SALFORD HUNDRED 



MANCHESTER 



which also gives a bird's-eye view of the town from 

 the Salford side of the river, with a sporting scene in 

 the foreground. Apart from churches and schools the 

 only public building was the Exchange, built in 

 1729 by Sir O. Mosley, partly for trade and partly 

 for a court-house.'* 



The first newspaper had appeared about 17 19," 

 but was discontinued in 1726; four years later another 

 appeared, and had an existence of thirty years. Some 

 others were attempted from time to time, and in 

 1752 began the Manchester Mercury, published down 

 to 1830. The first Directory appeared in 1772." 

 The old Subscription Library began in 1757—65 and 

 was followed by others.^' 



From the middle of the i8th century the growth 

 of Manchester was very rapid.'™ The improvement 

 of means of communication was inaugurated in 172 1 

 with the Mersey and Irwell Navigation,"" and the 

 Duke of Bridgewater's canal system followed in 1758, 

 being imitated by other canals which within fifty 

 years connected Manchester with the principal towns 

 in the manufacturing districts."" A long series of 



road Acts began in 1724, resulting in the straight and 

 good ways leading from the town in every direction."" 

 Then came the great series of inventions which 

 created modern industry — the spinning jenny, power 

 loom, and others, followed by the substitution of steam 

 power for the older water wheel.'"' With this de- 

 velopment of manufactures the population also in- 

 creased rapidly, and the town spread out in all 

 directions. Externally the people of the district at 

 that time were the reverse of attractive ; an American 

 visitor about 1780 describes them as 'inhospitable 

 and boorish . . . remarkable for coarseness of feature; 

 and the language is unintelligible.' "" The Sunday 

 schools, begun about 178 1, probably had a good effect 

 in that respect. 



A plan prepared about 1790 shows that the net- 

 work of modern, regular streets had covered a large 

 part of the central township of Manchester, and was 

 spreading over the boundaries into Hulme, Chorlton, 

 and Salford. These streets, often narrow, lined with 

 small and poorly-built houses, did not add to the 

 attractiveness of the town.'"* Though little attention 



^ There was another Exchange in 

 King Street ; see Manch. Constables' Accts. 

 iii, 169. 



97 This was called the Weekly Journal , 

 it was printed by Roger Adams, Parson- 

 age, who also issued the Mathematical 

 Lectures of John Jackson, the first known 

 Manchester-printed work ; Lanes, and 

 Ches.Antij. Soc. iv, 13. For Orion Adams, 

 son of Roger, see Pal. Note Bk. iii, 48 ; and 

 for notices of the local press. Local Glean. 

 Lanes, and Ches. i, 54, 67 ; ii, 6, 142, &c. 



An account of the early Manchester 

 booksellers (i 600-1 700) will be found in 

 Lanes, and Ches. Antiq. Soc. vi, i. For 

 the Lanes. Journ. 1738-9, see Val. Note 

 Bk. ii, 20;. 



Much information about the news- 

 papers is collected in Procter's Maneh. 

 Streets, 165, &c. There were printers in 

 Manchester as early as 1692. 



9' An account of the earlier Directories 

 will be found in Maneh. Collectanea, i, 

 119-66. The dates are — RafFald, 1772, 

 1773, 1781 ; Holme, 1788 ; Scholes, 

 1794, 1797 ; Bancks, 1800 5 Dean, 1804, 

 1808 ; Pigot, 1811. Those of 1772 and 

 1773 were reprinted in 1889. There is 

 a notice of the Pigots in R. W. Procter's 

 Bygone Manch. 



99 See W. E. A. Axon, Public Libs, of 

 Manch. and Salford (1877). The books 

 of the Old Subscription Library were sold 

 in 1867. The New (or Exchange) Circu- 

 lating Library was founded in 1792; 

 the Portico in Mosley Street, 1802-6 ; 

 the Law Library in 1820; the Medical 

 in 1834; the Athenaeum in 1835, the 

 building being opened in 1839 ; while the 

 Free Public Libraries of Salford and Man- 

 ■chester date from 1849-52. 



On the Hebrew Roll of the Pentateuch 

 in the Chetham Library see Lanes, and 

 Ches, Antiq. Soc. ii, 54 ; on the Black- 

 letter Ballads in the Free Library, and the 

 valuable Owen MSS. in the same, see 

 ibid, ii, 21 ; xvii, 48. A MS. in the 

 Chetham Library (Civil War) is reported 

 in Hist. MSS. Com. Rep. ii, App. 156. 



The Christie and Bishop Lee collec- 

 tions in the library of the University must 

 also be mentioned. 



1°° It is stated in Baines's Lanes, (ed. 

 1836), ii, 306, that an endeavour was 

 made in 1763 to have Manchester made 

 into a borough, but that the same political 



and sectarian jealousies which operated in 

 1 73 1 defeated the scheme. "The High 

 Church party celebrated their triumph by 

 a procession and dinner at Chorlton, 

 known as the * Chorlton Rant.' It had 

 been discontinued before 1783 ; see 

 Ogden, Description (ed. Axon), 14, 15. 



101 7 Geo. I, cap. IJ ; amended 34 

 Geo. Ill, cap. 37. The quay figured on 

 the plan of 1751 was perhaps due to this 

 enterprise ; it gave a name to Quay 

 Street. 



1"^ The following are the canals (see 

 W. Axon, Annals) : Worsley to Man- 

 chester, 1759 ; opened 1761 ; 32 Geo. II, 

 cap. 2, and 33 Geo. II, cap. 2. Manchester 

 to Bolton and Bury, 1790 ; 30 Geo. Ill, 

 cap. 68. Manchester to Ashton-under- 

 Lyne and Oldham, with a later branch to 

 Huddersfield ; 32 Geo. Ill, cap. 84. 

 Rochdale to Halifax and Manchester, 

 1 794-1 804 ; extended to the Irwell in 

 1836; 34 Geo. Ill, cap. 78; 6 & 7 

 Will. IV, cap. 115. 



The Directory of 1772 shows that a 

 stage-coach ran from Manchester to Lon- 

 don three times a week, performing the 

 journey in two days in summer and three 

 in winter. A stage-coach from Salford to 

 Liverpool also ran three days a week. 

 There were a large number of wagons 

 carrying to the principal towns of the 

 country. A considerable number of vessels 

 plied on the Irwell and Bridgewater navi- 

 gation systems, including a boat between 

 Knott Mill and Altrincham thrice a week. 



i<" The following list of Road Acts to 

 1830 is taken from Axon's Annals and 

 W. Harrison's essay in Lanes, and Ches, 

 Antiq. Soc. li, 237, &c.! — 



1724 — J I Geo. I, cap. 13 ; Chapel-en- 

 le-Frith to Manchester. 



1732 — 5 Geo. II, cap. 10 ; Manchester, 

 Ashton, &c. 



1735 — 8 Geo. II, cap. 3 ; Manchester, 

 Oldham, &c. 



175 1 — 24 Geo. II, cap. 13 ; Crossford 

 Bridge to Manchester ; also 37 Geo. Ill, 

 cap. 71. 



1755 — 28 Geo. II, cap. 58 ; Manches- 

 ter, Crumpsall, and Rochdale. 



1793 — 33 Geo. Ill, cap. 139; Man- 

 chester to Ashton-under-Lyne, &c. 



1793 — 33 Geo. Ill, cap. 170 ; Ardwick 

 Green to Wilmslow ; also 39 Geo. Ill, 

 cap. 64. 



181 



1793 — 33 Geo. Ill, cap. 171 ; Buxton, 

 through Stockport to Manchester ; also 

 41 Geo. Ill, cap. 96. 



1793 — 33 Geo. Ill, cap. 181 ; Salford 

 to Wigan, &c. 



1798 — 38 Geo. Ill, cap. 49 ; Man- 

 chester to Bury and Rochdale ; also 54 

 Geo. Ill, cap. i. 



1799 — 39 Geo. Ill, cap. 25 ; Man- 

 chester to Oldham, &c.j also 46 Geo. Ill, 

 cap. 63. 



1804 — 44 Geo. Ill, cap. 49 ; Rochdale 

 by Middleton to Manchester. 



1806 — 46 Geo. Ill, cap. 2; Great 

 Bridgewater Street, through Salford to 

 Eccles. 



1 817 — 57 Geo. Ill, cap. 47; Man- 

 chester to Newton Chapel. 



1818 — 58 Geo, III, cap. 6 ; Manches- 

 ter to Hyde Lane Bridge. 



1824 — 5 Geo. IV, cap. 143 ; Man- 

 chester to Bolton. 



1825 — 6 Geo. IV, cap. 51 ; Great 

 Ancoats to Audenshaw. 



1826 — 7 Geo. IV, cap. 81 ; Hunt's 

 Bank to Pilkington. 



1830—11 Geo. IV and i Will. IV, 

 cap. 23 ; Chorlton Row to Wilmslow. 



104 what was called the ' Manchester 

 Act ' (9 Geo. II, cap. 4), legalizing the 

 manufacture of stuffs made of linen yarn 

 and cotton wool, was passed in 1736. 



An account of the earlier development 

 of the trade of the district, with statistics, 

 will be found in Wheeler's Manci. (1836), 

 141—244. The first cotton mill in Man- 

 chester is said to have been built about 

 1782 in Miller Street ; Local Glean. Lanes, 

 and Ches. i, 80. 



10^ Samuel Curwen, a refugee from the 

 Revolutionary war, 1775-84 ; printed 

 in Local Glean. Lanes, and Ches, i, 259. 



106 In a guide book of 1857, quoting 

 from the Cotton Metropolis in Chambers' 

 Repository, is the following : ' The oldest 

 and the worst working district of Man- 

 chester is the region known as Ancoats 

 Here, however, you will find the truest 

 specimens of the indigenous Lancashire 

 population and hear the truest version of 

 the old Anglo-Saxon pronunciation . . , 

 The type of the true Lancashire spinner 

 and weaver lingers in its dark alleys and 

 undrained courts in greater purity than in 

 any of the more recent, more improved, 

 and more healthy districts.' 



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