating 
the history, architecture, manners, customs, arts, and traditions 
of our ancestors, with a view of compiling a history of the south- 
western portion of the county of York. It has since extended 
the field of its operations to the whole of this great county. 
The Huddersfield College was founded in 1838, on the initiative 
of the late Mr. William Willans, and at midsummer of the 
year 1874 had 226 pupils. It is affiliated to the London 
University, and has done good service not only to the town, but 



436 YORKSHIRE: 



to the county. The Gh-ls' College, recently established, is also 
a flourishing institution. Both are on the undenominational 
principle. The Collegiate School was founded shortly after the 
college, and is coDnected with the Established Church. The 
Huddersfield School Board has taken the working of the new 
Education Act zealously in hand, and its first school-building, now 
erected, is worthy of the character of the town. The first 
chairman of the board was Mr. Wright Mellor, and the second is 
Mr. C. H. Jones. Amongst other institutions at Huddersfield are 

O 

an athletic club and a riding school, now used as the armoury 
of the 12th West Pdding volunteers. The Huddersfield Infirmary, 
which grew out of a dispensary founded in 1814, was built in 
1829-31. It is a handsome building, with Grecian front, beauti- 
fully situated in its own grounds. A wing was added to it in 
1861, and in May of the present year (1874) a second wing was 
opened by Sir J. W. Bamsden, Bart., whose family and himself 
have been generous contributors to the funds of the charity. On 
this occasion there were present Dr. Turnbull, who has been one 
of the physicians to the institution since 1817, and Mr. J. C. 
Laycock, who has been honorary secretary since 1821 ; both 
gentlemen took an active part in the proceedings of the day. 
In 1869 the benefits of the infirmary were extended "by the 
invaluable accession to its resources, of the availability and use of 
the Meltham Mills Convalescent Home for its recovering patients" 
— a home built and munificently endowed by the late Mr. Charles 
Brook. The present capacity of the infirmary is 120 beds. 
Huddersfield also possesses a model lodging-house, with ample 
and well-kept accommodation. 

Tlie Huddersfield Ghamher of Commerce. — This most useful 
institution, which was founded in the year 1853, has done much 
to advance the trading and commercial interests of this town 
and neighbourhood, and also to promote sound commercial 
principles. The reading-room connected with it is supplied with 
all the best daily papers, both metropolitan and provincial, and 
telegraphic despatches are there received from London several 
times in the day. 

Banhs. — Huddersfield is well supplied with banking facilities. 
Besides flourishing branches of several of the leading Yorkshire 
banking companies, it has its own local association — the Hudders- 
field Banking Company- — which has from the first been conducted 



PAST AND PRESENT. 437 



with combined priulenco and oaterpiise. Its jirosctit manager, 
Mr. Charles W. Sikcs, deserves to be known as having been tlje 
originator of the Post OlUee Savings Banks, having in 1859 taken 
tlie tirst steps to\\'a,rds their estabhshment by bringing his proposals 
before Sir Kowlaud Hill, then postmaster-general, and Mr. (Glad- 
stone, chancellor of the Exchequer, to both of whom he was 
introduced by Mr. Edward Baines, then member of Parliament 
for Leeds. 

Btpresentation of Iluddersfield in Parliament. — Since the Reform 
Act of lSo2, Hudderstield has returned one member to the House 
of Commons, and still only returns one, although the present 
population of the parliamentary borough is ujswards of 74,000 
persons. The following is a list of the members returned to 
Parliament by the borough of Huddersfield since the franchise was 
conferred upon it : — 

LIST OF MEMBEKS OF PAELIAMEXT. 

W. K. C. Stansfield, 1852 



Captain Fenton, 1832 

J. Blackburne, Barrister-at-Law, . . 1834 

"... 1835 

Edward EUice, junior 1837 

W. E. G. Stansfield, 1837 

" " " " 1841 



Lord Godericli (now marquis of Eipon) 1852 

Edward Akroyd, 1857 

E. A. Leatham, 1859 

T. F. Crosland, 18G5 

E. A. Leatham, 18G8 



18471 " " " 1874 



Municipal Goternment of Huddersfield. — Huddersfield has a 
commission of the peace, and since the year 1868 has been a 
municipal borough. It is divided into wards, of which the follow- 
ing are the names : — Almondbury and Newsome, Bradley, Central, 
Dalton, Deighton, East, Fartown, Lindley, Lockwood, Marsh, 
Moldgreen, North, South, and AVest. In 1871 the municipal 
borough of Huddersfield contained 14,738 inhabited houses, 6G1 
uninhabited, and 187 building. The population was 70,253. '•' 
The first mayor was Mr. Charles Henry Jones. He was elected 
in September, 1868, and was re-elected successively in November 
of the same year, in 1869 and in 1870. His successor, in 1871, 
was Mr. Wright Mellor, and he also was re-elected in 1872. 
Mr. James Brooke succeeded in 1873. 

Population and Occupations of the InJiahilants of Huddersfield 
at the Census of 1871. — It appears from the Census returns of 1871, 
that in the year 1861 the number of houses in Huddersfield was 
6955, and the population 34,877. As already stated, the limits 

* r'cn.suy Keturns, 1871, p 13. 



438 YOEKSHIRE 



of the borough wei'e greatly extended by the Reform Act of 18G8, 
which included within the parliamentary borough 15,610 houses, 
aud a population of 74,358 persons, dwelling on an area of 10,498 
statute acres. The increase between 1861 and 1871, partly owing 
to the extension of the limits, and partly owing to the rapid 
growth of the population, was 39,481 persons. The occupations 
of the people of Haddersiield show very cleaxdy what are the great 
sources of its wealth and industry. Amongst the male population 
above twenty-one years of age, the number of persons employed in all 
capacities in the wool and cloth manufacture was 4590; the number 
of wool and woollen dyers was 143 ; the number of cloth mercha,nts 
and dealers was 180; the number of woolstaplers was 18, and 
of fullers, 18. The nimiber of males above twenty years of 
age engaged in the worsted manufacture was 67 ; of blanket 
manufacturers, 1 ; of carpet and rug manufacturers, 30 ; of silk 
and satin manufacturers, 74 ; of silk dyers, 7 ; of silk merchants, 
2 ; of llax and linen manufacturers, 3 ; of cotton manufacturers, 
488 ; of calico and cotton dyers, 38 ; and of weavers not other- 
wise described, 182. But the number of females above twenty 
years of age engaged in these manufactures was also very large, 
independent of children. The number of females above twenty 
years of age employed in the wool and cloth manufacture was 
2368; in the worsted manufacture, 25; in the silk and satin 
manufacture, 42; and in the cotton manufacture, 577. The num- 
ber of persons engaged in minerals, or in works connected with 
them, was — coal merchants and dealers, 68; gas-work service, 57; 
stone quarriers, 107; stone merchants, 40; labourers in clay, 18; 
brickmakers, 95 ; and railway labourers, 119. The number of iron 
manufacturers was 291 ; tinplate workers, 50 ; brass manufacturers, 
29; whitesmiths, 66; and blacksmiths, 155. The local occupations 
of Huddersfield are better shown from table 108, vol. iv., in the 
Census of 1871 than from the above numbers, which are taken from 
the same work : — Engine and machine makers, 334 ; spindle makers, 
141 ; wool and cloth manufacturers, 11,292 (males), 6005 (females), 
all above twenty years of age, independent of children; wool 
and woollen dyers, 332 ; worsted manufacturers, 232 (males), 84 
(females); silk manufacturers, 108 (males), 148 (females) ; cotton 
manufacturers, 938 (males), 1223 (females); coal miners, 569; 
stone quarriers, 627; iron manufacturers, 404.'"' 

' Census of England and Wales, 1S71, vnl. iv. pp. 116-1-2-2. 



PAST AND I'Ul'lSKNT. 439 



Anfi(j/(/'ln\^ and Ohjcds of Interest in the Ncighhourliood of Jliid- 
iler.feld. — "Wo have already mentioned that tlie Hudder.stield 
Areha^ologieal and Topngraphical Association, i'oumlod in tlio year 
ISGo, had in the year 18G.") made tarefnl examinations, with very 
successful results, at Slack, the sup]ioscd site ot'tlie Roman station 
of Cambodunum, on the western side of the parisli of Huddcrsfield, 
at and near to which place numerous Roman remains have been 
discovered during the last 130 years. The result of these examin- 
ations was to confirm the opinion, that a Roman station had existed 
at that spot. So long- ago as the year 1736 a Roman altar was 
discovered at Slack, \\ith respect to which the Rev. Mr. Watson, 
the historian of Halifax, waiting in 1775, observed : — "When I was 
examining the course of the Roman way in 1757, I chanced to see 
this altar standing in a farmer's yard, and desiring to be slio\\n 
where it was found, was conducted to that part of the station ■\\'here 
not onlv three stone walls centre, but also three lordships. Havinof 
had this curiosity for some years in my own possession, I presented 
it at last to the Rev. Mr. Whitaker, who in his "History of Man- 
chester," has given the public an engraving of this and another 
stone found here, which I also gave him, with the word OPUS 
upon it. The reading on the altar I take to be ' Fortune Saciiim. 
Caius Antonius Modestus, Centurio Leglonis Sextee A'ictricis, 
Posuit et A'otum Solvit : ' that is, ' Sacred to Fortuna (the 
goddess), Caius Antonius Modestus, Centurion of the sixth Roman 
Legion, placed in fulfilment of a vow.' It was discovered, in 1736, 
amoncrst the ruins of a building manifestly composed of Roman 
bricks, many of which are yet to be seen in the common fence 
walls there. I measured one" (brick) "which was seven inches 
ar.d a half scpiare, and three inches thick, but was informed that 
bricks had been dug up there twenty-two inches square. One 
room in this building, according to the report of some workmen 
who destroyed it, was ff)ur yards long and about two and a half 
broad, but betwixt three and four yards below the surface of the 
ground paved nearly a yard thick with lime and bricks brayed 
(beaten) together extiemely hard. In one corner of this room 
was a drain about five inclies sf^uare, into which as much water was 
conveyed as would have turned an overfall mill, yet no vent could 
be discovei(Ml." A few years ago the Itev. J. K. Walker, of Dean 
Head in Slack, discovered the undoubted remains of a Roman 
hypocaust, formed l<jr the purpose of heating a set of Roman baths 



440 YORKSHIRE : 



at the same spot. The remains discovered by him consisted of a 
large mass of Roman cement ; of seven tiers of pilasters, of which 
there were seven in each tier ; of the roof of a furnace, composed of 
square stones, above which was a layer of Roman bricks of hand- 
some appearance, each twenty-oue inches square, and a series of 
closely-cemented flues that nearly surrounded this quadrangular 
structure, some of which being scored very regularly gave it such 
an air of neatness and symmetry that it was compared by the 
bystanders to the front of an organ. This hypocaust has been 
carefully preserved, and now stands on the grounds of Greenhead, 
under an arch composed of tiles, stones, &c., found at Slack, over 
which ivy has grown, giving to the whole a venerable appearance."'' 
Under the direction of the committee of the Huddei'sfield Arch^olo- 
gical and Topographical Society further researches were made in 
October, 186.5, and on the 22nd October of that year the whole of 
the foundations of a large building were uncovered, the external 
walls of which were about sixty-eight feet long by fifty-six feet wide, 
two feet in thickness, and laid upon a coui'se three feet six inches 
in breath, and including several cross walls evidently the basement 
of separate rooms. In the month of November of the same year 
another floor, twenty-four feet by twenty feet, resting upon pillars, 
was also discovered ; and on the 28th November the floor of a bath 
was found in a corner of No. 2 hypocaust, about fifteen feet by 
eight feet in size. Altogether the number of hypocausts discovered 
was five, from which it is concluded that this building was the 
"public baths" of the station, with separate accommodations for 
the ofiicers and the common soldiers. In 1866 a sepulchre of very 
interesting character was found in the same neighbourhood, and in 
addition to these buildings a considerable number of coins were 
found, chiefly of the reigns of Vespasian (a.d. 70-9) and Nerva 
(a.d. 96-8). On one of the coins of Yespasian is a palm tree, with 
the inscription, " Judsea Capta," to celebrate the capture of Jeru- 
salem a few years before. 

It may be well to mention that Cambodunum, besides com- 
manding one of the most important military passes, and much 
the longest and most important Roman road in Britain, stood 
within a short distance of the line at which the outposts of the 
sixth Ptoman legion, whose headquarters were at Eboracum or 
York, met the outposts of the twentieth Roman legion, whose 

* Hubkirk's Hnddersfiel.l, p. 17. 



PAST AND ['Ul'^SIONT. 441 



hea(l-(|uarters wen' at lV;va or ('lu'slcr. Nearly the whole of 
the lUnnau works found on what we rail tlie "Yorksliire side of tlie 
Pennine ehadu or Baekbone of England, were conKtructcd l)y 
the officers and soldiers of the sixth victorimis lei^-ion, whilst nearly 
all the works constructed on A\'hat we now call the Lancashire 
and Cheshire side of that range, were Cdustructed by the soldiers 
of the twentieth victorious legion. At Maiicunium or Manchester 
there are remains of both legions. 

Tlie erecting a temple to the imaginary gnddcss named Fortuna, 
or Fortune, is very characteristic of the age when the worship of 
Jupiter and the other gods and goddesses of the Greek and Ptoman 
Pantheon was rajiidly dying out, and when the belief in Christianity 
was not generally diffused throughout the empire. At that time 
Fortune, whom they described as a goddess, was alone worshipped. 
As Pliny says, " throughout the whole 'world, in all places, at all 
times, and Ijy the voices of all, Fortune alone is invoked." It is 
not without interest that an officer of this legion should have 
erected an altar to Fortune on the wildest parts of the moors of 
Britain, at the time when this imaginary goddess was worshipped by 
emperors and their flatterers. Some years before the date of the 
inscription at Cambodunum, one of the greatest of Latin poets 
(Horace), addressed an ode to the goddess Fortune, who had a 
splendid temple at Antium on the shores of the Mediterranean, 
praying her to preserve C;csar, that is, Augustus, who was then 
proposing to proceed to Britain, though he never succeeded in 
effecting that somewhat dangerous expedition. But in anticipation 
of one of his expeditions to Britain, Horace wrote as follows : — 



" Diva, gratum quae re.;i.s Antium, 
Pra;«en.s \el irao toUcre dc gradu 
Moi-t;de conius, vel sn]ierl)i)s 
A'ertcre funeiibus triumphos : 



' Selves iturum C!ic.sarem in ultimos 
Orbis Britaniios, et juvenum recens 
Examen, Eois timendum 
Partibus, Oceanoque Rubi-o : " 



That is, " O goddess, who presidest over beautiful Antium ; thou 
that art able to exalt mortal men from the most abject state, or to 
convert superb triumphs into funerals! . . . Preserve thou 
Ctesar, about to undertake an expedition against the Britons, the 
most di.Ttajit people in the world, and also ([)rest'i-ve) the new levy 
of (Pioman) youths, to be dreaded by the eastei'ii regions, and 
(on the shores of) the lied Sea," — t\\v. two most distant points over 
which the Poman emperors claimed dominion at that time."" 

' Q. Ilonilii riacci Carininuiii Liber, vol. i. p. 3o, AJ Forluiuiin. 
VOL. 11. >^ K 



442 "YORKSHIRE : 



Kirhburton Church, ]Voodsovie Hall, Alinondhur]] Church, and 
Whitley Hall. — At the meeting of the British Archgeological Associa- 
tion, held at Sheffield in September, 1873, the meujbers, under 
the able guidance of Mr. Fairless Barber, visited a number of the 
interesting objects of antiquity still remaining in the neighbourhood 
of Huddersfield. 

Kirkburton Church was first visited, Mr. Fairless Barber explain- 
ing its history. Fragments of a Saxon crucifix, which were found 
in the chancel wall during the recent restoration, were examined; as 
was also the hagioscope, through which lepers or infected persons 
could witness from the outside the elevation of the Host. The 
church records show that a dispute between two jDarishioners as to 
the respective places of kneelingj was settled in 1490 by Kirkgrave 
de Grey. Mr. Birch, palaeographer to the association, recommended 
additional care in the keeping the register, dating from Henry VIII. 
At Woodsome Hall, Lord Dartmouth conducted the party over that 
old-fashioned and interesting building, portions of wliich appear 
to belong to the sixteenth century. After inspecting Almondbury 
Church, Castle Hill, with its prehistoric earthworks, was ascended, 
aflPording a magnificent view of distant hills and vales. Proceeding 
to Armitage Bridge, the party were handsomely entertained by 
Colonel Brooke, who exhibited a fine collection of Ptoman remains 
Irom Slack, as well as some rare illuminated manuscripts and 
copies of the fiirst four editions of Shakspeare. Mr. Charles 
Plobkirk mentions the following facts respecting Almondbury and 
EUand in his " History of Huddersfield : " — In the desperate 
civil wars between King Stephen and the Empress Maude, the 
daughter of King Henry I., Stephen is said to have built, or 
possibly to have repaired, a castle at Almondbury (on Castle 
Hill, as it is still called), which was afterwards agam confirmed to 
Henry de Laci, the lord of the manor. In the reign of Kino- 
Edward I., in the year 1272, the king granted to Henry de Laci 
the right to hold a market at Almondbury on Monday in every 
week. But the attempt to establish a market at Almondbury, at 
least on an extensive scale, seems to have failed, just as the 
attempt to establish a market at EUand failed, although a royal 
charter was granted for the latter object in the 10th year of 
Edward IL, A.D. 1317. 

Whitley Hall, or Whitley Beaumont, the ancient seat of the 
Whitleys of Beaumont, was also visited. As we ha\'e already men- 



PAST AND rr.lvSENT. 443 



tioned, these estates were granted to Willia-m de Bcllemonte by 
Johannes de Laei, in tlie time nt the early Phintagenet kings of 
Enghind. It is one of the finest resi(h'nces existing in this part 
of Yorksliire, and possesses many beautiful ornaments and inter- 
esting assoeiations. 

A7/7i'/('('.s" tlie Buri'itUphicc of Tiohiii IToinL — Kirklees, the ancient 
seat of the flxmilv of the Armitnges, also possesses interest as the 
site of an ancient camp supposed to have been formed by the 
Piomans, of the only monastic house in the neighbovu'hood of 
Hudderstield, and as the place where the famous outlaw, Robin 
Hood, is said to have died and to have been buried. In the 
present age it derives an additional interest from the char-miiig 
descriptions given by Charlotte Bronte, in her delightful Yorkshire 
storv of " Shirley," the scene of which is laid in this neighbour- 
hood. The camp at Kirklees was described by Dr. Ptichardson in a 
letter to the well known Oxford antiquary, Thomas Hearne, as "a 
camp of a square form, containing two or three acres of ground, 
secured bv a bank of earth and a ditch which has given name to 
the ground, being called Castle Field, though there was never any 
building on it." The Ilev. Mr. Watson says, "I am clearly of 
opinion that this was an ancient military station, but cannot learn 
that any Eoraan way went near it, so that it might not belong to 
that people." 

The fact of the early existence of the priory, however, admits 
of no doubt ; and it is the only ruin of antiquity, in the neigh- 
bourhood of Hudderstield, of this class. It was founded by 
Eegner le Fleming in the year 115.5, 2nd Henry II., was dedi- 
cated to the Blessed Virgin and St. James, and was inhabited by 
an order of Benedictine nuns. The foundation was confirmed 
by "William, earl of Warren, and also the possession of a donation 
made by Begner, the son of William Flandrensis, or the Fleming. 
There is liere in the park a tombstone and an inscription, on what 
is supposed to have Ijeen tlie burial -2:)lace of that famous outlaw, 
Robin Hood. The inscription is not now regarded as authentic, 
and recent researches throw even greater donbt than before existed 
on the date, 1247, and on the assumption that Robin Hood ever 
was or claimed to Ije, Robert, earl of Huntingdon. But there 
is little reason to doubt that Robin Hood died and was buried 
at the priory of Kirklees. 



444: YORKSHIRE : 



DATES OF THE PMNCIPAL EVENTS CONNECTlil) WITH THE HISTOItY OF HUDDEltSFIELD. 

Roman Period, A.d. 41-420. The remarkable discoveries at Slack, the un- 
doubted site of the Roman station at Cambodunum, show how close was the 
connection of the Roman power with this part of ancient Britain. — Yorkshire : 
Past and Present, vol. ii. p. 439. 

The Second British Ferioil, of uncertain duration. — The British dominion 
restored in this district, after the retirement of the Romans from Britain. — 
Vol ii. p. 420. 

Anglicm Period, a.d. 450-850. — The ruins of Almondbury sliow the import- 
ance of this position, at the entrance into the valley of the river Colne, in the 
Saxon times. This is also shown by the existence of two Anglian Marks in 
this neighbourhood. — Vol. ii. p. 420. 

Danish Period, A.D. 850-1050. — The numerous Danish names in the valley 
of the Colne show the presence of that warlike people. — Vol. ii. p. 420. 

1084-86. — lluddcrsfield at the Domesday Survey. — Vol. ii. p. 420. 

1084-86. — Huddcrsfield under the De Lacis. — Vol. ii. p. 421. 

1114. — The church of Iluddersfield granted to St. Oswald's priory at 
Nostel. — Vol. ii. p. 422. 

1216. — Establishment of the vicarage of Iluddersfield by Archbishop "Walter 
de Gray.— Vol. ii. p. 422. 

1292. — Iluddersfield at tlie time of Pope Isicholas' valuation. — Vol. ii. 
p. 424. 

1599 — The manor of Iluddersfield sold by the crown to William Ramsden, 
Esq., in the 41st Elizabeth. — Vol. ii. p. 425. 

1671—72. — Grant of a market at Iluddersfield to John Ramsden, Esci., by 
Charles II.— A"ol. ii. p. 426. 

1727. — Daniel Defoe's visit to Huddcrsfield. — A^ol. ii. p. 427. 

1768. — The Piece Hall erected by Sir John Ramsden, Bart., and improved 
by his son. — Vol. ii. p. 429. 

1780. — Introduction of river and canal navigation at Huddcrsfield. — Vol. 
ii. p. 428. 

1801-71. — Progress of Iluddersfield during the present century. — Vol. 
ii. p. 430. 

Present appearance of the town of Huddcrsfield. — Vol, ii. p. 431. 

Churches and chapels at the present time. — Vol. ii. p. 432. 

List of the vicars of Huddcrsfield. — A^ol. ii. p. 433. 

Literary, scientific, and educational institutes of Huddcrsfield. — Vol. ii. p. 434. 

Iluddersfield Chamber of Commerce Vol. ii. p. 436. 



VAST AND riiKSENT. 445 



CirAPTEPv YI. 

THE HISTORY OK THE I'.OIidlKJH OF DEW.SBURY. 

DESCEynixci the river C'alder, we next come to Dewsbury, a large 
and rapidly increasing town on the banks of that river, and standing 
also on one of the richest parts of the Yorkshire coal-field. It is 
a place of very great antiquity, which has increased rapidly 
during the present century in population and wealth, has risen 
to the rank of a parliamentary and municipal borough, and is now 
accounted one of the six great manufacturing towns of the woollen 
district of Yorkshire. 

The history of Dewsbury is supposed to date from the seventh 
century, when Paulinus, the apostle and bishop of the Northum- 
brians, introduced Christianity into this part of England. When 
Camden \T.sited Yorkshire in the time of Queen Elizabeth, Dewsbury 
was chiefly remarkable for the extent of its parish, for its church, 
and for an ancient Anglian cross, which bore an inscription stating 
that Paulinus had preached and ministered there. This tradition 
is in no respect improbable, for we know, from the Venerable 
Bede's history of the English church and nation, that Paulinus 
visited many parts of the kingdom of Northumbria, of which this 
was then a portion, and that he baptized numbers of his Anglian 
converts in the rivers of that district. The river Swale in the 
North Riding of Yorkshire, below the old Roman station at Catterick 
Brido-e, but near to Topcliffe, is mentioned as one of those rivers ; 
and there is no improbability, at least, in the tradition of his 
havinni- done, on the banks of the Calder, wliat we are expressly 
informed that he did on the banks of the Swale. In connection 
with this tradition respecting Paulinus, we are disposed to attach 
some importance to the flrst part of the name of Dewsbury, which 
seems either to mean the Hill of God from Duw (God) and burg (a 
hill), in the language of the Christian Britons, or the Hill of Tui or 
Tuisco, that particular god who was most venerated amongst the 
German tribes, and from whom our name of Tuesday is derived. 
Tacitus, in his account of the Germans, says, " In their songs, their 



44 G YORKSHIRE : 



only mode of remembering and recording the past, they celebrated 
an earth-born god, Tuisco, and his son Mannus, as the origin and 
founders of their race." The missionaries of the age of Paulinus 
■vvilhngly adopted the Anghan names, places, and seasons of worship, 
in spreading the doctrines of Chi'istianity, Thus the name of 
Easter is derived from one of the Anglian months of spring, 
which was honoured in their religion before it became the great 
feast of the Christian world ; and for ages the name of the Anglian 
festival or season of Yule has been preserved as one of the names 
of Christmas. In the same age we find that Godmundham (the God- 
protected home), in the East Hiding of Yorkshire, was made the 
site of a Christian church, after having previously been that of an 
Anglian temple, and perhaps after having also been the site of 
a British temple in a still earlier age, and that the name of Almond- 
bury (the all-protected hill), which may also have had a religious 
origin, was supposed to be connected Avith the name of St. Alban, 
the first British martyr. Daw-green, Dewsbury, is probably named 
from the old British word Duw, which, as nearly as possible, 
resembles the French word Dieu (God) in form and meaning. 

There is thus no doubt that Dewsbury is a place of great 
antiquity. Early in the present century, about the year 1819, an 
old iron spear in good preservation, supposed to be of Ptoman, or of 
very ancient workmanship, was found in making an excavation on 
the estate of Mr. Halliley, of Dewsbury ; and in the year 1821 Mr. 
Carrett of that place, in digging foimdations for new buildings near 
the parish chui-ch, found inclosed in a small building of stone about 
five feet square, covered with a strong arch of stone, three feet below 
the surface, an ancient drinking vessel of small size, supposed also to 
be of Roman workmanship. At the same time was found an old 
well about eight yards deep, walled round wnth stone and filled up 
with rubble stones. In 1766-67, the walls of Dewsbury church 
gave way, and it became necessary to pull them down to some extent, 
though as much of the inside of the church as could be preserved 
was carefully sustained. This partial demolition of the ancient 
church brought to light, not indeed the original cross of Paulinus, 
but some remains probably of equal antiquity, which were deposited 
carefully in the garden of the vicarage house. Amongst the most 
interesting of these was part of a Saxon tomb.'" They are now 
to be seen in the parish church. The greater portion of the 

» Edward Baines' History, &r-., of the Connty of York; vol i. p. ir)2. 1823. 



rA.si AND ruE«i':NT. 447 



borough is included iu tlio H'clmy manor of L)o\VKl)ury, "to wliicli 
a court baron is attacliod ; all tlio manor court rolls from tlie 
time of <,i*uecn Elizabeth, wlio was lady thereof, which are fairly 
written on parchment, up to tlio present time, are now in the 
possession of Charles Ilenr)' IMarriott of 1 )e\\sbury, who is the 
present lord thereof"' 

Earhj Lords of' Dcicahury. — The manor of Dewsbury was part of 
the great lordship of Wakefield, which extended over nearly the 
Avhole of the valley of the Calder, at the time when the Domesday 
k^urvey was made. Previous to the Norman conquest it had been a 
portion of the possessions of Edward the Confessor, from whom it 
passed, after the Conquest, into the hands of William the Conqueror. 
It was subsecjuently granted to. the earls of Warren, who were 
among the most powerful lords of this district, in whose hands it 
remained for several ages. There was a church there, and a con- 
siderable amount of arable land, amounting to several hundred acres 
in modern measurement, at the time of the Domesday Smwey. The 
church had no doubt existed from very early times, and has since 
then been frecjuently renewed. 

The Thornldlls and tlie Saviles. — In the year 1236, ThornhiU, near 
Dewsbury, was in possession of Sir John ThornhiU, Kt., of ThornhiU 
Hall; and in the year 1870-71, Elizabeth, heiress of Simon de 
ThornhUl, married Henry Savile and took the estates into that 
celebrated family. The Saviles in vaiious branches have produced 
many able men, and have risen to great honours in the state, some 
of which they still retain. We have spoken of the Saviles, mar- 
quises of Halifax and barons of EUand, in our history of Halifax ; 
and, in our history of Leeds, of Viscount Savile of Howley, who 
assisted in obtaining the first municipal charter for that borough, 
and whose descendants became earls of Sussex. Sir Henry Sa\-ile, 
who lived in the reign of Henry VII., wa-s the father of Sir 
Itobert Savile, the ancestor of the SavUes of Howley. Sir John 
Savile of Howley, whom we have mentioned, held a most prominent 
rjosition in the county of York, which he represented in several 
successive parliaments in the reigns of James I. and Charles I. He 
claimed to be the great patron of the woollen manufacturers of that 
d;iy, and his st;itely house at Howley Hall, Dewshiuy, wliich was 
erected in the reign of (^hieen Elizabeth and w;is completed about 
the year 1.590, was said to have l)e<'n built, ariiongst other reasons 
connected with his large estates, in order to uphold the influence of 



448 yoRKsiiiKE : 



the Savile family among the small manufacturers, many of whom had 
votes for the county. In the year 1614, Sir John Savile, being at 
that time one of the members for Yorkshire, took a very conspicuous 
part in a debate in the House of Commons about a new patent for 
dyeing and dressing woollen cloth, or in other words about a new 
monopoly, intended to regulate the trade by turning a portion of 
the profits into the hands of tlie patentees, who were people of great 
influence about court. " He told his hearers that some thousands 
of pounds' worth of cloth remained upon the hands of the manu- 
facturers in his county, the buyers (of cloth under the new law) 
being so few; that 13,000 men were occupied with this kind of work 
(the woollen manufacture) within ten miles of his house, 2000 of 
whom were freeholders, and. the value of whose respective stocks 
varied between £5 and £20 of money. There were also 800 house- 
holders, makers of cottons (which, however, was only another name 
for a particular kind of woollen goods resembling fustians), who were 
not worth 30s. each." In conclusion he told the house that " he 
thought the state of the country could not endure a month longer;""" 
and there can be no doubt that the frequent granting of patents, 
Avhich were in genei'al nothing better than monopolies, was one cause 
of the extreme unpopularity of the court in the time of James I. 
and Charles I. 

It was chiefly by the assistance of the clothiers of the West 
Riding that Sir John Savile, as he then was, was raised to the 
position of one of the representatives of the county of York ; but 
tlie latter part of his career was unfortunate, for he came into 
direct collision with a still more celebrated Yorkshire politician, viz.,. 
Sir Thomas Wentworth, afterwards the great earl of Strafford, 
who also commenced his career as one of the members for the 
county of York, and whose extraordinary talents and determina- 
tion enabled him to crush all who came in his way, in the early 
part of his most successful, though ultimately most unfortunate, 
career. In the great Civil War the son and successor of Viscount 
Savile took the part of the king, and his mansion at Howley 
Hall was fortified and held as a royal garrison, until the great 
success of the Faii-faxes, and of the parliamentary party of the 
West Puding, rendered further resistance useless. Even after 
tlie Civil War, Howley Hall was considered one of the finest 
mansions in Yorkshire, although it has long since been reduced 

' Cljiipttrs of Yoikhliiie History, by M;-. J. J. Ciutwriglit, p. 184. 



I'AST AiNU i•UE.SE^'T. 449 

to niin, and almost entirely destroyed. Italpli Tlioi-<;sljy, wlio visited 
both J)e\v8baiy and Howley IlaJl in tlie Ja.tter part of tlie seven- 
teentli eentuiy, speaks with admiration of the niMniii licence of the 
liall, but states that he conld not find any remains of I'aulinns, 
either at the town or the ehureli of Dewsbnry. That might well be 
so after a lapse of a thousand years ; but from the authority of Cam- 
den there can be no doubt that the visit of Paulinus to this jmrt 
of the vale of Calder was long- authenticated, both by a cross and 
an inscription. ^Ve know from the Venerable Bede that the labours 
of Paulinus extended northward from the city of York to the 
borders of Scotland, and south\vard to Lincoln and Liiidsey, and 
there is no reason to d(jubt that they extended westward, at least 
to the valley of the Calder. For many .ages nearly all the parishes 
around Dewsbury paid a slight tribute to the parish church there, 
which can only be accounted for on the supposition that that 
church possessed a certain superiority in very early times. No 
other mode of accounting for those payments has ever been 
suggested. * 

Amongst the greatest and noblest members of the house of 
Savile, was Sir George Savile, Bart., the friend of Edmund Burke, 
of the marquis of Ptockingham, and of the most distinguished public 
men of the eighteenth century, who died in the year 1784, and was 
Interred, amidst the sincere and well-merited respect and affection 
of the people of Yorkshire of all classes, in that great Yorkshire 
mausoleum, the minster at York, wdiere an inscription which still 
remains does nothing more than justice to his memory. He died 
unmarried; and by a will made in the year 1743 his estates were 
devised to the second son of his sister Barbara, wife to Ptichard 
Lumley Sanderson, the representative of the ancient family of 
Lumley, who became earl of Scarborough, and from whom they have 
come down to the present possessor. "Between Thornhill-lees and 
Dew.ibury, going by the right bank of tlic river Calder, stands the 
newly-built Savile Town, having many new mills and other build- 
ings, and connected with the rest of the town by a bridge built in 
18G2. To encourage the erection of solid and substantial buildings, 
the land was conveyed, by trustees of the late earl of Scarborough, 
on leases for 999 years for buildings not costing less than i'oOO 
each, and for 99 years in cases of smaller buildings." t 

* Yorksliire : Past .nnil I'rrMint, vol. ii. p 433. 
f Walks in Yorkshire, Wakelli'ld, and Neii;liliou)hood, hy \V. S. Banks. 

VOL. II. ^ '' 



450 YORKSHIRE 



liaijid liise of the Modern Toion of Bev^htiry. — Dewsbuiy always 
had considerable advantage, from its position on tlie river Calder 
at the point at which that river appi'oaches nearest to the river Aire, 
and on the shortest line of road between the towns of Manchester, 
Huddersfield, and Leeds. Even before the Calder was made 
navigable as high up the river as Dewsbury, there was a consider- 
able intercourse through that place between Leeds and Huddersfield, 
which was then carried on over the hills that separate the valleys of 
the Aire and the Calder, chiefly on the backs of pack-horses. An 
account of this traffic is found in Mr. Scatcherd's "History of 
Morley," that being one of the places through which the trade 
was carried on. Speaking of pack-horses or, as he calls them, "bell- 
horses," he says: — "I have a fauit recollection of their passing 
through Morley twice a week, on Mondays and Thursdays. As I 
am told, they were called pack-horses from carrying large packs of 
cloth, &c., on their backs. When I saw the bell-horses at Morley, 
passing on to Dewsbury and Thornhill, the first horse only wore 
a bell. The roads were then narrow and rugged, with deep ruts, 
and the causeways generally were single and uneven. The bell- 
horses always kept this footpath, and forced therefrom travellers 
of every description, so that on dark nights, and especially in the 
winter time, the bell of the proud leader was a most useful append- 
age. These roadsters ceased to travel, some time, as I fancy, about 
1794, but I cannot ascertain the precise date." 

Commencement of Water-carriage at Dewsbury. — Near the end of 
the last century a still further impulse was given to the pros- 
perity of Dewsbury by the opening of the navigation of the 
river Calder, both upwards and downwards, through Dewsbury, 
to Halifax, Huddersfield, and Wakefield. This was still further 
increased by the forming of the Kamsden and the Huddersfield 
canals, which completed the line of internal navigation from Dews- 
bury to Manchester, and rendered that the shortest line for con- 
veying merchandise between Leeds, Manchester, and Liverpool. But 
instead of pack-horses being then used between Leeds and Dews- 
bury, light spring vans were introduced, by which the goods sold in 
the Leeds markets were forwarded to Dewsbury the same evening, 
where they were put on board the canal and river boats, and were 
sent on to Manchester, so as to reach that place in sixty hours from 
Leeds, which was then considered a remarkably short time for the 
conveyance of heavy goods a distance of forty or fifty miles. 



CAST AND I'lMCSENT. Afjl 



l\ 



Alreaily, at the beginning of tlie present century, a nnmber of 
woollen tlvttoiies had been ereeteil on this rich portion of the York- 
shire coal-field, Avhich were draAving together and employing artizans 
and mechanics from the neighhouring vUlages and fiom more distant 
places. Describing L>e\vsbury as it was about the j-ear 18t23, as we 
well remember it, a very competent authority says: — "This town" 
(Dewsbuvy) '' stands at the foot of a hill, near the ri\'er ('aider, and is 
a place of great antiquity. For some years it has been again rising 
into consequence. It can now boast many extensive manufac- 
turing establishments for blankets, woollen cloths, and carpets ; 
and the population, as well as the wealth of the town, is rapidly 
on the increase. Three new churches are about to be erected 
in this parish" (1823) "under the Million Act" (passed for erect- 
ing churches, at the close of the great French war), " the sites 
of which are to be at Earls-Heaton, Hanging-Heaton, and Dews- 
bury ]Moor. Besides the Established church, there are two 
Methodist chapels and one Calvinistic dissenters' chajael ; there are 
likewise two free schools for boys and girls, and one school where 
the national system of education prevails. This place is admirably 
situated for its inland navigation, which extends along the whole 
of the navigable part of the river Calder, and affords a canal 
communication to Huddersfield, from which place goods are forwarded 
to Manchester and to the western sea with great despatch and 
recoilarity. Within the last few years a fine spacious new road has 
been cut at great expense, by a number of public-spirited inhab- 
itants, from Dewsbury to Leeds, and hopes are entertained that one 
of the mails, which already runs between Leeds and Huddersfield, 
will speedily pa,ss on this route from Hull to Liverpool.""" 

These hopes of seeing the royal mail pass through Dewsbury 
were very soon after fulfilled, and down to the time of the estab- 
lishment of railways in this part of England, the trade of Dewsbury 
and the intercourse through it to the east and west, and up and 
down the valley of the Calder, continued to increase rapidly. But 
for a short time this was checked by the difficulty of forming a 
railway through the steep hills which separate the valleys of the 
Calder and the Aire from each other. In a few years, lunvever, 
these difficulties were overcome l)y running a long and wide 
tunnel through the hills near Morloy. The formation of tliis 
great work, which was in sorjie degree owing to the public 

I • Edward Baiiics' Hislory, &c., of the County of York, vol. i. p. 16-'. 



452 YORKSHIRK : 



spirit of Leeds and Dewsbury mercliants, greatly sliortened the 
railway communication between Leeds and Dewsbury, and again 
restored to the latter town all the advantages of its natural 
position. 

TJie Morley Tunnel. — It was in the month of Februaiy, 1846, 
that the first stone of the railway tunnel, which is nearly two 
miles long (3420 yards), was laid at the Batley end of the 
tunnel on the Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchester Railway. 
On the mallet and also on the trowel were neatly engraved 
the coat of arms of Mr. Gott, and the following inscription : — 
" Presented by the contractors of the Jlorley tunnel to John 
Gott, Esq., chairman of the Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchester 
E,ailway, on the occasion of laying the first stone of that work. 
Feb. 23rd, 184G." Upon the stone was fixed a brass plate, with 
the following inscription: — "This, the first stone of the Morley 
tunnel of the Leeds, Dewsbury, and Manchester Railway, was laid 
by the chairman, John Gott, Esq., of Armley, near Leeds, on Mon- 
day, 23rd February, 1846. Directors, Christopher Beckett, Thomas 
Beuyon, Josejjh Brook, William Brown, Thomas Cooke, James Garth 
Marshall, David William Nell, and Thomas Starkey. Thomas 
Granger, engineer. Jones and Pickering, contractors." Since that 
time the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway Company have erected a 
station at Dewsbury, and the Great Northern Railway Company are 
just about to open their new line (1874). 

The town of Dewsbury was first lighted with gas on the 8th 
April, 1829.* On Sunday, 14th June, 1846, there was a public 
baptism at Dewsbury after the manner of Paulinus. On that day 
nine persons from the neighbourhood of Batley were publicly 
baptized in the river Calder at Dewsbury, according to the rites 
of the Primitive Baptist Church, in the presence of more than 
1000 persons, t Li the year 1856, March 2.5, the foundation 
stone of Springfield Independent Chapel w^as laid at Dewsbury. \ 
Subsequently Trinity Congregational Church and the Baptist 
Church have been erected also St. Mark's Church, Halifax 
Road, and other places of worship. Since the establishment of a 
school board, in 1871, upwards of .£20,000 has been expended in 
the erection of three large schools, for the accommodation of nearly 
2000 children. 

Mimicrpal Charter of Dewslury. — The first election of town 

* .'\I:ijairs Annals of Yorkshire, vol. i. p. 3 13. f Ibid. p. 529. X Ibid. p. 67C. 



PAST AND PHi:SENT. 453 

oouncillovs, under tlio municipal cliavter gianted to tlie town of 
DeAvsbury, -took place in Jul}', 18G3. Cleorge Fearnley, l*'.s(j., M.D., 
had the honour of being luianimously elected to the office of first 
mayor of that borough. The corporation of iJewwbury consiats of 
a mayor, eight aldermen, and twenty-iour town councillors. Since 
the year 18G2, the following gentlemen have held the office of 
mayor in that borough : — 



LIST OF MAYOIiS OF DEWSBURY. 

isi;;) 'William Blakeley, Esq. 

ISVO Joseph Twei'dale Rawsthome, Esq. 

1871 Matthew RiJgway, Esq. 

1.S72 Mark Newsomc, Esq. 

1873 John Bates, Es([. 

1S74 Joseph Day, Esq. 



ISGi! George Fcaruley, Esq., M.D. 

If'G;) Cioorge Fearnley, Es,]., M.D. 

1864 C'liarics Robert Scholes, Esq. 

Is05 John TweeLlale, Esq. 

ISC.G Robert Haller,Iey Ellis, Esq. 

1867 Edward Day, Esq. 

1Mb Charles Robert Scholes, Esq. 

Deicshury Bcprcscntcd in Parliament. — By the Parliamentary 
Reform Act of 1867-68 Dewsbury was made a parliamentary 
borough. The first election took place in 1868, when Mr. Sergeant 
Simon was returned, as the first member for Dewsbury. The same 
learned gentleman was elected a second time, as member for the 
same borough, at the general election of 1874. 

DeiDshury {Xew Boroitgli). — The borough of Dewsbury, according 
to the boundary commissioners of 1867, stands on the northern bank 
of the river Calder, near the point at which it is joined by large 
brooks, which, with the river, furnish abundant water-power. The 
neighbourhood abounds with coal and building stone. Dewsbury has 
pos.sessed the advantage of cheap water-power ever since the river 
Calder was made navigable, and for many years from sea to sea. 
The parliamentary borough of Dewsbury is formed of the town- 
ship of Dewsbury, and parts of Batley, Thornhill, and Soothill. At 
the Census of 1861, the population of these three townships was 
returned as 38,5.59; and in 1867, it was estimated to be 49,750 
persons. At the Census of 1871, it was found that the population 
of the p;.uliamentary borough amounted to 54,000 persons. 

The rrincipul Occv[iatiuiis and Sources of Wealth in Dewsbury 
and Bailey. — The woollen manufacture is the great means of em- 
ployment here, as in the whole of this part of ■ Yorkshire. The 
number of persons of both sexes, but above the age of twenty 
years, employed in that manufacture at Dewsbury, amounted 
in the year 1871 to— males, 8367, and females, 5574. The other 
great characteristic occuj)ati<jns of Dewsbury in that year were— 



454 YORKSHIRE : 



engine and machine makers, 341 ; spindle-makers, 149 ; woollen 
dyers, 294 ; worsted manufactui-ers — males, 194 ; females, 435 ; 
blanket manufacturers — males, 1042; females, 292; carpet, rug- 
manufacturers — males, 1244 ; females, Gl ; cotton manufacturers — 
males, 172; females, 103; curriers — males, 150; females, 2; coal 
miners, 2l7l; stone quarriers, 264; iron manufacturers — males, 
413 ; female, 1. '"' 

Appeara)ice of the Modern Town of Dewshiiry. — Writing in the 
year 1871, a very fair and candid judge says : — "Go where we may 
into the streets of this busy town and we see great changes in the 
buildings. The streets are not any where of an imposing size or 
aspect, but numerous good new buildings meet the eye as we walk 
through them ; and it is a notable fact that the newer they are, 
the more they improve in style, leaving the older buildings far 
behind. Thornhill-lees church, built in 1858, and St. Mark's in 
Malkroyd Lane, built in 1865, are examples of improvement in 
ecclesiastical structures. The various dissenting chapels and schools 
also show the progress of changes for the better. The county court 
and the two banks, at opposite sides of the market-place, are in- 
stances of improved buildings for civd purposes. Many large and 
good places of business may be seen in different parts of the town, 
amongst which the extensive and handsome new mill and other 
buildings belonging to Messrs. Mark Oldroyd & Sons, manufac- 
turers of woollen cloth, are notable, t 

Tlie Parish Church of Dewshury. — The parish church is the 
most interesting building in the town, but has been a good deal 
injured by comparatively modern reparations. The joillars on the 
northern side of the nave are very good, being light and open, each 
of them consisting of a central shaft with slender detached shafts 
around it. They are said to be as old as the reign of Henry III. 
(1216-72), except the most easterly, which was added in 1830. 
They are the oldest parts of the present building ; but fragments 
of much older buildings have been preserved, and are built into 
the west wall of the south aisle. These carvings have been recently 
described by the Ptev. J. T. Fowler, in part iii. of the Yorkshire 
Archceological and Topographical Journal, 1870. He assigns them 
to the seventh century, the period of the visit of Paulinus, and they 
are certainly of great antiquity. The chancel has no aisle. It is 
part of the second church, and is of considerable age. On the 

* Census, General Report, 1871, vol. iv. pp. 116-122. f Banks' Walks in Yorkshire, pp. 458-59. 



PAST ANFt TRESl'lNT. 455 



top is an auciout cross, Avliidi Is Ijcllmcd to relain the form of 
tlie cross whii-h bore tlio woi'ds, " Pauliinis liic i>ncdir;i,vLt et cele- 
bravit, G-27 ;" that is, "Here raiilinus ]>ri';i,cbed and celebrated 
divine service." There A\'as a church at Dewsbury before the 
Norman conquest Avhich is mentioned in the Domesday Survey, 
10S4-SG. The Dewsbury parish ivi^isters began more than 300 
years ag-i^, on the 10th February, 1538. In that year Sir Henry 
Savile, Kt., had a chikl christencih named Edward. On the north 
side of the churchj^ard is tlie old court of the rectory manor of 
Dewsbury, which is evidently of a great age. 

T//C Jfum'cipal Borovgli of Batleij. — Batley is a municipal 
borough with a tow'n hall, a corporation, and a great and flour- 
ishing trade ; but it is united with Dewsbury for parliamentary 
purposes. The chief manufacture of Batley is in the kind of 
woollen cloths known as pilots, wdtneys, army and police cloths, 
and the like. Batley is the head of this trade, which has made 
very rapid progress during the last twenty years. 

In 1S53 Batley erected a town hall at a cost of £2000. It has 
also a mechanics' institution and a chamber of commerce. It is 
now a municipal borough, made so in 1869, and the district of 
a local board of health, and part of the parliamentary borough 
of Dewsbury. Dewsbury and Batley are densely-peopled parts of 
the great clothing district of the West Ftiding. Adjoining to Batley 
are Birstal and Heckmondwike, and other large places engaged in 
the woollen manufacture, of which we shall speak in a subsequent 
part of this work. 

Coal-Fields of Dewshury. — It appears from Mr. F. N. Wardell's 
return of coal mines in Yoikshire, that the number of collieries 
in the Dewsbury district in 1872 was thirty-two, and that they 
that year produced 5 07, .5 17 tons of coal. 



45G YORKSHIRE : 



DATRS OF THE PliTNCirAL EVENTS CONNECTED WriJt THE IIISTOItY OF DEWSBURY. 

ArKjlvm Period, about A.D. 610. — ^Paiilinus, archbishop of Northumberland, 
or of York, supposed to have visited Dewsbury, and to have preached and 
ministered there. — Yorkshire: Past and Present, voL ii. p. 445. 

1236. — Sir John Thornhill, Kt., in possession of Thornhill IlalL — VoL ii. 
p. 447. 

1370-71. — Elizabeth, heiress of Simon de Thornhill, marries Henry Savile, 
and takes the estates into that celebrated family. — Vol. ii. p. 447. 

1590.- — Howley Hall, the principal seat of the Savilcs, erected near Dews- 
bury. — ^^ol. ii. p. 447. 

1614. — Sir John Savile of Howley, one of the members for Yorkshire, and 
the patron of the manufacturing interest. — A^ol. ii. p. 447. 

1743. — The estates of Sir George Savile, Bart., settled upon his sister 
Barbara, married to Pichard Lumley Sanderson, the representative of the earls 
of Scarborough. — A^ol. ii. p. 449. 

1780—90. — The river Caider made navigable from above and below Dews- 
bury. — Vol. ii. p. 450. 

1823. — The town of Dewsbury at this time. — A"ol. ii. p. 451. 

1846. — The ilorley tunnel to unite Leeds and Dewsbury commenced.' — 
Vol. ii. p. 452. 

1862. — George Fearnley, Esq., M.D., appointed first mayor of Dewsbury. — 
Vol. ii. p. 453. 

1862. — Savile Town, Dewsbury, commenced. — Vol. ii. p. 449. 

1862. — Municipal charter of Dewsbury granted. — Vol. ii. p. 452. 

1867—68. — Dewsbury made a parliamentary borough. — Vol. ii. p. 452. 

1868. — Mr. Sergeant Simon elected as the first member for Dewsbury. — 
Vol. ii. p. 453. 

1871. — Population of the parliamentary borough of Dewsbury 54,000 persons. 
— Vol. ii. p. 453. 

1871. — Principal occupations of Dewsbury in this year. — Vol. ii. p. 453. 

1872. — Produce of the coal-lield of Dewsbury. — A^ol. ii. p. 455. 



I'AST AND I'UKSENT. 457 



CIIAPTETI VII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE BOKOUUH OF WAKEFIELD. 

Wakefield, the central town and capital of the .West Riding, 
known from very early times by the name of " Merry AVakefield," 
cheerful or pleasant Wakefield, stands on a range of hills rising 
from the river Calder. It probably owes its appellation of Merry 
Wiikefield to the pleasantness of its situation, and may perhaps 
have been a favourite spot for holding the rural festivals, named 
wakes, which were the ancient sjDorts of our Anglian ancestors, 
as it certainly was for the more courtly amusements of Miracle 
Plavs, performed by the stately Normans. * Previous to the 
Xorman conquest Wakefield was the chief place of the lordship 
of the same name. Near that town the castle of Sandal was after- 
wards built, which was the principal feudal fortress of this district, 
and ■^■hose name is connected with many great events in the wars 
of York and Lancaster. In this castle the Plantagenet princes of 
the house of York occasionally resided. In Domesday Book the 
lordship of AYakefield is described as having belonged to Edward 
the Confessor previous to the Conquest, and as belonging to 
the king, William the Conqueror, at the time when the Survey 
was made. We are told in that record that in AYakefield 
(AYachfeld), with its nine berewicks or subordinate manors, described 
as Sandala, Sorebi, AVerla, Feslei, Miclei, AYadeswurde, Crumbton 
Landfeld, and Stansfelt, there were no less than sixty carucates of 
arable land to be taxed, equal, perhaps, to about 10,000 acres, and 
this land mig'ht employ thirty ploughs. There were, previous to the 
Xorman conquest, belonging to tliis lordship three ]ircsbyters or 
priests, two churches, seven sockmen, four villeins, and sixteen 
bordars or peasants. After the Coiujuest, at the time of the 
Domesday Survey, there were only seven pluuglis. 

Soon after the dnte of the Domesday Sur\'ey, which was drawn 
up in the years 1084-MG, the lordship of Wakefield was granted, 

* Walks in Yorksliire, Wakefield, and Neighbourhood, hy AV S. Banks. London, Longmans. Wakefield, 
D. Waller; and Fielding & M Innes, [i. 17. 

VUL. II. 3 M 



458 YORKSHIRE : 



either by William the Conqueror or by one of his sons, William Eufus 
or Henry I., to the first or second earl of Warren, the first of whom 
married Gundreda, the Conqueror's daughter. The lordship of 
Wakefield, of which the town of Wakefield was the capital, was of 
great extent, including nearly the ^^hole valley of the Calder from 
the neighbourhood of Normanton, through Wakefield, Dewsbury, 
and Halifax, to the borders of Lancashire. The estates remained in 
their hands so long; as the male line of the house of Warren 
existed, which was during eight generations of earls. But in the 
year 1347 the last legitimate male heir of the house of Warren died, 
as already mentioned, and the reigning king, Edward III., granted 
these estates to his own youthful son, Edmund of Langley, whom he 
also made earl of Cambridge, and who was ultimately created duke 
of York, being the first person who ever bore that illustrious title. 
These estates remained in the hands of the dukes of York of the 
house of Plantagenet, with occasional intervals of forfeiture in civil 
war, until the murder of Richard, the youthful duke of York, in 
the Tower, along with his youthful brother, Edward V. When 
King Richai'd III. lost his life and the crown of England, in 
the battle of Bosworth Field, the dukedom of York, as well as the 
dukedom of Lancaster, passed to the triumphant Henry VII. 

The Manor or Lordship of Wakefield. — -The lordship of Wake- 
field, with its original limits, extended over the whole of the valley 
of the Calder, from the borders of Lancashire to the neighbourhood 
of Castleford. After passing through the hands of the earls of 
Warren and the dukes of York, and after having been held by 
the crown from the reign of Henry VII. to that of Charles I., 
the manor was granted to Henry Rich, earl of Holland, by 
whom it was given as a part of the portion of his daughter, on 
her marriage with Sir Gervase Clifton, of Clifton, Notts, Bart. 
In the year 1663 the manor was purchased by Sir Christopher 
Clapham, and in the year 1700 was sold to the first duke of Leeds 
in whose family it still remains. In the honour of Wakefield the 
direction of writs within this liberty is to the lord of the manor 
of Wakefield and his deputies. The axe of the gibbet was long 
preserved in his possession, as a relic of antiquity. 

TJie Birth Place of EoUn Hood. — The researches of that learned 
and accomplished antiquary, the late Joseph Hunter of the 
British Museum, the historian of Hallamshire and of South York- 
shire, led him to the conclusion that the old tradition of the 



PAST AND rilESENT. 459 



existence and the exploits of Piobin Hood, the famous outlaw of 
Sherwood Forest, Avas founded in fact, and that llobin Hood 
was a real personao-e, and a n;itive of AVakefield, whose name appears 
in several transactions in the court at that place. The investigations 
of Hunter, whilst they leave little doubt that Robin Hood was a 
real jiersonage, bring the date of his exploits down to a somewhat 
later period than that at which they are fixed in Walter Scott's 
incomparable " Ivanhoe," which, it will be remembered, places 
Ills life and times in the reigns of Ptichard I. and King John, or 
between the years 1189-1216. According to the researches of 
Hunter, Robin Hood lived in the reign of Edward II., 100 years 
later, and was one of the Yorkshire followers of Thomas, earl of 
Lancaster (who was at that time the lord of all this part of the 
West Ptiding), in his unfortunate insurrection against Edward II. 
in the year 1322. As already mentioned, this Thomas, earl of 
Lancaster, who was at that time the represejjtative of the younger 
branch of the royal family of Plantagenet, and also of the De Lacis, 
was defeated at Boroughbridge, and put to death at Pontefract ; 
the whole of his estates, and those of his adherents, being confis- 
cated by King Edward II. According to Hunter's opinion Robin 
Hood was born in a family of some station and respectability, seated 
at Wakefield or in one of the villages near to it : and he, with many 
others, partook of the popular enthusiasm which supported the earl 
of Lancaster, the great baron of these parts. When the earl fell there 
was a dreadful proscription, but some of the persons who had been 
in aiTQS, not only escaped the hazards of battle, but the arm of the 
executioner. Robin Hood was one of these, and he protected himself 
against the authorities of the times, partly by secreting himself in 
the depths of the woods of Barnsdale, or the forest of Sherwood, and 
partly by intimidating the public officers, by the opinion which was 
abroad of his unerring bow, and his instant command of assistance 
from numerous comrades as skilled in archery as himself. He 
supported himself by slaying the wild animals found in the 
forests, and by levying a species of black mail on passengers along 
the great road from London to Berwick ; occasionally seizing 
upon treasure which was being conveyed along the road, but 
with a courtesy Avhich distinguished him from ordinary highway- 
men. He continued this course for about twenty months, from 
April, 1322, to December, 1:523, when he fell into the hands of the 
king (Edward II.) personally, and was pardoned and made one of 



460 YORKSHIRE 



the valets, porteurs cle la chamhre, in the royal household. This office 
he held for about a year, when he again returned to the " greenwood 
shade, where he lived for an uncertain time. At last he resorted 
to the prioress of Kirklees, his own relative, for surgical assistance, 
and in that priory he died and was buried." 

The Battle of Wakefield. — ^The sanguinary battle between Ptichard, 
duke of York, the claimant of the crown, and Margaret of Anjou, 
the royal consort of its possessor, Henry VL, took place in the South 
Meadows, between the town of Wakefield and the castle of Sandal, 
in the year 1460, and is fully described in a previous division 
of this work, in the original words of Hall's Chronicle, one of the 
earliest and most graphic historians of the bloody wars of York 
and Lancaster. It will be seen from that account that Richard, 
duke of York, "came to his castle of Sandall, beside Wakefield, 
on Christmas eve.""" There he began to assemble his tenants and 
his friends, and there, before he could get any great force together, 
he was surrounded by a large Lancastrian army of from 18,000 
to 20,000 men, under the personal command of the heroic queen 
of Henry VL, Margaret of Anjou, and Lord Chfford, and other dis- 
tinguished chiefs of her party ; that he persisted in fighting with 
has been described as " the great battle in the South Fields " at 
Wakefield, in spite of the remonstrances of all his wisest advisers; 
and that he was there defeated and slain by the Lancastrian forces. 
After the battle, and the murder of his youthful son, Rutland, 
by the bloody Clifford, Richard's head was cut off, and pi-esented 
to the queen as the king's ransom ; he being then in prison. " At 
which present was much joy and great rejoicing. But many 
laughed then that sore lamented after, as the queen herself and 
her sou ; and many were glad then of other men's deaths, not 
knowing that their own were near at hand (at the still more 
bloody battle of Towton Field), as the Lord Cliflfoi-d and others." " 

Wal:ejield under the Tudor Princes. — Wakefield was one of 
the most flourishing manufacturing towns in the West Riding 
of Yorkshire at the time when it was visited by Leland, in his 
survey of England made for the information of King Henry 
VIIL, and completed about the year 1536-38. Speaking of Wake- 
■field, he says: — ^" Wakefield -upon- Calder is a very quick (lively) 
market town, and meatley (moderately) large, well served of 
flesh and fish, both from the sea and by rivers, whereof divers 

* Yorkshire: Past and ''resent, vol. i. p. 557. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 461 



be thereabout at hand, so that all vitaile is very good chepe there. 
A right honest man (a very respectable person) shall fare well 
for twopence a meal (perhaps equal to about Is. of present money). 
It (Wakefield) standeth now all by clothing. Leland adds the 
following particulars : — " These things I especially noted in Wake- 
field: the fair bridge of stone of nine arches under which runneth the 
river of Calder. On the cast side of this bridge is a right goodly 
chapel of Our Lady, and two chantries of priests founded in it, 
of the foundation of the townsmen, as some say ; but the dukes of 
York were taken as founders for obtaining mortmayn (per- 
mission to found). I heard one (a person) say that a servant 
of King Edward IV.'s father (Richard, duke of York), or else 
the earl of Rutland, uncle to King Edward IV., was a great 
doer of it. There was a sore battle fought in the South Fields 
by this bridge ; and in the flight of the duke of York's party, 
either the duke himself, or his son the earl of Rutland, was slain 
a httle above the bars beyond the bridge going up to the town 
of Wakefield, that standeth full fairly upon a diving (sloping 
or rather ascending) ground. At this place is set up a cross 
in memory of the event, m rei memoriam. The common saying- 
is there that the earl would have (wished to have) taken 
(refuge) in a poor woman's house for succour, and that she 
for fear shut the door, and straight the earl was killed. The 
Lord Clifford, for killing of men at this battle, was called the 
butcher. The principal church that now is in Wakefield is but 
of a new work, but it is exceedingly fair and large. Some think 
that where now is a chapel of ease, at the other end of the town, 
was once the old parish church. The vicarage at the east end 
of the church garth is large and fair. It was the parsonage house 
not very many years since ; for he that now liveth is the fourth or 
fifth vicar that hath been there. Before the impropriation of this 
benefice to Saint Stephen's college at Westminster, the parsonage 
(of Wakefield) was a great hving, in so much that one of the 
Earls AVarrenes, lords of Wakefield, and of much of the country 
thereabout, did give the parsonage to a son or near kinsman of 
his, and he made (built) the most part of the house where the 
vicarage now is. A quarter of a mile without Wakefield appeareth 
a hill of earth cast up, where some say that Earl Warrene began 
to build, and as fast as he budded violence of wind defaced the 
work. This is hke a fable. Some say that it was nothing but 



462 YORKSHIRE : 



a wind mill. The place is now called Low-hill ; " Low or Law being 
the Anglian name for a hill. "The town of Wakefield stretches 
out all in length by east and west, and hath a fair area for a 
market-place. The building of the town is meatley (moderately) 
fair, most of timber, but some of stone. All the whole profit of 
the town standeth by coarse drapery. There be few towns in the 
inward parts of Yorkshire that have a fairer site or soil about 
them. There be plenty of veins of sea-coal in the quarters about 
Wakefield." 

There was a chapel on the bridge at Wakefield as early as 
the year 1357, the 31st Edward III., though Dr. T. D. Whitaker 
is "willing to be persuaded that the endowment took place in 
order, as is generally supposed, to pray for the souls of the slain 
in the battle of Wakefield, and especially of poor little Rutland, 
who is said to have been murdered on this bridge by Lord Clifibrd, 
known as the butcher." It is very likely, however, that there was 
a chapel and a chantry on the bridge of Wakefield, as on nearly 
all the bridges of Yorkshire built at a very early time, in order to 
interest the saint to whom it was dedicated in the safety of the 
bridge and of those who passed over it, or perhaps, that mass might 
be said before the bridge was crossed in great floods and stormy 
weather ; and it is not at aU improbable that the chapel on the 
bridge of Wakefield, which was and is of remarkable beauty, was 
enlarged and improved after the battle of Wakefield, to secure 
prayers for the soul of the duke of York, of his son, the youthful 
Rutland, and of the many supporters of the soon afterwards 
triumphant family of York. The great battle of Wakefield was 
succeeded in a few months by the very much greater battle of 
Towton Field, where the Yorkists took a terrible revenge on the 
Lancastrians for their losses at the battle of Wakefield. 

Wakefield was also the seat of great military events. In the 
rising of the north the castle of Sandal, then a place of great 
strength, was held for Queen Elizabeth by her gallant cousin, 
Henry Carey, one of the ancestors of the Viscounts Falkland. In the 
more modern conflict between Charles I. and the Long Parhament, 
one of the earliest and most brilliant exploits of Sir Thomas Fairfax 
was performed at Wakefield, which was, even in the opinion of 
Oliver Cromwell (a most competent judge), amongst the most 
important events in the earlier part of the great civil war. An 
account of the storming of Wakefield, given in Carlyle's " Life and 



PAST AND PRESENT. 463 



Letters of Oliver Cromwell," shows that the attack of Fairfax was 
made with very itifei'ior numbers, and was only successful owing to 
his own determined courage, and to the most resolute support given 
to him b}' the trained bands of Yorkshire, nearly the whole of whom 
were zealous supporters of the parliamentary cause. This victory 
occurred at a most critical time, when the successes of the marquis 
of Newcastle and the royalists threatened the parliamentary party 
in Yorkshire \\ith complete destruction — a result which might have 
changed the whole fortune of the war. 

Wahefield taken by Sir Thomas Fair/ax. — In the great civil war, 
the elder Fairfax being compelled to retreat from Selby to Hull, and 
Leeds and Bradford being the only places of strength held by the 
parliamentary forces in the West Riding, Sir Thomas Fairfax deter 
mined to take the town of Wakefield, then in the possession of the 
king's forces, and held by about 3000 men. Accordingly, on the 
morning of the 21st of May, 1643, at the head of 1500 horse and 
foot, he marched from Leeds to attempt the reduction of that town. 
The battle commenced about four o'clock in the morning, and after 
an hour and a half's hard fighting Sir Thomas entered the town, took 
.500 prisoners, with 80 officers, 27 colours, and a large quantity of 
ammunition. A copy of a letter from Lord Fairfax to the speaker 
of the House of Commons, giving particulars of this victory, 
was in. possession of the late ]\Ir. Denny, of Leeds. It is dated 
Leeds, 23rd May, 1643, and is signed "Fer. Fairfax." The 
letter states " that the earl of Newcastle had possessed himself of 
Ptotherham and Sheffield." It then goes on to say that "the 
earl of Newcastle's army do now range over all the south-west 
part of this country, pillaging and cruelly using the well-affected 
party ; and here about Leeds, Bradford, and Halifax, being a 
mountainous barren country, the people now begin to be sensible 
of want, their last year's provisions being spent and the enemy's 
garrisons stopping all the provisions, both of corn and flesh and 
other necessaries, that were Avont to come from the more fruitful 
counties to them ; their trade utterly taken away, their poor 
grow innvimerable, and great scarcity to relieve them ; and this 
army, which now lyes amongst them to defend them from the 
enemie, cannot defend them from want, Avhich causeth much mur- 
mure and lamentation amongst the people ; and for the army 
itself, it is so far in arreare, and no way appearing how they 
sh;ill either be supplied with money or succours, they grow very 



464 YORKSHIRE : 



mutinous. Yet upon Saturday last, in the night, I caused to be 
drawn out of the garrisons in Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, and 
Howley, some horse, foot, and dragoons, in all about 1500 men, 
and sent them against Wakefield, commanded by my son, and 
Assisted by Major-Generall Gifford, Sir Henry Fowles, and Sir 
William Fairfax, with divers other commanders ; they appeared 
before Wakefield about four o'clock on Sunday in the morning, 
where they found the enemies (who had intelligence of their 
design) ready to receive them. There was in the towne Generall 
Goring, Sergeant-Mfijor Generall Mackworth, the Lord Goring, 
with many other principall commanders and eminent persons, with 
about seven troops of horse, and six regiments, containing 3000 
foot, the towne well fortified with works and four pieces of 
ordnance ; yet our men, both commanders and common soldiers, 
went on with undaunted courage, and notwithstanding the thick 
volleys of small and great shots from the enemie, charged up to 
their woi'ks, which they entered, seized upon their ordnance and 
turned them upon themselves, and pursued the enemie so close 
as they beate quite out of the towne the most part of the horse 
and a great number of the foot, and made all the rest prisoners, 
and with them took four pieces of ordnance, and all the ammuni- 
tion then in the towne, and a great number of arms, and amongst 
the prisoners Generall Goring himselfe, with divers other com- 
manders and other common souldiers, in all about 1500 men, and 
twenty-seven colours of foot, and three cornets of horse. When 
the town was thus taken, they found their number and strength 
too weak to keep it and their prisoners, so they left the place 
and marcht away with their booty. In taking the towne we lost 
no man of note, and not above seven men in all ; but many of 
our men were shot and wounded." 

Defoe's Visit to Wakefield, 1727.— We have a very full and 
interesting account in Daniel Defoe's " Travels," the first edition 
of which was published in the year 1727, of the state and 
condition of the town of Wakefield at the time of the accession 
of the house of Hanover to the throne. The prosperity of 
Wakefield had received a great impulse at that time from two 
circumstances — first, the erecting of a lai'ge cloth or piece hall,'*"' 
before any similar place of trade had been formed at Leeds, 

* See Ealph Thoresby's account of tlie erection of the Cloth Hall at Wakefield, and of its influence on the 
Leeds merchants. Yorkshire: Past and Present, vol. ii. p. 133. The Tammy Hall was built many years after. 



PAST AND rUHSIONT. 



or any other VnrkshliL' town, (.-xerpt llnlilux ; ami hccoimI, the 
completion of the Aire and (_ 'alder Navi-;-at.i(>ii iu Wakefield, which 
gave that place not only che:i|> water-carriage to Leeds and other 
towns, in the interior of Yorkshire, but also a convenient and 
cheap access hy ^vater to the estuary of the IIuml)er, the port of 
Hull, and the (lerniau Ocean. The ellect of the latt(_'r impr(j\ement 
was in the end less favoirrahle to the manufactures of Wakefield 
than it was at first expected to be; for though they continued large 
(and are still considerable), the superiority in the means of transport 
of coal from Wakefield to Hull and the eastern counties had a still 
greater etfeet in turning attention to the working of the rich 
coal and mineral district lying round the town of Wakefield, for 
purpioses of exportation, and also in making Wakefield the great 
deput and market for cattle, corn, and other articles of agricultural 
produce, brought down the Trent and the Humber, and up the Aire 
and Calder Xavigation, to supply the wants of the manufacturing 
districts of Yorkshire. In the year 1872 the Wakefield coal district 
contained fifty collieries, and produced 1,080,195 tons of coal, 
according to Mr. Wai'deU's ofllcial returns in the mineral statistics 
of the United Kingdom. 

Wakefield Fifty Yeais Since. — The following account of Wake- 
field, in the year 1823, is from the pen of a writer well acquainted 
with Wakefield at that time. He says it "is a large and opulent 
town, delightfully situated on the left bank of the Calder. 
The streets are for the most part regular, handsome, and spacious, 
and the houses, which are principally of brick, are well-buUt, lai'ge, 
and lofty. . . . It is a place of great antiquity. 
Wakefield now, as in the time of Leland, still ' standeth by 
clothing.' Like Leeds, it is situated on the edge of the manu- 
facturinti- district, of which the Calder here forms the eastern 
boundary. . . . Some increase has taken place in the popuLition 
within the last twenty years, but that increase is by no means 
in proportion to that of the other principal towns of the Riding. 
. . . Wakefield is a town alike interesting in its remote history 
and its present state; and it remains only to add that the manners 
of its inhabitants unite the honest frankness of the manufacturing 
character, with the urbanity and polish of those places where 
the clack of the shuttle never breaks upon the ear of the stately 
citizen."'" 

* EJwird 15 lines' Histcry of Yorksliirc, &c., vol i. p. I -'5. 

VOL. n. 3 N 



46G YOKKSHinE : 



The quat'ter-sessions of the West Eiding, and the meetings of 
the county magistrates and barristei's, many of the former and some 
of the latter — including Mr. Frank Maude, as he was always called, 
and Mr. Hardy, the father of the present secretary for War (1874), 
who were the leaders of the bar at the West Pdding sessions — 
residing in the pleasant neighbourhood of Wakefield, gave life 
and animation to the town. There also was, and still is, the 
office for the registration of landed property in Yorkshire, an 
institution which has now existed from the reign of Queen Anne 
to the present time, and has been so successful as greatly to 
encourage the adoption of a similar system in other parts of the 
kingdom. 

Wakefield Churches mid Chapels. — There was a church at 
Wakefield at the time of the Domesday Survey, and it is supposed 
that there was a Norman edifice, either that or its successor, Avhich 
remained until the time of Edward III. A new erection took 
place in the year 1329, and the present structure was built about 
140 years later. Leland, speaking of the church in the year 1.538, 
states that it was then a new building. In the year 1724 the south 
side of the church was rebuilt, and the north side and east end- 
in the latter part of the eighteenth century. The s]oire, after being 
altered in 171.5 and 1823, "was in 1860-61 entirely rebuilt with 
crockets, of which the immediately preceding spire was devoid, and 
raised to its present height.""" In 1868-69 the chancel stalls were 
repaired and restored, and are now very good ; other judicious 
restorations were made under the direction of Sir G. Gilbert 
Scott, t St. John's is also a handsome church, standing in one of 
the pleasantest parts of the town. There are other churches and 
chapels in Wakefield, amongst them the Independent Chapel with 
its new schools, which long preserved the memory of its first 
minister, the Eev. Samuel Bruce, as " Bruce 's Chapel." The Baptist 
Chapel on the top of the Fair Ground was built in 1844; the 
Primitive Methodist Chapel in 1838; and the United Methodist 
Free churches in 1858. 

Literary and Scientific Institutions. — The Mechanics' Institution, 
known as the Music Saloon, was built in the year" 1820-21, and 
was purchased by the institution in the year 1855 for the sum 
of £3000. It contains news-rooms, library and lecture room, 
and is a commodious and neat structure. Opposite it stands the 

* \V. S. Banks' Walks in Wakefield, p. 26. f Ibid. p. 29. 



PAST AND rUICSIONT. 4C7 



Clayton Hospital and the ^Wxkefield General Dispensary. The 
dispensary was established in 1787, and the Clayton Hospital owes 
its existence to the liberality of Mr. Thoiiia,s Clayton, who con- 
tributed nearly filOOO to its erection, and excited the Hberality 
of the people of Wakefield to further contributions, to the extent 
of i'3000.| 

Farliamcntanj caul Jhutic/jnil Enfrancldsement of WahpfdJ. — 
Wakefield was first authorized to send a member to Parliament 
by the Reform Act of ISoi!. The population at the Census of 
1S71 was i!S,079, and the number of parliamentary electors in 1874 
^Yas 3SS9. In 1S48 Wakefield was made a municipal borough, 
with a mayor, eight aldermen, and twenty-four councillors. The 
Public Health Acts were applied in 18.33, the parliamentary borough 
"was made co-extensive with the municipal in 1868, and the borough 
commission was granted in 1870. The School Board was first 
elected in IS 71. The number of the municipal burgesses in 1874 
was 4219, and the rateable value of property, according to the 
return of the overseers on the 4th June, 1873, was i'86,428. 

Wahefield Industnal and Fine Art Exltihition. — A very successful 
exhibition for the above objects, was held at Wakefield between 
August 30 and October 19, 1865, under the presidency of Lord 
Houghton. A large temporary building in Wood Street and the 
adjacent Tammy Hall, were the scene of the exhibition, which was 
visited by 189,418 persons. The receipts being £6339, and the 
expenditure not more than X'3297, a handsome balance of £3042 
was left and applied in the foundation of the Wakefield Industrial 
Fine Art Institution, intended to comprise a school of art, a school 
of science, and a public museum. The art school and the scientific 
classes are now in active and successful operation. 

Distin(]idsJied Jlen in Wahcfeld. — AVakefield has produced many 
distinguished men ; some born within the limits of the present 
town, and others in the neighbourhood. The lives of some of the 
most prominent of these eminent men have been written by 
Mr. J. J. Cartwright. Amongst the most distinguished are those 
of Sir Thomas Gargrave, who commanded Pomfret Castle for Queen 
Elizabeth in the ^reat rising of the north, and Sir Martin Frobisher, 
one of the greatest of our early na.val discoverers, who assisted in 
defeating the Spanish Armada,, and who, after rising to the rank of 
vice-admiral, was killed in an attack on the fort of Crozon, near Brest. 

' W S. Liaiiks' \V..lks ill Wakefield, |i. SO. 



468 YORKSHIRE : 



Sir Thomas Gargrave was descended from Sir John Gargrave, 
Kt., of Snapethorpe and Gargrave, in the county of York, who was 
master of the Ordnance, and a governor in France under King 
Henry V., and was mihtary tutor to Pdchard Piantagenet, duke 
of York, who was slain at the battle of Wakefield in 1460. Sir 
Thomas Gargrave was made a member of the Council of the North 
in the year 1539, and in 1547 he accompanied the earl of Warwick 
in the expedition into Scotland and there received the honour of 
knighthood. During the reign of Queen Mary he was especially 
active on the Council of the North, and in the first Parliament of 
Queen Elizabeth he was returned a second time as a member for 
the county of York. The Journals of the House of Commons under 
the date of the 25th January, 1558-59 state that "by the first 
motion and nomination of Mr. Treasurer of the Queen's House, the 
worshipful Sir Thomas Gargrave, Kt., one of the honourable council 
in the north parts, and learned in the laws of this realm, was with 
one voice of the whole house chosen to be Speaker." When 
Parliament was dissolved on the Sth May in the same year. Sir 
Thomas Gargrave returned into Yorkshire, and soon became the 
leading spirit of the Council of the North. During the troublous 
times which followed he was the ablest supporter of the queen's 
government acting as vice-president of the Council of the North 
under Thomas Radcliffe, earl of Sussex, who was appointed 
president of this council in the year 1568. On the 3rd December, 
1569, he wrote to Lord Clinton from Pontefract Castle, then far the 
strongest fortress in Yorkshire, informing his lordship of the retreat 
of the insurgents, which was the commencement of the overthrow of 
the insurrection. During the troublous times which followed he 
took a principal part in restoring the authority of the queen's 
government, and was to the close of his career one of the ablest of 
the supporters of the queen and her government. 

Sir Martin Frobisher, Avho was born at Altofts in the parish of 
Normanton, near Wakefield, became a seaman early in life, and 
joined in the expeditions to the coast of Guinea and to South 
America, in which so many able and valiant leaders were trained in 
the reign of Queen Elizabeth. In the great battle in which the 
Spanish Armada was defeated in the year 1588, the important post 
of vice-admiral was committed to Martin Frobisher ; and in an 
attack made upon the rear division of the Spaniards on the first 
day they ;ippeared off Plymouth, Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher 



PAST AND rnilSENT. 460 



played tio stout a part, that many df the ships op|:M)scd to them 
were completrly shattered. Vov his i^Teat services on tliat occasion 
Frebisher received the honour of kni;4hth()i>d at the hands of the 
lord hii>-h aduiiral. But his career, thounh most brilliant, was 
brought to a close a tew years later; and in the year 15!) 1 he was 
mortally wounded in an attack on the fort of Crozou, near Brest, 
having suecesslully stormed the ibrt, but with the loss of the lives 
of many gallant otl'ccrs and men, as well as of his own. 

DATES OF THE ri!INCir.\.L EVENTS CONNI'.CTED WITH THE HISTORY OF THE BOIiOUGH 

OF W.UvEFIELD. 

l()S4:-86. — The lordship of Wakeficlil at the Domesday Survey. — Y'A. ii. 
p. 457. 

About 1090. — The lordship of Wakefield granted to the earls of Warren. — 
Vol. ii. p. 4.3S. 

1347. — Wakefield granted to Edmund of Langley, the first duke of York, 
by his father, King Edward III. — Vol. ii. p. 4.j8. 

1322. — The celebrated liobin Hood born in the neighbourhood of A\'ake- 
field. — Vol. ii. p. 459. 

1357. — The chapel on the bridge at Wakefield. — Vol. ii. p. 4G2. 

1460. — .The battle of A\'akeficld, and the death of Richard, duke of York. — 
Vol. ii. p. 460. 

l,j3(3-38. — Lcland's account of Wakefield in the reign of Henry \[ll. — 
A'ol. ii. p. 460. 

1569. — Sandal Castle, Wakefield, held by the Careys for Queen Elizabeth in 
the insurrection of the Xorth, — Vol. ii. p. 462, 

1643. — Wakefield taken by Sir Thomas Fairfax's army. — Vol. ii. p. 463. 

1GG3. — The manor of Wakefield purchased by Sir Christopher Clapham. — 
A'ol. ii. p. 458. 

1700. — The manor sold to the first duke of Leeds. — Vol. ii. p. 458. 

17(jl. — The ^Vire and Caldcr rendered navigable to AA'akefield and to Leeds. 
— \'ol. ii. p. 465. 

1727. — Daniel Defoe's visit to AVakefield. — A^ol. ii. p. 464. 

18^0-21. — Literary and scientific institutions. — \^ol. ii. p. 466. 

1K23. — Wakefield as described fifty years since by Edward Baincs. — ^A'ol. ii. 

p. 465. 

1823. Flcasuiit society of Wakefield at this period — Mr. Frank Maude ami 

Mr. John Hardy. — A'(;l. ii. p. 466. 

]H:',2. Farliamentary and municipal enfranchisement of AVakefield. — A"ol. 

ii. p. 4^7. 

1S65. AVakefield Industrial and Fine Art Exhibition. — \'ol. ii. p. 467. 

1872. Wakefield coal district with fifty collieries, and this year producing 

1,080,195 tons of coal. — Vol. ii. p. 465. 

AVakefield churches and chapels. — \'ol. ii. p. 466. 

Distinguished men in AVak(;ficld.— -\"ol. ii. [i. 467. 



4 70 YOEKSHIRE : 



CHAPTEE VIII. 

THE HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF SHEFFIELD. 

Sheffield, the second in population amongst tlie parliamentary 
and municipal boroughs of Yorkshire, has increased during the 
last twenty years with a rapidity otherwise unexampled, even 
amongst the many great manufacturing towns of the West Ptiding. 
At the Census of 1871, Sheffield contained a population of 239,947 
inhabitants, of which number 54,775 w^as the increase of the 
decennial pei'iod immediately preceding; the population of Sheffield 
having been 185,172 at the Census of 1861.* This ancient capital 
of the cutlery manufacture of England, which has become during 
the last thirty years the seat of many new and great branches 
of industry connected with the steel, iron, and metal trades, is 
situated near the southern border of the West Ptiding of York- 
shire, in the south division of the wapentake of Strafford and 
Tickhill, and in the old Anglian division of Hallamshire. The 
older part of the town stands on the banks of the rivers 
Don, or Dun, and Sheaf, from the latter of which streams it takes 
its name of Sheaffield, now pronounced Sheffield. The more 
modern part of the town is pleasantly situated on the rising 
banks of those two rivers, or of other streams which flow into 
them within the limits of the borough, t Sheffield has always 
derived much of its prosperity from the abundant, widely diffused, 
and nmch subdivided water-power supplied by the Don, the Sheaf, 
and the numerous smaller streams of the Loxley, the Porter, the 
Ilivelin, and other rapid brooks, all of which flow down from the 
adjoining hills, and in their windings through the town and 
neighbourhood furnish the means of turning and working innumer- 
able mUls, grindstones, and machines, employed in the manu- 
factures of steel, cutlery, and hardware of the Sheffield district. 

In eai'ly times Sheffield stood m the midst of vast forests of 
oak and other timber, which then extended, with only partial 
clearances, over great part of the strong clay soils that cover the 

* Census of England and Wales for 1871. t Ordnance Map of Yorkshire. Index, pp. 292-93. 



PAST AND rRi-;si.;xT. 471 



coal-field of the West Itidiny ;iik1 the adjoining counties of Derhy 
and Nottingluim. These anelent forests in early times sn]i|>lied 
abundance of wood f>r the maklug of chai-coal, the smelting 
of iron, and the Avorking of that metal into every implement of 
industry -whieh the ingenuity of those times could devise or apply 
to use. The sup]")lies of the forests have been consumed, althouyli 
the neighlKiurhood of Sheffield is still one of the hest-wooded 
districts in l''.iigland, and preserves, especially in its noble parks, 
many remains of its ancient forests. But in more recent times, 
and especially during the present busy century, the produce of the 
great coal-field, of Avhieh .Sheffield may be regarded as the central 
jioint, and which extends some fifty or sixty miles in length, from 
the banks of the river Aire in Yorkshire to those of the gfreat river 
Trent at Nottingham, ■"■ has furnished the town of Sheffield and the 
steel and cutlery distriet of Hallamshire with other and far more 
abundant supplies of fuel, derived from the carboniferous deposits 
of much more distant ages. An abundant and apparently unlimited 
and inexhaustible supply of steam-power is furnished by the rich 
coal-fields of Sheffield and Eotherham, wdfich are increasing in 
productiveness, and in 1872 yielded 3,740,810 tons of coal, t 
This prodigious supply of fuel, joined with the large quantities of 
iron found in this district, or brought from a distance and here 
converted into steel, has rendered it possible to develop that im- 
mense extension of the steel and iron trade of Sheffield which has 
been witnessed within the last thirty years. In addition to these 
liu-cre supplies of coal and iron, mountain limestone, and a hard, 
grittv, sand-stone rock, especially suited for forming the millstones 
and grindstones used so extensively in the working of cutlery, are 
found in this lieighbourhood, with much excellent building stone. 
Xo other place in England is so well suited as the town of Sheffield, 
and the adjoining district of Hallamshire, for caiTying on the manu- 
factures of cutlery and steel, for v hich they have now been celebrated 
for many centuries, and which are at the present time increasing 
much more rapidly than they ever did at any previous period of the 
history of Sheffield oi- of England. 

AiiiMiidilrH of Slicfjii'hi — The local position of the town of 
Sheffield on tlie rivers Don and Sheaf, and of several other places 

• Geulogical Map of tlje ririt'iHli Islands. By John I'ljillips, M.A., LL.D., F.R.S., (I.S., late Piofissoi- of 
Geolofry in the University of Oxford. 1862. 

f .Mineral Statistics of tlie United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland for the year 1872. Kcport by llr. 
Frank N. Wardell, follicry inspector for Yorkshire, p. 138, 



472 YORKSHIRE 



along the banks of the river Don, which flows through it from 
north-west to south-east, corresponds very nearly with the southern 
limit of one of the great divisions of the Roman province of Britain, 
known by the name of Maxima Csesariensis. Some remains of 
the Roman period have been found in or near to the town of 
Sheffield, as well as at other places in the neighbourhood, including 
two curious copper plates which were dug up near the town, in 
the Pdvelin valley, in 1761." There are also remains of extensive 
fortifications, some of which jorobably belong to the Roman and 
the Biitish times, along the north bank of the river Don, between 
Sheffield and Conisbro' Castle. The chief Ptoman station of south 
Yorkshire of which we possess a clear historical account, stood 
lower do~\\Ti the stream of the Don than Sheffield, on the site of 
the pleasant town of Doncaster. But there was another Roman 
road, besides that which passed through Danum or Doncaster, 
leading from York through Chesterfield, or "the field of the camp," 
to the present town of Derby, which must have crossed the river 
Don higher up the stream than Doncaster, and probably between 
the town of Sheffield and the point at which the river Brother flows 
into the Don. There a fine rectangular camp, indisputably Roman, 
stood at Templeborough, now called the Ickles, about a mile south- 
west of Ptotherham ; and the Ptoman station Ad Fines, is laid 
down in the Ordnance Survey, at the junction of the Don and 
the Ptother. 

After the departure of the Romans from Britain the river 
Don, with the great estuary of the Humber, into which it 
flows, became the southern boundary between the North Anglian 
kingdom of Northumbria, or Northumberland, and the Middle or 
South-Humbrian kingdom of Mercia. It was along this line of 
boundary that the great Northumbrian fortifications of Conisbro', 
Thrybergh, and other castles, built to defend the southern frontier 
of the kingdom of Northumbria, were constructed. About the year 
828, Egbert the king of Mercia, who claimed to be king of Eno-- 
land, led an army to Dore, in Derbyshire, a few miles south of 
Sheffield, and overawed the Northumbrians iuto a temporary sub- 
mission to his authority. These castles continued to be places of 
great strength for many ages after the Norman conquest, and 
some of them present magnificent remains at the present day. 

* Hunter's Ilallaii.sliiie. Histgry and lupogiapliy of the Parish of Slieffield in the county of York. 
Folio. 1819. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 473 



Much tlie greater part of the names of the eastles, towns, and 
viUages, in and around Slieiht'hl, are of Anghan or Teutonic 
origin, and some of them c;u-ry us as far back even as the times 
which preceded the introduction of Christianity among tlie Anglo- 
Saxons. 

In the neighbourhood of Sheffield, a considerable number of the 
early names of places also appear to belong to the Norse or Danish 
period. Such is the name of Tinsley, about four miles from 
Sheffield, which stdl preserves the name of the ancient Danish 
or Norwegian " Tings," or " Things," assemblies of Scandinavian 
warriors. These assemblies \\'ere the rude houses of Parliament, 
and tlie law courts of the Scandinavian race, and are found in 
every part of their once wide dominions, from the Danelagh (or 
district subject to the Danish laws) in England — which included 
the present counties of York, Nottingham, Derby, Lincoln, and 
Leicjster — to the coasts of the Shetlands and Orkneys, Norway, 
and even the remote island of Iceland, where we are told King 
OlafF built a temple, at the place afterwards named Tingwalla. 
The well-known and conxmanding position of Laughton-en-le- 
IMorthen, A-isible from the neighbourhood of Sheffield, was probably 
the site of another Scandinavian laghton, or court of law, over 
which a judge, called by the Danes a laghman, presided. 

Sheffield and the Neighhourhood described in Domesday Booh. — 
But at the time of .the Domesday Survey, about the twentieth 
year of the reign of William the Conqueror, 1084-86, the whole of 
this district, with its castles, manors, and lands, had passed into 
the hands of the conquering Normans. Sheffield, according to its 
most learned and accomplished historian, Hunter, is described in 
the Domesday Record by the unfamiliar name of " Escafeld," and 
was then held by the powerful Norman, Ptoger de Busli, under 
the Countess Judith, the niece of William the Conqueror, and the 
widow of Waltheof, the Anglian or Saxon earl of Northumberland. 
AVe find from the Domesday Survey that these extensive estates 
had belonged, previous to the Norman conquest, part of them to 
Waltheof, and part to Sweyn, Avho Avas probably a connection of 
King Sweyn, the father of Canute the Great. Sweyu, the father 
of Canute, died and was buried at York, then the capital of the 
Danelagh in England, and he or his family are very likely to have 
had possessions in this district, which at that time possessed great 
military importance. The following is a translation in substance, 

VOL. II. 3 o 



474 YORKSHIRE 



of that part of the Domesday Survey which relates to the town 
and neighbourhood of Sheffield, from Hunter's " Hallamshire." It 
will be seen that it commences with an account of Grimshov, 
which Hunter supposes to be the modern Grimsthorpe, and to 
include the district in which it stands, now called Brightside- 
Bierlow. It afterwards refers to what has become the most 
important of all, Sheffield and Attercliffe, described in Domesday 
as "Escafeld" and " Ateclive." With these explanations we proceed 
to quote what may be regarded as the earliest written or printed 
account of Sheffield and the neighbourhood : — 

The Lands of Roger de Busli. — " A manor in Grimshov (Grim's 
hill or court) ; there Uifac had three carucates and a half of land 
to be taxed, and there may be enough land for two ploughs. Now 
Ptoger (de Busli) has one carucate, and three villani (tenants) and 
as many cottagers (bordarii) have one carucate. There is a 
pasturable wood three quarterns in length and two in breadth. 
In the time of King Edward (the Confessor) it was worth 40s. 
a year (£30 a year of modern money), now it is worth 20s. a year 
(£15)." This decline of value was no doubt the result of war and 
conquest. 

Mention is then made of Hallamslnre. — "A manor in Hallam- 
shire with sixteen berewicks (subordinate manors or hamlets) and 
twenty-nine carucates of land to be taxed. There Waltheof had an 
aula — a hall or court. There may be land for about twenty 
ploughs. This land Roger de Busli holds of the Countess Judith. 
He has himself there two carucates of land, and thirty-three villani 
holding twelve carucates and a half. There are eight acres of 
meadow, and a pasturable wood four miles in length and four 
in breadth. The whole manor (of Hallamshire) is ten miles in 
length and eight in breadth. In the time of King Edward (the 
Confessor) it was valued at eight marks of silver a year (£80 
modern money), now at 40s. (£30)." 

Attercliffe and Sheffield. — Next are mentioned "two manors 
in Ateclive and Escafeld (Sheffield). Sweyn had five carucates 
of land to be taxed. There may be enough for about three 
ploughs." " This land," says Hunter, " is said to have been inland 
or demesne land, of the manor of Hallam." 

It will be seen from the above extracts from the Domesday 
liecord, that the district of Hallamshire had suffered severely 
from the ravages of the Norman conquerors, and probably from 



PAST AND PRESENT. 475 



the preceding wars of the Angles and the Danes, on the borders 
of Yorkshire. In Grinisthorpe, or Briglitside-Bierlow, Ulfac, the 
Anglian or Danish proprietor, had lieen expelled by the Normans, 
and his land had deelined in value one-half, since the time of 
Edward the Confessor. In the great manor of Ilallamshire, which 
had been worth eight marks of silver yearly, equal to about £80 
a year in the money of the present time, the value of the land had 
sunk to 4t\s\ or about £30 of modern money. In Sheffield and 
Attercliffe we have no account of the money value of the land; 
but a large portion of it seems to have become waste, a common 
result of the desolating wars of that period. Nor is this desolation 
at all surprising : for the original ownei-s of these lands were either 
Angles or Danes of high if not of royal rank, and were also soldiers 
distinguished by their courage, who defended their castles and estates 
with determined resolution. Earl Waltheof of Northumberland was 
the son and successor of the great Northumbrian Earl Siward, cele- 
brated in Shakspeare's '"' Macbeth," and his mother was a princess 
of the royal race of the Angles. He headed moi'e than one insurrec- 
tion against the Normans, and ended his career by being tried and 
beheaded as a traitor — along with several other chiefs, English, 
Danish, and Norman — by the Conqueror. Nothing is known of 
Sweyn, who is mentioned as the possessor of Sheffield and Attercliffe 
at some time previous to the Norman conquest, unless he was 
connected with the powerful Danish chief , who conquered the 
greater part of England, and after a victorious career died at York, 
leavincf the kincfdom to his still more successful son, Canute the 
Great. If it was not this Sweyn it was probably some other 
member of the royal family of Norway, as the name of Sweyn, 
meaning a youth, and frequently a youth of noble or royal race, 
was very frequently given about this time. Whether the manor of 
Grimshov, or Grim's hill or court, at any time belonged to the great 
Danish warrior, Earl Grim (or, the fierce and cruel), from whom 
Grimsby, Grim.sthorpe, and many other places in the Danelagh and 
in the north of England were named, is uncertain. In addition 
to these distinguished persons the Anglian earl, Edwin, had large 
estates at Laughton and Tickhill, in the neighbourhood of Sheffield.^'^ 
AU the Anglian and Danish chiefs appear to have been swept 
away, sooner or later, in the wars which followed the Norman 
conquest. 

* Domesday Book. 



476 YORKSHIRE : 



Tlie Life and T-imcs of Earl WaJtJieof.^Ki the meeting of the 
British Archseological Association held at Sheffield in August, 
1873, interesting papers were read on the subject of Earl AA-^altheof 
and the Countess Judith, of which the following are extremely 
brief summaries : — j\Ir. Edward Levien, F.S.A., read a paper on 
"The Life and Times of Earl Waltheof." After referring to his 
father, Siward, who was stationed by Edward the Confessor in 
Northumbria, because " the kingdom being much infested by tlic 
Danes, the great men of the land, consulting with the king, did 
advise that the little devil (Siward) should be first exposed to the 
great devil (the Danes)," Mi-. Levien stated that in 1070, fifteen 
years after Siward's death, Waltheof received from the Conqueror 
the earldom of Northumberland, on the flight of the rebellious 
Cospatrick into Scotland. He had previously been earl of North- 
ampton and Huntingdon, and had large possessions in Cambridge- 
shire, also holding the aula and lands of Hallam. Li 10G9 he 
joined in the siege of York Castle, and is said to have cut off the 
heads of several Norman soldiers with his own hands. William, 
however, professing to be reconciled to him, gave him the hand of his 
niece Judith, a name, remarked Mr. Levien, uncomfortably sugges- 
tive since Holofernes' days of some mischief to the head. In 1074 
he was present at the marriage of Roger Fitzosborne's sister 
to ilalph de Waet, earl of Norfolk, which was celebrated in 
spite of the king's veto. The wedding-feast was not marked by 
the dove-like and complimentary speeches now customary : for the 
bridegroom, the bride's father, and the whole company bound 
themselves by oath to rid the country of the Normans. Waltheof, 
overcome, according to the chroniclers, by wine or threats, was a 
party to the compact, and in an evil moment informed his countess 
of the plot. She, wishing, there is reason to believe, for a second 
husband, denounced Waltheof to the king. Having consulted 
Lanfranc, Waltheof was persuaded by him to go over to Normandy 
and throw himself on the Conqueror's mercy. The conspirators, 
suspecting his purpose, broke out into premature revolt, and were 
speedily defeated. William, on his return to England, executed 
a number of the insurgents, and caused Waltheof to be beheaded at 
Winchester. 

The Countess Judith one of the earliest Possessors of the Manor of 
Sheffield. — At the same meeting Mr. J. R Planche, Somerset Herald, 
read a paper on " The Early Lords of Holderness, tlie connections of 



I^AST AND PRESENT. 477 



the Countess Judith. "' TtefeTriiiL^^ to the conferring of Holderness 
by the Conqueror in lOSG on his brothei'-in-hiw, Count Eudes, or 
Odo de Chanipngne, Mr. Planche remarked that much confusion had 
existed with regard to this count; some representing him as son of 
Steplien, second count of Clianipagne or Brie, by Adela, supposed 
to have been the daiigliter of liichard, second dulce of Normandy, 
in whicli case he woukl have been first cousin to the Conqueror. 
Tire facts of the case — as ehcited from the records of the church of 
St. ]\h\rtin d'Aucliin, conunonly called Aumale from its vicinity to 
that town — were that about the year 1000, Guerinfai, sire d'Aumale, 
built a castle on the river Eu, now called the Bresle. His only 
daughter, Bertha, married Hugh, second count of Ponthieu, and 
had issue Ingleram, sire d'Aumale, who married Adelaide or Adeliza, 
the Conqueror's sister, and by her had a daughter Adelaide. Ingle- 
ram's widow had for second husband Count Lambert, of Lens in 
Artois, and had by her a daughter Judith, whom the Conqueror 
gave in marriage to A\"altheof. Lambert being killed at Lille a year 
after his marriao-e, the widow took for a third husband Odo, count 
of Champagne, and by him had a son, Stephen, count of Champagne. 
Odo, owing allegiance both to Ptufus and his brother Eobert, sided 
with the former, but afterwards joined in the conspiracy to place 
his son, Stephen d'Aumale, on the throne. On the failure of this 
Odo was thrown into a dungeon, whence he never emerged alive. 
Stephen was condemned to have his eyes plucked out, but this part 
of the sentence was remitted. 

BusU {Bogerus de). — In the list of the great tenants of the 
crown, given in the general introduction to Domesday Book, drawn 
up by the late Sir Hemy Ellis, we find it stated that Roger de 
Busli had his residence at Tickhill Castle, Yorkshire, in which 
county, and in Nottinghamshire, he had his largest possessions. 
He founded the priory of Blythe, in Nottinghamshire, in 1088. 
The barony terminated in John, his grandson, who left one 
daughter. ''' 

Sheffield wider the Normans. — The parishes of Sheffield, Eccles- 
field, and Handsworth, formed in early times the district of Hallam- 
shire— a name that is still preserved, and has been extended to 
other places Ijeyond the boundaries of those three parishes. The 
town of Sheffield, with a, strong castle on the banks of the river 
Don, continued to Ije the capital of Hallamshire after the Norman 

* Vorkshire I'a.-t and Present, vol. i. p 1X7. 



478 YORKSHIRE : 



conquest. In tlie fifth generation of the De Busli family their 
extensive possessions passed into the hands of Robert de Vipont, 
by his marriage with Idonea de Bnsli, the heiress of that powerful 
family, descended from Ernaldus, brother of Roger I. Subsequently 
Sheffield, and other estates belonging to the De Busli family, 
became the property of the house of De Lovetot ; and from the 
time when the latter family was established in Hallamshire may 
be traced the first feeble commencement of the prosperity of 
Sheffield. That was continued and extended by the wise and 
liberal policy of their successors, the Furnivals, lords of Sheffield, 
and was owing in a great degree to the libei'al tenures of land 
granted by them, and to the security which the burgesses enjoyed 
under the shelter of the castle of Sheffield. The probability is that 
this castle had served as a residence for an Anolian chief before 
it passed into the hands of the Normans. The family of the De 
Lovetots seem to have risen above the age in which they lived, in 
benevolence and public spirit. One of their first acts was to erect 
churches in their territories, and under the rule of this family the 
first parish churches were built in Sheffield, and in the neighbouring 
parish of Ecclesfield and chapelry of Bradfield. At the time when 
the church of Sheffield was built, " a few stragfe'ling' cottae;es 
and smithies, with a few houses in the neighbourhood of 
the town mill, formed the whole town of Sheffield."* The last 
representative of the male line of the De Lovetot family died 
between the 22nd and the 27th years of the reign of King 
Henry II., the first of the Plantagenet kings. He left an only 
daughter, Matilda or Maud, then of tender age, as a ward of 
the reigning king; and after the death of King Henry 11. his 
son and successor, Richard I., gave her in marriage to the son 
of one of his companions in arms, Gerard de Furnival, a young 
Norman knight, who by this alliance became the possessor of the 
lordship of Sheffield. 

Several members of the house of De Furnival were summoned 
to the early parliaments of England, along Avith the other barons 
of the realm. During the term of possession of the barony by 
this family the castle of Sheffield was rebuilt, and was fortified by 
authority of King Henry HI. in the .'j4th year of his reign, 1269-70. 
On the 12th November, 1296, the 24th Edward I., Thomas, Lord 
de Furnival, obtained from that king a charter under the great seal 

' Hunter's Plallaintbire. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 479 



of England, authorizing tlio holding of a market every Tuesday in 
his manor of Shcthidd, and of a fair to be held every _yc;i,r in the 
same toAvn during tlirco days —namely, on the eve, the day, and 
the morrow, of the Feast of Holy Trinity. This market and fair 
have continued to be held to the present time Avithout alteration, 
except that the fair is held on the Tuesday following Trinity Sunday. 
Thomas de FuynivaVs Charier to the Burgesses of Sheffield. — 
Another charter of still gi'eater importance, and often described as 
the Magna Charta of Sheffield, was granted by the same Thomas de 
Furnival to his tenants in that town, in the year 1297, the 24th 
and 2.3th Edward I. By this charter he confirmed to his bur- 
gesses of Sheffield, their burgages, lands, and tofts for ever, on 
payment of a moderate fixed rent in money. " Tliis charter," 
says Hunter, " was executed by the Lord Furnival of Sheffield, 
on the 10th August, 1297. All the persons of rank in the 
immediate vicinity were assembled to witness the execution of 
the charter — namely. Sir Robert Ecclesall, Knight, Sir Edmund 
FoHot, Knight, Thomas de Sheffield, Thomas de Munteney, 
Robert de Wadsley, Ralph de Wadsley, Thomas de Furneus, 
William de Darnall, and Ptobcrt le Breton, at that time seneschal of 
Hallamshire. The objects comprehended in this charter were the 
abolition of those base and uncertain services by which the tenants 
of Sheffield (in common with those of most manors) had previously 
held their tenements ; and the substitution in their stead of a small 
fixed annual payment in money. The sum agreed upon, as the 
burgage rent for the whole town, was £3 8s. d^d. " (of the money 
of that time, equal to about fifteen times as much in the money 
of the present day, or from £50 to £60 a year.) "This," says 
Hunter, " continued to be paid many years after, by the inhabitants 
of Sheffield, under the description of the burgery" (or burgage) 
rent. Of this sum the church burgesses formerly paid 7s. 2,L 
annual rent, for burgage tenures which had fallen into their hands. 
The rent paid for each tenement was originally small, though a 
fair rent at the time, and it decreased in value with the depre- 
ciation of gold and silver. Flence the collection of the burgage 
rents seems to have been gradually discontinued, and they are not 
now paid. But as late as the year 1662, a jury was formed to 
inquire what houses in the town were of the old burgery (or 
burgage), and what proportion of the burgage rent rested upon 
them. They made a return of about 400 dweUings, as included 



480 YORKSHIRE : 



in the original burgage tenure of Sheffield, a sufficient number to 
create a solid freedom of tenure in the borough, and implying a 
population of at least from 1000 to 1500 persons." 

Testa de Nevil. — The following is the notice of the possessions 
of these two houses, in the neighbourhood of Sheffield, given in 
this well-known work, drawn up chiefly in the reign of King 
Henry III.: — Gerard Furnival held five knights' fees, and one- 
fourth in the fee of the honour of Tickhill. At the same time 
Nigel De Lovetot held five knights' fees in the same honour; and 
Ptobert Fitzwilliam, five knights' fees. 

The name and family of De Furnival continued at Sheffield for 
fifty years after the death of the above-named benefactor of the town, 
when Joan De Furnival, the only daughter of AVilliam, the son of 
the above Thomas, married Sir Thomas Nevil, and carried Sheffield 
and the De Furnival estates into the hands of a younger branch 
of the celebrated house of Nevil. From this marriage sprang 
another daughter, named Maud Nevil, who married John Talbot, 
afterwards the great earl of Shrewsbury ; and the descendants of 
this marriage held the estates down to the year 1616. John, the 
first and great earl of Shrewsbury, after triumphing in France, 
Ireland, and on the English borders, in forty battles or engage- 
ments, was slain at the battle of Chatillon in the south of France, 
on the 20th July, 1453; his son, the "young John Talbot" of 
Shakspeare, falling by his side in the same disastrous engagement. 
The second and third earls of Shrewsbury were zealous adherents of 
the house of Lancaster, in the wars of the Eed and the White Rose; 
and the castle of Sheffield was one of the Yorkshire fortresses of 
the house of Lancaster, until the triumph of King Edward IV., 
the representative of the house of York, on Towton Field, over- 
threw it for a time, although it was again raised, on the triumph, 
of Henry of Eichmond, afterwards King Henry VIL, on Bosworth 
Field. 

George Talbot, the fourth earl of Shrewsbury, born in the year 
1468, held the lordship of Sheffield for seventy years, and in the 
early part of the reign of King Henry VIII. built a noble country 
mansion, sometimes called Sheffield Manor, at other times '•' The 
Lodge," in Sheffield Park, about two miles from the centre of the 
town. The castle and manor of Sheffield derive a strong historical 
interest from the illustrious prisoners who were confined within 
their walls, by order first of Henry VIII., and afterwards of his 



TAST AND PKEaENT. 481 



daughter, Queen Elizalietli. Cardinal Wolsey, wlio was archbishop 

of York at the time of liis memorable downfall, was arrested by 

order of the kino: at Oawood Castle, one of the residences of the 

archbishops, near York, and was brought to Sheflield on his way 

to London. He was detained at ShefReld manor for sixteen or 

eighteen days, and after leaving it, first for Hardwick-upon-Line, 

iu Nottinghamshire, and next for Nottingham Castle, he reached 

Leicester Abbey, A\-here he died a few days after his departure 

fi-om Sheffield. As Shakspeare says : — 

" At last, with easy roads, be came to Leicester, 
Loiltj'd in the abbey ; where the reverend abbot, 
"With all his convent, honourably receiv'd him ; 
To whom he gave these words—' father abbot, 
An old man, broken with the storms of state. 
Is come to lay his weary bones among ye ; 
Give him a little earth for charity ! ' 
So went to bed ; where eagerly his sickness 
Pursu'd him still ; and, three nights after this. 
About the hour of eight (which he himself 
Foretold should be his last), full of repentance, 
Continual meditations, tears, and sorrows, 
He gave his honoiu-s to the world again, 
His blessed part to heaven, and slept in peace." 

A still more illustrious captive, the unfortunate Mary Queen 
of Scots, also spent many sad years of her long imprisonment in 
Sheffield Castle. After being removed for greater security from 
Bolton Castle in Wensleydale, Yorkshire, to Tutbury Castle in 
Staffordshire, she was brought to Sheffield Castle, then again 
to Tutbury, afterwards to Chartley Castle in StaffiDrdshhe, and 
finally to Fotheringay Castle, Northamptonshire, where she was 
put to death on the 8th February, 1587, after a captivity in one 
or other of those castles of eighteen years, eight months, and twenty- 
two days. Of this long period of imprisonment thirteen years 
were spent in the castle of Sheffield.'"' The sixth earl of Shrews- 
bury, who undertook this painful duty by command of Queen 
Elizabeth, was the kindest of her keepers, thougli as a zealous 
Protestant he was strongly opjinsed to the plots formed against 
Queen Elizabeth. There is a noble, but poetical picture of the 
character of this fine old enrl. In Schiller's tragedy of "Maria 
Stuart." The circumstances of Alary Queen of Scots' imprisonment 
at Sheffield are well traced in Hunter's " Hallamshire," and a 
very candid and truthful appreciation of her character is found in 



VOL. II. 



Hunter's Ilalhiiiisliire. 

3 P 



482 YORKSHIRE 



the Rev. A. Gatty's recent interesting work, entitled " Sheffield : 
Past and Present." 

George, the sixth earl of Shrewsbury, was succeeded by Gilbert, 
his son, who died on the 8th of May, 1616. Lady Alethea Talbot, 
the youngest daughter and co-heiress of Earl Gilbert, married 
Thomas Howard, earl of Arundel and Surrey, and by this marriage 
the lordship of Sheffield was transferred from the Talbots, earls of 
Shrewsbury, the premier earls of England, to the Howards, earls 
of Arundel and Surrey, and dukes of Norfolk, the premier dukes. 

The Great Civil War. — In the great civil war, in the succeeding 
century, Sheffield was for a time occupied by the parliamentary 
general, Sir John GelJ, of Derbyshire ; but on the advance of 
William Cavendish, marquis of Newcastle, at the head of the 
royal army of Yorkshire, Su- John Gell was compelled to retreat, 
and the royalists held Sheffield for some time. After the great 
parliamentary victory of Marston Moor, in the year 1644, and after 
the retreat of Prince Rupert from Yorkshire, and the withdrawal 
of the marquis of Newcastle from England, Sheffield was besieged 
by Major-general Crawford, of the Scottish army, supported by the 
armies of the earl of Manchester, Oliver Cromwell, and Sir Thomas 
Fairfax. The castle was well defended for nearly a month ; but on 
the 11th August, 1645, it was found to be no longer tenable, and 
was surrendered to the parliamentary commander on honourable 
terms. The Howards were allowed by Parliament to ransom their 
Sheffield estates, on payment of a fine of £6000 ; but on the 30th 
of April, 1646, the Long Parliament, which was determined to 
destroy all feudal fortreses that had been held by its oppo- 
nents, passed a resolution directing that the castle of Sheffield 
should be rendered untenable; and on the 13th July, 1647, 
another resolution for demolishing that ancient structure. This 
was done in the month of April, 1648, so far as the castle was 
concerned ; but the manor house was habitable until the year 
1706, when it was dismantled by order of Thomas, duke of 
Norfolk. 

In the Parliament of 1628 the cutlers of Hallamshire were 
erected into a corporate body, consisting of one master cutler, 
two wardens, six searchers, twenty-four assistants, and the ordinary 
members of the trade. By this Act it was provided that the . 
governing body of the Hallamshire cutlers should be elected every 
year, on the Feast of St. Bartholomew, and that they should 



PAST AND PRESENT. 483 



make laws for the goverainent of their trade. Tiie Old Cutlers' 
Hall was built in the year 1008. 

Tou-u Trust of Slicfichl — The town trust of Sheffield was incor- 
porated in the 3'ea.r Llfjl, and according to the original patent 
it formed the inhabitants of the town and parish of Sheffield into 
one body, politic and corporate, by the name and style of the twelve 
capital burgesses and commonalty of the town and parish of 
Sheffield. The body thus incorporated was authorized to hold 
lands, which were assigned to repair the parish church, to build 
bridges and common ways, to assist the poor, and for any other 
charitable and public purposes. From this fund the trustees 
defrayed the expense of lighting the public streets. 

The church burgesses are a self-elected body, and all their 
funds go to ecclesiastical purposes. The town trustees are elected 
by the resident freeholders, and their funds are applied to public 
improvements and useful purposes. 

Tlie Earhj Progress of the Trade of Sheffield. — The progress of 
Sheffield in manufactures and industry has been continuous, though 
at very different rates of progression, from the granting of the great 
charter of Thomas de Furnival. In the time of King Edward 
III. the cutlery of Sheffield was well known, and was in general 
use throughout the kingdom; and Chaucer, in his "Canterbury 
Tales," describes the hardy miller of Trumpington, near Cam- 
bridge, as carrying a Sheffield whittle or knife in his hose. 
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the town of Shef- 
field had a population of 2207 persons, of whom not more than 
100, amounting with their families to about 500 persons, are said 
to have been householders ; but this disproportion in the number 
of householders and inhabitants is not probable, and may perhaps 
have arisen from confounding the number of the burgesses, who were 
a select class holding burgage houses, with the inhabitants generally. 
The earliest accounts of the articles of cutlery manufactured at 
Sheffield mention "whittles," or knives; but gradually shears, 
scissors, scythes, and razors were added. In the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth the earl of Shrewsbury, the great friend and patron 
of the town, sent to his friend the great Lord Burghley, "a 
case of Hallamshire whittles, being such fruites as this pore cuntrey 
afordeth, with fame throughout the realme." This old-fashioned 
name for knives survives in common use on the other side of the 
Atlantic, where the thoughtful Yankee often spends his leisure 



484 YORKSHIRE ; 



hours in "whittling" a stick. Lord Burghley was still alive when 
a new element of successful industry was introduced into Sheffield 
in the persons of skilled craftsmen from the Low Countries, driven 
into exile in England by Spanish and Austrian tyranny. 

The Progress of Sheffield in the Eighteenth Century. — The celebrated 
Daniel Defoe visited the town of Sheffield about the year 1727, and 
in approaching that place from Doncaster, he had " a fair view of 
that ancient whittle-making cutlery town called Sheffield." Here, 
as he tells us, he found the town very populous and large ; but the 
streets were narrow and the houses dark and black, owing to the 
continued smoke of the forges, which he says "are always at work." 
" They make," as he informs us, " all sorts of cutlery, but especially 
edge-tools, knives, razors, axes, and bills ;" and there was for some 
time the only mill for turning grindstones. The people, he says, were 
"a prodigious many, as well in the town as in the bounds of what 
they call Hallamshire. They talked of 30,000 people being 
employed on the whole ; but," he adds, " that I believe on the credit 
of the report ; " that is, he did not believe in it at all, and was 
quite right in withholding his belief. At that time the river Don 
was as terrible in its risings as it has sometimes been in modern 
times. This river, he says, is akin to the Derwent, from the fierce- 
ness of its streams, taking its beginning in the same western 
mountains, which pour down their streams so rapidly that nothing 
is able to stand in their way. This district has always been famous 
for its magnificent trees. The great oak tree described by Evelyn, 
in his book on forest trees, was still growing in Sheffield Park, and 
Defoe mentions a great chestnut tree, near Attercliffe, which can 
hardly be " fathomed or grasped by the arms of three men. " 

In the year 1742, in the reign of George II., Mr. Thomas 
Bolsover of Sheffield discovered the art of plating silver upon 
copper, and of so producing a silver-faced material which was 
employed in making buttons, snuff-boxes, and many fancy articles. 
A few years later Mr. Joseph Hancock employed this metal to 
imitate the finest and richest embossed plate, and in a short time 
the Sheffield plate became generally adopted. The manufacture of 
pure silver plate also began to be followed ; and in order that the 
Sheffield manufacturers might be freed from the necessity of send- 
ing their goods to London to be stamped, an assay office was . 
established in Sheffield, which was opened on the 20th December, 

* Defoe's Travels of a Gentleman through Great Britain. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



1773. A few years earlier the refining of the precious metal 
iirtrodviced into Sheffield, and Mr. John Kead, who settled the 
the year 1*765, carried on this branch of industry on a large 
A superior kind of pewter, called Britannia metal, was subseqi] 
invented and brought into general use. In Sheffield an 
immediate neighbourhood tliere were already numerous foui 
of iron, brass, and white metal, and many works were estabi 
on the banks of the numerous streams, in the town and neigh 
hood, for the purpose of tilting and grinding by water-power th- 
and steel for the manufacturers. About the year 1758 exte 
lead-works were formed on the banks of the Sheaf, a stream ■ 
flows into the Don at Sheffield. A silk mill, and subsequej 
carpet manufactory, were established about the same time at 
field ; but the example was not followed, and the working In r 
is and always has been the great staple of Sheffield industry. 

The Roads and Biver Navigation of Sheffield. — The tra^ 
Sheffield long sufiPered from want of good roads, and still 1 
from want of river or canal navigation. It was about the n 
of the last century, or more precisely in the first years of the 
of George III., that good roads were formed between Leed: 
Sheffield, which were afterwards extended southward to No 
ham, Leicester, Northampton, and ultimately to London. X 
that time the produce -of the Sheffield smithies and work 
was conveyed weekly to London, and less frequently to 
places, on the backs of packhorses. River navigation was 
duced somewhat later. The river Don was made navigable i 
year 17.51 from Tinsley, about three miles from Sheffield, do-' 
Doncaster, from which town it had long been navigable t 
Humber and the port of Hull ; but the navigation from Tins 
Sheffield was not completed until the year 1819, when a cans 
opened. Some years earlier, the river Don and the Aire and ( 
Navigation had been connected with each other, from the neigl 
hood of Sheffield to Wakefield, by the Dearne and Dove Navig 
But even with these disadvantages, in the early mode of conv 
the manufactures of Sheffield, the industry of the town cont 
to increase, and some of the inventions which have createc 
wealth and industry of Sheffield began to be successfully deva 

Introduction of Steam-poioer. — The first steam-engine gri: 
wheel was erected by Messrs. Proctor, on the east bank of the 
Sheaf, in the year 1786, and from that time the agency of ^ 



486 YORKSHIRE : 



power, though still most extensively used, has been extended by 
the more cei'tain and efficient power of steam, but not at all 
superseded ; for in these days of dear coal water-power is more 
valuable than ever. 

Churches and Chapels of Sheffield. — The parish church of Sheffield, 
though anciently dedicated to St. Peter, and described by the 
names of St. Peter and St. Paul, in the Census of England and 
Wales for 1871, is also known as Trinity Church. It stands near 
the centre of the old town of Sheffield, and was erected in the 
reign of King Henry I., about fifty years after the Norman con- 
quest. The mortal remains of four earls of Shrewsbury of the 
family of Talbot, and of numerous other members of that famous 
and ancient house, are interred in the parish church of Sheffield. 
Many other churches and chapels adorn the town. St. Simon's 
Church, Eyre Street, built in 1841, is of brick. St. Mark's, 
Glossop Road, is in the pleasant elevated district that includes 
Broomhill and Endcliflfe, in which are also the Collegiate School, 
the Wesley College, a handsome Grecian building, and the beautiful 
Botanic Garden. St. Luke's Church, Solly Street, was opened in 
1860. All Saints, a handsome well-proportioned church standing 
on an eminence near EUesmere Road, was erected and endowed 
in 1868 by Sir John Brown, of Endcliffe HalL The tower and 
spire rise to the height of 190 feet. Sir John Brown has also 
given £600 and the site for the church of St. Andrew's, in 
Sharrow district, built in 1869. There is also St. Michael's and 
All Angels church in Burton Road, Neepsend, built in 1869, and 
the district church of Dyers Hill. In addition to sixteen churches 
in the town of Sheffield, there are seven other churches in the 
following out-townships — namely, Atterclifie, Crookes, Darnall, 
Ecclesall, Fulwood, Heeley, and Walkley. The total amount of 
the stipends paid annually to the incumbents of the twenty-nine 
benefices in the parish of Sheffield is £8000, and a large majority 
of the livings have been created and churches built for them within 
the last twenty-five years. 

In 1846 the Queen and Privy Council sanctioned a plan of 
the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for re-constituting this extensive 
and populous parish, which was accordingly done by dividing it 
into twenty-five districts, since become parishes, having each of 
them a church and an incumbent. The archbishop of York also 
raised the parish into a deanery. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 4 

The Parish Church of Sheffield, dedicated to St. Peter and t 
Holy Tiinity, is rectangular in form, and bears a tower and spi 
It is situated in the centre of the town, and surrounded by 
churchyard. In 1805 the nave of the parish church was rebuilt, a 
several restorations have been made. In the time of Henry VI 
the fourth earl of Shrewsbury founded the chapel here, wh: 
contains some remarkable altar tombs commemorative of this no 
family. That erected to the memory of the founder, George Talb 
fourth earl of Shrewsbury, is the most important. Elizabe 
countess of Lennox, wife of Charles Lennox, younger brother of \ 
unfortunate Darnley, husband of Mary Queen of Scots, is interi 
here. Her mother, the widow of Sir William Cavendish, marri 
the sixth earl of Shrewsbury, keeper of Mary Queen of Scots, a 
was in attendance on the royal captive during her long impris( 
ment at Sheffield. There is a handsome monument also of t 
sixth earl, which was erected during his lifetime. A bust 
Chantrey (his first, it is said) finds an appropriate place in t 
church ; for though born in the Derbyshire village of Norton, fc 
miles distant from Sheffield, Chantrey was apprenticed in Sheffi( 
as a carver and gilder, and here commenced his career as an art 
and sculptor. The bust which is in the chancel is that of the R 
James AVilkinson, vicar of the parish, who died in the year 18( 
Tliere is another work of Chantrey 's in the parish church of Sh 
field — namely, a monument of Mr. Thomas Harrison, of West 
HaU, and his wife, Elizabeth, who died respectively in 1818 a 
1823. The tower of this church is furnished with ten bells, 
set of chimes, and an illuminated clock. The parish regis- 
commences in 1560, and is very large and full. The living is 
\Ticarage, of the annual value of £500. The new vicarage is br 
on the site of the ancient building, together with the Church 
England Educational Institute. 

The Rev. Dr. Gatty, at the visit of the British Archaeologi 
Society in 1873, traced the history of the parish church of Sh 
field which, he thought, was built or rebuilt by William 
Lovetot, about 1103. Possibly it was burnt at the same ti: 
as the castle, and rebuilt by Thomas de Furnival, about 12' 
The tower, apparently the oldest part of the present edifi 
the external casing of which is not a century old, might inck 
some portion of his edifice. The perpendicular work in the n£ 
bespoke considerable external rebuilding in Henry VII.'s reign. 1 



488 YORKSHIRE : 



church- wardens' accounts of 1559 showed the existence of a clock, 
and there was also an organ, which was removed during the Com- 
monwealth, the church remaining without one till the beginning of 
this century. None of the furniture of the ante - reformation date 
is. left except the handsomely-carved oaken sedilia for the three 
priests, supported by the inhabitants, to assist the vicar. The 
oldest bell bears date 1538, and the peal of ten, to which two 
have been recently added, was recast in 1799. The chancel was 
much injured by a storm in 1703, and underwent complete repair 
at the cost of the lay rector, the lord of Hallamshire. The addi- 
tion of the Shrewsbury Chapel and that of the vestry and burgess 
room, in 1771, have converted the church from a cruciform into 
a rectangular shape. In 1800 the nave was rebuilt from the 
ground, and galleries were erected. These and other alterations 
have impaired the beauty of the building, but it is still impressive 
from its solidity and its lofty spire. 

The Shrewsbury Chapel, Sheffield. — At the meeting of the British 
Archaeological Association at Sheffield in September, 1873, the 
first visit of the members was to the Shrewsbury Chapel, in the 
parish church, where members of the Shrewsbury family were 
interred from 1538 to 1632. The vicar acting as cicerone, the 
altar tomb of the founder, George, fourth earl of Shrewsbury, 
was examined with much interest. It has spiral columns at the 
four corners, and bears recumbent effigies in marble of the earl 
and his two countesses. The inscription represents both ladies as 
interred here, it having been probably executed before the death 
of the Countess Elizabeth, who was actually buried with her 
ancestors at Erith in Kent. The earl is sculptured with a coronet, 
and in the robes of the Order of the Garter. His feet rest on 
a talbot, a rebus to which heralds and sculptors of former times 
were much addicted, and his hands are joined in prayer. The 
only side of the tomb which the wainscot and upright shafts 
supporting the ai'ch allow to be seen, has three rose compartments ; 
a shield of arms in brass occupying the centre of each. In the 
centre of the chapel is a second tomb, without effigy or inscrip- 
tion; the shields of arms, however, seeming to show that it was 
erected in 1585 by George, sixth earl, as a memorial of his first 
countess and their four sous. Near the south wall is the monu- 
ment erected by that earl, bearing his effigy in armour, and 
surmounted by a slab, with a long inscription composed by Foxe, 



PAST ANU rCKSIoNT. 4.S9 



the martyrolog'ist, wlioso rough draught is preserved among the 
Harleian manuscripts in the Thitish Museum. Foxe died three 
vears hefore the earl, who was not content to trust his executors 
with his memoriah but had it completed, minus the date of his 
decease, in his lifetime; one of his objects being to rebut aspersions 
on his character with regard to his custody of ]\Iary Queen of Scots. 
The vicar also pointed out a brass plate found beneath the foot 
in memory of Lady Mountjoy, who died in 1510, it is supposed, 
while on a visit to the earl of Shrewsbury ; also the old altar 
stone of the church, bearing the crosses with wdiich such stones 
were marked before the Reformation. This was found buried 
beneath the surface, and has been raised a few feet above the 
floor. The vicar mentioned that he accompanied the late duke 
of Xorfolk into the vault below the chapel, and found two coffins 
of the Shrewsbury family, others having apparently been walled up. 
St. Paul's Church, in Norfolk Street, built in 1720, also contahis 
a monument by Chantrey. The living is a perpetual curacy, worth 
£300 a year, in the gift of the vicar of Sheffield. The church of 
St. James', in St. James' Street, was erected about the close of the 
last century. The eastern window of stained glass, representing 
the crucifixion, is the work of Peckett in 1797. The benefice 
is valued at £300 a year. St. George's Church, St. George's Square, 
is a noble Gothic stone building, with a tower 139 feet in heiglit. 
It was built by a parliamentary grant under the MiUion Act, and 
C'jst £14,819. The chief object of interest in the interior is a 
painting over the communion table, representing Christ blessing 
little children. It was presented to the church by the painter, 
Mr. Paris. St. Philip's, a Gothic church, standing at the junction 
of the Infirmary and Penistone Road, was commenced in 1822, and 
was not completely finished tiU 1833. Like St. George's, it cost a 

larrre sum £11,874. This church district includes part of Nether 

IlaUam township, which contains another new church, at Walkley, 
called St. Mary's. The church dedicated to St. Mary, standing in 
Lrammall Lane, is a fine Gothic building, affording accommodation 
for 2000 persons. It was opened in 1830, and was built under 
a graut by Parliament at a cost of £12,G50. St. John's, on the 
Park hill, is also Gothic in style, having a tower and spire 100 feet 
high. The twelfth duke of Norfolk gave the site for the church and 
its° extensive burial-ground, which stands on a conspicuous eleva- 
tion. Holy Trinity Chnrch, in Nnrsciy Street, built in 1848 at the 



3 

VOL. 11. 



490 YORKSHIRE : 



sole expense of the Misses Harrison, of Weston Hall, affords accom- 
modation for 1000 persons. The western end supports a tower, 
and there is a good east window of stained glass. St. Jude's, in 
Eldon Street, was erected in 1849 by subscription, aided by a 
grant from the Incorporated Church-building Society. The founda- 
tion is laid on thirty-three stone columns springing from a disused 
coal mine. St. Jude's Church, in Moorfields, built by subscription, 
to which John Gaunt of Darnall contributed £1000, unfortunately 
fell down when almost finished, on Sunday the 7th November, 
1852, the foundation giving way through some defect. The church 
was rebuilt in a difiterent form, and opened in 185.5. The church 
dedicated to St. Thomas, at Crookes, was built in 1844, and Christ 
Church, at Pitsmoor, a pleasant suburb of the town, in 1850. 
St. Matthew's in Carver Street, built in 1854-55, has a spire 
125 feet high, and in the tower a bell of cast steel. Mr. Henry 
Wilson contributed largely to the fund raised for building this 
church. The same genei'ous benefactor also defrayed the cost of 
St. Stephen's Church, standing at the entry of Bellefield and 
Fawcett Streets, which was built in 1857 for the district of 
Netherthorpe and Jericho. Mr. Wilson also gave the endow- 
ment of £1500 a year. 

Dissenting Chapeh in Sheffield. — The Independents have ten 
chapels in Sheffield. The Wicker Congregational Church, situated 
at the junction of Occupation and Burngreave Eoads ; a new church 
in Cemetery Road ; a large chapel called the Tabernacle, in Oxford 
Street ; Broom Park Church, in Newbould Lane ; and also chapels 
at Tapton Hill and Attercliffe. The Baptists have four chapels in the 
following places — Town Head Street, Portmahon, Cemetery Road, 
and Glossop Road. In Hanover Street the Presbyterians have a 
church with a good spire. In Norfolk Row the Roman Catholics 
have a splendid chiu'ch, dedicated to Ste. Marie, opened in Sep- 
tember, 1850. It is a stone structure of large dimensions and 
excellent proportions, designed on the model of Heckingham Church, 
Lincolnshire, one of the best examples of the pure old decorated 
parish churches in England. The tower, wliich contains a peal of " 
eight bells, supports a spire 200 feet higli. The Roman Catholics 
have also a church dedicated to St. Vincent, in Whitecroft, built 
in 1856 ; a chapel dedicated to St. William, in Leecroft ; and 
another built in 1868, dedicated to St. Charles, in Attercliffe Road. 
There are thirty chapels belonging to various other relip-ious 



PAS'I' AND PUl-'.SENT. 4',jl 



bodies iii Sheffield, besides a Friends' meeting liouse, in Meeting 
Ilonse Lane. 

The AVesleyans have six spaeiuiis chapels in Sheffield — Briins- 
Avick Chapel, which, with its ffiie portico, has a commanding 
appearance ; Ebenezer ChajK'l, and others severally situated in 
Carver Street, at Bridgehouses, Norfolk Street, the Park, Sheffield 
jNIoor, and Cherrytree-hill. The Wesleyans have also smaller 
chapels at Owlerton, Croukes, Heeley, Attercliffe, and the 
]Manor, and also one at AVesley College. There is also a 
Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Fullwood Ptoad, Broom liill, cruci- 
form in structure, and having a high and beautiful spire. The 
New Connection Methodists have chapels in the following places, 
and elsewhere : — Scotland Street, South Street, Sheffield Moor, 
Talbot Street, Park, for which the late duke of Norfolk gave the 
site ; one at Broom Hill, which cost £3500. The United Methodist 
Free Church, has a handsome chapel, with schools, in Hanover 
Street. There are also several smaller chapels in the adjacent 
villages, and at Walkley. The Primitive Methodists, the Wesleyan 
Reformers, and the United Methodists Free Church, have several 
large and well-built places of worship. Likewise the Plymouth 
Brethren, the Latter Day Saints, and the Swedenborgians, have 
each a meeting room in the town. There are two Unitarian chapels, 
and a Catholic Apostolic church in Victoria Street. 

The Schools of Sheffield. — The Free Grammar School of Sheffield, 
in St. George's Square, was built by subscription in 1842. in place 
of the old free school, erected in 1648 with materials from the ruins 
of Sheffield Castle. The original school was founded by Thomas 
Smith, an attorney of Crowland, Lincolnshire. By his will, dated 
July, 1603, he left £30 a year to Sheffield township "as long as the 
Avorld shall endure," for the sujiport of " two sufficiently-learned 
men to teach and bring up the young children there in godliness 
and learning." For the election of masters and other acts of 
administration, the founder gave power to the vicar of Sheffield and 
twelve " of the best and most sufficient parishioners." King James 
L, in May, 1604, granted letters-patent conffi-ming the institution, 
and incorporated the vica^r and twelve governors Avith a common 
seal. Although the master and his assistants were required to 
be members of the Church of England, and to have graduated at 
one of the universities, the advantages of the school were not limited 
to children of any denominaLiun or creed. TJie Free AVriting 



402 YORKSHIRE: 



School in Schoolcroft, Sheffield, was established by William Birley 
in 1715, but the present building, which is on the old site, dates 
from 18 '2 7. Forty scholars are taught gratuitously the elements 
of writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, and mensuration, from 
an endowment of about £90 per annum, increased by the admission of 
private pupils. The Sheffield Collegiate School, founded in 1835, is an 
elegant Gothic building in a fine position in Broom Hall Park, with 
grounds extending over three and a half acres. The two great 
branches of education, classical and commercial, are here taught 
separately. The Sheffield School of Art, Arundel Street, was first 
established in Victoria Street, in 1841 ; but the present Byzantine 
buHding, which is large, commodious, and handsome, was opened 
in 1857. Wesley College, in Glossop Pioad, was opened in the 
year 1838, having been built by means of a sum of £15,000 raised 
in shares. The building, Avhich has a fine Corinthian portico in 
the centre, and affords accommodation for nearly 250 students, 
stands in the midst of six acres of land laid out as pleasure 
grounds. This college is in connection with the University of 
London, and is empowered to gxant certificates to candidates for 
examination for university degrees. 

Schools formed under the Public Education Act. — The provisions 
of this wise and noble Act have been thoroughlj' carried out in 
Sheffield; and in the year 1874 five schools were opened in 
the presence of his grace the archbishop oi York, the Right 
Hon. E. W. Forster, Mr. Roebuck, M.P., Mr. Mundella, M.P., and 
the mayor, master cutler, and other leading inhabitants. The 
following is a summary of what has already been effected : — 

Literary and Scientific Institutions. — The Literary and Philoso- 
phical Society of Sheffield, founded in the year 1822, holds its 
meetings in the School of Art, where it has a museum and 
library. The Sheffield Proprietary Library, founded in 1771, 
occupies part of the Music Hall, and contains more than 50,000 
volumes. It is the property of about 300 shareholders. This town, 
which a century and a half ago possessed but a few volumes kept 
in the old vestry, has now several' large libraries, public and private, 
each containing many thousand volumes. 

The Sheffield Free Public Library, Surrey Street, is open to the 
public every day from ten in the morning till half-past nine in the 
evening, SL;nday excepted. This noble library, which is well 
attended by all classes of readers, was established by the town 



PAST AXD IMMsSKNT. 493 



council of ShotEokl in is;)."). Tlu' iVtlienn'iiin in (Icoi'^'c Street 
was opened in ISliS, as a elub-lionse fur ladies and jj,cntleinen, witli 
rooms furnisluHl for the lady menilKU's. The ShefHeld Club, in 
Norfolk Street, hokls a hiyh position. The Mechanics' Institute 
^Yas originally founded in 18'!2, but the present building in Tudor 
Street was opened in 1848. It has since been sold to the 
corporation. Tlie C'hureh of England Educational Institute, 
in St. James' Street, \vas opened in 18G0. The National School, 
in CVu'ver Street, dates from 1813, and has several branch 
dav and Sunday schools, affording education to above 7000 
children. There are many other national day and Sunday schools 
connected with the church and dissenting places of worship. The 
Sisters of ]Merey have an establishment in Solly Street, and at 
Howard Hill is the Yorkshire Ptoman Catholic girls reformatory 
school, opened in 1861, for the north of England. This institution 
is under the management of Sisters of Mercy of the order of St. 
Vincent de Paul. The Convent of Notre Dame, situated in Spring- 
field, Convent AA^alk, is a boarding and day school for young ladies, 
and a day school for poor children. 

The ('athrs Hall in (Jliurch Street. — A prominent place amongst 
the public buildings of Sheffield must be given to the Cutlers' Hall 
in Church Street, a handsome structure in the Cormthian style 
of ai-chitecture, built in 1832 at a cost of £6500 ; besides whicli 
£■.5000 has been spent on subsequent additions and alterations, 
including a new banqueting hall, which was completed in 1868. 

The Town Hall of Sheffield — The Town Hall, built in 1808, 
has various commodious rooms for municipal and other purposes. 
The Council Hall was purchased in 1865 from the trustees of the 
Mechanics' Institution. The County Court Hall, in Bank Street, 
Avas built hi 1854-55. In 1851 was opened the Norfolk Market 
Hall, erected at the cost of the late duke of Norfolk, the lord of 
the manor. In 1871 a new post office was erected by the govern- 
ment, in Old llaymarket. There are various other markets for 
meat, cattle, corn, hay, &c. In the market place is a bronze 
statue, by Burnaid, of Ebenezer Elliott, the Sheffield "Cornlaw 
lUiymer," the figure being represented in a sitting position. 

Hisjiitah ami Ii/ finniu-ie.s. —Tlie Shrewsbury Hospital at Shef- 
field was founded by Gilljert, seventh earl oi Shrewsbury, and 
completed in 1673 by his grandson, the duke of Norfolk, in com- 
phance with the earl's will. The original liospital, which stood 



494 YORKSHIRE : 



in the centre of the town, was taken down and rebuilt in its 
present more agreeable situation, in 1827. The buildings include 
a chapel, chaplain's residence, and thirty-six dwellings for the 
pensioners. Not far from it is the monumental cross erected in 
1834 in the cholera burial-ground, in memory of the 339 victims 
of that fearful plague. HoUis' Hospital, New Hall Street, was 
founded by Thomas HoUis in 1703, for poor widows of cutlers 
and other alms-women of Sheffield. 

Tlie Botanical Gardens. — ■ These gardens were laid out in a 
very tasteful manner by Robert Marnock, a celebrated landscape 
gardener, who was afterwards engaged to lay out the Royal 
Botanical Gardens in the Regent's Park, London. The Sheffield 
gardens, which were opened in 1836, cover about eighteen acres, 
in a beautiful situation in the most picturesque part of the out- 
skirts of the town, on a gentle slope, and form a favourite place 
of resort in the summer season. They contain magnificent con- 
servatories 300 feet long, and a pavilion 120 feet by 33 feet for 
exhibitions and promenades, where four galas are held in the course 
of the year. 

TJte Sheffield General Cemeterij. — This abode of the dead was 
formed and opened in the year 1836. It contains more than 
fourteen acres of land, and is situate on the south-western outskirts 
of the town, at Sharrovv, on an elevated spot of considerable 
beauty, sloping towards the valley. At the highest altitude 
stands the cemetery church, erected in 1850, which is a fine 
specimen of the decorated style, and has a lofty, well-proportioned 
tower and spire. In this cemetery is buried James Montgomery 
the poet, and over his grave stands a bronze statue designed by 
Bell, the sculptor. The cemetery of Brightside-Bierlow is about a 
mile from the parish church, on the north side of the town. It 
was opened in 1860, and covers about twenty-seven acres of land, 
on which stand two chapels of excellent construction. St. Philip's 
cemetery, about one mile and a quarter from St. Philip's Church, 
consists of about five acres of land situated on high ground. The 
Rivelin Glen cemetery, for the Roman Catholics, was opened in 
1862 ; the public cemetery for the township of AttercliflPe, in 1859 ; 
and that of Darnall, in 1858. 

Persons of note connected with Sheffield. — Amongst the nota- 
bilities of Sheffield was the distinguished poet and journalist, James 
Montgomery, who was born in Ayrshire in the year 1771, but who 



PAST AND ri!KSENT. 



spent nearly tlio whole of his life at Sheffiidd, and whose remains 
are interred there. When a child of four years old he began to 
receive instruction at Gract'hill, Antrim, and in 1778 he was sent 
to Yorkshire to the Moravian settlement at Fulneck, between 
Leeds and Bradford. He there distinguished liimself only for his 
indolence and melancholy. He took a fancy, however, to poetiy, 
which was his true vocation ; and though it was forbidden in the 
school, he wrote in seci'et some small pieces l)efore he was fourteen 
years of age. His teachers became dissatisfied with him, and sent 
him from his poetical dreams to a business at Mirfield, near Hud- 
dersfield, from which he soon ran away. He then went to a 
situation at Wath, not far from Sheffield, where he remained for 
a year, and whence he sent some poetry to a London publisher, 
Mr. HaiTison. Having but little money, he pi'esented one of his 
poems to Earl Fitzwilliam, who gave him a guinea in return. 
After that he went to London, and was engaged as Mr. Harrison's 
shopman. His first production in London was the "Chimsera." 
He then wrote a novel which the publisher declined (strangely 
enough, when -we remember Montgomery's subsequent title of 
Christian poet), because of the number of oaths that it contained. 
He again went to Wath, but soon removed to Sheffield. In 1794 
appeared under his auspices the Sheffield Iris, a tasteful and 
elegant newspaper, which he edited for many years. It was at 
first successful as a publication ; but having in that newspaper 
given an account of a riot at Sheffield in which he stated that 
military force was used to cjuell it, he was brought before the 
magistrates, and was imprisoned in York Castle for a consider- 
able time, he being probably the most blameless prisoner that 
ever entered that gloomy prison, and his punishment being alto- 
gether tiie result of the exaggerated fears and political prejudices 
of the magistrates. Fortunately for himself he had no one depen- 
dent upon him, and whilst in York Castle he spent his time in 
writing a number of lyric poems, to which he gave the name of 
" Prison Amusements. " After his release his high Christian 
cliaracter, his warm philanthropy, and gentle manners made him 
a favourite, not only with his townsmen of Sheffield, but with the 
whole reading public. He published his fine poem, tlie "Wanderer 
of Switzerland," soon after the liberties of Switzeidand had for a 
time been trampled on by the republicans of France. This poem 
obtained for him great popularity, ^\■hich was still enhanced by the 



49 G YORKSHIRE : 



greatest of his works, '' The World Before the Flood," and by the 
"West Indies," the "Pelican Island," &c. He also contributed 
largely to the hymnology of the country. He was much attached 
to the Moravian community, amongst whom he spent his youthful 
days. In 1 830 he gave a course of lectures on poetry at the Royal 
Institution in London, having previously lectured on the same 
subject before the Philosophical and Literary Society of Leeds and 
several other literary bodies. In 1835 he received a pension from 
the crown. In 1841 he visited Scotland on a missionary tour, 
and was made a burgess of his native town of Irvine. He 
lived forty years in the house of his old master. Gales tlie 
bookseller, at Sheffield, and died on April 30, 1854. He had 
lived an active and useful public life in Sheffield for sixty-two 
vears, leavino- the character of an excellent man, -and of an eleofant 
and graceful poet. 

Of a different style, though also excellent in his way, was 
Ebenezer Elliott, the corn - law rhymer, who was born March 
17, 1781, near Rotherham. He was the son of a rough and 
fervent religionist of Calvinistic doctrine, and his hatred of the 
coi-n laws and other abuses, long ago removed, made him a 
republican. It is said that he was regarded as a dull child, was 
sent to school for a time, but soon taken away, and transferred 
to Masbro' Foundry, where his father was a clerk, and where he 
acf|uired skill enough to be considered a clever workman. At 
one time he fell into habits of intemperance, but his early love 
of nature and of books saved him from the dangers by which he 
was surrounded. He began to collect botanical sjDecimens, and 
became a diligent reader and versifier. Nor did he neglect his 
business, but from his sixteenth to his twenty-third year worked 
laboriously for his father. Whilst thus employed he composed 
his ffi'st published poem. After a time Elliott set up in business 
for himself at Potherham, but failing there removed to Sheffield, 
where he was very successful as a dealer in iron and steel, and built 
himself a handsome residence in the suburb called Upperthorpe. 
Indignation, as Juvenal says, made him write verses. He had not 
been long settled at Sheffield before he wmte the "Corn Law 
Rhymes," which made a great impression, especially amongst the 
labouring classes, and assisted in giving a strong impulse to a 
just and popular movement, which ended in a great act of 
national justice, lie finally withdrew from business, and retired 



PAST AND TRESENT. 497 



to a country residence at Great iroiigliton, ne;ir Barnslej ; there he 
hved surrounded by friends and adnurers till his death in 1849. 
■This poet of the poor, as he was called, well deserves to be 
remembered as a fearless advocate of truth and justice, having 
hved to see the abolition of those restrictions on the food of the 
people, against which he had long warred with the vehemence of 
despair His occasional excess of vehemence is described in his 
own words with a true Hallamsliire colouring: "Is it strange that 
my language is fervent as a welding heat, when my thoughts are 
passions that run burning from my mind like white-hot bolts of 
steel ^ " His poems abound in illustrations drawn from Hallam- 
shire scenery. 

Barbara Hotland, the writer of the " Son of a Genius," a story 
that has touched the heart and inspired the ambition of many a 
young artist, ■\\as born in 1770 at Sheffield, where her father, 
Mr. Kobert Wreaks, was partner in a manufactory. At the age 
of twenty-six she married Mr. Hoole, who was in the same busi- 
ness as her father. But two years after she was left a widow, 
and was nearly forty years old when she took for her second 
husband Mr. Hofland the painter, who was then giving lessons 
in drawing at Derby. On coming to live in London , she gave 
herself up to literary pursuits, writing chiefly books for the young. 
Her works enjoyed great popularity both in England and America. 
She died in the year 1844, having survived her second husband 
nearly two years. 

Sheffield JIanor. — At the meeting of the British Archaeological 
Association, in 1873, the members paid a visit to the ruins of 
Sheffield Manor, which occupy two or three acres, and are situated 
at a short distance from the town. The manor, or lodge, was either 
built or enlarged by the fourth earl of Shrewsbury, whose pencltant 
for building was assisted by the accumulation of his property during 
a long minority. Mary Queen of Scots spent some part of her time 
there, Gilbert Talbot, the carl's son, assuring one Dr. Wilson that 
she was continually watched day and night ; men being posted 
under her windows, over her chamber, and on every side ul' her, 
so that unless she could transform lierself to a flea or a mouse 
escape was " impossible." Tradition asserts that she endeavoured 
to escape from the lodge by a window. The manor escaped the 
ravages of the Civil War, to which Sheffield Castle, Mary's ordi- 
nary place of detention, fell a i)rey, and was the residence of 



498 YORKSHIRE : 



no-euts of the duke of N(jrfolk till 170G, when the then duke 
ordered it to be dismantled. The woods which environed it 
were destroyed, and the park was divided into farms. It is now 
a farm-house, but the present duke is restoring the part tradi- 
tionally connected with the Scottish queen. Explanations were 
given at the meeting as to the works in progress. 

Population and Occupations of the Inhabitants of Sheffield. — In 
Sheffield and Hallamshire we find an entirely new class of occupa- 
tions from those that are found in the other large towns of the 
West Eiding.; cutlery, steel, and iron taking tlie place of woollen 
manufactures. According to the Census of 1871, the number oi 
persons in Sheffield of twenty -one years and upwards, whose 
occupations are described, was 64,018. The chief characteristic 
occupations of Sheffield were as follows : — Musical instrument 
makers and dealers, .54 ; lithographers and lithographic printers, 
.58 — others, 6; wood carvers, 47 — others, 8; toy makers and 
dealers, 5 — others, 14; pattern designers, 23; type founders, 49; 
watchmakers and clock makers, 126 ; philosophical instrument 
makers and opticians, 99; weighing-machine scale measure makers, 
123; surgical instrument makers, 143; gun-smiths and gun manu- 
facturers, ,46 — others, 45; engine and machine makers, 1262; 
spinning and weaving machine makers, 25 ; agricultural implement 
makers, 427; millwrights, 108; tool makers and dealers, 1328; 
file makers and dealers, 3673; saw makers and dealers, 1001; 
cutlers, 10,296; scissors makers, 828; needle manufacturers, 8; 
pin manufacturer, 1 ; others engaged in tool making, 15 ; coach- 
makers, 119; wheelwrights, 144; others engaged about carriages, 
266 ; saddlers' harness and whip makers, 101 ; shipbuilders, 
shipwrights, and boatbuilders, 7; architects, 46; surveyors, 12; 
builders, 125; carpenters and joiners, 1248; bricklayers, 893; 
marble masons, 30 ; masons and paviors, 893 ; slaters and tilers, 
116; plasterers, 201; paper-hangers, 35; plumbers, painters, and 
glaziers, 684 — others, 8 ; cabinet makers and npholsterers, 503 ; 
carvers and gilders, 72 ; furniture brokers and dealers, 37 — others, 
2; manufacturing chemists and labourers, 24; dyers, scourers, and 
calenderers, 21 — others, 32.* 

The Steel and Iron Manifactures of Shefield. — The prosperity 
of Sheffield during the last twenty years has been prodigiously 
increased by the improvements in the manufacture of steel. Ac- 

* Census of England ;inJ Wales, 1872. Population AbstracI", vol. iii., p. 484. 



PAST AND TRESENT. 499 



cording to a st;itomeiit of ]\[r. W. 11. Barlow, F.lt.S,, the president 
of the nioolianical section of the British Association, a,t the meeting- 
at Bradford in k^eptemhor, IS 73, the movement was commenced 
by ]\lr. Bessemer seventeen years ago, who read a paper on tlie 
subject at the Cheltenham meeting of the British Association 
that year ; and further important steps were afterwards taken in 
the production and treatment of steel by Dr. Siemens, Sir Joseph 
Whitworth, and others. In 1850, according to the Jury Ptcports 
of the Exhibition of 1S51, the total annual production of steel in 
Great Britain A\-as 50,000 tons. At the present time (1873) the 
Bessemer process alone supplies upwards of 500,000 ton.s, the 
Siemens' works at Bandore 200,000, besides further quantities 
made by his process at other works. This new material is now 
largely in use for rails and wheel-tires, the duration of steel rails 
being variously estimated at from three to six times that of iron 
rails. Steel is used for ships' plates and for the lining of the 
heaviest guns ; whilst Sir Joseph Whitworth and Krupp make 
guns entirely of steel, though for these purposes the metal is of 
different equality and differently treated, in order that it may 
withstand the enormous concussions to which it is subjected. 
Steel, again, is used for railway axles, crank axles for engmes, 
in boilers, in piston-rods, and for many other purposes. In 
conclusion, Mr. AV. H. Barlow, F. R. S., said, "We possess in 
steel a material which has been proved, by the numerous uses 
to which it is applied, to be of great capability and value. 
AVe know that it is used for structural purposes in other 
countries, as for instance, in the Illinois and St. Bonis Bridge 
in America, a bridge of three arches, each 500 feet span ; 
yet, in this country, where modern steel was originated and 
has been brought to its present state of perfection, we are 
obstructed by some deficiency in our own arrangements, and by 
the absence of suita,ble regulations by the Board of Trade, from 
making use of it in engineering works." A committee of the 
Institution of Civil Engineers (M^nducted a series of experiments 
in 18G8, from which it appeared that the mild steels of Bes- 
semer and Siemens-Marti'U ]iia,y bi^ taken as cap;il)le of bearing 
a stniin of eight tons to the indi, instead of five tons to the inch, 
estimaied for like purposes in iron. Taking the ordinary fmin 
of open-wroiiglit iron detiudied girders, the limiting s]:>an in iron 
\vith five tons to the inch is about GOO feet; it follows that a 



500 



YORKSHIRE I 



similar steel girder capable of bearing eight tons to the inch 
would have a theoretical limiting span of 960 feet, practically 
900 feet. Mr. Barlow considered that the first step to insure 
the adoption of steel, was to put the testing on a systematic and 
satisfactory basis, and next to establish some means by which the 
metal when tested can have its quality indicated, so as to be 
practically relied on. Even in the absence of these securities the 
use of this metal has prodigiotxsly increased during the last 
twenty years, and its employment forms one of the great sources 
of the wonderful extension of the trade and manufactures of 
Sheffield. 



LIST OF WOKKS HATINO BESSEMER CONTEETEES IN SHEFFIELD IN 1872. 



No 


Name and Situation of Works. 


No. of Converters. 


Capacity of Con- 
verters. 


1 

2 
3 


Henry Bessemer & Co., SlieflBeld, | 

John Brown & Co. (Limited), Sheffield, . . ) 
Charles Cammell & Co. (Limited), Sheffield, . 


2 
2 

2 
2 
2 
8 


Tons. 

3 

5 

10 

7 
6 
5 



The whole number in England of works having Bessemer 
converters is nineteen. The number of converters is ninety-one, 
and the capacity of the converters is 119 tons 10 CAvt.'"' 

In addition to the works at Sheffield and the neighbourhood 
having Bessemer converters, in the year 1872, there were works of 
the same kind at the following places: — Weardale Iron Co.'s. 
Works, Towlaw ; the Glasgow Bessemer Steel Co. (Limited), 
Atlas Works, Glasgow ; Samuel Fox, & Co., Stockbridge Works, 
Deepcar ; Lloyds, Foster, & Co., Old Pai-k, Wednesbury ; Bolton 
Iron and Steel Works, Bolton ; London and North-western Rail- 
way, Crewe ; Lancashire Steel Co., Gorton, Manchester ; Mersey 
Steel and Iron Works, Liverpool ; Manchester Steel and Rail- 
way Plant Co., Gibraltar Works, Newton Heath, Manchester ; 
Barrow Hematite Steel Co., Barrow ; The Dowlais Iron Co., 
Dowlais, ; Ebbw Vale Co., Ebbw Vale ; Steel Ordnance Co. 
(Limited), Greenwich ; West Cumberland, Workington ; Phoenix 
Iron Co., Rotherham ; Carnforth Hematite Iron Co. (Limited), 
Lancaster. 

• Mineral Statistics, &c., 1872, p. 124. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



501 



LIST OF MILLS AXl) lOllOtS IN THE SHEFFIELD AND IIOTIIERIIAM DISTllICT. 



Xo. X:ime of Woika, 


Name of Firm. 


Nearest Port 

or Il;iilway 

Stiition. 


No. of 
Puddling 

FuniaCLvs, 


No. of 
Bulling 
Mills. 


1 
n 

3 

4 

5 
6 

S 
9 

10 


Atlas Stot'l and Iron 

tSwiiiton), . . . 

Cyi-'lojK 

Steel AVorks, Grims- 
thovpe, 

Yorkshire Steel and 
Iron AVorks, Peiii- 
stone 

Wortlev, 

INIidland, ..... 

Phoenix Steel and Iron 

Works 

Park Gate 

Northfield, .... 

Elsecar and Milton, . 


John P.rowii & C'n. 

(Limited), .... 
Ch. Cannnell & Co. 

iLimited), .... 

Andrews & Co., . . 

Midland Iron Co. (Li- 
mited), 

Owen's Patent Wheel 
Fire and Axle Co., . 

Park Gate Iron Co., . 

Neill, Johnson, & Ed- 
gar, 

W. H. & G. Dawes, . 


Slicfficld, . 

u 
11 

Eothcrham, 

a 

u 

a 

Elsecar, 


76 

• 60 

J 

l.O 

29 

1 

82 

32 


21 

12 

4 

3 

2 
6 

3 

7 


Total, 


363 


58 



In the adjoining district of Derbyshire, at Alfreton, Derby, and 
Chesterfield, there are also 108 puddling furnaces and eighteen 
rolling mills.""' 

The Atlas AVorks were founded by Mr. (now Sir John) Brown 
about the year 1844, at which time he commenced the manufacture 
of railway springs, and was the patentee of Brown's Patent Conical 
BuiFer Springs. Mr. Brown had about that time five small works 
in various parts of Shefiield, and in 1855 he purchased the Queen's 
Steel Works, Savile Street, situated close to the Midland liailway, 
changing the name from Queen's to Atlas Works. These works 
were then situate on the Savile Street, or south side of the 
Midland line only, the first portion of the "north side" works 
being opened in June, 1860. Since that time great extensions 
have been made. 

In 18. J 4 Mr. Bro^\■n took a partner in the person of Mr. J. D. 
Ellis, and in 1859 Mr. Bragge also became a partner. In March, 
18G4, these gentlemen transferred the Atlas Works to a limited 
comY-)any, wlio have since cjuiird them on under the name of John 
Brown & Co. (Limited.) Sir John Brown, until 1871, was chairman 
of the Company ; when he resigned, and was succeeded by John D. 
Ellis, Esq., the present chairman. 

' Jlineral Sutistic.-, &c , 1872, p. Fill. 



J 02 YORKSHIRE : 



In 18G1 Messrs. John Brown & Co. introduced the manufacture 
of rolled armour plates into Sheffield, and are now able to roll 
armour plates ten feet wide. At that time plates four and a half 
inches thick were thought to be wonderful, but they can now 
be rolled fifteen inches thick. In 1861, too, the firm adopted 
the Bessemer process, being the first to take out a license from the 
patentees. The production of Bessemer steel, for the first week 
after the commencement of the manufacture, was thirty-two and a 
half tons. This was in July, 1861 : the present productive power 
of the works is 2000 tons Bessemer steel. Immediately after 
commencing the Bessemer process, John Brown & Co. applied it to 
the manufacture of rails, up to that time made invariably of iron, 
and thus produced the first steel rails ever rolled. At the present 
day some thousand tons of steel rails are rolled in Sheffield. 

In August, 1872, John Brown & Co. (Limited) purchased Car 
House and Aldwark Main collieries, near Eotherliam ; and on 
November 1, 1872, the first blast furnace was lighted, being an 
extension of the Company's Sheffield works. 

At present the Comj^any employ at their various works in 
Sheffield, Swinton, Hazlehead, and their collieries, from 5000 to 
6000 hands, and pay in weekly wages £8000. 

There are in the works 150 steam-engines, Avith a nominal 
horse-power of 6000, seventy-six puddling furnaces, three blast 
furnaces, and twenty three trains of rolls. The consumj^tion of 
fuel at the various works of the Company is at the rate of 250,000 
tons of coal and 60,000 tons of coke per annum. 

Norfolk Works. — ^The enormous Norfolk Works undertaking, 
carried on by Messrs. Mark, Edward, and Charles Henry Firth, 
under tlie firm of Thomas Firth & Sons, was established upwards 
of thirty years ago, and now covers almost thirteen acres of ground, 
by the side of the Midland Railway. This firm also has extensive 
works at Whittington, near Chesterfield. The productions of Messrs. 
Thomas Firth & Sons range, from crucible steel for finest watch 
springs, up to the large tubes for the Wool\^■ich eighty-ton guns. 
They produce files and edge tools, as many an old Sheffield house 
does; but they also forge huge guns of t^venty tons weight, and 



steel shot and shell ranging from 200 to 500 lbs. The famous 
Woolwich "infants," and also the eighty-ton guns, have been forged 
in these works, and bear the mark "of "Firth's Steel," and no one can 
visit the ships of the British fleet without seeing on their armament 



PAST AND PRESENT. 503 



tliis well- known name. On the occasion of inaugiu'atiiig' the first 
t^Yenty-five-ton double action Nasmj'th hammer, of wliich Messrs. 
Firth have now two at A\ork, General Lefroy and several members of 
the Ordua-nce Select Committee were present and inspected the 
works. They were first shown the rough bars of blister steel as they 
come from the converting furnace, and saw how they were broken 
and sorted according to quality, ready for melting and using in the 
many diflerent ways in which steel is employed. Passing thence, 
they witnessed one of the ordinary operations of Norfolk Works ; 
the casting of an ingot of steel weighing six tons, that was intended 
to be forged into a 300-pounder gun. The day was a warm one ; 
and when the furnace men, each in their own departments, began 
with almost military order and regularity to empty the furnaces 
and fill the mo\dd, the heat was intense. Upwards of 240 pots 
had to be emptied to make up the required quantity; and when 
once the stream of metal begins to flow it must flow on continuously 
or the casting would be spoiled. No break in the chain occurred, 
and amidst a heat that only Shefiield men could bear, the 
casting was successfully made. The visitors were thence con- 
ducted to the rolling mills, where they saw the beautiful process 
of drawing out steel under the rolls, for fine cutlery, crinohne, rifle 
barrels, and many other purposes. In the same mill were rolls, 
standing side by side, devoted to the production of those very 
opposite things — rifle barrels and ladies' crinolines. One of the 
most interesting sights in Sheffield is the forging of steel shot, 
as it is done in the shot and shell department of these works. 
Several of the hammers in this factory were at work, and the 
visitors had an opportunity of seeing what perfect spheres could be 
formed and finished under the strokes of Nasmyth's hammers. So 
beautiful is the work done that the shot, when completed, look more 
like tlie productions of a lathe than of hammers capable of striking 
with the power of hundreds of tons. The visit to these interesting- 
departments was, however, but introductoiy to the great object of 
the day, the opening of the tweuty-five-ton hammer. Crossing from 
the shot and shell department to the gun factory, all was activity. 
Great hammers were thundering upon masses of incandescent metal, 
with a force that shook the earth, and speedily reduced tlie ing(jts to 
the required dimensions. Tliere were seen twelve and a half ton ham- 
mers, until now the largest made, battering into shape and consistency 
300-pounder guns. When we remember that only a few years 



504 YORKSHIRE 



ago 60-pounders were thought monsters in the way of ordnance, 
and only a short time ago 100-pounders were beheved to be the 
largest guns that could be efficiently worked, the manufacture of 
300-pounders seems an advance too rapid for credibility. But 
even these enormous guns are now outdone, and Messrs. Firth 
have found it necessary to supply themselves with the means of 
forging 600 -pounders, or even larger. For this purpose they 
have erected a new mill to contain two twenty-five ton hammers. 
The weight of the head is twenty-five tons ; but it descends by 
pressure of steam with a force of several thousands of tons, and 
yet can be regulated by one man with the utmost ease. In looking 
upon such a monster of power one is apt to forget the difficulties 
and dangers of erecting it. To see it at work appears so simple 
a thing, that its very perfection draws attention away from its 
merits. In forging a 600-pounder gun it only appears equal to 
its Avork ; but to form some conception of its power,, its massive 
head should be seen descending upon forgings such as are ordi- 
narily put under smaller hammers. Then a large ingot would 
be flattened at a stroke, and spectators would be conscious of the 
presence of a force outrivalling that of the fabled Titans, and excelled 
only by those great powers of nature that have rent valleys and 
upheaved mountains in the geological eras of the world. One 
peculiarity about the appendages of the new hammer is, that the 
furnace for re-heating the blocks is not made after the old con- 
struction, but is one of Siemens' gas furnaces. The invention has 
never before been applied to so large a furnace, but in this case 
has proved a great success. By its means a perfectly clear fire 
is obtained, together with uniform heat. It is easily regulated, 
gives olF no sulphui-, and effects a great economy in fuel. The 
block on which the hammer descends weighs 160 tons, and was 
cast by Messrs. J. M. Stanley & Co. James T. Firth & Sons 
employ about 1500 workmen. They have twenty steam-engines 
and sixteen steam-hammers. Their products are sent to all parts 
of the world, and they have been most successful in maintaining 
a uniform excellence in the quality of their steel. 

LIST OF MEMBSRS OF PARLIAMENT FOR SITEFFIELD FROM 1832 TO 1874. 



John Parker, 18.32-52 

James Silk Buckingham, . . . 1832-37 

Henry George Ward, 1837-49 

John Arthur Roebuck, .... 1849-68 



George Hadfield, . .' . . . . 1852- 

Anthony John Mundella, . . . 1868 

John Arthur Roebuck (re-elected), ] 874 

A. J. Mundella (re-elected), " . 1ST4 



PAST AND 1M;ESEXT. 



505 



LIST OF MAYOliS OF 



'William Jeffcock, 

Thomas Dunn, 1844 

Samnol Piiiti'lier, 184.") 

Henry Wilkinson, 1840 

Edward Viekers, 1847 

T. R. Barker, 1848 

Thomas Birks, ... .... l.'^l'.J 

T. B. Tm-ton, )85() 

John Carr, KS.^'il 

W. A. Matthews, ls,j3 

V. Hoole, 18.33 

^Villiam Fisher, jun., 1854 

William Fawcett, 18.05 

J. W. Pye-Smith, ....... 1856 

11. Jackson, 1857 

LIST OF MASTER CUTLEES OF SITEFFLELD FEOM 



siikH'1i:ld fedii the ADornuN of the mumcltal 

ACT TO Till''. riilvSF.NT TIMF. 

I,s43 diaries Atkinson, 1858 

Henry E. Hoolo, 18.59 

Henry Viekers, 1800 

Sir J. Brown, 1861 

Sir J. Brown (re-elected) 1862 

Thomas J essop, 1^03 

Thomas Je-'iso)) (re-el(rt(Ml), .... 1864 

\y. E. Lavcork, 1865 



John Webster, 1866 

John Weteter (re'electcil), .... 1867 

Thomas Moore, 1868 

Thomas Moore (re-elected), . . 1869-70-71 

John Fairhurn, 1872 

Joseph Hallam, 1873-74 



1777 Samuel N orris. 
177S William Linley. 
1779 Josephus Parkin. 
17S0 * John Rowbotham. 

1781 Peter Spurr. 

1782 William Fowler. 

1783 Joseph Hawksley. 

1784 Benjamin Broomhead. 

1 785 Thomas Settle. 

1786 Samuel Wilson. 

1787 Jonathan Watkinson. 

1788 Thomas Xowell. 

1789 Thomas Tillotson. 

1790 Jos. Ward. 

1791 George Wood. 

1792 John Henfree. 

1793 Thomas AVarris. 

1794 Benjamin Withers. 

1795 William Birks. 

1796 J. Fletcher Smith. 

1797 William Linley. 

1798 S. B. AVurd. 

1799 Benjamin Viekers. 

1800 Samuel ^''ewlJoU. 

1801 Joseph Bailey. 
L802 Joseijh Withers. 

1803 James Mekin. 

1804 WLUiam Nicholson. 

1805 John Eyre. 

1806 John Sorby. 

1807 Peter Brownell. 

1808 Ebenezer lihodes. 

1809 Robert Brightmore. 



1810 John Tillotson. 

1811 John Eadon. 

1812 James Smith. 

1813 John Holt. 

1814 Joseph Parkin. 

1815 James Makin. 

1816 Thomas Asline Ward 

1817 George Tillotson. 

1818 John Fox. 

1819 John Houasfield. 

1820 J. Dixon Skelton. 

1821 WiUiam Colley. 

1822 Thomas Champion. 

1823 Thomas Dewsnap. 

1824 Peter Spurr. 

1825 Henry Moorhouse. 

1826 William Sansom. 

1827 Samuel Hadfield. 

1828 James Crawshaw. 

1829 Philip Law. 

1830 Euodi Barber. 

1831 t John Blake. 

1832 J Thomas Dunn. 

1833 Thomas Elhn, sen. 

1834 John Sansom. 

1835 John Spencer. 
1K36 John Blake. 
1H37 John (ireaA'cs. 

1838 Samuel Hadfield. 

1839 Samuel Smith. 

1840 James Moorhouse. 
1M41 Thomas I'Tlliu, jun. 



1777 TO THE EEESENT TIME. 

1843 Thomas Wilkiason. 

1844 Francis Newton. 

1845 William Butcher. 

1846 Thos. Burdett Turton. 

1847 Henry Mort. 

1848 Frederick Fenney. 

1849 Henry Atkin. 

1850 Ssmuel Scott Deakin. 

1851 AVilliam Webster 

1852 Michael Hunter. 

1853 William A. Matthews. 

1854 Thomas Rloulson. 

1855 Fred. Thorpe IMappin. 

1856 George AA'ostenholm. 

1857 William Hutchinson. 

1858 Robert Jackson. 

1859 Robert Jackson. 

1860 Michael Hunter, jun. 

1861 George Wilkinson. 

1862 Henry Harrison. 

1863 Thomas Jessop. 

1864 Charles Atkinson. 

1865 Sir John Brown. 

1866 Sir John Brown. 

1867 Mark Firth. 

1868 Mark Firth. 

1869 Mark Firth. 

1870 A\'illiam Brau'cje. 

1871 Thomas Turner. 

1872 Thomas E. A'ickers. 

1873 Samuel Osborn. 

1874 < !eiir;4v "Wilson. 



J Mr 
II. 



I.'s42 William Broadhurst. I 
ilr. Rowbotham died in liis je;ir of office, and Mr. Parkin srrved a^iin. 
f Mr. Blake died of cholera during the last month of his official jear. 
Tliomas Dunn was the lirsl Dissenter adniiUed to Ihe office of Master Cutler. 



50G YORKSHIRE : 



The Cyclops Ifor/js, Sheffield. — The Cyclops Works in Savile 
Street (east), were commenced by Messrs. Johnson & Cammell, 
about the year 1842, when an area of four acres was taken on 
lease from the duke of Norfolk, and works were erected capable of 
prodricing one ton of railway springs ^ev week. The convenient 
situation of the new works by the side of the Midland Ptailway, 
and the enterprise of the partnei-s, soon led to a largely augmented 
trade, and in 1865 the undertaking was transferred to a limited 
liability company. The following figures, wliich have been kindly 
furnished to us by George Wilson, Esq., the managing director, 
and master cutler of Sheffield for the year ending August, 1875, 
will convey the best idea of the growth of this large establishment, 
and of the various articles now produced there. Besides the 
original works in Savile Street, ^vhich have been extended from 
four to fifteen acres, the company has works at Grimsthorpe and 
Penistone, and the average weekly production of the whole is — 
steel rails, about 1000 tons; railway tyres of crucible and Bessemer 
steel, about 200 tons; railway springs, about 160 tons ; best iron of 
all kinds, including armour plates, about 450 tons; crucible cast-steel 
for tyres, plates, sheets, forgings, castings (such as propeller blades 
and machine castings), steel for railway springs, telegraph wire, &c., 
about 400 tons ; shot by the Siemens-Martini process, about 420 
tons. To turn out this immense weekly yield, there are forty-three 
steam-hammers of all sizes, up to twenty-five tons' weight each ; of 
steam-engines in daily use, there are upwards of eighty, ranging 
from ten to 1000 horse-power. To supply these hammers and 
steam-engines with working power, there are 118 steam boilers, 
many of which are made entirely of steel of the company's make. 
The number of rolling mills on the various premises is nineteen, 
the largest of these (the armour plate mill) having rolls 36 inches 
in diameter, and 11 feet long in the barrel. The cranes for lifting 
number eighty-seven, and are of various kinds — overhead cranes, 
hydraulic cranes, locomotive cranes, and others fixed and movable, 
worked by steam and hand power. All the overhead cranes in use 
at the works are driven by power, and require only one man to 
work each. Some are worked by a wire rope not thicker than 
one's finger, and yet are capable of lifting weights of forty tons 
each, and of carrying them high over the machines from one end 
of the shops to the other, to put them down just where they are 
wanted. The number of converting furnaces employed by the com- 



PAST AND I'KESJiNT. 507 



pauy is twoiity-six. Twelvo miles ut' railway arc laid down tlirougli 
and around the compan}''s workshops. The hydraulic press for 
bending armour plates up to L!0 ijiches in thickness, and 10' feet 
wide, is capable of giving a dead pressure of fully 3000 tons. All 
the armour plates made at these works are bent as they come from 
tlie rolls, without reheating. The quantity of coal consumed weekly 
is about 6000 tons, and the number of hands employed upwards 
of 6000. llecently the company acquired by purchase the Oaks 
Colliery, near Barnsley, besides other coal mines, and these are now 
producing SOOO tons of fuel per week. 

DATES OF THE rrONCn'AL EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE HISTOEY OF THE BOHOUGH 

OF SHEFFIELD. 

Antiquities of SliefSeld in Roman, Anglian, and Danish periods. — Vol. ii. 
pp. 471—77. 

Sheffield under tlie Norman families of De Busli, De Lovetot, and De 
Furnival. — A"ol. ii. pp. 477-80. 

1297. — Thomas de Furnival's charter to the burgesses of Sheffield. — Vol. ii. 
p. 479. 

1409. — Sheffield passes by marriage to the house of Talbot. — Vol. ii. p. 480. 

14.53. — John Talbot, the great earl of Shrewsbury, slain at the battle of 
Chatillon. — Vol. ii. p. 480. 

1539. — Cardinal Wolsey confined at Sheffield manor. — Vol. ii. p. 481. 

1.554. — The Town Trust of Sheffield formed. — Vol. ii. p. 483. 

L587. — ilary Queen of Scots put to death after eighteen years' imprisonment, 
of which thirteen years were spent in the castle of Sheffield. — Vol. ii. p. 481. 

1616. — Lady Alethea Talbot marries Thomas Howard, earl of Arundel and 
Surrey, heir to the dukedom of Norfolk. — Vol. ii. p. 482. 

1G28. — The cutlers of Hallamshire erected into a corporate body. — Vol. ii. 
p. 482. 

1644. — The castle of Sheffield besieged and taken iu the Great Civil War. 
— Vol. ii. p. 4.S2. 

1648. — The castle of Sheffield destroyed by order of the Long Parliament. 
— Vol. ii. p. 482. 

1706.. — The manor house of Sheffield dismantled. — Vol. ii. p. 482. 

1727. — The progress of Sheffield in the eighteenth century. Daniel Defoe's 
account of the town of Shcffielil at this time. — -Vol. ii. p. 484. 

1742. — Discoveries of Bolsover and Hancock in the art of plating silver. — 
Vol. ii. p. 484. 

17.51. — The river Don made navigable to Ti nslo y, and afterwards to Shcflreld. 
— Vol. ii. p. 4.S,5. 

1773. — Asi^ay Office established at Sheffield. — A^ol. ii. p. 484. 

1786. — Introduction of steam-power. — \^ol. ii. p. 48.5. 

1871. — Population and occupations of the inhabitants of Sheffield. — A'ol. ii. 
p. 408. 



308 YORKSHIRE ; 



1872. — List of works having Bessemer converters in Slieffield and other places. 
—Vol. ii. p. 500. 

1872. — List of mills and forges in the Shef&eld and Eotherham district. — ■ 
Vol. ii. p. 501. 

Churches and chapels of Sheffield from the earliest period to the present 
time. — Vol. ii. pp. 486-91. 

Schools of Sheffield.— Vol. Ii. pp. 491-92. 

Public buildings of Sheffield. — Vol. ii. pp. 492-94. 

Persons of note connected vfith Sheffield : James Montgomery, Ebenezer 
Elliot, and others Vol. ii. p. 494-97. 

Rapid progress of steel and iron manufactures since the discovery of the 
Bessemer process. — A^ol. ii. p. 498. 

Description of the Atlas Works, founded by Sir John Brown. — Vol. ii. 
p. 501. 

Description of the Norfolk Works, founded by Messrs. Thomas Firth & Son. 
— Vol. ii. p. 502. 

Description of the Cyclops Works, founded by Messrs. Johnson & Cammell. 
— Vol. ii. p. 506. 

List of Members of Parliament for Sheffield from the Reform Bill, 1832, to 
1874. — Vol. ii. p. 504. 

List of Mayors of Sheffield from the adoption of the Municipal Act, 1843, to 
1873-74. — Vol. ii. p. 505. 

List of Master Cutlers of Sheffield from 1777 to 1874. — Vol. ii. p. 505. 



PAST AND Pl.E.SENT. 509 



CHAPTER IX. 

HISTOKY OF THE COMIMEKCE, TORT, AND BOROUGH OF KINGSTON- 

UPON-HULL. 

KixGSTOx-urox-HuLL is mentioned by the name of Hull, in the 
annual accounts of the high sheriffs of England, known by 
the title of the Great PtoUs of the Pipe, in the fifth year of the 
reign of King John, A.D. 1203-4. At that early age Hull had 
attained the position of the sixth port, or as they were then called 
"free boroughs on the sea," in England. This appears from a 
compaiison of the sums paid in that year by Hull and other places, 
to a tax of one-fifteenth per cent, on moveable goods or merchandise, 
in nearly forty free boroughs on the sea, commencing with the 
great port of London, and including all the considerable ports of 
the kingdom, and even some of the smaller ones, which then only 
paid a few shillings each to the tax mentioned above. 

Before this time the port of Hull was known by the Scandi- 
navian name of Vyk or the Harbour, which was afterwards changed 
to the English names of Wyke, Wyke de Mitune, or Wyke-upon- 
HulJ, by which it was generally known previous to the reign of king 
John. The Scandinavian term "vyk," a harbour or creek, is found 
in the names of seaports in Denmark, and along the eastern coast 
of Great Britain, as in the slightly altered forms of "wyke" or 
""wich." The use of this name as a termination extended from 
Norway and Iceland, and from Lerwick in the Shetland islands and 
Wick on the coast of Caithness, to Berwick-upon-Tweed, to Wyke- 
ripon-HuU, and to Dunwich, Ipswich, and even to Greenwich and 
Sandwich on the Thames, and on the coast of Kent. There are six or 
seven places on tlie sea-coast of Yorkshire which still bear the name 
of Vyk or Wyke, or close with that word, and it is probable that 
this is also the origin of the Norse name Jorvik, from which the 
weU-known name of York is derived. In the Danish times and for 
some ages previous to the Norman conquest, the old Roman city of 
Eboracum, the name of which the Angles altered to Eoforwic, was 
again altered by the Danes to Jorvilv or Yorvik, which probably 



510 YORKSHIRE: 



meant in tlieir language " the harbour of the Yore or Ure." Nearly 
the whole of the names on the east coast of Yorkshire and Lin- 
colnshire are of Danish origin, including Whitby, Grimsby, Selby, 
and Holderness. In the names of the villages Alnwick, Burst'wick, 
Bewick, Bonwick, Oustwick, Wellwick, and Withernwick, the con- 
cluding syllable of wick is derived from the Danish word "vyk," 
meaning a harbour, or from the Anglian word wic, meaning a 
camp. Of these vycs, or wicks, that on the river PIuU was probably 
the most important. It is not possible to trace the name of Hull 
to any earlier 23eriod, though Beverley existed under its present 
name in the time of the Anglian kings, and the estuary of the 
Humber is mentioned by the Greek geographer, Claudius Ptolemy, 
under the name of the Abus, about 150 years after the commence- 
ment of the Christian era. 

It is only within the present century that the early history 
of Hull has been clearly traced by the late Charles Frost, F.S.A., 
in his notices relative to that town and port, compiled from 
original records and previously unpublished manuscripts, which 
were issued in the year 1827.* Amongst the documents relating to 
HuU published by him is a grant, without date, of lands " del Wyke 
de Mitune," which is known to have included part of what was after- 
wards called Hull, made to the monks of Melsa or Meaux Abbey, 
situated a few miles from Hull. Mr. Frost supposed that this grant 
was made about the year 1160 (7th Hemy II.), by Matilda, the 
daughter of Hugh Camin, a considerable landowner in that neio-h- 
bourhood. He states that the "original charter has escaped the 
ravages of time, and is preserved amongst the ancient muniments 
of the corporation of the mayor and burgesses of Hull. It is," 
he says, "a fine specimen of caligraphy, and the beauty of the 
writmg is heightened by the contrast between it and the rude 
seal of the grantor, which is attached to the instrument." The 
following is a translation of this ancient grant: — "To all the 
sons of Holy Mother Church, as well present as to come, who 
shall see and hear these letters, Matilda Camin, daughter of Huo-h 
Camin, sends greeting : Know ye, that I have demised and sold 
to the monks of Melsa two entire parts of the land of my patri- 
mony of Wye of Mitune, and also two entire parts of my 
patrimony of seven ox-gangs of land in the territory of the 

• Notices relative to tlie eailj History of tlie Town and Port of Hull: compiled from original records and 
unpublished MSS., and illustrated with engravings, etchings, and vignettes, bj Charles Frost, F.S.A. 1827. 



PAST AND rURSENT. 511 



afo;e.-;aid vill of ]\Iitune ; namely, those four ox-!j,-:ings which did 
]iertaua to my part wlion the land was divided Ijotween me and 
tlie Lady Anor, my mother, and pasture for 800 sheep, with all 
other the appurtenances -within the vill and without; so never- 
tlieless that the three ox-(ran<rs which remain in the aforesaid vill 
of my fee shall have as much pasture as pertains to tliree other 
ox-gang-s, which the monks hold in the same town. Also, I have 
sold to the said monks the 'toft' [the Danish name of an inclosure] 
in which the Hall was situate, with all the tofts Avhich did per- 
tain to my aforesaid part, and the bed of one fishery in the Humber, 
and two parts of the salt pits of my fee in the same vill, and two 
parts of cotecroft and two parts of lancroft, in the same manner in 
which the aforesaid parts were divided, when the aforesaid land of 
untune was partitioned between me and the before-named Anor, my 
mother; and all my jurisdiction of the aforesaid vill, as it remained 
to my part and to my use on- the day on which partition was 
made between me and my mother, with all the aj)purtenances 
within and without the vill, without reserve, I have sold to the 
aforesaid monks for fourscore and eleven marks of silver, which 
they have given to me" (equal to about £900 of modern money); 
"and I grant and by testimony of the present deed, as far as in 
me is, do confii-m to the aforesaid church of Melsa, that all the 
aforesaid premises shall be holden of me and my heirs in perpetual 
alms, free from all earthly service which shall pertain to me or 
to my heirs ; sa-ving, nevertheless, foreign service, as much as 
pertains to other four ox-gangs of land in the same vill of the 
same tenement, except counties, and wapentakes, and trithings 
[now called Ridings], whereof I and my heirs will wholly acquit 
the monks of the aforesaid church ; and with all other liberties 
and free customs, the aforesaid monks shall have and hold the 
aforesaid premises as freely as I or any of my ancestors at any time 
freely held the same, in meaddws, in pastures, in fields, in waters, 
in wjiys, in paths, and in all other easements, within the vill and 
without. And that all the premises may be liolden as aforesaid, 
and A\':irr:inted against all men to the use of the church of Melsa 
and the monks there serving God, without evil design, I have 
placed the same in the hands of liasilia, daughter of Odo de 
Frieboys, and have confirmed the same by my oath on the Holy 
Evangelists, before these witnc'sses — John, priest of Waglien; 
iJichard, son of Seherius de Sutton; William de Emminghebure ; 



& 



512 YORKSHIRE : 



Geoffrey, the priest, brother of Ralph de Dudingheton ; Thomas, 
parson of Waghen ; Thomas, the brother of Bennet de Sculecothes ; 
Peter, son of John de Melsa ; Stephen le Blache ; Robert, son of 
Seherius de Sutton ; Basilia, the wife of Richard de Sutton ; 
Christian, the wife of Bennet de Sculecothes ; Aldured, the wife 
of Thomas de Ruda ; Matilda, the wife of Robert de Swine ; 
Juliana, the wife of Richard de Waghen ; Ptobert, son of Richard 
de Scui-es ; Adam and Alexander, sons of John the Priest." 

After giving the above grant, Mr. Charles Frost observes, "As 
introductory to a few observations on this grant, we shall give some 
account of the monastery of Melsa, which from the connection of 
that religious house with the town of Wyke or Hull, for a period of 
nearly a century and a half, will not be thought irrelevant to our 
subject. This monastery was founded in the year 1150 by William 
le Gros, earl of Albemarle, in commutation of a vow which he had 
made to go on pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He selected for its 
site a sequestered spot in the township of Melsa or Meaux, in 
Holderness, about five miles from Hull, and dedicated it to the 
service of God and the fraternity of monks of the order of Cister- 
cians. Out of his ample possessions he made liberal donations to 
the monks of Melsa, who were also indebted to many of the neigh- 
bouring barons and gentry for extensive grants of land, particularly 
in Yorkshire. Of these grants the histories and registers of the 
abbey contain full records, the most perfect of which are to be 
found in an original chartulary, beautifully written upon vellum, 
about the close of the fourteenth century, and now preserved in 
the British Museum." 

Mr. Frost states that from Matilda de Gamin's charter we learn 
that, in addition to the lordship of Myton, there was also a town 
which bore that name. This town is mentioned in documents of 
more recent date, but it has long ago been lost. It is probable that 
it was absorbed in the increase of Wyke or Hull ; but it is remark- 
able that neither any written document nor even tradition has 
marked the spot where it stood, or left any ground for conjecture 
under what circumstances or at what period it ceased to exist. 
All that we can now learn respecting it is, that in very early times 
it had a chapel which was destroyed by the monks of Melsa, who 
were compelled to make atonement in the 4th and 5 th year of 
King John, 1205, for that and other transgressions, by paying a fine 
of 100s. (about £75 of modern money) as a compensation to Ricliard 



PAST AXD PRESEXT. 513 



10 



Ducket, then cloro-ymtin [i>i'rso)iii) of tlie cliurcli at llosslc. Tl 
Lecessity of pix)vidiag an a.dditii.inal place of worsliip wltLiu the 
parish of Hcsslo, for the use of the inhabitants of My ton and 
Wyke, aftbrds Ncry strong evidence that the popukition of those 
pkices was at that period, not only considerable, but increasing. 

The book of Meaux furnishes some early instances in which 
Hull is mentioned, both as a place and as the name of a family. 
In the year 1160 (7th, Henry II.) a croft in Sutton is described 
as having formerly belonged to Henricus de Hull ; and soon after 
the commencement of the reign of Henry III. ve find enumerated, 
in a list of the benefactors of the abbey, Henricus de Hull, son 
of Koger de Hull, and Agnes, the daughter of Thurstan de Hull. 
In addition to these instances the Great Ptoll of the Pipe of 
the 4Sth Henry III. makes mention of Stephen de Hull and 
Thomas de Hull. Hull is likewise mentioned as a town in a 
demise, from Sayer de Sutton to the abbot and canons of Thornton 
in Lincolnshire, of common pasture in the territory and marshes 
of Sutton, Hull, Sudcotes, and Drypole, with free ingress and 
egress between Hull and Wiflet. The register of Walter Gififard, 
archbishop of York, who died in the year 1279, also speaks of 
lands held by Walter de Gray in Sculcoates, Drypole, and Hull, 
while the Lady Joanua de Stotvill's men of Hull are mentioned 
in an agreement made between her and Archbishop Giffard in 
the year 12G9. It was in 1278, the 6th Edward I., that that king 
granted to the abbot of Meaux the right to hold a market on 
Thursday in each week "at AVyke near Miton-upon-HuU," and 
also a fair. Before granting permission to hold this market and 
fair, an in-juisition was taken at York before Thomas Normanville, 
the king's steward, in which it was found by the jury that the 
abbot and his successors might have a market and fair at Le AVyke, 
without injuiy to the king or to the neighbouring markets and fairs. 

The fact that Hull had attained a considerable position among the 
ports of England about this time, is proved still more clearly by the 
following account, already referred to, of the respective amounts 
paid by the principal ports of England to a tax of one-fillcenth on 
the goods of merchants, raised in the year 1203-4, the .5th of King- 
John. The whole nmnuitt paid by all the ports of the kingdom 
to this tax in that year was about £5000 ; but that amount, 
allowing for the difference between the value of silver at that 
time and its present value, was equal to about fifteen times as 

VOL. II. 3 T 



511 



YORKSHIRE : 



mach. as in the reigu of King John. The following is a list 
of the ports of Eogland in the reign of King John, and of the 
amount paid by each, both in the money of his reign and in that 
of the present time : — ■ 



PoltTS. 


In Bloney of 
King John. 


111 Money of Pre- 
sent Day about 


Pouts. 


In Money of 
King John. 


In Money of Pre- 
sent Day about 




£ 


S. D. 


£ 


s. 


D. 




£ 


S. 


D. 


£ 


s. D. 


London, . . . 


S36 


1-2 10 


12,549 


12 


6 


Jarrow, . . . 


42 


17 


10 


643 


7 


Boston, . . . . 


TSS 


15 3 


ll,s31 


8 


9 


Coton, . . 







11 


11 


8 


18 9 


Southampton, . 


712 


3 7 


10,682 


13 


9 


Norwich, . 




6 


19 


10 


104 


17 6 


Lincoln, . . . 


656 


12 2 


9,H48 


2 


6 


Oxford, . . 




11 


7 





170 


5 


Lynn (King's), . 


651 


11 11 


9,773 


18 


9 


Ipswich, . 




7 


11 


7 


113 


13 9 


Hull 


344 


14 7 


5,170 


18 


9 


Oolchestf!]', 




16 


8 





246 





Ym-k, . . . . 


175 


H 10 


2,631 


12 


6 


Sandwich, . 




16 








240 





Diinwich, . . . 


104 


9 


1,566 


15 





Rye,. . . 




10 


13 


5i 


160 


1 10 J 


Grimsby, . . . 


91 


15 iJr 


1,376 


6 10i 


Dover, . . 




32 


6 


1 


484 


11 3 


Hedon, . . . . 


60 


8 4 


906 


5 





Winchelsea, 




62 


2 


lOi 


931 


10 7* 


Yiirmouth, . . 


54 


16 6 


S22 


7 


6 


Pevensey, . 




1 


1 


11 


16 


8 9 


Barton (on H um- 












Seaford, . 




12 


12 


2 


189 


2 6 


ber), . . . . 


33 


11 6 


503 


7 


6 


Shoreham, 




20 


4 


9 


3(>:j 


11 3 


Srarborough, . . 


Qr} 


14 Oh 


340 


10 


7* 


Chichester, 




l--j 


6 





349 


10 


Williugliam, . . 


18 


15 10* 


281 


LS 


li 


Exmouth, . 




14 


6 


6 


214 


17 6 


Selby, . . . . 


17 


11 6' 


263 


15 





Dartmouth, 




3 





6 


45 


7 6 


Whitby, . . . 





4 


3 








Saltash, 




7 


4 


8 


108 


10 


Newcastle - on - 












Fowey, . . 




48 


15 


11 


731 


18 9 


Tyne, . . . 


158 


5 11 


2,374 


8 


9 















It will be seen from the above table, that Hull was a very con- 
siderable port at the beginning of the reign of King John, in the 
year 1203-4. The importance of Hull or Wyke-upon-Hull, both 
as a town and place of trade in the 6tb year of King Edward I., 
in the year 1277-78, is testified by a petition of the abbot of Meaux 
to that king, praying that the abbot and his successors might hold 
a market on Thursday in each week at Wyke, near Myton-upon- 
HuU ; and that they might hold a fair there in each year on the 
Eve or Vigil, the day and the morrow, of the Holy Trinity, and 
on the twelve days following. Soon after this we find royal 
mandates addressed to the bailiffs of Hull. In the interval of 
ninety years between the date of the above return of Kino- John 
in 1203-4 and the year 1293, when Hull passed into the hands 
of King Edward I., and was made a royal borough under the 
style and title of Kingston-upou-HuU, it is frequently mentioned, 
sometimes as Hull, sometimes as Wyke (or the Harbour) upon 
the sea, in such a manner as to show that it was rapidly 
advancing in trade and j^opulation. 

Towards the end of tlie reign of King Henry III., the son of 



PAST AND PRESENT. 515 



Kino' John and the father of Kiii"- Edward I., before surii.'iines 
had coiuo into common use and when people chiefly derived their 
appellations irom the towns or villagx's which they inhal)ited, 
AYilliam do Wyke, the son of Simon de Wyke, granted to Walter 
Giffard, archbishop of Yoik, all his lands in Wyke npon the river 
Hull, lying between the lands of Stephen, son of Robert de Wjke, 
and the lands which William de Wyke held of the abbey of Meaux. 
We find also the name of Thomas de Wyke as an attesting witness 
to grants irom Alicia de Longo Campo, lady of Burton, in the 
ord year of King Edward I., Ili75. 

We learn from the history of the abbey of i\Ieaux that in the 
year 1293 King Edward I., who was then carrying out his great 
and formidable, but ultimately unsuccessful schemes for the conquest 
of Scotland, purchased the property and rights of the monks of 
]Meaux, in Hull or Wyke-upon-Hull, and raised that port to the 
rank and dignity of a royal borough, conferring upon it the name of 
Kingston-upon-HuU, or the King's Town on the river Hull, wdiich 
has been its proper name from the reign of King Edward I. to the 
present time. The price which the king agreed to pay to the abbot 
and monks for their possessions in Hull was a yearly fee farm rent of 
£■'78 14.?. Gd., a sum equal to at least £1000 a year of the money of 
the present time. That was an exceedingly high rent in those days 
and one which shows the progress that the port of Hull had already 
made. At that time the yearly value of the adjoining manor of 
My ton was only £24 65. per annum in the money of that period, 
or not much more than the third part of the value of the j^roperty 
of the monks in Wyke-upon-Hull. 

Xo sooner had Edward I acquired the absolute ownership of 
AVyke-on-Hull than he changed its name, and honoured it with 
the royal apjiellalion of Kingston or Kingston-irpon-Hull. This 
appears from tlie Book of Melsa, folio 211, in which it is stated 
that the king, having obtained the said town of Wyke and manor 
of ]\Iyton, elianged the n;ime of the vill of Wyk and caused it 
to be named the town of Kingston-upon-Hull. " In addition to 
this passage- we niay cite otliers" says (Jliarles Frost, " AA'hich 
tijg(_'thcr must remo\(^ all doubt of the fact tlint onr and the 
same town was di.'signatcd under the several names of Kingston, 
Hull, and \Vyke: Jnr instance, 'Our town of Wj'ke, whieli now 
A\ith a changed name is called Kingston-upon-Hull ;" and tlie pas- 
sage wliere it is stated that ' Our lord Edward, formerly king <if 



YORKSHmE : 



England, of famous memory, the town of Wyke, then on the water 
of Hull situated, acquired, and caused it to be named the town of 
Kingston-upon-HulL' " 

When King Edward I. had acquired the ownership of Hull 
he made it a royal borough, placed it under the government of 
a warden (custos) and bailiffs, and made it a manor of itself, 
independent of Myton. The first official document in which 
we meet with the new name for Hull is a writ of inquiry {ad 
quod dumnum) dated November 5, in the 22nd of Edward I. 
(1294), directed to "the King's Bailiffs of Kingston-super-Hull," 
commanding them to inquire, by the oath of good and lawful men 
of the town, whether it would be to the prejudice of the king or 
any other person, if he should grant that Philip de Coltfield might 
acquire and hold to himself and his heirs, by the due and accustomed 
services, a messuage with its appurtenances in the town of Kynges- 
ton-on-HuIl, which Ivo de Cottingham, formerly a burgess of the 
said town, held of the king on the day on which he died, and which 
by his death had come into the king's hands. The inquisition took 
place at Kyngeston-on-HuU, on Wednesday, the morrow of the 
Epiphany (6th of January, 1294), the 2:3rd of Edward I. ; and 
the jury found that the grant might be made without prejudice 
to the king or to any other person. The jurors likewise found that 
Ivo de Cottingham had done suit to the king's court twice, and had 
paid a rent of 205. (equal to about £15 of modern money) per 
annum, and that the messuage in question was worth 10s. a year 
beyond the amount of the rent. Another inquisition was made 
about the same time on the death of William de Moule, who, as the 
jury found, had held on the day on which he died four tofts in the 
town of Kyngeston-super-Hull at an annual rent to the king of 
29s. Ad. ; the tofts being worth £2 2s. 4c/. beyond that sum. 

Visit of King Edward I. to Hull — A mint for the coinage of 
money was established at Hull soon alter it had been raised to the 
position of a royal borough ; and in the year 1300 this great king, 
who was not only the most celebrated warrior of his time, but who 
has also been called the English Justinian from the wisdom and 
number of his laws, and who certainly first gave the sanction of the 
crown to the representative system of England, and to that famous 
parliament which has become the mother of parliaments, and the 
example to the whole world of representative government, conferred 
on the burgesses of Hull the honour of a personal visit. "After 



PAST AND PKESENT. 517 

holding a pai-liament," says Charles Frost, " m April, 1300, he set 
out for the north ; and taking the route through Lincolnshire, he 
crossed the Humher witli his retinue, on the 2Gth May, by the royal 
ferry between Barton and Hessle. The high road nortliward {via 
ixgia) lay at that time in a direct line from Hessle to Beverley; but 
the king took a circuitous route thither, solely for the purpose of 
viewing the state of the newly created borough of Hull, where, 
though his stay was of short duration and no particulars are 
recorded of his proceedings, the effects of his visit were soon visible 
in the various improvements by which it was succeeded, and par- 
ticularly in the pavement of the streets, for defraying the expenses 
of which a grant was made, a few days after the king's departure, 
of certain tolls, to be levied on all goods coming to the town for 
sale within the five succeeding years. The roads in the neigh- 
bourhood of the town were likewise repaired ; and in the 1 9th year 
of the same king a ferry was established across the Humber, between 
Barton and Hull, the value of which in the year 1320 was 40s. in 
the money of that time, equal to about £30 in present money. So 
great was the progress of intercourse with the new port that the 
value of this ferry had risen, in the 30th year of the reign of 
Edward III., 1356, to the sum of £.53.5 id., which (if we assume 
that the money of that time retained the proportion to present 
money, assigned to it by Sir Thomas Hardy, which is £15 for every 
£1 of the money of that time) would amount to a sum of from 
£7000 to £8000. Even in modern times, when Mr. Frost wrote 
his "Notices" in the year 1827, this ferry produced a rental to 
the corporation of Hull, of £900 per annum. In explanation of the 
charges in the reign of Edward III., it should be mentioned that 
the passage of Edward I. and the royal party across the Humber 
occupied two days, the sum of 13s. having been paid for the wages 
of Galfrid de Seleby (Selby) and other sailors, with eleven barges 
and boats employed during that time.'" 

King Edicard III. and the De la Poles, and other Merchants of 
Hull. — When that most vigorous and able but ambitious king, 
Edward III., abandoned the wild schemes of his grandfather and 
father for the conquest of Scotland, he undertook the still wilder 
pjrqject of conquering France, to which he claimed a right, in spite of 
the Salic law, through his mother, Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II. 
So popular was the war with France, at its commencement, that tho 

" Cl]afle„ Frosl's NuLiuui; uf JIull, [.p. Gl-07. 



518 YORKSHIRE: 



Parliament adopted tlie cause of the king with great eagerness, and 
granted supplies far exceeding those granted to any previous sove- 
reign. But money being at that time both scarce and somewhat 
debased in England, the Parliament voted a grant to the king of 
30,000 bags of wool, the greater part of which was collected in the 
different counties, and a portion no doubt brought down the Trent, 
the Ouse, and other streams which swell tlie Humber, for the purpose 
of being shipped to Flanders, where King Edward III. was assem- 
bling the army that afterwards fought the battle of Crecy, and 
where there was an unlimited demand for English wool, which was 
then the only great article of export from this country, and was 
only allowed to be exported on extraordinary occasions. William de 
la Pole, of Hull, had at that time extensive commercial operations 
with the merchants of Antwerp, and he and some of the greatest 
merchants in London raised amongst them the enormous sums of 
money which were required for carrying on this most costly war. 
Sir William de la Pole alone, who obtained from the king the 
flattering titles of the Merchant to the King {Mercator Regis), and 
Our Beloved Merchant {Dilectus Alercator Noster), is said to have 
raised no less a sum than £18,500, an amount certainly equal to 
something approaching very nearly to £200,000 of modern money. 
Even this he would have no difficulty in raising, from his own 
great resources and those of his friends in Hull, Antwerp, and 
Bruges, on the credit of a government which had the disposal of 
30,000 bales of English wool, generally considered to be worth 
about £40 a bale in modern money. This was the commencement 
of the enormous wealth acquired by, and the distinguished honours 
conferred upon, the famous family of the De la Poles, the merchant 
princes of Hull. We are also told by Leland that they were 
extensively engaged in the fisheries of Iceland and of the Arctic 
Seas, which were for hundreds of years amongst the great and 
staple resources of the commerce of Hull. 

The Erection of Suffolk Palace at Kingston - tqwn - IIulLS'iv 
Michael de la Pole, the son of Sir Wilham, was not less a favourite 
with Pdchard II. than his father had been Avith the precedino- 
monarch. He had held the position of admiral of the fleet on the 
northern parts of the coast in the .51st year of Edward III. 
and the 1st of Eichard II. ; and in the latter reign, in addition to a 
pension or income of £50 per annum, equal to from ten to fifteen 
times as much in modern money, he was made lord-chancellor of 



TA^T AND PRKSENT. 



Eny'laiid, aiul iifterwaTdsi creatud Kaii of SuH'ulk. He it was wlio 
beautitioil his native town of Hull witli many fine buildings. 
About the time when he roeeived the somewhat incongruous office 
of loid-chancellor, alter holding that of admiral of the northern 
fleet, he " began to erect " (at Hull) " that stately and superb palace 
known afterwards b}' the name of Suffolk's Palace, which stood 
opposite to the west end of St. Mary's Church. At the entrance into 
this spacious edifice there was a lofty and grand gatewiiy, over 
which, supported by strong timbers, were erected two chambers. 
At the end of a passage leading to the gateway, upwards of thirty 
yards long and six broad, stood a spacious and handsome tower, 
three stories high, covered with lead, in which were chambers eighteen 
feet square. Adjoining this tower was a court-yard containing two 
roods of ground, neatly covered wath a large square pavement, and 
each side of the yard was adorned with elegant buildings. On 
one side ■was a large hall, built of brick and stone, sixty feet in 
length and forty in breadth. At the west end was a fine range of 
buildings which occupied the whole side of the square. North of 
this court lay another yard neatly walled, containing an acre 
or more of land, ornamented with fish-ponds and a dovecot; 
and to the west of this was a pleasant spot of ground, con- 
taining two acres of pasture, inclosed with a brick wall, which was 
still standing nearly to the end of the last century, and which 
is described in Tickhill's "History of Hull" as adjoining the 
Manor Boarding School. "Before the great hall window," says 
TickhiU, " was a most delightfid and spacious flower garden of 
upwards of an acre. <Jn the north side stood a beautiful chapel, 
dedicated to St. Michael the archangel. This was the town house 
or pjalace of the earls of Suffolk ; and in addition to this the earl 
erected three other splendid and magnificent houses, adorned with 
stately towers, t"wo of which stood within the town, but the other 
was situated at a small distance from it, and commanded an exten- 
sive and delightful prospect of the country adjacent."'" The won- 
derful pros[jerity of the earl of Suffolk, though not greater than 
might have been acquired in the extensive operations and the 
important offices which he held as the manager of the royal finances, 
or in other important offices under the crown, made him an object 
of great envy ; and in the conflicts which ultimately led to 
the deposition and murder of Ilichard II. and to tlie occupation 

• Tickliiirs IJibtorj- of Hull, pp. so, -10. 



520 YORKSHIRE : 



of the throne by Henry of Bolingbroke, the earl of Suffolk wag 
driven into exile, and ultimately died in France, in the year 1389. 

But the greatness of the house of De la I^ole did not expire with 
the death of the second earl ; and in the many changes of the 
houses of York and Lancaster, Michael de la Pole, the third earl, 
again rose to a high position, distinguished himself greatly in King 
Heniy V.'s invasion of France, and was slain at the battle of 
Agincourt, in the year 1415. His next brother, AVilliam, the fourth 
earl of Suffolk, fought his way through twenty-four campaigns in 
France, without once visiting England, and when France was finally 
lost had to bear the discredit of that misfortune. Nor were his 
fortunes ultimately very much improved by the distinguished part 
that he took in bringing about the marriage of the youthful King 
Henry VI. with the beautiful Margaret of Anjou, the daughter of 
the feeble-minded E^ne, king of Sicily, which indeed raised him to 
a higher position, and secured to him the titles first of marquis and 
afterwards of duke of Suffolk, but in the end involved him in the 
fortunes of the house of Lancaster at their darkest period, and 
caused him to be tried, driven into exile, and ultimately murdered 
on the high seas, in the year 1450. Even then the house of De la 
Pole was not destroyed, for the dukedom was revived, and John de 
la Pole, duke of Suffolk, married Ehzabeth Plantag-enet, sister of 
Edward IV. and Eichard III., and by her had issue, John de la 
Pole, earl of Lincoln. ■"' 

Although the movement caused by the wars of King Edward I. 
and his successors in Scotland gave a great impulse to the trade 
of Hull, yet the fortune of war brought an invading Scottish army 
into Yorkshire in the year 1322 (after the battle of Bannockburn), 
which threatened the town of Hull with destruction. At that time 
the inhabitants petitioned the king for license to fortify the town 
with ditches and moats, which license was very willingly granted. 
These fortifications were gradually enlarged in succeeding reio-ns, 
by the addition of castles, blockhouses, &c., until Hull became one 
of the strongest fortresses in the kingdom. This it continued to be 
down to the great civil war, when its possession became the chief 
object of contention between Charles I. and the parliamentary armies 
under Fau^fax. The citadel of Hull, afterwards erected by order 
of Charles IL at a cost of more than £100,000, stood on the east 
side of the river Hull, and the arsenal was large enough to contain 

' Allen's Historv of Yorkshire, vol. iii. p. 27. 



I'AST jVND puksent. 521 



equipments fen- 20,000 infantry and 3000 c;iva]ry, ln'sides (irdnance 
and stores fur fourteen sail of tlie line. But in the year 18Ci3 the 
commissioners of Moods and forests decided to aboUsh tliis ancient 
stronghold, which ^^•as sold that the land might be used f )r docks 
and iron-shipbuilding )ards. At the present day not a vestige 
remains of the ancient fortress, which for several centuries rendered 
Hull the chief defence of the north of England against foreign 
invasion. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Hull supplied 800 men 
and .£G00 to defend the kingdom against the Spanish Armada. 

On'qin and Progress of the Commerce of Hull. — The commerce of 
Hull dates at least, from the age of the Scandinavian occupation of 
this part of England, nearly a thousand years from the present time. 
There is every reason to believe, not merely from the name, but from 
historical evidence, that Vyk or the Harbour, the predecessor of Hull, 
was occupied by the bold navigators of the Scandinavian race, Avho 
ruled nearly the whole of the present counties of York and Lincoln, 
and indeed the whole of the counties included in the great 
valleys of the Ouse and Trent, during the 200 years which pre- 
ceded the Norman conquest. The natural superiority of Hull as a 
seaport arises from its proximity to the sea, from its great depth 
of water, and from the shelter given to vessels in the river Hull, 
which there enters the estuary of the Humber. There is no 
other position on the Humber, the Ouse, or the Trent, which 
possesses either the same depth of water or the same easy access 
to the German Ocean. 

The first great trade of Hull, then probably called Vyk or 
the Harbour, was in the stock-fish or dried fish of the Arctic Ocean, 
which was most extensively consumed in the weekly and 3'early 
fasts of the Eoman Catholic Church, not only in England, but in 
all parts of AVestern Em-ope. The second great source of the trade 
of this port was in supplying the merchants of Flanders, and even 
of Florence and Lombardy, with the English avooI Avhich they used 
in their manufactures, and which was produced in great abundance 
on the sheep pastures of Yorkshire, and in all the districts watered 
by the Ouse and the Trent. These two great branches of commerce 
were the chief sources of the wealth of the De hi Poles of Hull. 
Their name is found in connection with all that is great and 
striking in the history of the commerce and jirogress of Hull, 
from the reign of Edward III. to that of Henry VI. 

In the reign of the Tudor kings and queens Hull had attained 



522 YORKSHIRE : 



a high degree of prosperity, and was second only to London in 
the extent of its trade. Leland in his " Itinerary," written in the 
reign of King Henry VIII. and published about the year 1538, 
after giving an erroneous account of the early history of Hull 
(which he describes as having originated in the reign of Edward 
III.) gives a very clear and spirited account of what he had himself 
seen of the town, as it was at the time when he visited it, and 
as it had been for many years previous to that visit. " The first 
great increase of the town," he says, " was by passing for fish into 
Iceland, from whence they had the whole trade of stock fish [dried 
fish] into England, and partly other fish. In Richard II. 's days 
the town of Hull waxed very rich, and Michael de la Pole, merchant 
of Hull, came into so high favor for wit, activity, and riches, that 
he was made Earl of Suftblk, whereupon he got of King Richard II. 
many grants and privileges to the town ; and in his time it was 
wonderfully augmented in buildings, and was inclosed with ditches, 
and the wall begun and in continuance ended, and made all of 
brick, as most of the houses of the town at that time were." 
Leland further says of Hull, that the country about the town 
was very fruitful of meadow and pasture ; and that there was 
much cable-making and winding of hemp for small cords. He 
also says that there was no wall to the river Hull, but each 
merchant had his own stairs even to the north gate. He adds 
that Michael de la Pole built a good house of brick, with goodly 
orchard and garden. There were many religious foundations made 
by merchants of Hull. The town was paved with stones brought 
from the island of Iceland, which we now regard as belonging to 
America. 

Camden's Account of Hull, in the Beign of Queen EUzahetli. — The 
account of the port of Hull given by Camden, who wrote about 
fifty years later than Leland, is of considerable interest, and shows 
that Hull was then advancing rapidly. After describing the town 
of Beverley and the river Hull, which flows past it, entering 
the river Humber at HuU, he states that near its mouth that 
river had a city of the same name, properly named Kingston-upon- 
Hull, liut commonly known as Hull. He says that it had been 
formerly called Coning-clifte or King's-cliffe ; but of that there is 
no historical evidence. At the time when Camden wrote, HuU 
had risen to be a port of high standing, and was then the most 
celebrated emporium of that district, " with magnificent buildings. 



TAST AND rUESENT. 



r,-: 



23 



.strono- fortitications, crowdeil sliips, abundance of morcliaiit.s, and 
a yreat aiilni'iico of all things." This prospciity, he states, had 
arisen partly from the pri\Ileo\'s which Michael de la Pole, the 
^•raiidson of one of the most distinguished merchants of Hull^ 
had obtained for them when raised to the dignity of earl of 
iSutfolk, and partly from a profitable trade with Iceland in dried 
lish, called stock-fish, from which they had accumulated great 
riches. Thence, in a very short space of time, a strong wall had 
been built, strengthened by numerous towers, by means of which 
their city was defended, wherever it was not sufficiently protected 
bv the rivers Hull and Humber. He says that, owing to the great 
extent of the trade and the large quantity of stones brought in 
ballast by their ships, all parts of the city were beautifully paved 
and constructed. As magistrates they had had first a custos or 
warden, then bailiffs, afterwards a mayor with bailiffs, and from 
the time of Henry IV. a mayor and sheriffs, and the city itself 
made into a county. Hull appears to have been very nearly the 
first outport of England in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, if we 
may judge from the comparative amount paid as customs at that 
time. The average receipts of great customs of the principal 
outports of England from the 20 th to the 25 th Queen Elizabeth 
were as follows : — 

AVERAGE CUSTOIIS REVENUE OF THE CHIEF ODTPOETS OF ENGLAND FROM THE 20tH 
TO THE 25th queen ELIZABETH. 
£ S. d. 



King's Lynn, 1661 15 10 

Hull, 1515 18 2 

Yarmouth, 1167 14 8 

Bristol, 901 17 2i 

Exeter, 995 13 (A 

Plymouth and Fowley, ... 281 17 11 



Poole, 

Chester and Liverpool, 
Boston, . . . 
Bridgewater, . 
Gloucester, . . 
Newcastle, . . 



Tota 



£ s. d. 

751 2 9 

437 13 1| 

168 2 11^ 

87 5 11 

47 13 

229 8 3 

"'■8246 3 11 



* These sums should be multiplied at least five-fold to make them coiTespond to the 

present value of money. 

It will be seen from the above account of the trade of Hull, 
in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, that that port fully retained 
its position during the first hundred years after the discovery 
of America, the great revolution in commerce which followed 
on that event, and the immense impulse given to the trade of 
Europe by the opening of the gold and silver mines of Mexico 
and Peru by the Spaniards, and the subsequent opening of the 



524 YORKSHIRE: 



wealth of the Brazils and of India by the Portuguese. The 
great line of communication from Hull and the English ports 
generally with these regions was through the Spanish ports in 
the Low Countries, and more especially Antwei'p and Bruges, to 
Spain and Portugal, and from Lisbon and Cadiz to the newly- 
discovered regions, both of the western and of the eastern world. 
It was not until the reign of James I. that any English colonies 
Avere founded on the coast of America or in the West or East 
Indies, and that the trade of England began to take somewhat 
of its present course. During the whole of that period, that is 
to say, to the middle of the seventeenth century, Hull retained a 
large trade in fish and whale oil with the Arctic regions, and an 
extensive trade with Flanders, Germany, and the Baltic in wool, 
corn, and English manufactures, besides an indirect trade through 
Flanders, or through Spain and Portugal, with India and America. 
The trade of Hull with India was for a long time limited by the 
exclusive privileges of the East India Company, and afterwards by 
the old colonial system, which for a time worked disadvantageously 
for the ports on the eastern side of Great Britain. 

The Siege of Hull in the Great Ciril War. — The events at 
Hull fill an important page in the history of the great civil 
war. That war was commenced by the closing of the gates of 
Hull against the king in person ; and the town and port remained 
faithful to the Parliament during the whole of the civil war, and 
stoutly withstood a long siege, and several smaller attacks. It was 
one of the few English towns that were never taken in that war. 

One of King Charles' principal objects in going down to York- 
shire, on the eve of the great civil war, was to seize the magazine 
at Hull, and on that fortress and harbour. Hull was at that time 
one of the few regularly fortified towns of England, and possessed 
advantages from its natural position which rendered it as easy to 
defend, and as difficult to take, as some of the strongest fortresses 
in Holland and Flanders. The art of defending mihtary positions 
situate on low grounds close to the sea, and whose approaches 
were capable of being laid under water by the opening of sluices, 
had been brought to great perfection in the wars between the Dutch 
and the Spaniards; and the strength of such fortresses was clearly 
shown by the failure of the royalists to capture Hull, at the time 
when they had overrun the whole level country of Yorkshire, 
and had driven back the parliamentary forces, either into the 



PAST AND PRESENT. 525 



hills of the West Hiding, or l)e}ond the limits of the county. 
From Hull the parliauientary garrison, and the forces of Fairfax 
and other parliamentary leaders, were able to communicate and to 
act with the earl of Manchester, Oliver Cromwell, and the well- 
trained armies of the eastern or associated counties. It was during 
the principal siege of Hull, by the earl of Newcastle, that Sir 
Thomas Fairfox transported himself and his Yorkshire cavalry 
across the Humber, mto Lincolnshire, and there took part in the 
battle of Winceby or Horncastle fio-ht. 

On the 23rd April, 1640, Charles appeared before Hull, but was 
refused admittance by Sir John Hotham, the parliamentary governor, 
except with a small escort. Enraged by this complete failure of his 
plans to secure a supply of arms, he proclaimed Hotham a traitor, 
and returned to York. Thence he despatched a violent denunciation 
of Hotham 's conduct to the Parliament, declaring that Hull and 
its magazine were his private property. Parliament, however, 
entirely approved of the conduct of Sir John Hotham, and drew 
up a reply, which was sent to York, in charge of a committee 
consisting of four Yorkshire members ; namely, Lord Fairfax, Sir 
Hugh and Sir Henry Cholmley, and Sir Phillip Stapleton, who 
were directed to remain at York, and to watch the proceedings of 
the court assembled there. 

It had been the original intention of the king, that the earl 
of Newcastle, after overpowering the parliamentary forces in York- 
shire, should advance southward to Newark and Nottingham, where 
the royalists had strong garrisons in the castles ; and that there 
they should form a junction with the royal armies, in the centre 
of the kingdom, and then advance with their united forces upon 
London. But the resistance encountered by the earl, from the 
Fairfaxes and Hothams in Yorkshire, was so formidable, that he 
was unwilling to leave them in his rear, without striking a decisive 
blow against the Hothams at Hull, and the Fairfaxes in the manu- 
facturing districts of tlie West Riding. This led to the battle 
of Adwalton Moor, fought between Leeds and Bradford, in which the 
royalists were successful ; and also to the principal siege of Hull, in 
which they were repulsed with very heavy loss, and detained so 
long in the north tliat they were never able to make their way 
into the midland counties. 

When the news of the crushing defeat at Adwalton reached 
London, the speaker of the House of Commons at once wrote to 



526 YORKSHIRE : 



Lord Fairfax at Hull, to assure him that Parliament would always 
extend its utmost power and authority to support him ; and on 
the 22nd July he was formally appointed governor of Hull. Before 
long he was joined by 1500 foot and 700 horse, and Sir Thomas 
Fairfax was stationed at Beverley, with the horse and about 
600 foot. 

The royal army marched from York to Beverley, where Sir 
Thomas Fairfax, with a small and totally inadequate force, had been 
ordered to hold his ground. This was impossible, but he did his 
best. The royal force consisted of 12,000 foot and 4000 horse. 
Sir Thomas ordered his small body of foot to retreat to Hull, while 
he advanced westward with his handful of cavalry, until the royal 
army was close upon him, and then retreated slowly into Beverley, 
fighting here and there in the narrow lanes, and then closed the 
gates. This gave time for the foot to make good their retreat into 
Hull, and Sir Thomas followed with the horse, having the enemy 
close behind him. On Saturday, September 2, 1643, the earl of 
Newcastle's army laid siege to Hull. 

"Kingston -upon -Hull," says Clements Markham, in his Life 
of the great Lord Fairfax, " was a strong defensible town, and 
proved to be a Torres Vedras to the Fairfaxes, and to their 
enemies. It stands at the mouth of the river Hull, its southern 
side facing the Humber, and its eastern being flanked by the 
Hull ; and as the Parliament commanded the sea, there was no 
chance of its being reduced from want of supplies. The town was 
only assailable from the west and north, where there was a strong 
double wall. The fortifications commenced on the Humber, at a 
point where there was a pier called the West Jetty. On the west side 
were ten flanking towers and a gate, through which the road from 
Anlaby entered the town ; and at the angle of the west and north 
faces there was another bastion, with the Beverley Gate on its eastern 
side. On the northern face there were fourteen flanking towers and 
a strong block-house, and near where the wall touched upon the 
river Hull a bridge of foiii'teen arches was thrown across, over 
which went the road into Holderness. Here also there was a 
building called the Charter-house, belonging to Colonel Almin, 
which Lord Fairfax was obliged to demolish. A moat ran round 
the base of the walls, from the Htdl to the Humber. The old castle 
was at the mouth of the Hull, on the opposite bank, and the ships 
of the Parliament were anchored in the rivers Humber and HuU. 



PAST AND TRKSKNT. 527 



The overflowing of the rivers was provided against by raised banks, 
which protected the town and parhameutary f^^arrisoii, but left the 
besieging army subject to inundations at spring tides. 

'■ Newcastle encamped his army in the villages of Hessle, Anlaby, 
and Cottingham, and a curved line passing through them from the 
Humber to the Hull formed a semicircle, facing the west and the 
north sides of the town. Lord Fairfax planted guns on the walls 
and threw up a work on the banks of the Hull, near the Charter- 
house, on which he placed a large brass gun. All the servant girls 
of the town helped to carry earth and stones for this and the other 
works, yet only one of them ever got liurt during the siege. Lord 
Xewcastle began throwing up earthworks and getting his guns into 
position ; but on the 14th Fairfax caused the banks to be cut, which 
inundated great part of the country during the spring tides, so 
that the royalists were ^\'et-shod in all their w^orks, except those on 
the rido-es of the banks. 

"The old lord continued to conduct his successful defence of 
Hull. On the 2Sth the besiegers began a work half a mile from the 
north wall, and there were many sallies and much hard fighting to 
prevent its completion ; but at last it was finished, mounted with 
two brass clilverins carrying thirty-six pound balls, and other guns, 
and was named the King's Fort. E,ed-hot shot was also prepared 
in furnaces, and a Avarm fire was opened upon the north wall. 
Lord Fairfax strengthened this part of his works, by adding two 
large culverins to the battery on Charter-house Fort. 

" Finding that no impression could be made on this side. Lord 
Xewcastle commenced approaches along the bank of the Humber, 
and planted some heavy guns within half a mile of the walls ; upon 
which Fairfax raised a fort close to the west, or ragged jetty, which 
also protected the shipping, with a half-moon work flanking it. 
There were incessant assaults and sallies, and on October 3, the 
spring tide again overflowed the royalist works, and gave them wet 
lodgings. But affairs remained in much the same state until the 
.5th, when the earl of Mancliester sent a reinforcement of 500 foot 
into tlie town, commanded by Sir John Meldrum, an experienced 
and able Scot. 

" Four days afterwards, tlie royalists made a general assault 
upon the works. Captain Strickland, a gallant y<iung oflicer, led 
a storming party, to attempt the West Jetty Battery and Half 
Moon, while another detachment attacked the Charter-house Fort, 



528 YORKSHIRE : 



on the opposite side of the town. The assailants were not dis- 
covered until they began to scale the West Jetty works, when they 
were received by a galling fire from the Half Moon. Young 
Strickland then wheeled his men round to make a dash at the 
smaller work, and had reached the west of the parapet, when he 
was shot dead with a brace of bullets in the breast. The towns- 
men then fell upon the assailants with great fury, and very few 
escaped. The royalists were equally unsuccessful on the Charter- 
house side, and returned disheartened to their own damp un- 
healthy lines. 

" Tt was at this time that Sir Philip Warwick paid his second 
visit to the earl of Newcastle. There had been much rain, and 
finding the men ankle-deep in water, he suggested that those 
without seemed likelier to rot, than those within to starve. The 
royalist general answered, 'You hear us often called the popish 
army, but you can see we trust not in our good works.' 

"On October 11, Fairfax and Meldrum prepared to make a sally 
and to assault the enemy's works. A body of 1.500 men, consisting 
of soldiers, townsmen, and sailoi'S from the Lion, Emj)lnyment, and 
other ships in the Humber, were assembled in two divisions, and 
at nine in the morning they sallied out. Sir John Meldrum led 
one party out of the Beverley Gate, to attack the enemy's left 
wing, while the second division advanced from the West Jetty and 
assaulted the royalist forts on the Humber. The camp of the 
besiegers was a quarter of a mile in the rear of their batteries, 
and in the first rush the Hall men carried all the works ; but 
reinforcements were hurried up from the camp, and they were 
repulsed. Lord Fairfax and Sir John rallied their men under the 
walls of the town, and led them once more to the assault. This 
time they charged with such fury that they captured most of the 
besieging batteries, and turned the guns upon the flying royalists. 
Upwards of a hundred shots were fired from the cannon on the 
walls, and the fight raged furiously for three hours. It was 
decisive. Fairfax captured the famous cannons called "Gog" and 
" Magog," which had done him such mischief on Adwalton Moor. 
They weighed 5790 pounds, and carried thirty-six pound shot. 
He also took a demi-culverin, four small drakes on one carriage, 
two large brass drakes, a saker, and much ammunition. 

" Thus ended the siege of Hull. During the night Newcastle 
marched off and returned to York, ruthlessly pillaging the unfor- 



PAST ANli PRESENT. 529 



tunate town of Beverley on his w;iy, and di'iviiiL;- off all the cattle 
in the surroundino- eountiy. Like Massena, he had found his 
Torres Yedras, but he was criiisdlid for the nnirtitication of his 
reverse by being created a marquis, on October -11, 104:5." 

Hull at the time of the Visit of Daniel Dcjho. — Wiien this 
charming writer visited Hull about the year 1727, at the com- 
mencement of the reign of George IT., he found it to be a 
tlourishing seaport, and the only great place of trade on this 
part of the coast of England. His account of it is full of spirit, 
and is marked by his usual sagacity. He says, in substance, " If 
you would expect me to give an account of the city of Hamburg, 
or Dantzic, or Ptotterdam, or any of the cities abroad which are 
famed for their commerce, the town of Hull may be a specimen ; 
and I believe there is more business done in Hull than in any town 
of its size in Europe. Liverpool, indeed, of late," he says, writing 
in 172 7, "comes after it apace; but then Liverpool has not the 
London trade to add to it. In the late war [with France] the 
fleets from Hull to London were frequently 100 sail, sometimes 
[including the other creeks in the Humber] 1.50 to 160 sail at a 
time. And to Holland their trade [that of HtdlJ is so considerable, 
that the Dutch always employ two men-of-war to fetch and carry, 
that is, to convoy the trade, as they call it, to and from Hull, which 
was as many as they did to London. In a word, all the trade 
of Leeds, Wakefield, and Halifax, of which I have spoken so 
largely, is transacted here, and the goods are shipped here by 
the merchants of Hull. All the lead trade of Derbyshire and 
Nottinghamshire, from Bawtry Wharf; the batter from the North 
and East B,idings, brought down the Ouse ; the cheese brought 
down the Trent, from Stafford, Warwick, and Cheshire ; and the 
com from all the counties adjacent — are brought down and shipped 
off here. Again, they [the merchants of Hull] supply all those 
counties in retui-n with foreign goods of all kinds, for which they 
trade to all parts of the known world ; nor have the merchants 
of any port in Britain a fairer credit or faii-cr character than the 
merchants of Hull, as well for the justice of their dealing as 
the greatness of their substance of funds for trade. They drive a 
great trade here to Norway and tlie Baltic, and an imjiortant 
trade to Dantzic, Riga, Neva, and St. Petersburg ; from whence 
they make large returns in iron, copper, hemp, flax, canvas, pot- 
ashes, Muscovy linen and yarn, and other things ; all which things 

VOL. II. 3 X 



330 YORKSHIRE : 



tliey vend in the country to an exceeding quantity. They have 
also a great importation of wine, linen, oil, fruit, &c., trading to 
Holland, France, and S|iain ; the trade of tobacco and sugars from 
the West Indies they chiefly manage by way of London ; but 
besides all this their export of corn, as well to London as to 
Holland and France, exceeds all of that kind that is or can be done 
at any port in England, London excepted. 

" Their shipping is a great article, in which they outdo all 
the towns and ports on the coast, except Yarmouth ; only that 
their shipping consists chiefly in smaller vessels than the coal 
trade is supplied with ; though they have a great many large 
vessels, too, which are employed in their foreign trade."" 

At the time when Defoe was at Hull the Greenland whale 
fishery of that port was suspended ; having become stopped 
in the time when the Dutch wars were so frequent, and when 
the wars with France were still more so. But a long period of 
peace, under the able administration of Sir Eobert Walpole, followed 
the time of Defoe's visit to Hull, and during that and succeeding 
periods the Avhale fishery of Hull revived, and was carried on 
extensively quite to recent times, when the introduction of the use 
of gas, and other causes, rendered the whale fishery less profitable 
than it had previously been. 

As a whale-fishing port Hull had long no rival in the kingdom. 
Thousands of tuns of oil have been fished out of the deep waters 
of the frozen regions by the ships of the HuU merchants, and 
that the produce of the whale fisheries has been a source of great 
income to the town is a fact not to be controverted. During 
the period of eighty years, from 1772 to 1852, the Hull whalers 
brought home the amount of 171,907 tuns of oil, which is an 
average of eighty-eight tuns per ship, per annum. Taking the price 
of oil for the greater part of the eighty years already mentioned, 
£30 per tun was about the average. The highest price obtained 
for oil was in the year 1813, when it was sold at £55 per tun. The 
lowest price obtained was about the years 1804, 1805, and 1806, when 
it only reached about £20 per tun. For one year the amount of 
oil and bone brought from the fisheries to Hull realized above 
£300,000 ; for twelve years the amount was above £200,000 per 
annum, and for sixteen years it was above £100,000 per annum. 
The total value of the gross amount of oil and bone drawn from 

• Defue's Travels of a Genlleman, vol. iii. p. 182. 



PAST AND TRKRKNT. 531 



the va>;t doop by ships sailing froni tliis port, from 177'2 to 1852, 
amounted to £6,84!), .ISO, Itoing on the average X'.S5,619 per year 
for the eighty 3'ears. In these caleidations tlie honnty gii;ixanteed 
bv government, whieli would increase the value of the returns 
consideralilv, is not taken into account. 

The Older Farf.^ of //«//. — In Wilberforce House Sir John 
Lister entertained King Charles I. In this house was Ijorn Wil- 
berforce, the eminent statesman. Aldgate, an ancient street, is 
now divided into Whitefriar-gate, Silver Street, and Scale Lane, 
named from the family of Schayl, who i^esided in it. Old Beverley 
Street is known as the land of Green Ginger. Blackfriar-gate and 
Blanket Row formed one street, called Monkgate. Mytongate 
was, previously to the year 1391, called Lyle Street, a part of which 
was called La Belle Tour, or "the fine walk." Dagger Lane was 
previously to 1470 called Champaign Street. Old Kirk Lane is 
now called Postern-gate and North Church Side. Bowl-alley Lane 
was previously called Denton Lane, and anciently Bishops-gate, 
from its possessor, an archbishop of York. Chapel Lane was 
called x\ton Lane, from the Barons de Aton, who were wealthy 
holders of property In Hull. Lowgate is one of the most important 
streets, and was formerly called Market-gate, from the use to which 
it was then applied. 

The Sanitarij Condition of Hull. — This has greatly improved 
during recent years. A late Avriter upon the mortality of the 
town. Sir Henry Cooper, M.D., read a paper " On the Prevalence 
of L'isease in Hull," before the British Association, from which we 
learn that, according to returns made, the rate of mortality for 
the borough in its entirety is one death in thirty-three. Fever, 
he said, was remarkably low for a large town, not favourably 
situated or well-drained. In another paper read before the same 
body. Dr. Cooper showed that the total number of cholera and 
diarrhr/ja cases was 18G0, or one in forty-three of the whole popu- 
lation of the town. The greatest mortality compared with the 
annual average appears to have occurred in the prime of life 
(from thirty to thirty-five), where the ordinary mortality is very 
low. Of the above-stated nunjbcr of victims of cholera, 1738 
belonged to the labonring-classes, ;uid 122 to the gentr}-, traders, 
and well-to-do classes. The lociilities in \\\\\d\ there had beeir 
the greatest morfahty were the parts of the l><.)rough where the 
levels were the lowest, and in which, therefore, the hygienic con- 



132 YORKSHIRE : 



dltiou as regai-ds moisture and drainage might be presumed to be 
most defective. 

Steam Navigation of Hull. — The prosperity of Hull has within 
the last thirty years been greatly increased by steam navigation, 
as this 25ort has within that jDeriod become a principal and im- 
portant steam-packet station. In 1815 the first steamboat on the 
Humber, called the Caledonia, was built for the purpose of plying 
between Hull and Selby. In 1826 there were twenty-four steamers 
from Hull plying along the coast during the summer months ; 
London being the greatest distance to which any of them ran. 
About the year 1835 the number had increased to something like 
forty ; four being in tlie Hamburg trade, one to Ptotterdam, three 
to London, and the remainder principally coastwise. In 1871 the 
number of registered vessels belonging to the port amounted to 
673, with tonnage 158.672 tons, being an increase since 1870 of 
29 vessels, averaging 912 tons each. The customs revenue amounted 
to £253,320 15s. lie?., showing a decrease of £49,914 4s. Id., 
owing to the abolition of the corn laws and the reduction of the 
duty on sugar. The number of vessels which entered inwards at 
the port in 1871 Avas : — British, 1739, with burden of 754,598 tons ; 
foreign, 1497, with tonnage of 364,900 tons; total, 3236 vessels, 
Avith an aggregate tonnage of 1,119,498 tons, being an increase 
on the returns of 1870 of 233 vessels, Avith 56,112 tons. Of 
vessels clearing outwards there were 1471 British, Avith 699,608 
tons, and lOSO foreign, Avith 237,064 tons; total, 2551, with an 
aggregate tonnage of 936,672 tons, being an increase on the 
returns of 1870 of 393 vessels, Avith 100,698 tons. The number 
of cattle imported in 1871 amounted to 29,648 beasts, 4753 calves, 
31,690 sheep, 6026 pigs, and 15 goats. These statistics sufficiently 
attest the commercial importance of Hull, and justly support its 
claim as the " third port in the kingdom." 

General Trade of Hull. — Hull is the port from Avhich the cottons 
of Manchester, the woollens and hnens of Yorkshire, and the lace 
and net of Nottuigham, are exported to the Loav Countries, France, 
Germany, and the north of Europe. During the last thirty years 
the exportation of cotton tAvist has been very considerable. At 
the close of the year 1839 the exports of Huh Avere considered 
to be about one-fifth of the exports of Great Britain and Ireland. 
In 1850 the declared value of the manufactured goods exported 
from the port of Hull was £10,366,610. The exports from the 



PAST AND niKSENT. 533 



poi-t of London fur the same yoar were X' 14,1 1! 7,5-^7. The jiresent 
anmial value uf the exports of Hull is about ,L':33, 000,000. 

Tlte I>()cks of IIiiU. — The docks of Hull are of considerable extent. 
Those called the (Jld Docks, which are situated within the town, occupy 
the site of the aneiiait fortifications. They are three m number, and 
are named respeetiN'oly the Queen's, llumlier, and Prin<;(/s Docks ; 
the former having been constructed in the year 1775, the Hurnber 
I'ock in 1S07, and the Prince's Dock in 1S27. In addition to these 
there are the Victoria Dock to the eaiStward, and the Railway Dock 
to the west of the Hirmber Dock; the former having been opened 
in 1S50, and tlie latter in 1846. Both these docks were commenced 
about the same time, but the Ptailway Dock, being much the smaller, 
was sooner completed. In it some of the largest steamers fre- 
quenting the port load and discharge, and there is probably more 
business conducted in it than in any other dock of the same area, 
or in the same space, in any other dock in the kingdom. In 1863 
the Victoria Dock was considerably enlarged, and a short time 
previously the works in connection with another large dock to 
the westward were commenced, the foundation being laid by 
the present chairman. This last dock, the length of which is 
3300 lineal feet, was completed early in 186.9, and in July of 
that year was formally opened by H.R.H. the Prince of Wales, 
wdio was accomjianied by the Princess of AVales on the occasion. 
It was then named the Albert Dock, and the honour of knighthood 
was conferred by her Majesty upon the present chairman of the 
company. Sir AVilliam Wright, who has occupied that position 
for upwards of eight years, having been previously a director and 
deputy chairman for seventeen years, and in whose time and under 
A\hose supervision many of the greatest recent improvements and 
extensions of the Dock Estate have been carried out. The area 
of the water-space of the Hull docks is as follows : — 



Queen's Iio.k, 10 Anc; 

Humbor J 'ui;k, ... .7 

Prince's Dock-, 

Kailwjiy J>ock, :? 

Victoria Dock, 2() 



AUcit Dock, 24 Acres. 

Timber Ponds, 2.) " 

Basins, 14 " 

Total, . . . .109 Acres. 



The whole of these have been constructed by the j^fesent Dock 
Company, at a cost of between two and three millions of money; 
and further accommodation being still re(|uired to meet what are 
likely to be the Avants of a rapidly increasing trade, the company 



534 YORKSHIRE : 



have commenced the construction of two more docks westward of 
the Albert Dock, which will be of ten and eight acres' area respec- 
tively, and like the Albert Dock, of the form best suited for the 
accommodation of steamers, the increase of the steam trade of the 
port being very great : so much so that the tonnage of steamers, 
on which dues were received by the Dock Company in 1873, 
was 1,155,773 tons, against a little over 500,000 tons only ten 
years ago. 

Hull contains, amongst other larfje business establishments, 
extensive shipbuilding yards, in which vessels of the largest class, 
both merchant ships and ships of war, are constructed and launched 
into the waters of the Humber. Amongst others may be mentioned 
a large iron-clad ram for the Chilian Government, recently launched 
from the extensive premises of Earle's Shipbuilding Company, and 
the Bessemer saloon steamer, built at the same establishment ; 
being the vessel which, as is well known, is being constructed on 
a principle by which M. Bessemer, the inventor, expects to over- 
come the ills and misery of sea-sickness. 

The coasting trade of Hull is more extensive than that of any 
other port in the kingdom. A large trade is also carried on with 
the north of Germany, the Baltic, Holland, Belgium, and Denmark. 
The principal exported articles are woollen and cotton goods and 
hardware, and those of import are timber, grain, seeds, wool, iron, 
flax, pitch, tar, resin, tallow, and bones. 

The Public MarJcef. — The chartered market days are Tuesday 
and Friday, but the former is the principal day. There is also a 
weekly market on Saturday evening, for meat and vegetables and 
all kinds of provisions, &c. A stately cross, erected about the year 
1430, formerly stood in the market-place, but was taken down 
during the civil war, for the sake of the lead which covered it. 

Near the south end of the market-place, in 1734, a magnificent 
equestrian gilded statue was erected in honour of King William 
TIT., the work of Scheemakers. The cost was defrayed by vol- 
untary subscription, and the sum amounted to £893. The fio-ure, 
according to the taste of the age, is habited in Ptoman costume. 
The horse is finely modehed, and the whole is considered to be 
one of the most successful works of the kind in the kino-dom 

Local Government. — Hull is governed by a corporation, which 
consists of a mayor, a sheriff, fourteen aldermen, forty-two common 
council men, and a recorder. The town is divided into seven wards, 



PAST AND PRESENT. 535 



viz., Lowgato, ]\r;a'ket-[)lacT, lluldrnn's.s, Noi'tli iMyton, South 
INIvton, East Sculroatos, and AN'^est Sculcoatcs. It scuds two inc]n- 
bevs to Piiiliameiit. 

Tlie Modern Puhlic Buildings of Hall. — The 'J'otcn Hall. — The 
finest modern building in Hull is the town hall, built in the Italian 
style, and opened in the year 18G6. The gilt rails of the bal- 
conies and the varied colourino- of the stone g-ive a rich effect 
to the exterior, which has a frontage of 105 feet, the depth of 
the Avhole being 'I'lO feet, with a tower 13.3 feet high. Above 
the grand staircase stands a statue of King Edward I., the founder 
of Kingston-upon Hull. The general view is such as is seldom 
or never seen in any building in a provincial town. The interior 
is sujaerbly decorated, and contains numerous statues and portraits 
of royal personages, patriots, and local worthies, by eminent artists, 
as well as the offices of the corporation. The law courts here are — 
the court of venire (over which the recorder presides, and which 
has in civil causes a jurisdiction over the town and county of Hvdl), 
the county court, the court of bankruptcy, and the police court. 
Formerly the assizes for the county of Hull were held here, but 
the trials for capital offences committed within the county are 
now held at York. The cost of this building was £28,000. 

Tlie Hull Dock Offices. — The Dock Offices were formally opened 
in 18 71. In architectural beauty and in greatness of dimensions 
this edifice is by far the most striking in the town. It is triangular- 
shaped, and in the Italian style of the "Venetian" type. It has 
three facades, similar in character, corresponding with the three 
fronting^, and coupled pilasters of the Ionic order for the ground 
floor, and of the Corinthian order for the ffi'st floor, with highly 
enriched entablatures. The external and internal appearance con- 
stitutes it one of the most perfect buildings of the kind in the 
kingdom. 

TJte Hull Trim'tij House. — The Trinity House, where the business 
of the ancient and wealthy corporation or guild of the Trinity 
House is transacted, is occupied by pensioners. It was founded 
in 14.j7, and rebuilt in 1753. The front is of Tuscan architecture. 
The interior of the building contains many curiosities. Trinity 
House Chapel, connected with the former building, was opened In 
1843, and is a remarkably fine specimen of architecture. The interior 
presents the apjtearance of a Grecian temple. The altar statue 
is of statuary marble, supported by an ancient eagle richly gilt. 



53G YORKSHIRE : 



The oriel window is of stained glass, and contains an impressive 
representation of our Saviour's ascension. 

The Charter-house. — The Charter-house, as already intimated, was 
founded as a hospital, with a chapel, by Sir Michael de la Pole, in 
1384, for twenty-six poor men and women, "feeble and old," and 
was called La JMcn'son Dieu. In 1408 the endowment was greatly 
augmented. After the dissolution of religious houses by Henry Vllf. 
Edward VI. restored " tlie presentation, free disposition, and rights 
of patronage " of this institution, to the corporation of the borough, 
who have ever since exercised the right of appointing the master 
and electing the poor people of the hospital. In 1571 the cor- 
poration ordained that there should be " six brothers and six 
sisters," the number to be increased should the revenue permit. 
The master's salary was £10 according to the first grant, and 
£3 Qs. 8d. was now added "for his better maintenance." In 1638 
the annual rental of property belonging to the foundation amounted 
to £133; and in 1654 an order was made to admit the whole 
number of poor people, according to the first grant. During 
the siege of Hull the master's house was destroyed. In 1780 the 
whole structure was taken down and the present edifice erected. 
In 1803 further rooms were added for the accommodation of an 
increased number of pensioners. The buildings are of brick two 
stories high, consisting of a centre with wings. A semicircular 
portico, supported by six Tuscan pillars, forms the entrance of 
the hospital ; and on the architrave is the inscription, " Deo et 
pauperibus Michael de la Pole, Comes de Suffolk, has tedas posuit, 
A.D. 1384." Over the portal is a pediment, within the tympanum 
of which are the arms of the De la Poles. On the summit of 
the roof is a circular turret of eight Ionic pillars supporting a 
dome. The chapel is commodious and well-furnished, and contains 
some fine mural monuments. The present income of the foundation 
is about £2500 per annum; the Rev. H. W. Kemp, incumbent 
of St. John's Church, receiving £200 a year as master. 

The Post Office.— The new post office, opened in 1843, with 
money order office and other departments, is a complete and well- 
regulated establishment, embracing all the modern improvements 
adopted in other offices of this description. 

The Custom House. — The custom house, a large red brick build- 
ing, with stone quoins and dressings, originally opened in 1797 as 
the "Neptune Inn," is very spacious and commodious. The " lono- 



PAST AND PRESENT. 537 



room" is fifty-two feet in length by twenty-fimr feet in width, 
having five circular-heailed windows fronting the sti'eet, the central 
one with two small side lights. The ceiling is e]a,l)()rately decorated. 

The Public Cemcteri/. — The cemetery, situated at the end of 
Spring Bank, in Cottingham parish, incloses sixteen acres. 

The public baths and wash-houses, situate in Trij)pet Street, 
were erected by the corporation at an outlay of £12,000, and 
opened April 22, 1S50. 

An Ionic pillar of cast iron, twenty feet in height, stands opposite 
the post office. Upon its top is placed a hexagonal lantern, which 
is illuminated with an argand liffht and reflector of larg-e size. This 
column serves for lio-htingf vessels into the harbour. 

The ^Vilberforce monument, at the foot of the Junction Dock 
Bridge, is a noble fluted Doric column, upon \A'hich is a statue of 
the celebrated statesman and philanthropist, who was a native of 
this town. The pillar is seventy-two feet in height. 

The new waterworks are erected about four miles from the town. 
Among the places of recreation and amusement are the Botanic 
Gardens (Linnseus Street, Anlaby Road), opened in 1812. They are 
the property of shareholders and occupy about five acres of land, 
containing a large variety of rare alpine, aquatic, and other plants. 

The Theatre Boyal, Paragon Street, was opened in 1871. 

The following newspapers are published in Hull : — The Hull Pachet, 
first published in 1787; the Eastern Horning News, formerly the 
Hull Advertiser, in 1797; the Eastern Counties Herald, in 1838 ; and 
the Hull Keus, in 1852. 

Bailioays. — Hull is a terminus on the Hull and Selby and 
the North Eastern railways, and holds communication with the 
Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire line across the Humber by 
the Ferry. 

Literary and Scientific Institutions.- — The institutions and societies 
include the Mechanics' Institute in George Street, founded in June, 
182.5 ; the Lyceum Library and Pteading Room, St. John's Street, 
founded in 1807; and last, though far the most important, the 
Royal Literary Institution, commenced in May, 1853, situated in 
Albion Street. It has a noble stone front in the Roman style of 
architecture, 160 feet long. The subscription library attached to 
this building is tastefully fitted up and decorated. The book rooms 
are calculated to hold upwards of 60,000 volumes. 

The Public Rooms, Jarratt Street, were erected by a company 
vol.. ir. '^ ^ 



538 YORKSHIRE : 



of shareholders, in 1830. This edifice is 142 feet long and 79 feet 
wide, and is ornamented with Ionic capitals and bases. The prin- 
cipal room is the music hall, a fine apartment richly decorated and 
capable of accommodating 1200 persons, exclusive of the orchestra, 
which will hold 200 performers. 

The borough goal and house of correction, Hedon Eoad, was 
built in 1867, at an outlay of £.57,000. 

The Merchants Exchange. — The Merchants' Exchange, Lowgate, 
was completed in 1866. It forms one of the chief ornaments of the- 
town, and has a bold commanding effect. The style of architecture 
is Italian. The principal entrance is surmounted by a large figure 
of Britannia, accompanied by the usual emblems. The internal 
arrangements are of a magnificent character, and not surpassed in 
beauty and excellence by any building in England. 

The General Infirmarij. — This valuable building, in Prospect 
Street, was opened in 1782. The institution is one of the most 
important in the town. 

The Female Penitentiary, Anlaby Road, was first established in 
1811, and affords an asylum to thirty-six reclaimed women. 

Churches and Chapels. — Of ecclesiastical edifices the first is the 
church of the Holy Trinity, usually denominated the High Church. 
The present church was constructed at different times ; but the 
east end, now used as the chancel, is of the greatest antiquity. 
This part of the edifice was the ancient chapel of Wyke, and it 
IS certainly the oldest building in Hull. In 1661 the Holy 
Trinity Church, which up to that time was only a chapel of 
ease to the mother church at Hessle, was on the petition of 
the corporation constituted a parish church by Act of Parliament. 
In 15.52 this church was put under an interdict, the doors and 
windows were closed up with thorns and briars, the pavement 
torn up, and the bells deprived of their tongues. No worship 
was performed in it; every person who presumed to enter the 
building was declared to be accursed ; and even the dead were 
not suffered to be buried. There is no reason assigned for this 
severe sentence. The church is a noble cruciform structure in the 
Gothic style, with a lofty and Yerj beautiful tower rising from 
the intersection, and is said to be the largest parish church in the 
kingdom, with one exception. It is 272 feet long from west to 
east, the length of the nave being 144; the breadth of the nave 
of the transept under the tower is 28 feet; the lenoth of the 



PAST AND PRESENT. 539 



chancel 100 feet; the breadth of the nave of the church is 172 
feet; the length of the transept 96 feet; and the breadth of the 
chancel 70 feet. It occupies an area of not less than 20,056 
square feet. The -svest front consists of a centre and wings divided 
by buttresses. The nave is much higher than the aisles, and is 
finished by a parapet of blank quatrefoils. The south transept is 
the height of the aisles, and in front of it is a handsome stone 
porch, the roof of the interior having longitudinal stone ribs. 
The whole edifice has recently undergone thorough restoration, and 
now presents a very commanding appearance. The noble tower 
is in two stories ; at the angles are buttresses, terminating in 
crocketed pinnacles. The height of the tower from the ground 
to the top of the pinnacle (according to Tickhill), is 147-^ feet. 
The entire church has a very fine appearance, and adds nruch to 
the beauty of the town. Previous to the year 1846 the west 
end of the nave, to the extent of three intei-columniations, was 
separated from the portion devoted to the service of the church, 
and the latter part had galleries round it. The nave was separated 
from the transept by an immense screen of oak, the sweep of 
the arches being also filled with timber, and from the entrances 
to the aisles ascended flights of stairs leading to the galleries of 
the nave. But happily, in the above year, the interior of the 
church was completely remodelled. An elegant Caen stone pulpit 
was erected at the same period. The chancel or choir is very 
spacious and lofty. The windows are filled with exquisitely stained 
glass, adorned with curious figures and shields of arms ; and the 
great east window alone contains the History of the Bible. The 
organ is said to have been originally built by Schmidt. 

St. Mary s and otJier Churcltes. — St. Mary's Church, Lowgate, 
commonly called the Low Church, was almost rebuilt by Sir 
Gilbert G. Scott in 1863. Its style is perpendicular, and we 
hardly need add that the work is excellent. St. John's Church, 
in the parish of the Holy Trinity, stands near the Wilberforce 
monument. It is a neat edifice of red brick, with stone dressings; 
the original cost of its erection was about £4600 ; but the tower 
at the west end, and a projection at the east end, have subse- 
|uently been built. The interior is neatly and comfortably fui-- 
nished to seat 1500 persons. St. James' Church is situated in 
St. James' Street, formerly called Cent-per-cent Street. Its founda- 
tion stone was laid on the 14th uf December, 182!*, and the 



Q 



540 YORKSHIRE : 



building was finished in July, 1831. It is a neat structure of 
white brick and stone, in the early English style, M'ith a tower 
at the west end, rising to the height of 110 feet. St. Stephen's 
Church, near Canning Street, was erected in the parish of Holy 
Trinity, and opened for divine service in 1844. Hull also contains 
the following churches : — Drypool Church, erected in 1824 ; St. 
Mark's, Jenning's Street, Groves, with a lofty spire ; Sculcoates 
St. Mary, Air Street ; St. Paul's, Cannon Street ; Christ's Church, 
John Street ; Mariner's Church, St. Luke's, St. Matthew's, St. 
Silas', and St. Jude's. The Methodists have nearly twenty chapels, 
the Independents about twelve, the Roman Catholics two, the 
Baptists four, the Presbyterians one, the German Lutherans one, 
the Society of Friends one, the Jews one, and the Unitarians one. 

The Public Schools of Hull. — The schools in Hull are : — The 
Grammar School, founded by Bishop Alcock in 1486; the Vicar's 
School, founded by the Rev. W. Mason in 1 73 7 ; the Kingston 
College ; Trinity House School ; Cogan's School for forty girls ; 
and the Roman Catholic free schools. Besides the above there 
are National, British, and Foreign schools, Wesleyan, Independent, 
and private schools. The Navigation School is an example of 
the successful introduction of scientific training of a superior kind 
into elementary schools. 

Eminent Natives of Hull. — Hull is the birthplace of several 
eminent men. First in point of antiquity, historical associations, 
and high rank, is the family of De la Pole. "The curtain rises 
upon this great family in the reign of Edward I., and sets in that 
of Henry VIII. Their story, therefore, is contemporaneous, and 
closely blended also, with the brilliant achievements of Edward HI. 
and the Black Prince ; with the still more brilliant achievements 
of Henry V. and his heroic brothers, Bedford, Clarence, and 
Gloucester; with the fierce internecine struggles of the rival 
Roses ; and with the transfer, on the bloody field of Bosworth, of the 
sceptre of England from the house of Plantagenet to that of Tudor. 
From Sir WiUiam de la Pole, a merchant prince, sprung the o-reat 
and powerful family of Suffolk. He was the friend and favourite 
of Edward III., a great benefactor to his native town, and founder 
of the Carthusian monastery and hospital, afterwards completed 
by his son. Sir Michael, who was created first earl of Sufiblk. Sir 
Michael also built a stately palace here, afterwards known by the 
name of Suffolk's palace. William de la Pole, fourth earl and first 



PAST AND PRESENT. 541 



duke of Suffolk, was, however, the most important historical per- 
sonage of the family, lie served in arms and diplomacy in France, 
and took a prominent part in court intrigues at home. His 
character and fate are portrayed by Shakspeare in " Henry YI. 
part 2." Bishop Alcock, founder of Jesus College, Cambridge, 
and the grammar school, Hull, was the son of a Hull merchant. 
He was successively bishop of Rochester, Worcester, and Ely, 
twice lord high chancellor of England, master of the rolls, privy 
councillor, and ambassador to the king of Castile. He was not 
only a considerable crater and eminent divine, but also an excellent 
architect, having designed and built Henry VII.'s chapel at West- 
minster. He died at Wisbeach in 1500. The name of Andrew 
Marvell, although he was not born in Hull, is intimately connected 
with the history of the town. At the time of his birth his father 
was rector at Winestead, as well as master of the grammar school, 
Hull. Xo name of his ao-e is more deservinof of admiration than 
that of the " incorruptible patriot," the friend of Milton. He re- 
ceived the rudiments of his education at the grammar school, and 
at the age of fifteen was admitted at Trinity College, Cambridge. In 
1657 he was appointed assistant to Milton, who at that time was 
Cromwell's secretary. In 1658 he was elected M.P. for Hull, and 
faithfully represented the town for twenty years, always main- 
taining the_ character of an honest man, a true patriot, and an 
incorruptible senator. As a poet and controversial writer he holds 
no mean position, and was the last member of Pardiament paid 
by his constituents. He died in 1678. William Mason, the poet, 
politician, and divine, was born here in 1725. His father was 
vicar of Holy Trinity Church from 1722 to 1752. In 1754 he 
took orders, and afterwards became chaplain to the king. He 
was the author of " Isis," " Elfrida," " Caractacus," " Argentile and 
Curan," "Sappho," "Pygmalion," a translation, and the "English 
Garden. " His chief performances were "Elfrida" and " Cai-actacus," 
both dramas cast in a classical mould. He is, however, best known 
as the friend and biographer of Gray, the famous author of the 
"Elegy," ^^•hose letters he edited with great care. lie died in 
1797, and his memory is honoured by a marble tablet in the 
Poet's Comer, Westminster Abbey. In 1759 William Wilberforce 
was born in High Street, Hull. He was returned to Parliament 
as a representative of his native place in 1780, and was elected 
for the county of York in 1784. His long struggle for the abolition 



542 YORKSHIRE : 



of the African slave trade is a matter of universal history, and 
need not be detailed here. In 1825 he retired from public life, 
having sat in Parliament for forty-five years, and died in 1833. 
His " Practical View of Christianity " holds a high place in our 
religious literature. Commodore Thompson, editor of the works 
of Marvell, Oldham, and Paul Whitehead ; Benjamin Thompson, 
the famous German scholar, and translator of Kotzebue, Schiller, 
Ififland, Goethe, Lessing, &c. ; Sir John Lawson, the celebrated 
admiral, who distinguished himself in various engagements with 
with the Dutch; the late General Perronet Thompson, author of 
the "Cathecism of the Corn Laws," &c. — were natives of Hull. 
Among the more modern celebrities belonging to this town are 
Dr. Bromby, the present bishop of Tasmania ; Earle, the celebrated 
sculptor ; Cuthbert Brodrick, the eminent architect ; and John 
Symons, M.Pt.I.A., a distinguished local historian and antiquary, 
who was born here in 1825. His chief Hterary performances are 
"High Street, Hull," and "HuUinia," two pleasantly written and 
interesting volumes, full of antiquarian lore, showing deep research 
into the ancient history of the town. 

Progress of the Population of Hull. — At the beginning of the 
present century the population of Hull amounted to 29,580 souls. 
At the Census of 1871 the town contained 123,111 persons, and 
25,455 mhabited houses ; showing an increase since the Census of 
1861 of 25,450 persons and 5939 inhabited houses. 

Boundaries of King sto7i-upon- Hull. — The borough of Kingston- 
upon-HuU consists of the district described as follows in the Eeform 
Act, 2 & 3 Will. IV. c. 6, Schedule O :— " The several parishes of 
St. Mary, the Holy Trinity, Sculcoates, and Drypool, together with 
the extra-parochial space called Garrisonside, and all other estra- 
parochial places, if any, which are surrounded by the boundaries of 
the said parishes of St. Mary, the Holy Trinity, Sculcoates, and 
Drypool, or any of them ; and also all such part of the parish of 
Sutton as is situated to the south of a straight line to be drawn 
from Sculcoates Church to the point at which the Sutton drain 
meets the Summegang drain." The population of Hull in 1861 was 
97,661, then showing an increase of 45,750 since 1831. The parlia- 
mentary and municipal boroughs are co-exteusive, and comprise an 
area of 3656 acres. "Hull owes its prosperity to its position at 
the point where the river Hull flows into the great estuary of the 
Humber, and supplies the best shelter and anchorage for ships that 



PAST AND PKKSKNI. 543 



is to lio femud at any \xn\\t ut' the east coast of England, between 
the Thames and the Tyne. Hull, which is one of the great sea- 
ports of England, is fast iiiereasing in population and wealth." 
Fopulution and Occupation.^ of tlie Inliahitants of Kingston-upon- 
Hull. — The occeupations of the inhabitants of a great seaport 
like Hull, of course, differ most materially from those of the people 
of the inland and manufacturing towns previously described. The 
following return shows the chief occupations of the people of Hull 
at the Census of 1871, and may be taken as characteristic of those 
of seaports of the first class. The male population above twenty 
years of age was 32,798, and tlieir occupations were. as follows: — 
Commercicl classes. — Merchants, 95 ; bankers, 4 ; bank service, 44 ; 
insurance and benefit society service, 52 ; brokers, agents, and fac- 
tors, 1S6; salesmen (not otherwise described), 7; auctioneers, valuers, 
and house agents, 45 ; accountants, 39 ; commercial clerks, 599 ; 
commercial travellers, 115 ; other mercantile men, 1 ; pawnbrokers, 
56 ; shopkeepers (branch undefined) and general dealers, 95 ; huck- 
sters and costermongers, 13; hawkers and pedlars, 165; railway 
engine drivers and stokers, 82 ; railway officers, clerks, and station- 
mastei's, 125; railway attendants and servants, 323; toll collectors 
and turnpike-gate keepers, 8 ; coach, omnibus, and cab owners, and 
livery stable keepers, 30 ; coachmen (not domestic), cabmen, and 
flymen, 125; carmen, carriers, carters, and draymen, 422; inland 
navigation service, 2 ; bargemen and watermen, 692 ; others (not 
defhied), 3 ; shipowners, 82 ; steam navigation service, 325 ; ship 
stewards and cooks, 60; seamen (merchant service) 2420 ; pilots, 74 ; 
harbour and dock service labourers, 1765; wharfingers, 2 4 ; others, (not 
defined) 29; warehousemen, 145 ; meters and weighers, 15; messengers, 
porters, and errand boys, 137; telegraph company service, 14. 
Industrial classes. — Booksellers and publishers, 40 ; bookbinders, 
36; printers, 183; newspaper agents and news-room keepers 20; 
others engaged in publications, 5 ; musical instrument makers and 
dealers, 49 ; others (not defined), 4 ; lithographers and litho- 
graphic printers, 21 ; others (not defined), 4 ; wood carvers, 29 ; 
others (not defined), 7; toy ma,kers and dealers, 10; watcli 
and clock makers, 84 ; philosophical instrument makers and 
opticians, 15 ; weighing machine, scale, and measure maker, 1 ; 
surgical instrument makers, 3; gunsmitlis and gun manufacturers, 7; 
engine and machine makers, 1370; spinning and weaving machine 
maker, 1 ; agricultural implement makers, 2 ; millwrights, 106 ; tool- 



544 YORKSHIRE : 



makers and dealers, 20 ; filemakers and dealers, 6 ; sawmakers 
and dealers, 4 ; cutlers, 18 ; others engaged in toolmaking, &c., 5 ; 
coachmakers, 95 ; -wheelwrights, 52 ; others engaged about carriages, 
1 ; saddlers, harness and whip makers, 61 ; shipbuilders, ship- 
wrights, and boatbuilders, 1205; sailmakers, 115 ; others (not defined) 
20; house proprietors, 22 ; architects, 24; surveyors, 4; builders, 72 ; 
carpenters and joiners, 1137; bricklayers, 812; marble masons, 
28 ; masons and paviors, 229 ; slaters and tilers, 42 , plasterers, 78 ; 
paper-hangers, 36; plumbers, painters, and glaziers, 565; others (not 
defined), 2 ; cabinet-makers and upholsterers, 275; carvers and gilders, 
35 ; furniture brokers and dealers, 46 ; manufacturing chemists 
and labourers, 51; dye and colour manufacturers, 116; dyers, 
scourers, and calenderers, 33 ; others, 20 ; oil millers and refiners, 
795 ; oil and colourmen, 9 ; French poHshers, 49 ; India rubber and 
gutta percha manufacturers and dealers, 3 ; others (not defined, 82 ; 
timber and wood merchants and dealers, 213; sawyers, 200; lath, 
fence, and hurdle makers, 150 ; wood turners and workers, 50 ; box 
and packing case makers, 8 ; coopers, hoop makers, and benders, 328 ; 
cork cutters and manufacturers, 36 ; basket-makers, 82 ; hay and 
straw dealers, 22 ; rag gatherers and dealers, 1 1 ; paper manufacturers, 
30 ; stationei'S (not law), 29 ; paper stainers, 7 ; other workers in 
paper, 15.* 

♦ Census of England and Wales, 1871. Population Abstracts, vol. iii. pp.' 482-85. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 545 



HATES A>;D notes ItELATlNO TO THE PORT OF HULL. 

Yvk-upoii-IIull, or the Harbour on the river Hull, the name of what is 
now known as Hull, or Kingston-npon-HuU, in the time when the Danes 
and other ScaiKlinavian tribes liad possession of this part of England. — - 
Yorkshiie : Past and Present, vol. ii. p. 509. 

1150, IGtli King Stephen. — Abbey of Melsa or Jleaux founded by William 
le Gros, earl of jVlbemarle. — ^'ol. ii. p. 512. 

1160, 7th Henry IL — (Jrant of lands, Del Wike de Jlitune, now forming part 
of the site of PIuU, made to the monks of Alelsa or Meaux Abbey, by Matilda, 
the daughter of Hugh Camin. — \'ol. ii. p. 510. 

1160. — A croft in Sutton described as having belonged to Henrlcus de Hull. 
— A'ol. ii. p. 513. 

1204:, 6th King John. — Monks of Melsa pay a fine of lOO.s. (£75 of 
modern moncv) to Pilchard Ducket, parson {persona) of the church at Hessle. — 
Vol. ii. p. 512. 

1206, 7th and Sth King John. — Hull, mentioned by that name in the Pipe 
EoU or hiL,di sheriff's account of Yorkshire, as paying a tax of £.344 of the 
money of that time, equal to £5170 of present money, to King John. 
j\Iention also made of the conveying of the king's wines from Hull to York. — 
Yol. ii. pp. 513, 514. 

1200, 7th and Sth King John. — Comparative value of the income of the 
principal ports of England at this time. — Vol. ii. p. 514. 

1269, 54th Plenry IIP — Hull mentioned in the Register of Walter Giffard, 
archbishop of York. — Vol. ii. p. 513. 

1275, 3rd Edward I. — Mention made of Thomas de Wyke. — Vol. ii. 
p. 515. 

1278, 6th Edward I. — Abbot of Meaux obtains permission to hold a market 
on Thursday in each week at Wyke, near Jlyton-upon-the-Hull, and a fair there 
each year on the vigil, the day, and the morrow of the Holy Trinity, and on the 
twelve following days. — Vol. ii. p. 514. 

1285, 14th Edward I. — Church of Holy Trinity at Hull founded as a chapel 
by one James Helward, the mother church being at Hessle. — Vol. ii. p. 538. 

1293, 21st and 22nd Edward I. — King Edward buys Vyk-upon-HuU from 
the abbot of Melsa, makes it a royal borough, and gives it the name of Kingston, 
or the King's-town-upon-Hull, appointing a warden {mstos) and bailiffs, making 
it a manor of itself, independent of .Myton. — Vol. ii. pp. 514, 515. 

1294. Inquiry on a writ of (id <jiiiuj <hniininn, dated November 5, .22nd 

Edward P, directed to the king's bailiffs of Kingston-super-Hull, as to the value 
of land about to be granted to Philip de Coltfield in the town of Kyngeston- 
on-HuU. — Vol. ii. p. 516. 

1300, 28th and 29th Edward I. — King Edward I. visited the town of Hull, 
crossing the Plumber from Barton to Hessle. — Pavage grants made for the 
streets of Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 516. 

1316, 9th and 10th Edward IP — Perry established across the llumber. — 

"\"ol. ii. p. 517. 

1322, 15th and 16th Edward H. — Inhabitants petitioned for license to fortify 

VOL. II. 3 ^ 



546 YORKSHIRE 



the town with ditches and moats. — Fortifications of Hull in times of Charles I. 
and Charles II.— Vol. ii. pp. 520, 524. 

1440, 18th Henry VI. — Hull made a county and a corporate town, with a 
mayor, sheriff, and aldermen. — In the wars of York and Lancaster, Hull 
on the side of the house of Lancaster. — Vol. ii. pp. 518-523. 

1538. — Leland's account of Hull in the reign of lung Henry VIII. — Vol. ii. 
p. 517. 

1577-1588. — Hull the second outport in England. — Supplied 800 men and 
£600 to defend the kingdom against the Spanish Armada. — Vol. ii. pp. 521, 523. 

1590.— Camden's account of Hull in the reign of Queen Elizabeth Vol. ii. 

p. 522. 

1640-1643, 16th-18th Charles I. — Hull besieged by King Charles' army, 
under William Cavendish, earl, afterwards marquis, of Newcastle, and suc- 
cessfully defended by Fernando, Lord Fairfax, and his son. Sir Thomas, for 
the Parliament of England. — Vol. ii. pp. 524-529. 

1727.. — Daniel Defoe's account of the commerce of Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 529. 

1780-1850. — The first docks at Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 533. 

1815. — Introduction of steam navigation at Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 532. 

1869. — Boundaries of the borough of Hull. — Modern boundaries of Hull. — 
Vol. ii. p. 542. 

1871. — Great extension of modern docks and trade of Hull.' — Vol. ii. pp. 
533, 534. 

1871. — Population in 1871, 123,111 persons. — Vol. ii. p. 542. 

1871. — Population and occupations of the people of Hull. — Vol. ii. pp. 
543, 544. 

1873. — Exports of Hull in this year amounted in value to £23,034,662. — 
Vol. ii. p. 533. 

The whale fishery of Hull.— Vol. ii. p. 529. 

Description of the older parts of Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 531. 

Sir Henry Cooper, M.D., on the sanitary condition of Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 531. 

The public market of Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 534. 

Local government of Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 534. 

The modern public buildings of Hull. — Vol. ii. pp. 535-538. - 

Newspapers published in Hull. — A"ol. ii. p. 537. 

Literary and scientific institutions in Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 537. 

Churches and chapels of Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 538. 

The public schools of Hull. — Vol. ii. p. 540. 

Eminent natives of Hull — The De la Poles, Bishop Alcock, Andrew 
Marvell, &c. — Vol. ii. pp. 540-542. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



CHAPTEll X. 

HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH AND WATERING PLACE 01* SCARBOROUGH. 

The beautiful and popular watering-place of Scarborough stands 
in the bosom of a fine bay, on the steep and rocky shores of 
the German Ocean^ and in a position on the Yorkshire coast 
nearly central between Flamborough Head and Whitby. The 
ledges of the Oolitic rock on which the town is built rise from 
the shore in the form of an amphitheatre, ledge towering over 
ledge ; and the concave slope of its semicircular bay gives the 
town and neighbourhood a very picturesque appearance. The 
situation, is thus described by the correct and elegant historian of 
Scarborough. " To the north-east of the town stand the ruins 
of the ancient castle of Scarborough, whose venerable Avails adorn 
the summit of a lofty promontory. To the south is a vast expanse 
of ocean, a scene of the highest magnificence, where fleets of ships 
are frequeutly passing. The receding of the tide leaves a spacious 
area upon the sands, equally convenient for exercise and sea-bathing. 
The refreshing gales of the ocean, and the shade of the neighbour- 
in <"'• hills, give an agreeable temperature to the air dvuing the 
sultry heats of summer, and produce a grateful serenity."'" 

Scarborough has thus risen to its present high position among 
the watering places of England from the beauty of its situation, 
from its health-giving mineral waters, and its smooth and exten- 
sive sands. It stands on one of the few points on the coast of 
England, at which the sandy rocks of the Oolitic formation are laid 
bare by the working of the tides of the sea. The only other point 
in the British islands at which this formation is thus beaten upon 
and exposed, is at Weymouth and the adjoining Isle of Portland, 
in Dorsetshire, which also possesses a remarkable amount of 
natural beauty, and even grraideur. Scarl)orough was already 
a flourishing watering-place at the time when it was visited by 
Daniel Defoe, in the reign of George I., though at that time it 
was extremely difficult of access from the interior, across the 

* Hinderwell, Ilistory anJ Antiquities of Scarborough, Ito., York, 1798. 



548 YORKSHIRE : 



hills and wolds of the North and East Ridings. Even at the 
beginning of the present century the communication with this 
part of the coast was kept up with difficulty, bj the royal mail 
and a few stage coaches from York, Hull, and Leeds, which, 
however, were remarkably well filled during the summer months. 
But since the introduction of railways Scarborough has become 
easily accessible from every part of the kingdom, and it is 
now one of the most frequented, as well as one of the most 
beautiful, watering places on the British coast. New Avorks of 
various kinds, calculated to develop the beauties of nature, have 
been introduced on the most liberal scale ; and in addition to a 
resident population, which amounted to 24,2.59 persons in 1871, 
Scarborough is now frequented in the summer months by 
thousands and even tens of thousands of visitors from every part 
of the kinp-dom. Before describinp* the modern town of Scar- 
borough, it will be well to give an account of the early history 
not only of the town, but of its strong and magnificent castle, which 
was for many ages the bulwark, as it is still the ornament, of 
this part of the coast of Yorkshire. 

Ancient History of the Borough of Scarborough. — Scarborough, 
the burgh or fortress on the cliffs, was a town and seaport of some 
strength and importance previous to the Norman conquest. As 
we have already mentioned in our account of the early history of 
Yorkshire,'" Scarborough was taken and burnt by Harald Hardrada, 
king of Norway, in 1066, the same year in which the battle of 
Hastings was fought and won by the Norman conqueror-. In that 
year Harald Hardrada, then the most formidable of the Norwegian 
sea-kings, landed on the coast of Cleveland in Yorkshire, from a 
powerful fleet, and with a" large Norwegian army, to support 
Tosti, earl of Northumberland, the brother of the last Anglo-Saxon 
king, Harold, who had been expelled from his extensive earl- 
dom of Northumberland, by an insurrection of his own people. 
This invasion ended in the defeat and death of Harald of 
Norway and of Earl Tosti, both of whom fell in a great battle 
fought at Stamford Bridge, near York, in the year 1066. But 
previous to that battle, the invaders overran the greater part of 
the North and East Ridings, obtaining considerable successes. 
Amongst these was the capture of Scarborough. We have no precise 
account of the fortifications of the town at that early ao-e ; but 

* Voikbliire: Past and Present, vol. i. p. 452. 



PAST AXD PRESENT. 549 



even then tlicj were so strong that the pLice was only taken 
by making- great tires of lirnsh\\'Ood on the cllEs outside the 
town, the embers of which spread to the wooden buikUngs withia 
it, and tlius compelled the garrison and the inhabitants to surrender 
themselves, and what remained of the place, to the invaders. * 
As we are told, the Norwegian king led his army to the top of a hill 
that overlooks the town, and made a great pile of fagots there. 
This he set on fire, and when the fire was bui-ning fiercely, his men 
took large forks and pitched the burning wood into the town, 
t-etting it on fire in many places, and compelling the inhabitants 
to surrender. " There the Northmen killed many people, and took 
all the booty they could lay their hands on." | 

Scarborough and the surrounding country belonged to Earl Tosti 
in the reign of Edward the Confessor. It was then included in 
the manor or lordship of Walsgrave, or perhaps Falsgrave (which 
may mean the lordship of the fells or cliffs). This extended 
over great part of the .adjoining district, and probably formed a 
military government intrusted with the defence of that important 
part of the coast and its harbour. The lordship included no less 
than eighty-four carucates (of 180 to 200 acres each) of taxable land, 
and the population consisted of 107 socmen, or tenants of the soke or 
lordship, who held forty-six carucates. But after the destructive 
wars which preceded or followed the Norman conquest, there only 
remained, at the time of the Domesday Survey, made about 
twenty years after the Norman invasion, seven socmen, together 
with fifteen villeins, and fourteen bordars or cottagers ; and not 
more than seven and a half carucates of land were in actual culti- 
vation at that time, the rest lying waste. 

The Castle of ^carhorougli. — The ancient and stupendous castle 
of Scarborough, built on a lofty promontory rising from the sea 
to a height of more than 300 feet, and in a position which 
was almost impregnable previous to the invention of gunpowder, 
was erected about eighty years after the Norman conquest, in 
the reign of King Stephen, the nephew of William the Conqueror, 
and between the years 113.5-.54, by Wihlam le Gros, earl of 
Albermarle and Holderness, who commanded the English army 
in the great battle of the Standard, fought in that reign at 

' Yorkshire: Past and Present, vol. I. p. 452, 

f The Heimskringla, or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway, translated from the Icelandic of Snorro Sturleson, 
with a preliminary dissertation by Samuel Laing, Esq., London. 1844. 



550 YORKSHIRE : 



Northallerton, against the invading armies of Scotland, and who 
was one of the ablest and most successful commanders in that 
turbulent age. The object in constructing the castle was to 
form an impregnable bulwark against attacks, both by sea and. 
by land, on that part of the Yorkshire coast ; and such the 
castle of Scarborough proved to be for many ages. During 
the Barons' wars, it was one of the fortresses placed, in the 
hands of the barons by Henry III., and was held by them in 
spite of the threats of the king and the excommunication of the 
pope, who backed Henry against the barons in the contest. In 
the first war between King Edward II. and. the earl of Lancaster, 
originating chiefly in the former's blind partiality for Piers de Gaves- 
ton, the royal favourite took refuge in the castle of Scarborough, 
where, however, he was obliged to surrender from want of supplies. 
In the same reign the army of Robert Bruce overran this district of 
Yorkshire, and destroyed the greater part of the town, but without 
being able to capture the castle, which was proof against anything 
except surprise or a long blockade. In the insurrection entitled 
the Pilgrimage of Grace, in the year 1536, Piobert Aske, leader of 
the insurgents, took the town and made an unsuccessful attack 
upon the castle. In a subsequent insurrection, at the time of 
Wyatt's rebellion against Queen Mary, in the year 15,5.3, the castle 
was surprised by a number of soldiers, who obtained entrance, 
disguised as peasants coming to market. This achievement was 
performed by Thomas, the second son of Lord Stafford ; but 
his success was very brief, for three days afterwards the castle 
was retaken by Nevill, earl of Westmoreland, and Stafford and 
the other leaders were sent to Loudon, and were there exe- 
cuted for high treason. Scarborough Castle was twice besieged, 
or rather blockaded, in the great civil war between Charles I. and 
his Parliament. The first siege was by the parliamentary army, 
under the command of Sir John Meldrum, who was killed in 
the course of the attack, though the fortress was ultimately taken 
by his successor. Sir Matthew Boynton, to whom Sir Hugh Chol- 
mely, the royahst governor, was compelled to surrender it, in July, 
1645. At a subsequent period, when the Scottish Presbyterian 
army advanced into England to restore the deposed king. Colonel 
Boynton, the governor, declared for Charles, and the castle once 
more fell into the hands of the royalists. But the garrison grow- 
ing mutinous, after the defeat of the Scots, he was obliged to 



PAST AND niF.SENT. 551 



surrender, on the lOtli I)ei.'enil)oi-, IGiS, and the castle was a.gain 
occupied by a parliamentary Inicc, under the c<iiiima,iid of Colonel 
Bethel. This was the close of the nunierous sieges of Scarborough 
Castle, the works being then, partially at least, destroyed by order 
of the Long Parliament ; but it was still a place of great natural 
strength, and in the Jacobite insurrection of 1745 works were 
erected, and three batteries were formed, for the protection of the 
town and harbour, two of them at the south, and one on the 
north side of the castle ya;-d. 

The noble and still extensive ruins of the castle of Scarborough 
rise to a height of more than 300 feet on the southern, and 330 
feet on the northern side. The western front is a high, steep, and 
rocky slope, commanding the town and bay. The level area of the 
castle covers nineteen acres of ground, and there was a large reservoir 
of water called "Our Lady's Well." "It is said that the engineer 
who superintended the building of the barracks and other military 
works, about the year 1746, ordered the workmen to dig a circular 
trench round the reservoir, in order to trace the source of the 
water; and that they discovered subterraneous drains or channels, 
which appeared to have been made for the purpose of catching 
the rainfall of the castle-hill," which was found to be sufficient in 
amount to supply the wants of a considerable garrison. 

TJie Parliamentainj and Munirijial Borough of Scarhorovgh. — 
Scarbi.iruugh is a parliamentary borough, sending two members to 
Parliament, and has been so from the time when the repre- 
sentative system was first introduced into England in the reign 
of King Edward I. It was incorporated by charter in the 
reifj-n of Henry II. ; and its customs, liberties, &c., were confirmed 
by King John and by Henry III. It ranks among the most 
ancient boroughs that send members to Parliament. The earliest 
grant for murage or tolls for inclosing and fortifying the town, 
occurs in the 9th year of Henry HI, (1234-:^;j). The oldest 
pavage grant is of the 28th of Edward III, (1354-.5.'3), although 
the Dominican monks had paved a street in Scarbordugh in tlie 
reign of Edward I. " In the Parliament that was held in the year 
1282, and which was nearly the first Parliament in England, being- 
held in the eleventh year of Edward I., Scruljorough was the only 
city or borough in Yorkshire, except the city of York, that was sum- 
moned to send represeiitntives to that assembly. The arms of 
the borou'-'-h bear the mniks of considerable antiquity. A ship 



552 YORKSHIRE 



of the rudest form, a watch tower, and a star, appear on the com- 
mon seal. Its registry in tbe Herald's College is without date, 
and it is there classed amongst the most ancient. The bailiff's 
seal of office is a ship only, of very antique form, with two towers 
on tLe deck, and a smaller one at the top of the mast.""" 

Tlie Port and Harbour of Scarborough. — Scarborough is one of the 
best among the few harbours on this rock-bound coast ; and accord- 
ing to the authority of Leland, it obtained considerable privileges so 
early as the reign of King Henry I. In the year 1253 Henry III. 
granted letters patent for making a new pier at Scardebourg, 
(as the name was then spelt); and in one of the charters of 
that king, recited and confirmed by King Edward HI. in the 
year 1356, mention is repeatedly made of the new town in con- 
trast with the old. Leland gives the following description of 
Scarborough, in the reign of King Henry YIII. : — " Scardebourg 
town, though it be privileged, yet seemeth to be in Pickering Lithe 
district, for the castle of Scardebourg is counted of the jurisdiction 
of Pickering, and the shore to the very point at Filey Brig by 
the sea, about six miles from Scardebourg, towards Bridlington, is of 
Pickering Lithe jurisdiction. Scardebourg, where it is not defended 
by the rocks and the sea, is walled a little with stone, but mostly 
protected with ditches and walls of earth. In the town, to enter by 
land, be two gates, Newbui'gh gate (meately [moderately] good), and 
Aldeburgh gate (very base). The town standeth Avholly on a 
stately cliff", and showeth very fair to the sea-side. There is but 
one parish church in the town, that of Our Lady, joining almost to 
the castle ; it is very fair and aisled, on the sides and cross-aisle, 
and has three ancient towers for bells, with pyramids (or spires) on 
them, whereof two towers be at the west end of the church, and one 
in the middle of the cross-aisle. There is a great chapel by the 
sea, by Newburgh gate, and there were in the town three houses 
of friars — grey, black, and white." 

Scarborough as a Harbour of Refuge. — Although Scarborough was 
a place of some trade in early times, and was frequented by German, 
or as they Avere then called, Easterling merchants, Avho attended 
great fairs held on the sea-shore ; and although the herring 
fishery was carried on both by the native fishermen and by the 
then more enter|)rising fishermen of Holland, who frequented this 
part of the coast in the reign of Queen Elizabeth — the trade in 

* Cole's Scarl)ciroiigh Album. 



PAST AM) TRBSIINT. 553 



tliose times was not sufficient to enable the merchants of Scar- 
borough to construct a large artificial liarbour at their own expense, 
chieflv owino- to tlie Avant of a navirrable river fjivincf water car- 
riage to the interior. But about the beginning of the reign of 
George II. the necessity for forming a harbour of refuge on this 
coast, into which vessels might run in stormy weather, became so 
urgent that an Act was passed authorizing the imposition of passing 
tolls on the colliers of Newcastle and other vessels, for the purpose 
of makinof and maintainino- a safe and convenient harbour at Scar- 
borough. In the year 1731-32, the 5th George II., an Act was 
passed for enlarging the pier and harbour at a cost of £12,000. By 
this Act, which was called the New Pier Act, a duty or passing toll 
of a halfpenny per chaldron was imposed on all coals laden in any 
ship or vessel clearing out from Newcastle-on-Tyne, or the ports 
belonging to it, and passing Scai-borough, together with other duties 
on imports, exports, and shipping, payable at Scarborough. Under 
the powers of this Act tlie pier was lengthened to 1200 feet, and 
Avidened to an extreme breadth of forty-two feet. But the com- 
missioners rJtimately judged it better to build a new pier, sweeping 
into tbe sea, and forming a large part of a circle. The foundation 
of this pier was from sixty to sixty-three feet in breadth, the width 
at the top forty-two feet, and the elevation of the pier forty feet. 
The stone used in building it was taken from a quarry at the 
White Xab, two miles distant. It is of a close texture, and almost 
impenetrable to the tool, from its extreme hardness. The depth, 
of the water at the extremity of this pier, at full spring tides, was 
from twenty to twenty-four feet ; at low water, only two or three 
feet. It is but within the last twenty years that passing tolls 
have been abolished, and that the harbours of Scarljorough, Whitby, 
and Bridlington, have been left to be sustained by local resources. 
Even at the present time there is a great want of a good har- 
bour of refuge on this part of the Yorkshire coast, and much 
valuable property and many still more valuable lives are lost from 
the absence of such a harbour. 

The Storms on the Yorkshire Coast. — The fishermen of Scar- 
borough, who amounted in numbers to 551 at the Census of 1871, 
are among the boldest in the British seas, and are always ready 
to render their assistance in the gales and storms which are so 
prevalent there in the winter months. The storms along this part 
of the coast are frequently of di-cadful violence. For instance, on 

4 A 



554 YORKSHIRE : 



the 2nd November, 1861, "a hurricane prevailed in the neigh- 
bourhood of Scarborough, where the new life-boat was brought 
into use for the rescue of those in peril. We are told that the 
T'oute from the life-boat station to the Spa Saloon was along the 
line of shore where the sea broke furiously ; in fact, at times over 
the Saloon tower. The gallant seamen who manned the boat 
pulled through the surf until they anived opposite the Spa, and 
within a few yards of a stranded vessel (the schooner Coupland, of 
Shields), when the rebound of the water from the sea wall of the 
Spa caused the boat to pitch in an alarming and fatal mannei'. 
Two of the crew were washed out and drowned, and the rest 
were more than ever at the mercy of the waves. Ropes were 
thrown from the Spa, the boat was hauled up, and after getting 
out of her, a fearful roll of the sea washed the crew from the land- 
ing place, and four more of the men perished. Lord Charles 
Beauclerk (brother of the duke of St. Albans) and Mr. W. Tin- 
dall (son of a banker at Scarborough), lost their lives in generously 
and nobly attempting to save the imperilled life-boat crew. Every 
street of the town bore evidence of the violence of the storm. 
Houses were unroofed, photographic galleries were completely 
smashed, and some new houses were blown down." '" 

The Mineral Waters of Scarhorough. — The reputation of Scar- 
borough as a watering place originated with its mineral waters; 
but the pleasures and advantages of sea-bathing now form its 
greatest attraction. Writing at the begmning of the present 
century, Button says :—" Perhaps Scarborough formerly was more 
in fashion for its mineral waters than for its bathing. Drinking the 
waters is an ancient custom; bathing is a modern but growing 
fashion."! The mineral waters were discovered more than 200 
years ago, under the following circumstances :— Mrs. Farrow, a 
sensible and intelligent lady who lived at Scarborough about the 
year 1620, sometimes walked along the shore, and observing the 
stones over which the waters passed to have received a russet 
colour, and finding the water to have an acid taste, different from 
the common springs, and to receive a purple tincture from galls, 
thought it probable that it might have a medicinal property' 
Having, therefore, tried it herself, and persuaded others to do 
the same, it was found to be efficacious in some comijlaints, and 
became the usual medicine of the inhabitants. It was afterwards 

* Mayall's Annals of Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. S66. f W. Hutton's Tour ,o Scarborougl,, p. 171. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 555 



" in great reputation with the citizens uf York and the gentry of 
the country, and at length was so generally recommended that 
many persons came from a great distance to drink it, preferring 
the \\aters of this Spa before all the others they had formerly 
frequented, even the Italian, French, and German. * Of Scar- 
borough and its mineral waters, Defoe, writing in the reign of 
George I., says: — "Scarborough next presents itself, a place 
formerl}' famous for a strong castle, situate on a rock, as it were 
hanging over the sea, but now demolished, being ruined in the 
last wars. The town is well built, populous, and pleasant, and we 
found a great deal of good company here drinking the waters, 
who came not only from aU the north of England, but even from 
Scotland." He says : " It is hard to describe the taste of the 
waters; they are apparently tinged with a collection of mineral 
sidts, as of vitriol, alum, iron, and perhaps sulphur, and taste 
evidently of the alum. Here is such a plenty of all sorts of fish 
that I have hardly seen the like ; and in particular, here we saw 
turbots of three quarters of a hundredweight, and yet they eat 
exceeding fine when taken new." 

A few years subsequent to Defoe's visit to Scarborough a great 
land slip, almost deserving the name of an earthquake, threatened 
to swallow up and bury the springs by which the Spa is fed. This 
movement of the ground, and its effects on the springs, are thus 
described : — ■ 

" The Spa-house is situate on the sea-shore, at the foot of the 
cliff, a little to the south of the town. In the year 1698 a cistern 
was built for collecting the waters. In the month of December, 
1737, the staith (or buildings and foundations) of the Spa, com- 
posed of a large body of stone bound by timber, as a fence 
against the sea for the security of the Spa-house, gave way in a 
most extraordinary manner. A great mass of the cliff, containing 
nearly an acre of pasture land, with the cattle grazing on it, 
sunk perpendicularly several yards. As the ground sank, the earth 
or sand under the cliff rose on the north and south sides of the 
staith and forced it out of its original position about a hundred 
yards in length, and in some places six, and in others seven yards 
above its former level. The Spa-wells ascended with the earth 
or sand ; but so soon as the latter began to rise the water ceased 
running into the wells, and for a time seemed to be lost. The 

' IlinderweH's History of tJcurborough, p. 173. Allen, vol. vi. p. 200. 



55 G YORKSHIRE : 



rrounc 



^._ad thus raised was twenty-six yards broad; and tlie staith, 
notwithstanding its immense weight (computed at 2463 tons), rose 
twelve entire feet higher than its former position, and was forced 
about twenty yards forward to the sea. The springs of the mineral 
waters were by dihgent search recovered, and the staith bemg 
repaired, the Spa continued in great reputation."''" 

Sea-bathing, which is now the great attraction of Scarborough, 
did not become fashionable until after the visit of Defoe, described 
above ; but the bathing carriages had come into use, according to 
Smollett's "Humphrey Clinker," in the year 1767; and it was at 
Scarborough that Matthew Bramble, whilst swimming from a 
bathing machine, was dragged on shore by the faithful Clinker, 
who thought that his master was drowning. Sheridan's amusing 
comedy of the "Trip to Scarborough" shows that the fame of 
this bathing place had then extended to the south of England. 

Scarhoroiigh at the Commencement of the Present Century. — We 
have a number of particulars with regard to Scarborough as it 
was in the year 1803, in Hutton's "Tour" to that place, of which 
the following are the most worthy of notice : — 

"The town," he says, "is built upon a cliff close to the sea, is very 
compact, the houses of a dark-coloured brick and covered with red 
tiles. . . . The unevenness of the town will appear from the 
following facts : — You rise ninety-four steps from the sands at the 
new steps to the top of Merchant's Row, perhaps thirty yards 
perpendicular ; from thence to the churchyard twice that height ; 
and from the churchyard to the castle about forty more. So that, 
in covering an horizontal space of 500 yards, you rise about 130. 
The sea is an everlasting amusement. Every look from the 
window brings something new. Ships are always in sight, passing 
between the north and south, generally from ten to thirty, which 
have no connection with Scarborough. ... In the morning 
of July the 4th, 1803, I saw 200 sail from Newcastle passing towards 
the south, a fleet which took two or three hours to pass. They 
were unguarded, though at war with France. In the evening I saw 
the Baltic fleet move towards the north ; what number I cannot 
tell, but with a glass we counted 198 at one view. . . . We 
supposed that number lay in the compass of seven miles. They were 
convoyed by three vessels ; one led the van, another was in the 
centre, the third brought up the rear, and each gave us a salute 

* Allen's History of Yorkshire, vol. vi. pp. 250-61. 



FAST AND rUESlONT. 557 

at passing- by. ... I believe the [liei's were raised, and are 
supported against the r;iva,ges of that powerful element the sen,, Ly 
a tax upon coals from Newcastle, wliich supply the place. It is 
scarcely in the power of art to barricade against it. Nothing but 
native rock can stand its fury. Every contrivance to strengthen 
the piers is adopted, and yet they give way." 

" The south side of the bay is secured by the liigh land, which 
runs towards the east to Filey Point, about seven miles, nay, 
even to Flamborough Head, more than twenty miles, which is 
plainly seen. Sheltered by the castle-hill and the piers, tliere 
are generally from ten to twenty vessels at anchor, and these are 
on the ground when the tide is out. The north side of the bay 
is secured by two piers, projecting from the foot of Castle-hill. 
Thev separate as they proceed, rise about eight or ten yards, are 
about twenty wide, and project into the sea 300 or 40-0. They 
were raised at a vast expense, and are composed of stones of all 
sizes, mixed with piles, and banded with timber. It is one of 
the best harbours on this coast, and the chief between Hull 
and Newcastle. From the security of the high lands on the south, 
the town upon a cliff on the west, the Castle-hill and piers on the 
north, vessels ride in the utmost safety." 

The Sc(mery around Scarhorougli. — " The views," says Mr. Hutton 
in his pleasant " Trip, ' " in the vicinity of Scarborough are most 
extensive and charming. The first of these is from the church- 
yard, exalted at the foot of the castle, and higher than the 
most elevated buildings. . . . The castle, which is much 
higher, commands a more extensive view; then the observer finds 
himself opposed to the winds. . . . But the greatest eleva- 
tion is Mount Oliver, on the south of the town. The name is said, 
by tradition, to be derived from Oliver Cromwell having planted 
Lis cannon upon the top to batter the castle ; and though it is 
very doubtful whether Oliver was ever personally present at 
the siege of Scarborough, his name had at that time become 
exceedingly famous, and may have been given to one of the 
points of attack. The mount itself is a Ijeautiful object. You 
rise a considerable height from the sands before you arrive at its 
broad base, where a good road winds you round to tlie summit, 
which is level, with a fine and safe ride a mile round." 

Another writer of a somewhat more recent date says : — " No 
part of the British coast affords a situation more commodious for 



j58 YORKSHIRE 



bathing than Scarborough. The bay is spacious and open to the 
sea, and the water is pure and transparent. The sand is clear, 
smooth, and level, and the inclination of the beach towards the sea 
is scarcely perceptible. No considerable river dilutes the brine, 
nor is the beach so extensive as to be uncomfortably hot, even under 
a summer's sun. The sea in the month of August is many degrees 
cooler than at Brighton, and possibly than at Weymouth, or any 
place southward of the Thames ; and bathing may be performed at 
all times of the tide, and in almost all sorts of weather, with security 
and ease. 

" Near Scarborough the country is richly diversified with hills 
and dales, exhibiting every variety of romantic scenery. Towards 
the north elevated moors of great extent raise their bleak and 
barren summits, forming a bold and striking contrast in the land- 
scape to the highly cultivated country that lies to the westward. 
And to the south and south-west, the Wold hills in the East Riding 
present another grand and extensive line of boundary to the 
prospect. Weaponness, or Oliver's Mount, little more than a mile 
from the town, possesses every requisite that can render an excur- 
sion to its summit delightful. The roads are j udiciously laid out, 
and their ascents are easy, seldom exceeding seven or eight feet 
in a hundred. Thus the tourist ascends without difficulty to one 
of the most delightful terraces in England, elevated 500 feet above 
the level of the sea. From this commanding eminence there is a 
magnificent view of the coast, the Castle-hill, the town, the harbour 
the piers, and the ocean, bounded only by the horizon ; and in the 
western prospect the moors, the wolds, and the extensive vale 
stretching out towards Malton and Pickering, exhibit a highly 
diversified scenery."" 

The Modern Toivn of Scai'borough. — The modern town of Scar- 
borough is well built, and various circumstances concur to render 
it a cliarming summer's retreat. The principal streets in the upper 
town are spacious and well paved, with excellent flagged footways 
on each side ; and the houses have, in general, a handsome appear- 
ance. The new buildings on the CM stand almost unrivalled in 
respect of situation, having in front a beautiful terrace, elevated 
nearly 100 feet above the level of the sands, and commanding a 
variety of delightful prospects. As residences these buildings are 
equally elegant, commodious, pleasant, and healthy, being agree- 

* Allen's Historj' of Yorkshire, \ol. vi. pp. 252-25 J. 



PAST AND TRESENT. 559 



ably ventilated by refresliing breezes from the sea. In diiFerent 
parts of tbe town tliere are many excellent lodging-honses, where 
visitors may be accommodated in an agreeable manner. There 
are gardens with public walks, which afford a pleasant and salu- 
brious amusement ; and an elegant asserid)ly-room and a handsome 
theatre are alternately open in the summer evenings. The sliops 
are well stored with various articles of utility and excellence. 

(^ne of the most important improvements in this town was 
the erection of the Cliif Bridge; the difficulty of access from the 
Cliti' to the Spa had often been justly complained of by visitors, 
and ]Mr. Cattle, of York, projected the elegant edifice which now 
forms a delightfid promenade between the Spa and the town. 
The first stone was laid November 29, 1826, and the Spa Bridge 
was opened July 19, 1827; it cost nearly £8000, which was raised 
in shares. There are four cast-iron arches, resting on pyramidal 
piers, seventy-five feet above high water mark. 

" On the northern side of the bridge has been erected an elegant 
circular edifice with a dome, for the Museum of the Philosophical 
Society, from a design by Messrs. Atkinson & Sharpe. The 
interior has a highly interesting series of geological specimens, 
and other objects of natural history or local antiquity, arranged 
in the most pleasing manner."'" 

On the 1st July, 1865, the Ramsdale Valley Bridge at Scar- 
borouo-h was opened with a procession, in which every public body 
in the town was represented. A bridge across the valley was 
originally suggested by the late Mr. Ptobert Williamson in 1849, 
when the corporation gave him permission to consti'uct the same. 
Some unavoidable delays occurred to prevent the fulfilment 
of the company's wishes. During the progress of the work 
Mr. Williamson's death occurred in France, and Mr. John Haigh 
was appointed to succeed him in the chairmanship of the Yalley 
Bridfre Company. The bridge is now completed and is opened 
as a public toll-bridge. At the inauguration it appeared as though 
Scarborough had by universal consent turned out to do honour 
to the occasion. I 

The South and North Cliffs of Scarhorough. — The best built and 
most fashionable part of Scarborough is the South Cliff, with the 
Esplanade, commanding most extensive sea views, and the walks 
on the Cliff and the open country. The North Cliff' is a new and 

* Allen, Tol. vi, p. 249. t Jl'iy^H's Annuls of Ymksliirp, vol. ii. pp. 5.50-.jl. 



560 YOEKSHIRE 



quieter suburb. The town on the South Clift' continues to increase. 
The Chff Bridge across the ravine between the Old Town and the 
South ChiT was completed in 1827, and the Spa buildings and 
Promenade in 1858. During the last ten years tliere has been an 
increase of more than six thousand persons in the resident popula- 
tion, and an almost unlimited increase in the number of visitors. 
Houses and terraces are springing iip in all directions at the back 
of the Spa, towards Oliver's Mount. Those on the North Cliff, 
beyond the castle, are almost entirely new. The town has only 
been extended on this side since 1840, though the sands here are 
quite as fine and more extensive tlian those below the South Cliff. 

The water of the Spa consists of two springs, differing very 
slightly from each other. They are rich in carbonates and sulphates 
of lime and magnesia, and are said to be of service in dyspeptic cases. 

The charitable institutions in Scarborough are numerous and 
well supported. The Amicable Society was founded by R. North, 
Esq., in 1729, for clothing and educating the children of poor 
persons in this town. The Seamen's Plospital, near the last- 
mentioned edifice, is under the superintendence of the Trinity 
House, Deptford, Stroud. A sea-bathing infirmary was established 
here in 1811, through the persevering efforts of the late Archdeacon 
Wrangham. 

The parish church of St. Mary, with its chapels, was given by 
lUchard I. in 1198 to the Abbey of Citeaux, m Burgundy, for the pur- 
pose of making three days' provision for members of the Cistercian 
order attending the annual chapter-general there. Henry IV. seized 
all their property here as belonging to an alien house, and the church 
of Scarborough was then given to the priory of Bridlington. The 
existing church consists of the nave of the original buildino-. The 
choir was destroyed during the siege of the castle in 1645, and 
the central tower was so much injured that it fell in the year 1659. 
It was rebuilt in 1669. An extensive restoration was completed 
in the year 1850. The church, which now consists of a nave, with 
a south aisle and chantry chapel, and two north aisles, and contains 
a very good organ and several monuments, was formerly a spacious 
and magnificent structure. The ruins of the chancel still seen in 
the eastern part of the cimrchyard, the dismembered appearance of 
the western end of the church, the subterraneous arches extending 
to the west, and the great quantity of foundation-stones discovered 
m the new burial ground contiguous to it, are suflicient proofs that 



TAST AND niESENT. 5G1 



it is, in its pirsent stute, only ;i sitiull [);u-t of a viist (■(llfice wliich 
nia\' have I'orniod the C'islcivian Ahbey and tlie churcli. Tn the 
time of Henry \'[I1. it was, as aheady stated, aecoi'diny to Leland, 
adorned with tliree aneient towers, two of which were at tlie west 
end, and the other was over the centre of the transept. This last, 
having been greatly shaken dnring the siege of the castle in the 
year 1G44, fell in October, 165i), and considerably injured a great 
part of the nave. The present steeple, which now stands singularly 
at the east entl of the church, was erected on the ruins, and occupies 
the place of the transept tower. The time and the cause of the 
demolition of the two western towers do not appear to be well 
ascertained. 

There were formerly three other churches in Scarborough, viz., 
St. Nicholas, on the clitf in the front of the new buildings ; St. 
Sepulchre, in the street of that name ; and St. Thomas, in New- 
borough, which was destroyed by fire from the guns of the castle 
during the siege in 1644.'"' 

On the 20tli September, 1864, the foundation-stone of a third 
Congregational church for Scarborough Avas laid by Lady Salt, 
the wife of Sir Titus Salt, Bart., of Methley Park and Saltaire. 
The cost of the edifice with site, organ, clock, and chimes, was about 
£16,000. 

Near the gate through which the road leads into the castle 
is a very pretty drinking fountain, a memorial of Thomas Hinder- 
well, the historian of Scarborough (1798), whose labours have been 
the foundation of all subsec[uent notices of the town. 

The population of Scarborough in 1861 was 18,380, and in 
IS 71, 24,2.59 persons. This may be considered the resident popula- 
tion, the census being taken in the month of April, when there 
are scarcely any visitors. But during the summer and autumn 
months, especially in August and September, Scarborough is crowded 
with thousands of visitors, and the resources and means of amuse- 
ment are almost unlimited. 

The principal points of interest of Scarborough are, in the old 
town, the castle, and St. Mary's Church ; and on the South Cliff, 
the Spa, the Promenade, St. Martin's Church, and the South 
Clitf Church. The view from the churchyard over the town and 
to the South Cliff is very fine. 

Scarboroufjk I'uhllc Buihlliujs, cCr.-^By the Cliff Bridge you cross 

* Alk-n, vol. vi. p. -07. 
VOL. u. 4 u 



;;G2 yorkshike : 



the valley and enter the grounds of the Cliff Company. The side 
of the cliff" is laid out in terraced walks, parterres, and shrubberies, 
from designs furnished by Sir Joseph Paxton. At the base of 
the cliff are the Spa Promenade and Music Hall. The latter 
building was opened in 1858, and is admirably adapted for the 
purposes intended. It is approached from the north end by a 
colonnade 188 feet long, and will accommodate 1400 persons. 
The area of the promenade has been inci^eased 2800 superficial 
yards, which, together with the old promenade and the carriage 
road, gives a sea frontage of 1600 feet in length. A lofty tower is 
erected near the southern end, from which a good view is obtained 
of the town, and the whole of the coast line. A little further 
south an elevator has been constructed by a jorivate company, by 
means of which visitors may ascend from the sands to the South 
Chff' without fatigue. 

The Museum is a rotunda of the Ptoman Doric order, 37 
feet 6 inches in its external diaQieter, and 50 feet hip'h. It is 
connected with the Philosophical and Archa3ological Society, and 
contains many rare specimens of geology and local antiquity. 

Promenade Pier, North Bay, was designed by E. Birch, Esq., 
C.E., of Westminster. It is lUOO feet long, and 25 feet wide. 
On both sides there is seating the whole length of the pier. The 
seaward end is 50 feet wide, 150 feet long, and in the middle 
of it there is a saloon for shelter and refreshments. The steam- 
boats here embark and disembark passengers at any state of 
the tide. 

The superficial area of the Marine Aquarium in course of construc- 
tion is equal to that of York minster, and extends to the sands under 
the Cliff Bridge. The site is considered to be very superior, and its 
proxmiity to the extensive fishing grounds on the east coast most 
advantageous. The principal proprietors are also connected with 
the Brighton Aquarium, the success of which has encouraged them 
to enter upon this undertaking, in which will be many improve- 
ments suggested by their practical experience. The engineer is 
E. Bu'ch, Esq. The contracts for the building amount to i.75,000, 
and the whole is expected to be completed in May, 1876. 

The Mechanics' Hall and Literary Institute, situated in Vernon 
Place, is in the Grecian style of architecture, with two fluted Doric 
columns in front, and above these two Ionic columns supporting the 
middle cornice. It contains a large lecture or music hall, a library, 



PAST A\D PRESENT. 5G3 



class-roomfl, a ppacions reading-room, and all tlio ruquiruiueuts of 
a public building of this cliaracter. 

The Eace-course and Cu'and i^tand is Bitnatcd about two miles 
from the tmvn on Seamer-uioor. 

The Club occupies a fine isite on tlie C)ld ChfF, and is supported 
bv pi'ivate gentlemen, admission to -which is by hadot. 

Driiilctng Fountains. — ^^There are no fewer than six foruitains 
erected in various parts of the town, some of them of exrpusite 
design, especially the two in the South Cliff; one, in memory of 
the late Robert AVilliamson, situated at the south end of the 
Valley Bridge ; the other, in memory of Miss Mary Williamson, 
opposite the South CUif Church. 

Places t'f Divine Worsl/ij). — The Church of England has five; 
Roman Catholics, one ; Congregationalists, three ; Baptists, two ; 
Wesleyans, two ; Primitive Methodists, two ; United Methodist 
Free Church, one ; Society of Friends, one ; also, various mission- 
rooms belonging to the Congregationalists, Methodists, and others. 

CJiaritable Institutions. — The Seamen's Hospital, built in 1752, 
contains thirty-six separate apartments for seamen or their widows. 
The Trinity House was opened in 1833, and is also occupied by 
disabled seamen or their widows. The chai'ity itself has existed for 
two or three hundred years. St. Thomas' Hospital was founded 
in the reign of Henry IL, and contains thirteen tenements for 
ao-ed and infirm poor. Taylor's Free Dwellings accommodate 
fourteen persons. Wilson's Mariners' Asylum is for fourteen 
decayed mariners. Spinsters' Hospital is occupied by thirteen 
aged spinsters. Wheelhouse and Buckle's Almshouses are built 
in the form of a square, with hall and tower at one end ; each 
dwelling consists of a good porch, a living-room, bedroom, and 
scullery, besides a larder, coal closet, &c. Royal Northern Sea- 
bathiii,'''' Infirmary was founded in 1812, and has accommodation 
for about eighty patients. The Dispensary and Accident Hospital 
was founded in 18.51, and supplies gratuitous medical relief to the 
poor. The Cottage Hospital was founded by Mrs. Wright, who 
stdl lives to devote her entire time and means to the charity. 
Twenty-four patients can be received. 



564 YORKSHIRE 



DATES AND NOTES EELATING TO THE BOliODGH AND WATEKING PLACE OF SCAEBOROUGH. 

1066. — Scarborough taken by tlie Norwegian king, Ilarald Ilardrada, and 
Earl Tosti, brother of King Harold of England. — Yorkshire : Past and Present, 
vol. ii. p. 548. 

1084-1086.- — Scarborough as described in Domesday Book. — Vol. ii. p. 549. 

1135-1154. — The castle of Scarborough built by the earl of Albemarle. — 
Vol. ii. p. 549. 

1198. — The parish church of St. JIary at Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 560. 

1224—1225. — First murage grant for fortifying the town. — ^^ol. ii. p. 551. 

1252.- — Grants of Henry HI. for the repair of the port and harbour of 
Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 552. 

1282.- — Scarborough represented in the Parliament of the 10th and 11th 
Edward 1, — Vol. ii. p. 551. 

1536-1538. — Leland's account of Scarborough in the reign of Henry VHI. 
■ — Vol. ii. p. 552. 

1620. — Discovery of the mineral waters of Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 554. 

1645-1649. — Scarborough Castle besieged twice during the Great Civil 
War. — Vol. ii. p. 550. 

1727. — Daniel Defoe's visit to Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 555. 

1731, 1732. — Scarborough as a harbour of refiige. New pier built. — Vol. 
ii. p. 553. 

1737. — Landslip at Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 555. 

1767.- — Smollett's " Humphrey Clinker " and the bathing machines of 
Scarborough.- — Vol. ii. p. 556. 

1803. — Hutton's account of Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 556. 

1826. — The Cliff Bridge erected.— Vol. ii. p. 559. 

1861.- — Population of Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 561. 

1861. — The life-boats of Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 554. 

1865. — The Eamsdale Valley Bridge erected. — A^ol. ii. p. 559. 

1871. — Fishermen of Scarborough. — A'ol. ii. p. 553. 

1871. — Population of Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 561. 

The South and North Cliffs of Scarborough Vol. ii. p. 559. 

The modern town of Scarborough. — Vol. ii. p. 558. 

Public buildings. The Cliff grounds. — A^ol. ii. p. 562. 

Charitable institutions. — Vol. ii. p. 563. 



PAi^T AND rJlESENT. 



CHAPTER Xr. 

HISTORY OF THE r.OKOUCH AND WATEIKING PLACE OF WHITBY. 

The very ancient town and pleasant watering place of Whitby, 
standing on the boldest part of the Lias rocks of the Yorkshire 
coast, and which has risen to the rank of a parliamentary borough in 
modern times, is built at the mouth of the Esk, which flows down 
from the moors of Cleveland, from an elevation of 1300 to 1400 feet, 
and enters the sea at one of the finest parts of the north-eastern 
coast. AVe have already described * the small but beautiful 
stream of the Yorkshire Esk (named from one of the almost 
innumerable corrujDtions of the old British word uisg, meaning 
water or a stream of water), which contains both trout and salmon. 
Unfortunately it is not navigable for any distance above the 
town of AVhitby. Hence that place has never possessed the 
advantage of inland navigation, and was almost entirely cut off 
from intercourse with the interior, until the introduction of the 
railwav system gave it a cheap and easy communication with all 
parts of Yorkshire. It is now frequented in the summer months 
by thousands of visitors. Its sea-fisheries are extensive and valu- 
able, and give regular employment to 231 fishermen.! Its mineral 
products consist chiefly of alum, found in the Lias strata, and of jet, 
gathered from the clitis and the hills in all parts of Cleveland ; and 
there are several small but valuable manufactories here of jet into 
articles of taste and ornament. Its extensive shipbuilding formerly 
gave it a considerable amount of prosperity, from the high reputation 
of the vessels built liere. It still maintains its old reputation, 
though iron has very largely taken the place of wood in the ships 
now constructed. The discovery of iron ore in all parts of the district, 
and the oiiening of extensive blast-furnaces in the valley of the 
Esk, have given a fresh impulse to the town ; and its j)r(isperity 
has been further increased by the great attractions presented by 

' See account of the river E»k, and Krport on its Salmon I'ishery by Mr. Walpule, Yorksl]ire; Past and 
Present, vol. i. p. '2GG. 

f Census of England and Wales, 1871, vol. iv. p. 116. 



566 . YORKSHIRE : 



the shores, the rocks, and the sea, which have caused it to be 
greatly frequented by visitors in the summer months, and have given 
it the position of the second watering place on the coast, of which 
Scarborough is undoubtedly the first. Whitby is also very near to 
the great iron field of Cleveland, whose wonderful development during 
the last thirty years has materially influenced the trade of the port. 

A7itiqiiities of Whitbjj. — We have already given, in the first 
volume of the work, an account of the origin and early history of 
the ancient town of Whitby, in which we have stated that it is 
supposed to stand on or near to the site of the ancient British port 
of Dunum Sinus, mentioned by the Greek geographer, Claudius 
Ptolemy, who wrote in the time of the Emperor Hadrian, about 130 
years after the date of the Christian era. As we there stated, the 
Anglian name of this very ancient town and port was Streoneshall, 
or the Hall or Place of the Lighthouse, which shows that it must 
have possessed commercial importance from an extremely early 
period. That is the meaning given to the name by the 
Venerable Bede, in his history of the Anglian church and nation. 
In the year 65.5 of the Christian era the abbey of Streoneshall 
was founded by Oswy, the victorious king of Northumbria, in 
fulfilment of a vow made by him previous to his last great battle 
with and victory over Penda, the pagan king of Mercia, fought at 
Leodis, or Leeds, in that year ; by that vow he engaged to consecrate 
his infant daughter to the service of religion. But the most cele- 
brated abbess of Whitby was St. 'Hilda, the niece of Edwin, the first 
Christian king of Northumbria, the friend of Paulmus, and the 
founder of the earliest York minster. The building of the abbey 
of Whitby is said to have been begun in the year 657, and it 
was in that abbey, under the presidency of St. Hilda, that the 
synod of Whitby was held, in the year 664, the result of which 
^\■as to add greatly to tlie strength and influence of St. Wilfrid, 
archbishop of York, and at the same time greatly to increase 
the divisions between the adherents of Wilfrid and those of Cold- 
man, and the other British bishops. Whitby was the most cele- 
brated school of learning in that early age, and was the place of 
education of several eminent Anglian bishops, amongst whom were 
Bosa and John of Beverley. 

The Poems of Ccechnon.—Bnt far the most interesting event 
connected with this monastery, as we have already intimated,* 

' Account of C;i:ainon, the first Anglian or Knglish poet, Yorkshire: P^st .ind Present, vol. i. pp. 406-19. 



I'AST AND niRSENT. 5G7 



M'a^, tluit it was tlio placo in wliicli the first nf Enu;-lis]i poets, 
Ca'tlmon, was iwcived, and cutertaiiiod lor many years, l)y 
tlie kind friendsliii* and patronage of St. Hilda, after he liad 
abandoned tlie active life of a la}mari, in which he was educated, 
and had turned his whole attention to the study of English 
pioetrv, taking for the subject of his noble poems all that is most 
striking in the historical parts of the Old and the New Testaments. 
His poems, of which w'e have already given a full account and 
many curious and interesting specimens, were to a great extent 
the Bible of the English race for many generations, and must have 
been the chief means of popular instruction during that period. 
His friend and patron, St. Hilda, died in the year G80, justly 
honoured, and supprised by many of her contemporaries, and a long 
course of successi>rs, to have possessed even miraculous gifts. The 
Anglian abbey or monastery of Whitby or, more correctly, of 
Streoneshall, was destroyed by the Danes in the year 867, and for a 
time the history of this interesting place is very obscure. But in 
the meantime the'Danes themselves were converted to Christianity, 
and became the principal founders of churches and monasteries in 
this and other districts in the north of England, subject to the 
Danish law. It was in this period that the name of the place 
was changed from Streoneshall, or the Town of the Lighthouse, 
to Whitby, or the White-town, a name derived from the lofty 
white cliffs which line the sea-shore at the point where the 
river Esk enters the sea. The following passage from Scott's 
"Marmion," canto ii., stanza 13, throws a pleasing light on the 
early traditions of the abbey of Whitby : — 



' Then Whitliy's nuns exulting told. 
How to their house three barons bold 

^lust menial service do ; 
While horns blow out a note of shame, 
And monks cry ' Fie upon your iiume ! 
In wrath, for loss of sylvan game, 
Saint Hilda's priest ye slew.' 
'This, on Asfcnsion-day, ear]] year, 
While labouring on our harbour pier. 
Must Herbert, Bruce, and J'cny hear.' 
They told, liow in their convent i-ell 



A Saxon princess once did dwell — 

The lovely Edelfied ; 
And how, of thousand snakes, each one 
Was changed into a coil of stone 

When holy Hilda pray'd. 
Themselves within their holy bound 
Their stony folds had often found. 
They told, how sea-fowls' pinions fail. 
As over Wliitby's towers they sail ; 
And sinking down, with flutteriiigs faint. 
They do their homage to the saint." 



Wla'thy iiwhr tic Normam.—TiA^ Norman monastery of Whitby 
was founded by William .](■ Percy, the Norman lord of this part 
of Yorkshire, in the year 1122. For a while the abbot of Whitby 
was the chief ruler of the place ; but civil government was gradually 



568 YORKSHIRE : 



established, and about the year 1398, Whitby, which had always 
had considerable trade as a fishing place, became a town of some 
commercial importance, it being then almost the only harbour on 
this dangerous coast. In the year 1394, cargoes of coal began 
to be imported from Newcastle into Whitby; and in 1538, 
Leland speaks of Whitby " as a great fisher town." It no doubt was 
so in comparison with the small fishing villages along the coast, but 
the population, in the year 1540, is supposed not to have been more 
than about 200 persons; the number of houses at that time being not 
much more than thirty or forty, which scarcely gives a population 
of 200 inhabitants. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, Whitby was 
greatly benefited by the discovery and by the working of alum 
mines at Guisborough, a few miles in the interior, and a little later, 
in the year 1615, another alum work was erected near Sands End, 
only three miles from Whitby. In the year 1650, the population 
of Whitby had increased to 2000, though at that time the number 
of vessels belonging to the port was not much more than twenty. 
But before the close of the same century it had still further 
increased to 4000, and the vessels to sixty, of about eighty tons 
each. In the year 1724, the number of vessels had risen to 130, 
of eighty tons each. 

Whitby is described by Daniel Defoe, in 1727, as standing at 
the " entrance of a little nameless river (the Esk), which, however, 
is an excellent harbour." There, he says, they built very good ships 
for the coal trade, which made the town so rich. 

Shipbuilding at Widthy. — A great impulse was given to ship- 
building at Whitby, about the end of the reign of George II., by 
the general prosperity of the country ; and that impulse continued 
during the whole of the reign of George III. In the year 1757, 
docks for shipbuilding began to be erected on the west side of the 
river Esk, and vessels of a much larger class to be constructed. 
In 1776, the number of ships belonging to Whitby was 250, 
besides those on the stocks ; and it was then supposed that both 
the shipping and the population had more than doubled their num- 
bers in the previous forty years. All the vessels used by Captain 
Cook for his memorable voyages round the world were built at Whitby; 
and the port had then acquired a very high reputation. In the 
year 1801 the population had increased to 7483 persons, and in 1821 
to 10,435. At the Census of 1871 the borough of Whitby extended 
over an area of 5631 acres, and contained a population of 13,094. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 509 



The old town of Wliitliy vises oa the left l)ank of the river Esk 
in nnmoroiis stoe|i and iKirrow sti-oots ; ou the right, it is built 
under the cliff crowned by the famous abbey of St. Hilda. The two 
parts ot the town are connected by a bridge, of which the central 
portion is lifted for the passage of vessels. The mouth of the 
harbour is protected by two stone piers ; but vessels taking refuge 
here in storm v weather are obliged to moor above the brido-e, 
where the river widens into a basin large enough to contain a 
fleet, though nearlj- dry at low water. All the modern houses 
are on the AVest L'liff. 

"As a watering-place, Whitby is one of the pleasantest on the 
Aorkshire coast. It is much quieter than Scarborough — a great 
recommendation to many. The sea-views are superb. Many 
places of interest are within easy access, and the inland country 
is varied and very picturesque, especially that over the moors. 
The chief promenades are on the West Cliff, and on the West 
Pier, nearly half a mile long, with a lighthouse at its farther 
end, which the visitor should ascend for the sea-viev.^, and for that 
of the town below him, with its background of steep wild hills." '" 

DATES AND KOTES liELATIKB TO TIIE BOROUGH AND WATEKING PLACE OF WHITBY. 

"Whitby, supposed to be built on the site of the Roman harbour of Dunum 
Sinus. — Yorkshire : Past and Present, vol. ii. p. 566. 

657. — The Anglian abbey of Streoneshall, or Whitby, erected by King 
Oswy. — A'ol. ii. p. 566. 

Caedmon, the first English poet, a native of Whitby, and long resident in the 
abbey of Streoneshall. — A'ol. ii. p. 567. 

Ili2, — The Xorman abbey of Whitby built by William de Percy. — 
Vol. ii. 507. 

154U. — Whitby a great fishing town when visited by Leland. — Vol. ii. p. 568. 

1727. — Defoe's notice of A\'hitby. — Vol. ii. p. 568. 

1776. — Great extension of shipbuilding at Whitby. — Vol. ii. p. 568. 

1801. — Population of AVhitby.— Vol. ii. p. 568. 

1821. — Population of Whitby. — Vol. ii. p. 568. 

1871. — Population of Whitby. — Vol. ii. p. 568. 

Tlie modern town ol' Whitby.- — Vol. ii. p. 569. 

• Murray's Handbouk for Yorkshire, p. 179. 
VOL. II. 4 U 



570 YORKSHIRE : 



CHAPTER XII. 

HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH AND SEAPORT OE MIDDLESBOROUGH. 

Having traced tlie history of the port of Hull, and the histories 
of the ports or watering places of Scarborough and Whitby, we 
now proceed to give an account of the rapidly-rising seaport and 
town of Middlesborough, the capital of the iron district of Cleveland 
and of that of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Middlesborough, on 
the right bank of the estuary of the Tees, is now the chief port 
of the North Ridmg, and owes its pi-osperity to its position near 
the entrance to that river, and to its proximity to the great 
iron district of Cleveland. It stands on a level winding coast, but 
at the foot of lofty hills, with a sufficient depth of water in its river 
to permit large vessels to enter its commodious dock and harbour. 
It possesses also railways, communicating with the iron-fields of 
Cleveland, the coal-fields of Sovith Durham, and with the manu- 
facturing districts in the interior of the country, as well as all 
the conveniences required by modern trade and commerce. At 
the time when the first part of this work was published the 
number of the inhabitants of Middlesborough was estimated at from 
20,000 to 30,000 ; but so rapid has been its increase that the 
population of the municipal borough, at the Census of 1871, had 
risen to 39,563, and that of the parliamentary borough to 46,621. 
Every year adds some thousands to the population of Middles- 
borough. Nor is this increase of numbers at all to be wondered 
at, when we consider the rapid increase of mdustry and wealth that 
has taken and is taking place in the great iron district of which 
Middlesborough is the port and centre; for in 1868 the official 
returns of the Board of Trade gave the quantity of iron ore produced 
in the Cleveland district as amounting to 2,785,307 tons, of the 
value of £701,833, whilst the official accounts for the year 1873, 
published in October, 1874, return the total product of iron ore 
in this district at 5,617,013 tons, or 1,156,431 tons of pig iron 
of the estimated value of £1,688,099."" 

* Mineral Statistics, 1873, pp. 77 and 95. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 571 

Ih'oi/rcss of tJie Toicn of Middleshoroiigh. — The progress of the 
to-wn of IMiddlosborouyh is \'ory distinctly sliowii by the following 
events, recorded by tlie local annalists of that flourishing town. In 
1S29 iMcssrs. Joseph rease, Edward Pease, Thomas Richardson, 
Henry Birbeck, Simon ]\hiiiin, Thomas Martin, and Francis Gibson, 
purchased JOO acres of land from Mr. William Chilton, and com- 
menced the building of the town of Middlesborough, under the 
style or title of the Middlesborourrh Owners. In the following 
year the Stockton and Darlington Railway was extended from 
Stockton to Middlesborough, and the ship Sunnyside was loaded 
with the first cargo of coals brought down to the port in June, 
1S31. The shipping staiths were at that time on the spot now 
occupied by the Tees-side Ironworks of Messrs. Hopkins, Gilkes, 
& Co. In IS 32 the Clarence Railway was extended to Samphire 
Batts, on the north side of the river. The town was first lighted 
with gas in 1834. In 1840 St. Hilda's Church, in the market 
place, was consecrated ; and in the same year a public market 
was established. The year 1840 is also memorable as marking the 
commencement of the Cleveland iron trade by the establishment, 
on the banks of the Tees, of the works of Messrs. Bolckow and 
A'aughan. In 1841 an Act for the improvement of the town was 
obtained, and the first governing body for Middlesborough was 
established by the 4th and 5th Vic, cap. 68, and was styled the 
Middlesborough Improvement Commissioners. In 1842 a com- 
modious dock was constructed, which has recently been enlarged. 
In 1846 a lifeboat was placed here by the National Lifeboat 
Institution. In 18.51 the town was supplied with water from the 
Tees at Blackwall by a public company. In this year also ironstone 
was discovered by ]\Ir. J. Vaughan in the Eston Hills, near Middles- 
boruu'-'h. In 1853 the town was incorporated by charter dated 
Januciry 21, and ^Ir. H. W. F. Bolckow was chosen its first mayor. 
The motto Erimas (" we shall be ") was appropriately chosen for 
the borough arms. The first shipments of pig-iron ^\'ere also made 
this year. In IS-j.j the town suffered from a very severe visitation 
of Asiatic cholera., in consequence of which the Public Health Act 
was applied to the boi-oiigh by provisional order dated July 18, 
18.5."i, and continued by statute 18th and l:)th Vict., c. IL'o. The 
third extension and improvement Act was obtained in 185S. In 
1860 the new road to Stockton was opened, saving a circuit of nearly 
seven miles; and in the same year ^Middlesborough was separated 



572 YORKSHIBE 



from Stockton, and constituted a separate port. In 1861 Mr. 
George Marwood of Busby Hall, near Stokesley, laid the foundation- 
stone of the masonic hall in Marton Road. In 1862 the steam 
ferry to Port Clarence, on the north side of the Tees, was established. 
In 1866 St. John's Church, in Marton Road, was consecrated. The 
Middlesborough Improvement and Extension Bill, for including 
Linthorpe, North Acklam, and other purposes, passed through 
Parliament, 1866. In the same year Mr. Bolckow pjresented a 
public park — subsequently called the Albert Park — in Linthor^se 
Road, to the borough. The foundation-stone of the Ptoyal Exchange 
was also laid in the same year. By the Reform Bill of 1867-68 
Middlesborough was constituted a parliamentary borough, and 
returned as its first member Mr. H. W. F. Bolckow, who was 
elected November 18th, 1868. H.R.H. Prince Arthur visited the 
town in 1868, and by permission of the queen opened the Albert 
Park. In 1869 the North-eastern Railway Company resolved to 
enlarge the dock, and this work has been carried out at a cost of 
£150,000. In 1870 Middlesborough elected its first school board, 
under the Elementary Education Act, and in 1871 a free library 
for the town was successfully inaugurated. In 1872 St. Paul's 
new church was consecrated. The new National Provincial Bank 
was opened in 1873, and the Workmen's Social Club estabhshed. '" 

Rapid Increase of the Poimlation of Middleshorougli. — The Registrar- 
general, m his report on the Census returns of England and Wales 
for the year 1871, noticing the wonderfully rapid rise of Middles- 
borough, observes :— " Villages and small places are rising up" (in the 
iron districts) " to the importance of large towns. Thus, Barrow-in- 
Furness in Lancashire, not long ago an inconsiderable village, is 
now a municipal borough with 18,245 inhabitants; and Middles- 
borough in Yorkshh-e, inconsiderable in 1831, with its 383 inhabit- 
ants, has now 39,563 inhabitants, under municipal government." 
At each decade of the present century the population of I\liddles- 
borough was as follows :— In 1801 it was 26 persons ; in 1811 3,5 • 
in 1821, 40; in 1831, 383; in 1841, 5709; in 1851, 7895; in 1861,' 
18,273; and, as above stated, in 1871, 39,563 in the municipal 
borough, and 46,621 in the parhamentary.t The number of electors 
on the parliamentary register in 1874 was 8802. 

* Handbook of Miil(llesl;orougli, pp. 5-7. 

tTl.e Ilan-dbook ..„J Directory of M.ddlesborough, &c., 1874, p, 7, and C.n.ns of E„gh,nd and W.,les 
lh,l, vol. IV. p. XXXI,, and Index to Population Tables, p, C8H. 



VAST ANM Pl!i:SENT. 573 



Sncccssioii ot Maj/ors of Jfi/ld/cshni-ntirjlt. — The foUowiiij^ gentle- 
men have held the office of mayor of Middlesborougli :- 



to to^ 



Ilcmy W. F. Bok'kow, 1853 

I^aar ■\\'ilsoii 1854 

John A'aimluui 1S55 



['"raui-is Atkinson, 1864 

(!rorL;e AVatsoD, l,S(;:i 

W. R. I. Hopkins, 18G<i-f;7 



llcury Thompson, Is5(; 57 1 William Law.s, I868 

John Riohanlson, 1858 I Tliomas Dalkin, LSC!) 

William Frtlhnvs 185!) Uoliii't Lacy, isio 

< ioorgc Bottomley, 18(;o 'L'hninas Vaughan, Ls71 

James Harris, isfli j Knliert Stephenson, Ls72 

Tlmmas Brentuall, 18(12 ! Edward Williams, 1873 

Edi;ar Gilkcs 1863 i 

Princi'pid Pahlic Institutions of Middlesborougli. — The Albert Park 
is situated on the Linthorpe Road, about a mile and a quarter from 
the centre of the town, comprises about seventy-two acres of land 
tastefully laid out, and contains ground set apart for the recreations 
of cricket, croquet, &c. A military band plays during the summer 
months on Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons ; and the 
t'jwn's police band on Wednesday and Saturday evenings. Amongst 
its ornamental features are a handsome cast-iron fountain in the 
centre, an octagonal music stand of light ironwork, a drinking 
fountain, and a miniature lake, with grotesquely built banks, inter- 
woven with various creeping plants. The principal gate is a beauti- 
ful ] liece of wrought iron work. It is intended by the corporation to 
cjiilarge the park considerably, and land has been presented for the 
purpose by Mr. Bolckow. The Corporation Hall is situated at the 
fjut of Xorth Street, and is a large stone building. On the base- 
ment it contains the police court, and a large room for meetings of 
the several committees of the boi'ough council and the school board. 
<,)n the first floor are tlie council chamber and the offices of the town 
clerk, I\lr. J. T. Belk. The entrance to the hall is in North Street. 
The M;iiket Place is situated at the top of South Street. It is a 
Irirge open square, surrounded by shops and pubhc buildings. In 
the centre is the Town Hall, and also a small building for fish dealers 
and butchers. In the north-east corner are the butchers' shambles, 
erected a 'iavi years ago from designs by Mr. John Dunning. Tlie 
market is held every Saturday, and is attended by a large number 
of persons from the contigiions villages. The Town Hall is in the 
centre of the jMarket Place, and will sca,t about 400 persons. It is 
used for the county court, tlie ni<;eiiiigs of the committee of the 
guardians of the poor, public meetings, lectures, cndTtaiiiments, 
temperance meetings, religious services, inquests, &c., and lias ante- 



674 YORKSHIRE: 



I'ooms attaclied. Here are the offices of the inspector of weights 
and measures, and the inspector of nuisances. Ground has been 
purchased in Corporation Road for a new town hall and other 
public buildings, which are urgently required. In connection with 
the Town Hall there is a public clock, and here are the gauges 
indicating the pressure of water in the mains of the Stockton and 
Darlington Water Company, which supply the town with water. 
The Dock is situate at the east end of Lower Commercial Street. 
The offices are situate on the dock head, where all steam- 
boat charges, clock dues, and shipping charges are paid. E,ecently 
the dock has been considerably enlarged, and a new entrance 
channel added, and vessels of any depth or tonnage can now 
enter. The enlarged clock is now open. Facilities are afforded 
for shipping coals, coke, and iion. Gi'eat quantities of rails, 
bars, rib and mei'chant iron, ai'e sent to all parts of the con- 
tinent, and to North and South America. A large timber trade 
has sprung up with the Continent quite recently, and exports 
of chemicals are considerably on the increase. The Dock was 
first opened in May, 1842. Its area, as lately enlarged, is as 
follows: — Length, 12.50 feet; breadth, 400 feet. The new entrance 
is 55 feet wide, and will have a depth of 22 feet 6 inches on 
the sill at spring tides. Further extensions of the Dock are con- 
templated. The contractors for the extension are Messrs. Hodg- 
son and Ridley. In connection with the Fire Brigade there are 
two engines and a hose roll for water-plugs stationed at the 
gasworks. The Middlesborough Owners have also a splendid 
steam fire engine available for fires. It is kept at their works, 
Ormesby Road. Fire apparatus is kept at all the pohce stations. 
The North Riding Infirmary was opened in June, 1864, with 
accommodation for a limited number of patients, and has since 
that period been gradually extended in its internal arrangements so 
that forty-two patients may now be received, and there is stUl 
further room to increase the patients to sixty. 

The Middlesborough Free Library, the property of the corpora- 
tion, was opened on the 24th July, 1871. At a meeting of the 
ratepayers of the town, held on the 23rd November, 1870, it was 
unanimously resolved to adopt the "Free Libraries Act." The 
committee of the Mechanics' Institute let the library committee 
their rooms in the Mechanics' Institute, Durham Street, in which 
the library is now held. The library, a well-selected one, consists of 



PAST AXn PRESKNT. 575 



about 3000 books, but adilitlous are constantly Ijcing- made to this 
number. There is also a large reading room attached to the library, 
at which fifteen daily papers, forty-one weekly papers, four weekly 
periodicals, and fiiteon monthly periodicals are received. In the 
reading room there is an excellent reference library. A branch 
reading room in connection Avith the library has been opened in 
Granville Terrace, Newport Road, and is well attended. On 
the opening of the free library, the library of the Mechanics' 
Institute was closed. The several classes are, however, held 
in connection with the institute. There is a drawing class under 
the superuitendence of jNIr. J. ^Y. Watson, several students of 
which, in IS 73, gained prizes and certificates at the Science and 
Art Department, South Kensington. There is also a chemical class 
under the care of Mr. Bettel, which also gained a large number of 
prizes. 

The Cemetery is situated on the Linthoi'pe Road, about a mile 
from the Market Place. It was opened in 1854. It contains nine 
acres of ground, which are tastefully laid out and properly fenced. 
On the western side are the chapels — fire-proof buildings, separated 
Ijy a partition wall. The New Cemetery is at Old Linthorpe. It is 
about fouii;een acres in extent, six or seven acres of which are laid 
out in three sections, for the Established Church, the Dissenters, and 
the Roman Catholics. There are two chapels built of stone. The 
steam-boats of Duncan Brothers and Dixon Brothers land near this 
point, and take passengers and goods to Billingham, Newport, and 
Stockton. The steam ferry boat also lands here, and takes passengei's 
and goods to Port Clarence, where there is a station of the North 
Eastern Railway Company. During the summer months excursion 
boats to Hartlepool, Sunderland, Shields, Wliitby, Scarborough, &c., 
receive and land their passengers here. There is also a landing at 
Billinglijira and Newport for passengers to and from Stockton 
and Middleslxjrongh. A steam horse-and-cart ferry is about to 
be provided. The Gasworks are in Lower Commercial Street. 
The Lifeboat was presented to the port by the National Lifeboat 
Institution in 183G. It occupies a commodious brick building near 
the dock entrance. 

Ch'.rdand Li.fjsvary and Pldloso'pJdcal Si)ricfi/. — The rooms of this 
society are near the rail\vo,y station. It was founded in 1S()3, for 
the purpose of promoting art, science, and literature, fn addition 
to the reading room, supplied with papers and periodicals, there are 



)7G YORKSHIRE 



a good library and small museum. There are various sections, in 
conuection with which papers are read by the members, and 
pubhshed in the Transactions of the society. The number of 
members is 300. 

Cleveland Ironmasters Association. — The following is a list qf the 
members of tlie Cleveland Ironmasters' Association in 1873 : — 

Works. Peopeietoes. Furnacks 

Built. 

Coatliam, Downey & Co., 2 

Laokenby, Lackenby Iron Co., 3 

Eston, Bolokow, Vaughan, & Co., Limited, ... 7 

South Bank, .... Tiiomas Vauglian & Co., 6 

Clay Lane, .... Tliomas Vaughan & Co., 6 

Cargo Fleet, .... Swan, Coates, & Co., 4 

Normanby, .... Jones, Dunning, & Co., 3 

Ormesby, Cochrane & Co., 4 

Tees, Gilkes, Wilson, Pease, & Co., 5 

Middlesborough, . . Bolckow, Vaughan, & Co., Limited, ... 3 

Tees-side, Hopkins, Gilkes, & Co., Limited, .... 4 

Linthorpe, .... Lloyd & Co., q 

Acklam, Stevenson, Jaques, & Co., 4 

Ayresome, .... Gjers, Mills, & Co., 4 

Newport, B. Samuelson & Co., 8 

Clarence, Bell Brothers, Limited, 8 

Norton, Norton Iron Co., Limited, 3 

Thornaby, W. WhitweU & Co., f, 

Tees-Bridge,. . . . Tees- Bridge Iron Co., Limited, 2 

Stockton Stockton Iron Furnace Co., Limited, . . 3 

West Hartlepool, . . T. Richardson & Sons, 2 

Grosmont, . . , . C. & T. Bagnall, jun., 2 

Glaisdale, South Cleveland Ironworks Co., Limited, . 3 

Norton, Norwegian Titanic Iron Co., 2 

Carlton, N. of England Industrial Iron Co., Limited, 3 

Middleton, . . . . G. Wythes & Co., 3 

South Durham, . . . South Durham Iron Co., Limited, ... 3 

Witton Park, . . . Bolckow, Vaughan, & Co., Limited, ... 5 

Consett, Consett Iron Co., Limited, 6 

Wear, Bell Brothers, Limited, 1 

Jarrow, Palmer's Iron Co., Limited, 4 

Ferry Hill, .... Rosedale & Ferry Hill Iron Co., Limited, '. 8 

ELswick Sir W. G. Armstrong & Co., 2 

Walker, Bell Brothers, Limited, 2 

Towlaw, Weardale Iron Co., Limited, ...'..' 2 

Seaham, Watson, Kiplmg, & Co., . ' 1 * 

Iron Works and Industrial Unterprises.~The following list of 
some of the principal industrial enterprises now carried on at 
Middlesborough wHl give a clearer impression of the occupations of 
that busy place than any more lengthened description :— 

' Every year increases these numbers. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 577 



Acklam Ironworks are situate on tlio Tecs, Middlesborouyli, and 
occupy a site of forty acres. They consist of four lilast furnaces and 
several refining- fires. " Acklam, Yorkshire," is the brand of their 
iron. The name of the firm is tStevcnson, Ja,ques, & Co. This 
firm has also the Boosbeck ironstone mines, near Skelton. 

Atlas Foundry, Ormesby Road. — Castings are made at this 
establislnnent up to fifteen tons each, either in loam or sand. 
Proprietors, M 'Donald & Co. 

Atlas Works. — These works are situate in Ormesby Road, and 
are the property of Mr. W. Bulmer, Grove Plill. Brickmaking 
machineiy is manuftictured here (most of which is patented), and 
any other kind of machinery required, as engines, boilers, girders, &c. 

Bolckow, A'aughan, & Co. (Limited.) — This is one of the largest 
firms of its kind in the kingdom. Its Middlesborouffh Iron- 
w^orks are situated in the borough, and are the oldest and most 
extensive works in the Cleveland district ; they cover some- 
thing like twenty-one acres of ground between the river Tees 
and Vulcan Street. Within this site, when boring for water about 
ten years ago, a valuable deposit of salt was discovei'ed ; to get 
which shafts are now being put down by the company. Besides 
the Middlesborough Ironworks, Messrs. Bolckow, Vaughan, & Co. 
have large works at Witton Park, about thirty-two miles west of 
^Middlesborough, the Cleveland Ironworks at Eston, and the Gorton 
Steelworks at Gorton, near Manchester. Their Cleveland iron- 
stone royalties are being worked at their Eston mines, Chaloner 
mines, near Guisboi-ough, and the North Skelton mines, near 
Saltb urn-by-the-Sea. 

Bowesfield Ironworks consist of mills for rolling iron plates and 
sheets, and occupy a site of twenty-five acres, situate on the Tees at 
Stockton, and adjoining the Stockton and Darhngton branch of the 
North-eastern Ptailway. 

Chemical Works. — These works, as well as those of the Middles- 
borough Chemical Company, are situate in Cargo Fleet Road. The 
acting partner is Mr. W. Jones, and the manager, Mr. J. Mitchell 
SteeL The works are large, and manufacture a variety of valuable 
chemical products. 

Clarence Ironworks consist of twelve large blast furnaces, situate 
on the north side of the Tees, and are the property of the firm of 
Bell Brothers (Limited), who are also tlie owners of the Wear 
Furnace, near Washington ; of tlie Walker Ironworks ; of the South 

VOL. II. 4 » 



578 YORKSHIRE 



Brancepeth, Browney, and Tursdale coUleries in Durham ; and iron- 
stone mines at Normanby, Skelton, ClifF, HuntclitF, and Carlin How. 

Crewdson, Hardy, & Co., Yorksliire Tube Works. — These works 
are situated at Cargo Fleet, near to the dock, and parallel with the 
Nortli-eastern Railway, from which there is a siding. The buildings 
consist of a mill 140 feet long by 120 feet wide, covered by three 
span roofs, with a smiths' shop and fitting shop, each 100 feet long. 
Tubes are manufactured here of wrought iron for gas, steam, water, 
and hydraulic purposes, with all descriptions of fittings for the same. 
The managing partners are Mr. E. Crewdson, jun., Coatham ; and 
Mr. W. H. Hardy, Middlesborough. 

Fox, Head, & Co., Newport PtoUing Mills. — These works are 
situated about half way between Middlesborough and Newport, 
between the river and the railway. They occupy about twenty-two 
acres, and comprise forty puddling and fourteen other furnaces. 
They are engaged in the manufacture of boiler, bridge, and ship 
plates, wu'e billets, and puddle bars. The manufacture of a non- 
conducting material for boilers and steam pipes, for which the fiirm 
holds a patent, is also carried on. The works were commenced in 
1863, and now employ about 550 hands. The partners are Mr. 
Theodore Fox, of Pinch inthorpe House, near Guisborough ; Mr. 
Jeremiah Head, of Coatham, Redcar ; and Mr. Charles M. New- 
comen, of Kirkleatharo Hall, near Ptedcar. 

Gjers, Mills, & Co., Ayresome Ironworks, Middlesborough, are 
makers of pig-iron. Their works are situated in the West Marsh, 
between Newport and Middlesborough, and comprise four blast 
furnaces, on a site of thirty-two acres of land, with a frontage to the 
river of 330 yards, convenient wharves, &c. Mr. John Gjers, of 
South field Yillas, Middlesborough, is the managing partner. 

Hjerleid & Spence, Marsh Pioad Engine-works. — These works, 
situated between Cargo Fleet and Middlesborough, consist of 
foundries, fitting shops, and boiler and bridge yard. Speciahty, 
Bank's Patent Puddling Furnace. The partners are Mr. S. Hjerleid, 
Redcar, and Mr. M. Spence, Coatham. 

Hopkins, Gilkes, k Co. (Limited), iron manufacturers and engi- 
neers. Tees-side Ironworks, and Tees Engine-works. — These works 
consist of several blast furnaces, with puddling forges and rolling 
mills capable of producing 1200 tons per week of rails and finished 
iron. There are also extensive engineering works for building 
locomotive and other engines, bridge and girder work, and foundries 



PAST AND PRESENT. 579 



for pipes and y-oiieral ca.stiiig.s. This firm was the first in England 
to adopt tlie Dank's liotary Puddling Furnace, and at the engine- 
works of this establishment the I )a,nk's furnace, engines, squeezer, 
and all the machinery connected with the furnace, are made for 
the trade. 

Jackson, Cill, & C\). (Limited), Impei'ial Ironworks, near Mid- 
dlesborough. — These works were erected in the spring of 1871, and 
are situate near the Estun Station, on the North-eastern Ptailway 
(Stockton and Darlington section). They comprise puddling mills, 
capable of making "20,000 tons of puddled bars per annum, and also 
finishino; mills for the manufacture of efeneral merchant iron. Man- 
aging director, ]Mr. Thomas Gill, of Middlesborough. 

Jones Brothers & Co., Ayrton Rolling Mills, Cut Nails, and Washer 
"Works. — These works are situate in the Marsh, Newport, and consist 
of puddling fui-naces and mills to roll plates, sheets, bars, and wire 
billets, and occupy five acres of land. Here are also manufactured 
every description of cut nails and iron washers. Managing partner, 
Mr. J. A. Jones. 

Jones, Dunning, & Co., Normanby Ironwcrks. — These works 
comprise three blast fui'naces, and are situated near Cargo Fleet, 
with good river frontage and convenient wharves. One peculiar 
feature of these works is the adoption of the steam ram lift, for 
both lifting the trucks from the ground to the top of the bunkers 
(each tmck weighing about fifteen tons), and also to the furnaces for 
lifting the material (about five tons each time) in barrows from the 
ground line to the top of the furnaces, a total height of seventy-five 
feet. The ram in both cases is sunk in a jacketed cylinder in the 
ground. From the peculiar construction of its furnaces, this firm 
is enabled to work with forty or fifty per cent, of raw stone instead 
of using calcined, which is the rule in other parts of the district. 

North Yorkshire Iron Co. (Limited). — This company has works 
at Stockton for the manufacture of iron rails for permanent ways. 
Mr. Dodds, M.P., is chairman ; Mr. Joseph Pdchardson, vice- 
chairman ; Mr. Jolin Stevenson, managing director of the company. 

B. Saujuelson & Co., Newport Ironworks. — These works are 
situate at Newport, near Middlesborough. They comprise eight 
blast furnaces, and a refinery with all needful adjuncts. Tln-ee of 
the furnaces have bw.'u recently erected, and are of the largest and 
most modern description. The site, of forty-two acres, has a 
frontage of three quarters of a mile to the river Tees. There is a 



580 YORKSHIRE : 



wharf of 400 feet in length, at which steamers regularly load cargoes 
of 1000 and 1200 tons. The firm is Mr. B. Samuelson, M.P. for 
Banbury, and Mr. W. Hanson, of Middlesborough, managing 
partner. Offices on the works. 

Swan, Coates, & Co., Cargo Fleet Ironworks, near Middles- 
borough. — These works consist of four blast furnaces, on a site of 
forty-four acres, with a foreshore of nearly forty acres, on which 
they have recently erected a jetty for the shipment of iron, &c. 
The works are situated near to Cargo Fleet station on the Stockton 
and Darlington Bailway, about one mile from Middlesborough. 
They also own and work Ormesby ironstone mines and Whitecliffe 
ironstone mines, the latter recently purchased from the North 
Cleveland Ironstone Company (Limited). Managing partner, Mr. 
J. G. Swan. 

In addition to the above, many important works are erected, or 
in course of erection ; and the trade of Middlesborough, large as 
it is already, is thus only in its infancy. It is now, however, 
decidedly the largest of its kind in the United Kingdom. We 
have given the names as supplied to us, but every year makes 
numerous changes. 

DATES OF TEE PKINCIPAL EVENTS CONNECTED WITH THE HISTOIiT OF MIDDLESBOEOUGH. 

The history of Middlesborough as a town and borough belongs entirely to 
the present century, the population having amounted to not more than twenty- 
six persons in the year 1801, and the progress of the following decennial 
periods liaving been as under : — 



Persons. 

1811, 35 

1821, 40 

1831, 383 

1841, 5,709 



Persons. 

1851, 7,895 

1861 18,273 

1871 (in the municipal borough), . . 39,563 
1871 (in the parliamentary borough), 46,621 



The dates of all the principal events marking the rapid progress of Middles- 
borough are given on pages 571 and 572. 



PAST AND p[;ivsi-:xT. 581 



NOTICE OF THE BOROUGH OF ,ST(»CKTOX-ON-TEES. 

Much the larger portion of the flourishing railway centre and port 
of Stockton-on-Tees is situated in the county of Durham, and 
its history belongs to that county. Stockton was created a parlia- 
mentary borough by the Reform Act of 1867, and South Stockton 
was included within the boundary for parliamentary purposes. The 
first member was ^Ir. Joseph Dodds, and he was re-elected in 1874. 
Soutli Stockton, which is on the Yorkshire side of the river, owes 
its rise, like Middlesborough, mainly to the development of the 
Cleveland iron trade, having direct communication with Cleveland 
bv the Stokesley and Whitby branch of the North-eastern system. 
It is the seat of several extensive ironworks and shipbuilding 
yards, and promises to become one of the most important towns 
on the Tees. In 1871 South Stockton contained a population of 
6764 persons, and a local board, whilst the population of the whole 
parliamentary borough was 37.612 persons.'" 

Rise of the Trade of Stockton. — It is through the Stockton and 
Darlino-ton Railway that the great u'on district of Cleveland in 
Yorkshire, producing, according to the last official I'eturn, upwards 
of 5,000,000 tons of iron ore and nearly 1, 200,000 tons of iron, was 
brought into connection with the great coal-field of South Dui-ham, 
which produced in 1873 the enormous quantity of 17,436,04.5 
tons of coal. Of this immense supply a large portion furnished 
the fuel with which the iron ores of Cleveland were smelted 
and converted into pig iron. The Stockton and Darlington Railway, 
constructed by George Stephenson, and opened about the year 
1^2.5-26, was the commencement of that wonderftd railway system 
out of which has grown some 16,000 miles of railway in the United 
Kingdom ; probably ten times that amount in other countries of 
the world, and which is now spreading far and wide through every 
country possessed of a settled government, and of even moderate 
intelligence ajnou^st its people, promising ultimately to become 
the only con.sirler;ib]e method of carrying passengers and trans- 
porting goods by land. Well has this line realized the expecta- 
tions expressed by ime of the historians of Yorkshire in the year 
1S31, who then observed — "The new iron railway from Stockton 

■ Index to Population Tables, Census, 1871, p. 7;ij. 



582 YORKSHIRE : 



to Darlington, and from thence to the collieries near Auckland, 
passes within a mile of Yarm, and a branch is completed from 
the main line, to bring coals, lime, &c., down nearly to the bridge, 
which promises great advantages." These anticipations have indeed 
been amply fulfilled, and one result of their fulfilment has been to 
raise Stockton-on-Tees to the position of a large parliamentary and 
municipal borough. The result has also been to establish the engine 
and machine making trade at Stockton to so great an extent as to 
give employment in 1871 to no less than 1579 skilful workmen 
engaged in the engine and machine manufacture, in addition to 
822 workmen, equally skilful, employed as shipwrights in the 
building-yards of that town and port. 

In our description of the river Tees and of its salmon fishery in 
the first volume of this work* we have mentioned, that at Yarm 
the Tees is crossed by the North-eastern Railway running almost 
due north to Stockton. At Stockton, Avhich stands on the north 
side of the river, the Tees is navigable for large vessels, and 
continues so down to its mouth, entering the sea at Middlesborouo-h. 
With regard to the salmon fishery of the river Tees we have 
already mentioned that it is the most productive of the river 
fisheries of Yorkshire, and is scarcely surpassed by any other 
salmon river in England. 

We have mentioned the above facts with regard to the origin 
of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and its wonderful m- 
fluence — local and national — with the more interest, from having 
lived on terms of intimacy and friendship with George Stephen- 
son, at the time when he had just completed it, and was engaged 
in carrying out the still grander work of the Manchester and 
Liverpool Railway; and from having also had the very great 
pleasure of hving for upwards of four years, in almost daily 
communication either with him or with his son, Robert Stephen- 
son, with Joseph Locke, or with others of that admirable school 
of civil engineers, of which George Stephenson was the founder. 

* Vorkshire : Past and Present, vol. i. p. 263. 



PAST AND rilESENT. 



CIIAPTEIl XllL 

THE WEST EIDINc; OF YOKKfSlU UK, WITH ITS PAELTAMENTAllY 
DIVISIONS AND WAPENTAKES OR HUNDREDS. 

Having traced the history of the principal cities and parliamentary 
and municipal boroughs of Yorkshire, including the capital city of 
York, the great manufacturing towns, and the seaports and watering 
places of the county, we proceed to give a general sketch of each 
of the three Ridings, of the parliamentary divisions, and of the 
wapentakes or hundreds, out of whicli they are formed. 

Cit/rs, loichs^ and Urban Districts of Yurlcslilre. — Much the larger 
portion of the county of York is now divided, for the purposes of 
local government, either into municipal boroughs or into local board 
districts. The following table, taken from the Census returns for 
the year 1871, shows the population both of the municipal 
boroughs and of the local board districts of each of the three 
Ridings, as ascertained at that time. This census formed the 
eighth national enumeration of the people made in the present 
century; the first having been made in the year 1801. 



rOPULATION OF THE MUMCIPAL BOEOUGHS AND LOCAL BOARD DISTKICTS OF YORKSHIRE 
AT THE CEN.SL-S OF 1871, ARRANGED ACCORDING TO THE NUMBERS OF THE 
POPULATION IN EACH.* 





Population 




in 1h71. 


West Riding — 


Leeds, M.B., . . 


. 250,212 


Sheffield, M.B., . 


239,946 


Bradford, M.B.,. 


I4o,.s:;o 


Huddersfield, M.B. 


70,25:3 


Halifax, M.B., . 


65,510 


York, MB., . . 


4:;, 796 


Wakefield, M.B., 


28,069 


Piotherliarii, :\I.B., 


25,W*2 


Df-wsbiirv, M.B., 


24,76 4 


Barasley, M.B., . 


23,02:1 


Batley, M.B., . . 


2o,^^7I 


Keighley, L.B., . 


19,775 



Population 
in liSTI, 

Doncastor, M.B., . 18,768 
North Bierley, L.B., 14,433 
Shipley, L.B., . . 11,757 
Morley, L.B., . . . 9,607 
Ossett - with - Gaw - 

thoq.c, L.B., . . . 9,190 
BiiiLHry, L.B., . . . 9,062 
Ilcokinondwiko, L.B., ,M,300 
7,6yo 
7,;!7I 
7,011 
6,(s(i9 



Goiilo, Town, . . . 
Ovrnden, L.B., . . 
Sowi'.iljy Brid;;(^, L.B., 
Rawniarsli, L.B., . 
Harrn-;itc, L.B., . 



Pop\ilatioQ 
in 1871. 
Ripon, M.B., .... 6,806 
Cleckheaton, L.B., . . 6,583 
Todmorden,partof,L.B., 6,547 
Ellaiid, L.B.,. . . . 6,432 
Brighoiise, L.B., . . 6,370 
('astk'ford, L.B., . . 6,268 
Idle, L.B., .... 6,253 
Sclhy, L.B., .... 6,193 
Sowcrliy, L.B., . . . 6,079 
];ivstal, L.B.,. . . . 6,044 
Skipton, L.B., . . . 6,042 
(inlcar, L.B., .... 6,033 



6,H43 I (^liiri'UsbuiT, L.B., 



6,012 



'Census of England and Wales, 1x71, vol. iv. pp. 21) and 30. 



YORKSHIRE : 



POPULATION OF THE MUNICIPAL BOEOUGHS, &C. Continued. 



Papulation 
in 1.S71. 

Rastrick, L.B., . . . 5,,s'.»G 
Otley, L.B., .... 5,855 
Windhill, L.B., . . . 5,783 
Oakworth, L.B., . . 5,683' 
Thornton, L.B., . . . 5,674 
Eccleshill, L.B,, . . . 5,622 
Pontefract, M.B., . . 5,350 
ThornhiU, L.B., . . . 5,285 
Yeiidon, L.B., . . . 5,246 
Knaresborougli & Ten- 
tergate, Impt. D.,. . 5,205 
Darton, L.B., . . .5,197 
Linthwaite, L.B., . . 5,047 
Womb well, L.B. , . . 5,009 
Nether Sootliill, L.B., 4,927 
Honley, L.B., . . . 4,906 
Baildon, L.B., . . . 4,784 
Wooldale, L.B., . . . 4,454 
Drighlington, L.B., . 4,388 
Mexborough, L.B.,. . 4,316 
Meltham, L.B., . . . 4,229 
Greetland, LB., . . 4,114 
Clayton, L.B., . . . 4,074 
Longwood, L.B., . . 4,055 
Knottingley, Town, . 4,039 
Horbury, L.B., . . . 3,977 
Hebden Bridge, L.B., . 3,894 
Far.sley, L.B., . . . 3,829 
Tong Street, L.B., . . 3,740 
North Owram, L.B., . 3,725 
Upper Soo thill, L.B., . 3,469 
Denholme G-ate, L.B., . 3,469 
Mossley, part of, L.B., 3,462 
Kirkburton, L.B., . . 3,442 
Quickmere, L.B., . . 3,358 
Whitwood, L.B., . . 3,342 
Warley, L.B., . . . 3,341 
Soyland, L.B., . . . 3,264 
Calverley, L.B., . . . 3,195 
Guiseley, L.B., . . . 3,185 
Wilsden, L.B., . . . 3,127 
Shelf, L.B., .... 3,091 
Soiitli Owram, L.B., .3,1)91 
Midgley, L.B., . . . 3,065 
Luddenden Foot, L.B., 2,908 
Skelmanthorpe, L.B., . 2,953 



Population 
in IKTl. 

Paxvensthorpe, L.B., . 2,910 
Allerton, L.B., . . . 2,906 
Haworth, L.B., . . . 2,884 
Birkenshaw, L.B , . . 2,833 
Slaithwaite, L.B., . . 2,781 
Dodworth, L.B., . . 2,747 
Silsden, L.B., . . . 2,714 
Kirkheaton, L.B., . . 2,646 
Thurlstone, L.B., . . 2,639 
Thorne, Town, . . . 2,618 
Ilkley, L.B., .... 2,511 
Tadcaster, Town, . . 2,443 
Upperthong, L.B,, . . 2,419 
Oxenhope, L.B., . . 2,328 
Burley, L.B.,. . . . 2,271 
Wath-upon-Dearne,L.B.,2,142 
Hipperholme, L.B.. . 2,130 
Marsdeu - in - Almond- 
bury, L.B. , . . . .2,119 
Monk Bretton, L.B., • 2,090 
Barkisland, L.B,, . . 2,056 
Fulstone, L.B,, . . . 2,052 
Cartworth, L.B., . . 1,930 
Heaton, L.B., . . . 1,929 
Tickhill, L B., . . . 1,844 
Shelley, L.B., . . . 1,751 
Denby, L.B., . . . . 1,637 
Peuistone, L.B., . . 1,549 
Austonley, L.B,, . . 1,535 
West Clayton, L B., . 1,531 
Shepley, L.B., . . . 1,507 
Cumberworth & Cum- 
berworth-Half, L.B., . 1,461 
Emley, L.B., .... 1,275 
Bolton, L,B., .... 1,271 
Upper MUl, L.B., . . 1,235 
Rishworth, L.B., . . 1,143 
Flocton, L.B., . . . 1,116 
Hepworth, L.B., . .1,111 
Cornholme,partof,L.B ,1,105 
Netherthong, L-B., . 1 ,092 
Thm-stonland, L.B., . 1,001 
Scholes, L.B., ... 995 
Upper Whitly, L.B., . 882 
Scammonden, L.B., . 803 
Holme, L.B.. .... 724 



Population 
in 1871. 

06 



Hoy land Swaine, L,B., 
Marsden in - Hudders- 

field, L.B., .... 692 

Farnley Tyas, L.B., . 601 

Askern, L.B,, ... 457 
Gunthwaite and Ing- 

birchworth, L.B,, . . 386 

Bilborough, L.B., . . 207 

Crowle, part of, L.B., . 25 

East Riding— 
Kingston - upon - Hull, 
M.B., ..... 121,892 
Beverley, M,B., . . 10,218 
Bridlington, L.B., . . 6,203 
Great Driffield, Town, 5,067 
Cottingham, L.B., . . 4,010 
Malton, part of, L.B., . 3,170 
-Pocklington, Town, . 2,622 
Howden, Town,. . .2,315 
FOey, part of, L.B., . 2,257 
Hornsea, L.B., . . . 1,685 
Hedon, M.B., ... 996 
Wallingfen, L.B., . . 317 

North Riding— 
Middlesborough, M.B., 39,563 
Scarborough, M.B., 24,259 
Whitby, L.B., . . 12,460 
South Stockton, L.B., 6,764 
Guisborough, L.B., . . 5,202 
Malton, part of, L.B., . 4,998 
Richmond, M.B., . . 4,443 
Ormesby, L.B., . . . 4,080 
Pickering, L.B., . . . 3,689 
Normauby, L.B., . . 3,556 
Thirsk, Town, . . . 3,040 
Northallerton, L.B., . 2,663 
Hinderwell, L.B., . . 2,599 
Skelton - in - Cle veland, 

L.B., 2,561 

Masham, L.B., . . . 2,209 
Redcar, L.B,, . . . 1,943 
Baldersby, L.B., . . 296 
Kirklingtou-cum - Ups- 

land, L.B., .... 292 
Filey, part of, L.B., . 10 



TJie Population of the West Riding. — The population of the 
West Riding in 1871 amounted to 1,874,611 persons, of whom 



PAST AND rUESENT. 585 



924,175 were males, and 950,436 females. The average number of 
persons to each acre of land in the West Eidmg was then 1-06 ; the 
average amount of land to each person was less than one acre, 
amountuig to not more than 0'94. The number of inhabited 
houses in the West Riding was 391,949 ; of uninhabited houses, 
i! 1,831 ; and of houses building, 4804. The following figures show 
the amount of the population at each Census taken between the 
years IS 01 and 1S71. In 1801 the population of the West Riding 
amounted to not more than 589,014 persons; in 1811, to 681,974; 
in 1821, to 831,074. In 1831 the population had just passed 
one million, having risen to 1,010,869; in 1841, to 1,192,422; 
in 1S51, to 1,361,798; in 1861, to 1,548,229; and at the Census 
of 1871 to not less than 1,874,611. Thus the actual increase of 
the population in the first ten years of the present century was 
92,960; in the second, 149,100; in the third, 179,795; in the 
fourth, 181,553 ; in the fifth, 169,376; in the sixth, 186,431 ; and 
in 1871, the previously unparalleled number of 326,382.* 

The Parliamentary Divisions, Wapentakes, Cities, and Boroughs of 
the West Riding. — Yorkshire has from an early period been divided 
into three Ptidings (trithings, tridings, or third parts), each of 
which has a lord lieutenant. Each Riding has a commission of the 
peace, and a separate court of quarter sessions. The West Riding 
comprises nine wapentakes, the city of Ripon, the municipal 
boroughs of Bradford, Doncaster, Halifax, Leeds, Pontefract, Shef- 
fi.eld, and Wakefield, and also the boroughs of Dewsbury, incor- 
porated in 1862 ; Batley and Huddersfield, both incorporated in 
1868; Barnsley, incorporated in 1869 ; and Rotherham, incorporated 
in 1871. The West Riding is divided into twenty-five petty 
sessional divisions. The city of York (a county of itself), the 
boroughs of Doncaster, Leeds, and Pontefract, and the liberty of 
Ripon (including the city), have commissions of the peace and 
separate courts of quarter sessions ; and the boroughs of Batley, 
Bradford, Dewsbury, Halifax, Huddersfield, Sheffield, and Wake- 
field have also commissions of the peace. The West Riding con- 
tains thirteen lieutenancy subdivisions, which with some exceptions 
noticed are generally identical with the wapentakes. For parlia- 
mentary purposes it is divided into three divisions : the Eastern 
division, including the city of Papon and the boroughs of Knares- 
borough, Leeds, and Pontefract ; the Northern division, including 

• Census, 1871, vol. i. pp l:jil, i:i7. 
VOL. II. 4 E 



586 YOBKSHIRE : 



the boroughs of Bradford and Halifax ; and the Southern division, 
including the boroughs of Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Sheffield, 
and Wakefield. The liberty and the borough of Ripon are not 
included in the West Riding for the purposes of the county 
rate, but are rated separately. For police purposes the West 
Biding is divided into twenty-one divisions. The cities of 
Bipon and York, and all the municipal boroughs of the West 
Biding, with the exception of Barnsley, Batley, and Botherham, 
have their own police. The county contains twenty highway 
districts, sixteen of which are in the North Btiding and four in 
the W^est. The West Biding contains 121 local board districts, 
and the boroughs of Euddersfield and Pontefract, as also the 
towns of Bingley and Knaresborough-with-Tentergate have im- 
provement commissions. The ancient parishes of Yorkshire are 
large, and are divided into townships. The West Biding contains 
724 civil parishes, townships, or places, and parts of six 
other townships, namely, Lower Dunsforth, Upper Dunsforth, 
Humberton, and Milby, which extend into the North Biding ; 
part of the township of Crowle, which extends into Lincoln- 
shire ; and part of the township of Aukley which extends into 
Nottinghamshire. The registration county of York comprises 58 
superintendent registrars' districts, beginning with Sedbergb and 
ending with Bichmond, and 242 registrars' sub-districts. There 
are 33 of the former and 151 of the latter in the West Riding. 
The superintendent registrars' districts are almost identical with 
the Poor Law Unions, except that of Bradford, which comprises 
the Union of Bradford and North Bierley, and the district of 
Wortley comprises the unions of Penistone and Wortley." 

The Parliame7itary Divisions of the West Hiding.— The West 
Biding now returns six county members to Parhament, namely, 
two for each of the three divisions. The divisions are as follows : — 

EASTERN DIVISION — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1871. 

Barkston Ash (wapentake), 91,.3C2 ... 27 887 

Claro (wapentake), 266,737 ... 49'827 

Leeds (borough), . 21,572 ... 259,212 

Morley, part of (wapentake), . .... 24,254 ... 83,587 

Osgoldcross (wapentake), 111,970 ... 43,100 

Pontefract (borough), i^ggi ... 5^350 

Eipon(city), 1,580 ... 6,806 

Skyi-ack (wapentake), 94,725 ... 70,842 

' Census of England and Wales, 1871, vol. i. pp. 435-436. 



Missing Page 



588 YORKSHIRE : 



Area in Acres. Population in 18G1. Population in 1871. 

5,350 



Pontefract 1,881 ... 5,:UG 

Eipon, city 1,580 ... 6,172 

Eotherham, 5,031 ... 19,000 

Sheffield, 19,65] ... 185,172 

Wakefield, 1,517 ... 23,350 

York, city, 1,979 . . 40,433 



6,806 

25,087 

239,946 

28,069 

43,796 * 



THE NORTHERN DIVISION OP THE WEST RIDING. 

The present divisions of tlie West Ptiding, though so recent 
as the Pteform Act of 1868, are founded on the ancient wapen- 
takes, or miUtary districts, which are so old that no one knows 
when they first commenced, though the probability is that it was 
at least a thousand years ago. We first, as most convenient, 
describe the Northern Parliamentary Division of the West Ptiding, 
and shall take the others in succession. 

The Wapentake or Hundred of Eivcross in the West Riding. — 
We commence at the north-western point of the West E.iding, 
amongst the mountains of the Pennine chain, and proceed east 
and southward towards the valley of the Ouse and the estuary 
of the Humber. At the extreme north-western point of the West 
Riding, amongst the lofty heights forming the Backbone of Eng- 
land, is the Yorkshire wapentake, or hundred, of Ewcross, a district 
evidently named by the Angles or Anglo-Saxons in very remote 
ages, and apparently so called from some tradition respecting a 
ewe and a cross, the origin of which is now forgotten. This 
district contains three of the highest mountains in England, and 
everywhere presents a mountainous aspect, except in a few narrow 
valleys. The rivers of Ewcross generally join either the Lune or 
the Kibble, and flow into that great gulf of the Atlantic Ocean, 
known as the Irish Sea. A sketch of the source and of the 
progress of the beautiful river Kibble, which flows through the 
' Ewcross and Stainclifie wapentakes, and of its valuable and inter- 
esting salmon fishery, will be found in our account of the rivers 
of Yorkshire, vol. i. p. 251. A sweet short herbage, fit for the 
grazing of sheep is the principal product of this district, and the 
occupations of the people chiefly relate to sheep and cattle. Down 
to the commencement of the present century there were few roads 
or means of access or conveyance, either for travellers or goods, in 
this remote district; but the modern spirit of railway enterprise 
m England has now extended to it fully, and a great line of railway 

* Census, 1871, vol. i. p. 447. 



PAST AM) 1'Ki;,si:nt. 589 



Area in Acres. 

Sedtergl), 52,665 

Thornton-iu-Lonsdale, 9,040 



is in course of construction llirougli the district, which will place 
it on a new and central line of railway communication, extending 
from Settle to Carlisle and Scotland northward, and southward, 
through Yorkshke and Lancashire, to London and all parts of 
England. 

Area of the Wapentake of Etccross and its Parishes. — According 
to the Ordnance Survey and Index, the wapentake of Ewcross 
extends over an area of l:2i),480 statute acres, and contains only 
live parishes. The parishes are : — 

Area in Acres. 

Bentham, 25,219 

Clapliam, 25,29S 

Horton-in-RiLblesJale, 17,256 

129,480* 

It will be seen that these parishes are of unusual magnitude. 
They were probably formed soon after the introduction of Christianity 
into this part of England in the seventh or eighth century, when this 
mountainous region was so wild and inaccessible that an ancient 
Anghan missionary, mentioned by the Venerable Bede, who ascended 
the valley of the Wharfe to the borders of Craven, reported that 
he had been unable to proceed any further w^estward, but that he 
had learnt that there were small tribes of Anghan Christians even 
among the mountains, although no bishop had been able to make 
a visitation among them for a long course of years. 

Ingleborough belongs to the Ewcross wapentake. The moun- 
tain limestone, here forming part of the western boundary of 
Yorkshire, rises in large masses, and reaches on Ingleborough 
to a height of 2361 feet above the level of the sea, while on Whern- 
side it rises 2384 feet. Ewcross contains the highest elevation of 
land in Yorkshire, excepting that of Micklefell in the North Riding, 
which rises to the height of 2581 feet. The elevated dales 
known as Kingsdale, Chapel-le-Dale, and part of Dent Dale, are 
in or near this district. Ingleborough, the great object of the 
landscape, is a mass of mountain limestone, and when seen from 
Ingleton, on its western slope, rises grandly, crowned with a battle- 
ment of millstone-grit. Its summit is a level of considerable area, 
and shows the remains of what is believed to have been a hill 
fortress or camj) of the Britons. In its inclosed area are seen 
" nineteen horse-shoe-shaped low wall foundations, about thirty 

* We have omitted tlie roods and perches, wliicli may slightly affect the result of tlio additions. We have 
also in general followed the spelling contained in tiie Index to the Ordiuince Survey. 



590 YOUKSHIKE : 



feet in diameter, each having only one opening, which is always 
on the side looking toward the south-east;" perhaps because 
the strongest winds blow commonly here from the north-west, 
or possibly because the south-east was the point most likely to be 
attacked by their Anglian or Teutonic enemies, who were fighting 
their way to the north-west, after having conquered the more level 
parts of the kingdom of Northumbria, which then included our 
present Yorkshire. The view from this summit is confined on the 
east by Penyghent and by high fells on the north, but is extensive 
on the west, where it looks over the winding shores of More- 
cambe Bay. Whernside has not such a well-marked or striking 
outline as Ingleborough or Penyghent. It frowns over Dent 
Dale, where black marble is quarried, and where Adam Sedgwick, 
the geologist, was born. 

Of all the nattxral features of this mountainous district its 
caverns, in the mountain limestone rock, are the most remarkable. 
At Ingleton, we are in the neighbourhood of Ingleborough and 
Chapel-le-Dale, leading to Weathercote Cave. Amongst the 
caverns of Ewcross, Clapham Cave, on the east side of Ingle- 
borough, is the largest hitherto discovered, and — thanks to the 
care of Mr. Farrar of Ingleborough Hall, who is lord of the manor 
there — the fine stalactites and stalagmites with which the cave 
abounds have been carefully preserved. This cave is nearly half a 
mile long. That part known as the New Cave, discovered in 1837, 
is very beautiful, especially in the Pillar HaU and the Giant's Hall. 

The Minerals oj the Ewcross Wajjentake. — This mountainous 
district contains immense quantities of minerals of the older for- 
mations, with large beds of mountain limestone inclosing a few 
veins of lead and copper. There are also two places in which coal, 
the grand promoter of modern industry, has been discovered in this 
district. It is stated in the official return of the Mineral Statistics 
of the United Kingdom (page 222), published in October, 1874, 
that there are two coal mines at work here ; one the Greta 
Main at Burton-in-Lonsdale, owned by Mr. Levi Towler, and the 
other at Ingleton, owned by Mr. W. Bracewell. Should this in- 
valuable mineral be found on a larger scale, it would produce an 
immense influence both on the industry and the population of the 
district. 

Progress of Population in the Ewcross District. — We have shown 
at the commencement of this chapter how rapid has been the 



PAST AND PRESENT. 591 



increase of population in tlie West Hiding as a whole, during tlie 
present century. But the rate of increase has varied greatly in 
every district in the Hiding, having been always dependent on the 
amount of profitable employment for capital and industry furnished 
by the resources of the particular district. In the mountainous 
and pastoral region of Sedbergh, which includes a considerable 
part of the E^^■cross wapentake, the population at the census made 
at the beginning of the present century, in 1801, amounted to 
39S:i, whilst at the census made in the year 1871 it amounted to 
4990. During the last ten years, that is, from 1861 to 1871, the 
population increased from 4391 persons to 4990, giving an increase 
in that ten years of 599 persons. The Sedbergh registrar's district 
is divided into thi'ee sub-districts, namely: — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Sedbergh, 19,603 ... 2,346 ... 1,983 

l\ GarsJale, 12,172 ... 618 ... 911 

3. Dent, 20,890 ... 1,427 ... 2,096 

The commissioners for taking the census, in some cases, but 
not in all, give reasons, no doubt ascertained on the spot, for the 
increase or decrease of population in particular sub-districts or 
parishes. Thus, they state in this case that the decrease of popu- 
lation in the township of Sedbergh during the last ten years is 
attributed to the departure of labourers, who in 1861 were em- 
ployed in constructing a railway since finished. The increase of 
population in the townships of Garsdale and Dent is attributed 
to the presence of a number of labourers employed in the con- 
struction of a railway from Settle to Carlisle.* 

The Tuw.ns of the District. — The towns of this district are of 
course small and few. Sedbergh is a market town, situate one 
mile from the Sedbergh station on the Lancaster and Carlisle 
E-ailw^ay, and ten miles east of Kendal. Its boundaries lie at 
the extreme north of the West Riding. The church is dedi- 
cated to St. Andrew, and is a stone structure of considerable age, 
in the Norman style. Dent is a township and chapelry, situate 
in Dent Dale, entirely surrounded by high mountains. Thornton-in- 
Lonsdale is at the head of the river Greta. 

The WfipeutaJce of Biaincliffe. — The wapentake or hundred of 
Stainclifie, generally known as the district of Craven, is of great 
extent, and is no doubt named Stainclifie from the lofty cliffs 

• Ceiisus, 1871, vol. ii. p. 430. 



592 YOKKSHIRE : 



which are found at so many points amongst the mountain lime- 
stone formation. The origin of the name of Craven, which was 
used before the Norman Conquest, is rather uncertain ; but we 
beheve that it is derived from the old Saxon word "scraven," 
meaning a cave or caves — the caves of Craven and Ewcross 
forming the most remarkable of the many natural beauties of this 
interesting district. Its chief wealth is derived from its rich and 
beautiful pastures, which feed lai-ge flocks of sheep and cattle, 
almost as liofht and beautiful as the deer and wild cattle that 
grazed amongst them down to very recent times. An account of 
the cattle, the pastures, and the agriculture of Craven, as well 
as that of the various districts of the West E-iding, wiU be found 
in the first volume of this work, pp. 8.5-95. 

The Rivers of Graven. — Three fine rivers, the Wharf e, the Aire, 
and the Kibble, either rise in the district of Craven or flow through 
its fertile valleys. We have already described these rivers in the 
first volume of this work, pp. 230-2.54, and it is only necessary here 
to say that the motive force supplied by these streams, which 
rise at a height of about 1000 feet above the sea, and flow down 
to it with a winding course through the manufacturing districts 
of Yorkshire and North Lancashire, has been amongst the principal 
causes of the prosperity of those districts. 

Area of the Wapentake of StaincUfe and its Parishes. — The area 
of this wapentake is stated in the Ordnance Survey to be 326,591 
acres. The wapentake contains the following parishes : 



Area in Acres. 

Addingham, part of, 3,197 

Arncliffe, . 34,078 

Barnoldswick, 6,306 

Bolton-by-Bowland 5,941 

Bracewell, 2,024 

Broughton, 4^148 

Browsholme, ex. par., 1,751 

Burnaall, 30,615 

Carlton, 5^25? 

Gargrave, ii,667 

Giggleswick, 18,498 

Gisburn, 18,129 

KeigMey, 10,132 

Kettlewell, 8,412 

Kildwiok, 22,536 



Area in Acres. 

Kirkby-Malhamdale, 23,777 

Linton, 13I234 

Long Preston, 13^557 

Marton in Craven, 2 804 

Mitton, . 13I331 

Sawley, ex. par,, 2,103 

Skipton, part of, 24 789 

Slaidbiu-n, 40^000 

Slaidburn Flatts, ex. par., .... 32 
St. John of Jerusalem's Hill, ex. par., 2 roods 

Thornton in Craven, 5 434 

Tosside, ex. par., 1 112 

Whalley, .......... 3'7i3 



Total, . 326,591 

The Craven Fault of the Geologists.~Oi the " scars " or " scaurs," 
as escarpments of rock on the side of hills are here called, the great 



PAST AND PRESENT. 593 



" Craven Fault " (or displacement of strata) from east to west, 
presents the most remarkable examples in Malham Cove, where 
the river Aire takes its rise, and in Giggleswick Scar — the former 
almost 300 feet high and liollowed out hke a segment of a vast 
amphitheatre ; the latter forming part of a stupendous wall of 
limestone rocks, extending over the whole district. Of Malham 
Cove the poet Gray, who was one of the first tourists able to 
appreciate the scenery of Craven, says : "I stayed there, not with- 
out shuddering, a quarter of an hour, and thought my trouble 
richly repaid, for the impression will last for life." The " chasm " 
is the termination of a narrow glen, known as Gordale, through 
which a stream flows from the east of Malham Tarn. At 
the chasm the water has burst through a ridge of hmestone, 
and comes down into Malhamdale in two falls, with a short rajDid 
between them. The overhanging walls of limestone are more than 
300 feet high. In times of flood, when the fall is heavy and loud- 
roaring, or in winter's moonlight, when the cascade is frozen, 
Gordale Scar is a most impressive place. About the middle of 
the fine range of Giggleswick Scar, which skirts the road for 
nearly two miles from Giggleswick to Clapham, and close to the 
roadside, is situate the celebrated well, whose waters frequently 
ebb and flow, although at thirty miles' distance from the sea. 
The times of ebbing and flowing vary, being considerably influ- 
enced by the wetness or dryness of the season. A curved or 
siphon-like subterranean passage and variable pressure on the 
water are sufficient, it is thought, to account for this phenomenon, 
from which Giggleswick has probably derived its name, for "gug- 
glian " in the Anglo-Saxon means to bubble foi-th ; others derive 
the name from "geiselwick," meaning the camp of the spring, in the 
A.nglian language. 

The Boy of Eijremond — At the Norman Conquest thirty manors 
in Craven were given by the Conqueror to Ernest de Berun, the 
ancestor of the Byron family ; but these were soon lost by the 
invasion of a Scottish army, from the earldom of Cumberland, 
which earldom then came up to the borders of this part of York- 
shire, and frequently involved it in border warfare. As Dr. T. D. 
Whitaker says, in his history of Craven, " In the twelfth century 
William Fitz-Duncan " (earl of Cumberland) " laid waste the valleys 
of Craven with fire and sword; and was afterwards estabhshed 
there by his uncle David, king of Scotland. He " (William) " was 
VOL. n. 4 "' 



YORKSHIRE : 



the last of the race ; bis son, commonly called the Boy of Egremond, 
perishing before him in the narrow and irresistible torrent of the 
river Wharfe, known as the Strid ; when a priory was removed 
from Embsay to Bolton, that it might be as near as possible to 
the place where the accident happened. The mother's answer, as 
given in the first stanza, is to this day often repeated in Wharfe- 
dale." This sad event has been the subject of more than one fine 
poem, of which the following, by Rogers, is perhaps the best : — 



'" Say what remains when hope has fledf 
She answered, ' Endless weeping ! ' 
For in the herdsman's eye she read 
Who in his sliroud lay sleeping. 

At Embsay rung the matin-bell, 
The stag was raised on Barden-fell, 
The mingled sounds were swelling, dying, 
And down the Wharfe a hern was flying ; 
When near the cabin in the wood, 
In tartan clad and forest green, 
With hound in leash, and hawk in hood, 
The Boy of Egremond was seen. 
Blithe was his song, a song of yore ; 
But where the rock is rent in two, 
And the river rushes through, 
His voice was heard no more ! 
Twas but a step ! the gulf he passed ; 
But that step — it was his last ! 
As through the mist he winged his way, 
(A cloud that hovers night and day). 



The hound hung back, and back he drew 
The master and the merlin too. 
That narrow place of noise and strife 
Received their little all of Life ! 

There now the matin-bell is rung ; 
The ' Miserere ' duly sung ; 
And holy men in cowl and hood 
Are wandering up and down the wood. 
But what avail they 1 Ruthless lord, 
Thou didst not shudder when the sword 
Here on the young its fury spent, 
The helpless and the innocent. 
Sit now and answer groan for groan, 
The child before thee is thy own. 
And she who wildly wanders there. 
The mother in her long despair, 
Shall oft remind thee, waking, sleeping, 
Of those who by the Wharfe were weeping ; 
Of those who could not be consoled 
When red with blood the river rolled." 



A sketch of Bolton Priory (generally named Bolton Abbey), chiefly 
from the graceful pen of Dr. T. D. Whitaker, will be found in 
the account of the river Wharfe and its scenery, already given.'" 

Sh'pton {or SIdpton in Craven). — This old town, of which the 
most striking features are the long street of weather-stained houses 
(mostly buUt of millstone grit), the castle, and the church, has 
always been regarded as "the capital of Craven." It was the 
residence of the CHfibrds, who so long ruled as lords of this fine 
district, and passed by marriage to the Tuftons, earls of Thanet, 
as Bolton Priory and Barden Tower did to the great house of 
Cavendish, dukes of Devonshire. The town has now a station on 
the Midland Eailway from Leeds to Lancaster and Carlisle, with 
a branch to Colne in Lancashire. The castle is of great antiquity, 
and belongs to two periods — the first dating from the reign of 
Edward II., and the second from that of Henry VIII. 

• Yorkshire: Past and Present, vol. i. pp.230-S4. 



PAST AND ['RESENT. 595 



The Town of Settle. — Tlie situation of Settle is picturesfjue and 
striking. Castlebery, a conical limestone rock 210 feet liigli, backed 
by rugged crags, rises above tlie town. The projecting top of the 
hill once formed the gnomon of a rude but nuignificent sun-dial, 
the shadow of which passing over some grey stones upon its 
side marked the progress of time. The summit of this hill 
affords a fine prospect. Pendle-hill on the south, Penyghent on 
the north, and Ingleborough towards the north-west, rear their 
lofty heads above the neighbouring hills. Cattle fairs are held in 
the town. The church of the Holy Ascension was built in 1838) 
in the early English style. The living is a perpetual curacy, value 
the interest of £1242 ll.v. lid. at 'd\ per cent, in the Funds, and of 
£■400 in Queen Anne's bounty, with a glebe house. Here are a 
mechanics' institute, a music hall, and a news room. There are 
several old houses in the town, built in the seventeenth century. 
The Wesleyans, the Independents, the Society of Friends, the 
Primitive Methodists, and the Pv,oman Catholics, have chapels here. 

HISTORY OF KEIGHLEY. 

Keighley, which has belonged to the noble family of Cavendish 
for two hundred and fifty years, is an ancient town, and is rapidly 
advancing in population, wealth, and intelligence. It is a station 
on the just mentioned branch of the Midland Railway, and 
the Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes near the town. At the 
Census of 1871 Keighley contained a population of 19,775 persons. 
It is distant eight and three-quarter miles from Skipton ; is the 
centre of a polling district, for the election of county members; 
is the capital of a poor law union, a county court district, a petty 
sessional division of the West Riding, and has a board of health. 
The extensive market place was opened in 1833. Ancient fairs 
are held on the 8th and 9th of May, and the 7th, 8th, and 9th 
of November. The rapidly increasing popukition is chiefly em- 
ployed in worsted and c<jtton spinniDg, and in the manufacture of 
machinery. Sir Richard Arkwriglit built the first cotton factoiy 
here, in 1780, no doubt, seeing the advantages which Keighley 
would possess fi-om steam and water-po\\er, and from a com- 
munication to Hull and Liverpool by the Leeds and Liverpool 
Canal, and the Aire and Calder Navigation then in course of 
construction, and running near to Keighley and Bingley. The 
district also contains paper and extensive corn mills. 



596 YORKSHIRE : 



The situation of Keigliley at the opening to two valleys, and 
near the heights of Airedale, is healthy and agreeable. The town 
has recently received many improvements in its buildings. Rows 
of old houses have been taken down, and ranges of new buildings 
constructed of stone. There are several places of worship in this 
populous township, including five episcopal, and thirteen others. 
Here is also a grammar school, founded and endowed by John 
Drake in 1733, to which is annexed a preparatory free school, 
endowed by Jonas Tonson, in the year 1716 ; but these educational 
endowments have recently been reformed by the Schools' Endow- 
ment Commissioners, and a trade school and girls' school have 
been added. At Keighley there are extensive national schools, 
built at a cost of £1750 in 1835. 

The Agricultural Society meets at Keighley in the autumn. The 
magistrates hold their meetings at the sessions-house every Friday. 
The county court meets once a month in the court-house. 
The savings' bank was established in 1819. Of the newspapers 
published here the principal are the Visitor and the Keighley 
Mercury. The Mechanics' Institute in North Street was founded 
in 1826, and a hall built in 1834; but in 1871 a much more 
spacious and commodious hall, one of the most complete and beauti- 
ful in the kingdom, was opened, in which now meet the classes 
of the institute in extraordinary numbers and efficiency, and 
where there is also a school of art and of science. The working 
classes have a working men's hall. The Odd Fellows have a hand- 
some building in Market Street, called Britannia Hall, built at a 
cost of £1300. The working men have also various other philan- 
thropic institutions. 

The duke of Devonshire, one of whose ancestors married the 
heiress of the ancient family of Keighley, is lord of the manor 
and chief landowner. So rapidly has the population increased in 
the neighbourhood of Keighley that the road from the town up 
to Haworth, once a lonely hillside, is now more like a street. At 
HaAvorth we find the parsonage house, the home of the Bronte 
family. Charlotte, the eldest, and the authoress of " Jane Eyre," 
was born here in 1816, and died in 1855. Emily, the writer of 
"Wuthering Heights," died in 1848. Anne, who wrote the 
"Tenant of Wildfell Hall," died at Scarborough in 1849. The 
writings of these sisters, full of beauty and of interest, reflect 
something of the wilduess of the moorlands amid which they 



PAST AND PKESENT. 697 



passed tlieir lonely 3'outli, and many tourists of literary taste 
make a pilgrimage \ip to the bleak, gray village of Hawortli, 
to see the place where they dwelt. We have already given a 
short notice of the Brontii family in our history of Bradford, vol. 
ii. pp. 3:1:^, 334. 

Otlicr Places in Craven. — The following are a few amongst the 
many interesting places in Craven, not already mentioned : — 

Baniohlsicick; or Gill, is a township, parish, and village, in the 
eastern division of the wapentake, eight miles west from Skipton. 
The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes in the vicinity. Mr. 
Bracewell's cotton-spinning mills here employ about 1000 hands. 
The Rev. D. E. Roundell, M.A., and the heirs of the late W. 
Bagshawe, Esq., are the chief landowners. Barnoldswick was 
the site of an ancient monastery, founded by unjustly suppressing 
the prior rights of an old church here. The monks gained their 
object, but did not prosper ; for the Scots, who then made great 
depredations in Craven, ravaged the lands of Barnoldswick. Its 
abbot, Alexander, while on a tour in Airedale was charmed 
with the pleasant site of Kirkstall, where some hermits had 
chosen their retreat. The abbot persuaded these lonely men 
to submit to his authority, and soon afterwards by the aid of 
liis patron, Hemy de Laci, moved all the brotherhood of monks 
from the bleak land of Barnoldswick to Kirkstall, near Leeds. 
There he built the beautiful abbey, of which the ruins testify to 
his skill and good taste. 

Gishurn. — This township, parish, and market town, is situate 
near the river Kibble, eleven miles south of Settle. The town lies 
amid fertile pasture land, close to the eastern bank of the river and 
near the borders of Lancashire. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, 
is an ancient stone building in the Gothic style, and has a low 
square tower, nave, aisles, chancel, transept, porch, and stained 
glass windows at the east end. The Independents and Methodists 
have chapels. There is a day school, which is also used as a 
Sunday school. Fairs are held here on Mondays fortnightly. 
Gisburn Park is the seat of Lord Ribblesdale. A herd of the 
ancient British wild cattle existed at Gisburn to the year 1858. 
The ruins of Sawley abbey are now insignificant, but its original 
ground-plan has been well made out. Lady Cowper is lady of 
the manor and chief landowner. 

Earlbij, a township about two miles from Thornton paiish 



598 ^oiiKSHmE : 



church. The cotton-spinning mills of the Messrs. Bracewell have 
long given employment to many persons. The land of the parish 
is mostly used for pasturage. There are large stone quarries near 
the village. Broughton Hall, the ancient seat of the Tempests of 
Broughton, was built in 1597, just behind the former house, called 
Gillot's Place from a knightly family of that name, the heiress of 
which married Ptoger Tempest. The portraits in this house are not 
Qumcrous: but two deserve to be noticed, one of Steplien Tempest, 
author of "Religio Laici;" the other of Francis Tempest, abbot 
of Lambspring, a venerable old man in the Benedictine habit, witli 
a gold cross. 

Rylstone^ a township and village in this parish^ has the old 
family chajael of the Nortons, whom Wordsworth has made 
memorable by his tale of " The White Doe of Pylstone ;" and on 
the highest point of Rylstone Fell stands a square tower with some 
mounds near it, which are supposed to have served as butts for 
archers. This township, parish, and village, is situated on the 
river Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, five miles north- 
west from Skipton. The Midland Railway (sometimes called in 
this part " the little North-western '') has a station at Gargrave, 
which is also a postal town. A number of the inhabitants are em- 
ployed in cotton-spinning. A large worsted and cotton mill here 
is on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal, near the village. Eshton 
Hall, the beautiful seat of Sir Matthew WUson, Bart., M.P., is 
near Gargrave. 

Progress of Population in Staindiffe or Craven. — In taking the 
census of this extensive wapentake it is divided into three 
registrars' districts, namely, those of Settle, Skipton-in-Craven, 
and Keighley. Their industry varies with the natural circumstances, 
and depends chiefly upon their comparative facility for obtaining 
coal, and carriage by land and water for the transport of their 
produce. There are now two coal mines at work in the Skipton 
district ; one the Bradley Colliery, belonging to L. Horner & Co., 
and the other the Threshfield Colliery, owned by Mr. W. Lambert. 
There are four coal mines in the Bingley district, and fifty-one in the 
district of Bradford, with every facility for communication by canal 
and railway.'^'' During the last seventy years the population of the 
Settle district has increased from 11,248 to 15,134; that of Skipton, 
which has greater industrial advantages, from 18,084 to 32,398 ; and 

* Mineral Statistics, 1873, pp. 219-224. 



PAST AND TRKSKXT. 599 



opulation in 


18G1. 


Popu 


ation in 187 


5,436 








6,554 


4,503 








5,982 


1,358 








1,372 


826 








878 


405 








348 



that of Keiglile}', which has still greater advantages, from 16,498 
to 5i!,141. The increase of population in eacli of those districts 
during the last ten years, and some of tlie causes on which increase 
or decrease has been dependent, Avill be seen from the following 
figures and notes, taken from the llegistrars' returns for the 
Census of 1871 :-- 

llie ^dilc l!i'<jistrars Did r id (483). — This district is very exten- 
sive and hilly, rising at many places into mountains, and stretching 
over an area of 151,942 acres. At the Census of 1801 it contained 
a population of 11,248 persons, and at that of 1861 of 12,528, which 
number had increased to 15,134 at the Census of 1871. Registrars 
Siil-districts. — Settle is divided into five sub-districts: — 

Area in ALTea. 

1. Bentham, 40,296 

2. Settle 4;),(>18 

3. Long Preston, 16,297 

4. Kirkby Malham 22,323 

5. Arnelitl'e, 18,(103 

The >^k-ijjton Registrars District (484) includes a large portion 
of the beautiful hill pastures of Craven and the ancient town of 
Skipton-in-Craven, and extends over a wide area of 159,191 acres. 
It contained, at the Census of 1801, 18,084 inhabitants, and at 
that of 1861, 31,343 inhabitants, which number had increased to 
32,398 in 1871. Registrars Sub- districts. — Skipton is divided into 
seven sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Kettlewell, 33,135 

2. Gargrave, 17,753 

3. Barnoldswick, 1(),570 

4. Kildwick, 18,123 

5. Skipton, 25,483 

6. Addingham, .... 2ii,755 

7. Gra.s.sinjjton, 27,372 

The increase of population in Skipton township is ascribed by 
the commissioners to the general prosperity of the cotton and 
worsted manufactures. The decrease in the parish of Kettlewell, 
and in Grassington and Addingham, is said to be owing to a 
diminution of the productiveness of the lead mines. 

The Keigldey Registrars District (491) stands in one of the 
widest parts of the valley of the Aire, rises into lofty hills, and 
covers an area of 36,769 acres, containing many sources of wealth. 
At the Census of 1801 Bingley and Keighley contained 16,498 
inhabitants, and in 1861, 43,122, which number had increased to 



Population in 


ISCl. 


Population in 1871 


1,141 




1,017 


1,852 




2,030 


.5,986 




0,224 


7,853 




8,362 


8,590 




9,504 


2,909 




2,910 


2,704 




2,351 



600 YORKSHIKE : 



Population in 1861. 


Pop 


ulation in 1871. 


15,367 




18,116 


21,859 




28,059 


5,896 




5,966 



52,141 at that of 1871. Registrars'' Sub-districts. — Keighley is 
divided into three sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Bingley (in Skyrack wapentake), 14,109 

2. Keighley, 14,546 

3. riaworth, 8,114 

The increase of population at Bingley is attributed by the com- 
missioners to the erection of a number of new worsted factories. 
In the parish of Keighley, to the extension of works connected with 
the iron, worsted, and other trades. "'^ 

The Wapentake of Murley. — The populous wapentake of Morley 
is joined with the more thinly-peopled wapentakes of Ewcross and 
Staincliffe, to form the north-western division of the West Riding of 
Yorkshire. We have already, in the present volume, written the 
history of all the great manufacturing towns of the Morley, Agbrigg, 
and Skyrack wapentakes, namely, Leeds, Bradford, Halifax, Hud- 
dersfield, Dewsbury, and Wakefield, containing among them up- 
wards of 600,000 inhabitants ; and before proceeding to describe 
the detached portions of those wapentakes, we shall give an 
account of the agricultural and rural districts of the eastern 
division of the West Biding, commencing with that of Claro, which 
forms the north-western part of the division. 

THE EASTERN DIVISION OF THE WEST RIDING. 

This division includes the wapentakes of Claro, Bai-kston Ash, 
Osgoldcross, and Skyrack, and the borough of Leeds. 

The Wapentake of Claro. — The wapentake or hundred of Claro, 
probably so named by the Normans from the clearness and beauty 
of its numerous rivers and brooks, is chiefly a pastoral district 
on the west, where the country rises into extensive moors and 
lofty heights, resting on the millstone grit, but becomes a fine 
agricultural country, as it extends eastward towards the New 
Bed Sandstone formation, and the vale of York. This district has 
also a very considerable number of lead mines. It is remarkable for 
the beauty of its scenery, and for the number and admirable 
preservation of its abbeys and other monastic houses, of its churches 
and its beautiful cathedral of Bipon, and of its fine castles and 
numerous mansions. Generally speaking, the soil improves much 
in fertility on the eastern side, and the least productive parts of 
the division lie towards the west ; though here the lower districts 

* Census of 1871, vol. ii. p. 436. 



I'A.ST AND I'KliSliNT. 601 



are watered by many streams and ail'ord good pasturage. The very 
extensive paiisli of Fcwston, Avliicli includuH tlie elevated tract 
stretching between Ihiiregate and Bolton Pri(.)ry, and forming part 
of the ancient forest of Knaresljorough, is the only portion of the 
wapentake that is naturally barren. The occupations of the people 
are mostly pastoral and agricultural, and the chief crops of the 
arable laud are wheat, barley, oats, turnips, and potatoes. That 
the sod and climate ^.if this part of the county can produce good 
fruit is proved by the Ilibstone y)ippin, an apple that has been 
propagated from a tree planted at Great Pvibstone, near Hunsingore, 
and from the Winsour plum, produced almost exclusively in this and 
the adjoining wapentakes. That it can also produce magnificent 
oaks is proA^ed by the Cowthorpe oak, once the largest in England, 
but now only a ruin. In the notes to White's " Natural History 
of Selborue " we are told that the Cowthorpe oak, a hundred 
years ago, was the largest oak tree in England, and was then 
standing at the extremity of the village of Cowthorpe, near 
"NYetherby, in the county of York. The late Dr. Hunter of Sheffield 
(not the antiquary), while describing an oak of extraordinary size 
which then adorned the pai'k of Sheflield, noticed the Cowthorpe 
oak, in his edition of Evelyn's " Sylva," in the following terms : — ■ 
" Neither this, nor any of the oaks mentioned by Evelyn, bears 
any proportion to the one now growing at Cowthorpe. The 
dimensions are almost incredible. Within three feet of the ground 
it measures sixteen yards in girth, and close to the ground twenty- 
six yards. Its height, in its present ruinous state (1776), is about 
eio-hty-five feet, and its principal limb extends sixteen yards from 
the bole. Throughout the whole tree the foliage is extremely thin, 
so that the anatomy of the ancient branches may be distinctly seen 
in the height of summer. AVhen compared to this, all other trees 
are but children of the forest." Another hundred years has nearly 
swept away all that then remained of this monarch of the forest. 
But the existence of such trees as the Cowthorpe oak above 
described; the Skyi-ack oak a,t Headingley, near Leeds, wliich we 
well remember covered with leaves and green branches; and the 
grand oaks that formerly existed in Sheffield Park— show how 
well suited the soil uf tlie West Biding is to the production of this 
noblest of all forest trees. 

Claro contains a c<msideiable number of lead mines, and forms 
part of an extensive mineral district. "Lead ore," says Mrs. 
^ 4 c: 



VOL. 11. 



602 



YORKSHIRE : 



Somerville, in her delightful "Physical Geography," "is very 
often combined with silver, and is then called argentiferous galena. 
It is one of the principal productions of the British mines, especially 
in the northern mining district, which occupies 400 square miles, 
at the junction of Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmoreland, 
Durham, and Yorkshire. It comprises Alston Moor, the mountain 
ridge of Crossfell, and the dales of Derwent, East and West 
Allen, and Wear and Tees" (besides the upper part of Swale- 
dale, Wensleydale, Wharfedale, Nidderdale, and part of Airedale 
in Yorkshire). It appears from the " Mineral Statistics," pub- 
lished October, 1874, p. 45, that there were in Yorkshire in 1873 
thirty-three lead mines, and that they yielded 4986 tons of lead ore, 
producing 3704 tons of lead and 1500 ounces of silver. Of these 
mines ten were in Wharfedale, two in Airedale, three in Nidderdale, 
thirteen in Swaledale and Arkendale, one in Wensleydale, and four 
in the forest of Bowland, which is part of Ribblesdale. The names and 
positions of the lead mines are given in the first volume of this work, 
p. 19. The only copper mine in Yorkshire at work at the present 
time is that of Merrybent in the Swaledale and Arkendale district, 
which in 1 873-74 yielded seventy-two tons of ore, of the value of £882.'^-' 
The Area of the Wapentake of Clara and' of its Parishes. — The 
area of the wapentake of Claro extends over 268,248 statute acres. 
The following are the names of its parishes, with their areas in 
acres, as ascertained by the Ordnance Survey : — 

Area in Acies. 

Addingham (part of), 317 

Aldborough (part of), 7,783 



AUerton Mauleverer, 2,460 

Burton Leonard, 1,795 

Copgrove, 860 

Cowtliorpe, 1,370 

Farnham, 2,534 

Fewston, 17,644 

Goldsborough, 2,894 

Great Ouseburn (part of), .... 1,707 

Hamiisthwaite, 11,903 

Harewood (part of), 2,843 

Haverali Park (ex. par.), 2,245 

Hunsingore, 4 215 

Ilkley (part of), 4,632 

Kirk Deighton, 3,868 

Kirk Hammerton (part of), .... 1,008 

Kirklington (part of), ng 

Kirkby Malzeard, 55,414 

• Mineral Statistics, 187.S 



Area in Acres. 

Kirkby Overblow, 1 1,543 

Knaresborough, 12,489 

Leatliley, 2,088 

Little Ouseburn, 4 296 

Marton-wi til-Graf ton 2,164 

Nidd, i|o45 

Nun-Monkton (part of), 1,706 

Otley (part of), 9^022 

Pannal, 



4,897 

Kipley, 7,385 

I^ipoi. . 55,022 

Skipton (part of) 5,330 

South Stainley, 2 131 

Spofforth, 13^062 

Staveley, 1,425 

Weston, _ 4^902 

Whixley, 4,032 



Total, 
D. 21- 



268.248 



PAST AND PRESENT. 603 



The Rivers of Claw. — These are numerous and beautiful, includ- 
ing the river Uro, which bounds this \va|)eiita,ke and the West 
Pdding of York in part of its course, on the north ; the river Wharfe, 
which bounds the wapentake on the south ; and the river Nidd, 
which rises at a great elevation among the mountains on the west, 
and flows through the whole of the wapentake of Claro into the 
river Ouse. AVe have already described these fine streams in 
our account of the rivers of Yorkshire (vol. i. pp. 222-237). 

The City of H/'pon and Toicns of Claro. — This wapentake con- 
tains the city of llipon, several ancient towns, and the fashionable 
watering place of Harrogate. 

HISTORY OP THE CITY OF RIPON. 

The city of Ripon stands in a most pleasant position, on the 
banks of the river Ure, a few miles above the point at which 
that river enters the vale of York, and where it receives two 
smaller rivers, the Laver and the SkeU. It is one of the oldest 
of the Anglian cities of Yorkshu-e, and dates the commencement 
of its history from the time when Christianity was introduced 
amongst the Angles and the Saxons by Pauliuus, the apostle of 
Northumbria, and Wilfrid, afterwards archbishop of York. Ripon 
was the seat of a great monastic house, and for a short time 
of a bishopric, in the time of the Christian kings of Northumbria, 
It acquired a high reputation by the energy and ability of St. 
Wilfrid. After having received many honours and privileges 
from King Athelstane, the grandson of Alfred the Great, and 
having held a high position for many ages, owing to the splendour 
of its cathedral, and the beauty of the neighbouring Abbey of 
Fountains, Eipon has within the present century been again 
raised to the dignity of a bishopric, and has become the seat of 
the bishop of Eipon, whose palace and cathedral are situated here, 
and who presides over a large portion of the West Eiding of York- 
shire, with a diocese containing a rapidly increasing population 
already amounting to several hundred thousands of persons. We 
have already given an account of the bishopric of Eipon (vol. i. 
p. 401). At the Census of 1871, the population of this diocese 
had increased to 1,:]:3 7,053 persons."" 

Eipon was a favourite residence of the Norman archbishops of 
York until the time when Archbishop Walter Gray, 1215-1255, 

• Index to Population Tables, Census, 1«71, p. 713. 



604 YORKSHIRE : 



built Bisliopthorj)e. The town was much injured by the Scots in 
1319, when they paid a return visit to the English army, remained 
here three days, and made the inhabitants pay a ransom of 1000 
marks, equal to £10,000 of present money. During the "Rising 
of the North" in 1569, Percy, earl of Northumberland, and Nevile, 
earl of Westmoreland, mustered their forces, and made their pro- 
clamations here. Old Norton displayed his famous banner at Ptipon, 
and mass was sung in the cathedral. In the following January 
the rebel constables and serving-men of the West Piding, and 
the townsmen of Piipon who had joined the two earls, were 
executed here. In 1640 a confei'ence was held at Ptipon between 
the Scottish lords and the English commissioners. Parliamentary 
troops, under Sir Thomas Mauleverer, were at Pipon in 1643, 
when they sacked the minster; and in 1646, King Charles, 
then a pi'isoner, passed two nights at Ptipon, on his way to 
Holmby. 

Pipon was once famous for its woollen manufactures, and only 
ceased to be so during the time of the Tudors. Leland when at 
Pipon, temp. Henry VIIT., observed that "idelnes was sore en- 
cresed in the town, and clothe makyng almost decayed." Pipon has 
now a manufacture of iron agricultural imjjlements. It has always 
been famous for its market for horses. It was also noted for its 
spurs. "A gilte bowle and a pair of Pippon spurres" were pre- 
sented to King James I. on his visit in 1617. An ancient custom 
here, still observed, is the sounding of the mayor's horn. Three 
blasts are sounded nightly before the mayor's door, at nine o'clock, 
and one afterwards at the market cross. The horn itself is decorated 
with silver badges, and with insignia of trading companies belong- 
ing to the town. 

Bipon Cathedral — On the occasion of the meeting of the York- 
shire Union of Mechanics' Institutes at Pipon, in 1873, nearly 
three hundred of the members visited the cathedral of that ancient 
city, where both the original architecture of the building and the 
modern restoration excited much interest. The folIoAvino- is an 
abridgment of an interesting description of this noble buildino- 
given on that occasion by the Rev. W. C. Lukis, rector of Wath^ 
who stated that beneath the lantern tower, where the visitors were 
then standing, was the most comprehensive view of the principal 
architectural features of the cathedral. In those transepts they saw 
the work of Roger, archbishop of York, who in the first half of the 



PAST AND TRESENT. 605 



twelfth ceutury erected, upon the site of a former^ great church, a 
noble edifice in a style chiefly Norman, but slightly blended with 
the incoming pointed or early English style. The church which Arch- 
bishop Ivoger erected consisted of a choir, probably co-extensive with 
that now existing, with aisles; of a nave without aisles, of the same 
dimensions as the present one ; of two western- towers, which added 
width and dignity to the west front; of transepts, with eastern 
aisles ; and of the lantern tower already adverted to. The only 
portions of Archbishop Iloger's church, which still existed, were 
the comparatively small fragments at the east and west end. 
These show it to have been a noble structure. An alteration 
of the Norman front was effected by Walter Gray, archbishop 
of York, in the early part of the thirteenth century. The Eev. 
p'entleman next directed attention to the elegant decorative work 
in the two extreme eastern bays on each side, and to the great 
east window, in the first half of the fourteenth century, and to 
the renovated portion of the three western bays on the south 
side, in the style of the middle of the fifteenth century. The oak 
canopied stalls, he said, were inscribed with the dates of their com- 
mencement (1494) and completion (1497). These stalls were injured 
when the timbers and lead spire were blown down in a violent 
tempest, in 1660, but had recently been most carefully restored by 
Sir Gilbert G. Scott. The Eev. gentleman said that before quitting 
this spot attention must be directed to one of the most interesting 
relics of Pre-Norman times to be seen in any part of England. 
There was every reason to believe that the small and remarkable 
building buried beneath this pavement, and known by the name 
of St. Wilfrid's Needle, was an ancient chapel of the seventh 
century. The dimensions of this diminutive building were 11 
feet 3 inches long, by 7 feet 9 inches wide. The cathedral on 
the south side of the choir belonged to an earlier date than 
the transepts. It was in a Norman style anterior to the intro- 
duction of the pointed arch, and was most probably a fragment 
of a church of considerable proportions, erected by Thomas, arch- 
bishop of York, in the twelfth century. The church of Eipon 
received the equivocal advantage of being made a sanctuary for 
criminals from King Athelstane, the grandson of Alfred the Great, 
in the tenth century. The limits within which a criminal refugee 
might find himself safe under the protection of the church, were 
formerly marked by eight crosses. A portion of only one of these 



606 YORKSHIRE : 



still exists near Sharrow, about a mile from the Cathedral ; but the 
positions of two more have been ascertained. 

Studhy Royal and Fountains Ahbey. — Studley Royal, a park laid 
out under the direction of John Aislabie, Esq., is now the property 
and residence of the marquis of Eipon. The entrance to the park 
is about two miles from Ripon, on the road to Pateley Bridge. 
The jDleasure grounds are in some parts laid out in the formal 
Dutch style introduced by King William III., but are here as- 
sociated with views of a most picturesque character. At a 
small arbour in a wood, called " Anne Boleyn's seat," folding 
doors are suddenly thrown open by the guide, and disclose a 
full view of Fountains Dale, with the extensive monastic ruins 
surrounded by the richest setting that a finely-wooded valley 
can afford. These ruins, the most extensive remaining in Eng- 
land, were anciently held by a brotherhood whose estates extended 
from Penyghent Hill to Ptipon, over a space of more than thirty 
miles. Their lands in Craven alone, says Whitaker, contained 
in a ring fence a hundred square miles. The sites of the choir, 
chapel of the nine altars, chapter-house, refectory, great cloister, 
infirmary, kitchens, prisons, cellar, and abbot's house, have all 
been well made out ; and no place can be compared with Fount- 
ains Abbey, for bringing vividly before the imagination the whole 
plan of life led by the monks of the olden time. 

Fountains Hall, a fine old mansion of the time of James I., is 
near the abbey. Grantley Hall, the residence of Lord Grantley, 
the representative of the old family of the Nortons, stands three 
miles north-west from Fountains. Markenfield Hall, two miles west 
of Ripon, is an interesting old mansion, formerly the residence of 
Thomas Markenfield, who took an active part in " the Rising 
of the North." This house also now belongs to Lord Grantley. 

The Roman and British Isurium, or Aldhoroiigh.' — In modern 
times the river Ure has been made navigable from Ripon to the 
city of York, on the river Ouse. At the point where the rivers 
Ure and Swale join their waters and become the Ouse is Aid- 
borough, the ancient British city known in the Roman times, 
and perhaps much earlier, by the British name of Isurium, which is 
generally supposed to mean "the town upon the rivers, or waters;" 
but to which the Romans gave the name of Isur-Brigantum, 
or the " city of the Brigantes," from the great British tribe which 
then inhabited the present county of York and a large part of the 



PAST AND PRESENT. 607 



adjoining counties. Aldborough as •\vull as Boroughbridge, both of 
tbem in tbe same parish, returned members to Parhamcnt previous 
to Earl Grey's Ilcform Bill, in 1832. Numerous relics of Roman 
civilization have been brought to light by excavations in this 
neighbourhood, and are preserved in the " Museum Isurianum " at 
the manor house, the residence of Andrew Lawson, Esq., the lord 
of the manor of Aldborough and the owner of the greater part of 
the town. 

Patcley-Bridge and Riplejj. — On the rapid stream of the river 
Nidd are the towns of Pateley-Bridge (which may be considered 
the chief place in the lead-mining district of the West Riding) 
and of Ripley, with a fine castle belonging to the family of the 
Ingilbys, who are amongst the most ancient baronets of Eng- 
land. Amongst the curiosities shown at Ripley Castle is a 
pig of British lead with a Latin inscription, showing that it was 
cast in the country of the Brigantes, and in the reign of the 
Emperor Domitian (a.d. 81-96), which proves that these mines 
have been worked, at all events at intervals, for very nearly 1800 
years. A great many charming mansions and fine parks exist 
along the course of the river Nidd, where the scenery is remark- 
ably beautiful, bold, and varied. Most of these have been mentioned 
in our account of the Yorkshire rivers (vol. i. pp. 204-270). 

HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF KNARESBOROUGH. 

The interesting and ancient borough of Knaresborough also 
belongs to this Avapentake. It is the chief town on the river Nidd, 
and the capital of an extensive district called Niddale, or Nidder- 
dale, a district rich, as we have seen, in lead mines and abounding 
in objects of natural beauty. Soon after the Norman conquest a 
castle was built here by Serlo de Burgh (probably on the remains 
of an old Anglian castle, from which the town takes its name, and 
which either means the " fortress on the rock " or the " fortress of 
the tribe"). He accompanied the Conqueror to England, and 
received Knaresborough and several other lordships as the reward 
of his military services. He was succeeded by his brotlier John, 
whose eldest son, Eustace Fitzjohn, succeeded him in the lordship 
of Knaresborough, and was present at the battle of the Standard 
at Northallerton, a.d. 1138, and afterwards in a great battle with 
the Welsh, in which he was killed, in the year 1158. Robert, 
the son of Eustace Fitzjohn, was one of five English knights who 



608 YORKSHIRE : 



with a small body of cavalry surprised and captured William, 
king of Scotland, at Alnwick, in the year 1174. The most cele- 
brated member of this family was Hubert de Burgh, earl of Kent, 
who was one of the regents of the kingdom during the long 
minority of King Henry III. He was a resolute asserter of the 
rights of the barons and of the people against King John. His 
son Hubert also joined the standard of Simon de Montfort, in the 
Barons' wars, and was present at the battle of Evesham, in 
the year 1265. There he shared in the defeat of the barons, and 
his estates, including the manor of Knaresborough, were granted 
by King Henry III. to Eichard, earl of Cornwall, the brother of 
the king. Richard dying without issue, in the year 1300, the 
earldom of Cornwall, and with it the manor of Knaresborough, 
reverted to the crown. In the reign of King Edward II. the 
castle was held by his unworthy favourite. Piers de Gaves- 
ton ; but after his downfall and death it again returned to the 
crown, and in the year 1371 both the manor and castle were given 
by Edward III. to his fourth son, the famous John of Gaunt, duke 
of Lancaster. During the next hundred years Knaresborough was 
generally held as part of the duchy of Lancaster, and it is said to 
have been one of the places in which King Ptichard II. was im- 
prisoned for a short time, after being dethroned by Henry of Boling- 
broke. On the overthrow of Pichard III., and the complete triumph 
of the house of Lancaster, the castle of Knaresborough again 
returned to the crown, and in the year 1G16 this castle and lordship 
were granted by James I. to his son Charles, and were held by 
him at the commencement of the Civil War. After the battle of 
Marston Moor and the reduction of the city of York, in the year 
1644, Knaresborough was besieged by Lord Fairfax, who took the 
town by assault in the month of November in that year, and on the 
20th December following the castle was surrendered on honourable 
terms. In the Scottish invasion of 1648, Oliver Cromwell assembled 
his army for the defence of the country at the castle of Knares- 
borough, and marched thence, up Wharfedale and down Ribblesdale, 
to attack the Scottish army in the neighbourhood of Preston. After 
this war, but in the same year (1648), the castle of Knaresborough 
was rendered untenable by order of Parliament. From that time 
it has ceased to be a fortress ; but maiiy remains of its former 
strength and magnificence still exist. The castle covered two 
acres and a half of ground within its walls, and was flanked with 



PAST AND PUKSIINT. G09 

eleven towers. Part of the principal tower is still remaining, and 
appears to liaA-e been erected al)ont tlie time of Kmfj; Edward III. 

Knaresborongh was a place of consideiable trade in early 
times, being the chief town in the valley of the Nidd, and well 
supplied with \\ater-power by the impetuous stream of that river, 
and with wool from the sheep on the immense moors which extend 
some thirty or forty miles from Knaresborongh, to the north-west. 
But no coal has yet been found in the immediate neighbourhood 
of the town, though there are traces of that formation within a 
few miles. From want of a supply of fuel on the spot, the great 
motive power of modern manufactures does not exist here, and 
hence Knaresborough, though it has a small linen manufacture, 
has not shared to any considerable extent in the manufacturing 
prosperity of the AA'est Riding. But the town and neighbour- 
hood of Knaresborough are full of objects of interest, including 
curious and beautiful caves and the dropping well, which 
has the property of encrusting all objects thrown into it with 
carbonate of lime so as to preserve the most delicate details 
of their original formation. Scriven, in this neighbourhood, 
meaning a cavern, is said to have been originally the same 
word as Craven, which also means a cave or cavern. A beautiful 
watering place has sprung up at Harrogate (of which we shall 
give a separate description), on what was at one time one of the 
wildest parts of the great forest of Knaresborough. That forest 
formerly extended twenty miles in length from east to west, and 
about eicfht miles in breadth. It was then divided into eleven 
constabularies, namely, Bilton-with-Harrogate, Killinghall, Clint, 
Hampsthwaite, Fellescliffe, Birstwith, Merwith-with-Darley, Thrus- 
cross, Timble, Clifton, and Pannal. 

Knareslwrongh returned members to Parliament almost from the 
commencement of the parliamentary system, and now returns one 
member. At the Census of 1871 the borough contained 1271 
inhabited houses, and a population of 5205 persons. 

Knaresborough was the birth-place of a very remarkable man, 
known as "Blind Jack of Knaresborough." His true name was 
John Metcalf At six years of age he became totally blind ; yet 
he excelled in occupations for which the gift of sight is usually 
thought to be indispensable, and was most successful in road- 
making and bridge-building. He directed the works which he 
could never behold with the external eye, and proved that under- 

VOL. H. ^ 



GIO yorksbike: 



takings requiring accuiTite measurements of lines and angles might 
be accomj^lished by one who had never seen, since early childhood, a 
book or a map. He died in ISIO, aged ninety-three, at Spofibrth. 

HISTORY OF HARROGATE. 

The health-giving and delightful watering place of Harrogate 
derives its name from the Norse words haro and gata, "the 
heroes' road," and probably stood on one of those lines of road 
which the Danish chiefs of York used in their expeditions up the 
western dales of Yorkshire. Bilton, with High Harrogate and a 
part of Low Harrogate, was formerly a cliapelry in the parish of 
Knaresborough, but is now an independent ecclesiasticid parish. 
The remainder of Low Plarrogate is a district in the parish of 
Pannal. The first of the famous springs of Harrogate was dis- 
covered about the year 1596, by Mr. Slingsby, one of the 
neighbouring landowners. The town of Harrogate is divided into 
two parts. High and Low; but the site of both has an elevation 
of some hundred feet above the level of the sea. The pure 
breezes, no doubt, add to the healthiness of Harrogate, and the 
views from its extensive walks and the Stray extend over many 
miles. There are no less than twenty-five springs of mineral water; 
and of seventeen of them, which rise very near one another, it is 
said that each has a distinct character, derived from diiferent 
modifications in the working of Nature's laboratory. One chief 
difference is between the waters containing sulphur and those con- 
taining iron. Medical advice, which is abundant and good in 
Harrogate, is said to be requisite in many cases for a safe and 
curative use of the waters. Their outward application is rendered 
easy and agreeable by the Pump-room, the new Proprietary Baths, 
the Montpellier Baths, the Bath Hospital, and the baths at Starbeck 
and Harlow Car. The other cliief public buildings of Harrogate 
are the Royal Cheltenham Pump-room (in Low Harrogate), the 
New Market, and the Observatory on Harlow Hill, about a mile 
from the town. Harrogate has also several fine hotels. The 
street architecture has been much improved of late years, and the 
detached and semi-detached villas in the neighbourhood are very 
picturesque. 

The season continues from the middle of summer to late in 
tlie autumn. Balls are occasionally given at the principal hotels, 
and a series of concerts. But many of the visitors to Harroo-ate 



PAST AND PRERKNT. 611 



are invalids, who coine really to drink tlie ^¥ater or bathe in it, 
and for them the regular morning viwit to the Pump-room or the 
bath, varied ^\tth short walks (.>r drives in tlie iieighbourhood, 
supplies suffieieut reereation. The favourite walks are to Birk Cra"-, 
Harlow Car and Ha.rlow Tower, Great Almes Cliff and Little 
Almes Cliff, Plumpton Park, Starbeck, aird Knaresborough; and the 
railway has now made Otley, Ilkley, Pdpley, Brimham Ptocks, E,ipon, 
Fountains Abbey, and even the city of York, with all its objects of 
interest, easily accessible from Harrogate. 

St. John's Church (Bilton) is a new church, built from the 
designs of Sir G. G. Scott, in the early English style. Christ 
Church, in High Harrogate, was erected in 1831, and has since 
been enlarged at a considerable cost. St. Mary's Church, in 
Low Harrogate, was built in 1824, and contains 800 sittiu"-s, of 
which 500 are free. There are chapels of the Independents, the 
Wesleyan Methodists, the Wesleyaii Pteformers, the Primitive 
Methodists, and the Society of Friends. The educational institu- 
tions of Harrogate include national schools, a free school for girls, 
an endowed school (at Bilton), and a literary institution. Four 
newspapers are published here : — The Harrogate Advertiser, the 
Harrogate Herald, the Ivnareshrd Post, and the Weekly Visitor. 

In 1861 the population of Bilton with Harrogate township was 
3832, and that of the part of Low Harrogate lying in Pannal parish 
was 90.5, making a total for the whole town of 4737. In 1871 
it had greatly increased and amounted to G843 persons. 

Progress of Population in the Clara Wapentake. — At the com- 
mencement of the present century, at the Census of 1801, the 
Pateley-Bridge district contained a population of 5.020, and in 1861, 
of 9534, which had decreased at the Census of 1871 to 8686. In 
the liipon district tlie numbers had advanced in the same period 
from 13,145 to 15,967, and those of Knaresborough had decreased 
from 19,403 to 19,088. The Great Ouseburn district has been 
recently formed, and did not exactly correspond seventy years ago 
with any of the existing registrars' districts. The following returas 
show the progress or decline of population in the whole of the 
districts of the wapentake of Claro during the last ten years. 

The liipon Jlegistrar's District (486). — A rich district, nitersected 
by numerous fine rivers, and full of natural beauty and of the 
remains of ancient greatness. It extends over an area of 73,220 
acres, and contained in the year 1861 a population of 15,742, which 



612 YORKSHIRE: 



uumber had increased in 1871 to 15,967. Registrars Suh-distrids. — 
llipon is divided into four sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1801. Popniation in 1871. 

1. Eipon, 23,228 ... 8,979 ... 9,917 

2. Kirkby Malzeard, . . . 25,797 ... 3,269 ... 2,892 

3. Wath, 13,323 ... 1,700 ... 1,492 

4. Dishforth, 10,872 ... 1,794 ... 1,666 

Pakif^y-BnJge Begistrar's District (485). — This district covers a 
considerable portion of the rooors of the West Riding, and a valuable 
part of the lead mines which they contain, and extends over an area 
of 75,063 acres. In 1861 it contained a population of 9534; but 
in 1871 the number had decreased to 8686. Registrars Sub- 
districts. — Pateley-Bridge is divided into four sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Kamsgill, 31,765 ... 1,189 ... 1,026 

2. Pateley Bridge, .... 11,776 ... 3,349 .. 3,304 

3. Thornthwaite, 14,670 ... 1,925 ... 1,719 

4. Dacre Banks, 16,852 ... 3,071 ... 2,637 

The decrease of population is said to be owing to migration to the 
manufacturing districts in search of employment, to the closing 
of a factory, and to the removal of labourers, who in 1861 were 
engaged in the construction of a railway.* 

Great Oaseburn Registrar's District (487). — A rich and fertile 
district, situate near the point at which the river Ouse receives the 
Ouseburn, and the much larger streams of the Swale, the Ure, and 
the Wiske. It extends over an area of 60,627 acres. At the 
Census of 1861 it contained a population of 12,111, which number 
had decreased to 11,697 in 1871. Registrars Sub-districts.— Grea.t 
Ouseburn is divided into three sub-districts : — 

Ax^a in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871 

1. Boroughbndge, .... 23,817 ... 5,061 ... 4912 

2. Whixley, 22,881 ... 4,308 ... 4'ii2 

3. Poppleton, 13,929 ... 2,742 ... 2^673 

The decrease of population is said to be owing to a diminished 
demand for labour, and to many of the labouring class havino- 
consequently left for the manufacturing districts, t "^ 

Knaresborough Registrar's District (488), extends over an area of 
41,236 acres. At the Census of 1861 it contained a population of 
17,176, which at the Census of 1871 had increased to 19,088. 
Registrars Sub-districts.~-Kiiii^xeiihovo\\g\x is divided into two 'sub- 
districts : — 



* Census, 1871, vol. ii. p. 432. 



t Ibid. p. 433. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 613 



Area in A> res. r.ipulution In 18G1. Pupulation in 1H71. 

1. Kiiaresborouiili, .... iy,l!):l ... H,r>~[ ... 8,2-19 

2. Harnvi;ah' 22,043 ... 8, (in.') ... h),H:',<,) 

The decrease of population in the township of Brearton, included 
in KnaresLiorough district, is owing to migration to the manufac- 
turing districts. The increase of population in the township of 
Bilton with Harrogate is (^)wing to the growing importance of the 
town as a watering place and lashiouable resort. The population 
of the township of Ripley is said to have decreased in consequence 
of the removal of a number of labourers, who in 18G1 were employed 
in constructing a railway.'"' 

Wdherhij Ri'nistrar's District (489) on the line of the old Northern 
road, and at one of the principal bridges across the river Whai'fe, 
stands in a fertile district, though one that has been somewhat 
deserted by trade and communication since the making of railways. 
It extends over an area of 65,940 acres. At the Census of 1861 
it contained a population of 15,471, which number had decreased 
to 14,874 at that of 1871.. Registrars Sub-districts. — Wetherby is 
divided into two sub-districts : — 

1. Wetherby, .... 

2. Boston, 



•ea in Acres. 


Population in 18(31. 


Pupulation in 1871. 


40,383 


7,743 


7,115 


2.5,5.57 


7,728 


7,759 



The decrease of population in four or five townships is attributed 
to the migration of labourers with their families to districts where 
there is a greater demand for labour; and at Bramham to migration 
occasioned by depression of trade at the flax mills. | 

The Wapentake of Barkston Ash. — Most of the parishes and 
townships included, in this wapentake lie at no great distance 
rip-ht and left of the old Eoman road, from which was formed the 
chief part of the Great Northern Road of modern times, 
runnino- from south to north, from London to the borders of 
Scotland, and near the points where the Nidd, and Wharfe, 
flow into the river Ouse. The subsoil of the Barkston Ash 
wapentake is new red sandstone and limestone, very favourable 
to cultivation under the four course system of agriculture. The 
magnesian limestone near Sutton has supplied from early times 
superior materials for building, and the limestone in the neigh- 
bourhood of Brothertoii, like that of Knottingley, is very valuable 
for agricultural and other purposes. There is little coal found here. 
The occupations of the people are still chiefly agricultural, and 

' Centus, 1.^71, vol. ii. p. LjO. f Ibid. 



G14 



YORKSHIRE : 



numerous farms and old homesteads bear evidences of the early 
date of culture in this fertile district. The Barkston Ash wapen- 
take extends over an area of 91,358 statute aci^es. 

The Parishes of Barkston Ash. — The following are the parishes, 
with their areas in acres, of the Barkston Ash wapentake : — - 



Area in Acres. 

Birkin, 5,903 

Bolton Percy (part of), 33 

Bramham, 5,680 

Brayton, 11,665 

Brotlierton, 2,388 

Cawooil, 2,890 

Church Fenton, 3,477 

CoUingham (part of), 714 

Drax, 6,969 

Hazelwood (ex. par.), 2,191 

Kippax (part of), 271 

Kirkby Wharfe, 3,411 



Area in Acres. 

Lei'sham, 5,111 

Monk Fryston, 4,253 

Newton Kyme, 1,371 

Kyther, 3,779 

Saxton, 3,698 

Selby, 3,643 

Sherbiirn 13,268 

Snaith (part of), 4,217 

Tad caster (part of\ 2,100 

Wistow, 4,316 



Total, 



91,358 



TOWNS OF BARKSTON ASH WAPENTAKE. 

History of Selbjj. — Selby is a port and harbour on the river Ouse, 
from which trading vessels sail to various parts of the world without 
touching at Hull, and foreign ships are permitted to enter Selby 
and dischai'ge their freights ; this place having a branch custom- 
house. The first passenger railway formed in Yorkshire was from 
Selby to Leeds. Selby commands direct communication with York, 
Hull, Leeds, and the entire country. The magistrates hold their 
sittings at the court-house on alternate Mondays. The county 
court is held monthly on Thursday. The union-house was built in 
1841 at an outlay of £.')650, and will admit 189 inmates. The 
local board of health was formed in 1856. 

The town is supplied with water obtained from an Artesian well, 
and pumped, from a depth of 330 feet below the surface of the 
ground, into a tank capable of holding 150,000 gallons. 

If we could believe a monkish legend, Selby Abbey grew up 
out of a hut raised to inclose a saint's finger. Benedict, a foreio-n 
monk, came to the site, it is said, soon after the Conquest, when 
he was the only monk in Yorkshire, bringing with him the fino-er 
of Saint Germaiius. The monk's hut was visited by the sherifi' of 
Yorkshire, who left there a tent to afford a better shelter to " the 
glorious finger." A grant of land on the bank of the Ouse having 
been obtained through the aid of the same sheriff, wooden cells for 



J'A.ST AND TRESENT. G15 



other monks sprang- up al)oiit tlio tent of Benedict, who was now 
made abbot, and ruled Iktc twenty-seven years over the brother- 
hood dwehing in wooden huts. His sueeessor, Hugh, built a church 
and a couveut of stone further ii-oni the river. Several English 
kings eui-iehed Selby Abbe}-, and Pope Alexander II. made it a 
juitred abbev, in importance second only to Fountains and St. 
]\Iary's, York. At the dissolution the site and all the property 
were granted to Sir Kalph Sadler. In 1618 James I. made the 
Abbey Church the parish church of Selby, as it still remains. 

As it now stands Selby Church is a very noble building. The 
nave appears to be the most ancient part ; the choir is a later 
erection. The whole length of the structure is 267 feet, the 
breadth fifty, and the length of the transept 100 feet; the east 
and west ends being of erj^ual distance from the pillars sup- 
porting the steeple. This steeple or tower fell down on Sunday 
the 30th of March, 1670, about six o'clock in the morning, and 
by its fall destroyed a j)art of the church, particularly the south 
end of the transept. The present tower, probably rebuilt about 
1702, is in a style by no means corresponding with its original. 
The internal architecture of the nave is very magnificent, and 
the ornaments are the most elaborate and beautiful. " But the 
object which attracts more pai-ticular attention is the east window : 
the proportions of all its parts, the beauty of its tracery, and the 
slender lofty muUions, unsupported by transoms, cannot be exceeded." 

Selby contains several Sunday and day schools, charity schools, 
and almshouses. The Independents, Wesleyans and Primitive 
Methodists, Quakers, Unitarians, and Roman Catholics, have 
chapels. 

Many of the inhabitants are employed chiefly in sail-making, 
rope-making, boat and barge building, brewing, tanning, and iron- 
founding. A market is held every Monday, and fairs on Easter 
Tuesday and the Wednesday after June 22nd, and October 11th, for 
horses and cattle; and for wool and flax the four following weeks, 
beginning on the last Friday in May. Lord Londesborough is lord 
of the manor, and the piincipal landowners are the representatives 
of Lady Moore, and William Paver, Es([. 

The Td/rn of Tailcaster. — Tlie glories of Tadeastcr, like those of 
Ferrybridge, belong to the past. Tadcaster, the first station after 
leaving Church Fenton, on the Harrogate branch, is believed to 
have been the Calcaria of tlie Bomans, and many Roman coins 



GIG YORKSHIRE: 



have been dug up here. The perpendicular church of St. Mary- 
is large, but heavy in the interior. A new Roman Catholic chapel, 
of no great pretensions as to the exterior, was recently opened here. 
There are also chapels for the Wesleyans, the Wesleyan Reformers, 
and the Primitive Methodists. An endowed grammar school was 
founded in 15.58 by Bishop Oglethorpe. Here are also a national 
school for boys, and a preparatory school for girls, supported by 
Dawson's Charity, and there ai'e Church and Wesleyan Sunday 
schools. In the neighbourhood are quarries of magnesian limestone. 
The soil is clay and limestone, and the chief crops grown are wheat, 
barley, oats, and tm-nips. John Fielden, Esq., M.P., of Grimston 
Hall, is lord of the manor, by purchase from Lord Londesborough in 
1872. Charles Shann, Esq., the Rev. E. Brooksbank, of Healaugh 
Hall, and R. B. AUenby, Esq., are amongst the chief landowners. 

Selby Registrar's District (513) covers an area of 56,984 acres. 
In 1801 it contained a population of 10,252 persons; in 1861, of 
15,675 ; and in 1871 of 16,380. Registrars' Sub-distrids.—Selhj is 
divided into three sub-districts: — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Carlton, 13,741 

2. Selby 25,213 

3. Riccall, 18,030 

Tadcaster Registrars District (514) covers an area of 72,865 acres. 
In 1801 it contained a population of 14,523 persons; in 1861, of 
20,150 persons; and in 1871 of 21,080. Registrars Sub-districts.— 
Tadcaster is divided into three sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Aberford, 29,859 ... 10,182 ... 11,484 

2. Tadcaster, 17,968 ... 4,548 ... 4,242 

3. Appleton-Roebuck, . . . 25,038 ... 5,420 ... 6,354 

T/ie Wapentake of Osgoldcross. — The name of the wapentake 
of Osgoldcross is either derived from some gold cross which was 
supposed to have belonged to Oswald, or Oswy, one of the ancient 
kings of the AngUan race, who ruled in the kingdom of North- 
umbria, which then extended from the Humber to the present 
borders of Scotland ; or from St. Oswald, the patriotic Christian 
king and martyr, who was slain in a great battle fought at 
Heathfield, near Doncaster. The soil of this district is rich, as 
shown in our account of its agi-iculture (vol. i. p. 77). The area 
of the wapentake of Osgoldcross is 113,830 statute acres. 



Population in 1861. 


Population in 1871, 


2,423 


2,366 


9,765 


10,523 


3,487 


3,491 



FAST AND PRESENT. 017 



lite Parislics of Osijoli /cross, icith their ^ireas. — The following 
ire the parishes of Osgold cross, with their areas : — 



Area in Acres. 

Ackworth, 2,643 

Adlingfleot, 5,615 

liadsworth 3,97 1) 

Burglnvallis 1,(;()7 

Camps;ill 9,716 

Castleford, i 543 

Castle Precincts ^ex. par.), .... 8 

r'arrington, 5,537 

Featherstone (pait of), ..... 2,401 

Ferry Fr\ ston, 3,065 

Hunt-n-ick (ex. par.), 255 

Kellington, 7,490 

Kirk Bram with, . 2,110 



o 

Area in Acres. 

Kirk Snieaton 1,700 

Monk Hill (ex. par ), 4 

Nostel (ex. par.), 829 

Owston, 3,039 

Pontefract, 5,387 

Park (ex. par.), .... 1,394 

Snaith (part of), 29,925 

South Kirby (part of), 7,048 

Whitgift, 9,941 

Womersley, 7,013 

Wragby (part of), 1,430 



Total, 113,830 



THE TOWXS OF OSGOLDCEOSS WAPENTAKE. HISTORY OP THE 

BOROUGH OF PONTEFRACT. 

The ancient town and castle of Pontefract, situated a few miles 
north-west of the chief passage of the Aire, near Ferrybridge, and to 
some extent commanding the approach to York from the south, by 
the Great Northern Road which formerly intersected the whole 
county, was a place of great military strength, even in the Anglian 
times. After the battle of Hastings it was fortified with an immense 
castle by Ilbert de Laci, and remained the chief stronghold of the 
Xorman power, in the south-eastern part of the West Riding, for 
some hundreds of years. It was the scene of frequent contests, and 
of many tragical events in the wars between the rival houses of 
York and Lancaster ; and in the great Civil War the defence of 
Pontefract Castle by the royalists, was one of the most brilliant 
events of that memorable conflict. These events have been fully 
described in the first volume of this work. 

Pontefract Ijas returned two members to Parliament ever since 
the parliamentary system was introduced. It also received a 
charter firom Roger de Laci, one of the early lords of the Honour 
of Pontefract, which was the model of the charters of Leeds and 
of other places. The country around Pontefract is extremely fertile ; 
and minerals of great value, including building-stone of the finest 
quality, are also found at Knottingley, which is within the hmits of 
the modern borough of Pontefract. The coal formation also extends 
to Normanton in this neigljbourhood; and in the month of May, 
1874, a rich and valuable bed of coal more than four feet thick 

vriT,. Ti. 4 I 



g]^8 YORKSHIRE : 



was discovered on the estates of Lord Houghton. This and 
similar discoveries may possibly restore the ancient prosperity 
which Pontefract possessed at the time when it was a great 
market, the chief feudal castle m the south-west of Yorkshire, 
and both a parliamentary and a municipal borough. At the 
Census of 1871 the parliamentary borough of Pontefract contained 
2704 inhabited houses, and a population of 11,653 persons. 

Pontefract is situated three miles from Castleford Eailway 
station, near the confluence of the rivers Aire and Calder, and is 
also on the Wakefield and Goole Eailway line. It is a clean, airy, 
and well-built town. Below the remains of Pontefract Castle 
stands the old church of All Saints, itself almost a ruin. Its walls 
fell before the cannon of the parliamentary generals after a resist- 
ance of nearly three years, in part of which both CromweU and 
Fairfax were present. A priory and convent then annexed to it 
were totally destroyed. In 1837 the central tower and transepts 
were repaired and fitted for divine worship, and in 1866 a con- 
siderable sum was expended in restoring the same, and strengthening 
and supporting the ruins. The church appears to have been early 
decorated with perpendicular insertions. The tower contains a 
double geometrical staircase, worthy of notice. A singular inscrip- 
tion on a tomb in the churchyard attracts the attention of those 
curious in such matters. It runs as follows : — ■ 

" Eye findeth, heart chooseth ; 
Love bindeth, death looseth :" 

the four nouns being represented by symbols. By an Act of the 
29th George HI., the church of St. Giles superseded that of All 
Saints as the parish church. This ancient structure is in the Norman 
style, and has been frequently repaired. The Wesleyans, Primitive 
Methodists, Independents, Ptoman Catholics, and the Society of 
Friends, are all well represented by chapels and schools. There 
are also endowed free grammar schools. The mayor, four alder- 
men, and twelve councillors, constitute the corporation of the 
town. The quarter sessions are held the first whole week in 
April. The town hall is a good building. The market hall, open 
every Saturday for the sale of meat, poultry, eggs, and vegetables, 
was erected in 18.59 at the cost of £11,000. Malting is largely 
carried on by several firms ; iron foundries, breweries, tanneries, 
sack and hearth-rug making, machinery, and corn mills, supply 
the inhabitants with occupation. Pontefract is also celebrated for 



PAST AND TRKSENT. 619 



its liquoi-ico, made into '' Poini'rct cakes." Two newspapers are 

published hero ; the I'onirJ'ract Telcgrapli, established in 185/, ami 

the Pontef'ract Advertiser. 

The history of Pontefract, as we have stated, belongs mainly 

to its castle. Here li\ed and suffered Thomas Plantagenet, nephew 

of Edward I. ; here resided John of Gaunt, duke of Lancaster ; 

and in his early youth, Plenry of Bolingbroke. Hither came as 

prisoner tlie unfortunate Eichard II., and witliin these walls was 

murdered. The dukes of Bourbon and of Orleans, taken prisoners 

at Agincourt, were sent to Pontefract Castle, where they remained 

for many years, with an illustrious companion who afterwards joined 

them, the young king of Scotland, James I. After the battle of 

Wakefield the old walls received other prisoners ; Nevile, earl of 

Sahsbury, Sir Pvalph Stanley, and other gallant Yorkists were here 

beheaded. Here also Earl Pv,iver3, Sir Thomas Vaughan, and Sir 

Pilchard Gray, murdered by Richard III., filled up the sanguinary 

catalogue of noble sufferers. Shakspeare makes one of them 

exclaun : — 

''Oh Pomfret, Pomfret ! tliou bloody prison, 
Fatal and ominous to noble peers ! 
Within the guilty closure of thy walls, 
Pilchard the Second here was hacked to death : 
And, for more slander to thy dismal seat, 
AVe give thee up our guiltless blood to drink." * 

Pontefract Castle previrms to the Siege in the Great Civil War.- — ■ 
"We have an account of Pontefract Castle while it was still in its 
gloiy and its strength. About ten years before the Great Civil 
War and the siege, which commenced in the year 1644, some 
travellers from Norwich passed through the town, and have left 
the following account of the castle as it then appeared : — " This 
to«'n of Pomfret is an ancient corporation, consisting of a mayor, 
twelve aldermen, and a recorder, and hath two cluirches therein ; 
there we lighted at the Star, and took a fair repast, to enable ns 
the better to scale that high and stately, famous and princely, 
impregnable castle and citadel, built by a Norman upon a ivx-lc ; 
which, for the situation, strength and largeness, may compare witli 
any in this kingduiu. 

"In the circuit of this ca,stle there are seven flimous towers, of 
that amplitude and receipt as may entertain as ma,ny princes as 
sometimes have commanded tlils island. The highest of them is 

• •' Kichurd in." 



620 YORKSHIRE : 



called tlie E,ound Tower, in which that unfortunate prince (Richard 
II.) was enforced to flee round a post, till his barbarous butchers 
inhumanly deprived him of life. Upon that post the cruel hackings 
and fierce blows still remain. We viewed the spacious hall, which 
the giants kept, the large fair kitchen, which is long, with many 
chimnies in it. Then went we up and saw the Chamber of 
Presence, the Kings' and Queens' Chambers, the Chapel, and many 
other rooms, all fit and suitable for princes. As we walked on 
the leads which cover that famous castle, we took a larafe and fair 
prospect of the country twenty miles about. York we there easily 
saw and plainly discovered, to which place (after we had pleased 
the she-keeper, our guide) we thought fit to hasten, for the day 
was so far spent, and the weather such as brought us both late and 
wet into that other metropolitan city of our famous island. In 
our way as we travelled hither, we passed over two large rivers 
by two well-built and fair-arched bridges of stone, and had a cursory 
view in transitu of some gentlemen's seats of note."'"' 

Knottimjley. — Knottingley, formerly a chapehy of Pontefract, 
but now an ecclesiastical parish and part of that borough, is 
situated three miles east-north-east from the town, and is a rail- 
way station and a junction of considerable importance on the 
Great Northern Ptailway ; it is also on the line of the Lanca- 
shire and Yorkshire Ptailway from Wakefield to Goole. It may 
be regarded as the centre of the district of magnesian limestone, 
and has great facilities for transit to all parts, by rail and canal. 
Its occupations and its population have greatly increased during 
late years. Lime-burning, glassworks, potteries, roperies, and yards 
for ship-building, have augmented the trade of the place. Though 
far inland, Knottingley has easy access to the Humber by the Aire 
and Calder Canal to Goole, and sea-faring men have lono- formed 
a considerable part of the population. The old church of St. 
Botolph has been found too small, and Christ Church, in another 
part of the town, has lately been erected, partly by aid from the 
Church Building Society. Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and 
Independents have chapels here, with schools attached to them ; 
and a Mechanics' Institute and library efficiently aid the education 
and progress of the people. At the Census of 1871 the population 
was 4U:39. 

• " Chapters of Yorkshire History," by James J. Cartwright, M.A. Cantab., of the Public Kecord Office, 



PAST AND PRESENT. 621 



Casth-Jord. — Castleford, a veiy ancient town wliich has increased 
rapidly during late j-ears, stands at the junction of the Aire and 
the Calder, and on the site of the Itoman station of Laqecium. 
Numerous Roman antiquities have been dog up in the neighbour- 
hood. Situated on the edge of a coal-field and on a bed of clay, 
Castleford has recently made rapid pr(.)gress, especially in its 
manufacture of bottles and earthenware. Considerable improve- 
ments have lately been made under the local Board of Health. 
Alluding to the confluence of the two rivers here, an old rhyme 
says : — 

" Castleford maidens must needs be fair, 
Because they wash both in Calder and Aire :" 

but the fairness shown by the maidens of Castleford must now be 
ascribed to other causes ; for the nymphs. Aire and Calder, them- 
selves sadly need washing. The church of All Saints is a new 
structure. AA^esleyans, Primitive Methodists, the United Methodist 
Free Church, and Independents, have chapels here, with schools 
attached to them. The population in 1861 was 4305, and in 1871, 
7149. 

Glass-Hougldon is a manufacturing place situated on a bed of 
fine sand used for iron-founding and the glass manufacture. The 
population in 1861 was 489, and in 1871, 881. 

HISTORY OF GOOLE. 

Goole was formerly a township of the parish of Snaith, but is 
now a town and port, and an ecclesiastical parish in the lower 
division of Osgoldcross, rural deanery of Pontefract, and diocese of 
Pdpon. The town and port of Goole have increased very rapidly. 
Owino- chiefly to the enterprise of the Aire and Calder Navigation 
trustees, the insignificant village of half a century ago has growai 
into a port with bonding warehouses, trading with Holland, France, 
Germany, and Prussia ; exporting coal, woollen cloth, iron and cut- 
lery, and importing corn, wool, and timber. This large trade has 
called forth the enterprise of several shipping and packet com- 
panies. The harbour consists of a basin 250 feet long and 200 
feet wide, situate near the confluence of the artificial channel called 
the Dutch Pdver with the Ouse. Two large docks communicate 
with the Ouse by locks, and capacious warehouses and a timber- 
pond adjoin. The heavy lock-gates are opened by hydraulic power, 
and a hoist here moved liy the same power is capable of lifting at 



622 YORKSHIEE : 

once a weight of seventy-five tons. The sum expended on the 
works connected with the navigation of Goole has exceeded 
£1,000,000. There is railway communication with Leeds, Wakefield, 
Hull, and Doncaster. The town of Goole, consisting of wide, regular, 
and level streets, is neat, clean, and well paved. Among the chief 
public buildings may be named the modern church in the perpen- 
dicular style (St. John), for which the Aire and Calder Navigation 
Company gave the site and great part of the building materials; the 
court house ; and the Goole Union house. The Wesleyans 
and the several bodies of the Methodists, the Independents, 
and the Ptoman Catholics, have places of worshij) here. The 
whole district, of which Goole forms a part, includes the land 
bounded on the west by a line from Thorne to Snaith, and 
on the east by the river Trent. This may be regarded as 
fertile soil won from the water, and forms a striking contrast 
with the sea-coast of Holderness, where for unnumbered cen- 
turies the sea has been wearing away the rich soil. Old Goole 
extends southward along the Ouse and is separated from the 
new town by the Dutch River, which is here crossed by a wooden 
bridge. 

Goole Registrars District (512), a seaport town and extensive 
agricultural district, covers an area of 43,443 acres. In 1801 it 
contained a population of 6700 persons, in 1861 of 15,153, and in 
1871 of 17,270. Registrars' Sub-distrids.—Goole is divided into 
three sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Swinefleet, 19,237 ... 4,042 ... 4,320 

2- Goole, 10,546 ... 6,994 ... 8',7o4 

3. Snaith, 13,660 ... 4,117 ... 4,196 

Pontefract Registrar's District is chiefly agricultural, though on 
the eastern edge of the Yorkshire coal-field, and extending over 
an area of 54,037 acres. In 1801 it contained a population of 
17,967 persons, and in 1861 of 28,238 persons, which number had 
hicreased in 1871 to 34,498. Registrars' Suh-districts.—V onMvs.ct 
is divided into four sub-districts :— 

Area in Acres. Population in 18C1. Population in 1871. 

1. Knottingley, 18,128 ... 9,126 ... 8 460 

2. Whitley, 16,958 ... 2,439 ... 2495 

3. Pontefract, 12,734 ... 8,113 ... 9*775 

4. Castleford, 6,217 ... 8,560 ... 13'768 



PAST AND PRESENT. 623 



In tiiis disti'ict the increase of population in the townships of 
Suydale, Featherstone, and Purston JagUn, as well as in Glass- 
Hougiiton and Methle}-, is attributed to the opening of new 
collieiies, and the establishino- of new o-lass-A\'orks in Castleford 
township. The lime and shipping trades of Knottingley had 
been for some time depressed, but soon revived, and there was an 
increase of population in Cridling Stubbs, caused by the increase 
of the lime trade.'"' 

Hi-msicorth Rajistrars District (504), a beautiful agricultural 
district to the south of Pontefract, extends over an area of 
;U,S31 acres. In 1801 it contained a population of 6198, and 
in 1S61 of 7793, which number had increased in 1871 to 
SI 44. Registrars Sub-distrid. — Hemsworth forms only one sub- 
district : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Hemsworth, 34,831 ... 7,793 ... 8,114 

37^6 Waj)entake of Shjrack. — The wapentake, or hundred of 
Skyrack (the old Anglian mode of pronouncing the word " Shire- 
oak"), extends along the south bank of the river Wharfe and north 
bank of the river Aire, both which rivers are adorned with 
numerous parks and mansions, of which Harewood House, the 
chief residence of the earls of Harewood, and Temple Newsham, 
the residence of the Meynells and the Ingrams, are the most 
conspicuous ; whilst the ruins of the beautiful abbey of Ku-kstall, 
and other monastic houses, greatly enhance the interest of the 
scenery. The older part of Leeds is built on the northern bank of 
the Aire, and is in this wapentake. Though the northern side 
of that river is not so rich in minerals as the southern, it contains 
extensive beds of stone, iron, and coal, and of late years these have 
been fully developed. With this exception the river Aire had 
previously been regarded as the northern boundary line of the 
coal district, which extends from that river southward through 
A\'^akefield, Barusley, Sheffield, Kotherham, and through Derbyshire 
and Nottinghamshire to the river Trent, and at some points far 
beyond it. The area of the wapentake, or hundred of Skyrack, 
is 106,302 statute acres. t 

The r<irishes of Skijrach, vrith their Areas. — The following are the 
parishes of Skyrack, with their areas :- - 

" Census. 1«7I, \ol. ii. pp. Ill, Ml'. f Index to Ordnance Survey, 1871. 



624 YORKSHIRE : 



Area in Acres. 

Aberford, 4,227 

Adel, V,155 

Bardsey, 4,105 

Barwick-in-Elmet, ■ 8,447 

Bingley, 14,108 

Collingham (part of), 1,880 

Gaiforth, 1,752 

Guiseley 8,925 

Harewood (part of), 8,795 



Area in Acres. 

Ilkley (part of), 3,822 

Kippax (part of), 3,614 

Leeds (part of), 11,637 

Otley (part of), 14,736 

Swillington, 2,627 

Thorner 4,888 

Whitkirk, 5,637 



Total 106,362 



We have already described the ancient borough of Leeds, the 
largest town in Yorkshire, the population of which within our 
own recollection has increased from less than 60,000 to upwards 
of 270,000 inhabitants. 

THE WATERING PLACE OF ILKLEY. 

As a popular watering place the origin of Ilkley, in Skyrack 
wapentake, is of recent date. Its development as such covers 
little more than a quarter of a century, and within, at most, a 
single generation it has passed from the condition of a small 
village of thatched houses to that of a town laid out with regularity, 
and possessing many handsome streets and buildings. This was 
the site of the Olicana of the Roman Itinerary, and inscribed 
stones and other remains attest the presence in former times of the 
once dominant race. On the heather-covered hills above the town, 
which, under the name of Rumbald's Moor, skirt the southern bank 
of the river Wharfe for many miles, there are traces of stUl earlier 
occupation in the shape of cairns, hut circles, and other relics of 
pre-historic life. From the time when the Ptoman Itinerary was 
written until the latter half of the eleventh century, there is no 
mention in history of this secluded village in Wharfedale. In the 
Domesday Survey lUicleia is described as waste, and as belonging 
to William de Percy, as the successor of the dispossessed Saxon, 
Gamel. From the family of Percy the manor passed to that of 
Kyme, and thence to that of Middleton, a member of which is now 
the owner; his residence being Middleton Lodge, a Tudoresque 
building on the northern acclivity of the valley. 

With the exception of the church, the ancient building on 
Castle Hill, and about a dozen thatched or grey-slated humble 
tenements, the Ilkley of to-day is modern. It owes its development 
in a great measure to the dehcious coldness of its springs, to 
hydropathy, and to the railway facilities which placed it within 



PAST AND rUKSEXT. 11:^5 



less than an liour's journey (.>t' Leeds and Bradford. The slopes 
of Rumbald's Moor are now dotted with the elegant residences 
of merchants of those towns, and near them are handsome streets 
in which visitors during the " season " are lodged. The attention 
of hydropathists — earliest amongst the number being, we believe, 
the late ISlv. Hamer Stansfeld — was first drawn to this locality 
by the existence on the hillside of a copious spring of pure water, 
which even in the heats of summer is very cold. As early as 1699, 
however, a small bath-house was built in which this water was 
used. Of the present hydropathic establishments, Ben PJiydding, 
an extensive structure in the Scottish baronial style, claims pre- 
cedence of origin, having been opened in May, 1844 ; the premises, 
it may be remarked, being then of very limited extent as compared 
with their present dimensions. In May, 1856, Ilkley Wells House, 
a palatial building in the Italian style, was opened. The sites of 
both these great establishments are very fine, and the buildings are 
prominent objects in the scenery of this charming valley. There 
are in the town two smaller hydropathic establishments, Craiglands 
and Troutbeck. In visiting this spot for the improvement of health 
or for rest, the wealthy have not been neglectful of the needs of 
their poorer fellow creatures. The Ilkley Charity Hospital, and the 
Ilkley Hospital, both supported by subscriptions, aid yearly in the 
restoration to health of many poor persons, who, but for such 
succour, must have returned to work with diminished physical 
powers. By the liberality of Mr. C. Semon, a Bradford merchant, 
a Convalescent Hospital will shortly be added to the benevolent 
institutions of the town. 

As Ilkley has grown, places of worship have increased. The 
most ancient of these is the parish church (All Saints), the architec- 
ture of which is a by no means unpicturesque blending of early 
styles. In the interior are brasses in memory of members of the 
Heber and WatHnson families. The well-known Bishop Heber was 
a member of the first-named family, the residence of which was at 
Hollin Hall, now a farm-house, the principal portion of which 
seems to date from the time of the Tudors. The family name is 
preserved in Heber's GiU, a charming ravine near the hall. In the 
churchyard, beneath the shadow of some fine trees, are the remains 
of three crosses, said to be Saxon, and curiously ornamented with 
figures and scrolls. Adjoining the churchyard is the old mansion 
known as the castle, which is supposed to stand on the site of the 

4 K 

VOL. n. ^ 



62 G YORKSHIRE : 



Roman station ; but the remains of masonry said to be Pioman 
are probably the relics of a castellated residence of feudal times. 
To relieve the parish church, which is often inconveniently crowded, 
it has been decided to erect another church, and this project is 
likely soon to be carried out. The Wesleyan Methodists built a 
chapel here as early as 1834, capable of seating 300 persons. This 
body, a few years ago, erected a second and larger place of worship^ 
a very handsome edifice. About the same time the Congrega- 
tionalists raised a beautiful chapel here. The Society of Friends 
have also a place of worship in the town ; and the Roman Catholics 
one at Middleton Lodge. There is a free grammar school, and 
several excellent private schools in the town. 

Ilkley owes its reputation as a health resort to the purity and 
bracing quality of the air, the beauty and charming variety of its 
walks and sceneiy, the excellence of its water supply, and its 
proximity to so many interesting places ; chief amongst them being 
Bolton Abbey, with its woods and lovely vistas, to which the visitor 
has access by permission of the duke of Devonshire. Below Ilkley, 
and on the north side of the Wharfe, is Denton Hall, which is 
interesting from its association with the Fairfax family. 

The township business of Ilkley is managed by a local board, 
whose duties are by no means light in regulating the growth, and 
caring for the health of the community, which has been so rapidly 
developed. 

Lower down the valley of the Whai-fe is the pleasant country 
town of Otley, erected in the midst of beautiful parks and mansions 
and facing the lofty height of Otley Chiven, a name derived from 
the Celtic, Kevn. 

HISTORY OF BINGLEY. 

Bingley, four miles from Keighley and six from Bradford, had 
in 1871 a population of 9062 persons. The market is held on 
Tuesday, and fairs on January 25, August 25, and two following 
days, for horned cattle. This is one of the thu-ty-two lordships 
which the Conqueror gave to Erneis de Berun. How long he held 
it does not appear ; but about the year 1120 it was the property of 
Wilham Paganel, founder of the priory of Drax. His successors 
were the Gaunts ; and William de Gaunt had a charter for a 
market here in the twelfth year of King John. The family of 
the Cantilupes afterwards became possessed of it ; and in later times 
we find it in the hands, by purchase in 1668, of Robert Benson, 



PAST AND PllESENT. 027 



father of the first Lord Binn-ley. In tlie time of Dodsworth, who 
visited this place in 1G21, "there was a park at Bingley and a castle 
near the church, on a hill called Bailey Hill," of which little more 
than the name and tradition now remain. The benefice, a vicar- 
age, is valued in the parliamentary return at £138. The church, 
dedicated to All Saints, a plain and decent structure, was restored 
in the early part of the reign of Henry VIII. Here is a free 
grammar school, founded in the twentieth year of Henry VIII. 

Besides the parish churcli there are in Bingley three Methodist 
chapels, one Baptist chapel, and an Independent chapel. The 
worsted manufacture is carried on in this town and neighbourhood 
to a considerable extent ; and there are several large spinning- 
mills, both of worsted and cotton. 

About a hundred years ago was discovered at Morton, near 
Bingley, one of the most valuable deposits of Roman coins ever 
met with in Britain. It consisted of a very large quantity of denarii 
in excellent preservation, for the most part of Septimius Severus, 
Caracalla, and Geta, contained in the remains of a brass chest, which 
had probably been the military chest of a Boman legion, and had 
been deposited upon some sudden alarm in a situation which it 
had quietly occupied during a period of almost sixteen centuries.'" 

Wharfedale Registrar's District (J:90) includes the upper part of 
this beautiful valley, with a considerable portion of the adjoining 
hills, and extends over an area of 71,019 acres. In 1861 it 
contained a population of 32,693 inhabitants, which had increased 
to 39,142 at the Census of 1871. Begistrars' Sub-districts. — 
Wharfedale is divided into four sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

- 1. Horsforth, 12,158 ... 9,110 ... 9,688 

■2. Fewston, 25,361 ... 2,870 ... 3,309 

3. Otley, 23,176 ... 9,195 ... 12,103 

4. Yeadon, 10,324 ... 11,518 ... 14,042 

The increase of population in the township of Ilkley (as already 
mentioned) is attributed to the opening of a line of railway to 
that dehghtful watering place from Leeds and Bradford, and also 
to its becoming the place of residence of many Leeds and Bradford 
merchants ; at Adel-cum-Eccup to the establishment of a convales- 
cent hospital (at Cookridge) for one hundred patients and their 
attendants ; in Weston to the presence of workpeople with their 
families engaged in the construction of waterworks ; in the town- 

* GtTillenrian'b Magazine, 1769, p. .377. 



628 YORKSHIRE : 



ships of Otley and Menston to the extension of printing, worsted, 
and other trades; and in Guiseley, Yeadon, and Baildon, mainly 
to the extension of the woollen and worsted trades.* 

The Wapentakes of Aghrigg and Morley. — The wapentakes of 
Agbrigg and Morley, so named, apparently, from an ancient oak 
bridge and a moorish field, which in very ancient times seem to 
have foi'med the most remarkable objects in the district, extends 
from the borders of Lancashire along the whole course of the 
Calder and the greater part of the river Aire, to Normanton and 
the eastern extremity of the Yorkshire coal-field. It is one of the 
richest mineral and manufacturing districts of England, supplying 
nearly eight million tons of coal yearly at the present time, which 
forms the chief part of the fuel used in the manufacturing towns and 
the numerous and populous villages of the woollen district, as in 
former times the numerous streams of the district supplied the 
greater part of the water-power. The population of this district, 
including both the town and the country, amounted to upwards of 
454,020 at the Census of 1871; and at the present time (1875), the 
industry of the great population of the woollen district of Agbrigg 
and Morley gives employment to about the third part of all the 
spindles, power-looms, and the other machines which are employed 
in carrying on the textile manufactures of the United Kingdom. 

The Area of the Wapentakes of Aghrigg and Morley and their 
Parishes. — The area of the wapentake or hundred, or combined 
wapentakes or hundreds of Agbrigg and Morley, which are given 
together in the Ordnance Survey, is 314,279 statute acres, t The 
following are the parishes of these wapentakes^ some of which it 
will be seen are of gigantic size : — 

Area in Acres. 

Almondbiiry, 30,583 

Batley, 6,285 



Birstal, 13,976 

Bradford, 32,929 

Calverley, 8,900 

Crofton, 1,519 

Dewsbury, 10,101 

East Ardsley, 1,818 



Area ia Acres. 

Leeds (part of), 9,934 

Methley, 3,492 

Mil-field, 3,764 

Newland (ex. par.), 310 

Normanton, 4,124 

Koclidale, 18,796 

Eothwell, 9,009 

Sandal Magna, 7,693 



Emley, 4,187 | Thornhill, 8,120 



Featlierstone ("part of), ■ 2,050 

Halifax, 82,539 

Huddersfield, 16,230 

Kirkhurton, 15,818 

Kirkheaton, 6,930 



Wakefield, 10,056 

Warmfield, 2,778 

West Ardsley, or Woodkii'k, . . . 2,326 



Total, 314,279 



* Census of 18T1, vol. ii. p. 4.36. f Index to Ordnance Survey, 1871. 



PAST AND rUKSKNT. 629 



THE WOOLLEN, WORSTED, AND MANUFACTDE1X( I DISTRICT OF THE 

AVEST RlDINCi. 

Asjiect of the Aghrigg and J/orleg Zh'slrict ia the llcign of George 
II. — When Daniel Defoe, in the course of his travels through 
Great Britaiu, visited this part of Yorkshire at the beginning of 
the reign of Cieorge II., about the year 1727, he described it as 
already one great hive of industry from the borders of Lancashire 
to beyond the town of Leeds, although at that time the population 
was not much more than a tenth part of what it is at present. 
He then said that the " whole country, however mountainous, 
was yet infinitely full of people. Those people are full of busi- 
ness, not a beggar nor an idle person to be seen, except here 
and there an almshouse, where people, ancient, decrepid, and past 
labour, might perhaps be found; for it is observable," he adds, "that 
the people here, however laborious, generally live to a great age — a 
certain testimony to the goodness and wholesomeness of the country, 
which is without doubt as healthy as any part of England. Nor is 
the health of the people lessened, but helped and established by their 
being constantly employed, and as we call it, 'their working hard ;' 
so that they find a double advantage by their being always in 
business. Their business is the clothing trade, for the convenience 
of which the houses are scattered and spread upon the sides of 
the hills, even from the bottom to the top. The reason of their 
being thus placed is this : such has been the bounty of nature that 
two things essential to the business, as to the ease of the people, 
are found here, and that in a situation that I never saw the like of 
in any part of England ; and I believe the hke is not to be seen so 
contrived in any part of the world ; I mean coals and running water 
on the tops of the highest hills. This seems to have been directed 
bv the wise hand of Providence for the very purpose which is now 
served by it, namely, the manufactures which otherwise could not 
be carried on ; neither, indeed, could one-fifth part of the inhabitants 
be supported without them, for the land could not maintain them." 

With regard to the parish of Halifax, Defoe states that there 
were in it at that time (1727), besides the parish church, twelve or 
thirteen chapels of cii.sc, in addition to about sixteen dissentuig 
chapels. The population of the whole parish of Halifax, lie says, was 
then estimated to be 100,000; but there was no enumeration of the 
people at that time, and those numbers were too high. At Halifax it 



G30 



YORKSHIRE : 



was wonderful to see the multitude of people who thronged thither, 
as well to sell their manufactures as to buy provisions. Of the 
country between Halifax and Leeds, passing through Bradford, he 
says, "Every way to the right hand and to the left the country 
appears busy, dUigent, and even in a hurry of work." Birstall he 
speaks of as already a little' town, and the surrounding villages as 
large, full of houses, and those houses thronged with people, "for 
the whole country," he says, "is infinitely populous." This animated 
descri]3tion of Defoe is just as applicable to present times as it was 
to those in which he wrote ; the only difference being that the 
clothing district of Yorkshire, and more especially the wapentakes 
of Agbrigg and Morley, with their great towns of Leeds, Bradford, 
Halifax, Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Wakefield, and some thirty or 
forty large places, which would be called towns anywhere else, 
scattered over the surface of the whole district, now contain a 
thousand persons where he found a hundred at the time when 
the present royal family ascended the' throne of England. 

The Maclmierij of the Manufacturinq District. — In addition to the 
multitudes of men, women, and children, all intent on the purposes 
of industry, who crowd this busy district, it gives employment 
to a greater number of machines for augmenting the power of 
human labour than any other part of England, with the exception 
perhaps of the country on the opposite side of the hills in South 
Lancashire. In the Mineral Statistics of the United Kingdom, p. 
xvi., published in October, 1874, we are informed that the ajjproxi- 
mate number of factories at work and spindles running in the 
United Kingdom at that time was as follows : — 



Manufactures. 


No. of 
Factories. 


No. of Spindles 
Running. 


No. of Power 
Looms. 


Cotton 


2,500 
500 
220 
701 ) 
220 
C50 


34,000,000 

1,500,000 

150,000 

750,000 

2,500,000 

1,750,000 


450,000 

32,500 

700 

10,000 

56,000 


Flax, 

Hemp, jute, and shoddy, .... 
Silk, 


WooUeu. 

Worsted, 



Pretty nearly the whole of the factories employed in the woollen 
and worsted manufactures are in the West Ridinaf of Yorkshire, 
and most of them in the wapentakes of Agbrigg and Morley, or 
immediately adjoining. A large proportion of the flax, hemp, jute, 
and shoddy manufactures are also in the same district, and a con- 



PAST AND PRESENT. 031 



siderable number of cotton mills. We sliould bo disposed to take 
the proportion of the flxctorics and machinery of Yorkshire at some- 
thing between a fourth and a third part of those of the United 
Kingdom. 

The Coal Mines of Aijhn'gg and Morley. — An immense supply of 
fuel is of course requisite to keep in work this vast multitude of 
machines ; and it is a great satisfaction to know that the supply 
of coal furnished by the coal-fields of the West Ptiding is lai-ger at 
]irescnt than it ever was at any previous time. The following 
official report, contained in the Mineral Statistics of the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (p. 132), published in 
October, IS 74, is the latest and most complete return of the 
present state of the coal supply furnished by official authority. 
Mr. Wardell, the inspector of coal mines in Yorkshire, gives his 
returns for each of the colliery districts, as follows : — 



No. of T.- t • f Coal produceJ. 

Collieries. Districts, ,j.^„^^ 

10 Pontefract, .... 723,828 

24 Rotherham, .... 2,571,630 

45 Sheffield, 1,427,042 

68 Wakefield, 1,207,071 

6 Saddleworth, Settle, & 

Skipton, 12,601 



491 Total produce of York- \ ,,.,,, _-r, 
snire, ) 



Xo. of n- • f ^"^^ prodaced. 

Collieries. Uisfricts. ^^^^_ 

4 Bingley, 36,600 

55 Bamslej', 3,646,109 

50 Bradford, 699,496 

32 Dewsburj', 479,649 

31 Halifax, 73,384 

32 Huddersfield, .... 77,016 
13 Holmfirth, 36,731 

119 Leeds, 3,150,933 

7 Xormanton, .... 1,144,644 

5 Penistone, 25,044 

Progress of Population from 1801 to 1871. — The wapentakes of 
Ao-brigg and Morley are divided, in taking the census, into the 
districts of Todmorden, Saddleworth, Huddersfield, Hahfax, Brad- 
ford, Leeds, Hunslet, Holbeck, Bramley, Dewsbury, and Wake- 
field. The following extracts from the censuses of 1801, 1861, 
and 1871 will show what has been the progress of each of those 
districts in population between the first and last of those 
periods. We begin at the extreme west, and amongst the hills 
at Todmorden. 

Todmorden Registrars District (492) stands at the point where 
the river Calder flows down into Yorkshne, and on the eastern edge 
of the coal-field of Lancashire. It contains an area of 35,752 
acres, chiefly of mountain land, but is intersected by numerous 
fine streams. In the year 1801 it contained a population of 15,550 
inhabitants, and in 1861 of 31,113, which number had increased in 



632 YORKSHIRE 



1871 to 32,323. Registrars' Suh-distrids. — Todmorden is divided 
into two sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Hebden Bridge, . . . .) ^ j ■•■ 10,826 ... 11,193 

2. Todmorden, \ ^^''^^ | ... 20,287 ... 21,130 

Saddlewortli Registrars District (493), which inckides the high- 
est parts of the western hills of Yorkshhe, and is intersected by 
the river Tame flowing into the Mersey, extends over an area of 
18,797 acres, and contained in 1801 a population of 10,665 persons, 
in 1861 of 18,631, and in 1871 of 19,923. Registrars Sub-districts. 
— Saddleworth is divided into two sub-districts : — - 

Are,"i in Acres. Population in 1861. Popnlation in 1871. 

1. Delph, 6,479 ... 9,754 ... 9,966 

2. Upper Mill, 12,318 ... 8,877 ... 9,957 

Huddersfield Registrar's District (494) extends over an area of 
71,586 acres. We have already traced the history of the borough 
of Huddersfield (vol. ii. pp. 419-443). At the census of 1801 this 
district contamed 47,079 inhabitants, and in 1861, 131,336, which 
number had increased in 1871 to 140,151. Registrars' Suh-districts. 
— Huddersfield is divided into eleven sub-districts : — • 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Slaithwaite, 13,135 ... 7,971 ... 8,159 

2. Meltham, 6,526 ... 6,840 ... 7,092 

3. Honley, 3,230 ... .5,723 ... 5,998 

4. Holmfirth, 8,250 ... 10,845 ... 9,446 

5. Kewmill, 9,057 ... 6,322 ... 5,774 

6 Kirkburton, 8,784 ... 12,501 ... 12,115 

7. Almondbury, 4,421 ... 11,063 ... 12,270 

8. Kirkheaton, 6,931 ... 11,923 ... 12,687 

9. Huddersfield, 4,055 .. 34,877 ... 38,654 

in. Lockwood, 970 ... 9,488 ... 11,575 

11. Golcar, 6,227 ... 13,783 ... 16,381 

The commissioners for taking the census state that the increase of 
population in Golcar, Longwood, and Lindley is attributed to the 
introduction of power-loom weaving, and to the erection of mills for 
the manufacture of cloth ; in Lockwood to its favourable position 
with respect to railway and canal communication, or the erection 
of new mills, &c. '" 

Halifax Registrars District (495) extends over an area of 56,864 
acres. In 1801 it contained a population of 52,027 persons, and 
in 1861 of 128,673, which number had increased in 1871 to 
153,266. We have already traced the history of the borough of 

* Census, vol. ii. p. 4.37. 



PAST AM) ri;h:si';xT. 633 



Halifax (vol. ii. pp. 35:i-415). Jliijidnirs Suh-distrids. — Halifax is 
divided into ten sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 18G1. Population in 1871. 

1. Eastriok, i;,:>.()(! ... 4,904 ... Cflcr, 

•2. Briglioiise, .^i.i'.C.S ... !),!»:)2 ... 12,814 

3. South Owram, 2,ri Hi ... 7,24.5 ... 8,210 

4. Halifax, 2,:?2'.) ... 36,437 ... 47,270 

5. Elland, .''1,783 ... 13,373 ... 15,270 

(). Rippouden, 13,239 ... 6,620 ... fi,4(;3 

7. Sowerby, ^ ^^ ., { 13,945 ... 1.5,480 

9. Ovenden, 5,3.50 ... 11,067 ... 11,698 

10. North Owram, 4,822 ... 19,240 ... 23,185 

The Census Commissioners observe, tliat the large increase in the 
population of Halifax, as well as of the townships of Rastrick, 
Hipperholme-with-Brighouse, South Owram, Warley, and North 
O^vi-am, is attributed to the erection of many new mills, and to the 
extension of the woollen and other manufactures. It is stated that 
the increase of population in North Owram is mainly attributable 
to the extension of carpet, worsted, and cotton manufactures, and 
the consequent influx of numbers of the operative classes into that 
township, which includes Queensbury, Catherine Slack, Ambler 
Thorne, and Shibden Head. 

Bradford Registrars District (496). — This district extends over 
an area of 41,610 acres. In 1801 it contained 42,780 inhabit- 
ants; in 1861, 196,47.5; and in 1871, 257,713. We have already 
traced the history of the borough of Bradford (vol. ii. pp. 242-347). 
Registrars' Sub-districts. — Bradford is divided into thirteen sub- 
districts : — 

Area in Acres. Papulation in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Cleckheaton, 4,102 ... 10,446 ... 13,605 

2. Drighhngton, 3,793 ... 7,309 ... 8,617 

3. North Bierley, . .... 3,342 ... 12,500 ... 14,433 

4. Bowhng, 1,561 ... 14,494 ... 20,982 

5. Bradford, East end, . . . 1,2.30 ... 28,.579 ... 41,302 

6. ". West end,. . . 365 ... 20,067 ... 23,138 

7. Horton, 3,352 ... 43,078 ... 60,408 

8. Thornton, 6,529 ... 13,2^2 ... 15,579 

9. WiLsden, 4,4,s7 ... 4,902 ... 6,033 

10. Shipley, ....... 2,72;j ... 8,773 .. 13,686 

11. Idle, 4,394 ... 14,574 ... 18,929 

12. Oalverlcy, 3,1k() ... 5,659 ... 7,024 

13. Pudsey, 2,546 ... 12,912 ... 13,977 

The commissioners say : — " The increase of population in the 
townships of Bradford, Bowling, Idle, and Eccle.shill, is attributed 

VOL. II. 4 L 



634 yoRKSHiRE : 



to tlie prosperous condition of the staple-trade of the district, viz., 
the manufacture of worsted stuff" goods, and the consequent great 
demand for labour. The increase of population in the townships 
of Wyke and Cleckheaton is attributed to the erection of carpet 
and other manufactories. The increase in the population of Tong 
is attributed to the erection of worsted and carding mills, and the 
opening of new collieries." * 

THE BOROUGH AND PARISH OF LEEDS. 

We have already had the pleasure of tracing the history of our 
native town of Leeds. The following particulars will show its 
growth during the present century. 

Himslet Registrar's District (497). — This superintendent regis- 
trar's district, which forms part of the suburbs of the town of 
Leeds, extends over an area of 12,010 acres. In 1861 it contained 
33,586 inhabitants, and in 1871 the number had increased to 
46,274. Registrars' Suh- districts. — Hunslet is divided into three 
sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Topulation in 1871. 

1. Huuslet, 1,152 ... 25,763 ... 37,289 

2. Whitkirk, 5,741 ... 3,701 ... 4,194 

3. KothweU, 5,117 ... 4,122 ... 4,791 

The increase of population in the township of Hunslet is attributed 
to the extension of the various branches of the iron trade. 

Holhech Registrar's District (498), another part of the suburbs of 
Leeds, has an area of 2668 acres. In 1861 it contained 19.935 
inhabitants, and in 1871, 21,617. Registrars' Sub-district. — Holbeck 
is given in one sub-district : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Holbeck, 2,668 ... 19,935 ... 21,617 

Bramley Registrars District (499) is another great suburb of 
Leeds, and has an area oi 7597 acres. In 1861 it contained a 
population of 33,247 persons, which number had increased in 1871 
to 44,441. Registrars' Sub-districts. — Bramley is divided into three 
sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Bramley, 2,.505 ... 8,690 ... 9,882 

2. Gildeijonic, 993 ... 2,701 ... 3,448 

3. Wortley, 4,099 ... 21,856 ... 31,111 

The increase of population in Gildersome is accounted for by the 

* Census, vol. ii. pp. 438-39. 



TAST AND TRESENT. 635 



\it:i in Acres. 


Pop 


jlation in 


18G1. 


Popu 


ation in 1 >^T1 


.sr)3 




29,196 






29,124 


()40 




41,136 






49,628 


1,243 




47,234 






60,610 


3,183 




9,f;74 






13,942 


7,W30 




6,766 






9,117 



extension of coal mincR, and t.ha,t of Wortley and Armley by 
the erection of several larn'o iron and other manufactories. 

Lced^t Begisfrar's I-isln'ct (500), including that part of the ancient 
borough -^^'liich lies to the north of the river Aire, covers an area 
of lo,7.")5 acres. In iSOl the population was .30,GG9 persons; in 
1S61, 134,006 ; and the number had increased in 1871 to 162,421. 
Ill ijistrars Stili-th'stfictf^. — Leeds is divided into five sub-districts: — 

1 South-east Leeds, . . 

2. North Leeds, . . . 

3. West 

4. Kirkstall, .... 
.". Chapeltown, . . . 

The commissioners state that the increase in the north-west and 
the westward of Leeds is attributed to the erection and extension 
of manufactories, and to the demand for labour. In Mill-hill ward 
there is a decrease of population, owing to the demolition of houses 
for street improvements and railway extension, and to the con- 
version of dwelling houses into warehousas. The increase of 
population in the townships of Headingley-with-Burley, Potter 
Newton, and Chapel Allerton, is attributed to the removal of many 
of the inhabitants, from the more central part of the town of Leeds, 
to those pleasant suburban districts. '" 

Deicshury Registrars District (501) extends over an area of 
25.284 acres. In 1801 it contained a population of 29,730 persons, 
and in 1861 of 92,883, which number had increased rapidly up to 
1871, when it amounted to 124,286. Registrars' Suh-districts. — 
Dewsbury is divided into nine sub-districts : — 

1. Morley, 

2. Batley, 

',',. Gomersal, .... 

4. LivfT:S('d,i,'c, .... 

.s. Mirfield, 

6. Dew.sbury, .... 

7. Soothill, 

8. ^.)s.-:ctt, 

9. Thomhill, .... 

The commissiijners state that the increase of population in the 
township of Dewsbury is attributed to the extension of woollen 
manufactures, and the consequent influx of workpeople from the 
surrounding country. These causes, with the extension of col- 

' Censu", 1871, vol. i. p. 440. 



Area in Acres. 


Topul-^tion in IBGl. 


Population in 1871 


2,76.5 


6,840 




9,607 


2,039 


14,173 




20,871 


3,254 


11,230 




12,880 


2,827 


14,520 




19,403 


3,765 


9,263 




12,S69 


1,468 


18,148 




24,764 


2,459 


6,238 




8,396 


3,105 


7,950 




9,190 


3,602 


4,521 




6,306 



630 YORKSHIRE 



lieries, also account for the increased population of the neiglibouring 
districts of Morley, Batley, Gomersal, Liversedge, Mirfield, Ossett, 
and Thornhill. 

Wahefield Registrar s District (502), a rich mineral district extend- 
ing over an area of 41,989 acres, and containing in 1801 a popula- 
tion of 27,617 persons ; in 18G1, of 53,048 ; and in 1871, of 68,786. 
Bpgistrars' Sub-districts. — Wakefield is divided into seven sub- 
districts : — • 

Area in Acres. Population in 18C1. Population in 1871. 

1. Bretton, 10,172 ... 5,0.57 ... 5,103 

2. Sandal, . 15,084 ... 7,438 ... 13,386 

3. Stanley, 4,674 ... 8,237 ... 10,305 

4. Wakefield, 758 ... 17,611 ... 21,076 

5. Horbury, 1,279 ... 3,246 ... 3,977 

6. Alverthorpe, 3,345 ... 6,645 ... 8,135 

7. Ardsley, 6,677 ... 4,814 ... 6,804 

The commissioners say that the increase of population in the 
township of Wakefield is attributed to the extension of ironworks, 
to the establishment of rope, twine, thread, and other manufac- 
tories, and to the general prosperity of trade. In Sandal Magna 
it is attributed to the extension of the suburbs of the borough 
of Wakefield ; and in the parish of Crofton, and the townships 
of Sharlston, Normanton, and Altofts, to the extension of iron- 
works and collieries. The increase in the township of Horbury 
is attributed to the improvement of the worsted and woollen mills, 
to the erection of new mills, and to the facilities for communication 
by railway and canal. In East Ardsley, West Ardsley, and Loft- 
house, the increase is attributed to the erection of large ironworks, 
and the opening of new collieries and stone quarries. " 

THE COAL, IRON, AND STEEL DISTRICTS OF SOUTH YORKSHIRE. 

The three southern wapentakes of the AVest Pdding— Staincross, 
Strafibrth, and Tickhill — are as remarkable for tlie extent of their 
coal and iron, as the wapentakes of Agbrigg and Morley, just 
described. But the mineral wealth of South Yorkshire is applied 
to totally diff'erent purposes, and the forms of industry and occupa- 
tions of the people to which it gives rise are also entirely different, 
as will be seen from the foUowinof details • — 

The Wapentake of Staincross.~The small, but rich and beautiful 
wapentake or hundred of Staincross (no doubt named from some 

* Census, 1871, vol. ii. p. 441. 



PAST AND PRESENT. G37 



cross of stone, for A\liieli especial vonevution was felt in ancient 
times) is rich in coal and iron. Defoe, writinjj^ in 1727, says, 
that about Barnslcy he found the country cdvered with heatl), 
giving- a black hue or colour to the moors, "like Bagshot Heath 
near Windsor." The Dearne and the Don are tlie rivers of this 
district, whose pi'osperity dates from the time when they were made 
navigable, and were connected with the Calder near Wakefield 
and the Don near Sheffield. 

Area of Stafncross and its Panshes. — The area of this wapen- 
take is S4,9G1 statute acres. The following are its parishes, with 
their areas : — 



Area in Acres. 

Cawthome 3,707 

Darfield (part of) 5,038 

Darton, 4,358 

FeUdrk, 6,069 

Hemsworth, 4,161 

High Hoyland 2,5l>5 

Penistone, 2:^,775 



Area in Acrfs. 

Eoyston, ]2,i)02 

SUkstone, 13,597 

Tankersley, 8,078 

Wragby (part of), 1,657 



Total, 81,901 



HISTORY OF THE BOE,OUGH OF BARNSLEY. 

The flourishing municipal borough of Barnsley is connected 
with the Midland Railway, by a branch from Cudworth Bridge. 
It has also railway communication with Wakefield, Penistone, 
and Manchester. Barnsley is the capital of the rich coal district of 
South Yorkshire. The church of St. Mary has lately undergone 
much alteration and improvement, and the stone-work of a new 
east window has been inserted. The roof and walls of the clerestory 
have been well painted with a floral and leaf pattern which has 
a good effect, and new oak stalls have been provided. The best 
part of the structure is the old tower, in which are eight bells. 
On the southern side of the church-field new schools were built 
in 1867 for boys, girls, and infants. The Barnsley church registers 
begin in the year 1568, and are in excellent condition."" Wire- 
drawing was formerly the principal trade of Barnslcj', but it gave 
rjlace to the manufacturing of flax, blea,ching of linen yarns, weaving 
of linen cloth, ducks, diapers, damasks, &c., which is carried on to a 
considerable extent. Here are also extensive iron foundries for the 
casting and making of steam-engines, pots, grates, &c. Great 
quantities of grindstones are obtained in this neighbourhood. Most 
productive coal mines are also wrought here ; the Barnsley bed is 

• '■ Walks about Wakefield," l.y W. S. Banks, pp. "i;r,-G6. 



638 YORKSHIRE : 



from ten to twelve feet thick, and is the lichest in Yorkshire. 
Barnsley is the recognized centre of the Yorkshire coal trade, and 
towards the close of 1874 the Miners' Association took possession 
of a liandsorae building specially erected for it. Barnsley is well 
situate for trade, and in addition to its ample supply of fuel and 
its railways, it enjoys the advantage of canal and river navigation. 
There is a free grammar school here, founded and endowed by 
Thomas Keresforth, Gent., in the year 1G65 ; also chapels for the 
Independents, Methodists, and Catholics. The town contains a 
statue to the eminent railway engineer, Joseph Locke, who was 
a large benefactor to its charities, and founded a public park for 
the enjoyment of the inhabitants. 

Joseph Locke, the eminent civil engineer, and one of the ablest 
of the pupils and assistants of George Stephenson, was a native 
of Barnsley, and to the end of his life showed a warm regard for 
that place. He was the founder of the People's Park at Barnsley; 
and after his death his wife, an accomplished woman, added to 
his gifts to his native town. Just within the entrance of the 
park is an excellent statue of Joseph Locke, on a pedestal. The 
attitude is easy and agreeable, and the likeness good. The park 
was opened on the 10th June, 1862. The views from the park are 
extensive, stretching over many miles of hill and valley, including 
the valley of the Dove and the hills of Hoyland and Stainborough. 
The grounds of Wentworth House, above Elsecar, are seen ; also 
south-west Wharncliffe woods and cliffs, over the village of Pilley, 
and the lofty hills beyond Sheffield. Barnsley is in the parish 
of Silkstone, and the population of the borough at the Census of 
1871 was 23,021.* The municipal charter of Barnsley was 
granted, and the first town coancd was elected on the 7th Sep- 
tember, 1869. The first mayor of Barnsley was chosen on the 
10th of September following. From the number of its inhabitants, 
and of the rapidly increasing sources of its wealth, Barnsley will 
probably soon rise to the dignity of a parliamentary borough. 

The whole country between the Calder and the Don abounds 
with magnificent and beautiful mansions, parks, and remains of 
antiquity. Amongst these are the ruins of Sandal Castle, which 
we have already mentioned, first as the residence of the earls of 
Warren, and afterwards of the dukes of York of the race of Plan- 
tagenet; Bretton Park, the seat of the Beaumonts, with the 

• Census, 1871, vol. iv. p 3n. 



I'AST AND I'UESENT. G39 



remains of the ancient piioiy wliicU formerly adorned it ; WooUey 
Park, one of the rosldenees of the Wentwortlis ; Cheviot Park, the 
residence of the I'illvinytons ; ^Vate^to]l Park, the curious and 
heautiful residence in our own tiuies of tlie celel^rated Cliarles 
Waterton, and of his ancestors from time immemorial ; Wcntworth 
Castle, built by a descendant of tlie great earl of Strafford ; Wharji- 
clitFe and Wortley, the residence for many hundred years of the 
ancient lamily of ^Vortley ; Wentworth AVood-house, the magui- 
liceut seat of Earl Fitz\\illiam, the lord lieutenant of the West 
Riding, and the representative of a family which has been dis- 
tinguished for hundreds of years for its great civic virtues as well 
as for its ancient descent; Conisbro', one of the ancient castles 
of the Anglian kings, and afterwards of the earls of Warren ; 
further towards the south Sandbeck Park and HaU, the Yorkshire 
residence of the extremely ancient family of the Lumleys, earls 
of Scarborough, and adjoining it the small, but beautiful, ruins of 
Roche Abbey, and the remaiirs of the ancient castle of Tickhill. 
The southern part of this district as it was iir former times, and 
is in some degree to the present, is well described in the opening 
chapter of Scott's " Ivanhoe," as " that pleasant district of Merry 
England which is watered by the river Don, and where there 
extended in ancient times a large forest, covering the greater part 
of the beautiful hills and vaUeys which lie between Sheiheld and 
the pleasant town of Don caster. The remains of this extensive 
wood are still to be seen at the noble seats of Wentworth, of 
Whorncliffe Park, and around Ptotherham. Here haunted of yore 
the fabulous dragon of Wantley ; here were fought many of the 
most desperate battles during the civil wars of the Roses ; and 
here also flourished in ancient times those bands of gallant outlaws, 
whose deeds have been rendered so popular in English song." 

Barnslejj Itifjistfur's District (505) extends over an area of 34,S43 
acres. In ISOl it contained a population of 11, .345 inhabitants, and 
in 1861 of 45,7!j7, which had increased in 1871 to 57,212. llegis- 
trcij-s' Suh-didricts. — Barnsley is divided into four sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 18(jl. Population in 1871. 

1. Darton, ll,:ill ... 4,4.5() ... 5,.")i:8 

■2.. Barnsley, iJ.iil!) ... 25,468 ... 32,o;!l 

?j. Lliii-ficld, 8,81.5 .. lO.OiS ... 13,158 

4. Worsbrougli, ..... 5,498 ... 5,851 ... (i,l!)5 

The commissioners state that the increase of population in the 
townships of Barnsley and Dod worth is attributed to the opening 



g^O YORKSHIRE: 



Population in 


1861. 


Population in 1871 


4,825 




5,092 


3,569 




3,407 


6,025 




7,179 


2,524 




2,884 


12,479 




15,171 


9,089 




11,252 



of several ne^Y collieries, tlie extension of the iron trade, and the 
development of the linen and woollen trades ; and in Darfield, 
Wombwell, and Nether Hoyland, to the extension of the coal trade.* 
Worthy Registrar's District (506) : this beautiful district includes 
much of the finest scenery ui the south of Yorkshire, reaching to 
the western mountains, and extending over an area of 93,458 acres. 
In 1801 it contained 18,266 inhabitants, and in 1861, 38,511, 
which number had increased in 1871 to 44,985. Registrars Sub- 
districts. — Wortley is divided into six sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Cawthorne, 8,969 

2. High Hoyland, .... 4,878 

3. Penistone, ...... 21,915 

4. Wortley, 8,079 

5. Ecclesfield, 11,192 

6. Bradfield, 38,425 

The Census Commissioners state that the increase of population in 
Penistone township is attributed to the establishment of works 
for the manufacture of steel ; at Tankersley, to the extension of 
collieries ; and in Ecclesfield to the increase of coal mines and 
ironworks. In Bradfield it was attributed to the demand for labour, 
arising from the construction of reservoirs by the Sheffield Water- 
works Company, f 

Strafforth and Tichliill Wapentakes. — The first name of these 
two combined wapentakes is the old designation, written Straforde 
in Domesday, and is no doubt named from the ancient Roman 
road which ran through the whole district. The second is derived 
from the site of a great castle, which existed at Tickhill, the Anglian 
name probably being Teiche-hill, or the entrenched hill, situated 
on the southern border of Yorkshire. Throughout the district a 
strip of magnesian limestone divides the new red sandstone, on 
the east, from rich coal fields lying on the west. These formations 
have supplied the means for that great development of industry 
which has taken place in this south-west part of Yorkshire. 
The whole of this district may be described as a sylvan region 
of ancient times, now more or less invaded by collieries and 
ironworks. Close to the rich woodlands, that once, perhaps, 
supplied charcoal for smelting ore, lie beds of ironstone, and not 
fiir off the beds of coal which now supply much more abundant 
fuel. Thus this tract of country included in itself the causes 

• Census, 1871, vol. ii. p. 443. f IbiJ. 



PAST AND i'i;ksi.:nt. G-il 



of the destruction of its own beauties, and its natural wealtli 
has been fatal to its s) Ivan glories. Yet vcsUgcs of that beauty 
still remain. Here, amid geutly undulating slopes, sometimes 
rising to bold heights, lie valleys watered by winding streams, 
with rocks jutting out from the midst of rich foliage ; and here 
and there bolder heights, not shut in too closely by higher moors, 
command extensive views over rich basins of pasturage and 
foliage. Collieries and fine woodlands are still seen side by side, 
on the way from Barnsley to Sheffield and Silkstone, which last 
lies in a pleasant woodland valley. From such scenes as are 
found amongst the romantic woods of Wharncliffe we have only 
a few miles of rail to run over, and we are in Sheffield, with its 
immense and varied forms of industry, already described in this 
work. While this marvellous transformation has been in progress 
in the south-west, another change has taken place in the extreme 
north-east, or the tract of Thorne Waste and Hatfield Chase. 
There the ill-remunerated and unappreciated energy of an adven- 
turous Dutchman, Cornelius Vermuyden, in the reign of Charles 
I., converted enormous swamps into fertile fields by an immense 
network of drains. 

Associations of this district with the events of English history 
belong chiefly to the castles of Tickhill, Conisborough, Sheffield, 
and to the ancient town of Doncaster. Of the great and flourisliing 
borough of Sheffield, the capital of South Yorkshire, we have 
already written the history (vol. ii. pp. 470-507). Of monastic ruins 
the district has little to show, and it must be regretted by the 
antiquary that the scanty remains of Ptoche Abbey, which were 
almost buried in a thicket once, were considerably injured about a 
hundred years ago under the pretence of restoration or improvement 
made by the notorious " Capability Browne." Among the churches 
of the district are several well worthy of notice. Silkstone with 
its fine tower ; Eotherham, one of the finest old churches in 
Yorkshire ; Ecclesfield, well restored and preserved ; and Laugh- 
ton-en-le-Morthen, with its far-seen spire — must be named. 
Thorpe-Salvin is noted for its sculptured font and Norman portal. 
Tickhill contains some remarkable effigies, and the new church of 
Doncaster is a splendid example of the skill of Sir G. G. Scott. 
Of halls and mansions, both old and modern, this south-west of 
the county has some of the most interesting. Wortley, with the mag- 
nificent woods and rocks of AVharncliff'e, is an object of unceasing 

VOL. 11. 4 M 



642 



YORKSHIKE : 



admiration. Wentworth Wood-house (near Eotherham), the splendid 
seat of Earl Fitzwilliain (formerly of the marquis of Rockingham), 
and Wentworth Castle (near Barnsley), the seat of F. Vernon, Esq. 
(and once the residence of the great earl of Strafford), may 
be noticed for their fine collections of pictures, as well as for 
their great historical interest. The picturesque park at Thryberg 
is still beautiful. Tankersley Park, once famous for its yew trees 
of enormous age and growth, has suffered more than other sylvan 
retreats in the transformation of the district ; for beds of coal and 
ironstone, and the chimneys of furnaces, are its close neighbours. 
The Parishes of Strafforth and Tlchhill, loith their Areas. — The 
following are the parishes of Strafforth and Tickhill, with their 
areas :— 



Area 



Adwick-upon-Dearne, 
Adwick-le-Street, . . 

Arksey, 

Armthorpe, . . . . 

Aston, 

Barnbroiigh, . . . . 
Barnby-upon-Don, 

Blyth, 

Bolton-upou-Dearne, . 
Braithwell, . . . . 
Brodsworth, .... 

Cantley, 

Catch Acre (ex. par.), 

Clayton, 

Conisbrough, . . . 

Crowle, 

Dai"field (part of), . . 
Dinnington, . . . . 
Doncaster, . . . . 
Ecclesfield, . . . . 
Edlington, . . . . 
Finningley, . . . . 

Fishlake, 

Handsworth, . . . 

Harthill 

Hatfield 

Hickleton, . . . . 

Hooton Pagiiell, . . 

" Eoberts, . . 



in Acres. 
1,142 
2,938 
5,133 
2,923 
3,329 
2,125 
4,179 
3,039 
2,323 
2,962 
3,120 
5,590 

3 roods 
1,589 
4,558 
1,281 
9,047 
709 
8,843 
49,616 
1,757 
3,076 
8,190 
3,637 
3,665 
17,423 
1,060 
2,628 
1,056 



Area 



Kirk Sandall, .... 
Laughten-en-le-Morthen, 

Maltliy, 

Mare, 

Malton-on-the-Hill, . . 
Mexbrough 



Ravenfield, .... 
Rawmarsh, .... 
Rossington, .... 
Rotherham, .... 

Sheffield, 

South Kirkby (part of;, 
Sprotbrough, . . . 

Stainton, 

Thorne, 

Thryberg, .... 
Thurnscoe, .... 

Tickhill, 

Todwick, 

Treeton, 

Wad^vorth, .... 
Wallingwells (ex. par.). 
Warmsworth, . . 
Wath-upon-Dearne, . 

Whiston, 

Wickcrsley, .... 



in Acres. 
1,637 

17,386 
4,645 
1,820 
1,525 
2,366 
1,235 
2,578 
3,051 

13,585 

19,650 

238 

3,966 

2,857 

12,408 
1,707 
1,672 
6,778 
1,807 
3,363 
3,133 
351 
1,074 

11,045 
3,189 
1,273 



Total, 281,204 



HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF DONCASTER. 

This pleasant town is one of the oldest in Yorkshire. It 
takes its name from the river Don, which flows through it, 



PAST AND PRESENT. 643 



and is mentioned under its Roman name of Danum both in 
that Eonian road book, the "Itinerary" of Antoninus, Avhere 
it is spoken of as a mihtary station on the great road from 
Eboracum, or York, to Londinnni, or London ; and also in the 
military court calendar, named the " Notitia," in the account of the 
officers and commanders of the Ptoman troops, who still remained 
in Britain do^Yn to the reio-n of Honorius and Arcadius, the 
emperors in whose time the Roman armies finally departed. At 
the latter period Danum was occupied by a body of Ptoman 
cavalry named the Crespian horse, under the personal command 
of the prefect of Britain, which was no doubt intrusted with 
the double duty of assisting to defend the Roman wall from the 
Caledonians, and the shores of the Don and the Humber from 
the Angles and Saxons, whose ships already cruised in the 
German Ocean, and threatened every part of the British coast. 
Doncaster was again laid waste in the Danish invasion of England, 
the Danes entering the mouth of the river Don in sailing up the 
Humber and the Ouse in their expeditions to York, which city 
they captured about a.d. 867. After plundering they ultimately 
settled here, and in course of time became a Christian and a 
comparatively civilized people. The termination of the present 
name of Doncaster, originally derived from the Latin word, castrum, 
is said to be the Norse or Danish form of the word, which the 
Angles and Saxons pronounced cliester or cester, as in the names 
of the ancient Deva, the modern Chester, and in Chesterfield. 
Danum, the Campodunum of the " Saxon Chronicle," was a place 
of note under the kings of Deira; but a dreadful fire breaking 
out A.D. 759, the town was reduced to ashes. The Roman road, 
out of which the Great Northern Road of England was formed, 
ran through Doncaster. Several events in history are naturally 
associated with this ancient town. Here Thomas Plantagenet, the 
second earl of Lancaster, in 1.321-22, in his insurrection against 
his cousin, Edward II., collected the army which was finally routed 
at Borouglibridge. During the " Pilgrimage of Grace," or rising 
of the Ptoman Catholics of the North in the reign of Henry VIII., 
the king's army occupied Doncaster when the insurgents were 
marching thither from Pontefract ; and on the north bank of the 
Don, near the bridge, the insurgent leaders drew up their forces 
and held a conference with the duke of Norfolk, the commander 
of the king, who promised a free pardon on condition that they 



G44 YORKSHIRE : 



would disband tlieir forces. The town is pleasantly situated, and 
though now greatly changed by the railway and its extensive 
works, Doncaster is still remarkable for its cleanliness and quiet ; 
always excepting, as relates to its quiet, at the time of the cele- 
brated races. The old parish church, famed for its beautiful tower, 
was burnt down in 1853; but its successor is a splendid building, 
and is generally allowed to be one of the greatest works of the 
architect. Sir Gilbei't G. Scott. The new organ, built by Schultze 
of Paulinzelle, near Erfurt, is worthy of the church, and perhaps 
this may be hardly sufficient praise, for while it is almost the 
largest church organ in England, and occupies, with its 6000 pipes, 
an area of 900 square feet, it is even more remarkable for the 
grandeur and mellow quality of its tone than for its size. The 
whole cost of the church and organ, the erection of which was chiefly 
due to the influence of the late Sir Edmund Beckett, Bart., was 
about £45,000. The other two churches in Doncastei' — St. James', 
built for the persons employed by the Great Northern Railway, 
and Christ Church — are good examples of modern church-building. 
The former is partly from designs furnished by Mr. E. B. Deni- 
son, Q.C., now Sir E. Beckett, Bart., and was erected under the 
superintendence of Sir G. G. Scott. It is a plain and massive 
building of Acaster stone, and cost £5000. Christ Church, founded 
in 1829 by Mr. Jarratt, a retired ironmaster, is in the modern 
Gothic style, with an east window of stained glass by Capronniere. 
It contains memorials of the founder and of several members of 
his family. Other places of worship include the Ptoman Catholic 
Church in Princes Street, erected in 1867, and chapels for Wesley- 
ans. Independents, Baptists, Primitive Methodists, and Unitarians, 
with a meeting-house for the Society of Friends. The town of 
Doncaster is well supplied with schools, including the Church School, 
foimded by Dr. Yaughan, the Grammar School, St. George's national 
schools, a British and a Ragged school, and others attached to the 
several churches and chapels. A School of Industry, founded by 
Mi's. Vaughan for giving instruction in household management to 
poor girls, deserves especial notice, as an example of a class of 
schools not numerous, but greatly wanted in many places. Anion o- 
the public buildings of the town, the mansion house, the town 
hall, and the market hall may be named. The Great Northern 
Railway Company have here the chief depot for their plant, and 
extensive works for the construction of engines and carriages. These 



I'A.ST AND rRK>^EXT. G45 



works have greatly clianged the aspect and increased the popu- 
lation of Doncaster. 

Tlie liace-coursc. — About a mile from the town of Doncaster, 
on the road to London, is its famous race-ground, with the grand 
stand, erected by the corporation. In 17U3 the corporation voted 
that the mayor should subscribe four guineas a year, for seven 
years, towards a plate to be run for on Doncaster course. At 
the expiration of the seven years the vote was extended, and in 
1716 the corporation voted £'5 7.s\ ChI. towards a plate to be run 
for on Doncaster Moor, and to be called "the Town's Plate," 
" provided the neighbouring gentlemen will subscribe for a valu- 
able plate to be run for on the same moor." In 1777 the course 
was much improved. In 177S the famous St. Leger stakes were 
founded, the first race being won by the marquis of Rockingham's 
horse, "AUabaculia." The corporation has for many years given a 
plate annually, of the value of £50, and subscribed forty guineas 
towards the races. In 1803 the king's (George III.) plate of 100 
guineas was removed from Burford to Doncaster, when another 
day was added to the three during which the races had previously 
been held. The Doncaster race-course is of a circular form, and 
very nearly flat; its length is almost two miles. The grand stand, 
built in 1796 as a stand for the nobility, was enlarged in 1826, 
and a subscription stand for members of the press in 1854. Several 
noblemen and gentlemen in 1859 erected another stand solely for 
the accommodation of ladies. The betting-rooms, near the mansion- 
house in the High Street, were built in 1826. Within the inclosure 
are telegraph offices in connection with the telegraph department 
of the Post-ofiice. 

At the Census of 1871 the borough of Doncaster had an area of 
1681 acres, and a population of 18.768, having contained at the 
Census of 1861 16,406 persons. Doncaster is described by Defoe in 
1727 as a "noble and spacious town, exceeding populous, standing 
on the Great Northern Post Road, and very full of inns." 

HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF ROTHERHAM. 

Ptotherham, a large and rapidly improving and increasing place, 
which was made a municipal borough in the year 1S68, is an old 
Ang-lian town at the confluence of the river Rother with the 
Don, which was made navigable up to Rotherham and Tinsley 
about a hundi-ed years ago. It stands on one of the richest 



646 YORKSHIRE : 



portions of the Yorkshire coalfield, and owes its recent rapid 
rise to its abundant supplies of iron and coal, and to the skill 
and energy with which those two great sources of wealth have 
been worked and applied. Eotherharn is a market town and 
township, and a junction station of the Midland and Shefiield 
and Rotherham railways. It is situated on elevated ground, on 
the right bank of the Don. It had working collieries in its 
neighbourhood, and was noted for its cutlery, in the time of 
Leland (1538), who says of it : — "Though betwixt Cawoode and 
Rotherham be good plenty of wood, yet the people burne much 
yerthe (earth) cole, by cause it is plentifully found ther, and sold 
good chepe. A mile from Rotherham be veri good pittes of cole. 
In Rotherham be veri good smithes, for all cutting tooles." The 
general aspect of a great part of Hallam shire and its surroundings, 
tells of the transition from rural to manufacturing life. In the 
midst of a country that has still many vestiges of its old woodland 
beauty, the fine perpendicular church of Rotherham is now seen 
with the smoking forges of Masborough for a foreground. Iron- 
works, potteries, glassworks, saw mills, breweries, and rope yards, 
supply the chief occupations of Rotherham and its suburb Mas- 
borough. More than a century ago the great ironmasters, the 
Walkers, established at Masborough a manufactory of cast-iron 
articles, and from this, and other large works established there, 
great quantities of cannon were supplied to the English navy 
during the American and French wars. The river Don, which 
is navigable as far as Shefiield, afibrds communication with all 
the great manufacturing towns of Yorkshire and Lancashire, by 
means of the Don Navigation and Tinsley Canal. The old brido-e 
over the Don, connecting the suburb of Masborough, has an ancient 
chapel standing over the pier, which until recently was used as 
the town jail. There is also a viaduct, half a mile long, with 
thirty arches, constructed by the Midland Railway Compan}-, and 
extending over the vahey of the Don. The church is a fine speci- 
men of perpendicular architecture, especially the west front and 
its large window. The interior has a lofty nave, and several 
noticeable brasses and other memorials, including a tablet by 
Flaxman, and a monument to the memory of fifty persons who 
were drowned at the launch of a boat at Masborouo-h. There 
are places of worship here for Wesleyans, Independents, Baptists, 
Primitive Methodists, Unitarians, and Roman Catholics. Rother- 



PAST AND PRESENT. 647 



ham Cemetery Avas opened in 1843, and is abnut two acres in 
extent. The Free Grammar Scliool was founded in the reign of 
Queen Elizabeth. Otlier scliools mclude the Feoffee's School, built 
in 1775 and endowed with £100 a year; the British and Foreign 
schools, for 400 boys and girls; the Park Gate schools for 150, 
built by Earl Fitzwilliam in 1844 ; Scott's Charity School, endowed 
with £77 per annum; and HoUis's Dissenting School, for twenty- 
four poor children. The Independent College, for the training 
of not less than twenty-eight students for the ministry, is in con- 
nection with the University of London. It is being rebuilt on 
an elevated site, and will be alike commodious and ornamental. 
Rotherham Poor Law Union comprises twenty-seven parishes and 
townships. The fair held here on Whit-Monday and December 1, 
for cattle, is one of the largest in the north of England. The 
population of P^otherham in 1871 was 25,892. 

The Town of Bawtrij. — The town of Bawtry, which is at least 
as old as the age of the Buslis, the earliest Norman lords of this 
district, stands close to the old Pioman road, and this is the 
point at which the roj/al mail and travellers formerly entered 
the county of York from the south. Bawtry also stands on 
the banks of the river Idle, a deep and quiet but navigable 
stream, which ultimately flows into the estuary of the Humber. 
From this cause Bawtry was the chief inland port in the south 
of the West Riding until about the year 1760, when the river 
Don was made navigable to Eotherham and Tinsley, and ulti- 
mately to Shefiield. Previous to that time, all the products 
of south Yorkshire and of north Derbyshire were shipped at 
Bawtry wharf. As Defoe says, writing about the year 172 7, "by 
this navigation Bawtry became the centre of all the exportation 
from this part of the country, especially for heavy goods ; such as 
lead, from the lead mines and smelting houses of Derbyshire ; 
wrought iron and edge-tools of all sorts from the forges of Sheffield, 
and from the country called Hallamshire, where an innumerable 
people are employed ;" also millstones and grindstones from the 
neighbouring hills, in very great c^uantities. This caused Bawtry 
wharf to be famous at that time all over the south part of the 
West Pdding of Yorkshire ; for it was the place where all the heavy 
goods were carried to be embarked and shipped to Hull. Tickhill 
was in the immediate neighbourhood of Bawtry, and seems to have 
shared its early prosperity, for it had in early times several mer- 



C4S YORKSHIRE : 



chants possessed of considerable wealth, who no doubt lived undei 
the protection of the castle, and carried on the trade between 
Bawtry and the interior. The old Ptoman road is very distinctly 
marked to the present day, as laid down in the last Ordnance 
Survey ; and Defoe says that from Bawtry to Doncaster there was, 
at the time when he visited it, a pleasant road with good ground, 
seldom wanting any repair. Until the introduction of railways, 
the mail coaches, and other conveyances from London to York and 
the West Ptiding, passed daily through Bawtry. 

Ecdesall Bierlow Registrar s District (507) is the great suburb of 
the borough of Sheffield, and includes an area of 17,615 aci-es. In 
1801 it contained a population of 10,259 persons, and in 1861, of 
63,618, which number had increased in 1871 to 87,432. Registrars' 
Sub-dislrids. — Ecclesall Bierlow is divided into four sub-districts : — 

1. Nether Hallam, . . 

2. Upper " . . 

3. Norton, 

4. Ecclesall Bierlow, . . 



a in Acres. 


Population in 


18C1. 


Population in 1871 


1,527 


17,305 




27,950 


6,330 


2,649 




3,070 


5,110 


2,440 




2,878 


4,648 


41,224 




53,534 



The increase of Ecclesall Bierlow is attributed by the Census 
commissioners to the extension of the borough of Sheffield in this 
direction. This is also the case with Nether Hallam." 

Sheffield. — The superintendent registrar's Census district of 
Sheffield (508), which includes only a portion of the borough, covers 
an area of 10,784 acres. In 1801 it contained a population of 
39,049 persons, and in 1861 of 128,951, which rapidly increased in 
the next decennial period, and in 1871 amounted to 162,2 71. Regis- 
trars' Sub-districts. ~^]xQm.e\di is divided into seven sub-districts :— 

Area in Acres. Populutiori in 1861. Population in 1871. 

■ ■ 198 ... 17,307 ... 17,488 
160 ... 33,994 ... 37,804 
253 ... 17,680 ... 17,294 

■ • 2,417 ... 18,737 ... 18,772 

• ■ 2,821 ... 29,818 ... 48,556 

• • 1.297 ... 7,464 ... 16,574 

• • 3,638 ... 3,951 ... 5,783 

The Census commissioners say that the increase of population in 
Brightside Bierlow is mainly attributable to the rapid progress of 
the steel trade, and tlie various manufactories connected with it; 
that of Attercliffe, to the manufacture of iron ; and tliat of Hands- 
worth, to the opening of several new coUieries.t 

*Censu.sl871,vol. ii. p. .lt.3. f IWd-, p. 14 4. 



1. West Sheffield, 

2. North " 

3. South " 

4. Sheffield Park, 

5. Brightside, . . 

6. Attercliffe, . . 

7. Handsworth, . 



TASr AND PRESENT. 049 



BotJtcrlmm Juyt'sfi-ar's Lh'sti-ict (50'.i) extends over an area of 
52,901 acres. In 1801 it ennfcained 17,072 inhabitants, and in 
1S61, 44,:i.30, wliicli nnmber had increased in 1871 to 57,396. /wvy/.s- 
trars Stih-d/'stricis. — liotherham is divided into fi\'e sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. PopuUtlion in 1871. 

1. Beigliton, 11,015 ... 3,270 ... 4,345 

■2. Rotherbam, . ..... lii,0(;9 ... 12,(i'.J4 .. 15,375 

3. Kimber\Y0rth, 8,7!)4 ... 17,921 .. 24,31):) 

4. Watll, H,1»7G ... 8,408 ... l(l,82!J 

5. Maltby 13,147 ... 2,588 ... 2,448 

Do)}caster Eegistrars District (510), a level and fertile agricultural 
district, extends over an area of 113,319 acres. In 1801 it contained 
a population of 20,757 inhabitants, and in 1861 of 39,388, which 
number had increased in 1871 to 45,205. Registrars Suh-distrids. — 
Doncaster is divided into five sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in lft71. 

1. TiekMU, 27,187 ... 6,950 ... 8,801 

2. Barmbrough, 24,268 ... 5,860 .. 7,726 

3. Doncaster, 1,691 ... 16,406 ... 18,768 

4. Campsall, 26,715 ... 4,549 ... 4,543 

5. Bawtry 33,458 ... 5,623 ... 5,307 

Thome Registrar's District (511) covers an area of 71,101 acres. 
In 1801 it contained a population of 10,583 persons, in 1861 of 
16,011, and in 1871 of 17,011. Registrars' Sub-districts. — Thorne 
is divided into three sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 18G1. Population in 1871. 

1. Ep-n-orth, 19,916 ... 4,360 ... 4,627 

2. Thome, 38,375 ... 7,153 ... 7,139 

3. Crowle, 12,810 ... 4,498 ... 5,245 

VOL. n. 4 N 



050 YORKSHIRE : 



CHAPTER XIA^ 

THE NORTH RIDING OE YORKSHIRE, ^VITII ITS PARLIAMENTARY 
ARRANGEMENTS, AND WAPENTAKES, OR HUNDREDS. 

The North Riding of Yorkshire comprises eleven wapentakes, the 
two liberties of Langbarugh and Whitby Strand, and the mnnicipnl 
boroughs of Middlesborough, Richmond, and Scarborough. It is 
divided into nineteen petty sessional divisions : the boroughs of 
R,ichmond and Scarborough have commissions of the peace and 
separate courts of quarter sessions ; and the borough of Middles- 
borough has a commission of the pea,ce. The nineteen lieutenancy 
subdivisions of this riding are identical with the petty sessional 
divisions, except that the Gilling West subdivision includes the 
borough of Ptichmond, the Langbarugh north subdivision includes 
the borough of Middlesborough, and the Pickering Lythe east 
subdivision includes the borough of Scarborough. For police 
purposes the North Riding is arranged in nine divisions. It 
contains sixteen highway districts ; also fifteen local board dis- 
tricts; and the town of Whitby has an improvement commission. 
Except part of the parish of Sockburn, it is in the dioceses of York 
and Ripon. It contains 554 civil parishes, townships, or places, 
and parts of five other townships, viz.. Lower Dunsforth, Upper 
Dunsforth, Humberton, and Milby, which extend into the West 
Riding, and part of Filey, which extends into the East Riding. 
The portion of the registration county of York in the North Riding 
contains fifteen superintendent registrars' districts, and forty-nine 
subdistricts. The district of Helmsley comprises the unions of 
Helms] ey and Kirkby Moorside. The registration North Riding 
contains 496 parishes, townships, or other places. The North 
Riding, which includes the boroughs of Middlesborough, North- 
allerton, Richmond, Scarborough, Tliirsk, and Whitby, part of the 
city of York, and parts of the boroughs of Malton and Stockton, 
is also a division for parliamentary purposes.'"' 

Area and Population of the North Biding. — The area of the North 

* Census of 1871, vol. i. pp. 435-36. 



I'AST AND I'UKSExNT. 651 



Ividing, is l,;i61,GG4 statute acres; the number of houses in the 
same riding was in 1871, r)S,898 inhabited, 3934 umnliabited, and 
47S building. The population of the North Riding in 1871 was 
-93,278 persons, of whom 148,771 were males and 144,507 females. 
The average number of persons to an acre in this riding was 0"22 ; 
the number of acres to a person was 4"64. At each decennial period 
of the present century the population of the North Ptiding has shown 
an increase, and was as follows: — At the Census of 1801 it was 
158,927 ; at that of 1811, 170,127 ; at that of 1821, 188,178; at the 
Census of 1831, 192,206; at that of 1841,204,701; at the Census 
of 1851, 215,214 ; at that of 1861, 245,154 ; and at the last Census, 
namel}', that of 1871, it was 293,278. The increase of the popu- 
lation of the North Riding, in the ten years from 1801 to 1811, was 
11,200; from 1811 to 1821, 18,051; from 1821 to 1831, 4028; 
from 1831 to 1841, 12,495; from 1841 to 1851, 10,513; from 
1851 to 1861, 29,940; and from 1861 to 1871, 48,124.* 

Wapentakes and Boroughs of the North Riding: — The following 
are the names, the areas, and the population in 1871 of the 
wapentakes and boroughs of the North Riding, including the 
Ainsty of York, which is joined to it for parliamentary purposes : — 

Area in Acres. Population., 

AHertonahire (wapentake), 51,690 ... 9,545 

Ainsty (wapentake), 51,991 ... 9,444 

Birdforth (wapentake), 97,663 ... 13,908 

Bulmer (wapentake), 125,521 ... 25,032 

Gilling, East (wapentake), ...... 57,737 . 7,222 

Gilling, West (wapentake), 206,764 15,349 

Hallikeld (wapentake), . 39,805 ... 6,094 

Hang, East (wapentake), ■ . 68,831 ... 9,690 

Hang, West (wapentake), 165,735 ... 13,715 

Langbarugh, East Uivisiuii, -( j 127,429 42,981 

Langbarugh, West Division, p'^^'^^y^' • 1 83,037 .■• 24,212 

Mi.MlosTjorough (borongh\ 2,178 .. 39,563 

Pickering Lythe (wapentake;, 153,967 ... 19,647 

Richmond Cljorougli), 2,520 - 4,443 

Ryedale ^vapentakc), 132,648 ... 20,<>77 

Scarborough (Ijorough), 2,348 U^io'-) 

Whitby Strand (liberty) 43,891 ... 17,541 

York (city), . 1,979 ... 43,796 1 

The houses and population of the municipal and parliamentary 

boroughs of the North Riding in 1871 were: — 

Iloases. Population. 

Jlalton, . JL,702 ... 8,168 

Mi<l(ll(^sborougll (municipal), 6,842 ... 39,503 

• Census, 1871, vol. i. pp. 4:iC-.';7. t IWd., p. 410. 



652 YOllKSHIRE,: 



Houses. Population. 

Middlesborough (parliamentary), . . . 8,041 •■. 46,621 

Northallerton, .......... 1,084 ... 4,961 

Richmond, 1,103 ... 5,358 

Scarborough, 5,161 ... 24,259 

Thirsk, 1,298 •• 5,734 

Whitby, 2,843 ... 13,094* 

Those of the municipal boroughs were : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

Middlesborough, .... 2,178 ■■■ 18,992 ... 39,663 

Richmond, 2,520 ... 4,290 ... 4,443 

Scarborough, 2,348 ... 18,377 ... 24,259t 

Local Board Districts of the North Riding. — The population of 
boroughs, of local board districts, and of towns with improvement 
commissions, was as follows : — Baldersby, 296 persons ; Guisbrough, 
5202 ; Hinderwell, 2.599 ; Kirkhngton-cum-Upsland, 292 ; Malton 
(part of), 8168; Masham, 2209; Middlesborough, 39,563; Nor- 
manby, 3556 ; Northallerton, 2663 ; Ormesby, 4080 ; Pickering, 
3689; Eedcar, 1943; Scarborough, 24,259; Skelton in Cleveland, 
2561; Stockton (South), 6764; Whitby, 12,460. 

The North Riding and the Ainsty of York as a Parliamentary 
Division. — The North Riding is not divided, as we have shown the 
West Ptiding to be, into more than one division for parliamentary 
purposes. It constitutes one such division, and to it has been 
added as part of the division, for parliamentary purposes, the 
Ainsty of York, which for other purposes is connected with the 
West or the East Pvidino-s. 

There is thus no official or political division of the North Riding; 
but as it is of very great extent, and contains great varieties 
of soil, of climate, of elevation, and of natural products, we arrange 
it for convenience of description in three parts. The first of 
these includes that portion of the North Riding which formerly 
belonged to the ancient honour of Richmondshire, consisting 
of the beautiful dales Avatered by the Tees, the Swale, and 
the Ure, with many other smaller streams ; forming the north- 
western portion of the County and Riding, and including the 
five wapentakes of Gilling West, Gilling East, Hano- West, 
Hang East, and Halhkeld. The second consists of the generally 
level country (occasionally rising into gentle hills) forming the vales 
of York, Mowbray, and of the upper course of the river Der- 
went, to the point where it passes through the range of hills at 

* Census, 1871, vol. i. p. 441. | lyj., p. .j^y. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 653 



Malton. This includes the wapentakes of AUertonshire, Ptyedale, 
Birdforth, and Buhner. The third consists of the hilly region of 
Cleveland, and the sea-coast, including the wapentakes of Lang- 
barugh, Whitby Strand, and Pickering Lythe. Having already 
given a general account of llichmondshire, we proceed with its 
wapentakes. 

Tlie Wapentake of GiJiiixj West. — We commence at the extreme 
north-western point of the North Biding, and at an elevation of 
nearl}' 2000 feet above the level of the sea, with the wapentake 
or hundred of Gilling West, so named probably from the ancient 
Anglian tribe of the Gillings, whose name is met with in many 
places in the north of England, as well as in the neighbourhood 
of Bichmond. This wapentake includes a large portion of the 
country between the rivers Tees and Swale. It is in this district 
that Micklefell, the loftiest mountain in Yorkshu-e, rises to the 
height of 25S1 feet. Bemains can still be traced through the 
whole of this mountainous region of one of the o-reat roads formed 
by the Bomans from Eboracum, or York, to the western extremity 
of the Boman wall, near Carlisle. This work, stupendous as it 
is, does not surpass in boldness the railway that has been run 
through the district in modern times. 

HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF RICHMOND (YORKSHIRE). 

Bichmond, "the rich mount or hill," in Yorkshire, like Bichmond 
in Surrey, derives its name from the beauty of the hill or mount 
on which it stands. In the early Norman times it was the chief 
place, and the feudal capital, of a most extensive district known 
by the name of Ptichmondshire. This shire extended from the 
vale of Mowbray, westward, to the Irish Sea, including in York- 
shire the wapentakes of Hallikeld, Gilling East, Gilling West, Hang 
East, and Hang West ; in Lancashire the wapentakes of Lonsdale 
and Amounderness, together with such portions of the territory 
of Durham, Westmoreland, and Cumberland as are described in 
Domesday Book as belonging to England. It was famous for its 
large and magnificent c;i,stle, A\hich \\'as built by tlie Norman earls 
of Bichmond, who were also earls or dukes of Brittany, and was 
erected soon after this vast territory had been gi\-en by William 
the Conqueror to his relative Alen, the first earl of Bichmond and 
Brittany. The castle, of which very fine remains are still in 
existence, stands on the south side of the town, overlooking the 



654 YOEKSHIKE : 



river Swale, which flows in a deep valley below. It is protected 
by lofty rocks and precijDices on all sides except the north, where it 
was secured by extensive works. Until the close of the feudal 
system the castle of Richmond was one of the strongest inland 
foi'tresses of England ; and the earls of Pdchmond were the wealth- 
iest and most powerful of the nobles of Yorkshire. On the 
accession of King Henry VII., who was himself earl of Richmond 
before he ascended the throne, this great earldom passed to the 
crown. Pdchmond is an ancient parliamentary borough, as well as 
a mai'ket town and the head of an extensive district. For many 
ages it returned two members to Parliament, but since the first 
Reform Bill (1832) only one. The great proprietor is the earl of 
Zetland, one of whose residences is at Aske Hall, near Richmond ; 
and many public men of very high standing have represented this 
borough. At the Census of 1871 the borough of Richmond in 
Yorkshire extended over an area of 8931 acres, and contained a 
population of 5358 persons.* 

"At the corner of the churchyard is the Grammar School, 
generally known as the Tate Testimonial, it having been completed 
in 1850 as a memorial of the labours of the Rev. James Tate, who 
was master of the old grammar school for thirty-seven years, and 
sent forth amongst his scholars many Avho attained great emi- 
nence. Among them was Dr. Musgrave, archbishop of York from 
1847-60. Mr. Tate became a canon of St. Paul's in 1855, and 
then resigned his charge. The school is one of those founded by 
Queen Elizabeth." f In copying the above w^ ell-merited notice, of 
one of the best scholars whom Yorkshire has produced, we may 
add that he possessed in an extraordinary degree the power of 
gaining the respect and affection of his pupils, from one of whom, 
the late Right Hon. Matthew Talbot Baines, chancellor of the 
Duchy of Lancaster, who finished his education at Richmond 
Grammar School, we have repeatedly heard the warmest expres- 
sions of regard for his old and honoured master, Mr. Tate. 

The old Roman station of Cataractonium, a little further down 
the river Swale than Richmond, has already been described (vol. i. 
p. 337). The Catterick Bridge Inn, near these ancient ruins, was 
a famous coaching house to the time of the introduction of rail- 
ways, and had a fine race-ground, at which many of the best 
race-horses bred in this district tried their paces. An amusing 

• Census, 1871, vol. i. p. 438. f Murray's Handbook of Yorkshire, p. 313. 



PAST AND PltKSEiNT. 



account of the breed of r;ice-horses in the north of Yorkshire, from 
the graphic pen of Daniel Defoe, will be found in the first volume 
of this ^York (p. G-2-2). 

The Ana of GiUing West and its Parishes. — This wapentake 
extends over an area of 210,360 statute acres. The following are 
its parishes, with their areas : — 

Area in Acres 

Arkcngarthdiile l-t,f)(i(') 

Bamingliain 11,09(1 

Bowes 19,4l",» 

Brigiiall 2,115 

Easby (part of), 3,880 

Gilliiig (part of) 13,146 

Grinton (part of) 44,940 

Ivirkby Ravensworth, ..... 14,703 

Mantield (part of) 706 



Area in Acres. 

jMaiskc 6,7.59 

Melsonby, 3,294 

Richmond, 2,520 

Rokeby, 1,159 

Romaldkirk, 54,7(15 

Stanwick (part of) 5,029 

Stextforth, 2,908 

Wycliffe, 2,229 



Marrick, 6,206 | Total 210,360 

Bowes stands on the site of the ancient Lavatra, at the point 
where the Roman road struck the great waste afterwards known by 
the name of Stainmoor Forest. Amongst the names in the above 
list are those of Wycliffe, the birthplace of John Wycliffe, one of 
tbe greatest names in English history, and Rokeby, the scene of one 
of Scott's charming poetical romances, and the residence of the late 
J. B. Morritt, one of the most distinguished Grecians of his age. 
Arkengarthdale, the upper part of Swaledale, is seven or eight 
miles in length, commencing at Dale Head, running in a south- 
eastern direction, and terminating at the town of Reeth, or the 
Ford. The inhabitants are principally lead miners, and this is 
the most productive part of the lead fields of Yorkshire ; one mine, 
known as the Old Gang Mine, having produced 262.5 tons of lead 
ore in the year 1873."" 

Beetli Registrar's District (538), forming tlie higher part of the 
valley of the river Swale, extends over an area of 74,484 acres. 
In ISOl it contained a population of 5739 inhabitants, in 1861 of 
6196, and in 1871 of 5370. Registrars' Suh-rlistricts. — Reeth is 
divided into two sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in lHi;i. Population in 1S71. 

1. Muker, ?M,\m ... 2,627 ... 2,350 

2. Reeth, 36,318 ,,, 3,569 3,020 

Richmond Registrars District (539), the lower part of the beautiful 
valley of the Swale, covers an area of 81,101 acres. In 1801 it 
contained a population of 11,366 persons, in 1861 of 13,457, and 

' Mineral ,Si:iti.itic8, 187,1, p. "ir.. 



G56 



YORKSHIRE : 



Population in 


18G1. 


Population in 1871 


7,174 




7,223 


3,164 




2,999 


1,413 




1,308 


1,706 




2,025 



in 1871 of 13,555. Begistrars Sub-districts — Riclimond is divided 
into four sub-districts : — ■ 

Area in Acres. 

1. Eidimond, 32,227 

2. Catterick, 20,732 

3. Newsham, 16,146 

4. Aldborough, 11,996 

The Area of Gilling East, and its Parishes. — The wapentake of 
Gilling East is more in tlie plain, towards the great central vale 
of Yorkshire. It contains 56,908 statute acres, generally of good 
land. The following are its parishes, with their areas : — 

Area in Acres. Area in Acres. 

Ainderby Steeple, 4,693 Great Smeaton (part of), 1,53,5 

Catterick (part of), 8,124 Kirkby AViske (part of), 4,084 

Cleasby, 1,205 Langtou-upon-Swale, 1,878 

Croft 7,149 Manfield (part of), 2,918 

Danby Wiske, 4,714 Middleton Tyas, 6,243 

Easby (part of), 1,699 Stanwick (part of), l'o53 

East Cowton, 8,369 ' 

GiUing (part of), 8,239 Total, 56,908 

The Wapentake of Hang West. — The wapentake of Hang West, 
probably so named from the slope of the land from the west, includes 
great part of the country between the rivers Swale and Ure, contain- 
ing some of the most beautiful valleys in the north of Yorkshire, 
and many fine feudal castles and monastic remains, which have 
been described in the account of the valley of the Ure given in 
the first volume of this work (p. 222.) This wapentake extends 
over an area of 164,659 statute acres. The following are its 
parishes, with their areas : — 

Area in Acres. 

Aysgarth, 81,012 

Bedale (part of), 590 

Catterick (part of), 2,641 

Coverham, 20,561 

Downholme, 6,708 

Easby (part of), 386 

East Witton, 7,054 

Fingall (part of), 3,989 

Grinton (part of), 7,106 

Hawxwell, 4,590 

Hornby (part of), 89 



Area in Acres. 

Middleham, 2,154 

Patrick Brompton (part of), .... 1,538 

" " and) 

Hornby intermixed j ^P^ °^)' ' " ' ^81 

Spennithorne, 5,477 

Thornton Steward, 2,157 

Wensley, 14,445 

West Witton, 3 874 



Total, 164,659 



The scenery of Aysgarth is so remarkably beautiful, that the 
original Danish tribes gave it a name which is derived from Aisgard, 
the name of the garden of the gods in the Scandinavian mythology. 
The cataracts near this place and the scenery which surrounds 
them, with the ancient bridge, which rises thirty-two feet to span 



PAST AND I'KKHKNT. 657 

a o'ulf of seventy-one feet, are ameiiijst the most beautiful in this 
romantic valley. 

At Bainbvidye, which spans a small stream named the Bain, 
or the White, llo\\iDg from Simmer Tarn into the river Ure, is 
supposed to be the site of a Roman station ; many remains of 
antiquity, including a statue of the Emperor Commodus, having 
been discovered here. 

Bedale is a pleasant country town situated in a rich valley, 
about two miles to the west of the old Roman road of Leeming 
Lane, and surrounded by a very fertile district. There was 
formerly a castle here, built by Brian Fitz-Alen, earl of Arundel, in 
the reio'n of Kino- Edward I. 

Bedale Registrar's District (535), covers an area of 55,183 acres, 
and contains a population which in 1801 amounted to 7503 persons; 
in 1S61, to 9115; and in 1871, to 8430. Registrars' Suh- districts. — 
Bedale has two sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 18G1. Population in 1871. 

1. Bedale, 27,o22 ... 6,111 ... 5,C91 

2. Masham, 27,861 ... :5,<i04 ... 2,73!t 

Leylurn Registrar's District {536)/'' extending over a large part 
of Weusleydale, a rich and beautiful country covering an area of 
80,268 acres, and containing a population which in 1801 amounted 
to 8220 persons, in 186 L to 9640, and in 1871 to 8705. Registrars' 
Suh-districts. — Leyburn is divided into two sub-districts : — 

1. Middleham, .... 
■1. Leyburn, 



.Vrea in Acres. 


Population in 1861. 


Population in 1871. 


41,749 


4,230 


3,809 


3W,.510 


5,410 


4,S9G 



Ayscjarth Registrars District (537), extending over an area of 
81,012 acres, contains a population which amounted in 1801 to 
.;205 persons, in 1861 to 5649, and in 1871 to 5473. Registrars 
Suh-districts. — Aysgarth has two sub-districts : — 

Aiea in Acres. Population in IsCl. Population in 1871 

1. Askrisg, 4.5,334 ... 3,207 ... 2,1)12 

2. Hawes, 35,078 ... 2,442 ... 2,.5(il 

The Wapental.-e of Ilnng East. — The wapentake of Hang East, 
which is more in the plain or level country, and slopes from the 
east, contains much good land. The area, of this wapentake is 
60,281 statute acres. The following are its parishes, with their 
areas : — 

' See account of r.eylmrn. vol. i. p. l^l.i. 

4 (1 



658 



YORKSHIRE ; 



Area in Acres. 

Patrick Brompton (part of) 2,683 

Scruton, 2,114 

St. Martins (ex. par.) 26& 

Thornton Watlaes, 3,709 

WuU, 6,688 



Total, 60,281 



Arp.'i in Acres. 

Bedale (part of), 8,844 

Catterick (part of), 11,516 

FingaU (part of), 282 

Hornby (part of), 4,004 

Ivirkby Fleetham, 3,154 

Masham, 17,018 

Patrick Brompton and Hornby inter- 
mixed (part of), 544 

Hornby Castle, the seat of the very distinguislied family of 

the Osbornes, dukes of Leeds; Clifton Castle, long one of the 

residences of the Huttons, but now of the PuUeines ; and Swinton, 

for ages the Residence of the Danby family — are in this district. 

Here also is the town of Masham, pleasantly situated on the banks 

of the Ure. The author of this work cannot pass it without notice, 

liaving spent several of his early years there under the tuition of 

the Eev. Joseph Burrill, a good master of the old school. At the 

end of fifty years its memory returns as 

"The schoolboy spot 
We ne'er forget, though there we are forgot." 

The remains of the castle of Tanfield, those of the abbey of 
Jerveaux, the beautiful spring of the purest water at Well, with 
Hackfall, with the hanging woods chiefly of oak, from which it 
derives its name, are also in this neighbourhood, and add to the 
charms of the borderland of the North and the West Ridings. 

The Wapentake of Hallikeld. — The wapentake or hundred of 
Hallikeld, or the Holy Spring or Well, includes a very fertile 
part of the North Ptiding, approaching the great central plain 
of Yorkshire. It extends over an area of 38,298 statute acres. 
The following are the parishes of Hallikeld, with their areas : — 



Area in Acres. 

Bedale (part of), 883 

Brafferton (part of), 1,090 

Burneston, 7,880 

CundaU (part of), 3,141 

Kirkby-on-the-Moor, 3,596 

Kirkbngton (part of), 8,875 



Area in Acres. 

Pickhill (part of), 4,299 

TopcHffe (part of), 7,626 

AA'ath (part of), 2,667 

^Vest Tanfield, 3,285 



Total, 



88,298 



THE CENTRAL PORTION OP THE NORTH RIDING. 

This district lies in what may be considered rather a wide 
valley, with a long succession of hills rising westwards at the 
highest point gradually to Micklefell at a height of 2581 feet, and 
on the east at Ptoseberry or Rhosburh at the height of 1022 feet. 

Wapentake of AUertonsMre, and -its Parishes. — The wapentake 



PAST AND PRESENT. 059 



or hundred of Allertunshive, of which Northalk'rtoii is the capital. 
Res along the line of the great northern mad, and of the chief 
railway from York to Edinburgh. It is a fertile, well-cultivated 
country. Its area is 51,',>18 statute acres. The parishes of Aller- 
tonshu'e, with their areas, are as follows ; — 



Bii-kby .'ij;".!) 

Bishop Ings (ex. \y.iv.) 51) 

Cotcliffe (ox. par.) 7;! 

Great Smeatou (part, of), l,'Ji'2 

Hutton Conyt'i-s (ex. par.) 3,-112 

Kii-kliBgton (part of), 'JK) 

Le:ike (part of). . 4.709 

Xorthallerton, l-t.liGS 

Xorth Otterington (part of) 2,ls8 

Osmotherlev 7,i>27 



An?:L in Acres. I Area in Acres. 

Pickhill (part of), .300 

Scs.say (part of), 3,4()7 

Siy.stnn, ;i,.S17 

Sockburn t'.UH') 

Thornton-le-strect • 2,324 

^^'atll (part of) 1,041 

AVc.st Kowntoii, l,1.5(i 



Total, ol,'.n.S 



THE BOROUGH OF NORTHALLERTON. 

Xorthallertou, " the Northern town of the Alder trees," is an 
ancient Anglian town, situate on the great railway line from 
York, to the borders, first of Durham, and ultimately of Scot- 
land. In early times there was a strong castle here, wdiich 
belonged to the lord bishops of Durham, when they were great 
feudal lords as well as fathers of the church. The bishops 
of Durham were also lords and chief bailiffs of the wapentake of 
AUertonshire. Northallerton is situated about twenty-five miles 
north of York. AUertonshire extends over a country more level 
than the greater part of the North Riding, and forming a 
portion of the rich vale of Mowbray. The market is on Wed- 
nesday, and in the month of February great horse fairs are held, 
for which this district is celebrated. Northallerton returns a 
member to Parliament, and first obtained that privilege at the 
commencement of the representative system, in the reign of 
Edward I. Since the passing of the Pteform Act of 1832, it has 
returned only one m ember, instead of two. The gaol for the North 
Riding is at Northallerton, and the quarter sessions are held there. 
The gi'eat battle of the Standard was fought in the immediate 
neighbourhood of Northallerton, in the reign of King Stej)hen, 
and the defeat of the invading Scottish army in that battle 
had the effect of fixing th(j boundaries of England and Scotland 
on the Tweed, instead of on the Tees, or at some more southern 
point. At the Census of 1871 the borough of Northallerton 
extended over an area of 10,381 acres, and contained a population 



CGO 



YORKSHIRE 



of 4961 persons.'"' Northallerton is described by Defoe, as "a town 
on the post road, remarkable for the vast quantity of black cattle 
sold there." He says that there was a fair once every fortnight, 
for some months. 

Northallerfo7i Registrars District (534) extends over an area of 
67,000 acres. It had in 1801 a population of 9633 persons; in 
1861, of 12,174 ; and in 1871, of 11,626. Registrars' Sub-districts. 
— Northallerton is divided into two sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Appleton-upon-Wiskp, . . 2.5,042 

2. Northallerton, 41,958 

The Wapentake of Birdforth. — The wapentake of Birdforth, 
which may be the Bi^oadforth or Great Road (or possibly the 
Ford of the Bird), is a fertile and extensive district. It was inter- 
sected by the great road from York to Scotland, as it is by the 
railways that have since been formed. The area of the wapen- 
take of Birdforth is 100,411 statute acres. The following are its 
parishes with their areas : — 



opulation in 18G1. 


Pop 


Illation in 1871. 


2,952 




2,607 


9,222 




9,019 



Area in Acres. 

Ampleforth (part of) 558 

Brafferton (part of). 129 

Coldlflrkby, 1,617 

Cowesby, 1,293 

Coxwold, 12,928 

Cundall (part of), 425 

East Harlsey, 3,056 

Feliskirk, 8,296 

Plawnby, , 16,789 

Helmsley (part of) . - • 1,984 

Husthwaite, . 2,496 

Kilburn 5,827 

Kirkby Kno-nrle, 4,571 

Kirkby Wtske (part of), .... 1,913 

Leake (part of), . . ' 2,008 



Area in Acres. 

Murton (ex. par.), 1,755 

North Otterington (part of), .... 1,526 

OH Byland, 2,736 

Over Silton, 8,727 

Sessay (part of), 805 

Skelling Ings (ex. par.) 15 

South Kilvington, 2,920 

South Ottermgton, 1,450 

Thirkleby, 2,689 

Thirsk, 8,699 

Topcliffe (part of), 8,137 

Welbury, 2,400 

Wiitestone Cote (ex. par.), .... 148 



Total, 100,411 



THE HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF THIRSK. 

Thirsk, which is probably a contraction of Thors-esk or Thors- 
ashtree, was in former times possessed of a strong feudal castle, 
which formed one of the chief places of strength of the great 
Yorkshire house of Mowbray, who ultimately rose to the rank 
of earls and dukes of Norfolk. A part of the town stands on 
the site of the old castle, and the moat and the ramparts may 
still be traced, though no vestige of the building remains. Thirsk 

^ Census. ISTl, vol. i. p. 4.S8. 



PAST AND rUESENT. 



6G1 



is an aucieut parliamentary borough, and has sent members to 
Parliament from the earliest times, the memljers for Thirsk having 
sat in the Parliament of the t\\enty-third year of Edward I. 
It is at present a considerable market town, but possesses no 
other resources of any great importance. Attempts have been 
made to find coal in this neighbourhood. Should they be suc- 
cessful, the whole character of the place will be changed, as it is 
already very near to the iron district of Cleveland, and lines of 
railway communicating with all parts of Yorkshire. The market 
is held on Monday. At the Census of 1871 the borough of Thirsk 
extended over an area of 11,828 acres, and contained a population 
of 5 734 persons. '■'' 

(Joxicohl, in the wapentake of Birdforth, nine miles south-east of 
Thirsk, is memorable among other things for Shandy Hall, where 
Lawrence Sterne resided for seven years, and wrote his "Tristram 
Shandy." The ancient family of the Belasyse, earls of Fauconberg, 
formerly had a castle at Coxwold. 

Thirsk Registrars District (.528) extends over an area of 64,893 
acres. In 1801 it contauied a population of 9595 persons, and in 
1861 of 12,299, w-liicb number had slightly decreased in 1871, when 
it was 12,167. Registrars' Sal-distrids.—Thixiik. is divided into five 
sub-districts : — 



Area in Acres. 

13,094 

8,652 

14,850 



Topulation in r^Hl. 
1,810 
1,557 
5,743 
1,431 
1,758 



Population ill 1871. 
1,762 
1,319 
6,141 
1,285 
1,660 



1. Topcliffe, 

2. PiekhiU, 

3. Thirsk, 

4. Sutton, 10,489 

5. Knaytou, 17,808 

The Wapentake of Bulmer.—The wapentake of Bulmer extends 
over an area of 126,596 statute acres. The following are its 
parishes, with their areas :— 

Aroa in Acres. 

yUdborough fpart of) 1,214 

.Vine, 9,i'«l 

Barton-le-Strert (part of), .... 1,20.") 

BossaU, 9,17'i 

BossaU and Koston, 39 

Brafferton (part of), ;i,7H 

Brandsby 3,077 

Bulmer, SjTilJl 

Carra (ex. par.) '•' 

f'rambe, 2,21.5 

(^rayke, 2,H7:i 

Dalby, 



Easingwold, .... 
Farlingtoii. . . ■ 

Fcston, 

(iatc ricbrislry, . . . 
<;rc,at Ouscburn (part of) 
Hardy Flatts (ex. par.), 
Hcnderskelfc (ex. par.), 

llultby, 

Ilo\ari;,^liaiii (p.irt nf), 
Iluntiii.ylon, . . . 
IIuttoiiK Anibii, 
1,;!47 ,"\birton-in-tlie-Fore.st, 

I'liiisus, 1«TI, vol. i. p. 438. 



in Acre^. 
. ll,L'Sll 
. 1,22 1 
. 2,29;i 
49(! 

21 
. 1,70.-, 
. l,2,'-i;) 
. l,3-.7 



2,8'.)f> 
2,714 



(3G2 YOEKSHiRE : 



Area in Acres. 

i\[yton-upon-Swale, 1,G7j! 

Xewton-upon-Ouse, 5,147 

Osbaldwick, 1,574 

Over, or Upper, Helmsley, .... 832 

Overton, 5,101 



Area in Acres, 
St. ]\lichael-le-BeUrey (part of), . . ".SC 

St. Olave (part of), 2,861 

St. Saviour (part of), 392 

Sutton-on-the-Forest, 10,654 

Terrington, 3,952 



Slicriff ITutton, 8,952 Thormanby 1,001 

Side Ings (ex. par.), 5IJ A\"arthiU, 650 



Skelton, 704 

Stilliiigtou, 2,157 

Stockton-on-the-Forest, 3,267 

StreiLsall, 6,421 

St. Cuthbert (part of), 641 



Wlienby, 1,041 

AVhitwell-on-the-Hill (ex. par.), . . 1,573 
Wigginton, 1,880 



Total, 126,596 



Crmjlie Castle, so named from Caiig, the British word for a cliff 
or fell, is in the wapentake of Bulmer, two miles east of Easingwold, 
and here St. Cuthbert of Durham founded a monastery about the 
year 685. The village of Crayke is delightfully situated on a lofty 
detached hill, or mount, on the summit of which stand the ruins 
of the Castle. 

Castle Howard, the seat of the ancient and illustrious family of 
the Howards, earls of Carlisle, is one of the most magnificent 
mansions and parks in England. It was built about the year 
1702 by Vanbrugh for Charles, the third earl of Carlisle, by whom 
the park and grounds were laid out. The castle was erected on the 
site of the ancient castle of Henderskelfe, destroyed by fire. The 
pictures are of great celebrity, especially that of " The Adoration 
of the Kings," by Mabuse, and " The three Marys," by Annibale 
Carracci. In the museum is placed a testimonial, which cost a 
thousand guineas, from the West Riding, presented to the late 
earl, then Lord Morpeth. At some distance is the mausoleum, in 
which the remains of the earls of Carlisle have been deposited since 
the building of Castle Howard. 

Easinyioold Registrars District (527) covers an area of 65,015 
acres. In 1801 it contained a population of 8512 persons; in 1861, 
of 10,148 ; and in 1871, of 10,026. Eefjistrars Sub-districts.— Easing- 
wold is divided into three sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Stillington, 22,21.S 

2. Ea.sing\vold, 28,710 

:3. Coxwold, 14,087 

The Wapentake of Byedale. — The ^vapentake or hundred of 
Ryedale, a fertile and beautiful district watered by numerous 
rivers and smaller streams, all of which ultimately flow into the 
river Derwent, is particularly rich in noble mansions and beautiful 



Population in 1861. 


Population in 1871. 


2,846 


2,765 


5,478 


5,490 


1,824 


1,771 



PAST AND TRESENT. 06 



{> 



Arcii ill Acrps. 

Amplcforth (part of), IDU 

Apploton-le-streot, ri.SS.S 

liartou-le-street (part of), ..... l',;i:!5 

Kdstone, l.Mii' 

Gilliiig, 4,ll'i 

IK'lmsley (part of) ;ls.4-jl 

Hovinghimi (part of), 7,4SO 



moDastic remains. The area of the wapentake oi' hundred of 
rvyedale is 130,^i!G statute acres. The following are its parishes, 
itli their areas; — 

Are;i in Acres. 

Normanby, 2,404 

N unniiigton, 1,432 

( »s\valdkirk, 3,077 

Salton, 2,7(;i 

ScaAvtim, 2,'S7.'J 

Siimington (part of), 171 

Slingsby, 2,570 

Kii-kl\v-Moorside lS,o;!i' ] Stonc-gravc, 3,102 

Kirkdale, 9,«27 

I^istinghimi, ls,91G Total, 130,220 

JIalton, 4,017 

HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OE MALTON. 

The borough of Malton, though partly situated in the East Riding, 
also extends into the North. It stands at the point where the river 
Derwent, which rises and is fed by almost innumerable tiibutaries in 
(Cleveland, breaks through a great line of hUls running from east 
to west, whence it flows southward in a single large stream, through 
the East Ptiding of Yorkshire, directly into the Humber. In early 
and warlike times the position of Malton must have been of great 
military importance; and abundant evidences have been found of 
the existence of an extensive Roman station at this point. It is 
generally supposed to have been the Roman station of Derventium, 
taking its name from the river Derwent, which, as we have seen, 
flows through the town. But whatever the name may have been, 
there is no doubt that the site of the town was occupied by 
a Roman station, or of the existence there of a number of 
important trades, including the manufacture of jewellery and the 
working of the precious metals, which indicate very early pro- 
p-ress and refinement in the arts of civilized life. A well-informed 
writer says : — " Numerous Roman coins, both silver and copper, of 
\-arious emperors, extending over a long period, have been and 
are yet found here ; and on the opposite side of the river Derwent 
entrenchments for the defence of this once important pass are also 
visible. Fragments of and entire urns, some containing Roman 
coins and fine red ashes, and also many specimens of Roman pottery, 
have been found here." "'■ Discoveries similar in character, and even 
of a more ancient date, have been frequently made up to a very 
recent period. 

* IvJw.iid P.iiine.H' History, Sc, of Yorkshire, vol. ii. p. 477. 



G64 YORKSHIRE: 



Malton is another of the Yorkshire boroughs which have sent 
members to Pai'liament from the commencement of the parha- 
raentary system, in the reign of King Edward I. There was a 
priory here, founded about the year 1150 by Eustace Fitz-John, 
for canons of the order of St. Gilbert. At the Reformation 
the revenues were valued at £197 19s. 2d. of the money of that 
time (equal to about £1000 a year of present money). The pre- 
sent church is only a small portion of the nave of the Priory 
Church, the choir having been taken down in 1734. In the year 
1546 a free grammar school was founded here by Ptobert Holgate, 
D.D., archbishop of York. Malton returns one member to Par- 
liament. The Fitzwilliam is the preponderating interest. 

Malton Registrar s District (526) covers an area of 116,032 acres. 
In 1801 it contained a population of 14,837 persons; in 1861, of 
23,483; and in 1871, of 22,882. Registrars Sub-districts. —Malton 
is divided into five sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Killington, 37,078 

2. Westow, 24,021 

3. Malton, 19,386 

4. Hovingham, 13,134 

5. Bulmer, 22,413 

Helmsley* in the wapentake of Pyedale, at one time belonged 
to the famous parliamentary leader, Thomas, Lord Fairfax. By 
marriage with his only daughter, it passed to the notorious but 
most brOliant George Villiers, the second duke of Buckingham of 
the Villiers family, who after living in splendour at Helmsley Castle 
died in misery and poverty in the neighbouring town of Kirkby 
Moorside. Two great poets have celebrated this duke of Bucking- 
ham, but neither of them was able to say a word in his favour. 
Dryden lashed him during his life as the false and fickle Zimri in 
his " Absalom and Ahitophel ; " and Pope afterwards painted his 
death of misery as a proper reward of a life of profligacy. 

Duncomhe Park, the seat of the earl of Feversham, is situated 
in the parish of Helmsley, and is one of the noblest mansions, with 
the most splendid grounds, existing in Yorkshire. The mansion 
was designed by Vanbrugh, and completed in the year 1718. It 
is of the Doric order of architecture, and is esteemed a happy 
specimen of the architectural skill of that builder of stately 
mansions. The hall is a magnificent room, sixty feet long and 

* See account of Helmsley, vol. i. p. T.*'2. 



Popnlation in ISGl. 


Population in 1 


4,287 


4,114 


2,952 


2,841 


9,972 


10,039 


2,198 


2,046 


4,074 


3,842 



FAST AND PKESENT. 665 



forty ^Yide, surrounded by fourteen lofty Corinthian pillars, and 
ornamented -with a number of busts of the Greek and Latin 
poets, with large medallions of the twelve Cassars. The saloon is 
eighty-eight feet by twenty-four feet, formed into three divisions 
by Ionic pillars, and beautifully adorned with antique statues and 
family pictures. The statues and paintings are amongst the 
finest that are to be found in England. The grounds are laid out 
with great taste. The garden adjoining to the house has a terrace 
commanding most varied prospects. Hence is seen an Ionic temple, 
which also commands a variety of landscapes. A beautiful valley 
winds at the base of a noble amphitheatre of hanging woods, and 
the opposite plantations, which spread over a large extent of hills, 
fringe the banks of the river Rye, which runs through the valley, 
and forms almost in its centre a charming cascade. The valley, the 
river, and the cascade are seen beneath ; the castle, Helmsley 
Church, and the tower appear in the midst. The beautiful ruins 
of Rivaulx Abbey, only two miles distant, add to the interest of the 
scene ; and four mUes to the south-west, at the entrance to the vale 
of York, stand the ruins of Byland Abbey. 

Rivaulx Ahhey, in the parish of Helmsley and wapentake of 
Eyedale, two miles north-west of Helmsley, is a beautiful monastic 
ruin in a narrow valley, crowned with hanging woods, through 
which the river Rye flows with a continual winding course down to 
the Derwent, which receives all the numerous streams of this 
district. AA^ithin this sequestered spot is the village of Rivaulx, 
consisting of scattered cottages, which appear amongst natural 
clumps of trees, with the river winding beneath, and each presenting 
a landscape in itself . The abbey stands close by the village, from 
which it recedes towards a steep woody bank running nearly north 
and south. The principal remains are the church and the refectory. 
The former consists of the choir and part of the side aisles, with the 
transept and its aisles, and the commencement of the tower. This 
edifice ranks amongst the largest monastic churches. The choir is 
144 feet in length and sixty-three feet wide, and the transept is 
118 feet long and thirty-three feet wide. The probable length 
of the nave was 150 feet, and the whole length of the building 
could not have been less than 330 or 340 feet. This abbey, for 
monks of the Cistercian order, was founded in 1131 by Walter 
L'Espec, the commander at the battle of the Standard, whose 
only child, a son, being killed by a fall from his horse at Kirkham, 

VOL. II. 4 V 



666 YORKSHIRE : 



the afflicted parent devoted the principal pai't of his large posses- 
sions to pious uses ; and after erecting the abbeys of Ptivaulx 
and Kirkham, in Yorkshire, built also the abbey of Warden, in 
Bedfordshire. 

Byland and Byland Ahbey are in the paiish of Coxwold and 
wapentake of Birdforth. They date from the time when Eoger 
de Mowbray dwelt in the castle of Thirsk, and there hospitably 
received twelve monks of Furness Abbey who had been driven from 
their abode by a Scottish invasion. The monastery, and a noble 
church adjoining it, were founded about the year 1177. Remains, 
supposed to be those of Eoger de Mowbray, have been discovered 
at Byland, and some memorials of much older times, including a 
beautiful Roman pavement in high preservation. 

Helmsley Registrar s District (529), extensive and varied, covers 
an area of 113,794 acres. In 1801 the population of this district 
was 10,539; in 1861, 11,832; and in 1871, 11,716. Registrars' 
Sub-districts. — Helmsley is divided into three sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Helmsley, 51,606 ... 3,969 ... 3,868 

2. Oswaldkirk, 16,070 ... 2,124 ... 2,187 

3. Kirkby Moorside, . . . 46,118 ... 5,739 ... 5,661 

The Liberty or Wapentake of Langbarugh. — The greatest and 
richest of the wapentakes of the North Riding is that included 
in the double liberty of Langbarugh, or Cleveland, a country 
abounding in mineral wealth, and which at the present time 
produces a greater quantity of iron ore and of iron than any 
other district in Great Britain. It comprehends the greater part 
of the iron district of Cleveland, with the town of Middles- 
borough, already fully described in this volume. The area of the 
Langbarugh wapentake or liberty is 212,157 statute acres. 

The Parishes of Langbarugh, with their Areas. — The following are 
the parishes of Langbarugh, with their areas : — 



Area in Acres. 

Aytou, 6,394 

Carlton, 1,357 

Crathorne, 2,598 

Danby, 22,853 

Easington, 6,220 

Eston, 8,714 

Great Smeaton (part of) 2,449 

Guisborough, 18,165 

Hilton, 1,391 

Hinderwell, 4,905 

Ingleby ArnoUffe, 1,893 



Area in Acres. 

Ingleby Greenhow, 7,002 

Kildale, 5,192 

Kirkleatham, 4,830 

Kirk Levington, 5,638 

Kirkby, 4,799 

Lofthouse 3,737 

Lythe, 30,254 

Marske, 4,574 

Marten, 3,519 

Middleaborough, 2,573 

Newton, 1,172 



VAST AND PRESKNT. 



667 



Area in Acres. 

l>niiosliy 4,-10;! 

r.iulliy, 7,1'-J(; 

Soamer, :'>,."iL'(l 

Skelton, 15,71';! 

Stainton, 7,7',10 

Stokrsloy i:).'.i;i<) 

Upleatham, l,4i'() 



Area in Acres. 

Wcpt Acklam, ],618 

"Wlicvlton, 9,7^5 

Wilton, 4,(iri() 

Yanu, 1,107 



Total, 



i'18,is;; 



Coatliam East and West, with the adjoining Redcar at the 
mouth of the river Tees, have long been celebrated for their smooth 
sands, their pure air, and their pleasant scenery. 

Guishorough, where Robert de Brus founded a rich priory in 
the year Hi! 11, is pleasantly situated in a narrow but fertile vale, 
and during the last forty or fifty years has risen rapidly, owing 
to the opening of the iron-field of Cleveland. It had previously 
been celebrated for its mineral waters and its yield of alum.'"" Guis- 
horough stands on a hilly and almost mountainous country, rich in 
iron ore, and extends over an area of 90,285 acres. In 1861 it con- 
tained a population of 22,128 persons, which was increasing rapidly, 
and in 1S71 amounted to 39,016. Registrars Sub-districts. — Guis- 
horough is divided into five sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Lofthouse, 16,108 

2. Marske, 15,574 

3. Kirk Leatham, .... 14,077 

4. Guisborough, 12,801 

5. Dauby, ■ . 30,825 

Stokesley Registrars District (533), a hilly district extending over 
75,884 acres, which contained in 1801 a population of 7580 inhabit- 
ants ; in 1861, of 10,381; and in 1871, of 10,750.t Registrars' 
Suh- districts. — Stokesley is divided into two sub-districts: — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 18*1. 

1. Stokesley, 56,495 ... 7,853 ... 8,363 

2. Hutton, 19,:3S9 ... 2,528 ... 2,387 

The Liberty of Whitby Strand.—The liberty of Whitby Strand 
includes a considerable district on the sea-coast, and also in the 
valley of the river Esk, which flows into the sea at Whitby. 
AVhitby and the neighbourhood have been fully described in the 
present volume. The area of the liberty of Whitby Strand is 44,902 
statute acres. It contained a pnjmlation of 17,541 at the Census 
of 1871. The parishes of Whitby Strand, with their areas, are 
as follows : — 



tion in ISGl. P.)p 


ulation in 1871 


2,339 


4,670 


4,803 


11,598 


8,178 


14,996 


4,762 


5,859 


2,046 


1,893 



* For further pjirticulars see vol. i. p. 19 ! 



f Sec account of Stokesley, vol. i. p. 10^. 



668 



YORKSHIRE : 



Area in Acres. 

Haokness, 11,885 

Sneaton, 4,850 



Area in Acres. 
Whitby, 28,226 



Total, 44,962 



Whitby Registrar's District (531), extends over an area of 82,237 
acres. In 1801 it contained 18,217 persons; in 1861, 23,633; 
and in 1881, 25,804. Registrars' Sub-districts. — Whitby is divided 
into three sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Egton 40,508 

2. Whitby, 22,226 

3. Lythe, 19,503 

The Lythe, or Wapentake of Pickering. — The liberty of the 
Pickering Lytlie, which is the old name given to the Pickering 
district, comes down from the time of the Danes, who gave the 
name of Lythes to their military and naval districts along the 
sea-coast. The area of the liberty of Pickering Lythe is 156,314 
statute acres. The following are its parishes, with their areas : — 



Population in 1861. 


Population in 1871 


4,226 


5,705 


14,484 


16,347 


4,923 


4,752 



Scarborough, ... . . 

Scarborough Castle (ex. par.), 

Seamer, 

Sinnington (part of), . . . 

Thorntondale, 

Thorntondale and Ellerbum, 
Wheeldale (ex. par.), . . . 
^A'ykeham, 



Area in Acrds. 
2,292 
65 
11,947 
2,892 
6,461 
1,413 
2,707 
8,247 



Total, 



157,653 



Area in Acres. 

AUerston, 10,042 

Brompton, 10,607 

Ebberston, 6,842 

Ellerburn, 8,597 

Filey (part of), 3,019 

Hutton Bushel, 6,050 

Kirkby Msperton 6,999 

Levisham, 2,974 

Middleton, 27,281 

Pickering, 31,010 

Scalby, 11,870 

Pickering Registrar's District (530), an extensive and fertile one, 
embraces an area of 99,037 acres. In 1801 it contained 7133 
inhabitants; in 1861, 10,549; and in 1871, 12,737.* Registrars 
Sub-districts. — Pickering is divided into five sub-districts : — • 

Area in Acres. 

1. Lastingham, 24,099 

2. Pickering, 30,788 

3. Sinnington, 6,144 

4. Allerston^ 27,608 

5. Lockton,. ...... 10,398 

Scarborough. — This beautiful watering place, with the fine 
scenery of the surrounding district, has already been described in 
the present volume. A description of the sea-coast of the North 

' See acconnt of Pickering, vol. i. p. 193. 



Population in 


1861. 


Population in 1871 


1,669 




3,748 


4,701 




4,973 


1,119 




1,085 


2,526 




2,444 


544 




487 



PAST AND rrvlWENT. 669 



Riding, from tlie mouth of the river Ure to Filey Bay, will be 
found in the lirst. 

Scarhoiviigh ]u](//'strar's listrict (^jST)), covers an area of 88,098 
acres. In ISOl it contained a population of 6688 persons; in 
1861, of 30,425; and in 1871, of 30,560. Registrars Suh-distrids. 
— Scarborough is divided into four sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Filey, 14,607 ... 3,728 ... 4,07.5 

2. Scarborough, 19,766 ... 20,467 ... 26,395 

3. Hutton-Bushell, .... 40,447 ... 4,666 .. 4,647 

4. Sherburn, 13,288 ... 1,564 ... 1,443 



G70 YORKSHIRE : 



CHAPTER XV. 

THE EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE, WITH ITS PARLIAMENTARY 
DIVISIONS AND WAPENTAKES, OR HUNDREDS. 

Divisions of tlie East Biding. — The East Eiding comprises six 
wapentakes, and the municipal boroughs of Beverley, Kingston- 
upon-HuU, and Hedon, which was incorporated in 1861. It is 
divided into twelve petty sessional divisions. The borough of 
Kingston-upon-HuU, which is a county of itself, has a commission 
of the peace and a separate court of quarter sessions; and the 
borough of Beverley has a commission of the peace. This riding 
contains thirteen lieutenancy subdivisions, consisting respectively 
of the borough of Kingston-upon-HuU and of the twelve petty ses- 
sional divisions, the borough of Beverley being included in the North 
Hunsley Beacon subdivision. The East Riding, which includes the 
borough of Kingston-upon-HuU, part of the city of York, and part of 
the borough of Malton, constitutes a division of the county for par- 
liamentary election purposes. For police purposes the East Pdding 
is formed into twelve divisions. It contains seven local board dis- 
tricts, and the borough of Hedon has an improvement commission. 
The East Riding is in the diocese of York; it contains 351 civil 
parishes, townships, or places, and part of one other township, 
namely, Filey, which extends into the North Ptiding. ""' 

Area and Population of the East Riding. — The area of the East 
Riding is 750,828 statute acres. The number of houses in 1871 
was 56,193 inhabited; 3768 uninhabited; and 737 building. The 
population of the East Riding in 1871 was 268,466 persons, of whom 
133,679 were males, and 134,787 females. The average number of 
persons to the acre was 0"36 ; the number of acres to a person in 
the East Riding was 2-80. The increase in the numbers of the 
people in the East Riding, in the ten years from 1801 to 1811, was 
22,783 persons; from 1811 to 1821, 20,668; from 1821 to 1831, 
14,248; from 1831 to 1841, 26,045; from 1841 to 1851, 26,047; 
from 1851 to 1861, 19,244; and from 1861 to 1871, 28,239.t 

* Census of England and Wales, 1871, vol. i. pp. 435-36. f Ibid., pp. 436-37. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



671 



Tlie Area and Population of the Wapcidaltcs and Boroughs of the 
East Riding in 1 S 7 1 : — 



Beverley (I)ovou,i;li\ . . 
Buckrose (,\vapcntako\ . 
Dickering (^yapentake), . 
Hartliill liwipentalce), . 
Hedon (borougli\ . . . 
Holdcrness ( wapentake), 
Ho-n-densliire (wapentake), 
Kingston-upon-Hiil] (borough), 
Ouse and Derwent (wapentake), 



Area in Acres. 

2,412 

109,009 

ll-l,()y() 

203,532 

321 

168,399 

34,089 

3,635 

65,345 



Population. 

10,218 

14,958 

23,927 

49,208 

996 

25,579 

8,820 

121,892 

12,808 * 



Houses and Population in 1871 of the Municipal and Par- 
liamentary Boroughs of the East 



Population. 
10,218 
996 
121,892 

123,408 t 



Houses. 

Bererley, 2,380 

Hedon, 231 

Kingston-upon-Hull (municipal borough), 25,119 
" " " (parliamentary borough), 25,441 



The East Riding of Yorkshire contains the wapentakes or hun- 
dreds of Buckrose, Dickering, Harthill, Holderness, Howdenshire, 
and Ouse and Derwent, and the county of the town of Kingston- 
upon-Hull. Like the North Fading, it forms one parliamentary 
division. But in describing the East Biding it may be convenient 
to speak first of those portions of it which lie in the valleys of the 
Derwent and the Ouse ; next, of those which include the lofty 
central chalk hills, known as the Wolds of the East Riding; and 
last, of the level country of Holderness, and of the sea-coast district, 
including the great chalk cliffs of Flamborough Head. This is the 
commencement northward of the chalk beds of England, which 
extend southward through Lincolnshire and the Midland counties, 
into Devonshire on the west, and Kent and the Isle of Thanet on 
the east. 

The Wapentake of Buckrose. — The Buckrose wapentake or hun- 
dred, probably so named either from its buch or beech trees, as in 
Buckinghamshire, or possibly from some incident at one of the 
great hunting parties of the kings of Northunibria, is a fine 
agricultural district. The area of the Buckrose wapentake is 
109,008 statute acres. The following are its parishes, with their 
areas : — 

* Census, 1871, vol. i. p. 4.911. f IWJ., p. -Ul. 



672 



YORKSHIRE : 



Area in Acres. 

Settrington, 6,191 

Sherbm-n, 4,739 

Skirpenbeck, 1,644 

Sledmere, 7,040 

Thorpe Bassett, 1,806 

Weaverthorpe, 5,600 

Westow, 3,016 

West Heslerton, 6,579 

Wetwang, 5,360 

Wharram-le-street 2,071 

" Percy, 9,093 

Wintringham, 8,229 

Yedingham, 540 



Area in Acres. 

Acklam, 3,649 

Birdsall, 4,030 

Bugthorpe,* 1,917 

Burythorpe, 1,250 

Cowlam, 2,051 

Fridaythorpe, 1,918 

Helperthorpe, 2,593 

Kirby Grindalythe 7,583 

Kirby Underdale, 5,123 

Kirkham (ex. par.), 272 

Langton, 2,826 

Norton, 2,837 

North Grimston, 1,564 

Rillington, 4,582 

Scrayingham, 4,891 Total, 109,008 

Birdsall, in the wapentake of Buckrose, four miles S.S.E. of Malton. 
Lord Middleton has a seat here, which stands not far from the foot 
of the wolds, in a fine sporting country. The mansion is spacious 
and commodious, and surrounded with extensive woods and 
plantations. 

Sledmere, in the wapentake of Buckrose, eight miles north-west 
of Driffield, situated in a spacious vale in the centre of the York- 
shire wolds, has been the residence of the baronets of the Sykea 
family for several generations. Famous for a noble collection of 
books and of paintings. 

Wharram-le-street, in the wapentake of Buckrose, like most of 
the places named from the strata of the Romans, lies upon the Hne 
of one of these great works. 

Tlie Wapentake of Ouse and Derwent extends over an area of 
54,989 statute acres. The parishes are as follows: — ■ 

Area in Acres. 

Riccall, 2,666 

Skipwith, 6,258 

Stilhngfleet (part of, 4,439 

St. Lawrence 1,401 

Thorganby, 2,938 

Wheldrake, 6,310 



Area in Acres. 

Aoaster Malbis (part of), .... 463 

Catton 3,836 

Dunnington, 3,040 

Elvington, 2,371 

Escrick, 6,347 

Fulford, 1,651 

Hemingbrough, 10,847 

Heslington (St. Paul), 1,243 

Naburn, 2,172 



Total, 54,989 



Escrick Hall, the beautiful residence of the Ptight Honourable 
Lord Wenlock, the lord-lieutenant of the East Riding, is one of 
the finest mansions in this part of Yorkshire, containing a most 
valuable collection of pictures, and surrounded by an extensive park. 

• More correctly, Buch or Buckthorpe, that is, the Beechthorpe or Beechtree residence. 



PAST AXn PRESENT. C73 



Jiiccall, the " rlrh liall," is memorable as the landing place of the 
Norwegians in the year 1066. Here are the rema.ins of an episcopal 
manor-honse. 

StamforJ Bridijr is the point at ^vhich the Iioiiian road crossed 
the Derwent, and was the scene nf the memoral)]e battle in which 
Harald Hardrada, and Tosti the rebellious earl of Northumberland, 
■were defeated and slain by King Harold of England. The Anglo- 
Saxon and Norwegian accounts of this battle are given very fully 
in the first volume of this Avork (p. 450). 

The Wapentalie of Hoicdensldre. — Howdenshire is a v^apentake, 
though small and called a shire, and includes a rich disti-ict of 
country situated beween the river Derwent and the Humber. The 
old form of the name Hovpden was Hovenden, or "the upland 
vallev," and it gave its name to a well-known monkish writer, 
EoQ-er of Hovenden. The area of Howdenshire is 38,239 statute 
acres, 2:227 acres being under the waters of the Humber.'" The 
following are the parishes of Howdenshire, with their areas : — 

Area in Acres. Area in Acres. 

Blacktoft, 3,508 Tongue (ex. par.), 35 

Brantingham (part ot,, 2,708 ^^'alkington (part of;, 1,860 

Cheap Sides (ex. par.), 6 Welton, ....•.•... 2,674 

Eastrlngton, 6,841 River Humber (tidal), 2,227 

Gilberdike Mill ex. par.), . . . . 2i roods 

Hodden, 18,348 

LIurket "Weighton Canal ,ex. par., pt. of), 27 

Hoicden Registrars District {511), covers an area of 75,768 acres. 
In 1801 it contained a population of 9823 persons; in 1861, of 
15,001; and in 1871, of 14,227. Registrars' Suh-disirids. — Howden 
is divided into four sub-districts: — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Holme, ....... 11,514 

2. Bubwith, 1C,C39 

3. Howden, i^,'-'>"l 

4. Newport, 18,708 

HowDEN. — This town, in the wapentake of Howdenshire, is 
twenty-one miles from York, and has a good well-frequented market. 
It is also noted for its great horse fairs, which are amongst the best 
in the north of England for the number and quality of the horses 
exjjosed for sale. Howden is situated about a mile from the river 
Ouse, and has a small harbour for boats and a ferry on the river. 
In ancient times the bishops of Durham were the lords of How- 

* Inrlex t'l Orfinanc*. Snrvev, 1871. 
\n\. II. 4 n 



Total, 38,239 



ovulation in 18(J1. 


Population in 1S71 


1,913 


1,976 


2,108 


1,978 


6,934 


6,493 


4,046 


3,780 



674 



YORKSHIRE : 



denshire, and had a palace, supposed to have been built by the 
munificent and tasteful Walter Skirlaw, bishop of Durham, whose 
arms can still be traced in some parts of the ruins. On the south 
side of the palace was a park, which extended to the banks of 
the Ouse. 

Wapentake of HartJdU. — The wapentake, or hundred of Harthill 
is a very extensive district, which probably derived its name from 
the deer formerly grazing on its chalk hills. The area of the Hart- 
hill wapentake is 268,676 statute acres, 4901 acres being under 
the waters of the Humber. '"' The following are the parishes of 
Harthill, with their areas : — 



Area 



Augliton, 

Bainton, 

Barmby-on-the-Moor, 
Bishop Burton, .... 

" Wilton, .... 
Brantingham (part of), . 
Brindleys (ex. par.), . . 

Bubwith, 

Burnby, 

Catton (part ofj, . . . 
CheiTy Burton, .... 
Cottingham, ..... 

Driffield, 

Ellerton, 

EUoughton, 

Etton, 

Everingham, 

Faiigfoss, 

Full Sutton, 

Goodmanbam, .... 
Great Givendale, . . . 
Haltemprice (ex. par.), . 

Harswell, 

Hayton, 

Hessle, 

Holme on Spalding Moor, 

" on the Wold,s, . 

Hotham, 

Huggate, 

Hutton Cranswick, . . 
Kildwiek Percy, . . . 
Kilnwick juxta Watton, . 

Kirkburn, 

Kirk Ella, 

Leckonfield, 

Lockington, ..... 



Londesborough, 
Lund, . . . . 



in Acres. 
5,201 
3,968 

2,577 I Market Weighton, .... 
4,2.59 " " Canal (ex. par., 

6,694 Middleton-on4he-Wolds, . . 

780 Millington, 

168 Xew Village (ex. par. , . . . 

10,134] North Cave, 

1,700 1 " Dalton, 

4,164' " Ferriby, 

3,465 " Newbald, 

9,563 Nunburnholme, 

7,600 Pocklington 

2,554 Rowley, 

2.635 Sancton, 

3,728 Scorbrongh, . . .... 

2,980 Seaton Eos.s 

1,408 Skerne, 

881 j Skidby, 

3,025 I South Cave, 

1,314 1 " Dalton, 

208 I St. John Beverley (part of), . 
1,125 St. Martin " 

3.636 j St. Mary " 

2,044! St. Nicholas " 

11,514 j Sutton-upon-Derwent, . . . 

1,5171 Thornton, 

^^'alkington (part of), .... 

Warter, 

Watton, 

Wilberfoss, 

Wressel, 

Biver Humber (tidal), . . . 



Area 



pt. 



' Index 



2,808 

7,003 

6,442 

1,579 

4,869 

6,218 

4,H27 

3,629 Total, 

3,083 

to Ordnance Survey, 1871. 



in Acres. 
4,256 
3,078 
7,354 

f), 14 
3,664 
2,.509 
509 
7,268 
4,635 
3,657 
5,972 
2,533 
4,788 
6,423 
4,477 
1,384 
3,426 
2,757 
1,560 
7,144 
1,844 
7,623 
873 
578 
959 
3,681 
9,088 
1,864 
7,875 
4,744 
3,184 
3,819 
4,901 

268,070 



PAST AND pui.:si<:>fT. 



Augldon was the residence of Hubert Aske, who in the year 
1536 headed the insurrection called the Pilo-rimao-e of Grace, which 
brought himself and many of his followers to the block or the 
gallows. He is represented as a daring and honest enthusiast. 

Bainton is an ancient parish. In former times a beacon was 
erected near this village, for the purpose of rousing the surrounding- 
country on the aptproach of danger, and this circumstance has given 
the name of Bainton Beacon to this division of Harthill. William 
le Gros, one of the early earls of Albemarle, was buried in the 
church at Bainton. 

Cave (Soidli), seven miles S.S.E. of Market Weighton, twelve 
miles from Hull, and twenty-eight miles from York, is situated in 
a hollow, from which it probably derives its name. It is a small 
market town in the division of Hunsley Beacon, at the western 
foot of the wolds, in a very pleasant country, and about three 
miles from the river Humber. It is said that John Washington, 
an ancestor of the great American hero and President, George 
Washington, lived here, and possessed part of the Cave estate ; that 
he emigrated to America about the year 1657, when he settled 
at Bridges Creek, in the county of Westmoreland in the state of 
Yii-oinia, where the name of the family has ever since been famous. 

C'ottingham, six miles N.AV. of Hull, is a place of considerable 
antiquity, and one of the pleasantest villages in the East Piiding 
of Yorkshire. The ancient Norman family of Stuteville, or de 
Stoteville, had formerly a castle here, called Baynard Castle. 

Dalton {South and North), in this wapentake. Here the ancient 
family of the Hothams, now peers of Ireland, have been resident 
for many ages. 

Driffield [Great) is named Trifels, or the three fells, in Domes- 
day. It is a well-built market town, at the foot of the wolds, and 
is the point at which the river Hull takes its rise, being formed 
by the confluence of a number of fine trout streams rising in the 
neighbouring hills. In early ages Great and Little Driffield were 
the residence of one of the Anglian kings of Northumbria, whose 
capital was at York. An inscription in the church of Little Driffield 
is said to cover the remains of Alfrid (the "all-peaceful"), king of 
Northumbria, who departed this life, January 18, a.d. 70:2. 

Godmundham, or the God-protected home, has already been 
mentioned in this work in the account given of the introduc- 
tion of Christianity among the Angles of Northumbria, under the 



676 YORKSHIRE : 



teaching of Paulinus and the influence and example of Edwin, 
the first Christian king of Northumbria, and the first founder of 
York minster. At this point, which is situate in the wapentake 
of Harthill, about a mile and a half N.N.E. of Market- Weighton 
and on the lowest acclivity of the wolds of the East Riding, was the 
pagan temple of the Angles of Northumbria, Avhich is supposed 
to have stood on the site of an earlier temple of the Britons, and 
probably near the Ptoman station of Delgovitia. The site of the 
temple can still be ti'aced by an extensive cluster of artificial hills, 
now called the Howe Hills. The church of Godmundham furnished 
several fine specimens of Anglian or Saxon architecture. The 
exterior arch of the west end of the tower, intersected by a 
buttress, the arch of the south entrance, and the interior arch 
entering into the chancel, are believed to be Saxon; but the inner 
part of the church is supposed to have been renewed. 

Holme on Spalding Moor, on the high road to York from Market- 
Weighton, possesses a most commmanding view over a great part 
of the wapentake of Harthill, and has a beacon named Holme 
Beacon, which was formerly the rallying point of the whole of the 
district when threatened with invasion. Even in more recent times it 
was considered dangerous to cross the great moors which surround 
the beacon, without a guide. 

Londeshorough, two and a half miles north of Market Weighton, 
was for several centuries one of the seats of the great house of 
CliiFord, earls of Cumberland, from whom it passed by marriage 
with the heiress of the Cliffords to the Cavendishes, dukes of 
Devonshire, who recently sold it to Lord Londeshorough. The 
position is most commanding and beautiful 

Market Wehjhton is called Mickel "Weighton, when first men- 
tioned by the Anglian writers. It was a residence of one of the 
chiefs of Deira, a district which extended over a great part of 
the East Riding. It is supposed to stand on the line of a great 
Roman road, which formerly ran from Eboracum, or York, to the 
mouth of the river Humber. It has an extensive corn trade, and 
a navigable canal to the Humber, besides the usual facihties for 
railway travelling. 

PocMington is thirteen miles from York. It is a market town, 
possessing the advantage of a navigable canal to the Humber, 
formed about the year 1814. 

Watton, six mile.s south of Driffield, is supposed by some to 



TA^^T AND PRESENT. 077 

be the scene of the oreat battle of Brunenburh between Kinfj 
Athelstano and the Danes and Norwegians, which is rc!j,-:u'ded as 
the greatest victory gained by the Anglo-Saxons. Tlieru was a 
nunnery here about a.d. G8(», and in the year 1150 Eustace Fitz- 
John founded a priory of Gilbertine nuns, fifty-throe in nuiubor. 
WressJl, four miles north-west of Howden, was formerly one of 
the chief Yorkshire castles of the Percys, earls, and ultimately 
dukes, of Northumberland, who were also earls of Beverley. It 
was pvdled dowir by order of the Long Parliament about the 
year 1644-45. Little more than the shell of this once princely 
mansion now remains. 

THE HISTORY OF THE BOROUGH OF BEVERLEY. 

Beverley, the most considerable borough in the wapentake 
of Harthill, is situate about nine miles north-north-west from 
Hull, and twenty-nine miles from York. The neighbouring district 
on the west is elevated and pleasant. On the east extends a 
level country. This in the last century was little better than 
a fen, but it has been reclaimed by drainage, inclosures, and good 
cultivation. The town of Beverley is airy and pleasant, and its 
beautiful minster and St. Mary's church are sufficient to render 
it interesting to every intelligent visitor. Beverley is a town of 
great antiquity, dating from the time of the introduction of Christi- 
anity into England by Augustine, Paulinus, and St. John of 
Beverley. In the eighth century the site of Beverley was 
known as " Deira-wodu," that is, the forest of Deira, which 
extended over the wolds of the East Riding. Beverley gamed 
importance and fame from St. John of Beverley, who built his 
hermitage here. Pie received Christian training at Whitby, and 
after living some time as a hermit in a cell near the Tyne was 
made bishop of Hexham (GS7), and was afterwards translated from 
that see to York (705). He devoted himself earnestly to the spread 
of religion amongst the Anglian race, and visiting the great wood 
or forest of Deira, founded here a church dedicated to St. John. 
This he afterwards enlarged and enriched, and having gathered here 
a brotherhood of monks he resigned his archbishopric of York, or 
Northumbria as it then was (718), joined himself to the convent, 
and died in his hermitage May 7, 721. 

The jUinsler. — The ancient church of St. John occupied the site 
on which now stands the noble building called the Minster; but which 



678 YORKSHIRE : 



never served the uses of a monastic institution. It suffered greatly 
from a destructive fire in the reign of Henry II., and no part now 
existing is of earlier date than the twelfth century. With some 
slight exceptions the structure east of the nave belongs to the 
thirteenth century, and the nave, the north porch, and the west 
front, belong to the fourteenth century. It is uncertain to what 
member of the family of the Percys, the celebrated Percy shrine, 
which fills the arch between the choir and the north-east transept, 
was a memorial. It is one of the most superb monuments of 
decorated work remaining in England. The rich and beautiful 
details cannot be described in words, but require the aid of the 
engraver to present them suitably to the imagination. The same 
remark will apply to the most interesting parts of the interior. 
It must, however, be regretted that of these several are greatly 
impaired by the presence of tasteless, ill-placed, modern monu- 
ments. The original shrine of St. John of Beverley was most 
probably destroyed by the fire in 1187. A second shiine, con- 
taining the relics of the saint, was destroyed at the dissolution 
of the monasteries ; but the relics were found and again buried 
in 1736. They rest now, it is said, "under the fifth centre 
square slab of black marble from the tower westward." The 
old Frith-stole, or seat of peace, to which belonged the privilege 
of affording a sanctuary even to nuirderers, stands in the choir- 
aisle, and close to the aisle-transept. In the south transept hangs 
a tablet, repainted in the time of Charles II., and containing a 
rhythmical version of the extensive grants and privileges said to 
have been made to the church of Beverley by King Athelstane, 
the grandson of Alfred the Great, after the great victory over the 
Danes at Brunenburh. But the rhymes are said by Poulson, the 
historian of Beverley, to be of the fourteenth century, about 
the reign of Edward III., though the privileges themselves were 
probably conferred by Athelstane. The exterior of the minster 
has two grand features — the west front, almost incomparable as a 
specimen of perpendicular architecture ; and the north porch, which 
is exceedingly graceful. This minster gives enough of architectural 
beauty to Beverley; but in addition, we have still to notice a 
structure almost worthy of being compared Avith it. This is St. 
Mary's Church, which has lately been restored by that great master 
of ecclesiastical architecture. Sir. G. G. Scott. 

PocMington Registrar's District (.516) covers an area of 110,624 



PAST AJMD PRESENT. 



G79 



acres. In 1801 it cuntainod a population of 10,G37 persons; in 
1861, of 1G,710; and in 1871, of 15,904. J,'<yislnirs' Suh-distrids. — 



Pocklinofton is divided into tl 



ivee 



sub-divisions: 



1. East Stamford Erid, 
i. Pockliiigtoii, . . 
3. Market Wcii^htini, 



Ai-t';i In AcrcM. Populiition in ]8(j1. Population in 1871. 

:!:i,(l5() ... -iJA)-! ... 4,258 

-1:;,4SH ... (;,!).")-! ... 6,744 

:!;!,nytJ ■•• •'■>,:i;J4 ... 4,962 



ation in ISCl. 


Population in 1H71 


3,390 


3,409 


13,007 


13,602 


3,163 


3,006 


1,469 


1,433 



JjL'Vtvhi/ Iu'(/istrar's District (518) covers an area of 80,220 acres. 
In ISOl it contained a population of 12,748 persons; in 1861, of 
21,029; and in 1871, of 21,450. Begistrars Sub-districts. — Beverley 
is divided into four sub-districts: — 

Area in Acres. 

1. South Cave, ..... 2o,071 

2. Beverley, 25,947 

3. Lockington, 22,GC8 

4. Leven, 11,534 

Driffiidd Registrars District (523) covers an area of 111,286 
acres. In 18U1 it contained a population of 8894 persons; in 
1861, of 19,226; and in 1871, of 19,265. Registrars' Sub-districts. — 
Driffield is divided into four sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Foston, 18,365 

2. Driffield, 21,862 

3. Baiiiton, 33,416 

4. Langtoft, 37,643 

Dickering Wajjentake. — -The Dickering wapentake, which ap- 
proaches the German Ocean at Flamborough Head, may pei-haps 
be named from one of the great dykes extending for many miles, 
which were formed in early times to protect the inhabitants 
either from floods of the Derwent, or from the greater dangers 
of hostile invasion. It is an agricultural and pastoral district, 
that stretches to the sea on its eastern side. The area of Dick- 
ering wapentake is 114,085 statute acre.s. The parishes of 
Dickering, with their areas, are as follows : — 



'opulation in 1861. 


Popul 


ition in 1871. 


3,171 




2,909 


7,787 




8,366 


4,009 




3,863 


4,259 




4,127 



Argam, . . . 
Lemptoii, . . 
Bc.-singl)y, 
Boynton, . . 
Bridlington, . 
Burton Agnes, 
Camaby, . . 
Plley (part of), 
Flamborough, 



Area in Acres. 
559 



1,97(1 



-Wolds, . 



Folkton, . 

Fd.stonon-tJK 

l,-zv» ' Fo.xholcs, 

2,612 I rianton, 

12,4:!2 ( Jartnii-on-tlie-WoMs, 



8,707 

3,855 

292 

3,083 



Area in Acres. 

. . 6,497 

. . 4,897 

. . 4,305 

. . 3,982 

. . 4,147 

. . 8,451 



Hunmanliy, 

Kilham, 8,173 

Langtoft, 6,168 

Little Kelk (cx. par.), 727 



C80 YORKSHIRE: 



Area in Acres. 

Lowthorpe, 1,908 

Muston 2,293 

Nafferton, 5,821 

North Burton, 3,909 

Keighton, 1,818 

Eudston, 5,550 



Area in Acres. 
Euston Parva, ........ 969 

Thwins;, 4,023 

Willerby, 4,566 

AVold Newton, 2,028 



114,085 



Auburn, or the water-brook, is in the parish of Fraisthorpe, near 
to the sea-coast, and three and a half miles south of Bridlington. 

Boynton stands on an elevated ridge of ground. Boynton 
Hall, a lofty pavilion erected by Sir George Strickland, commands 
very fine views both of the sea and land. 

Fileij, at the junction of the wapentakes of Dickering in the 
East Riding, and Pickering Lythe in the North Riding, about 
seven miles south-east of Scarborough, stands on a fine bay, and 
has become a flourishing watering place. The neighbouring country 
is very bold, especially along the sea-coast ; and at Filey the sands 
are veiy firm, and are bounded on the north by a remarkable ridge 
of rocks, extending nearly half a mile into the sea, and called Filey 
Brig. Filey is considered one of the best points that could possibly 
be chosen for the constructing of a harbour of refuge on this coast, 
capable of insuring the safety of large ships. 

Flamhoroiigli, or Flamhorovgh Head, four and a half miles north- 
east of Bridlington Bay, which it shelters from the north-eastern 
blasts, and sixteen miles south-east of Scarborough, is one of the 
loftiest and grandest promontories on the English coast, rising to 
the height of upwards of 300 feet above the sea. Its name probably 
implies " the hill of the lighthouse." and It was no doubt provided 
with a lighthouse from the time of the Romans, as well as during 
the Anglian period. The cliffs, which are of chalk, extend in a 
range from five to six miles, and at the base of these rocks 
are several extensive caverns, some formed by convulsions of 
nature, and others worn by the never-ceasing action of the ocean. 
The most remarkable of these excavations are the Dovecot, the 
Kirk Hole, and Robin Lyth's Hole, the last of \Yhich far surpasses 
the others, and is thus described by an eloquent writer: — "It (the 
cavern) has two openings, one communicating with the land, 
the other with the sea. The former is low and narrow, givino- 
solemn admission into the cavern, which at the first entrance 
is surrounded with deep gloom ; but the darkness gradually 
dispersing, the magnificence becomes unfolded, and excites the 



PAST ANI> THESE NT. C81 



adiniration of the exploring Mti'auger. The floor is a solid rock, 
formed into broad stejis of an easy descent, and the stones at the 
sides are curionsl}' variegated. Tlie roof is finely arched, and nearly 
fifty feet high at the centre. On a|>i)roacliing the eastern extremity 
a noble vista, is formed by its i.>peuing into the sea, A\'hich appears 
in its highest grandeur to those emerging from the gloom of the 
cavern. In the summer season the ridges of these immense cliffs 
form the breeding place of millions of aquatic birds ; and in the 
months of May and June the rocks seem absolutely animated, being 
covered with innumerable sea-fowl of various plumage." A law, 
proposed by Mr. Christopher Sykes, one of the members for the 
East Riding, has been recently passed by Parliament prohibiting 
the wanton destruction of these beautiful birds. The remains of a 
deep ditch, the outwork of a camp supposed to have been formed 
by the Danes, can still be traced on the neck of this stujaendous 
natural fortress. The erection of a lighthouse has in modern 
times again given comparative security on this dangerous coast, as 
will be seen from the following note in Coates' descriptive poem 
of Bridlington Quay : — "From June, 1770, to the end of the year 
1806, not fewer than 174 ships were wrecked or lost at Flaur- 
borough Head and its environs ; but since the erection of the 
lights to month of March, 1813, not one vessel had been lost at 
that point when the lights could be seen." 

Killtam, six miles N.N.E. of Driffield, had formerly a market on 
Thursday, which is now disused. The town is situated in a pleasant 
vale amidst the wold hills. The first part of the name means a 
spring or fountain of water, and this is one of the places at which 
the periodical springs named the Gipseys break out on the edge 
of the chalk district after a long continuance of heavy rain. In 
very wet years the springs burst forth with so much violence as 
to form an arch, under which a man on horseback may ride. The 
name, as we have already stated, means a rush of water, and is 
derived from the Norse words gypa, "a whudpool." '" There are 
many of these temporary springs around the chalk formation, not 
only in the wolds of Yorkshire, but in all the chalk districts in 
the kingdom ; arid there is an interesting account of them in the 
llov. Gilbert White's "History of Selborne," which parish stands 
on the edge of tins formation. 

Wold Cottofjr, in the parish of Thwing, is chiefly remarkable for 

* See vol. i. p. 1 '><). 

■\T»T TT "1 II 



682 YORKSHIRE : 



the fall of one of the largest aerolites ever known to have fallen in 
this country. This occurred on the 13th December, 1795, and to 
commemorate the event an obelisk was erected, with this inscrip- 
tion :—" Here, on this spot, December, 1795, fell from the atmos- 
phere an extraordinary stone, in breadth 28 inches, in length 36 
inches, and whose weight was 56 lbs. This column in memory 
of it was erected by Edward Topham, 1799." In its fall it forced 
its way to a depth of 12 inches in the earth and 7 inches into 
the chalk rock, making in all a depth of 19 inches from the surface. 
The whole question of the origin and fall of aerolites is well dis- 
cussed in Humboldt's " Cosmos." 

Bridlington or Bqrlington. — The pleasant and commodious 
town and port of Bridlington or Burlington, in this wapentake, 
eighteen miles from Scarborough and forty from York, is situ- 
ated near the sea-coast and about a mile from the shore, in the recess 
of a beautiful bay from which it takes its name, which is probably 
derived from the Norse word herlingr, or "the smooth water;" 
that being the only place on this part of the coast in which there 
is any natural shelter for ships. Burlington is supposed to be the 
site of the well-harboured bay mentioned in Ptolemy's " Geography," 
which gives it a claim to great antiquity. In the Norman 
times a priory was erected here in the reign of King Henry I., by 
Gilbert de Gant. This priory, the remains of which stand at the 
east end of the town, is pleasantly situated, with a fine view of 
the sea ; and according to Burton, the historian of the monasteries 
of Yorkshire, it was fortified with walls of stone and lime in the 
year 1388, to secure it from attack from the pirates who then 
infested these seas. The church of the priory was a noble struc- 
ture, and the west end, although erected, as the date shows, in the 
year 1136, is still a fine object. Originally it had two towers, but 
they are now both demolished. Of the walls and fortifications 
which once inclosed the priory, nothing now remains except an 
arched gateway, above which there is a large room, formerly used 
as a town hall. The monastery produced some men of distinguished 
abilities, including William of Newburgh, an early English historian, 
who was a native of Bridlington, but who took the name of New- 
burgh from the circumstance of his having become a canon of the 
last-named ho\ise. 

Bridlington Quay, is a pleasant harbour and healthful sea-bathing 
place in the parish of Bridlington, one mile to the south-east of 



I'AST AND rRl'.SKNT. G83 

the town. The ijuay, Ix'ino- a liarbour of refuge on a coast wliuiv 
it is greatly re([uired, is foniK'iI by two piers which extend a con- 
siderable distance into the sea. The pier, sltnated must to the 
north, has a convenient platform wliieh furnishes an agreeable 
promenade, commanding a dehghtful \iew of the lofty promontory 
of FlamborouL;'h Head. The number of coastinix vess(;ls tiiat, in 
time of stormy weather or of adverse winds, resort to this bay 
for safety, is trLnpiently hirge. and gives great animation to the 
scene. The port, tliough small, is clean and secure. It is sheltered 
on three of its sides by the coast, the town, and the piers. The 
harbour is defended against the a}>proach of an enemy by batteries 
which enfilade the entrance to the port, and form a cross fire at 
riglit angles. The first stone of a northern pier was laid in 
the vear ISIS. The harbour, which is dry at low water, has a 
spriuo'-tide flow of about eighteen feet at the entrance, and below 
hio'h water mark is an ebbing and flowing spring of fine fresh water, 
which was discovered in the year 1811 by the late Benjamin Milne, 
collector of the customs at this port. Few places present a more 
inviting beach than that which here descends from the quay to the 
sea, and which is peculiarly favourable to sea-bathing. 

Bridlington Registrars District (524) covers an area of 66,592 
acres. In ISOl it contained a population of 8150 persons; in 
1S61, of 14,371 ; and in 1S71, of 15,415. Registrars' Sub-districts. 
— Bridlington is divided into three sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. Population in 1861. Population in 1871. 

1. Skipsea, 16,806 ... 1,939 ... 1,858 

2. Bridlington, • ... 19,no .. 8,518 .. 9,684 

3. Hunmanby, 30,616 ... 3,9U ... 3,873 

Tlir County and Town of Kingston-upon-Hidl. — The county and 
town of Kino-ston-upon-HuU have an area of 5107 statute acres, 
1472 acres beinf under the waters of the Ilumber.* As already 
mentioned, Kingston-upon-Hull contained a population of 121,892 
persons at the Census of 1871. The parishes of Kingston-upon- 
Hull, with their areas, are as follows :— 



Area in Acres. 
Charter House 'ex. jiar.), .... 1 

Dryxjool ^'"^^"^ 

Garri.'iOE 
Sculcoat 
St. Mary, 



Area in Acres. 

Sutton (part of), 273 

Trinity, 1,01,-| 



Garri.son Side (ex. liar.), .... 79 lUver Humlicr (tidal) 1,472 

Sculcoates ^44 

38 Total, 5,1(17 

• Index to Onlinncc Survey. 



684 



VORKSHIRE 



TJie Borough of King ston-upon-H till — We have already fully 
described tliis great seat of commerce, the third port in England, 
and the first of the ports of Yorkshire. 

Hull Registrar s District (520) covers an area of 1054 acres. In 
1801 it contained a population of 22,161 persons; in 1861, of 
56,888; and in 1871, of 68,316. Registrars' Sub-distrids. — Hull is 
divided into three sub-districts : — 



1. Humber, . 

2. St. Jlary, 

3. Myton, . 



Area in Acres. Poiulation in IXCI. Population in 1871. 

61 ... 10,690 ... 8,744 

53 ... 6,132 ... 5,300 

940 .. 40,066 ... 54,272 



Hessle, five miles W.S.AV. of Hull, is a very ancient place, and 
the head of an extensive parish which included," or was supposed 
to include, the present site of the town of Hull. 

Sioanland, a pleasantly situated village seven miles from Hull, 
commands a fine view of the Humber and the Lincohishire and 
Yorkshire coasts. 

Sculcoates Registrars District (419) covers an area of 38,584 
acres. In 1801 it contained a population of 13,487; in 1861, of 
51,956; and in 1871, of 68,143. Registrars Sub-districts.— iicnlcoates 
is divided into eight sub-districts : — 



1. Sutton, . . . 

2. Cottingham, 

3. Ferriby, . . . 

4. Hessle, . . . 

5. Hedon, . . . 

6. Drypool, . . 

7. East Sculcoates, 

8. West Sculcoates, 



Area in Acres. 

4,760 

10,724 

7,060 

7,115 

6,618 

1,561 

259 

487 



Population in 1861. 

8,348 

3,391 

1,858 

2,522 

2,053 

6,617 
12,160 
15,007 



Population in 1^ 

8,928 

4,232 

1,772 

4,861 

2,112 

12,425 

13,292 

20,520 



The Wapentake of i7oZf/e?7iess.— Holderness, or the ness or 
promontory of the lower land, lying to the east of the ancient 
forest of Deira, which once covered the wolds of the East Riding, 
is a remarkably rich and well-cultivated country, with excellent 
markets for all its produce in the flourishing town of Kingston- 
upon-IIull, and in the numerous watering places along the sea- 
coast. The area of the wapentake of Holderness is 200,963 
statute acres, 32,243 acres being under the waters of the Hum- 
ber.-"- The following are the parishes of Holderness, with their 
areas : — 



* Index (0 Ordnance Survey. 



PAST AND PRESKNT. 



685 



Aldbrough, 

Atwick, 

Barmston, 

Beeford, . 

Braiulsburton, 

Burton Pidse: 

Cat wick, . 

ColJeu Parva 

Easington, 

Gai'ton, 

GoxhiU, . 

Halsham, . 

Hedon, . . 

Hilston, . 

Holly m. . 

Ilolmpton, 

Hornsea, . 

Humbleton, 

Ke.vingham, 

Kilnsea, . 

Leiley Dale (ex par. 

Leven, . . 

Mappleton, 

Marfleet, . 

North Frodinghani, 

Nimkeeling, . . . 



1 Aci-os. 

(;,:i;)7 
2,297 
2,!)(i6 
5,74G 
6,KS4 
2,302 
1,570 

727 
2,095 
2,004 

837 
2,006 

320 

552 
4,248 

519 
3,332 
6,20(J 
3,548 

911 
15 
5,061 
3,454 
1,285 
3,147 
2,314 



Area 



Ottringliam, 
Owthorne, 
Patiington, 
PauU, . . 
I'rcstou, . 
Rise, . . 



Riston, 

Roos, 

Routh, 

Si,L;glesthorne, 

Skcckling-cum-Burstwick, . 

Skeffling, 

Skipsea, 

Sproatley, 

St. John Beverley (part of), 

Sunk Island, 

Sutton (part of), .... 

Swine, 

Tunstall, 

Waghen, or Wawne, . . . 

Welwick, 

Winestead, 

Withernwick, 

River Humber (tidal), . . 



in Acres. 
4,304 
4,032 
3,741 
6,910 
5,804 
2,039 
2,837 
3,622 
2,384 
5,806 
5,611 
1,834 
5,118 
1,372 
1,098 
6,914 
4,486 
14,094 
1,346 
5,439 
3,515 
2,108 
2,690 

32,243 



Total, 204,152 



Aldbrough, on the coast of Holderness, no doubt, stands on the 
ruins of one of the ancient British or Roman positions to which 
the Angles, when they conquered this part of England, gave the 
name of Aldbrough, or the ancient fortress. It is a flourishing 
village, situate on the declivity of a slight eminence, and contains 
some elegant and well built houses. In the interior of the church is 
an ancient circular stone, fifteen inches in diameter, commemorating 
the building of the church, with an inscription stating that the 
"Ulf" (the Wolf, a favourite name amongst ancient warriors) "com- 
manded this church to be erected for the souls of Hanum and 
Gothard. A Ptoman road runs through Aldbi-ough, and no doubt 
formerly connected the towns or positions near the mouth of the 
Humber with those lying in the neighbourhood of Flamborough 
Head." " 

AticicL:, or the camp of the altar, or place of sacrifice, in the 
Anglian langi.uige, is two miles from Hornsea. It is a small but 
pleasant village, situated near the sea, and much threatened by its 
encroachments. 



* i:. Buiiics, vol. ii. p US. 



686 YORKSHIRE: 



Burton Constahle is iu the parish of Swine (probably a corrup- 
tion of Sweyn, the name of the great king of Norway, the father 
of Canute the Great, whose fleets long held the entrance to the 
river Humber), about five miles north of Hedon. Near to Burton 
Constable stands the ancient and elegant mansion of the Constables 
of Burton Constable, who have been knights or baronets from a 
very early age. The mansion is pleasantly situated iu the centre 
of a large deer park, and is surrounded by fruitful gardens, and 
ornamented with great taste. 

Meaux was formerly noted for a monastery of the Cistercian 
order, founded here in the year 1136 by William le Gros, earl of 
Albemarle. Little remains of the building ; but the moats or 
ditches may still be traced, and there is abundant historical evidence 
of the wealth and greatness of the abbey of Meaux. We have 
already stated in our history of Hull, that the site of that great 
town formerly belonged to the abbots of Meaux, aiid was sold by 
them to King Edward I. 

Patrington, about eighteen miles from Hull, was supposed by 
Camden to have been the Prsetoiium mentioned in the "Itin- 
erary " of Antoninus, as the termination of the first Iter, extending 
from Eboracum eastward to Prcetorium. A navigable creek of the 
Humber comes within a mile of the place, and is called Patring- 
ton Haven. The church is a beautiful Gothic structure in the form 
of a cross, and is dedicated to St. Patrick, from whom, accoi-ding 
to other authorities, the town is said to have derived its name. 

Sigglesthorne, in the wapentake of Holderness. The hall is the 
residence of Sir William Wright, Kt. Bach., chairman of the Hull 
Docks. 

Shipsea was formerly adorned with a stately castle inhabited by 
the lords of the district. 

Skirlangli, or the Shirehill, is a place for the Census registration 
of this district. 

Sunk Island, in Holderness, a range of 6914 acres, was recovered 
from the Humber by strong banks, and is now iu a high state 
of cultivation. * 

Sinne, or probably Sweyn, is the site of an ancient encampment, 
and has a very old church. It is said that several Roman coins, 
some of them of the age of Constantius, the father of Constantine 
the Great, have been dug up here. 

* Index to 0i"dn;ince Survey. 



TAST AND rilKSENT. 687 



WiiicsfeaJ, was long the vesitk'nco of the baronets of the Hildjard 
flimiJy, and Avas the birthplace of Amh-ew Marvell, tlie poet and 
patriot, who was born here on the :Ust March, 1021. 

Hedon. — Hedon has had assigned to it a remote antiquity. 
It is stated to have been a place of some importance in the 
Saxon times. Tlie Danes are said to have destroyed it, and a 
hekl called Daiiesfield is adduced as a traditional proof that 
a great battle had l)cen fought at this place by that people. 
Camden says, '' Hedon formerly advanced to the highest pitch, 
from which it fell by the nearness of Hull and by the silting 
up of the harbour, and is so sunk as to have scarce the least 
traces of its former splendour. The manufacture of cloth was 
probably once carried on here, as the burgesses were convicted, in 
the 4th Edward I., of making it of less breadth than was required 
by law." 

The borough of Hedon, although it has lost its claim to be con- 
sidered a port, is still a pleasantly situated market town, and has 
recently been again raised to the position of a municipal borough. 
The old harbour which insulated the town consisted of about 300 
acres. Where, in the reign of Edward III. lay vessels of superior 
size, now extends luxuriant meadow ground ; and the busy hum of 
the seaport is changed for the lowing of cattle and the bleating 
of sheep. The town is now situated two miles from the Humber. 
Still there is some business done in shipping corn for London 
and the west of Yorkshire, and returns are made in general mer- 
chandise. The town was formerly divided into two parishes, St. 
Xicholas and St. Augustine, which includes the Avhole place. Here 
are a Roman Catholic chapel, a Wesleyan and a Baptist chapel, and 
Day and Sunday schools. 

Newton Garth is celebrated for an hospital, founded in the reign 
of Henry II. 

Hornsea and Withernsea. — In such a district we must not look 
for the picturesque. The nearest approach to beauty will be found 
in some old halls and mansions, comfortably seated among woods and 
plantations, as at Burton Constable, Bisc Hall, AVassand Hall, Grim- 
ston, Garth, and Winestead. 

Holderness has two sea-side watering places — Hornsea and 
Withernsea. The fomier is chiefly noted for its mere or pool, 
nearly five miles long, and defended from the encroaching sea by 
a barrier that will not long defend it. The latter, AVithernsea, 



688 



YORKSHIRE : 



consists of a row of houses and a spacious hotel near the low 
reddish-brown cliffs, and likely in the course of a few years to 
be still nearer. 

We must not forget to mention Smeaton's lighthouse at Spurn 
Point. It rests upon a gradually shifting foundation of land formed 
from the waste of the coast, and has a tower ninety feet high. Two 
former towers have fallen here. The existing tower and the adjacent 
life-boat station have done noble service to navigation at the mouth 
of the Humber. 

Patrington Registrars District (521) covers an area of 62,166 
acres. In 1801 it contained a population of 5947 persons ; in 1861, 
of 9681 ; and in 1871, of 9115. Ri-gistrar's Sub-district. — Patrington 
forms one sub-district : — 



Area in Acres. 
62,1C6 



Population in 1861. 
9,681 



Population iu 1871. 
9,115 



1. Patriugton, 

SMrlaugh Registrars District (522), covers an area of 67,457 
acres. In 1801 it contained a pojjulation of 6150 persons ; in 1861, 
of 9654 ; and in 1871, of 9778. Registrars Sub-elistricts.—Skivlaugh 
is divided into five sub-districts : — 

Area in Acres. 

1. Humbleton, 11,091 

2. Skirlaugh, 17,504 

3. Aldbrough, 12,076 

4. Hornsea, 13,663 

6. Brandsburton, .... 13,123 



opulation in 1861 


Population in 1871 


1,438 


1,294 


2,336 


2,335 


1,735 


1,605 


2,529 


3,072 


1,616 


1,472 



THE AINSTY OF YORK. 



The parishes of the city and county of the city of York, with 
their areas, are as follows : — 



Area in Acres. 
. . . 11 
. . . 6 



All Saints, North Street, .... 

" (Pavement), 

Dary Hall (ex. par.), — 1 rodd. 

Minister Yard with ) 

Bedern township (ex. par.) i 

Mint Yard township (ex. jiar.), ... 3 

St. Crux, 6 

St. Cuthbert (part of), 29 1 

St. Dennis, 28 

St. Helen Stonegate, 4 

St. John Micklegate, 7 

St. Lawrence (part of), 75 

St. Margaret, 20 

St. Martm, Coney Street, 9 

St. Martin cum-C!regory, 12 



Area in Acres. 



St. Mary Bishophill, senr. (part of), 

" junr. (part of), 

" Castlegate (part of), 

St. Michael-le-Belfrey (part of), 

" Spurriergate, 

St. Nicholas, .... 
St. Olave (part of), . . 
St. Sampson, .... 
J^t. Saviour (part of;, . . 
Trinity Goodramgate, . 
(King's Court), . 
" Micklegate (part of). 



Total, 



213 

762 

25 

29 

5 

167 

68 

5 

46 

103 

4 

62 

1970 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



G89 



The Parishes of the County of York, loith their Areas. — The 
parishes of the county of York, with tlieir areas, are as follows :''■ — 



York CastJe vOx. par.), 



.■\rc;i in Acres. ' Area in Roods 

V j Pt. Mary, Castlcuiito, liciiiu- part of the 
I ninuty gaol of York, ..... 3 

The Ainsty of York. — The Ainsty of Yoi'k, or independent 
district around that ancient city, extends over an area of 52,059 
statute acres. It includes a large portion of the rich vale of York, t 
The following are the parishes of the Ainsty, with their areas : — 

Area in Acres. [ Area in Acrcus. 

Acaster MaJbis (|iavt of) ],W,-, I Xim ;\Ionkton (part of) 68 

Acomb 2,047 j Kufforth 2,40:] 

Askli;-im Bryan 1,8',U I Stillin-fl.:-ct (part of), 1,572 



Richard 9S0 

Bilbrough 1,446 

Bilton, " 4,810 

Bishopthorpc 739 

Bolton Percy (part of) 7,608 

Healaugh, 2,77(.) 

Kirk Hammerton (part of) 1,079 

Lons Marston, 4,,594 

Moor Monkton, 4,322 

Xether Poppleton, 1,278 

* Index to Ordnance Survey. 
VOL. II. 



St. ^Mary Bishophill, senior (part of), . 709 

'• " junior (part of), . 3,361 

Tadcaster (part of) 1,979 

Thorp Arch, 1,070 

Trinity Micklegate (part of) ... . 1,082 

Walton 1,069 

■W'ighill 2,624 



Total 52,059 



f Ibid. 



4 s 



GOO YOE.KSHIKE : 



CHAPTER XYI. 

YORKSHIRE AT THE CENSUS OF 1871. 

In bringiug our account of this, the greatest of Enghsh counties, 
to a close, it may be desirable to show how rapid and large has 
been the increase of the pojDulation during the present century, 
and iXLore especially during the ten yea,rs which intervened 
between the Census of 1861 and that of 1871, and what are the 
prospects of a continuance of a similar rate of increase in the 
future. 

In former times there was no regular Census or enumeration 
of the people, and all that was known, or rather conjectured, 
was that the number was great and appeared to be rapidly 
increasing. Now we know both the ntimbers and the rate of 
increase from the time when the Census of 1801 was taken. 
Formerly even statesmen and actuaries had to rely either on 
vague estimates, or on somewhat uncertain calculations founded 
on the parish registers, which showed the number of births, deaths, 
and marriages, and thus enal^led tiiem to form a guess as to the 
number of persons amongst whom they took place. 

Area and Population of the County of York. — As already stated, 
the area of the county of York, according to the Ordnance Survey, 
is 3,923,697 statute acres. The Registrars' Returns give it as 
3,882,851 acres ; but the figures of the Survey are no doubt correct, 
including the whole of the county as ascertained by actual survey.'" 
The number of houses in the county of York in 1871 was 507,040 
inhabited ; 29,533 uninhabited; and G019 building. The population 
in 1871 was 2,436,355 persons, of whom 1,206,625 were males, and 
1,229,730 females; the average number of persons to an acre was 
0'63 ; the average nuinber of acres to a person was 1-59. 

Rapid Increase of the Population of Yorhshire during the p>resent 
Century. — The population of the county of York showed a continued 
increase at each decennial period from the commencement of the 
century, as will be seen from the following table :t — 

• Index tu tlie Ordnance Survey of Yorkshire, 18-17-63. f Census of England and Wales, 1871, vol. i. p. 437 



PAST AND PRESENT. 



09 1 



PopnUilion. 

ISOl, !sr,!),i:!:; 

1811, 'As<;,OT(i 

isi^i i,i7:!,sitr) 

1831, 1,371, :m;ii 



i'opulation. 

1841, 1 ,r,!)2,(ir)'.> 

1851, 1,797,!)!)5 

18(;i 2,(I33,(J1() 

1871, 2,43(;,355 



The increase during each decennial period was as follows : — From 
ISOl to 1811, 126,943 persons; from 1811 to 1821, 187,819; from 
1821 to 1831, 198,071; from 1831 to 1841, 220,093; from 1841 
to 1851, 205,930; from 1851 to 1861, 235,615; and from 1861 to 
1871, 402,745. It will be seen from the above figures that the 
increase of population in the county of York, has been great and 
rapid during the whole of the present century, and that it was 
very much larger in the ten years between the Census of 1861 
and that of 1871 than in any previous decennial period. In 
comparison with previous ages and times it has been immense, 
as will be seen from the folio-wing tables showing the popula- 
tion of Yorkshire and of all the English counties in the years 
1600, 1700, 1801, and 1871. 



XKEX AND POPULATION OF ELEVEN DIVISIONAL GROUPS OF CODNTIES OF ENGLAND 
AND WALES IN 1600, 1700, 1801, AND 1871.* 







Area. 




Population. 




Xn nf 












Groups. 


Divisions in First Column. 


Statute 
Acres. 


Square 
Miles. 


IGOO. 


1700. 


1801. 


1871. 




England and Wales, . . 
]\Iiddlesex, Surrey, . . 


37,319,221 
664,495 


58,311 


4,862,902 
386,647 


6,045,008 


8,892,536 


22,712,266 


I. 


1,038 


862,506 1,086,362 


3,631,400 


n. 


Kfiit, Sussex, Hants, 














BiTks 


3,421,227 5,346 


440,878 


444,110 


797,908 


2,006,909 


III. 


Heits, Bucks, Oxon. 












iSorthainiitoi], Hunts, 


i 










Ei'iltoril. (Jiiiiiliriduo, 


3,008,107 4,700 


444,497 


516,652 


639,334 


1,186,842 


IV. i E-sr/x, Sutt^lk, Norfnlk, . 


3,361,131 5,252 


496,574 


580,144 


715,565 


1,253,961 


V. A\'iltS, I)ul„L-t, IlCVOll, 














Cofiiwal], SoiiifTKi't, . . 


.0,061,422 


7,908 


761,576 


917,788 


1,104,438 


1,879,914 


VI. . Gloiirr-ter, Hcivforil, 
















Salop, .Stafford, Wur- 
















cester, Warwick, . . . 


3,950,3.s7| 6,172 


496,917 


6.so,271 


1,104,339 


2,739,473 


VII. 


Leicester, liutland, Lin- 
coln, Nottini^liani, 
















Derby, 


3,.556,9S9 5,558 


4:!2,598 


479,260 


656,924 


1,427,135 


VIII. 


Cheshire, Lancashire, . . 


1,913,41;* 2,990 


301,494 


343,612 


865,791 


3,380,696 


IX. 


Yorkshire 


3,923,697 


6,067 


406,428 


435,443 


859,133 


2,436,355 


X. 


Durham, Northumber- 
land, C umbcrland, West- 
















moreland, 


:i, lox,97l 


5,327 


291,499 


366,384 


475,497 


1,356,998 


XI. 


Monmouthshire & Wales, 


5,090,222 


7,953 


104,794 


418,778 


587,245 


1,412,583 



This alid ilif l.iil.MUMf,' laljlo is t:ikci] Iroiii Uclisua 1X71, \ol. iv. )j. Zti. 



092 



YORKSEIIRE 



DENSITY OF POPULATION IN THE ABOVE ELEVEN DIVISIONAL GROUPS OF COUNTIES. 



No. of 
Group.s. 


Density (if Population — Persons to a Square Mile. 


IGOO. 


1700. 


1801. 


1871. 


England 
and Wales, 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. (Yrks.) 

X. 

XI. 


, 83 


104 


153 


390 


373 

83 
95 
95 
96 
81 
78 
101 
67 
55 
51 


428 

83 

110 

110 

116 

110 

86 

115 

72 

69 

53 


769 
149 
136 
136 
140 
179 
118 
290 
142 
S9 
74 


3,498 
375 
253 
239 

238 

444 

257 

1,131 

402 
255 
178 



The above tables, published in the Census Returns of 1871, show 
amongst other things the progress of the population of Yorkshire 
during a period of 271 years, commencing with the year 1600 and 
ending in the year 1871. It will be seen from these figures that 
the increase of the population of this county between the years 1600 
and 1700 was exceedingly small, not amounting to much more than 
30,000 persons; that in the next hundred years, between 1700 and 
1801, it was much more considerable, amounting in round numbers 
to rather more than 400,000 persons; and that between the years 
1801 and 1871 it was again very much greater, amountino- to 
1,577,222. In comparison with the other divisions of England the 
increase of the population of Yorkshire has been exceedingly well 
sustained, more especially during the last ten years, when it 
has been, as we have already seen, 402,74.5. The increase of 
the present as compared with that of past times encourages the 
belief that the same rate of progress will continue. The agricul- 
tural and commercial resources of the county of York, as we have 
already shown, are very great and rapidly developing, whilst the 
Increase in manufactures and mineral wealth surpasses that of almost 
any other English county. Iron, coal, and maclilnery are the great 
material means of modern progress. Of the first of these the county 
of York, as we have already shown, produces a much larger quan- 
tity than any other English county, the production of Iron ore havlno- 
amounted in the year 1873 to 6,846,839 tons, out of a total o°f 
16,820,035 tons, produced in the United Kingdom.* The quantity 

* Jlini-ral Statistics, 187.S, p. 77. 



PAST AND PRUSKN'I'. 093 



of coal producoil witliin tlie county of York in the same year was 
15,311,778 tons ; and in addition to this the jn'oduce of the coal-field 
of South Durham, which ainounted in the same year to 17,436,045 
tons, was to a groat extent used for t-he purpose of smelting the iron 
ores of Cleveland or Norlli Yorkshire. Thus there was a total 
quantity of 32,747,8i!3 tons available for the various purposes of 
industry carried on in the county of York, or in the districts of 
Durham and Derbyshire immediately adjoining to this county In 
addition to this the quantity of long wool produced in the county 
of \ ork, judging from the number of sheep existing in it in the 
year IS 71, was very considerable, amounting to about one-tenth of 
the wliole quantity produced in England, whilst large additional 
supplies were drawn from the adjoining counties, both of the northern 
and the north-midland districts. This was originally the chief supply 
of wool available for the manufacturers of Yorkshire, and it is still 
an important addition to the quantity they receive from every other 
part of the world. The application of steam-power to the purposes 
both of manufacture and of transporting merchandise has given a 
w^onderful impulse to every branch of industry, and to the con- 
veyance of passengers ; and few parts of England have been more 
benefited by this great change than the county of York, which 
possesses an admirable system of railways and a great fleet of 
steamships communicating through the port of Hull, and indirectly 
from those of Liverpool and London, with every part of the 
world. 

But in addition to the immense material advantages which this 
great county possesses for all the purposes of trade, it is now 
beginning to enjoy on an extensive scale all the advantages of a 
wise and truly liberal system of education among all classes of the 
people. It is an immense advantage that so large a portion of our 
public men have determined to withdraw the great question of 
education from the naiTOW limits of party, and it is also a great 
satisfaction that the measure introduced by the Eight Honourable 
W. E. Forster, one of the representatives of an enlightened York- 
shire constituency, should have met with so general a support as to 
render it certain that it will remain the law of the land in all its 
most essential provisions. In counties like that of York, in which 
there are numerous mechanics institutes which liave been working 
steadily for the last thirty or forty years for the instruction of the 
people, the gi'ound has been well pi-e])are(l for the purpose of 



t> 



694 YORKSHIRE : 



popular instruction. Already public libraries have been formed in 
most of the great towns of Yorkshire, which issue numerous and 
excellent books. Amongst these are the public library of Leeds, 
which in 1873 issued 304,295 books to its subscribers; that of 
Sheffield, 244,849 ; that of Bradford, 117,000 ; and that of Middles- 
borough, which issued 33,073, in addition to the Yorkshire Union 
of Mechanics Institutes, which, in the same year, issued 349,560 
volumes. 

Local Government of the Three Bitlings of Yorkshire. — Yorkshire 
has from an early pariod been divided into three Ptidings, each of 
which is administered by its own lord-lieutenant. The lord- 
lieutenants of the three Ptidings at the present time are : — 

The Marquis of Ripoii, North Riding. 

Earl Fitz-Williaiii, ^^'est Riding. 

Lord Wenlock, East Riding. 

We subjoin a list of the peers of the United Kingdom, and of 
Scotland and Ireland, connected with Yorkshire by title, residence, 
or estate. 



TAST AND PHESENT. G9^ 



TEEliS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM, AND OF SCOTLAND AND IRELAND, CONNECTED WITH 
YOltlvSHIllE BY TITLE, RESIDENCE, OR ESTATE. 

AlLESBURT (second Marquis of).— Gc(iri;v William Frederick I'.rudrncU Rruce, K.G., T.C; 
creation of manniisate, lb21. llcsidcnccs (aiiiung others), -lerveaux, Piedale, Yorkshire; 
and Whorlton, Northallerton. The barony of Bruce of AMioiltou, county of ^'ork, was cr(.'iited 
l>y Charles I., Itilil. A name of great anli(iuity and celebrity. The fee of llobert de Brus 
in Yorkshire described in thi.s work, vol. i. p. :i\.i. 

Bkaumont (ninth liaron). — Henry Stapletou ; creation of barony, ll!07. Residence, Carlton 
Hall, Selby. A fanuly of great antiquity, including one of the original Knights of the Carter. 

BOLTOX (thii'd Baron). — Henry Orde-Powlett ; creation of barony, 17'.I7. Kesideiico 
(amongst other-s), Holton Hall, Bedalc. A desicndant of the marquises of Winchester and 
dukes of Bolton, of Pioltou Hall, Wensleyilale. 

Carlisle (eighth Earl of). — Rev. William (ieorge Howard; creation of earldom, IGdl. 
Residence, Castle Howard, I'ork. Descended from Lord William Howard, second son of 
Thomas the fourth duke of Norfolk, and reiiresentative of the Howards and Dacres of 
Xaworth Castle in Cumberland. 

Cle\"elaxp (fourth Duke of). — Harry Oeorge Powlett, K.G. ; creation of dukedom, l.S:^'). 
Residence, Raby Castle, Durham. The representative of the ancient family of Vane, of Raby 
Castle, and of the famous Sir Harry Vane, of the T^ong Parliament. 

L'oxiERS (tweKth Baron). — Sackville George Lane Fox; creation of barony, 1509. The 
representative by the female line of the earls of Holdemess and Baron Coiiyers. 

Cravex (thii'd Earl of). — (ieorge Grimston Craven ; creation of earldom, 1801. Descended 
fvi^m the Cravens of Appletreewick, in Craven, Yorkshire, and from the son of Sir William 
Craven, Kt., who was lord mayor of London in Kill. 

Dartjiouth (fifth Earl of). — William A\'alter Legge ; earldom created, 1711. Residence 
(amongst others), ^\'oodsome Hall, Huddersfield. 

De-LTsle and Dudley (second Baron). — Philip Sidney Foulis; creation of barony, 1835. 
Residence (amongst others), Ingoldsby Jlanor, Northallerton. 

De Ros (twenty-first Baron). — Dudley Charles Fitzgerald De Ros ; creation of barony, 
li'il4. The family of De Ros held their barony in Holdemess in the time of Henry I. The 
barony of De Ros, as described ia Testa de Ncvill, mentioned in this work, vol. i. p. 514. 

Devonshire (seventh Duke of). — WOliam Cavendish, K.G., F.R.S., D.C.L. ; creation of 
dukedom, 1694. The first barony of this distiiigiushed house was that of Baron Cavendish of 
Hardwicke, who married Anne, daughter of Henry Keighley, Esq., of Keighley, Yorkshire. 
ITiis barony was conferred in the year 1618. In the year 1748 Wflliam Cavendish (fourth 
duke of Devonshire) married Charlotte, Baroness Chiford of Londesborough, in the county of 
"i'ork, only daughter and heiress of Richard, carl of Burlington and Cork, by which union the 
barony of CHfFord, created by writ of Charles I. in 16j!8, came into the Cavendish famOy. * 

DoNCASTER (Earl of). — Walter Francis ^lontague Douglas Scott, K.G., P.C. ; also duke of 
Buccleuch and Quecnsbcrrj'. 

DovrsT., YTscount. — PI ugh Richard Dawney ; viscountcy created, 1680. Residences 
(amongst others), Baldersby Park and Danby I^odge, Yorkshire. 

Effixi^.iiasi (second Earl of). — Henry Howard ; creation of earldom, 18,"7. Descended from 
Lord V^flliam Howard, eldest son of ITiomas, tln^ second duke of Norfolk. The barony of 
Howard of EfBnghani, was created by Queen Maiy in the year 1554, and Jjord Howard of Efhng- 
Ijain, as lord high admiral, eommanded the lMiL;Iis]i fleet which defeated the Spanish jVrmada. 
Residence (amongst otlier.s). The (irange, Rotherham. 

Fairfax (Baron). — 'J'he reiirescntatives of this ancient family are still found in Virgmia; 
Charles Snowden being the present and tenth P)aron Fairfax of Cameron. 

Falkland (tentli A'iscount). — Lucius Bentinek Cary, P.C, G.C.II.; creation of viscountcy, 
16_'0. Residence, Skatterskilf, Yarm. A desceiid.int of Baron Ilunsdon, wlio was the first 
cousin of Queen Kliz.dictli through her inotlier (iueeii Anne Boleyn, and of the race of the 
gi-cat and good Lord Falkland, famous in flie Gri'at ( ivil 'War. Also connected by marriage 
with the Fitz-Clarenccs, of the family of King 'William IV. 

* liuiku's reei.'igu. 



fi96 yoiikshike: 



FE^■ERSHAM (first Earl of), and 'V'iscount Helmsley.— William Ernest Duncombe ; creation 
of earldom, 1868. Residences, Duncombe Park, Helmslej', and the Leases, Bedale. Thomas 
Dmicombe, Esq., of Duncombe Park, high sheriff of the county of York in the year 1728. 
Charles Duncombe created Baron Feversham in the year 1826. 

FiTZ-WlLLiAJl (sixth Earl).— "William Thomas Spencer "^A^entworth-Fitz-William, K.G. ; 
creation of earldom, 1716. Eesidence, 'Wentworth House, Rotherham. Sir WOliam Fitz- 
AVilliam was present as marshal of the Xonnan army at the battle of Hastings, 1066. His 
descendants were established at Elmley and Sprotburgh in the year 1117. Two members of 
this family are mentioned in Testa de Nevill, a record of the great tenants of the crown in the 
reigns of lung John and Henry HI., about the year 1220.* ^\'illiam, the third earl, married 
Lady Anne Wentworth, eldest daughter of Thomas, marquis of Rockingham, and sister and 
co-heiress of Charles, second marquis. 

Grantley (third Baron).— Fletcher Norton ; creation of barony, 1782. The Nortons are a 
very ancient Yorkshire family, and bear the title of barons of Markenfield. The first Lord 
Grantley was for many years speaker of the House of Commons in the reign of George HI. 

Halif^vx (first Viscount).— Charles Wood, P.C, G.C.B. ; creation of viscountcy, 1866. 
Residences, Hickleton Hall, Doncaster, and Garrowby, near Pockhngton, York. A distin- 
guished minister of state, he filled the office of secretary of the Treasury from 1832 to 1852 ; 
was secretary to the Admiralty from 1835 to 1839 ; chancellor of the Exchequer from 1846 to 
1852 ; president of the Board of Control in 1852 ; first lord of the Admiralty from 1855 to 1858, 
and afterwards secretary of State for India, and president of the Indian coimcil. Represented 
the borough of Halifax for many years, and afterwards that of Ripon. 

Hajijiond (first Baron). — Edmund Hammond, P.C. ; barony of Hammond of ICingston- 
upon-HuU created, 1874, in recognition of fifty years of distinguished service in the Foreign Office. 

Harewood (fourth Earl of), — Henry Thjmne LasceUes ; earldom created, 1812. Residences, 
Harewood, Leeds ; Goldsborough Hall, Knaresborough. The barony of Harewood was created 
in the year 1790 in favour of Edwin LasceUes, Esq., of Harewood Castle. The family is of 
great antiquity in the comity of York, as wiU be seen from the account of their possessions, 
given in Tesla de Nevill, which was drawn up partly in the reign of King John, and partly of 
his son Henry HI., and which may be dated 1220. Roger de LasceUes was summoned to 
Parhament as a baron, a.d. 1295, but dying without male heir the barony feU into abeyance. 
Francis LasceUes was a colonel in the parliamentary army in the Great Civil War. f 

Hawke (sixth Baron) — Rev. Edward Henry Julius Harvey-Hawke ; barony created, 1776. 
Residence, WiUingham Rectory, Gainsborough. A descendant of the celebrated Admiral 
Hawke, victorious in the great naval battle of Calvados. 

Headlet (third Baron). — Wsh representative peer, Charles AUanson Winn ; barony 
created, 1797. Residence, Bramham Biggin, near Tadcaster. Descended from the ancient 
line of the Wynnes of Gwydyr, of North "Wales. 

HOTHAM, Baron. — Baroncy created, 1797. Residence (amongst others). South Dalton 
HaU, Beverley. 

Houghton (first Baron). — Richard Monckton Milnes ; creation of barony, 1863. Resid- 
ences, Frystone HaU, Ferrybridge, and Bawtry. The present noble lord represented the 
borough of Pomfret for many years, and has acquired the highest reputation, not only as a con- 
sistent poUtician, but as a poet and an elegant scholar. 

HuNSDON (Baron). — See Falkland. 

Leeds (ninth Duke of). — George Godolphiu Osborne ; dukedom created, 1694. Ancient 
residence, Hornby Castle; also Gogmagog HiUs, Cambridge. The first duke of Leeds was the 
celebrated Sir Thomas Osborne, lord high treasurer of England in the reign of Charles II., who 
was raised in 1673 to the titles of Baron Osborne of Kivedon and "\Tscovmt Latimer of Danby, 
and in the following year to that of earl of Danby. At the Revolution of 1688 he seized on 
the city of York for William, Prince of Orange, afterwards King "W'iUiam III., by whom he 
was created Marquis of Carmarthen in the year 1C89, and Duke of Leeds in 1694. His great 
quahties have found a distinguished place in Lord Macaulay's " History of England." 

Londesborough (second Baron). — WiUiam Hemy Forester Denison ; barony created, 1850. 

Residence, Londesborough. The first Lord Londesborough was the son of Henry, the 

first marquis of Conygham, by Elizabeth, his wife, daughter of Joseph Denison, Esq., of 

Denbics, cou)ity Surrey, and successor to the great property of his uncle, the late WiUiam 

* Yorksliire : Past and Present, vol. i. p. 51(5. f Burke's Peerage. 



PAST AND PRESENT. 697 



Joseph Denisou, Esq., the banker. The first lord married Henrietta Maria, fourth daughter of 
Cecil-'Weld, first Lord Forester. 

Mexhouougii, Earl.— Earldom created, 1766. riesideiice, Methley Park, near Wakefield. 
MiDDLETON (eighth liaron). — Henry ^\'illoughby ; creation of barony, 1711. Residence, 
Bu-dsall, New Jlalton. Of the ancient famOy of the barons of Herries of Terregles, but 
assumed the name of JNliddleton on succeeding to their estates. 

Norfolk (fifteenth Dulce of). — Henry Fitz-Alan Howard ; dukedom created, 1483. Heirs 
of the ancient lords of Sheffield. 

NoRJiAXBY (second Marquis of). — George Augustus Constantine Phipps, P.O., K.C., M.G. ; 
creation of marquisate, IS.'uS. Residence, Mulgrave Castle, 'Whitby. Sir Constantine Phipps, 
an eminent lawyer, was lord chancellor of Ireland in 1710. Plis son, AVilliam Phipps, 
married a daughter of tlie earl of Anglesea by his countess, Lady Catherine Darnley, natural 
daughter of James H. The first marquis of Normanby (Constantine Henry) was a distingmshed 
statesman, diplomatist, and politician, and wa,s raised to the marquisate for his great abilities 
and pubHc services. He was lord lieutenant of Ireland, governor of Jamaica, Home and 
Colonial Secretary, ambassador to the court of France, and envoy to the Grand Duke of 
Tuscany. The present marquis has held the offices of governor of Nova Scotia and of lord in 
•waiting to H.il. the cj^ueen, and is now governor of Queensland. 

NoETHOiBERLAiTO (sixth Duke of). — Algernon George Percy, P.C. ; dukedom created, 
17ii6 ; Earl de Percy and of Beverley. The family of Percy has been connected with 
the county of York from the Norman conquest. An account of the Percy fee in York- 
shire, as described in Tista de Nevill, will be found in this work, vol. i. p. 514. The name of 
the Percy family is inseparably connected with the great events of the wars of York and 
Lancaster, and more peacefully by the glories of the Percy Shrine in the cathedral of Beverley ; 
and by the records of Wrexall Castle, near Beverley, one of their ancient feudal castles. 

KiBBLESDALE (third Baron). — Thomas Lister ; barony created, 1797. Residence, Gisbum 
Park, Skipton, where the Listers have resided for more than 500 years. 

RiCHMOXD (sixth Duke of). — Charles Gordon Lennox is duke of Richmond in Yorksliire, 
earl of March and baron of Settrington, also in the county of York. The earls of Richmond, 
of a still more ancient creation, were for ages the most powerful noblemen in Yorkshire ; and 
Henry, earl of Richmond, won the crown of England, and reigned as King Henry VH. 

RiPOX (first Marquis of). — Sir George Frederick Samuel Robinson, K.G., P.C. ; marquisate 
created, 1.S71, as a mark of honour for distinguished skill and judgTuent in bringing to a 
successful issue one of the most important treaties of modern times, namely, that by which 
pieace was preserved between England and the United States of America. 

RiPOX (Bishop of). — Robert Bickersteth, D.D., formerly rector of St. Giles, and canon of 
Salisbury. Residence, Palace, Ripon. 

Scarborough (ninth Earl of). — Richard George Lumley; earldom created, 1690. 
Residences, Sandbeck Park, Rotherham ; TickHU Park, Rotherham. Family of very great 
antiquity, said to be sprung from Lyulph, son of Osbert de Lumley, who married a daughter 
of one of the Anglo-Saxon earls of Northumberland, and was a nobleman of great influence in 
the time of Edward the Confessor. Sir Ralph de Lumley, Kt., was summoned to Parliament 
amongst the barons of the realm from 1.384 to 1399. Sir Richard Lumley, Kt., was created 
Viscount Lumley of Waterford in 1628; and Richard, the second Viscount Lumley, was 
made Earl of Scarborough in the year 1690. 

SHEFnELD (second Earl of). — George Augustus Frederic Charles Holroyd ; creation of 
earldom, 1816. The barony of Sheffield, Yorkshire, was created in the year 1802. 

Stol'RTON (nineteenth Baron). — Alfred Joseph Stourton ; creation of barony, 1448. Resid- 
ence, AUerton Park, Green Ilammerton, Yorkshire. The representative of an extremely 
ancient family which derives its surname from the town of Stourton, in the county of 'Wilts, 
and held a considerable position even before the Norman conquest. 

Sutherland (third Duke of). — Sprung from an ancient Yorkshire family, one member of 
whom. Sir Allan Gower, Lord Stittenham, in Yorkshire, is said to have been high sheriff of 
that county at the time of the Conquest, and another of whom is mentioned in the High 
Sheriff's Accounts of 1167. John Gower, one of the earliest of English poets, is said to have 
been of this family. Sir John Levison-Gower was raised to the peerage as Baron Gower of 
Stittenham in the year 1702-3. 

TUFTON. Sir Henry Jacques Tufton, Bart., of Applebey Castle, Westmoreland, and Skipton 

VOL. II. * ^ 



698 YOEKSHIEE 



Castle, York, represents the earls of Thanet, who long held these castles and the adjoining 
estates by marriage with the ancient family of the Cliffords. 

Wenlock (second Baron). — Beilby Kichard I^awley; barony created, 18.39. Residence, 
Escrick Park. Lord-lieutenant of the East Riding of the coimty of York. Sir Thomas Lawley 
was made a baronet by King Charles I. in the yeai- 1641. 

WilARNCLiFFE (tliird Baron). — Edward Montagu Granville Stuart- Wortley ; barony created, 
1826. Residence, Wortley Hall, Sheffield, and Simmonstone, Bedale. Of the ancient family 
of Wortley, and of the Stuarts, earls of Bute. The celebrated Lady Mary AVortley jNIontague 
was the only daughter of Edward \\'ortley Montague, eldest son of the first earl of Sandwich. 
James Archibald Stuart-AA^ortley represented the county of York until he was raised to the 
peerage by the title of Baron Whamcliffe in the year 1826. 

York (Archbishop of). — William Thomson, D.D., P.C., Primate of England. Residence, 
Bishopthorpe Palace, York. Dr. Thomson was successively fellow, tutor, and provost of 
Queen's College, Oxford ; Brompton lecturer ; rector of All Soul's, London ; preacher to the 
honourable society of Lincoln's Inn, and chaplain in ordinary to Her Majesty. He was 
consecrated bishop of Gloxicester and Bristol in 1861, and was translated to the archiepiscopal 
see of York, 1863.* 

Zetlanb (third Earl of). — Lawrance Dundas ; earldom created, 1888. Residences (amongst 
others), Aske Hall, Richmond, and AUerthorpe. Lawrance Dundas was made a baronet in the 
year 1762, and his son. Sir Thomas, was elevated to the peerage as Baron Dundas of Aske, 
county York, 1794. Llis lordship married Lady Charlotte Fitzwilliam, second daughter of 
William, third Earl Fitzwilliam. 

* Burke's Peerage. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



CHAPTEE L 



History of the Principal Cities and Towns of Yorkshire. 



PAGE 

History of the City of York, 2 

Early Municipal and Mercantile Charities of York, . . 34 
Parliaments and Political Xegotiations at York, . . 41 
Process of the Trade and Commerce of York under the 
Plantagenet Kings, ....... 45 

City of York daring the T\~ars of York and Lancaster, . 46 
Testamenta Eboracensia, ...... 50 

York under the House of Tudor, . . . . .51 

Battle of Flodden, 52 

Walls of York under the Tudors, . . . . . ij'2 

Influence of the Reformation in the City of York, . . 54 
Relics formerly at the Minster at York, . , .57 

The Pilgrimage of Grace, ...... 58 

Council of the North established at York, . .59 

Rising of the North, ...... GO 

Camden's Description of York, . . , .GO 

The Corporation of York, ..... 61 

Trades at York at the time of James I , . . .62 



PiGE 

Siege and Blockade of York in the great Civil War, . 63 
Seizing of the City of York at the Revolution of 1GS8, . 70 
Defoe's Account of York in 1727, . . . .73 

Drake's Eboracum, ....... 74 

Modern York, 76 

Yorkshire Philosophical Society and its Grounds and 

Museum, ........ 78 

York Minster at the Present Time, . . . .79 

Slodern Fires in the Minster at York, . . . .80 

Churches of York, 81 

Hospitals, Asylums, and Schools of York, . . .83 
Dates of the Principal Events connected with the History 

of the City of York, 84 

Soccession of the Archbishops of York, . . . .87 
Members of Parliament for the City of York since 

1S31, 89 

Lord Mayors and Sheriffs of York since the passing of the 

Municipal Ewform Act, ...... 90 



CHAPTER II. 



IIisroEY OF THE BfmouGii OF Leeds. 



Leeds at the Domesday Survey, 1084-86, . . .98 
Charter of Maurice Paganel to the Burgesses of Leeds, 

1208, 105 

Earliest Notices of the Woollen j\Ianufacture of Leeds, . Ill 
First Eoyal Charter of Leeds, . . . . . 1 I (i 
Part taken by Leeds in the great Civil War, . .117 



Second Royal Charier of Leeds, . . , , , 122 
Thoresby's Account of the Town of Leeds in the Reigns of 

Queen Anne and King George L, . . . . 124 
Improvement of K'oads of Leeds and West Riding, . . 137 
Building of the Coloured Cloth Hall, .... 142 
The first Leeds Improvement Act, .... 144 



700 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Leeds in the Eeign of George III., .... 147 

Manufactures of Leeds, and the District connected with 

it, at the end of the Eighteenth Century, . . . 153 
Rapid Progress of Leeds in the Nineteenth Century, . 155 
Manufactures in Leeds in 1806, ..... 157 
Introduction of Tramways and the earliest Railways at 

Leeds, 159 

Years of Scarcity, and inclosing of Commons in the Parish 

of Leeds, 162 

Local Coinage during the French War, . . . .164 
Leeds ImproTcment Acts, in the Reigns of George III. and 

George IV., 167 

Enlargement of the Town of Leeds after the French 

War 168 

Leeds Literary and Philosophical Society, . . . 169 

Leeds from 1821 to 1831, 173 

Streets of Leeds previous to the Improvement Act of 

1825 175 

Progress of Leeds in tlie first thirty Years of the Nine- 
teenth Century, 177 



List of Members of Parliament for Leeds from the Act 

of 1832 to 1868, 177 

Local Government of Leeds, before and under the Mu- 
nicipal Reform Act, ....... 178 

List of Mayors, Recorders, and Town Clerks, of the Bor- 
ough of Leeds, . 182 

Leeds Improvement Acts, and Public Improvements since 

the passing of the Municipal Act of 1835, . . . 183 
Mineral Wealth of the Leeds District, .... 195 
Collieries in the Leeds District in 1871, . . 197 

Iron Mills and Forges in 1871 197 

Churches and Chapels in Leeds, ..... 199 

List of the Vicars of Leeds, ...... 201 

Leeds Libraries in 1873, ...... 208 

Elementary Education in Leeds, ..... 216 

Progress of Leeds from 1861 to 1873, .... 227 

Royal Exchange of Leeds, ...... 233 

Statistics of Chapels and Churches in Leeds, . . 236 
Dates of Principal Events connected with the History of 
Leeds 237 



CHAPTER III. 



HlSTOEY OF THE BOKOUQH OF BRADFORD. 



Bradford at the Domesday Survey, . . . 245 

Early Progress of Bradford, ...... 247 

Bradford in Testa de Nevill, 248 

Parish of Bradford at the Time of Pope Nicholas' Valua- 
tion, 1291, 249 

Bradford when it passed into the Hands of the House of 

Lancaster, in 1311, 250 

Bradford in the Time of the Tudors, .... 259 

Bradford in the Hands of the Plantagenet Kings, . . 269 

Leland's Account of Bradford, 261 

Bradford in the great Civil War, 1640-1645, . . 262 
Progress of Bradford from the great Civil War to the 

Accession of George III., ...... 268 

Daniel Defoe's Account of Bradford, .... 269 

Making of the Lancashire and Yorkshire, or Leeds and 

Liverpool, Canal, . , . . , ^ .271 
Progress of Bradford to the end ot the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury, 274 



Introduction of Steam-power into Bradford, . . . 275 
Bradford at the commencement of the Nineteenth 
Century, 277 



Bradford Fifty Years ago, 278 

Manufactures of Bradford, 278 

Waterworks of Bradford, 282 

Railway System of Bradford 285 

Bradford made a Municipal Borough, .... 286 
Streets formed, and Improvements made, along the line 

of the Old Bradford Canal, 288 

Position and Public Health of Bradford, . . . 293 

Men of Note in Bradford, 327 

Aspect of Bradford in 1873, 335 

Rate of Wages in the Worsted Trade, . . . .340 

Progress of Population at Bradford in the present Century, 343 

Churches and Chapels in Bradford 348 

Dates and Principal Events connected with the History of 

the Borough of Bradford 349 



CONTENTS. 



701 



CHAPTER IV. / . 

History of the Bohougii of Halifax. 



Manufactures and Population of Halifax in Early 

Times, ......... 363 

Criminal Law of Halifax and of the adjoining Forest of 

HarJwick, ........ 3GG 

Halifax in the Eeigu of Queen Elizabeth, , . . DG'.t 

The great Civil War, ....... ;;74 

Halifax at the beginning of the Eighteenth Century, . 378 
Daniel Defoe's Account of the JIarkets and Trade of 

Halifax, ......... 381 

Improvement of the River Calder, and introduction of 

Water-carriage at Halifax, ..... 383 

Halifax a Hundred Years ago, 385 

The Parish Church of Halifax a Hundred Years since . 387 



pAnE 
388 

3U1 

392 

392 

396 



The Piece Hall at Halifax, 

Halifax represented in Parliament, 

List of Mayors from 1848 to 1874, 

Improvement and other Acts relating to Halifax, . 

Halifax Water-works in the Luddenden Valley, 

Men of Note connected with Science and Literature in 

Halifax, 400 

Population and Occupations of the Inhabitants of Halifax 

at the Census of 1871, 403 

The great filanufactories of Halifax, .... 404 

List of the Vicars of Halifax, 416 

Dates of the Principal Events connected with the History 

of Halifax, 416 



CHAPTER V. 



^-/f 



History of twe Borough of Huddeesfield. 



Hnddersfield under the De Lacis, 421 

Huddersfield at the Time of Pope Nicholas' Valuation, 

1-790 424 

Charter of Huddersfield, 426 

Daniel Defoe's Visit to Huddersfield, .... 427 
Introduction of River and Canal Navigation at Hudders- 
field, 428 

The Manufactures of Huddersfield, . . . .429 

Progress of Huddersfield during the present Century, . 430 

Present appearance of the Town of Huddersfield, . . 431 



List of Vicars of Huddersfield, 433 

Literary, Scientific, and Educational Institutions, . . 434 

Representation of Huddersfield in Parliament, . . 437 

Municipal Government of Huddersfield, . . . 437 
Population and Occupations of the Inhabitants of Hud- 
dersfield at the Census of 1871, . . . .437 
Antiquities and Objects of Interest in the Neighbourhood 

of Huddersfield, 439 

Dates and Principal Events connected with the History 

of Huddersfield, 444 



CHAPTER VI. / 

History of the Borough of Dewsdury. 



Rapid Rise of the Modem Town of Dewsbury, 
Commencement of Water-carriage at Dewsbury, 
Municipal Charter of Dewsbury, . 
Dewsbury represented in Parliament, . 



4.00 
400 
452 
453 



Principal Occupations and Sources of Wealth in Dewsbury, 453 
Appearance of the Modern Town of Dewsbury, . . 454 
Dates of the Principal Events connected with the History 
of Dewsbury, ........ 466 



70: 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VII. I 



History of the BoRonGH of Wakefield. 



Wakefield under the Tudor Princes, 
Wakefield taken by Sir Thomas Fairfax, 
Defoe's Visit to Wakefield, . 
Wakefield Fifty Years since. 
Literary and Scientific Institutions, 



PAGE 

. 460 
. 463 
. 464 
. 465 
. 466 



PAGE 

Distinguished Men in Wakefield, . . . 467 
Parliamentary and Municipal Enfranchisement of Wake- 
field, 467 

Dates of the Principal Events connected with the History 
of the Borough of Wakefield, 469 



CHAPTER VIII. 



History op the Bokough of Sheffield. 



Antiquities of Sheffield 471 

Sheffield and the Neighbourhood described in Domesday 

Book, ......... 473 

Life and Times of Earl Waltheof, 476 

Shefiield under the Normans, ..... 477 

Thomas de Furnival's Charter to the Burgesses of Sheffield, 479 

The great Civil War, ....... 482 

Town Trust of Sheffield, ...... 483 

Early Progress of the Trade of Sheffield, . . . 483 

Progress of Sheffield in the Eighteenth Century, . . 484 



Roads and River Navigation of Sheffield, . . . 485 
Churches and Chapels of Sheffield, .... 486 

Schools of Sheffield, 491 

Persons of Note connected with Sheffield, . . . 494 
Population and Occupations of the Inhabitants of Sheffield, 498 
Steel and Iron Manufactures of Sheffield, . . . 498 
Members of Parliament, Mayors, and Master Cutlers for 

Sheffield, 504, 605 

Dates of the Principal Events connected with the History 

of the Borough of Sheffield, fi07 



CHAPTER IX. 



History of the Commerce, Port, and Borough of Kingston- opon-Hull. 



Erection of Suffolk Palace at Kingston-upon-Hull, . . 618 
Origin and Progress of the Commerce of Hull, . . 621 
Camden's Account of Hull in the Reign of Queen Eliza- 
beth, 

Siege of Hull in the great Civil War, . 
Hull at the time of the Visit of Daniel Defoe, 
Steam Navigation and General Trade of Hull, 
Modern Public Buildings of Hull, .... 



522 
524 
529 
5.32 
535 



Literary and Scientific Institutions of Hull, . . .537 

Churches and Chapels of Hull, 688 

Public Schools of Hull 540 

Eminent Natives of Hull, ...... 540 

Boundaries of Kingston-upon-HulI, .... 542 

Population and Occupations of the Inhabitants of King- 
ston-upon-Hull, 543 

Dates and Notes relating to the Port of Hull, . . 645 



CONTENTS. 



703 



CHAPTER X. 



IIl^^TilKY OF THE BoROUQlI AND WATERING PLACE OP SlMRBOKOUQII. 



P A a IC 

Ancient History of the r>orougli of Scarboroiigli, . . 54S 

The Castle of Soarboixai^b 549 

The Parliamentary and Municipal Borough of Scarborough, 551 
Port and Harbour of Scarborough, .... 5o- 
Mineral Waters of Scirborougb, ..... 654 
Scarborough at theCommencement of the Present Century, 556 



Scenery around Scarborough, 
Modern Town of Scarborough, 
The South and North Cliffs of Scarborough, . 
Public Buildings, &c., of Scarborough, . 
Dates and Notes relating to the Borough and Watering 
Place of Scarborough, 5G4 



PAGE 

. 557 
. 558 
. 559 
. 5G1 



CHAPTEK XL 



HI^TORT OF THE BoROUGII AND WATERING PlACE OF WhITBY. 



Antiquities of Whitby, 666 

Poems of Cajdmon, ....... 666 

Whitby under the Normans, 5G7 



Shipbuilding at Whitby, 568 

Dates and Notes relating to the Borough and Watering 
Place of Whitby 669 



Progress of the Town of Jliddlesborough, 

Rapid Increase of the Population of Middlesborough 

Succession of Mayors of Jliddlesborough, 

Principal Public Institutions of Middlesborough, . 

Cleveland Ironmasters' Association, 



CHAPTER XII. 

History of the Borough and Seaport of Middlesborocgh. 
. 571 



. 573 
. 573 
. 576 



Ironworks and Industrial Enterprises, .... 576 
Dates of the Principal Events connected with the History 

of Middlesborough, 580 

Notice of the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, . . .581 
Kise of the Trade of Stockton, 681 



CHAPTER XIII. , 

The Wkst Riding of Yorkshire, with its Parliajientary Divisions and Wapentakes, ok Hundreds. 



iii l«i 



Cities, Towns, and Urban Districts of Yorkshire, . . 583 
Pariiamentary Divisions, Wapentakes, Cities, and Boroughs 

of the West Eiding, 585 

Lieutenancy Subdivisions, 

Municipal Boroughs, Area and Population of, 

1871, 

Northern Division of the West Riding, 
Ewcross Wapentake or Hundred, . 
Staindiffe (Craven) Wapentake or Hundred, 
History of Keighley, . . • ■ 
Eastern Division of the WiiSt Riding, . 
Claro Wapentake or Hundred, 



. 687 
1 and 

. 687 
■. 588 
. 588 
. 691 
. 595 
. 600 
. 600 



History of the City of Ripon, : 

History of the Borough of Knaresborough, 

History of Harrogate, . . ; . 

Barkston Ash \\'apentake or Hundred, . 

Towns of Barkston Ash Wapentake, 

Osgoldcross Wapentake or Hundred, 

Towns of Osgoldcross Wapentake. — History of 

Borough of Pontefract, 
History of Goole, .... 

Skyrack Wapentake or Hundred, 
The Watering Place of Ilkley, 
History of Bingley, .... 



. 603 
. 607 
. 610 
. 613 
. 614 
. 616 
the 
. 617 
. 621 
. 623 
. 624 
. 626 



704 



CONTENTS. 



PAGR 

Agbrigg and Slorley Wapentake or Hundred, . . 628 

The Woollen, Worsted, and Manufacturing Districts of 

the West Riding, 629 

The Borough and Parish of Leeds, .... 634 

The Coal, Iron, and Steel Districts of South Yorltshire, 636 



Staincross Wapentake or Hundred, 
History of the Borough of Barnsley, 
Strafforth and Tiokhill Wapentakes, 
History of the Borough of Doncaster, 
History of the Borough of Rotherliam, 



PAOB 

. 636 
. 637- 
. 640 
, 642 
645- 



CHAPTER XIV. (! 



n 



The North Ridinq of Yoekshike, with its Parliamentary Arrangements, and Wapentakes, 

OR Hundreds. 



History of the Borough of Tbirsk, 

Birdforth Wapentake or Hundred, 

Bulmer " " . . 

Ryedale " " . . 

Hi.story of the Borough of Malton, 

Langharugh (or Cleveland) Wapentake or Hundred 

Notice of Guisborough, .... 

Whitby Strand Liberty, .... 

Pickering Lythe Wapentake or Hunared, 



Area and Population of the North Riding, 




. 650 


History of the Borough of Richmond, . 




. 553 


GiUing West Wapentake or Hundred, 






. 653 


" East 






. 656 


Hang West " " 






. 656 


" East 






. 667 


Hallikeld 






. 658 


Central Portion of the North Riding, 






. 668 


Borough of Northallerton 






. 669 



. 660 
. 660 
, 661 
662 
663 
666 
667 
667 
668 



CHAPTER XV. io ' ' ■^ 

The East Ridinq of Yorkshire, with its Parliamentary Divisions and Wapentakes, or Hundreds. 



.Hi- 



Divisions of the East Riding, 
Buckrose W^apentake or Hundred, . 
Oase and Derwent Wapentake or Hundred, 
Howdenshire Wapentake or Hundred, . 
Harthill " " 



670 
671 
672 
673 

674 



History of the Borough of Beverley, 
Dickering Wapentake or Hundred, 
County and Town of Kingston-upon-HuU, 
Holderness Wapentake or Hundred, 
The Ainsty of York, .... 



. 677 
. 679 
. 683 
. 684 
. 688 



CHAPTER XVI. 



f 



Yorkshire at the Census of 1871. 



Rapid Increase of Population in Present Century, . . 690 
Area and Population of the County of York, . . . 690 
Area and Population of Eleven Divisional Groups of 
Counties at Different Periods, ..... 691 



Local Government of the Three Ridings, . . . 694 
Lord-lieutenants of the County in 1875, . . . 694 
List of the Peers of the United Kingdom connected with 
the County of York, 695-698 



END OF VOL. IL 



printed by WILLIAM MACKENZIE 43 & 45 HOWARD STREET, GLASGOW.