Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

HAVERFORDWEST (Welsh Hwlfordd, the En...

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 81 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

See also:

HAVERFORDWEST (Welsh Hwlfordd, the See also:English name ,being perhaps a corruption of the Scandinavian Hafna-See also:Fjord) , the See also:chief See also:town of See also:Pembrokeshire, S. See also:Wales, a contributory See also:parliamentary and municipal See also:borough, and a See also:county of itself with its own See also:lord-See also:lieutenant. Pop. (1901), 6007. It is picturesquely situated on the slopes overlooking the See also:West Cleddau See also:river, which is here crossed by two See also:stone See also:bridges. It has a station on the See also:Great Western Railway on the See also:east See also:side of the river, and when viewed from this point the town presents an imposing See also:appearance with its See also:castle-keep and its many See also:ancient buildings. The river is tidal and navigable for vessels of not more than 150 tons. See also:Coal, See also:cattle, See also:butter and See also:grain are exported, but the commercial importance of the See also:place has greatly declined, as the many ruined warehouses near the river plainly testify. The old walls and fortifications have almost disappeared, but Haverfordwest is still See also:rich in memorials of its past greatness. The huge castle-keep, which dominates the town, was probably built by See also:Gilbert de See also:Clare, See also:early in the 12th See also:century; formerly used as the county See also:gaol, it now serves as the See also:police-station. The large See also:church of St See also:Mary, at the See also:top of the steep High See also:Street, has See also:fine See also:clerestory windows, clustered columns and an elaborate carved-See also:oak See also:ceiling of the 15th century; it contains several interesting monuments of the 17th and 18th centuries, some of which commemorate members of the See also:family of Philipps of See also:Picton Castle. At the N. corner of the adjacent See also:churchyard stands an ancient See also:building with a vaulted roof, once the See also:record See also:office, but now used as a See also:fish-See also:market.

St See also:

Martin's, with a See also:low See also:tower and See also:spire, See also:close to the castle, is probably the See also:oldest church in the town, but has been much modernized. Near St See also:Thomas's church on the See also:Green stands an old Moravian See also:chapel which is closely associated with the great See also:scholar and divine, See also:Bishop See also:John Gambold (1711-1771). In a meadow on the W. See also:bank of the river are the considerable remains of the Augustinian Priory of St Mary and St Thomas, built by See also:Robert de Hwlfordd, lord of Haverford, about the See also:year 1200. On the E. bank are the suburbs of Cartlet and Prendergast, the latter of which contains the ancient See also:parish church of St See also:David and the ruins of a large See also:mansion originally built by See also:Maurice de Prendergast (12th century) and subsequently the seat of the See also:Stepney family. A little to the S. of the town are the remains of Haroldstone, once the See also:residence of the powerful See also:Perrot family. The charities belonging to the town, which include John Perrot's See also:bequest (1J79), yielding about £35o annually for the improvement of the town, and Tasker's charity school (1684), are very considerable. Haverfordwest owes its origin to the See also:advent of the Flemings, who were permitted by See also:Henry I. to See also:settle in the See also:hundred of Roose, or Rhos, in the years sto6–i 1o8, in till, and again in 1156. English is exclusively spoken in the town and See also:district, and its inhabitants exhibit their See also:foreign extraction by their See also:language, customs and appearance. Haverfordwest is, in fact, the See also:capital of that English-speaking portion of Pembrokeshire, which has been, nicknamed " Little See also:England beyond Wales." source of an abundant and excellent See also:water See also:supply. There are fifteen public parks, the largest of which, Winnikenni See also:Park. (214 acres), contiguous to See also:Lake Kenoza, is of great natural beauty. The See also:city has three well-equipped hospitals, the beautiful Pentucket See also:club See also:house, a See also:children's See also:home, an old ladies' homr and numerous charitable organizations.

The See also:

schools of the city, both public and private, are of high See also:standing; they include See also:Bradford See also:Academy (1803) for girls and the St See also:James School (See also:Roman See also:Catholic). The public library is generously endowed, and in 1908 had about 90,000 volumes. Almost from the beginning of its See also:history See also:Haverhill was active industrially. Thomas Dustin, the See also:husband of Hannah Dustin, manufactured bricks, and this See also:industry has been carried on in the same locality for more than two hundred years. The large See also:Stevens woollen See also:mills are the outgrowth of mills established in 1835. The manufacture of woollen hats, established in the See also:middle of the 18th century, is one of the prominent See also:industries. There are large See also:morocco factories. By far the leading industry of the city is the manufacture of boots, shoes and slippers, chiefly of the finer kinds, of which it is one of the largest producers in the See also:world. In 1905 Haverhill ranked See also:fourth among the cities of the See also:United States in the product value of this manufacture, which was 4.8% of the See also:total value of boots and shoes made in the United States. This industry began about 1795. In 1905 Haverhill's manufacturing establishments produced goods valued at $24,446,594, 83.9% of this output being represented by boots and shoes or their accessories. One of the largest See also:sole-See also:leather manufactories in the world is here.

Haverhill was settled in See also:

June 164o by a small See also:colony from See also:Newbury and See also:Ipswich, and its See also:Indian name, Pentucket, was replaced by that of Haverhill in compliment to the first See also:minister, Rev. John See also:Ward, who was See also:born at Haverhill, England. In its earlier years this frontier town suffered severely from the forays of the See also:Indians, and in 1690 the See also:abandonment of the See also:settlement was contemplated. Two Indian attacks are particularly noteworthy—one in 1698, in which Hannah Dustin, her new-born babe, and her See also:nurse were carried away to the vicinity of Penacook, now See also:Concord, New See also:Hampshire. Here in the See also:night Mrs Dustin, assisted by her nurse and by a See also:captive English boy, tomahawked and scalped ten Indians (two men, the others children and See also:women) and escaped down the river to Haverhill; a See also:monument to her stands in City See also:Hall Park. In 1708 250 See also:French and Indians attacked the See also:village, killing 40 of its inhabitants. In 1873 a destructive See also:fire caused the loss of 35 places of business, and on the 17th of See also:February 1882 almost the entire See also:shoe district (consisting of 10 acres) was burned, with a loss of more than $2,000,000; but a greater business district was built on the ruins of the old. Haverhill was the birthplace of See also:Whittier, who lived here in 1807-1836, and who in his poem Haverhill, written for the 250th anniversary of the town in 1890, and in many of his other poems, gave the poet's See also:touch to. the history, the legends and the scenery of his native city. His birthplace, the See also:scene of See also:Snow-See also:Bound in the eastern See also:part of the city, is owned by the Whittier Association and is open to visitors. A See also:petition from Haverhill to the See also:national House of Representatives in 1842, praying for a peaceable See also:dissolution of the See also:Union, raised about J. Q. See also:Adams, its presenter, perhaps the most violent See also:storm in the See also:long course of his See also:defence of the This new settlement of intruding foreigners had naturally to be protected against the infuriated natives, and the castle was accordingly built c.

1I13 by Gilbert de Clare, first See also:

earl of See also:Pembroke, who subsequently conferred the See also:seignory of Haverford on his castellan, See also:Richard Fitz-See also:Tancred. On the See also:death of Robert de HwIfordd, the benefactor and perhaps founder of the priory of St Mary and St Thomas, in 1213, the lordship of the castle reverted to the See also:Crown, and was See also:purchased for l000 marks from See also:King John by See also:William See also:Marshal, earl of Pembroke, who gave various privileges to the town. Of the numerous charters the earliest known (through an allusion found in a document of Bishop See also:Houghton of St Davids, c. 1370) is one from Henry II., who therein confirms all former rights granted by his See also:grand-See also:father, Henry I. John in 1207 gave certain rights to the town concerning the See also:Port of See also:Milford, while William Marshal II., earl of Pembroke, presented it with three charters, the earliest of which is dated 1219. An important See also:charter of See also:Edward V., as See also:prince of \Vales and lord of Haverford, enacted that the town should be incorporated under a See also:mayor, two sheriffs and two bailiffs, duly chosen by the burgesses. In 1536, under Henry Haverfordwest was declared a town and county of itself and was further empowered to send a representative See also:burgess to See also:parliament. The town long played a prominent part in See also:South Welsh history. In 1220 See also:Llewelyn ap Iorwerth, prince of See also:North \Vales, during the See also:absence of William Marshal II., earl of Pembroke. attacked and burnt the suburbs, but failed to reduce the castle by See also:assault. Several of the See also:Plantagenet See also:kings visited the town, including Richard II., who stopped here some See also:time on his return from See also:Ireland in 1299, and is said to have performed here his last See also:regal See also:act—the See also:confirmation of the See also:grant of a hurgage to the Friars Preachers. See also:Oliver See also:Cromwell spent some days here on his way to Ireland, and his See also:original See also:warrant to the mayor and See also:council for the demolition of the castle is still preserved in the council chamber. The prosperity and See also:local importance of Iaverfordwest continued unimpaired throughout the 17th and 18th centuries, and Richard See also:Fenton, the historian of Pembrokeshire, describes it in 1810, as " the largest town in the county, if not in all Wales." With the rise of Milford, however, the See also:shipping See also:trade greatly declined, and Haverfordwest has now the appearance of a quiet See also:country town.

End of Article: HAVERFORDWEST (Welsh Hwlfordd, the English name ,being perhaps a corruption of the Scandinavian Hafna-Fjord)

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
HAVELOK THE DANE 		[next]
HAVERGAL, FRANCES RIDLEY (1836-1879)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries