TRANSACTIONS OF SECTION F. 



853 



JIanchester in 1842 some particulars as to the increase of wealth in the county 

 were submitted by the late Mr. Henry Ash worth ; and as th? progress made since 

 that date has heen very remarkable, it may be useful to examine the subject once 

 more from a statistical point of view. 



The name of the county of Lancashire does not occur in Domesday Book, but 

 the 188 manors in the district now known by that name nre valued at 120/., a 

 sum which Baines, in his * History of Lancashire,' estimates as eauivalent to 

 13,200/. 



When the Great Council or Parliament of Westminster, 1352, was held for 

 Ihe purpose of ' settling the staple' or manufactures of the kingdom, the county 

 sent only one representative. The list of decayed towns of Lancashire in 1544 

 includes Lancaster, Preston, Lyrepool, and Wigan. In the military muster of 

 1553 Lancashire was called upon for 2,000 men, and in 1559 there were 1,919 

 ' harnessed men ' and 2,073 without armour. In 1574 it furnished 6,000 able men, 

 3,600 armed men, 600 pioneers and artificers, 12 demi-lances, and 90 light horse — 

 standing amongst the most important of the coimties in a military sense. 



In the same year the gross produce of the tenth and fifteenth taxes was 

 recorded as 376/. 11*. Hid. The figures for the hundreds were : Leyland, 

 36/. lOs. 4d.; Blackburn,' 48/. 8s. 6f/. ; Salford, 48/. 7s. 4d.; West Derby, 

 125/. 8s. 7d.; Amounderness, 66/. 17s.-, Lonsdale, 50/. IBs. 2d. The levy for ship- 

 money in 1636 shows the estimate as to the relative wealth of various places. Tlie 

 contribution of Lancashire was one ship of 400 tons, 160 men, and 1,000/. 

 Preston contributed 40/.; Lancaster, 30/.; Liverpool, 25/.; AVigan, 50/.; Clitheroe, 

 71. 10s. ; Newton, 71. 10s. Yorkshire contributed two ships of 600 tons and 12,000/. 

 Hull was assessed at 140/. ; Leeds at 200/. ; Bristol at one ship of 100 tons, 40 

 men, and 1,000/. London contributed seven ships, 4,000 tons, 1,560 men, and six 

 months' pay. 



Mr. Ashworth calculated the value of Lancashire from the land tax in 1692, 

 and compared it with that of the rateable value in 1841. This is the starting- 

 point of the following calculations. The increase of both population and of 

 rateable value has been due to the immense development, in the first instance, of 

 the cotton trade, and to the impetus given by it to other forms of industry. The 

 increase of population in Lancashire may be thus stated: — 1801,672,731; 1811, 

 828,309 ; 1821, 1,052,859 ; 1831, 1,335,800 ; 1841, 1,667,064 ; 1851, 2,031,236 ; 

 1861, 2,428,744 ; 1871, 2,819,495 ; 18S1,_ 3,454,441. The rateable value of the six 

 hundreds into which the county is divided may now be stated. The figures for 

 1692 are those calculated by Mr. Ashworth, and the later dates are the official 

 estimates for the county basis or standard of rating : — 



Rateable Value of the County of Lancaster. 



The first column calculated from the land-tax returns ; the remainder from the 

 basis or standard for county rates. 



If we take the townships forming and adjoining the city of Manchester and the 

 borough of Salford, the increase is shown to be very marked. It is notable that 

 the increase of wealth has been progressive, notwithstanding the complaints of 

 Irade depression. 



