The Ice Trade and the Northern Economy, 1840–1914

Abstract

This article examines the opinions, arguments and actions which led to the foundation of universities in the North: in alphabetical order, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield. Among the topics discussed are: the availability of funding from private sources, the extent of local (especially aristocratic) support, the limited involvement of governments, the differing attitudes towards science and technology, and civic rivalries. Essential features of the ‘university movement’ are displayed, along with the assumptions and ambitions of the Victorians, locally and nationally.     

Lies, damn lies, and Manchester's recruiting statistics: degeneration as an "urban legend" in Victorian and Edwardian Britain

Few historians have attempted to discuss British medicine, health and welfare policies, or the biological sciences around 1900 without due reference to the concept of degeneration. Most tie public concern with degeneration to a specific set of military recruiting figures, which stated that of 11,000 would-be volunteers in Manchester, 8,000 had to be turned away due to physical defects. Further, most histories point out that these figures had a direct influence on the formation of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration in 1904. With its absolute denial of hereditary decline, the 1904 Report acts as a dénouement of degenerationist fears in Britain. No historian has sought to contextualize these recruiting figures: Where did they come from? How did Manchester react? What role did that city play in the subsequent 1904 Report? Far from being the epitome of urban decay, the 1904 Report repeatedly hails Manchester as a glowing example of innovative urban reform. This article contextualizes the recruiting figures and explores how Manchester had been tackling the three key problems of Physical Deterioration-diet, exercise, and alcohol-for thirty years prior to the 1904 Report. By discussing Manchester, a new understanding of degeneration is outlined; as slogan, rhetorical tool, and urban legend, degeneration was largely feminized and domesticated. Military/masculine problems such as the recruiting figures were the exception, not the rule.     

Bishop Bickersteth’s Visitation Returns for the Archdeaconry of Craven,Diocese of Ripon, 1858

Abstract

In 1868, an article in the Yorkshire Post about the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum drew attention to Yorkshire's pivotal role in the history of mental health care. It was because of this history, it was claimed, that Yorkshiremen had a special interest in the treatment of the insane. The purpose of this paper is to explore critically this assumption in light of the recent work on the Poor Law's relationship with the asylum. The growth and development of two asylums in the neighbouring North and West Ridings of Yorkshire will be compared and contrasted. The first part of the paper offers a brief explanation of Yorkshire's pivotal role in the history of the institutional approach to the problems of mental health and the growth of institutions in the counties. Central to the paper will be an examination of how each county responded to the differing demands on its resources and how this impacted on the nature of care at each institution. Ultimately, this paper aims to show how Poor Law finances contributed significantly to the development of each institution.     

The Origin,Development and Decline of Back-to-Back Houses in Leeds, 1787–1937

This paper traces the development of back-to-back house building in Leeds. It first outlines the origin of the house type, before examining the urban layout, building form and social aspects of back-to-back courts in the first half of the 19th century, and the role of speculative developers, building societies and sanitary reformers. The focus then turns to the bills, acts and by-laws of the later 19th and early 20th century, and the determination of the people of Leeds to retain their preferred house type. Together, these brought improvements to the design and facilities, culminating in a house type that was far superior to that which was condemned by the back-to-back critics, and arguably had overcome all of the criticisms by the time construction of back-to-backs was prohibited in 1909.     

Chatsworth Street Cutting,Part of the Original Terminus of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway

Abstract

Recent surveys of textile mills in Yorkshire, Greater Manchester and East Cheshire have laid the groundwork for future study in their respective areas. All three have necessarily referred back to precedents set in eighteenth century Derbyshire, where water power was first successfully applied to the manufacture of both silk and cotton. Derbyshire retains an important group of early cotton mills, most of them distributed along the River Derwent and its tributaries. Recent measured surveys of five of the most significant early mills and of a number of related sites by RCHME's Threatened Buildings Sections, supplemented by photographic coverage of further sites over many years, have provided a core of information on which the present article is largely based. The article concentrates on the surviving physical remains of the cotton industry, but draws also on documentary and other evidence for vanished structures.     

The Leeds and Yorkshire Geographical Society c. 1902–17

The Leeds and Yorkshire Geographical Society was one of ten 'provincial' geographical societies in England and Scotland established between 1884 and 1910, of which five were in the North of England. It was conceived in about 1902, formally founded in 1908, but had ceased to exist after 1917. Virtually nothing has been discovered hitherto of the Leeds society's history, functions and contexts. This essay examines the evidence for its conception, inauguration, programmes of activity, and the broader local/civic, national and global contexts within which it operated. Its brief history sheds light upon: the need for commercial information to promote trade in an imperial context; the development of geographical thought in Britain and Western Europe; finally, popular curiosity about new geographical information and ideas promoted by geographical exploration and discovery. Comparison is made with the activities of other English ‘provincial’ geographical societies, particularly those in the North of England. The new evidence derives from papers in the West Yorkshire Archive Service Leeds, the archives and publications of the Royal Geographical Society, and the programmes of meetings promoted via the Society itself and the Leeds Institute, housed in Leeds Central Library, together with reports and advertisements in local newspapers.     

THOMAS WATSON,PEASANT-POET: THE READING,WRITING AND RELIGION OF A CUMBRIAN DRY-STONE WALLER

Abstract

This article describes and elucidates the making of Manchester Chartism, with special reference to the Reform Crisis of 1830–32 and its role in highlighting and confirming divisions within and between groups of radicals. For all the importance of personalities, ideas, organisations and national as well as local reform issues, the history of Chartism in Manchester was shaped above all by the town's political configuration. Political and class identities became stronger in 1830–32. This, and subsequent differences of opinion on key questions, ensured that no inclusive reform alliance was possible in Manchester. After examining the Reform Crisis of 1830–32, tracing the separation of middle-class from working-class activists and exploring the internal schisms within plebeian and respectable middle-class campaigns, this article shows how the polarisation of the early 1830s continued into the Chartist period. Problems of contact, communication and sympathy between the different groups were never overcome, and Manchester Chartism would itself experience fragmentation and resistance, just as earlier popular mobilisations in the town had been divided and opposed.     

Henry II,Richard I and the order of Grandmont

Many late twelfth-century writers including John of Salisbury, Gerald of Wales and leaders of the order of Grandmont attest to the interest of Henry II and Richard I in this highly ascetic group of monks. Henry in particular was known as a patron of religious of high spiritual renown, although politics was a major consideration in his monastic patronage.To trace the manifestation of these connections, in the creation of dependent cells and granting of pensions and privileges, is rendered complex because most surviving twelfth-century Grandmontine documents are forgeries. Their original Rule forbade title deeds in order to prevent secular entanglements, but it was relaxed in the thirteenth century and many charters were produced then. Cells the kings had created claimed valuable additional privileges, while others invented Plantagenet foundation to gain protection and aid from the French crown.Some original charters do, however, exist and many forgeries are amplifications of originals. By seeing where they diverge from standard chancery formulae and using historical evidence it is possible to trace in outline the donations made. This process indicates that although the Plantagenets founded some cells and aided the mother-house considerably, their generosity was greatest in grants of privileges and pensions.     

Henry II,Richard I and the order of Grandmont

Many late twelfth-century writers including John of Salisbury, Gerald of Wales and leaders of the order of Grandmont attest to the interest of Henry II and Richard I in this highly ascetic group of monks. Henry in particular was known as a patron of religious of high spiritual renown, although politics was a major consideration in his monastic patronage.To trace the manifestation of these connections, in the creation of dependent cells and granting of pensions and privileges, is rendered complex because most surviving twelfth-century Grandmontine documents are forgeries. Their original Rule forbade title deeds in order to prevent secular entanglements, but it was relaxed in the thirteenth century and many charters were produced then. Cells the kings had created claimed valuable additional privileges, while others invented Plantagenet foundation to gain protection and aid from the French crown.Some original charters do, however, exist and many forgeries are amplifications of originals. By seeing where they diverge from standard chancery formulae and using historical evidence it is possible to trace in outline the donations made. This process indicates that although the Plantagenets founded some cells and aided the mother-house considerably, their generosity was greatest in grants of privileges and pensions.     

Herbert Heaton and Five Principles of The Yorkshire Coal-miners

Abstract

'Herbert Heaton and Five Principles of the Yorkshire Coal-Miners'. Herbert Heaton, born in 1890, was the son of a Yorkshire coal-miner. He obtained his schooling with scholarships from the age of twelve, including an undergraduate career at the University of Leeds. He went on to become a leading economic historian. He taught on three Continents, spending the last thirty years of his career at the University of Minnesota in the United States. His father was not only a coal-miner, but also a lay preacher in the Primitive Methodist Church and active in the governance of his local co-operative. Heaton wrote and lectured about five principles he had learned and adopted as his own, growing up in the Yorkshire coalfields. The five principles reflect how many coal-miners before 1914 believed economic and social justice could be achieved. While the miners changed their beliefs after 1918, Heaton, who never lived in Britain after 1914, retained the Yorkshire principles of his youth.     

Voluntary Societies and the Urban Local Community: A Case Study of the Halifax Mechanics' Institution

Abstract

This article considers the structure of the Halifax Mechanics' Institution, located in one of the principal manufacturing and commercial towns in the nineteenth-century West Yorkshire, based on the local primary sources, printed sources and my original historical computer database. Although some established works have described Mechanics' Institution as one of the most active societies in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, the hitherto-research has paid little attention to an aspect of its urban public institution. The Mechanics' Institution dealt with disputes within the institution, established hierarchical structure among its members, made social relationships inside and outside the institution, and aimed to have interrelationships with other urban bodies. Such practices were of vital importance for strengthening the ties between the institution and the urban local community of Halifax in order to bring about stability and order in the urban society.     

Manchester Railway Warehouses— A Short Note

Abstract

In 1840, Francis Wishaw described three warehouse ranges at Liverpool Road, Manchester, estimating the floor area to be some 5 acres and the capacity 4 million cubic feet. By means of turntables, wagons were conveyed, loaded and unloaded within the warehouses. Flaps in the floors and openings in the yard side facilitated the quick dispatch of business. The internal structure of these early railway buildings followed canal practice but by the 1860s the jack-arched, iron-framed structure had been adapted from the cotton factory. Goods handling at first was by gravity hoist, platforms and mobile or fixed steam cranes. Subsequently, the use of hydraulic power was a significant improvement. This paper describes the railway warehouses of Manchester.     

CHILDREN OF THE STREETS: RESCUE,REFORM AND THE FAMILY IN LEEDS, 1850-1914

Abstract

Attempts to rescue and reform destitute, orphaned and street children - the ‘waifs and strays’ of the new urban environment - led to a proliferation of children’s homes and welfare organizations in the second half of the I9th century. Local studies enable us to build up a detailed profile of the individuals involved from a grass-roots level. Using a study of Leeds, this article sketches the motives and aspirations of, on the one hand, philanthropists and, on the other, of parents and children enmeshed in what was a complex and ad hoc system. ‘Welfare’ was not simply a rigid mechanism that was imposed on the urban poor; from a local perspective it can be viewed as a relationship, albeit an unequal one. The institution of the children’s home could provide an important strategy for family survival in a world of limited choices.     

Albion Mill,Manchester

Abstract

Albion Mill, demolished in 1983, was a good example of a 'fireproof' Manchester cotton textile mill of the second decade of the nineteenth century. Its demolition enabled a detailed record to be made of its features and the account which follows is based upon that survey. The full documentation is deposited with RCHME at Fortress House, London W1X 2BT.     

A gun-casting furnace at Scarlets,Cowden, Kent

Abstract

A timber-lined casting pit was installed between 1590 and 1664 at the blast furnace at Scarlets, Cowden, Kent. The methods of construction are similar to those used at Maynards Gate and Pippingford, Sussex. The adjacent floor is a feature paralleled at Pippingford and at Rockley, Yorkshire. The furnace has been thoroughly robbed of its stone, but its position and orientation can be satisfactorily established; evidence was found for refurbishing at the end of the 17th century, yet it seems likely that abandonment came before 1717.     

The origins of university education in KwaZulu-Natal: The Natal University College 1909–19491

Public demand for university facilities in the then Colony of Natal began to gather momentum from the mid-nineteenth century. The Natal University College that was eventually launched in 1909/1910 in Pietermaritzburg and extended to Durban during the 1920s was characterised by three prominent features: First, it was initially affiliated to the University of the Cape of Good Hope and, in 1918, became a constituent college of the University of South Africa before maturing to become the independent University of Natal in March 1949. Second, the College remained an exclusively white institution until 1936 when the ‘Natal Experiment’ was launched in the form of separate classes for so-called ‘Non-Europeans’. Third, competition between Pietermaritzburg and Durban was seemingly resolved in 1928 by mutual acceptance of the principle of duality but a dual campus structure had serious implications with regard to the equitable distribution of limited financial and other resources. Since 1949 the multi-campus concept has been expanded. The present-day University of KwaZulu-Natal, established in January 2004, has a fivecampus structure, with four sites in greater Durban in addition to the original base in Pietermaritzburg. It is also multi-racial and of mixed gender with regard both to its student and staff complement.     

Saltburn-by-the-Sea: The Early Years of a Stockton and Darlington Railway Company Venture

Abstract

There are throughout Great Britain numerous examples of nineteenth century new towns built on green field sites and in the north of England, for example, the names of Middlesbrough, West Hartlepool, Millom, Barrow and Silloth spring to mind. Saltburn-by-the-Sea on what was the coast of the North Riding of Yorkshire is of special interest in that, although a seaside resort, it was projected and built by the personalities who earlier had built the Stockton and Darlington Railway. This article attempts to describe the first twenty years of the existence of this new town, giving details of its physical development and indicating the struggle of the founders to make it a viable commercial enterprise.     

The politics of being Norman in the reign of Richard the Fearless,Duke of Normandy (r. 942–996)

In 966, by the end of the reign of its third duke, Richard I, Normandy had overcome the crises that had beset it in the middle of the century. Much of this success came from the coherence of its ruling group, which expressed itself partly in terms of ‘Norman’ identity. This article uses Dudo's history of the dukes and Richard's charters to argue that ‘Norman’ as a political identity was a deliberate creation of the court of Richard I in the 960s, following the perceived failure of his and his father's policies of assimilation into Frankish culture.     

Liverpool’s Cotton Importers c. 1700 to 1914

Liverpool’s first cotton importers dealt in a range of commodities and this pattern continued until the late eighteenth century. As the British cotton industry grew and new sources of raw cotton – particularly the United States – emerged, some merchants specialized increasingly in cotton in the early decades of the nineteenth century. By the end of the century, the largest importers of cotton dealt in little besides cotton. The growing prosperity of Liverpool’s cotton trade drew companies from elsewhere in the United Kingdom to Liverpool to participate in this trade. By the mid nineteenth century, several key cotton importing houses had originated in the United States; by the end of the nineteenth century the largest importers there. The manner of importing cotton changed. At first, importers had to send a ship out with a captain or supercargo with broad instructions about what to freight the ship with. As communications improved, importers were able to control their purchases of cotton more closely. In the nineteenth century, a significant amount of cotton was imported through Liverpool by merchants acting on a commission basis but this form of importing declined in the later decades of the century.