A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



number of councillors, there being at present thirty 

 wards with thirty-one aldermen and ninety-three 

 councillors.*" The mayor was entitled Lord Mayor 

 in 1893. The area governed measures 19,893 acres, 

 nearly two-thirds that of the ancient parish. 



The lord's mills had been secured to the grammar 

 school by its founder in 151 5,*' and though the lord 

 of the manor himself tried to break through the 

 monopoly™ it was maintained until 1758, when an 

 Act of Parliament was passed allowing free corn 

 milling." The malt-grinding monopoly was retained, 

 but the charge was limited to is. per load of six 

 bushels ; a sum which, owing to the rise in wages, 

 eventually caused the privilege to be a loss to the 

 school.** The tax upon grinding, though small, 

 caused brewers to settle in Salford, Cheetham, and 

 other adjacent townships outside the lordship of 

 Manchester." 



The regulation of the markets and the profits of 

 the tolls remained with the lord of the manor 

 until the sale to the corporation. Though Sir 

 Oswald Mosley built an exchange in 1729 with the 

 design, in part, of providing better accommodation 

 for traders, the markets continued in the open spaces 

 accustomed until 1780,*' when a determined effort 

 was made by two merchants, Thomas Chadwick and 



Holland Ackers, to overthrow the lord's monopoly. 

 They purchased Pool Court and Hyde Park, collec- 

 tions of poor and old cottages to the south-east of the 

 exchange, and after clearing and preparing the ground, 

 erected and opened a market there, which was at once 

 utilized by the butchers. The lord of the manor. Sir 

 John Parker Mosley, brought a suit, won it, and then 

 compromised the matter with the projectors, as he 

 desired to study the interests of the town.*' The 

 friction about the markets and other matters '' which 

 could only be dealt with satisfactorily by the in- 

 habitants was the reason why Sir Oswald Mosley de- 

 sired to sell his rights.™ A Market Act obtained by 

 the corporation in 1846 is considered to have 

 abolished the old manorial markets," though there 

 have been attempts to enforce the ancient rights. In 

 1883 it was decided that the corporation must not 

 charge tolls on goods sold, in addition to rent for 

 stallage.'' New market buildings have been erected,'^ 

 a foreign animals wharf has been established at Old 

 Trafford, and abattoirs in Water Street and other 

 parts of the city. 



A new town hall was begun in 1868 and opened 

 in 1877 ; that of 1822 is now used for the reference 

 library. 



The gas," water," and electricity supplies are in 



ham ; the third, of the old townships 

 of Ardwick, Chorlton-upon-Medlock, 

 Hulme, Rusholme (including parts of Moss 

 Side and Withington), Openshaw and 

 West Gorton. Two of these townships 

 were modern, created in 1894, Clayton 

 having been the western part of Droyls- 

 den and West Gorton of Gorton. 



^ The present wards are : Collegiate 

 Church, from the church north-eastwards 

 and south to Lever Street and Piccadilly ; 

 Exchange, south of the former, including 

 the old market-place but not the Exchange 

 building 5 New Cross, between Oldham 

 Road and the Medlock, including the 

 eastern part of Ancoats ; St. Michael's, 

 between Oldham Road and the Irk ; St. 

 Clement's, between Piccadilly and Great 

 Ancoats ; Oxford, touching the Medlock, 

 and including Gaythorn ; St. James's, in- 

 cluding the Town Hall, Infirmary and 

 Central Station ; St. Ann's, including the 

 church of that name, the Free Library and 

 Exchange building ; St. John's, the corner 

 between the Irwell and Medlock. The 

 above nine are all within the township of 

 Manchester, part of which (CoUyhurst) is 

 included with the old township of Har- 

 purhey to form the Harpurhey Ward. 

 Medlock Street and St. George's Wards 

 are the east and west portions of Hulme ; 

 St. Luke's and All Saints' of Chorlton- 

 upon-Medlock, Ardwick coincides with 

 the iT)rmer township ; Bradford includes 

 Beswick, Bradford and Clayton ; Chorlton 

 with Hardy, Withington, and Didsbury 

 are formed from the townships so named 

 and Burnage, with certain adjustments of 

 boundaries 5 Moss Side East and West are 

 the divisions of Moss Side ; Openshaw 

 and Rusholme coincide with those town- 

 ships ; Longsight is formed from Kirk- 

 manshulme and part of West Gorton, the 

 rest of the latter township being St. Mark's 

 Ward ; Newton Heath and Miles Platting 

 are the east and west portions of Newton ; 

 Blackley and Moston includes those town- 

 ships and part of Prestwich (added in 

 1903); Crumpsall and Cheetham coin- 

 cide with the old townships. 



Eacli ward has an alderman and three 



councillors, except New Cross, which has 

 six councillors. There is also an alder- 

 man not attached to any particular ward, 



^^ Hibbert-Ware, Manck. Foundations^ 

 iii, 8, &c. 



^ Mosley, Fam. Mem, 43 ; the feoffees 

 of the school prosecuted Sir Oswald 

 Mosley in 173Z for having erected a 

 malt mill in Hanging Ditch, and won 

 their case. See Axon, Annals^ 82 ; Hib- 

 bert-Ware, op, cit, 35-42, where particu- 

 lars of many suits may be seen, 



^ 32 Geo. II, cap. 61, 



®^ In 1783 the three mills were em- 

 ployed thus : The upper one, by Scotland 

 Bridge, used for grinding malt ; the cen- 

 tral one, let as a corn mill ; the lower 

 one, near the college, let as a frieze and 

 fulling mill, with a snufF manufactory 

 attached ; Ogden, Description. 



^^ There was formerly (1766 onwards) 

 a windmill in Deansgate, Windmill Street 

 denoting its position ; Procter, Manch. 

 Streets, 131. 



^"^ See Ogden's Description. 



^' Mosley, Fam. Mem. 60-63 ; Axon, 

 Annals ; Manch. Guardian N. and Q. 

 no, 1276, The market was discontinued 

 in 1803, 



8' In 1790 and 1791 the lord of the 

 manor brought actions to establish his 

 claim to a Saturday market for flour, oat- 

 meal, &c. ; Axon, Manch. Annals, 1 1 7 

 118. 



In 1806 he sought to compel two 

 persons to undertake the office of con- 

 stable ; they pleaded that they had ob- 

 tained the conviction of someone for a 

 capital offence — such offences were then 

 very numerous — and j udgement was given 

 in their favour. Such certificates as they 

 exhibited were called 'Tyburn tickets'; 

 ibid. 136. 



™ Mosley, Fam. Mem. yy. 



" 9 & 10 Vict. cap. 219 and 10 Vict, 

 cap. 14, ' Butchers and fishmongers were 

 empowered to sell in their private shops 

 upon taking out an annual licence from 

 the corporation ; and by the schedules to 

 the Act the maximum rates of tolls, stall- 

 age, and rent to be paid in respect of 



236 



Digitized by Microsoft® 



goods sold in the market and for space 

 occupied therein were definitely fixed * ; 

 Axon, Annals. It was afterwards held 

 that the Act had created an entirely new 

 market ; ibid. 391. 93 ibid. 398, 



98 Smithfield Market, ShudehiU, built 

 in 1822, was covered over in 1854, A 

 wholesale fish and game market wa« 

 opened in 1873, Knott Mill Market, on 

 the old fair ground, was begun in 1877. 

 For a notice of the older market-places 

 see Baines, Lanes, (ed, 1868), i, 389 ; 

 also Manch. and Salford Official Handbook. 



« The lighting of the town by oil 

 lamps was not always satisfactory ; see 

 Aikin, Country round Manch. 192. The 

 commissioners of police, it is stated, first 

 established gas works in Water Street, 

 near St, Mary's Church in 1817, and soon 

 afterwards built additional works in St. 

 George's Road (Rochdale Road) ; Baines, 

 Lanes. Dir. (1825), ii, 155, Gas Acts 

 were passed in 1824, 1830, &c, ; 5 Geo. 

 IV, cap. 133; 9 Geo. IV, cap. 117, 

 The works have thus always been in the 

 hands of the town authorities. 



9° The water supply, until a century 

 ago, was derived from wells, the rivers, 

 and the conduit. In 1 8 1 6 there was only 

 one draw well, and that was kept locked 

 except when in use ; two springs in Castle 

 Field had the best reputation for their 

 water ; next came the water from a pump 

 in College Yard, Ordinary dwelling- 

 houses had cisterns for rain water 5 Aston, 

 Manch. 3, 4, 



A company was formed in 1809 to 

 supply Manchester and Salford, It pur- 

 chased the lord of the manor's rights and 

 formed a reservoir at Beswick, and in 

 1826 two others at Gorton and Auden- 

 shaw. Stone pipes were used at first but 

 about 18 17 iron pipes replaced them ; ibid. 

 Baines, Lanes. Dir. ii, 155, Acts were ob- 

 tained for further powers in 1 8 13, 1816, 

 &c. In 1847 the corporation obtained 

 power to supply the borough with water, 

 and in 1853 'he old company was dis- 

 solved. The great Woodhead reservoirs 

 were then constructed ; Bateman, Manch, 

 IVater'works. 



