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STAFFIELD, a township of England, in Cumberland ; 
9£ miles north-by-east of Penrith. 
STA'FFISH, adj. Stiff; harsh. Obsolete.—A wit in 
youth not over dull, heavy, knotty, and lumpish, but hard, 
tough, and though somewhat staffish, both for learning and 
whole course of living, proveth always best. Ascham. 
STAFFORA, a river of Austrian Italy, which passes 
by Voghera, and joins the Po ; 8 miles west-south-west of 
Pavia. 
STAFFORD, a market town and borough of England, in 
the county of Stafford, of which it is the county town. It is 
situated on the north bank of the river Sow, about three 
miles from its junction with the Trent. Though low, the 
situation is extremely pleasant. The town is of an irregular 
oval figure, extending from south-east to north-west. The 
streets are well paved, and the houses are mostly built of 
brick, in a regular and compact manner. Though consisting 
properly only of one parish, the town contains two churches. 
St. Mary’s and St. Chad’s. The former is a spacious build¬ 
ing, in the form of a cross. It consists of a nave, two side 
aisles, a transept, and a chancel of three aisles, with an oc¬ 
tagonal tower in the centre, which contains a peal of eight 
musical bells. This church appears to have been founded 
at a very early period; the precise date is unknown. It has 
since been almost entirely rebuilt, and only a few remains of 
the more ancient structure are now visible. The general 
style of architecture is the early pointed: the altar-piece 
within the church is an elegant piece of workmanship; the 
organ is reckoned one of the finest in the kingdom. The 
font presents a singular piece of antiquity: it is very large, 
and of a heavy construction : the bottom part is a square of 
two feet diameter, and is ornamented on three sides with 
human figures lying flat on their faces: on the fourth side is 
the figure of a ram. Within the church is a number of 
aucient and modern monuments, some of which are deserving 
of attention. St. Mary’s church, prior to the reformation, 
was a collegiate. King Stephen bestowed it on the bishop 
and chapter of Lichfield and Coventry; and at the dissolu¬ 
tion, a dean and 13 prependaries were attached to it. St. 
Chad’s church is a very ancient building; early in the last 
century it was cased with brick, except the tower, which 
remains in its original state, which was formed after the 
most ancient Saxon plan. Besides the churches, Stafford 
contains places of worship for Independents, Presbyterians, 
Methodists, and Quakers. The other public buildings in 
the town are various, and well deserving of notice. The 
county-hall stands near the centre of the town, and is a 
spacious and neat modern building; it extends 100 feet in 
front, and contains a number of elegant apartments, ap¬ 
propriated to different purposes: the assembly room, which 
reaches nearly the whole length of the front, leads to the 
court-rooms which are placed on each side. In the centre is 
a stair-case, at the top of which is the grand jury room, and 
several other offices. Behind the county-hall, is an elegant 
and convenient market-place. The county infirmary stands 
in the Foregate, on the north road, and is a plain respectable 
building ; it is supported by voluntary contributions. The 
county-gaol is situated nearly opposite the infirmary, and is 
an extensive modem building, containing about 150 separate 
cells; its regulations and internal economy are excellent. 
A county lunatic asylum on a very extensive scale, has been 
lately erected near to the gaol, and is considered one of the 
most complete and commodious buildings of the kind in the 
kingdom. The free-school has been taken down and re¬ 
built : it was originally founded and endowed (according to 
an inscription in St. Mary’s church), by king Edward VI. in 
the year 1550. Previous to the dissolution, Stafford con¬ 
tained a variety of monastic institutions : at the north end of 
the walls stood a house of Franciscans, or Grey Friars, 
founded by Sir James Stafford of Soudan; a priory of 
Black Friars was founded about the year 1180, by Richard 
Reele, bishop of Lichfield, or by Gerard Stafford; and on 
the green, at the south end of the town, Ralph Lord Stafford, 
bestowed a portion of ground on the Austin Friars, on which 
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they founded an establishment in 1344. About a mile and 
a half south-west of the town, on the summit of a hill, 
stood the castle of the barons of Stafford, upon the site of 
which two towers and a banqheting room, on the plan of 
the original building, have been lately erected by the Jer- 
ningham family, who now possess the estates, and have laid 
claim to the ancient barony of Stafford. South of the 
castle stood the mansion house, the usual residence of the 
family of Stafford. Stafford had anciently four gates, and 
was defended, except on the side next the Sow, by a wall 
and a ditch, supplied with water from the river. When 
taken by the republican army in 1643, the wall was razed 
and the ditch filled up, so that no remains of it can now be 
discovered. The chief trade of Stafford consists in the 
manufacture of boots and shoes; there is also a considerable 
business carried on in tanning, both for home consumption 
and exportation. The canal to the Trent has been of great ad¬ 
vantage to the trade of the place. By the charter of Edward 
VI. Stafford is governed by a mayor, recorder, 10 aldermen, 
10 common councilmen, a town-clerk, and two serjeants-at- 
mace. The borough sends two members to parliament, and 
has done so since the 23d of Edward I. The right of 
election is in the resident burgesses not receiving parochial 
relief, and the mayor is the returning officer: the number of 
voters is estimated at upwards of 600. The earliest authentic 
mention of Stafford is in the Saxon Chronicle, A. D. 913, 
when Ethelfleda, countess of Mercia, sister of Edward the 
Elder, built a castle here, of which no vestige now remains. 
Stafford appears to have been a town of considerable im¬ 
portance prior to the Norman conquest. Early in the tenth 
century it was considered the chief town of the district; in 
Domesday Survey, it is termed a city, and was governed by 
two bailiffs. The earliest charter of incorporation now 
extant was granted by king John in the 7th year of his 
reign. This charter was confirmed by Edward VI. and 
many new privileges added to the town. Queen Elizabeth 
established the assizes and sessions here, by act of parliament. 
The ancient custom of borough English, by which the 
youngest son succeeds to property, in preference to the 
elder children still prevails here. The town of Stafford 
gave the title of baron, viscount, and earl, from the time of 
William the Conqueror till the beginning of the last century, 
when it became extinct. It was again renewed in 1786, by 
the elevation of earl Gower to the title of marquis of 
Stafford. Market on Saturday, and seven annual fairs; 16 
miles north-west of Lichfield, and 135 north-west of Lon 
don. Lat. 52. 48. N. long. 2. 7. W. 
STAFFORD, West, a parish of England, in Dorsetshire; 
2j miles south-east of Dorchester. 
STAFFORD, a post township of the United States, in 
Tolland county, Connecticut. It contains a famous medi¬ 
cinal spring, with good accommodations for visitors. The 
waters are chalybeate. Population 2235; 73 miles west- 
south-west of Boston. 
STAFFORD, a township of the United States, in Mon¬ 
mouth county, New Jersey. Population 1239. 
STAFFORD, a county of the United States, in the north¬ 
east part of Virginia, bounded north by Prince William 
county, north-east by the Potomac and Prince George 
county, south by the Rappahannock, and west by Culpeper 
and Fauquier counties. Population 9830, including 4195 
slaves. Chief town, Falmouth. 
STAFFORD, a post village of the United States, in 
Stafford county, Virginia. Lat. 38. 24. W. long. 77. 26. N. 
STAFFORDSHIRE, an inland county of England, 
nearly in the centre of the kingdom, bounded on the north 
by Cheshire and part of Derbyshire, on the east by Derby¬ 
shire and Warwickshire, and between these for a short way 
also by Leicestershire; on the south by Worcestershire, and 
on the west by Shropshire and Cheshire. It is divided from 
Derbyshire by the rivers Dove, Trent, and Meese; the other 
boundaries are chiefly artificial, and in the south-west the 
county is much indented by detached projections from 
Worcestershire and Shropshire. Its figure is an oblong or 
oval 
