656 



MANCHESTER (HISTORY AND DESCRIPTION.) 



records. Another opinion is, that during the posses- 

 sion of Britain by the Romans, the military post 

 stationed here, in order to distinguish it from the 

 great camp at Chester, was called Monacastra, 

 (afterwards corrupted to Mancestre,) the single 

 camp, much on the same principle that Anglesea 

 and Alan, solitary islands, acquired the appellation 

 ot Moiia. The town, which had gradually accumu- 

 lated round the ancient fortress, was ruined during 

 the early incursions of the Danes, and subsequently 

 restored by Edward the Elder, about 920. On the 

 Norman Conquest, Albert de Grelley, one of the 

 adventurers attached to the standard of William I., 

 obtained possession of this place, and made it his seat 

 of residence ; and his son Robert de Grelley, in 1134, 

 after returning from an expedition into Normandy, 

 whitUer he had attended his sovereign Henry I., 

 obtained from that prince as the reward for his ser- 

 vices a grant of a fair to be held in his lordship of 

 Manchester, annually on St Matthew's Day, and the 

 days before and after it ; and this fair, which still 

 subsists, under the appellation of Ackers Fair, now 

 takes place on the first of October. Thomas de 

 Grelley, lord of the manor in 1301, gave the bur- 

 gesses of the town a charter of the customs of the 

 manor, by which Manchester was constituted a free 

 burgh. From the Grelley family this lordship was 

 transferred to Robert de la Warre, whose descendant, 

 Thomas de la Warre, in the reign of Henry V., 

 founded that noble establishment the collegiate 

 church. In 1579, the manorial rights and immuni- 

 ties were sold for 3000 to John Lacye, who, in 

 1596, resold them for 3,500 to Sir Nicholas Mos- 

 ley, in whose family the manor, now immensely 

 increased in value, has ever since continued. Man- 

 chester is mentioned by Camden, in the reign of 

 Elizabeth, as a place of importance for its population, 

 manufactures, and commerce ; and during the govern- 

 ment of Cromwell this town twice returned members 

 to the house of commons. On the commencement of 

 the civil war between Charles I. and the parliament, 

 possession was taken of Manchester, in behalf of the 

 latter, by the country militia, who being joined by 

 the people of the town and neighbourhood, the 

 streets were slightly barricaded; and the earl of 

 Derby, who in September, 1642, at the head of a 

 large body of royalist forces assaulted the town, was 

 repulsed, and forced to retreat. The next year the 

 town was strongly garrisoned, and remained in the 

 hands of parliament till the war was terminated. 

 When the insurrection against government took 

 place in 1745, under prince Charles Edward Stuart, 

 Manchester became for a short time the quarters of 

 the insurgents. On the 29th of November the main 

 body of their forces entered this town, on their 

 march from Scotland ; and the young adventurer 

 took up his quarters at a house in Market Street 

 Lane, called from that circumstance the Palace, and 

 since converted into an inn, which still retains that 

 appellation. The rebel army remained here till the 

 1st of December, and then proceeded southwards, 

 but was soon after obliged to retreat. The inac- 

 tivity of the local authorities at Manchester on the 

 arrival of the Scottish troops, was construed into 

 disaffection to the existing government, and at the 

 assizes at Lancaster, in 1747, the constables, or pre- 

 siding officers of the town, were arraigned on the 

 charge of high treason, but the prosecution ended in 

 a verdict of honourable acquittal. In 1768, Man- 

 chester was visited by Christiern VII., king of Den- 

 mark, who came to this part of the country to see 

 the works for the improvement of inland navigation, 

 then in progress, under the duke of Bridgewater. 

 In 1817, during a period of great manufacturing de- 

 pression, a "number of distressed persons agreed to 



assemble and march to London, in order to lay their 

 grievances before the throne. Each individual was 

 provided with a blanket slung on his shoulders : 

 hence they \vere called Blanketeers. Many set out 

 on their journey, but their perseverance soon gave 

 way, and none proceeded further than Macclesfield. 

 A more remarkable event took place on the I Gth A ng., 

 1819, when a vast concourse of people, assembled 

 on a piece of vacant ground near St Peter's church, 

 for the purpose of petitioning for a reform in parlia- 

 ment. This assemblage was illegally dispersed by a 

 detachment of yeomanry, under the direction of the 

 magistrates; and the chairman of the meeting, 

 Henry Hunt, with several of the leaders, were cap- 

 tured and sent to prison. The yeomanry displayed 

 much unnecessary severity on the occasion : several 

 lives were lost ; and about 500 persons of both sexes 

 suffered injury. This transaction, popularly called 

 the Manchester massacre, excited a great deal of 

 indignation throughout the country, as being an 

 outrage both on humanity and the constitutional 

 rights of the people. 



Description, Manchester is about two miles in 

 length, and one and a half in breadth, containing 

 about 600 streets, which are in general well paved 

 and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants are con- 

 veniently supplied with water. The buildings dis- 

 play considerable variety, but among those of 

 modern erection there are some handsome structures. 

 Within the last twenty years, several extensive, im- 

 provements have been carried into execution in 

 different quarters of the town. In 1822, an act of 

 parliament was procured for making alterations in 

 Market street and its vicinity, and for the erection 

 of a new bridge across the Irwell, from Water street 

 to Salford ; the narrow avenues at the bottom of 

 King street, connecting it with Deansgate, have been 

 widened; as also have those at the lower end of 

 Cannon street, leading to Hanging ditch. In Picca- 

 dilly, the carriage-way lias been widened by remov- 

 ing the railing of the infirmary pond close to its 

 edge. Market street, formerly called Market street 

 lane, has been rebuilt on such a scale of magnifi- 

 cence as to entitle it to the appellation of the Regent 

 street of Manchester. The carriage-ways in general 

 have been Macadamized ; and the footways occa- 

 sionally widened, and otherwise improved. Gas- 

 works, for lighting the streets of Manchester, were 

 established in 1817, and others for lighting Salford 

 in 1820 ; besides which, a portable gas company has 

 been formed, to supply gas for lighting dwelling- 

 houses or other buildings. The Manchester and 

 Salford waterworks were established in 1809. Be- 

 sides the bridges over the Irwell, there are six 

 which cross the Irk, nine the Medlock, and several 

 others over the canals. Among the public edifices, 

 appropriated for the purposes of commerce, is the 

 Manchester exchange, built by subscription, and 

 opened to the public in January, 1809. In York 

 Buildings, and Chapel Street, Salford, are the cloth- 

 halls, or public marts, for the sale of Yorkshire 

 cloth; and in Hanging Ditch is the Corn Exchange, 

 for the accommodation of corn-dealers and brokers. 

 The public markets are numerous, but not in general 

 distinguished for extent or convenience of arrange- 

 ment. Provisions of all kinds are exposed for sale 

 every day in the week, except Sunday, the regular 

 market-days, however, being only four. The market- 

 places are the New Shambles, at the end of Bridge 

 Street, for butchers' meat, with a pork-market adja- 

 cent; the fruit-markets are at Long Millgate and 

 Shude Hill; Smithfield Market, Shude Hill, is for 

 various commodities and provisions, except on Wed- 

 nesdays, when the sale of cattle takes place there; in 

 the London Road are shambles, and a market for 



