BY LIEUT.–COLONEL HENRY FISHWICK, F.S.A., Author of “The Lancashire Library,” “The History of Kirkham,” “The History of Rochdale,” etc. LONDON: ELLIOT STOCK, 62, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 1894....

The enormous amount of material, printed and in manuscript, which is available for a History of Lancashire, makes the writing of a popular work on that subject by no means an easy task; indeed, when first mentioned to me, I thought it was almost impossible, by any process of selection, to produce within the compass of an ordinary octavo volume such a book as would be a popular history, and yet not fail to present a faithful picture of the county. However, I have made the attempt, and in accompli

Lancashire , on its south and south–east, is bounded by the county of Chester, the division for about 50 miles, i.e. , from Stockport to Liverpool, being the river Mersey; on the west is the Irish Sea; on the east, up to Graygarth Fell, in the parish of Tunstall, lies Yorkshire; from thence to the waters of Morecambe Bay the boundary is formed by Yorkshire and Westmorland; across the bay is a portion of Lonsdale hundred (north of the Sands), which is almost surrounded by the counties of Westmorl

Notwithstanding what has been written upon the so–called “glacial nightmare,” it still remains an undisputed fact that at some far–distant period the whole of Lancashire was sunk beneath a sea, the waters of which carried along with them huge masses of ice, which, in their passage southward, deposited boulders which they had borne in their chill embrace for hundreds of miles. The hills which rose above the sea were covered with perpetual snow, and the valleys between them were filled with glacie

The coming of Julius Cæsar in August, B.C. 55, with his legions of Roman soldiers to punish the men of Kent for having sent assistance to one of the Gallic tribes, the Veneti , then at war with Rome, was what led on to the subsequent subjugation of the whole of Britain. This did not, however, take place for nearly a century afterwards, as, on the Britons undertaking to pay tribute, the invaders withdrew. In A.D. 43 the Emperor Claudius appears to have looked at this country with an envious eye,

The history of Roman Lancashire has so recently been published 14 that, even if our space would allow (which it will not), it would be unnecessary, in a work of this description, either to furnish too much detail, or to dwell too long on the vexed questions of the subject which have not even yet been settled. When the Romans invaded Lancashire, one of their chief difficulties was the want of roads, which rendered many parts of the district almost untenable, and to remedy this state of things, on

If it is true—as generally supposed—that the Britons, after being grievously oppressed by the Picts and Scots, called in the German tribes to assist them, then it naturally followed that, after driving back the Northern invaders, they themselves took possession of the land they had been fighting for. In Lancashire, the desertion of the Romans probably led to a considerable part of the county being again laid waste, and the inhabitants scattered. All authorities agree that for some forty years af

The stirring events which led up to the battle of Hastings, which took place on October 14, 1066, and the subsequent complete conquest of England by William of Normandy, did not perhaps immediately affect the Northern part of the kingdom so much as they did those counties lying nearer the scene of action. We have now arrived at a period when we have more definite and reliable evidence as to the actual position of Lancashire. At the end of the year 1084 the King summoned his Great Council to meet

As soon as Henry VII. was firmly seated on the throne, he proceeded to reverse the attainders which his predecessor had passed against certain of the prominent adherents of the House of Lancaster, and at the same time confiscating the estates of (amongst others) Sir Thomas Pilkington, Lord Robert Harrington and Sir James Harrington, all of whom took part in the battle of Bosworth Field, and were natives of Lancashire, their properties were nearly all at once given to Lord Stanley, who was at the

1 mercer, 1 tallow–chandler, 2 unclassed. 4 mercers, 2 apothecaries. 2 dealers in tobacco, 3 unclassed. a mercer. ? a saddler. an innkeeper. a farrier or blacksmith. 1 dealer in tobacco, 1 cordwainer, 3 unclassed. a woolman. 1 dealer in tobacco, 1 grocer, 1 draper, 2 unclassed. a merchant. a draper. a tallow–chandler. 1 dealer in tobacco, 1 unclassed. unclassed. unclassed. a tallow chandler. unclassed. a grocer. a vintner. 1 grocer, 1 unclassed. 1 apothecary, 1 woolman, 6 unclassed. unclassed. 1

Of the non–Aryan tribes who at some remote period lived in the North of England we do not know sufficient to even conjecture what was their religion, if they had any; but judging from analogy, it may be presumed that they had some kind of belief in a super–human power. The tribes who next succeeded these rude savages in effecting settlements in this country were all of the Aryan race, and all that we are able to ascertain as to their religious faith is that when Julius landed in Britain he found

The most striking event in Lancashire in the beginning of the eighteenth century was the rebellion of 1715, which arose out of the Highland feeling in favour of the elder Stuart line, and the discontent of the lairds with the recent Parliamentary union. Those who planned the insurrection were in hopes of obtaining the support of the Roman Catholics in the North of England, who still owned the Pope as the supreme head of their Church. In September, 1715, the Earl of Mar raised the royal standard

The general appearance of the chief Lancashire towns in the early part of the eighteenth century has been graphically described by a lady who rode through England on horseback; 223 and from this source we take our descriptions of Manchester, Liverpool, Lancaster, Wigan, Preston, and Rochdale. Manchester consisted of not very lofty, but substantially built houses, mostly of brick and stone, the older houses being of wood; from the churchyard you could see the whole of the town. The market–place w

The cotton trade of Lancashire was now fairly established; steam was just beginning to be commonly used as the motive power instead of the old water–wheel, and consequently the sites suitable for factories were no longer limited, and this at once led to a further very great development of textile manufactures. This rapid growth was not unattended with intermittent periods of depression, which the working men of the day were not always prepared to attribute to the right cause, and thus riots and

There are many traditions relating to the county, some of which are worth preserving; others are only the result of some fertile brain which first invented the tale and then told it as a tradition. Several of Roby’s “Traditions of Lancashire” are of this class; others are of considerable antiquity and of historic interest. Scattered all over Lancashire are the remains or traces of roadside crosses, which at one period must have been very numerous, many of them being of great antiquity. At Burnle

Page  8, note, for “Rev. William Harrison” read “Mr. W. Harrison.”    „    53, line 18 from top, for “Hollard” read “Holland.”    „     58    „    7   „     bottom,  for “Ellet” read “Ellel.”    „     73    „    7   „     top,  for “Tollington” read “Tottington.”    „   200    „    4   „     bottom,  for “Busset” read “Bussel.”    „   270    „  12   „         „        for “Wall” read “Watt.” Elliot Stock, 62, Paternoster Row, London, E.C. In demy 8vo., cloth, 7s. 6d.; Roxburgh, 10s. 6d.; large–p