Statistical Illustrations of the Past and Present state of Lancashire, and more particularly of the hundred of Salford. By HENRY ASHWORTH, Esq., of Turton, near Bolton.

[Read before the Statistical Section of the British Association, at Manchester,

27th June, 1842.]

HISTORY informs, that after the battle of Hastings, now nearly 800 years ago, William the Conqueror proceeded northwards to extirpate the last relic of Saxon independence. With ruthless barbarity he laid waste the whole tract of country lying between York and Durham, and in the depth of winter prepared to lead his army to his fortress at Chester. Passing the bordering hills of Yorkshire, his way was over the southern division of Lancashire, which he found a mere waste, uncultivated, without roads, and almost uninhabited; so that by reason of destructive marshes, impenetrable woods, perilous rivers, and overflowing valleys, his soldiers were grievously harassed; some of them murmured aloud at the hardships to which their chief was exposing them, and threatened to return to the Continent. The king was obliged to cheer his men by advancing before them on foot, and often had to assist with his own hands to extricate them from their dangers.

Passing from this period to the reign of Elizabeth, the records of this comparatively recent age throw but faint light upon those incidents which illustrate the condition of this portion of the country, or the aspect of the people. In 1607 we have Camden's Survey.

After having visited the towns of Hull, Beverley, and other places on the eastern coast, he speaks with a sort of apprehension of his prospect of entering Lancashire,-describing it as that part of the kingdom lying "beyond the mountains towards the western ocean," and regarding it not only as a foreign, but as hardly a civilized country.

"And first," he says, "of the people of Lancashire, whom I approach with a kind of dread; may it forbode no ill. However, that

I may not seem wanting to this county, I will run the hazard of the attempt; hoping that the divine assistance which hath favoured me in the rest, will not fail me in this.”

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Proceeding accordingly to his survey, he describes Rochdale as "a market town of no small resort;" Bury as another, no way inferior to it; and Manchester, as "surpassing all the towns hereabouts in building, populousness, woollen-manufacture, market-place, and church.” pool is merely noticed under the name of "Litherpoole"-commonly shortened into "Lirpool,” as the most convenient and usual place for setting sail into Ireland." Preston is called “ a large town, handsome and populous for these parts;" Blackburn is merely mentioned; but Ashton, Bolton, Oldham, Salford, and many other places, now containing each from 10 to upwards of 50,000 inhabitants, are not even noticed, existing as they did, if at all, merely as obscure and insignificant villages.

It has been supposed that the inhabitants of the southern and eastern parts of the county are principally descended from the Frisians, a section of the Saxons of North Germany; and they have been described as men of orderly, but of resolute and even rude habits, generally cautious and possessed of extraordinary energy. These parts of the county were for many centuries, from the difficulty of their access, but little frequented by the inhabitants of other districts. Hence the Lancastrians have be

come but little influenced by intermarriages, and but slightly affected in their manners by the changes which in other places have resulted from the Norman conquest.

They retain, as they have always done, much of that sturdiness of temper which belonged to their Saxon ancestors, and which is often taken as an indication of rudeness, whilst in reality it is only an awkward manner of conveying to others the high sense they entertain of their own independence.

In 1524, Hugh Oldham, Bishop of Exeter, and founder of the Free Grammar School of Manchester, described the children of Lancashire as possessed of "pregnant wits,” but as having been brought up “rudely and idly;" in this case it will be obvious, that the term " idly" was used to imply loosely. In more recent times, the Lancastrians have been spoken of as distinguished for the quiet dignity of their minds, roused only by "great objects”—above "petty bustle" having a contempt for shew" an "abhorrence of intrigue;" and their deportment characterised by "plainness and downrightness," accompanied with unostentatious good-nature. The possession of these qualities has no doubt contributed to render the Lancastrians of more modern days remarkable for a spirit of enterprise, and an energy of application perhaps unparalleled. The introduction of the cotton manufacture about 70 years ago, afforded them an ample field for the developement and successful application of those powers and qualities of mind, which they appear to have inherited from their Saxon ancestors.

In this otherwise unpromising locality, manufactures and commerce have found a genial soil. In the hands of this race of people, the sciences of mechanics and chemistry have been applied to manufacturing industry, with a practical intelligence previously unknown. Steampower has been introduced, and successfully applied to all the varied forms of mechanical invention. Those rivers, remembered for the obstructions they once presented to military aggression, are now directed to the propelling of machinery; they are lending their aid in the bleaching, dyeing, and printing of our fabrics, and assist in many other manufacturing and mercantile services. They are crossed with bridges almost out of number, bearing roads and railroads through that country of "destructive morasses and impenetrable woods" which nearly thwarted regal enterprise.

Liverpool, two centuries ago a small fishing station, and "the most convenient and usual place for setting sail into Ireland," has become a mercantile port, unequalled in any other country. All the towns previously existing have been greatly increased in magnitude and wealth, and other towns have come into existence, rivalling those of more ancient date. Many populous villages have also arisen, and the whole country has become thronged with myriads of industrious people,-more numerous indeed than the population of any other English county.

In drawing attention to the past and present state of Lancashire, it will be difficult, or perhaps impossible, to describe all the changes which have been effected. Those points of comparison will appear the most striking, which have reference to the increased population and wealth of the county. These are presented in the following parallel columns. The population returns are those of 1801, the earliest we possess, compared with those of 1841. The comparisons relating to the value of

property are drawn from the Parliamentary Return of the assessment for the land-tax, in 1692, and the county assessment of 1841.

The land-tax returns have been selected, as the only authenticated records of the value of property in the county, having an earlier date than 1815; and they may be taken as a fair approximation to the value of property at that period, from having been ascertained for the adoption of a mode of taxing by rate, instead of scutages. The sums which represent the gross annual value of places in 1692 have been ascertained by adding together the sums of land-tax, redeemed and unredeemed, charged severally upon each of them; and as this tax was a charge of four shillings in the pound, its amount being multiplied by five, gives the full annual value at that period.

The following may be adduced as an instance of the mode in which the calculations have been worked out. Example :—

Great Bolton

£. s. d. £. s. d.

18 9 3 15 6 9 = 33 16 0 X 5 = 169 93,916 54,388 By way of enlarged illustration, the following will show the past and present state of the several hundreds or divisions of the county.

The borough of Lancaster has increased in the number of its inhabitants, since the commencement of the present century, from 9,030 to 13,531; that of Wigan, from 10,989 to 25,517; the town of Manchester, with Salford, from 84,020 to 296,183; and that of Liverpool, with Toxteth Park, from 79,722 to 264,298.

From the above it appears, that, in the course of 150 years the property of the county, as a whole, has been advanced 6,300 per cent. That the three hundreds which are chiefly agricultural have been advanced 3,500 per cent., whilst those which are more engaged in manufactures and commerce have averaged an advance of 7,000 per cent., or twice as much.

The following table shows the population in 1801 and 1841, of the several towns and townships comprised in the hundred of Salford; also the annual value of the same places at the period of assessment for the land-tax in 1692, contrasted with their value as ascertained for the county assessment in 1841, so as to show the per centage of increase in each of them.