A HISTORY OF LANCASHIRE 



Richard Chorley of Chorley and six others " were 

 executed in the same way. 



Defoe in 1727 found Preston a fine and gay town, 

 but inferior in population to Liverpool and Man- 

 chester. It was 'full of attorneys, proctors and 

 notaries ' employed in the special palatine courts. 

 There was ' a great deal of good company,' but not 

 so much ' as was before the late bloody action with 

 the Northern rebels ; not that the battle hurt many 

 of the immediate inhabitants, but the consequences 

 of it so severely affected many families thereabout that 

 they still retain the remembrance of it.' 76 The 

 earliest 'prospect' of the town is dated 1728 ; it was 

 drawn from the south side by S. and N. Buck. 77 A 

 printing press was at work as early as 1740. 78 A 

 verbal description of Preston in 1745 reads thus: 

 ' This town is situated on a clean, delightful eminence, 

 having handsome streets and variety of company, 

 which the agreeableness of the place induces to board 

 here, it being one of the prettiest retirements in 

 England, and may for its beauty and largeness compare 

 with most cities, and for the politeness of the 

 inhabitants none can excel. . . . Here is a hand- 

 some church and a town hall where the corporation 

 meet for business and the gentlemen and ladies for 

 balls and assemblies. Here is likewise a spacious 

 market place in the midst of which stands a fine 

 obelisk ; the streets are neatly paved, and the houses 

 well built of brick and slates. This town being a 

 great thoroughfare there are many good inns for the 

 reception of travellers. . . . This town has a pretty 

 good trade for linen yarn, cloth, cotton, &c.' 79 



It was in the winter of 1745 that the Prince 

 Charles Edward led his army south through Preston 

 in his attempt to win the crown of England. He 

 arrived there on 27 November m ; the bells were 

 rung, and a few joined them, including Francis 



Towneley, nephew of the squire of Towneley. The 

 army left next day for Manchester. On its hasty 

 retreat north the force regained Preston on 1 2 Decem- 

 ber and left for Lancaster the next morning, being 

 closely followed by Oglethorpe's dragoons and the 

 Duke of Cumberland himself. 



Pococke in 1750 thought the town subsisted 

 ' chiefly by its being a great thoroughfare and by 

 many families of middling fortune living in it ' ; 

 hence, he says, ' it is remarkable for old maids, be- 

 cause these families will not ally with tradesmen and 

 have not sufficient fortunes for gentlemen.' 81 



From that time the history of the parish has been 

 peaceful, with the exception of election battles — 

 notably that of 1768 82 — and industrial disturbances. 

 These latter conflicts appear to have been less 

 dangerous here than in other parts of the county, 

 but there was a threatening demonstration against 

 power-looms in 1826. 83 In 1797-8 the Royal 

 Preston Volunteers were raised for the defence of 

 the county, and a rifle corps also was formed. 84 The 

 modern volunteer movement received due support in 

 the district, two corps being formed in 1859, 85 and 

 Preston is now, under the Territorial system, the head 

 quarters of a squadron of the Duke of Lancaster's 

 Own Yeomanry, a battery of the 2nd West Lanca- 

 shire Brigade Royal Field Artillery, and three com- 

 panies of the 4th Battalion Loyal North Lancashire 

 Regiment. 



Communications were improved by the turnpiking 

 of the north road in 1751 86 and the erection of 

 Penwortham Bridge in 1755 . 87 The old Ribble 

 Bridge was rebuilt in 1781, 88 and in the following 

 year a new town-hall was erected. 89 Stage coaches 

 began running to Wigan and Warrington about 1 771, 

 and to Liverpool in 1774. 90 The cotton manufac- 

 ture was introduced in 1777, 91 and from that time 



75 James Drummond, William Black, 

 Donald Macdonald, John Howard, Berry 

 Kennedy and John Rowbottom. 



76 Tour Through Great Britain (ed. 

 1738), iii, 183. 



77 A large reproduction of it forms the 

 frontispiece to Fishwick's Preston. In the 

 same work (p. 4.17) is an old view of the 

 market place, showing a large timbered 

 house on the south side, with a smaller 

 one adjoining it to the east. An obelisk 

 or market cross stood in the square. 



The large house had the initials i^ A 

 and date 1629 carved over a doorway ; 

 the builder was John Jenkinson, who by 

 his will directed its completion, leaving 

 it to his widow Anne and his daughters 

 Grace and Elizabeth. Adam Mort, the 

 mayor, killed in 1643, once occupied it. 

 It was sold to the corporation in 1822. 

 The smaller house had the inscription 

 I. A. 16 1 8, for James Archer. They 

 were demolished in 1855, when a pamphlet 

 was printed giving a full history of them ; 

 Hardwick, op. cit. 432. 



78 Local Glean. Lanes, and Ches. i, 37,43 ; 

 Hewitson, op. cit. 341. William Cadman, 

 a local bookseller, is mentioned some 

 eighty years earlier ; Pal. Note Bk. i, 1 3. 



79 Ray, Hist, of the Rebellion. 



80 Hardwick, op. cit. 241-52. It was 

 noticed that on his arrival at Preston 

 Prince Charles, ' who had hitherto 

 marched on foot, mounted on horseback 

 and surveyed the passes and bridges of the 

 town, taking with him such as had been 

 there in the year 1715.' 



81 Travels through England (Camd. 

 Soc), i, 12. 



82 This was the election in which the 

 democratic franchise of 1661 first became 

 effective. In 1741 the foreign burgesses 

 were considered to be disqualified as 

 electors, though resident ; Abram, Me- 

 morials of the Guilds, 83. In 1768 the 

 Earl of Derby, in the Whig interest as 

 opposed to the corporation, called atten- 

 tion to the franchise, and raised a popular 

 disturbance, Roman Catholic chapels 

 being wrecked and other damage done. 



The Stanley family for a long time 

 exercised a preponderating influence in 

 the elections, but the power of the manu- 

 facturers began to manifest itself before 

 1800. The last election before the 

 Reform Act was a most exciting one, for 

 on the Hon. E. G. Stanley seeking re- 

 election on being placed in the ministry 

 in 1830 he was defeated by Henry Hunt 

 the Radical by 3,730 to 3,392 votes. 

 Hunt was defeated in 1832. 



For some of the more important con- 

 tests see Hardwick, op. cit. 330—43. 

 Long accounts, in which the old poll 

 books were reprinted and annotated, ap- 

 peared in the Preston Guardian in 1878 

 and later. 



83 Hardwick, op. cit. 375. There were 

 notable riots and strikes in 1831, 1836 

 (a three months' strike), 1842 (riots, five 

 men mortally wounded), 1853 (eight 

 months' lock-out), and 18; 8 ; ibid. 415- 

 22 ; Hewitson, Preston, 180-4. 



8< Hardwick, op. cit 256. The'e 



78 



volunteers joined the militia in 1808 ; 

 ibid. 387. Details of their regulations 

 and uniforms will be found in Fishwick, 

 op. cit. 418-19. 



85 Hewitson, op. cit. 374-7. 



86 Stat. 24 Geo. II, cap. 20. Garstang 

 Road was formed in 1817, replacing an 

 old crooked lane. The highway known as 

 Blackburn New Road was made in 1 824 ; 

 a wooden bridge over the Ribble was built 

 for it at Lower Brockholes, replaced by a 

 stone one in 1861. 



87 Hardwick, op. cit. 459. An Act of 

 Parliament was obtained in 1750. This 

 was the road from Preston to Liverpool, 

 the river having been crossed by a ford. 

 The first bridge fell down in 1756, and 

 a new one was built after a fresh Act had 

 been obtained. 



88 Ibid. 458. 



89 A view is given in Fishwick, Preston, 

 71. The older building fell down in 

 1780; Hewitson, op. cit. 357. 



90 Ibid. 198. In Sept. 1823 seventy- 

 two coaches ran in and out of Preston 

 every Wednesday ; Hardwick, op. cit. 

 389. A list of those running in 1825 is 

 given in Baines' Lanes. Dir. ii, 519-20. 

 The coaches ceased in 1842. 



91 In that year a cotton-mill was built 

 in Moor Lane by Collinson and Watson. 

 The practical founder of the industry, 

 however, was John Horrocks. He was 

 born at Edgeworth in 1768 of Quaker 

 parents, and he built a mill in 1791 at 

 the east end of Church Street (see Fish- 

 wick, op. cit. 72) ; this was followed by 



