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ANGLICAN COMMUNION; ECCLESIASTICAL See also:JURISDICTION; See also:VESTMENTS; See also:MASS.
The number of " denominations " by whom buildings were certified for See also:worship up to 1895 was 293 (see See also:list in See also:Whitaker's Almanack, 1896, p. 252), but in many instances such other " denominations " consisted of two or three congrega- See also:Protestant tions only, in some cases of a single See also:congregation. The See also:coin-more important See also:nonconformist churches are fully dealt munlons. with under their several headings. The above table, however, based on that in the Statesman's See also:Year-See also:Book for 1908, and giving the See also:comparative See also:statistics of the See also:chief nonconformist churches, may be useful for purposes of comparison. It may be prefaced by stating that, according to returns made in 1905, the See also: See also:Roman Catholicism in England has shown a tendency to advance, especially among the upper and upper-See also:middle classes. The published lists of " converts " are, however, no safe See also:index to actual progress; for no See also:equivalent statistics are available for " leakage " in the opposite direction. The membership of the Roman Catholic Church in England is estimated at about 2,200,000. But though the ' In 1906. ' There are in addition some thousands of Presbyterians unconnected with the church, including members of the Church of See also:Scotland. 3 Great Britain and See also:Ireland, 1906. 4 On See also:September 17, 1907, the See also:United Methodist See also:Free Churches, the Methodist New Connexion, and the See also:Bible Christians were united under the name of. the United Methodist Church. Sittings. See also:Corn- Ministers See also:Local Sunday municants. (See also:Pastoral). Preachers. Scholars. Baptists' . . 1,421,742 424,741 2134 5,748 590,321 Congregationalists (1907) 1,80I,447 498,953 3197 5,603 729,347 Presbyterian Church of England'. 173,047 85,755 323 • • 98,258 Society of See also:Friends . .. 17,442 .. .. 62,347 Moravians. 10,000 2,999 34 • • 4,542 Wesleyan Methodists3 . 2,500,000 620,350 2658 20,I19 I,039,437 See also:Primitive Methodists' 1,017,690 205,407. 1101 15,963 477,114 United Methodist Church' . 738,840 158,095 833 5,577 315,993 Wesleyan Reform See also:Union. 47,435 8,717 19 508 23,008 See also:Independent Methodists. 33,000 9,732 . • 375 28,387 Welsh Calvinistic Methodist . 472,089 185,935 900 361 187,484 Countess of See also:Huntingdon's Connexion . 12,347 2,469 26 .. 3,040 Reformed Episcopal Church . 6,000 1,090 28 .. 2,600 Free Church of England. 8,140 1,352 24 .. 4,196 Roman Catholics. growth of the church relatively to the See also:population has not been particularly startling, there can be no doubt that, since the restoration of the Roman Catholic See also:hierarchy in 1851, its See also:general See also:political and religious See also:influence has enormously increased. A notable feature in this has been the great development of monastic institutions, due in large measure to the See also:settlement in England of the congregations expelled from See also:France. The Roman Catholic Church in England is organized in 15 dioceses, which are united in a single See also:province under the primacy of the See also:archbishop of See also:Westminster. In See also:December 1907 there were 1736 Roman Catholic churches and stations, and the number of the clergy was returned at 3524 (see ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH).
The See also:Jews in Great Britain, chiefly found in See also:London and other
great towns, number (1907) about 196,000 and have Jews. some 200 synagogues; at the See also:head of their organization is a chief See also:Rabbi See also:resident in London.
Finally it may be mentioned that a small number of See also:English-men, chiefly resident in See also:Liverpool and London, have embraced See also:Islam; they have a See also:mosque at Liverpool. Various See also:foreign churches which have numbers of adherents settled in England have also See also:branch churches and organizations in the See also:country, notably the Orthodox Eastern Church, with a considerable number of adherents in London, Liverpool and See also:Manchester,—the Lutheran, and the Armenian churches. (W. A. P.)
Roads.—In England and See also:Wales the high-roads, or roads on which wheeled vehicles can travel, are of two classes: (1) the See also:main roads, or great See also:arteries along which the main vehicular See also:traffic of the country passes; and (2) See also:ordinary highways, which are by-roads serving only local areas. The length of the main roads is about 22,000 m., and that of ordinary highways about 96,000. The highways of England, the old coaching roads, are among the best in the See also:world, being generally of a beautiful smoothness and well maintained; they vary, naturally, in different districts, but in many even the local roads are See also:superior to some main roads in other countries. The supersession of the See also:stage See also:coach by the railway took a vast amount of traffic away from the main roads, but their proper See also:maintenance did not materially suffer; and a larger See also:accession of traffic took place subsequently on the development of the, See also:cycle and the motor-vehicle.
The See also:system of road-See also:building by private enterprise, the under-takers being rewarded by tolls levied from vehicles, persons or animals using the roads, was established in England in 1663, when an See also:act of See also: In its fulness the system lasted just sixty years, for the first See also:breach in it was made by an act of George IV., in 1827, by which the chief turnpikes in London were abolished. Further acts followed in the same direction, leading to the See also:gradual extinction, by due See also:compensation of the persons interested, of the old system, the maintenance of the roads being vested in " See also:turnpike See also:trusts and See also:highway boards," empowered to See also:levy local rates. The last turnpike See also:trust ceased to exist on the 5th of See also:November 1895, and the final accounts in connexion with its See also:debt were closed in 1898-1899. See also:Toll-See also:gates are now met with only at certain See also:bridges, where the right to levy tolls is statutory or by See also:prescription. By the Local See also:Government Act of 1888 the See also:duty of maintaining main roads was imposed on the See also:county See also:councils, but these bodies were enabled to make arrangements with the respective highway authorities for their repair. Under the Local Government Act of 1894 the duties of all the highway authorities were transferred to the rural See also:district councils on or before the 31st of See also: See also:Railways.—The See also:history and development of railways in England, their birthplace, and in Ireland and Scotland, with illustrative statistics, are considered under the heading UNITED KINGDOM. The following list indicates the year of See also:foundation, termini, chief offices and See also:geographical See also:sphere of the chief railways of England and Wales.
. Railways with Termini in London.
(a) See also:NORTHERN.
Great Northern (1846).—Terminus and offices, See also: Also an Irish See also:section, the See also:Belfast and Northern Counties system being acquired in 1903. Docks at See also:Heysham, See also:Lancashire; and steamship services to Belfast, &c. London & North-Western (1846, an amalgamation of the London & Birmingham, See also:Grand Junction, and Manchester & Birmingham lines).—Terminus and offices, Eus+on. Main line—Rugby, See also:Crewe, See also:Warrington, See also:Preston, Carlisle; forming, with the Caledonian system, the " West Coast " route to Scotland. Serves also Manchester, Liverpool and all parts of the north-west, North Wales, Birmingham and the neighbouring midland towns, and by See also:joint lines, the See also:South Welsh See also:coal-See also:fields. Maintains docks at See also:Garston on the See also:Mersey, a steamship traffic with See also:Dublin and See also:Greenore from See also:Holyhead, and, jointly with the Lancashire & Yorkshire Company, a service to Belfast, &c., from See also:Fleetwood. Great Central (1846; until 1897, when an See also:extension to London was undertaken, called the Manchester, Sheffield & See also:Lincolnshire).—Terminus, Marylebone; offices, Manchester. Main line—Rugby, Nottingham, Leicester, Sheffield, Manchester. The former main line runs from Manchester and Sheffield east to See also:Retford, thence serving See also:Grimsby and See also:Hull, with branches to Lincoln, &c. The main line reached from London by joining the line of the See also:Metropolitan railway near See also:Aylesbury and following it to See also:Harrow. Subsequently an alternative route out of London was constructed between Neasden and Northolt, where it joins another line, of the Great Western railway, from See also:Acton, and continues as a line held jointly by the two companies through See also:Beaconsfield and High See also:Wycombe. Here it absorbs the old Great Western line as far as See also:Prince's Risborough, and continues thence to Grendon Underwood, effecting a junction with the See also:original main line of the Great Central system. This line was opened for passenger traffic in See also:April 1906. The Great Central company owns docks at Grimsby.
(b) EASTERN.
Great Eastern (1862).—Terminus and offices, Liverpool See also:Street. Serving See also:Essex, See also:Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, See also:Norfolk. Joint-line with Great Northern from March to Lincoln and Doncaster. Passenger steamship services from See also:Harwich to the See also:Hook of See also: Numerous additional main lines—Reading to See also:Newbury, See also:Weymouth and the west, a new line opened in 1906 between See also:Castle See also:Cary and See also:Langport effecting a great reduction in mileage between London and Exeter and places beyond; Didcot, See also:Oxford, Birmingham, See also:Shrewsbury, See also:Chester with connexions northward, and to North Wales; Oxford to See also:Worcester, and Swindon to Gloucester and the west of England; South Welsh system (through route from London via Wootton Bassett or via Bristol, and the See also:Severn See also:tunnel), See also:Newport, See also:Cardiff, See also:Swansea, See also:Milford. See also:Steam-See also:ship services to the Channel Islands from Weymouth to See also:Waterford, Ireland from Milford, and to Rosslare, Ireland, from See also:Fishguard, the route last named being opened in 1906. The line constructed jointly with the Great Central company (as detailed in the description above) was extended in 1910 from Ashendon to Aynho, to See also:form a See also:short route to the great centres north of Oxford. London & South-Western (1839, incorporating the London & See also:Southampton railway of 1835).—Terminus and offices, See also:Waterloo. Main line—Woking, See also:Basingstoke, See also:Salisbury, See also:Yeovil, Exeter, Ply-mouth; See also:Woking, See also:Guildford and See also:Portsmouth; Basingstoke, See also:Winchester, Southampton, See also:Bournemouth, &c. Extensive connexions in See also:Surrey, See also:Hampshire and the south-west, as far as North See also:Cornwall. This company owns the great docks at Southampton, and maintains passenger services from that See also:port to the Channel Islands, See also:Havre, St Maio and See also:Cherbourg. (d) See also:SOUTHERN. London, See also:Brighton & South Coast (1846).—Termini, See also:Victoria and London See also:Bridge. Serving all the coast stations from See also:Hastings to Portsmouth, with various lines in eastern Surrey and in See also:Sussex. Maintains a service of passenger steamers between See also:Newhaven and See also:Dieppe. South Eastern & See also:Chatham (under a managing See also:committee, 1899, of the South-Eastern company, 1836, and the London, Chatham & See also:Dover company, 1853).—Termini—Victoria, Charing Cross,See also:Holborn Viaduct, See also:Cannon Street. Offices, London Bridge Station. Various lines chiefly in See also:Kent. 'Steamship services between See also:Folkestone and See also:Boulogne, Dover and See also:Calais, &c. 2. Provincial Railways. The two most important railway companies not possessing lines to London are the North-Eastern and the Lancashire &, Yorkshire, North Eastern (1854, amalgamating a number of systems).-Offices, See also:York. Main line—Leeds, See also:Normanton and York to See also:Darling-ton, See also:Durham, See also:Newcastle and See also:Berwick-on-See also:Tweed. Connecting with the Great Northern between Doncaster and York, and with the North British at Berwick, it forms See also:part of the " East Coast " route to Scotland. Serving all ports and coast stations from Hull to Berwick, also Carlisle, &c. Owning extensive docks at Hull, See also:Middlesbrough, South See also:Shields, the Hartlepools, See also:Blyth, &c. Lancashire & Yorkshire (1847, an amalgamation of a number of local systems) .—Offices, Manchester. Main line—Manchester, See also:Rochdale, Tormorden, See also:Wakefield and Normanton, with branches to See also:Halifax, See also:Bradford, Leeds, See also:Huddersfield and other centres of the West Riding. Extensive system in south Lancashire, connecting Manchester with Preston and Fleetwood (where the docks and steamship services to Ireland are worked jointly with the London & North-Western company), See also:Southport, Liverpool, &c.
Among further provincial systems there should be mentioned:—Cambrian.—Offices, See also:Oswestry. See also:Whitchurch, Oswestry, See also:Welshpool to See also:Barmouth and See also:Pwllheli, See also:Aberystwyth, &c.
See also:Cheshire Lines, worked by a committee representative of the Great Central,Great Northernand Midland Companies, and affording important connexions between the lines of these systems and south Lancashire and Cheshire (Godley, See also:Stockport, Warrington, Liverpool; Manchester and Liverpool; Manchester and Liverpool to Southport; Godley and Manchester to See also:Northwich and Chester, &c.).
See also:Furness.—Offices, See also:Barrow-in-Furness. Carnforth, Barrow, See also: (1) Through connexions with the See also:continental services from Harwich, and with See also:Yarmouth and other towns of the East coast, are provided from Yorkshire, Lancashire, &c., by way of the Great Northern and Great Eastern Joint line from .Doncaster and Lincoln to March. (2) Through connexions between the systems of the South-Eastern & Chatham and the Great Western companies are provided via See also:Reading. (3) Through connexions between the systems of the Great Central and the Great Western companies are provided by the line connecting See also:Woodford and See also:Banbury. (4) Through connexions between the Midland and the South-Western systems are provided (a) by the Midland and South-Western Junction line connecting See also:Cheltenham on the north-and-west line of the Midland with See also:Andover Junction on the South-Western line; and (b) by the See also:Somerset & See also:Dorset line, connecting the same lines between Bath, Templecombe and Bournemouth. (5) The line from Shrewsbury to See also:Craven Arms and See also:Hereford, giving connexion between the north and the south-west, and Wales, is worked by the North-Western and Great Western companies. Inland See also:Navigation.—The English system of inland navigation is confined principally to the following districts: South Lancashire, the West Riding of Yorkshire, the Midlands, especially Canals and about Birmingham, the Fen district and the Thames See also:rivers. See also:basin (especially the See also:lower part). All these districts are interconnected. The condition of inland navigation, as a whole, is not satisfactory. The Fossdyke in Lincolnshire, connecting the See also:river Trent at Torksey with the See also:Witham near Lincoln, and now belonging to the Great Northern and Great Eastern joint See also:rail-ways, is usually indicated as the earliest extant See also:canal in England, inasmuch as it was constructed by the See also:Romans for the purpose of drainage or See also:water-See also:supply, and must have been used for navigation at an early period. But the history of canal-building in England is usually dated from about 1760, and from the construction, at the instance of See also:Francis, See also:Duke of See also:Bridgewater, of the Bridgewater canal in South Lancashire, now belonging to the Manchester Ship Canal Company. The activity in canal-building which prevailed during the later years of the 18th century was, in a measure, an earlier counterpart of the first period of railway development, which, proceeding subsequently along systematized lines not applied to canal-construction, and providing obvious advantages in respect of See also:speed, caused railways to withdraw much traffic from canals. Some canals and river navigations have consequently become See also:derelict, or are only maintained with difficulty and in imperfect condition. The inland navigation system suffers from a want of uniformity in the See also:size of locks, See also:depth of water, width of channels and other arrangements, so that See also:direct intercommunication between one canal and another is often impossible in consequence; moreover, although the canals, like railways, are owned by many See also:separate bodies, hardly any See also:provision has been made, as it has in the See also:case of railways, for such facilities as the working of through traffic over various systems at an inclusive See also:charge. Lastly, the railway companies themselves have acquired See also:control of about 30 % of the See also:total mileage of canals in England and Wales, and in many cases this has had a prejudicial effect on the prosperity of canals. Notwithstanding these disabilities, there has been in See also:modern times a new development in the See also:trade of some canals, See also:born of a realization that for certain classes of goods water-transport is cheaper than the swifter rail-transport. Various proposals have been made for the See also:establishment of a single control over all inland waterways. The lower or estuarine courses of some of the English rivers as the Thames, See also:Tyne, See also:Humber, Mersey and Bristol See also:Avon, are among the most important waterways in the world, as giving See also:access for See also:sea-See also:borne traffic to great ports. From the Mersey the Manchester Ship Canal runs to Manchester. The manufacturing districts of South Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire are traversed and connected by several canals following transverse valleys of the Pennine See also:Chain. The main line of the See also:Aire and See also:Calder navigation runs from See also:Goole by See also:Castleford to Leeds, whence the Leeds and Liverpool canal, running by See also:Burnley and See also:Blackburn, completes the connexion between the Humber and the Mersey. Other canals are numerous, among which may be mentioned the Sheffield and South Yorkshire, connecting Sheffield with the Trent. The Trent itself affords an extensive navigation, from which, at See also:Derwent mouth, the Trent and Mersey Canal runs near See also:Burton and See also:Stafford, and through the Potteries, to the Bridgewater Canal and so to the Mersey. This canal is owned by the North See also:Staffordshire railway company. The river See also:Weaver, a tributary of the Mersey, affords a waterway of importance to the See also:salt-producing towns of Cheshire. The system of the See also:Shropshire Union railways and canal company, which is connected by See also:lease with the London & North-Western railway company, carries considerable traffic, especially in the neighbourhood of See also:Ellesmere Port. In the See also:Black Country and neighbourhood the numerous ramifications of the Birmingham Canal navigations See also:bear a large See also:mineral traffic. This system is connected with the rivers Severn and Trent and the canal system of the country at large, and is controlled by the London & North-Western company. The principal line of navigation from the Thames northward to the midlands is that of the Grand Junction, which runs from See also:Brentford, is connected through London with the port of London by the See also:Regent's Canal, and follows closely the main line of the North-Western railway. It connects with the Oxford Canal at Braunston in See also:Northamptonshire, and through this with canals to Birmingham and the midlands, and continues to Leicester. Both the Severn up to See also:Stourport and the Thames up to Oxford have a See also:fair traffic, but the Thames and Severn Canal is not much used. There is some traffic on the navigable drainage cuts and rivers of the See also:Fens, but beyond these, in a broad See also:consideration of the waterways of England from the point of view of their commercial importance, it is unnecessary to go. See H. R. De Salis, See also:Bradshaw's Canals and Navigable Rivers of England and Wales (London, 1904) ; See also:Report of Royal See also:Commission on Canals (London, t9o9). Over sea Communications.—The chief ports for continental passenger traffic are as follows: Harwich to See also:Amsterdam, Antwerp, See also:Hamburg, Hook of Holland, Rotterdam (Great Eastern railway) ; to See also:Copenhagen and See also:Esbjerg (Royal Danish See also:mail route). pueenborough to See also:Flushing (See also:Zeeland Steamship company). Dover to Calais (South-Eastern & Chatham railway); to See also:Ostend (Belgian Royal mail steamers). Folkestone to Boulogne (South Eastern & Chatham railway). Newhaven to Dieppe (London, Brighton & South Coast railway). Southampton to Cherbourg, Havre, St Maio (South-Western railway). The chief ports for trans-See also:Atlantic traffic are Liverpool and Southampton, and See also:special trains are worked in connexion with the steamers to and from London. The great development of See also:harbour accommodation at Dover early in the loth century brought trans-Atlantic traffic to this port also. Southampton and Liverpool are the two greatest English ports for all oceanic passenger traffic; but London has also a large traffic, both to See also:European and to foreign ports. The passenger traffic to the See also:Norwegian ports, always very heavy in summer, is carried on chiefly from Hull and Newcastle. See also:Agriculture.—In the agricultural returns for Great Britain, issued annually by the government, the See also:area of England (apart from Wales) has been divided into two sections, " arable " and " grass," corresponding with a former See also:division into " corn counties " and " grazing counties," except that See also:Leicestershire is included not in the " grass " but in the " arable " section. Most of the eastern part of England is " arable," while the western and northern part is " grass," the boundary between the sections being the western limit of Hampshire, See also:Berkshire, See also:Oxfordshire, See also:Warwickshire, Leicestershire, See also:Nottinghamshire, and of the East Riding of Yorkshire. The division is thus as follows: Grass Counties. Arable Counties. See also:Northumberland. Yorkshire, East Riding. See also:Cumberland. Lincolnshire. Durham. Nottingham. Yorkshire, North and West See also:Ridings. See also:Rutland. See also:Westmorland. See also:Huntingdonshire. Lancashire. Warwickshire. Cheshire. Leicestershire. See also:Derbyshire. Northamptonshire. Staffordshire. Cambridgeshire. Shropshire. Norfolk. See also:Worcestershire. Suffolk. See also:Herefordshire. See also:Bedfordshire. See also:Monmouthshire. See also:Buckinghamshire. See also:Gloucestershire. Oxfordshire. See also:Wiltshire. Berkshire. See also:Dorsetshire. Hampshire. See also:Somersetshire. Hertfordshire. See also:Devonshire. Essex. Cornwall. See also:Middlesex. Surrey. Kent. Sussex. The See also:average area under cultivation of all the counties is about •76 of the whole area. The counties having the greatest area under cultivation (ranging up to about nine-tenths of the whole) may be taken to be—Leicestershire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, Lincoln-shire, Huntingdonshire, Rutland, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire. Those with the smallest proportional cultivated area are Westmorland, Middlesex, Northumberland, Surrey, Cumber-See also:land, the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire, Lancashire, Durham and Cornwall. Geographical considerations govern these conditions to a very great extent; thus the counties first indicated See also:lie almost entirely within the area of the See also:low-lying and fertile Eastern See also:Plain, while the smallest areas of cultivation are found in the counties covering the Pennine hill-system, with its high-lying uncultivated See also:moors. In the case of Cornwall and Cumberland the See also:physical conditions are similar to these; but in that of Middlesex and Surrey the existence of large See also:urban areas belonging or adjacent to London must be taken into See also:account. These also affect the proportion of cultivated areas in the other See also:home counties. The presence of a wide-spread urban population must also be remembered in the case of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. The geographical See also:distribution of the principal crops, &c., may now be followed. The See also:grain crops grown in England consist almost Distri6u- exclusively of See also:wheat, See also:barley and oats. Lincolnshire, tioeof Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire and the East crops Riding of Yorkshire are especially productive in all these; the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire See also:pro-duce a notable quantity of barley and oats; and the See also:oat-crops in the following counties deserve mention—Devonshire, Hampshire, Lancashire, Cumberland, Cornwall, Cheshire and Sussex. There is no county, however, in which the single See also:crop of wheat or barley stands pre-eminently above others, and in the case of the upland counties of Cumberland, Westmorland and Derbyshire, the metropolitar county of Middlesex, and Monmouthshire, these crops are quite insignificant. In proportion to their area, the counties specially productive of wheat are Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, See also:Hertford-shire, Bedfordshire and Essex; and of barley, Norfolk, Suffolk and the East Riding of Yorkshire. In See also:fruit-growing, Kent takes the first place, but a See also:good quantity is grown in Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Essex, in Worcestershire and other western counties, where, as in Herefordshire, Somerset and See also:Devon, the See also:apple is especially cultivated and See also:cider is largely produced. Kent is again pre-eminent in the growth of hops; indeed this practice and that of fruit-growing give the scenery of the county a strongly individual See also:character. See also:Hop-growing extends from Kent into the neighbouring parts of Sussex and Surrey, where, however, it is much less important; it is also practised to a considerable degree in a See also:group of counties of the midlands and west—Herefordshire, Worcestershire, Gloucester-shire and Shropshire. See also:Market-gardening is carried on most extensively on suitable lands in the neighbourhood of the great areas of urban population; thus the open land remaining in Middlesex is largely devoted to this See also:industry, From the Channel and Scilly Islands, vegetables, especially seasonable vegetables, and also See also:flowers which, owing to the See also:peculiar See also:climatic conditions of these islands, come early to perfection, are imported to the London market. Considering the crops not hitherto specified, it may be indicated that turnips and swedes form the chief See also:green crops in most districts; potatoes, mangels, beans and peas are also commonly grown. Beyond the three chief grain crops, only a little See also:rye is grown. The cultivation of See also:flax is almost See also:extinct, but it is practised in a few districts, such as the East and West Ridings of Yorkshire. The counties which the greatest proportion of the land is devoted to permanent pasture may be judged roughly from the list of " grass counties " already given. Derbyshire, Leicester- Livestock. shire, the midland counties generally, and Somersetshire, have the highest proportion, and the counties of the East Anglian seaboard the lowest. But with lands thus classified See also:heath, See also:moor and hill pastures are not included; and the greatest areas of these are naturally found in the counties of the Pennines and the See also:Lake District, especially in Northumberland, Cumberland, Westmorland and the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire. There is also plenty of hill-pasture in the south-western counties (from Hampshire and Berkshire westward), especially in Devonshire, Cornwall and Somersetshire, and also in Monmouthshire and along the Welsh See also:marches, on the Cotteswold Hills, &c. In all these localities See also:sheep are extensively reared, especially in Northumberland, but on the other See also:hand in Lincolnshire the numbers of sheep are roughly equal to those in the northern county. Other counties in which the numbers are especially large are Devonshire, Kent, Cumberland and the North and West Ridings of Yorkshire. See also:Cattle are reared in great numbers in Lincoln-shire, Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, Devonshire, Somersetshire and Cornwall; but the numbers of both cattle and sheep are in no English county (See also:save Middlesex) to be regarded as insignificant. Pigs are bred most extensively in Suffolk, Norfolk and Lincolnshire and in Somersetshire. It is often asserted that the scenery of rural England is of its See also:kind unrivalled. Except in open lands like the Fens, the peculiarly -See also:rich See also:appearance of the country is due to the closely-divided See also:Wood- fields with their high, luxuriant hedges, and especially lands. to the profuse growth of trees. There is not, however, any large continuous forested See also:tract. Certain areas still bear the name of See also:forest where there is now none; the See also:term here possesses an See also:historical significance, in many cases indicating former royal See also:game-preserves. Great areas of England were once under forest. The clearing of land for agricultural purposes, the use of wood for the See also:prosecution of the See also:industries of an increasing population, and other causes, have led to the gradual disforesting of large tracts. There are still, however, some small well-defined woodland areas. The New Forest in Hampshire, the Forest of See also:Dean in Gloucestershire, and See also:Epping Forest, which is preserved as a public recreation-ground by the See also:City of London, are the most notable instances. The counties comprising the greatest proportional amount of woodland fall into two distinct groups—Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent, with Berkshire and Buckinghamshire; See also:Monmouth, Herefordshire and Gloucestershire. Cambridgeshire, lying almost wholly within the area of the Fens, has the smallest proportional area of woodland of any English county. The number of persons engaged in agriculture in England and Wales was found by the See also:census of 1901 to be 1,192,167; the total showing a steady decrease (e.g. from 1,352,389 in 1881), which is especially marked in the case of See also:females. But the decrease lies mainly in the number of agricultural labourers; the number of farmers is not notably affected, and the increasing substitution of machinery for See also:manual labour must be taken into consideration. The average size of holdings in England may be taken approximately as 66 acres, the average in 1903 being 66.1, whereas in 1895 it was 65.3 (See also the See also:article AGRICULTURE.) See also:Fisheries.—All the seas See also:round Britain are rich in See also:fish, and there are important fishing stations at intervals on all the English coasts, but those on the east coast are by far the most numerous. Sea On an estimate of See also:weight and value of the fish landed, fisheries. Grimsby at the mouth of the Humber in Lincolnshire, stands pre-eminent as a fishing port. For example, the fish landed there in 1903 were of nearly four times the value of those landed at Hull, which was the second in See also:order of all the English stations. Next in importance stand See also:Lowestoft, Yarmouth and North Shields, See also:Boston and See also:Scarborough, and, among a large number of See also:minor fishing stations, See also:Hartlepool and See also:Ramsgate. Great quantities of fish are also landed at the See also:riverside market of Billingsgate in London, but the conditions here are exceptional, the landings being effected by See also:carrier steamers, plying from certain of the fishing fleets, and not taking part in the actual See also:process of fishing. On the south coast See also:Newlyn ranks in the same See also:category with Boston; at Plymouth considerable catches are landed; and See also:Brixham ranks alongside the last ports named on the east coast. The chief fishing centres of the English Channel are thus seen to belong to the coast of Devonshire and Cornwall. On the west coast the Welsh port of Milford takes the first place, while Swansea and Cardiff have a considerable fishing industry, surpassed, however, by that of Fleetwood in Lancashire. Liverpool also ranks among the more important centres. As a comparison of the See also:production of the east, south and west coast fisheries, an average may be taken of the See also:annual catches recorded over a term of years. In the ten years 1894–1903 this average was 6,985,588 cwt. for the east coast stations, 669,759 cwt. for those of the south coast, and 884,932 for those of the west (including the Welsh stations). Distinctions may be See also:drawn, as will be seen, between the nature and methods of the fisheries on the various coasts, and the relative prosperity of the industry from year to year cannot be considered as a whole. Thus in the period considered the re-corded maximum weight of fish landed at the east coast ports was 9,539,114 cwt. in 1903 (the value being returned as L5,72I,I05); whereas on the south coast it was 736,599 cwt. in 1899, and on the west 1,I17,164 cwt. in 1898. Considered as a whole, the individual fish, by far the most important in the English fisheries, is the See also:herring, for which Yarmouth and Lowestoft are the chief ports. The next in order are See also:haddock, See also:cod and See also:plaice, and the east coast fisheries return the greatest bulk of these also. But whereas the south coast has the See also:advantage over the west in the herring and plaice fisheries, the See also:reverse is the case in the haddock and cod fisheries, haddock, in particular, being landed in very small quantities at the south coast ports. See also:Mackerel, however, are landed principally at the southern ports, and the See also:pilchard is taken almost solely off the south-western coast. A fish of special importance to the west coast fisheries is the See also:hake. Among See also:shell-fish, crabs and oysters are taken principally off the east coast; the See also:oyster beds in the shallow water off the north Kent and Essex coasts, as at See also:Whitstable and See also:Colchester, being famous. Lobsters are landed in greatest number on the south coast. The number of vessels of every sort employed in fishing was returned in 1903 as 9721, and the number of persons employed as 41,539, of whom 34,071 were See also:regular fishermen. The development of the steam See also:trawling-See also:vessel is illustrated by the increase in numbers of these vessels from 48o in 1893 to 1135 in 1903. They belong chiefly to North Shields, Hull, Grimsby, Yarmouth and Lowestoft. There are a considerable number on the west coast, but very few on the south. These vessels have a wide range of operations, pursuing their See also:work as far as the See also:Faeroe Islands and See also:Iceland on the one hand, and the See also:Bay of See also:Biscay and the Portuguese coast on the other. The English See also:freshwater fisheries are not of great commercial importance, nor, from the point of view of See also:sport, are the See also:salmon and See also:trout fisheries as a whole of equal importance with Fresh- those of Scotland, Ireland or Wales. The English salmon water and trout fisheries may be geographically classified thus: fisheries. (I) North-western division, Rivers See also:Eden, Derwent, Lune, Ribble: (2)North-eastern, See also:Coquet, Tyne, See also:Wear, See also:Tees, &c.; (3) Western, See also:Dee, See also:Usk, Wye, Severn; (4) South-western, Taw, Torridge, See also:Camel, Tamar, Dart, Exe, Teign, &c.; (5) Southern, Avon and See also:Stour (See also:Christchurch) and the Itchin and other famous trout streams of Hampshire. The rivers of the midlands and east are of little importance to salmon-fishers, though the Trent carries a few, and in modern times attempts have been made to rehabilitate the Thames as a salmon river. The trout-fishing in the upper Thames and many of its tributaries (such as the Kennet, See also:Colne and See also:Lea) is famous. But many of the midland, eastern and south-eastern rivers, the Norfolk Broads, &c., are noted for their coarse fish. See also:Mining.—Although the conditions of mining have, naturally, undergone a revolutionary development in comparatively modern times, yet some indications of England's mineral See also:wealth are, found at various periods of early history. The exploitation of See also:tin in the south-west is commonly referred back to the time of the Phoenician sea-traders, and in the first See also:half of the See also:lath century England supplied See also:Europe with this See also:metal. At a later period tin and See also:lead were regarded as the English minerals of highest commercial value; whereas to-day both, but especially lead, have fallen far from this position. The Roman working of lead and See also:iron has been clearly traced in manydistricts, as has that of salt in Cheshire. The subsequent development of the iron industr- is full of See also:interest, as, while extending vastly, it has entirely lapsed in certain districts. However See also:long before it may have been known to a few, the use of coal for smelting iron did not become general till the later part of the 18th century, and down to that time, iron-working was confined to districts where See also:timber was available for the supply of the smelting See also:medium, See also:char-coal. Thus the industry centred chiefly upon the See also:Weald (Sussex and Kent), the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire, and the Birmingham district; but from the first district named it afterwards wholly departed, following the development of the coal-fields. These have, in some cases, a See also:record from a fairly early date; thus, an indication of the Northumberland coal-supply occurs in a See also:charter of 1234, and the Yorkshire coal-See also: Derbyshire . . . 9.40 t Nottinghamshire 5.41 Lancashire . . . 15.26 Lancashire and Cheshire {Cheshire . . . 0.25 Leicestershire . . 1.31 Shropshire 0.50 Midland' . . . . Staffordshire 8-lo Warwickshire . . .. 2.12 Worcestershire 0.44 (Cumberland 1.37 I Gloucestershire' 0.87 Small detached . . ))) Somersetshire . . o.62 Westmorland 0.07 Yorkshire (North Riding)' . . Monmouthshire' . . . 6.67 The coal-fields on the eastern flank of the Pennines, therefore, namely, the Northern and the Yorkshire, are seen to be by far the most important in England. The carrying trade in coal is naturally very extensive, and may be considered here. The principal ports for the See also:shipping of coal for export, set down in order of the amount shipped, also fall very nearly into topographical See also:groups, thus: —Newcastle, South Shields and Blyth in the Northern District; Newport in Monmouthshire; See also:Sunderland in the Northern District, Hull; Grimsby and Goole on the Humber, which forms the eastern outlet of the Yorkshire coal-fields; Hartlepool, in the Northern District, and Liverpool. The See also:tonnage annually shipped ranges from about 41 millions of tons in the case of Newcastle to some half a million in. the case of Liverpool; but the export trade of Cardiff in South Wales far surpasses that of any English port, being more than three times that of Newcastle in 1903. The coastwise carrying trade is also important, the bulk being shared about equally by Sunderland, Newcastle, South Shields and Cardiff, while Liverpool has also a large See also:share. Of the whole amount of coal received coast-See also:wise at English and Welsh ports (about 132 million tons), London received considerably over one-half (nearly 8 million tons in 1903). The railways having the heaviest coal traffic are the North-Eastern, which monopolizes the traffic of Northumberland and Durham; the Midland, commanding the Derbyshire, Yorkshire and East Midland traffic, and some of the Welsh ; the London & North Western, whose principal See also:sources are the Lancashire, Staffordshire an_ _ 1 The figure 17.76 is the percentage for the whole of Yorkshire. 2 The West Midlands (Shropshire, &c.) include the coal-fields of Shrewsbury, Leebotwood, See also:Coalbrookdale, the Clee Hills and the Forest of Wyre. ' The Forest of Dean coal-field is in Gloucestershire.
The coal-field of Monmouthshire belongs properly to, and in the Report is classified with, the great coal-field of South Wales.
and South Welsh districts; the Great Western and the Taff Vale (South Welsh), with the Great Central, Lancashire & Yorkshire and Great Northern systems.
In the See also:face of railway competition, several of the canals maintain a fair traffic in coal, for which they are eminently suitable—the system of the Birmingham navigation, the Aire and Calder navigation of Yorkshire, and the Leeds and Liverpool navigation have the largest shares in this trade.
The richest iron-mining district in England and in the United Kingdom is the See also:Cleveland district of the North Riding of Yorkshire. Iron. It produces over two-fifths of the total amount of ore
raised in the Kingdom, and not much less than one-half of that raised in England. The richness of the ore (about 30 % of metal) is by no means so great as the red See also:haematite ore found in Cumberland and north Lancashire (Furness district, &c.). Here the percentage is over 50, but the ore, though the richest found in the kingdom, is less plentiful, about 11 million tons being raised in 1903 as against more than 52 millions in Cleveland. There is also a considerable working of See also: Some of the lesser deposits have been worked out, and even in the rich Furness fields it has been found difficult to pursue the ore. The import of ore (the bulk coming from See also:Spain) has consequently increased, and the ports where the principal import trade is carried on are those which form the principal outlets of the iron-working districts of Cleveland and Furness, namely Middlesbrough and Barrow-in-Furness. The geographical distribution of the remaining more important English minerals may be passed in quicker See also:review. Of the metals, the production of See also:copper is a lapsing industry, confined to Cornwall. For the production of lead the principal counties are Derbyshire, Durham and See also:Stanhope, but the industry is not extensive, and is confined to a few places in each county. See also:Quarrying for limestone, clay and sandstone is general in most parts. For limestone the principal localities are in Durham, Derbyshire and' Yorkshire, while for See also:chalk-quarrying Kent is pre-eminent among a group of south-eastern counties, including Hampshire, Sussex and Surrey, with Essex. Fireclay is largely raised from coal-mines, while, among special See also:clays, there is a considerable production of See also:china and See also:potter's clays in Cornwall, Devonshire and Dorsetshire. As regards igneous rocks, the Charnwood Forest quarries of Leicestershire, and those of Cornwall, are particularly noted for their See also:granite. See also:Slate is worked in Cornwall and Devon, and also in Lancashire and Cumberland, where, in the Lake District, there are several large quarries. Salt, obtained principally from brine but also as See also:rock-salt, is an important See also:object of industry in Cheshire, the output from that county and Staffordshire exceeding a million tons annually. In Worcestershire, Durham and Yorkshire salt is also produced from brine. The total number of persons in any way occupied in connexion with mines and quarries in England and Wales in 1901 was 805,185; the number being found to increase rapidly, as from 528,474 in 1881. Coal-mines alone occupied 643,654, and to development in this direction the total increase is chiefly due. The number of ironstone and other mines decreased in the period noticed from 55,907 to 31,606. Manufacturing Industries.—There are of course a great number of . important industries which have a general distribution throughout the country, being more or less fully developed here or there in accordance with the requirements of each locality. But in specifying the principal industries of any county, it is natural to consider those which have an influence more than local on its prosperity. In England, then, two broad classes of industry may be taken up or See also:primary consideration—the textile and the metal. Long after textile and other industries had been flourishing in the leading states of the See also:continent, in the See also:Netherlands, See also:Flanders and France, England remained, as a whole, an agricultural and pastoral country, content to export her riches in See also:wool, and to import them again, greatly enhanced in value, as clothing. It is not to be understood that there were no manufacturing industries whatever. Rough See also:cloth, for example, was manufactured for home See also:consumption. But from See also:Norman times the introduction of foreign artisans, capable of establishing industries which should produce goods See also:fit for distant See also:sale, occupied the See also:attention of successive rulers. Thus the See also:plantation of Flemish weavers in East Anglia, especially at the towns of Worstead (to which is attributed the derivation of the term worsted) and See also:Norwich, See also:dates from the 12th century. The industry, changing locality, like many others, in sympathy with the changes in modern conditions, has long been practically extinct in this district. Then, when religious persecution drove many of the See also:industrial population of the west of Europe awayfrom the homes of their See also:birth, they liberally repaid English hospitality by establishing their own arts in the country, and teaching them to the inhabitants. Thus religious See also:liberty formed part of the foundation of England's industrial greatness. Then came the material See also:agent, machinery propelled by steam. The invention of the steam See also:engine, following quickly upon that of the See also:carding See also:machine, the See also:spinning jenny, and other ingenious machinery employed in textile manufactures, gave an extra-ordinary impulse to their development, and, with them, that of kindred branches of industry. At the basis of all of them was England's wealth in coal. The vast development of industries in England during the 19th century may be further correlated with certain events in the general history of the time. Insular England was not affected by the disturbing influences of the See also:Napoleonic period in any such degree as was continental Europe. Such conditions carried on the work of British inventors in helping to develop industries so strongly that manufacturers were able to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the See also:American See also:Civil See also:War (in spite of the temporary See also:disability it entailed upon the See also:cotton industry) and by the Franco-See also:German War. ' These See also:wars tended to paralyse industries in the countries affected, which were thus forced to English markets to buy manufactured commodities. That England, not possessing the raw material, became the seat of the cotton manufacture, was owing to the ingenuity of her inventors. It was not till the later part of the 18th century, when a See also:series of inventions, unparalleled in the See also:annals of industry, followed each other in See also:quick See also:succession, that the cotton manufacture took real See also:root in the country, gradually eclipsing that of other European nations, although a See also:linen manufacture in Lancashire had acquired some prominence as early as the 16th century. But though the superior excellence of their machinery enabled Englishmen to start in the See also:race of competition, it was the See also:discovery of the new See also:motive See also:power, drawn from coal, which made them win the race. In 1815 the total quantity of raw cotton imported into the United Kingdom was not more than 99 millions of pounds, which amount had increased to 152 millions of pounds in 1820, and See also:rose further to 229 millions in 1825, so that there was considerably more than a doubling of the imports in ten years. The geographical See also:analysis of the cotton industry in England is See also:simple. It belongs almost entirely to south Lancashire—to Manchester and the great industrial towns in its neighbourhood. Textiles. The industry has extended into the adjacent parts of Cheshire, the West Riding of Yorkshire and Derbyshire. The immediate neighbourhood of a coal-supply influenced the geographical settlement of this industry, like others; and the importance to the manufacture of a moist See also:climate, such as is found on the western slope of the Pennines (in contradistinction to the eastern), must also be considered. The excess of the demand of the factories over the supply of raw material has become a remarkable feature of the industry in modern times. The distribution of the woollen industries peculiarly illustrates the changes which have taken place since the early establishment of manufacturing industries in England. It has been seen how completely the industry has forsaken East Anglia. Similarly, this industry was of early importance along the line of the Cotteswold Hills, from Chipping See also:Camden to See also:Stroud and beyond, as also in some towns of Devonshire and Cornwall, but though it survives in the neighbourhood of Stroud, the importance of this district is far surpassed by that of the West Riding of Yorkshire, where the woollen industry stands pre-eminent among the many which, as already indicated, have concentrated there. As the cotton industry has in some degree extended from Lancashire into the West Riding, so has the woollen from the West Riding into a few Lancastrian towns, such as Rochdale. Among other textile industries attaching to definite localities may be mentioned the See also:silk manufacture of eastern Staffordshire and Cheshire, as at See also:Congleton and Macclesfield; and the See also:hosiery and See also:lace manufactures of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Leicestershire. The metal-working industries also follow a geographical distribution, mainly governed by the incidence of the coal-fields, as well as by that of the chief districts for the production of See also:meta. iron-ore already indicated, such as the Cleveland and iz;arkink Durham and the Furness districts. But the district most intimately connected with every branch of this industry, from See also:engineering and the manufacture of tools, &c., to working in the See also:precious metals, is the " Black Country " and Birmingham district of Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. Apart from this district, large quantities of iron and See also:steel are produced in the manufacturing areas of Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, and here, as in the Black Country, are found certain centres especially noted for the production of an individual class of goods, .such as Sheffield for its See also:cutlery. There is, further, a large engineering industry in the London district; and important manufactures of agricultural implements are found at many towns of East Anglia and in other agricultural localities. Birmingham and See also:Coventry may be specially mentioned as centres of the motor and cycle building industry. The establishment of their engineering and other workshops at certain centres by the great railway companies has important bearing on the concentration of urban population. For example, by this means the London & North Western and the Great Western companies have created large towns in Crewe and Swindon respectively. Certain other important industries may be localized. Thus, the manufacture of china and pottery, although widespread, is primarily identified with Staffordshire, where an area comprising Stoke and a number of contiguous towns actually bears the name of the Potteries (q.v.). Derby has a similar fame, while the manufacture of See also:glass, important in Leeds and elsewhere in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and in the London district, centres peculiarly upon a single town in South Lancashire—St Helens. Finally, the bootmakers of Northamptonshire (at See also:Wellingborough, See also:Rushden, &c.), and the strawplaiters of Bedfordshire (at See also:Luton and See also:Dunstable), deserve mention among localized industrial communities. Occupations of the People.—The occupations of the people may be so considered as to afford a conception of the relative extent of the industries already noticed, and their importance in relation to other occupations. The figures to be given are those of the census of 1901, and embrace See also:males and females of so years of See also:age and upwards. The textile manufactures occupied a total of 994,668 persons, of which the cotton industry occupied 529,131. A high proportion of See also:female labour is characteristic of each branch of this industry, the number of females employed being about half as many again as that of males (the proportion was 1.47 to I in 1901). The metal industries of every sort occupied 1,116,202; out of which those employed in engineering (including the building of all sorts of vehicles) numbered 741,346. Of the other broad classes of industry already indicated, the manufacture of boots and shoes occupied 229,257, and the pottery and glass manufactures 90,193. For the See also:rest, the numbers of persons occupied in agriculture has been quoted as 1,192,167; and of those occupied in mining as 805,185. Among occupations not already detailed, those of the male population include transport of every sort (1,094,301), building and other See also:works of construction (1,042,864), manufacture of articles of human consumption, lodging, &c. (774,291), See also:commerce, banking, &c. (530,685), domestic service, &c. (304,195), professional occupations (311,618). The service of government in every branch occupied 171,687. Female workers were occupied to the number of 1,664,381 in domestic service generally. Tailoring and the textile clothing industries and trade generally occupied 602,881; teaching 172,873; See also:nursing and other work in institutions 104,036; and the civil service, clerkships and similar occupations 82,635. IX. TERRITORIAL DIVISIONS, &C. For various administrative and other purposes England and Wales have been divided, at different times from the Saxon period onwards, into a series of divisions, whose boundaries have England and Wales; Areas. County (See also:ancient or geographical). See also:Parliamentary Division. Areas See also:Borough. Administrative Administrative County. County Borough. Municipal Borough. town) - Urban District (other than borough) ) Rural District. Civil Parish. Poor Law Union. County See also:Court See also:Circuit. Judicial Areas 5 County Court District. See also:Petty Sessional Division. Province. j( See also:Diocese. Parish. Division. See also:Registration County. Areas District. Subdistrict. been adjusted as each purpose demanded, without much See also:attempt to establish uniformity. Therefore, although the methods of local government are detailed below (Section X.), and other administrative arrangements are described under the various headings dealing with each subject, it is desirable to give here, for ease of reference and distinction, a See also:schedule of the various areas into which England and Wales are divided. The areas here given, excepting the Poor Law Union, are those utilized in the Census Returns (see the General Report, 1901). The ancient counties were superseded for most See also:practical purposes by the administrative counties created by the Local Government Act of 1888. The ancient division, however, besides being maintained in general speech and usage, forms the basis on which the system of distribution of parliamentary See also:representation now in force was constructed. The Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 made a new division of the country into county and borough constituencies. All the English counties, with the exception of Rutland, are divided into two or more constituencies, each returning one member, the number of English county parliamentary areas being 234. In Wales eight smaller or less populous counties form each one parliamentary See also:constituency, while the four larger are divided, the number of Welsh county parliamentary areas being 19. The number of county areas for parliamentary purposes in England and Wales is thus 253, and the total number of their representatives is the' same. Outside the county constituencies are the parliamentary boroughs. Of these there are 135 in England, one of them, Monmouth district, being made up of three contributory boroughs, while many are divided into several constituencies, the number of borough parliamentary areas in England being 205, of which 61 are in the metropolis. Of the- 205 borough constituencies, 184 return each one member, and 21 return each two members; so that the total number of English borough members is 226. Besides the county and borough members there are in England five university members, namely, two for Oxford, two for See also:Cambridge and one for London. In Wales there are to borough parliamentary areas, all of which, except Merthyr Tydfil and Swansea town division, consist of groups of several contributory boroughs. Each Welsh borough constituency returns one member, except Merthyr Tydfil, which returns two, so that there are eleven Welsh borough members. ' The administrative counties, created in 1888, number 62, each having a county See also:council. They sometimes coincide in area with the ancient counties of the same name, but generally differ, in a greater or less degree, for the following reasons--(1) in some cases an ancient county comprises (approximately) two or more administrative counties, in the formation of which names of some ancient divisions were preserved, thus: Ancient County. Administrative County. Cambridge. Isle of See also:Ely. 1 Southampton. Isle of See also:Wight. Parts of Holland. Parts of Kesteven. Parts of See also:Lindsey. 1 See also:Northampton. See also:Soke of See also:Peterborough. S East Suffolk. j West Suffolk. East Sussex. West Sussex. East Riding. North Riding. West Riding. The, Scilly Islands, which form part of the ancient county of Cornwall, without being ranked as an administrative county, are provided with a county council and have separate See also:administration. (2) The administrative county of London has an area taken entirely from the counties of Middlesex, Kent and Surrey. (3) All boroughs which on See also:June 1, 1888, had a population of not less than 50,000, boroughs which were already counties having a population of not less than 20,000, and a few others, were formed into separate administrative areas, with the name of county Ecclesiastical Areas Cambridgeshire Hampshire . Lincolnshire Northamptonshire. Suffolk Sussex Yorkshire . boroughs. Of these there were originally 61, but their number subsequently increased. (4) Provision was made by the act of 1888 for including entirely within one administrative county each of such urban districts as were situated in more than one ancient county. The various urban and rural districts are described below (Section X.). The Civil Parish is defined (Poor Law See also:Amendment Act 1866) as " a place for which a separate poor-See also:rate is or can be made," but the parish council has local administrative functions beyond the administration of the poor law. The civil parish has become more or less divorced in relationship from the Ecclesiastical Parish (a division which probably served in early times for administrative purposes also), owing to successive independent alterations in the boundaries of both (see PARISH). Poor-law unions are groups of parishes for the local administration of the Poor See also:Laws. Within the unions the local poor-law authorities are the See also:Board of Guardians. In rural districts the functions of these boards are, under the Local Government Act of 1894, performed by the district councils, and in other places their constitution is similar to that of the urban and district councils (see PooR LAW). Registration districts are generally, but not invariably, co-extensive with unions of the same name. These districts are divided into sub-districts, within which the births and deaths are registered by registrars appointed for that purpose. Registration counties are groups of registration districts, and their boundaries differ more or less from those both of the ancient and the administrative counties. In England and Wales there are eleven registration divisions, consisting of groups of registration counties (see REGISTRATION). (O. J. R. H.)
X. LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The Reform Act of 1832 was the real starting-point for the overhauling of English local government. For centuries before, from the reign of See also:Edward III., under a number of statutes and commissions, the administrative work in the counties had been in the hands of the country gentlemen and the clergy, acting as justices of the See also:peace, and sitting in petty sessions and See also:quarter sessions. Each civil or " poor law " parish was governed by the See also:vestry and the overseers of the poor, dating from the Poor Law of 16o1; the vestry, which dealt with general affairs, being presided over by the See also:rector, and having the churchwardens as its chief officials. In 1782 See also: And as a result of the failure of the Public See also:Health Board established in 1848, the royal commission of 1869–1871 led to the establishment in 1871 of the Local Government Board as a central supervising body. Mean-while, the school boards resulting from the See also:Education Act of 187o brought local government also into the educational system; and the Public Health Act of 1875 put further duties on the local authorities. By 1888 a new See also:state of See also:chaos had grown up as the result of the multiplication of bodies, and the new Redistribution Act of 1885 paved the way for a further reorganization of local matters by the Local Government Act of 1888, followed by that of 1894. In London, which required separate treatment, a similar process had been going on. The Metropolis Management Act of 18J5 established (outside the city) two classes of parishes—the first class with vestries of their own, the second class grouped under district boards elected by the component vestries; and the Metropolitan Board of Works (abolished in 1888), elected by the vestries and the district boards, was made the central authority. In 1867 the Metropolitan Asylums Board took over its work from the metropolitan boards of guardians. See further CHARITY AND CHARITIES, PUBLIC HEALTH, EDUCATION, See also:JUSTICE OF THE PEACE, VESTRY, &C. The system of local government now existing in England (see also the article LOCAL GOVERNMENT) may be said to have been. founded in 1888, when the Local Government Act of that year was passed. Since then the entire system of the government of districts and parishes has been reorganized with due regard to the preceding legislation. The largest area of local govern ment is the county; next to that the sanitary district, urban or rural, including under this head municipal boroughs, all of which are urban districts. The parish is, speaking generally, the smallest area, though, as will hereafter be seen, part of a parish may be a separate area for certain, purposes; and there may be united districts or parishes for certain purposes. It will be convenient to follow this order in the See also:present article. But before doing so, it should be pointed out that all local bodies in England are to some extent subject to the control of central authorities, such as the privy council, the home office, the Board of Agriculture, the Board of Trade, the Board of Education or the Local Government Board. The Administrative County.—The administrative county includes all places within its area, with two important exceptions. The first of these consists of the county borough. The county The second is the quarter sessions borough, which and the forms part of the county for certain specified purposes county only. But the county includes all other places, such council as liberties and franchises, which before 1888 were exempt from contribution to county rate. For each administrative county a county council is elected. For purposes of See also:election the entire county is divided into divisions corresponding to the wards of a municipal borough, and one councillor is elected for each electoral division. The See also:electors are the county electors, i.e. in a borough the persons enrolled as burgesses, and in the rest of the county the persons who are registered as county electors, i.e. those persons who possess in a county the same county qualification as burgesses must have in a borough council , elections. and are registered. The qualification of a See also:burgess or county elector is substantially the occupation of rated See also:property within the borough or county, See also:residence during a qualifying period of twelve months within the borough or county, and See also:payment of rates for the qualifying property. A See also:person so qualified is entitled to be enrolled as a burgess, or registered as a county elector (as the case may be), unless he is See also:alien, has during the qualifying period received union or parochial See also:relief or other See also:alms, or is disentitled under some act of See also:parliament such as the Corrupt Practices Act, the See also:Felony Act, &c. The lists of burgesses and county electors are prepared annually by the overseers of each parish in the borough or county, and are revised by the revising See also:barrister at courts See also:holden by him for the purpose in September or See also:October of each year. When revised they are sent to the town clerk of the borough, or to the clerk of the peace of the county, as the case may be, by whom they are printed. The lists are conclusive of the right to See also:vote at an election, although on election See also:petition involving a See also:scrutiny the vote of a person disqualified by law may be struck off, notwithstanding the inclusion of his name in a list of voters. The qualification of a county councillor is similar to that required of a councillor in a municipal borough, with some modifications. A person may be qualified in any one of the following ways: viz. by being (I) enrolled as a county elector, and possessed of a property qualification consisting of the See also:possession of real or See also:personal property to the amount of £I000 in a county having four or more divisions, or of £500 in any other county, or the being rated to the poor rate on an annual value of £30 in a county having four or more divisions, or of £15 in any other county ; (2) enrolled in the non-resident list, and possessed of the same property qualification (the non-resident list contains the names of persons who are qualified for enrolment in all respects save residence in the county or within 7 m, thereof, and are actually resident beyond the 7 M. and within 15 m,) ; (3) entitled to elect to the office of county councillor (for this qualification no property qualification is required, but the office of a councillor elected on this qualification only becomes vacant if for six months he ceases to reside within the county) ; (4) a peer owning property in the county ; (5) registered as a parliamentary voter in respect of the ownership of property in the county. Clerks in See also:holy orders and ministers of See also:religion are not disqualified as they are for being borough councillors, but in other respects the persons disqualified to be elected for a county are the same as those disqualified to be elected for a borough. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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