A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Manchester * the greatest mere village in England.' 

 Its trade and population had much increased within 

 the previous forty or fifty years ; abundance not of 

 houses only but of streets of houses had been provided. 

 It boasted of four extraordinary foundations — a 

 college, a hospital, a free school, and a library, all 

 very well supported. ' I cannot but doubt,' he re- 

 marks, ' but this increasing town will some time or 

 other obtain some better face of government and be 

 incorporated, as it very well deserves to be ... . 

 There is a very firm but ancient stone bridge over the 

 Irwell, which is built exceeding high, because this 

 river, though not great, yet coming from the moun- 

 tainous part of the country swells sometimes so 

 suddenly that in one night's time they told me the 

 waters would frequently rise four or five yards, and 

 the next day fall as hastily as they rose.' Salford he 

 calls ' the suburb or village on the other side of the 

 bridge.' «* 



The Jacobites in 1745 hoped that Manchester 

 would give them substantial assistance.** Mr. Clayton, 

 one of the chaplains of the collegiate church, was an 

 ardent partisan, and the other clergy were sympa- 

 thizers." One of the nonjuring bishops. Dr. Deacon, 

 lived in the town, ministering to a small congregation. 

 On 28 November a daring sergeant of the Pre- 

 tender's, having hurried forward, appeared in the town 

 and began to invite recruits.'* His reception was not 

 cordial, but sufficient supporters were obtained to 

 secure his safety and freedom until the vanguard of 

 the army arrived in the evening. The whole force 

 reached Manchester the following day, the prince 

 himself riding in during the afternoon, when his 

 father was proclaimed king as James III. Mr. 

 Dickinson's house in Market Street was chosen as head 

 quarters and was afterwards known as ' The Palace.' 



At night many of the people illuminated their houses, 

 bonfires were made, and the bells were rung. Some 

 three hundred recruits had joined the invaders, and 

 were called ' The Manchester Regiment.' Money due 

 to the government was seized.** The army marched 

 south on Monday I December, and returned to 

 Manchester in its retreat on the 9th. Out of a con- 

 tribution of j^5,ooo then demanded, ^^2,500 was 

 collected and accepted, and the prince and his forces 

 left the town next day. The Manchester Regiment 

 still accompanied him, and was entrusted with the 

 defence of Carlisle, which surrendered at the end of 

 the month. The officers were tried for high treason 

 in July 1746, and some were executed at Kenning- 

 ton.°° The heads of two — Thomas Theodorus 

 Deacon and Thomas Siddall — were sent down to 

 Manchester, and fixed on the Exchange.'' The men 

 of the regiment were tried at Carlisle in August and 

 September, and many of them executed. The 

 successful party had their celebrations, the news of 

 the capture of Carlisle and the victory of CuUoden 

 being welcomed by public illuminations and the 

 distribution of liquor.'* The ill-feeling between the 

 two parties in the town — the Jacobites and the 

 Whigs — continued for many years afterwards. 



At this time begins the series of detailed plans of 

 the towns of Manchester and Salford."* That of 

 Casson and Berry, 1 74 1 -51, shows that the town 

 had expanded considerably, along Deansgate, Market 

 Street, and Shude Hill ; a number of new streets had 

 been laid out, but the principal improvement appears 

 to have been the formation of St. Ann's Square on 

 the site of Acresfield about 1720." This drew with 

 it other improvements, as a decent approach had to 

 be formed from Market Street. Several large private 

 houses are figured on the border of the plan of 1750," 



Some curious details are given in the 

 diary of Edmund Harrold, wig-maker, 

 1712-16, printed in Maach. Collectanea, i, 

 172, &c. 



Bonfires were lighted to celebrate the 

 king's birthday and accession, as well as 

 the Gunpowder Plot and Restoration of 

 Charles II. Cockthrowing on Shrove 

 Tuesday and * lifting * at Easter also afford- 

 ed diversion to the populace. See Con- 

 stables' Accounts, ill, I, z, 7, 8, 66, 68. 



85 A Gentleman's Tour of Great Britain 

 (ed. 1738), iii, 173-9. 



In the Gent. Mag, for 1739 (quoted in 

 the Preston Guardian) is a statement that 

 2,000 new houses had been built in the 

 town within twenty years. 



8^ The Hanoverians were not idle, but 

 raised a fund for troops ; see Pal. Note 

 Bk. iii, 235. In the same work will be 

 found a diary of 1745 (iv, 19), and some 

 depositions (iv, 70) ; see further in Local 

 Glean. Lanes, and Ches. \, 89, 153, &c. ; 

 and Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. vii, 142 ; 

 Byrom's Diary (Chet. Soc. xl); P'ar. Coll. 

 (Hist. MSS. Com.), ii, 287, 288. 



8^ Mr. Clayton openly welcomed the 

 Pretender ; another clergyman, Thomas 

 Coppock, a native of Manchester, was 

 appointed chaplain to the Manchester 

 Regiment and promoted to the see of 

 Carlisle, in which city he was executed in 

 1746 ; Local Glean. Lanes, and Ches. i, 

 153, etc. ; Procter's Manch. Streets, 193. 

 ^^ See Ray's Hist, of the Rebellion, 156 j 

 Manchester was taken * by a Serjeant, a 

 drum, and a woman.' Chevalier John- 

 ston's account is reprinted in Reilly's 

 Manch, 237, 238. 



8^ William Fowden, the constable, was 

 brought to trial at Carlisle in 1747 for 

 having executed the orders of Prince 

 Charles Edward ; it was proved that he 

 acted under compulsion and he was acquit- 

 ted. A full account of the matter will 

 be found in Earwaker's edition of the 

 M.anch. Constables' Accts. iii, 20—28, 354, 

 355- 



^^ The officers were : *Franci8 Towne- 

 ley, the colonel ; *James Dawson (M), 

 *George Fletcher, John Sanderson, Peter 

 Moss, *Andrew Blood, David Morgan, 

 captains; *ThomasT. Deacon (M), Robert 

 Deacon (M), *Thomas Chadwick, *John 

 Beswick, John Holker (M), Thomas 

 Furnival, *James Bradshaw, lieutenants ; 

 Charles Deacon (M), Samuel Maddock, 

 Charles Gaylor, James Wilding, John 

 Hunter, William Brettargh (M), ensigns ; 

 and *Thomas Siddall (M), adjutant. 

 Those marked with an asterisk were 

 executed ; Moss and Holker escaped ; 

 Maddock turned king's evidence ; others 

 were transported. Those marked (M) 

 belonged to the parish of Manchester. 

 For James Dawson see Shenstone's ballad ; 

 Scott, Admiss. to St. John's Coll. Camb. 

 iii, 88, 488 ; Eagle, xxviii, 229 — last 

 speech (from Raines's MSS. xxv, 370). 

 The last speech of James Bradshaw is 

 in Pal. Note Bk. iii, 274. There are 

 notices of Dawson and Bradshaw in Diet. 

 Nat. Biog. 



81 A story as to the fate of the heads is 

 told in Procter's Manch. Streets, 267. 



*" See Manch. Constables' Accts. iii, 28, 

 32, and notes. 



'' For accounts of the plans of Man- 



180 



Chester see Harland's Manch. Collectanea, 

 i, 100, &c.; C. Roeder 'm Lanes, and Ches, 

 Antiq. Soc. xxi, 153. 



'■• One consequence was that the ancient 

 fair had ultimately to be removed. A 

 man living in 1787 could remember corn 

 and potatoes growing on St. Ann's Square ; 

 they had to be carted away the day before 

 the fair as the people had a right to come 

 to hold the fair whether the crops had 

 been removed or not ; Manch. Collectanea, 

 ii, 188. 



The fair continued to be held on 10 Oct. 

 in St. Ann's Square until 1821, when it 

 was removed to Shude Hill. A popular 

 holiday festival, known as Knott Mill Fair, 

 had by that time grown up ; it was held 

 on Easter Monday. Acres Fair was trans- 

 ferred to Campfield about 1830. All the 

 fairs were abolished in 1876. See Axon, 

 Annals ; Baines, Lanes. Dir. (1825), ii, 154. 



'^ The views are — Christ Church 

 (Cathedral), Trinity (Salford), St. Ann's, 

 the College, the Exchange, the Quay, and 

 St. Ann's Square ; the houses of Mr. 

 Floyd near St. Ann's Square, Mr. Marsden 

 and Mr. Dickenson in Market Street 

 Lane, Mr. Croxton in King Street, Mr. 

 Howarth in Millgate, Mr. Touchet in 

 Deansgate, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Miles Bower 

 and his son, Mr. Marriott in Brown's 

 Street, Messrs. Clowes in Hunt's Bank, 

 and Francis Reynolds, esq. (Strangeways 

 Hall). An account of these plans (with 

 a reproduction) will be found in Prpcter, 

 Bygone Manch. 349, g^c. 



Lists of published views of old Man- 

 chester are given in the Pal. Note Bk. iii. 

 53, &c. 



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