Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
See also:NORTHERN See also:DIVISION .—This embraces almost all the See also:county N. of the Ribble, including See also:Furness, and a small See also:area S. of the Ribble See also:estuary. It is considerably the largest of the divisions. See also:Parliamentary divisions, from N. to S.—See also:North See also:Lonsdale, See also:Lancaster, See also:Blackpool, See also:Chorley. Parliamentary, county and municipal boroughs—See also:Barrow-in-Furness (57,586; one member); See also:Preston (112,989; two members). Municipal boroughs—Blackpool (county See also:borough ; 47,348), Chorley (26,852), Lancaster (40,329; county See also:town), See also:Morecambe (1 1,798). See also:Urban districts—Adlington (4523; Chorley), Bispham-with-Norbreck (Blackpool), Carnforth (3040; Lancaster), Croston (2102; Chorley), See also:Dalton-in-Furness (13,020), See also:Fleetwood (12,082), Fulwood (5238; Preston), See also:Grange (1993), See also:Heysham (3381; Morecambe), Kirkham (3693; Preston), Leyland (6865; Chorley), Longridge (4304; Preston), See also:Lytham (7185), Poulon-le-Fylde (2223; Blackpool). Preesall-with-Hackinsall (1423; Fleetwood), St See also:Anne'son-the-See also:Sea (6838, a watering-See also:place between Blackpool and Lytham), See also:Thornton (3108 ; Fleetwood), See also:Ulverston (10,064, in Furness), \Withnell (3349; Chorley).
NORTH-EASTERN-DIVISION.—This lies E. of Preston, and is the smallest of the four. Parliamentary divisions—See also:Accrington, See also:Clitheroe, See also:Darwen, Rossendale. Parliamentary, county and municipal boroughs —See also:Blackburn (127,626; two members); See also:Burnley (97,043; one member). Municipal boroughs—Accrington (43,122), See also:Bacup (22,505), Clitheroe (11,414), See also:Colne (23,000), Darwen (38,212), See also:Haslingden (18,543, extending into See also:South-Eastern division), See also:Nelson (32,816), See also:Rawtenstall (31,053). Urban districts—Barrowford (4959; Colne), Brierfield (7288; Burnley), See also: SOUTH-WESTERN DIvISION.—This division represents roughly a quadrant with See also:radius of "2o m. See also:drawn from See also:Liverpool. Parliamentary divisions—See also:Bootle, See also:Ince, See also:Leigh, See also:Newton, See also:Ormskirk, See also:Southport, See also:Widnes. Parliamentary boroughs—the See also:city ,and county and municipal borough of Liverpool (684,958; nine members) ; the county and municipal boroughs of St Helens (84,410; one member); See also:Wigan (60,764; one member), See also:Warrington (64,242; a See also:part only of the parliamentary borough is in this county). Municipal boroughs—Bootle (58,566), Leigh (40,001), Southport (county borough; 48,083), Widnes (28,580). Urban districts—Abram (6306; Wigan), Allerton (1101 ; Liverpool), See also:Ashton-in-Makerfield (18,687), See also:Atherton (16,211), Billinge (4232; Wigan), Birkdale (14,197; Southport), Childwall (219; Liverpool), Formby (6o6o), Golborne (6789; St Helens), Great See also:Crosby (7555; Liverpool), Haydock (8575; St Helens), See also:Hindley (23,504; Wigan), Huyton-with-See also:Roby (4661; St Helens), I nce-in-Makerfield (21,262), Lathom-and-Burscough (7113; Ormskirk), Litherland (10,592; Liverpool), Little Crosby (563; See also:Liver-See also:pool), Little Woolton (1091; Liverpool), Much Woolton (4731; Liverpool), Newton-in-Makerfield (16,699), Ormskirk (6857), Orrell (5436; Wigan), See also:Prescot (7855; St Helens), Rainford (3359; St Helens), Skelmersdale (5699; Ormskirk), See also:Standish-with-Langtree (6303; Wigan), See also:Tyldesley-with-Shakerley (14,843), Upholland (4773; Wigan), See also:Waterloo-with-See also:Seaforth (23,102; Liverpool). SOUTH-EASTERN DIvIsIoN.—This is of about the same area as the South-Western division, and it constitutes the See also:heart of the See also:industrial region. Parliamentary divisions—See also:Eccles, See also:Gorton, See also:Heywood, See also:Middle-ton, See also:Prestwich, See also:Radcliffe-cum-See also:Farnworth, Stretford, See also:Westhoughton. Parliamentary boroughs—the city and county of a city of See also:Manchester (543,872; six members) ; with which should be correlated 'the ad-joining county and municipal borough of See also:Salford (220,957; three members), also the county and municipal boroughs of See also:Bolton (168,215; two members), See also:Bury (58,029; one member), See also:Rochdale (83,114; one member), See also:Oldham (137,246; two members), and the municipal borough of Ashton-under-Lyne (43,890). Part only of the last parliamentary borough is within the county, and this division also contains part of the parliamentary boroughs of See also:Stalybridge and See also:Stockport. Municipal boroughs—Eccles (34,369), Hey-See also:wood (25,458), See also:Middleton (25,178), See also:Mossley (13,452). Urban districts —Aspull (8388; Wigan), Audenshaw (7216; Ashton-under-Lyne), Blackrod (3875; Wigan), See also:Chadderton (24,892; Oldham), See also:Crompton (13,427; Oldham), See also:Denton (14,934; Ashton-under-Lyne), Droylsden (11,087; Manchester), Failsworth (14,152; Manchester), Farnworth (25,925; Bolton), Gorton (26,564; Manchester), Heaton See also:Norris (9474; Stockport). See also:Horwich (15,084; Bolton), See also:Hurst (7145; Ashton-under-Lyne), Irlam (4335; Eccles), Kearsley (9218; Bolton), Lees (3621; Oldham), Levenshulme (11,485; Manchester), Little-borough (11,166; Rochdale), Little Hulton (7294; Bolton), Little See also:Lever (5119; Bolton), Milnrow (8241; Rochdale), See also:Norden (3907; Rochdale), Prestwich (12,839; Manchester), Radcliffe (25,368; Bury), See also:Ramsbottom (15,920; Bury), See also:Royton (14,881; Oldham), Stretford (3o,4 6; Manchester), See also:Swinton-and-Pendlebury (27,005; Manchester), Tottington (6118; Bury), See also:Turton (12,355; Bolton), Urmston (6594; Manchester), Wardle (4427; Rochdale), Westhoughton (14,377; Bolton), See also:Whitefield or Stand (6588; Bury), See also:Whitworth (9578; Rochdale), See also:Worsley (12,462; Eccles). See also:Lancashire is one of the counties See also:palatine. It is attached to the duchy of Lancaster, a See also:crown See also:office, and retains the See also:chancery See also:court for the county palatine. The chancery of the duchy of Lancaster was once a court of See also:appeal for the chancery of the county palatine, but now even its See also:jurisdiction in regard to the estates of the duchy is merely nominal. The chancery of the county palatine has concurrent jurisdiction with the High Court of Chancery in all matters of See also:equity within the county palatine, and See also:independent jurisdiction in regard to a variety of other matters. The county palatine comprises six hundreds. Lancashire is in the northern See also:circuit, and assizes are held at Lancaster for the north, and at Liverpool and Manchester for the south of the county. There is one court of See also:quarter sessions, and the county is divided into 33 See also:petty sessional divisions. The boroughs of Blackburn, Bolton, Burnley, Liverpool, Manchester, Oldham, Salford and Wigan have See also:separate commissions of the See also:peace and courts of quarter sessions; and those of Accrington, Ashton-under-Lyne, Barrow-in-Furness, Blackpool, Bolton, Bury, Clitheroe, Colne, Darwen, Eccles, Heywood, Lancaster, Middleton, Mossley, Nelson, Preston, Rochdale, St Helens, Southport and Warrington have separate commissions of the peace only. There are 430 See also:civil parishes. Lancashire is mainly in the See also:diocese of Manchester, but parts are in those of Liverpool, See also:Carlisle, See also:Ripon, See also:Chester and See also:Wakefield. There are 787 ecclesiastical parishes or districts wholly or in part within the county. Manchester and Liverpool are each seats of a university and of other important educational institutions. Within the See also:bounds of the county there are many denominational colleges, and near Clitheroe is the famous See also:Roman See also:Catholic See also:college of Stonyhurst. There is a See also:day training college for schoolmasters in connexion with University College, Liverpool, and a day training college for both schoolmasters and schoolmistresses in connexion with See also:Owens College, Manchester. At Edgehill, Liverpool, there is a residential training college for schoolmistresses which takes day pupils, at Liverpool a residential Roman Catholic training college for schoolmasters, and at Warrington a residential training college (Chester, Manchester and Liverpool diocesan) for schoolmistresses.
See also:History.—The See also:district afterwards known as Lancashire was after the departure of the See also:Romans for many years apparently little better than a See also:waste. It was not until the victory of 'Ethel-See also:frith, See also: See also: The county of Lancaster is first mentioned in 1169 as contributing See also:loo marks to the Royal See also:Exchequer for defaults and fines. The creation of the honour decided the boundaries, throwing into it Furness and Cartmel, which geographically belong to See also:Westmorland; Lonsdale and Amounderness, which in Domesday had been surveyed under Yorkshire; and the See also:land between the Ribble and Mersey. In Domesday this district south of the Ribble was divided into the six hundreds of See also:West Derby, . Newton, Warrington, Blackburn, Salford and Leyland, but before Henry II.'s reign the hundreds of Warrington and Newton were absorbed in that of West Derby. Neither Amounderness nor Lonsdale was called a See also:hundred in Domesday, but soon after that time the former was treated as a hundred. Ecclesiastically the whole of the county originally belonged to the diocese of See also:York, but after the reconquest of the district between the Ribble and Mersey in 923 this part was placed under the See also:bishop of Lich-See also: In 1377 the county was erected into a See also:palatinate for John of Gaunt's See also:life, and in 1396 these rights of jurisdiction were extended and settled in See also:perpetuity on the See also:dukes of Lancaster. The county palatine courts consist of a chancery which See also:dates back at least to 1376, a court of common pleas, the jurisdiction of which wasjustice, and a court of criminal jurisdiction which in no way differs from the king's See also:ordinary court. In 1407 the duchy court of Lancaster was created, in which all questions of See also:revenue and dignities affecting the duchy possessions are settled. The chancery of the duchy has been for years practically obsolete. The duchy and county palatine each has its own seal. The office of See also:chancellor of the duchy and county palatine dates back to 1351.
Lancashire is famed for the number of old and important county families living within its See also:borders. The most intimately connected with the history of the county are the Stanleys, whose See also:chief seat is Knowsley See also: In 1628 Sir Richard Molyneux was advanced to the See also:peerage of See also:Ireland by the title of See also:Viscount See also:Maryborough, and in 1771 See also: The Scottish See also:wars were a great drain to the county, not only because the north part was subject to frequent invasions, as in 1322, but because some of the best See also:blood was taken for these wars. In 1297 Lancashire raised roots men, and at the battle of See also:Falkirk (1298) r000 Lancashire soldiers were in the vanguard, led by Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln. In 1349 the county was visited by the See also:Black Death and a See also:record exists of its ravages in Amounderness. In ten parishes between See also:September 1349 and See also:January 1350, 13,180 persons perished. At Preston 3000 died, at Lancaster 3000, at Garstang 2000 and at Kirkham 3000. From the effects of this See also:plague Lancashire was apparently slow to recover; its boroughs ceased to return members early in the 14th century and See also:trade had not yet made any great advance. The drain of the Wars of the See also:Roses on the county must also have been heavy, although none of the battles was fought within its borders; Lord Stanley's force of 5000 raised in Lancashire and Cheshire virtually decided the battle of See also:Bosworth Field. The poverty of the county is shown by the fact that out of £40,000 granted in 1504 by See also:parliament to the king, Lancashire's See also:share was only £318. At the battle of See also:Flodden (1513) the Lancashire archers led by Sir Edward Stanley almost totally destroyed the Highlanders on the right Scottish wing and greatly contributed to the victory. Under the Tudors the county prospered; the parliamentary boroughs once more began to return members, the towns increased in See also:size, many halls were built by the gentry and trade increased. In 1617 James I. visited Lancashire, and in consequence of a See also:petition presented to him at Hoghton, complaining of the restrictions imposed upon See also:Sunday amusements, he issued in 1618 the famous Book of See also:Sports. Another of James's See also:works, the Daemonologie, is closely connected with the See also:gross superstitions concerning witches which were specially prevalent in Lancashire. The great centre of this See also:witchcraft was Pendle See also:Forest, in the See also:parish of See also:Whalley, and in 1612 twelve persons from Pendle and eight from Samlesbury were tried for witchcraft, nine of whom were hanged. In 1633 another batch of seventeen witches from Pendle were tried and all sentenced to be executed, but the king pardoned them. This was the last important See also:case of witchcraft in Lancashire.
In the See also:assessment of See also:ship See also:money in 1636 the county was put down for £1000, towards which Wigan was to raise £50, Preston £40, Lancaster £30, and Liverpool £25, and these figures compared with the assessments of £140 on See also:Hull and £200 on See also:Leeds show the See also:comparative unimportance of the Lancashire boroughs. On the See also:eve of the Great Rebellion in 164r parliament resolved to take command of the See also:militia, and Lord See also:Strange, Lord Derby's eldest son, was removed from the lord lieutenancy. On the whole, the county was Royalist, and the moving spirit among the Royalists was Lord Strange, who became Lord Derby in 1642. Manchester was the headquarters of the Parliamentarians, and was besieged by Lord Derby in September 1642 for seven days, but not taken. Lord Derby himself took up his head-quarters at Warrington end garrisoned Wigan. At the opening of 1643 Sir Thomas See also:Fairfax made Manchester his headquarters. Early in See also:February the Parliamentarians from Manchester successfully assaulted Preston, which was strongly Royalist; thence the Parliamentarians marched to Hoghton Tower, which they took, and within a few days captured Lancaster. On the Royalist side Lord Derby made an unsuccessful attack on Bolton from Wigan. In See also: In March Lord Derby captured the town of Lancaster but not the castle, and marching to Preston regained it for the king, but was repulsed in an attack on Bolton. In See also:April Wigan, one of the chief Royalist strongholds in the county, was taken by the parliament forces, who also again captured Lancaster, and the guns from the Spanish ship were moved for use against Warrington, which was obliged to surrender in May after a See also:week's See also:siege. Lord Derby also failed in an See also:attempt on Liverpool, and the See also:tide of See also:war had clearly turned against the Royalists in Lancashire. In See also:June Lord Derby went to the Isle of See also:Man, which was threatened by the king's enemies. Soon after, the Parliamentarians captured See also:Hornby castle, and only two strong-holds, Thurland castle and Lathom See also:house, remained in Royalist hands. In the summer, after a seven See also:weeks' siege by See also:Colonel See also: For the moment the war in Lancashire was over. In 1648, however, the Royalist forces under the duke of See also: The 17th century saw the See also:birth of the class of clothiers, who See also:purchased the wool in large quantities . or kept their own See also:sheep, and delivered it to weavers who worked it up into See also:cloth in their houses and returned it to the employers. The earliest mention of the manufacture of real See also:cotton goods is in 1641, when Manchester made fustians, vermilions and dimities, but the industry did not develop to any extent until after the invention of the See also:fly See also:shuttle by John See also:Kay in 1733, of the See also:spinning jenny by James Hargreaves of Blackburn in 1765, of the See also:water See also:frame throstle by Richard See also:Arkwright of Bolton in 1769, and of the See also:mule by See also:Samuel Crompton of Hall-in-the-Wood near Bolton in 1779. So rapid was the development of the cotton manufacture that in 1787 there were over See also:forty cotton See also:mills in Lancashire, all worked by water power. In 1789, however, See also:steam was applied to the industry in Manchester, and in 1790 in Bolton a cotton mill was worked by steam. The increase in the import of raw cotton from 3,870,000 lb in 1769 to 1,083,600,000 in 186o shows the growth of the industry. The rapid growth was accompanied with intermittent periods of depression, which in 1819 in particular led to the formation of various See also:political See also:societies and to the See also:Blanketeers' See also:Meeting and the Peterloo See also:Massacre. During the See also:American Civil War the five years' cotton See also:famine caused untold misery in the county, but public and private See also:relief mitigated the evils, and one See also:good result was the introduction of machinery capable of dealing with the shorter See also:staple of See also:Indian cotton, thus rendering the trade less dependent for its supplies on See also:America. During the 18th century the only town where maritime trade increased was Liverpool, where in the last See also:decade about 4500 See also:ships arrived annually of a See also:tonnage about one-fifth that of the See also:London See also:shipping. The prosperity of Liverpool was closely See also:bound up with the slave trade, and about one-See also:fourth of its ships were employed in this business. With the increase of trade the means of communication improved. In 1758 the duke of See also:Bridgewater began the Bridgewater See also:canal from Worsley to Salford and across the Irwell to Manchester, and before the end of the century the county was intersected by canals. In 1830 the first railway in England was opened between Manchester and Liverpool, and other See also:railways rapidly followed. ` The first recorded instance of parliamentary See also:representation in Lancashire was in 1295, when two knights were returned for the county and two burgesses each for the boroughs of Lancaster, Preston, Wigan and Liverpool. The See also:sheriff added to this return " There is no city in the county of Lancaster." The boroughs were, however, excused one after another from parliamentary representation, which was See also:felt as a See also:burden owing to the compulsory See also:payment of the members' See also:wages. Lancaster ceased to send members in 1331 after making nineteen returns, but renewed its privileges in 1529; from 1529 to 1547 there are no parliamentary returns, but from 1547 to 1867 Lancaster continued to return two members. Preston similarly was excused after 1331, after making eleven returns, but in 1529 and from 1547 onwards returned two members. Liverpool and Wigan sent members in 1295 and 1307, but not again till 1547. To the See also:writ issued in 1362 the sheriff in his return says: " There is not any City or Borough in this County from which citizens or burgesses ought or are accustomed to come as this Writ requires." In 1559 Clitheroe and Newton-le-Willows first sent two members. Thus in all Lancashire returned fourteen members, and, with a brief exception during the See also:Commonwealth, this continued to be the parliamentary representation till 1832. By the Reform Act of 1832 Lancashire was assigned four members, two for the northern and two for the See also:southern division. Lancaster, Preston, Wigan and Liverpool continued to send two members, Clitheroe returned one and Newton was disfranchised. The following new boroughs were created: Manchester, Bolton, Blackburn, Oldham, returning two members each; Ashton-under-Lyne, Bury, Rochdale, Salford and \Varrington, one each. In 1861 a third member was given to South Lancashire and in 1867 the county was divided into four constituencies, to each of which four members were assigned; since 1885 the county returns twenty-three members. The boroughs returned from 1867 to 1885 twenty-five members, and since 1885 See also:thirty-four. Antiquities.—The Cistercian abbey of Furness (q.v.) is one of the finest and most extensive ecclesiastical ruins in England. Whalley abbey, first founded at Stanlawe in Cheshire in 1178, and removed in 1296, belonged to the same See also:order. There was a priory of Black Canons at Burscough, founded in the time of Richard I., one at Conishead dating from Henry II.'s reign, and one at Lancaster. A See also:convent of Augustinian friars was founded at Cartmel in 1188, and one at \Varrington about 1280. There are some remains of the See also:Benedictine priory of Upholland, changed from a college of See also:secular priests in 1318; and the same order had a priory at Lancaster founded in 1o94, a See also:cell at Lytham, of the reign of Richard I., and a priory at Penwortham, founded shortly after the time of the Conqueror. The See also:Premonstratensians had Cockersand abbey, changed in 1190 from a See also:hospital founded in the reign of Henry II., of which the See also:chapter-house remains. At Kersal, near Manchester, there was a cell of Cluniac monks founded in the reign of John, while at Lan-caster there were convents of See also:Dominicans and See also:Franciscans, and at Preston a priory of See also:Grey Friars built by Edmund, earl of Lancaster, son of Henry III.
Besides the churches mentioned under the several towns, the more interesting are those of Aldingham, See also:Norman See also:doorway; Aughton; Cartmel priory church (see FuRNEss); Hawkshead; Heysham, Norman with traces of earlier date; See also:Hoole; Huyton; Kirkby, rebuilt, with very See also:ancient See also:font; Kirkby Ireleth, See also:late Perpendicular, with Norman doorway; Leyland; Melling (in Lonsdale), Perpendicular, with stained-See also:glass windows; Middleton, rebuilt in 1524, but containing part of the Norman church and several monuments; Ormskirk, Perpendicular with traces of Norman, having two towers, one of which is detached and surmounted by a See also:spire; Overton, with Norman doorway; Radcliffe, Norman; Sefton, Perpendicular, with See also:fine See also:brass and recumbent figures of the Molyneux family, also a See also:screen exquisitely carved; Stidd, near Ribchester, Norman arch and old monuments; See also:Tunstall, late Perpendicular; Upholland priory church, Early English, with See also:low massy tower; See also:Urswick, Norman, with embattled tower and several old monuments; Walton-on-the-See also: Fishwick, A History of Lancashire (1894); W. D. See also:Pink and A. B. Beavan, The Parliamentary Representation of Lancashire (1889). Additional information and CommentsThere 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. |
|
[back] NORTHERN |
[next] NORTHERN ZONE |