Thus it will be seen that the number of inhabitants, according to the census of 1851, is considerably more than three times as large as in 1801; and the importance of this increase will be more apparent, when the awful mortality occasioned by the cholera in 1832 and 1849, is borne in mind. The relative number of the sexes in 1841 and 1851 are as follows: We have no means of furnishing the number of houses in 1801 and 1811; but for the four following periods, the subjoined facts are arrived at: 1821 ...... 18,704 28,047 Number of houses in 1821-1851 1841 including those in course of building 34,268 ditto 38,017 It appears from the official returns recently published, that there are at present in England and Wales, 3,280,961 inhabited houses; 152,898 uninhabited; and 26,534 in course of erection, making a total of 3,450,393. LEEDS INDUSTRIAL SCHOOL.-In our notice of this school, at page 19, we omitted to state that the architects were Messrs. Perkin and Backhouse, of Leeds. A.D. 1690 Antiquity. SHEFFIELD. As Leeds takes precedence in the cloth manufacture, so does Sheffield in that of cutlery and other hardware manufactures, the elegance and excellence of which are celebrated throughout Europe. It is a place of great antiquity, and derives its name, originally, Sheaffield, from its situation on the river Sheaf, near its confluence with the Don. The town is situated on the acclivities of a gentle eminence in a spacious valley, which, with the exception of an opening towards the north-east, is inclosed by a range of richly wooded hills, beyond which rise others to a great elevation, forming a magnificent natural ampitheatre, commanding extensive prospects over the adjacent country, including delightful villas, verdant fields, and thickly-wooded eminences. Sheffield is above a mile in length from north to south, and more than three quarters of a mile in breadth. It consists of numerous streets, which, with the exception of some of the thoroughfares, are narrow and inconvenient. The houses are mostly of brick, intermixed with many of very ancient character, and are chiefly within the angle formed by the rivers, but on the opposite banks are also several extensive ranges of buildings. It is supposed that the first brick house, in Sheffield, was built in Pepper-alley, in 1693, and such was the ignorance Gas Com prevailing a century and a half ago, that the inhabitants predicted its speedy destruction, because it was built of such "perishable materials"!! Considerable improvements, however, have taken place under an act of parliament, obtained in 1818, and the town is lighted with gas by two companies, now united, namely, a company, whose works, at Shude-hill, were erected at a cost of £40,000; and a new company formed in 1836, for affording a supply on more moderate terms, for which, they expended £80,000 in the erection of works on Blonk island. The inhabitants were formerly furnished with water from springs in the neighbouring hills, but the supply becoming inadequate to the increasing wants of the town, a company was formed in 1829, with a capital of £100,000, and incorporated by act of parliament. The service reservoir of this company's works has an elevation of more than 450 feet above the town, and covers an area of nearly six acres, containing about 20,000,000 gallons, supplied by a conduit from the Redmire reservoir, near the source of the river Riveling, of which it receives the surplus water, after a sufficient quantity has been retained for the use of the mills upon its stream. The Redmire reservoir covers an area of 50 acres, and contains more than 200,000,000 gallons. From the great descent of the water towards the town, it acquires a force sufficient to raise it to the roofs of the highest houses. panies. Water Works. 66 A. D. 1500 and 1600. The principal manufacture of Sheffield, as we have already noticed, is that of cutlery ware, for which the town appears to have been distinguished at a very early period, and the numerous mines of coal and iron stone in the vicinity, render its situation extremely Manufac favourable. Chaucer, in his Canterbury Tales, notices the Shef- tures. field" Thwytel," or Whittel," a kind of large knife worn by such as had not the privilege of wearing the sword, and for the making of which, and also of iron arrow heads, before the general use of fire arms, the town had become celebrated. The principal articles subsequently manufactured here, were scythes, sickles, shears, and implements of husbandry, till the middle of the last century, when considerable improvements were made, and the finer kinds of cutlery were introduced. The superintendence of the trade was, in the 16th century, entrusted to twelve master cutlers, appointed at Cutlers. the court leet of the lord of the manor, and invested with powers to enforce the necessary regulations for the protection of the trade. In 1570, many of the artizans from the Netherlands, driven from their country by the arbitrary measures of the Duke D'Alva, settled in various parts of England, under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth. Such as were of the same occupation, by the advice of her chamberlain, the Earl of Shrewsbury, fixed their residence in one spot, and most of them being artificers in iron, were placed on the earl's estate in Yorkshire, and contributed greatly towards improvements in cutlery, which in Sheffield has been brought to unrivalled excellence. Master Cutlers. In 1624, the cutlers were incorporated by act of parliament, "for Incorporathe good order and government of the makers of knives, scissors, tion of the shears, sickles, and other cutlery wares, in Hallamshire, in the county of York, and parts near adjoining." Several alterations were made in the constitution of this corporation by acts of parliament in 1791 and 1801; but on account of their unpopularity, they were repealed in 1814, by an act granting permission to all persons, whether sons of freemen or strangers, to carry on trade anywhere within the limits of Hallamshire, which privilege, by encouraging men of genius from every part of the country to settle in the town, has tended greatly to its prosperity, and by exciting a spirit of competi tion, assisted to produce exquisite specimens of workmanship in the finer branches of the trade. The principal articles at present produced are table knives and forks, pen and pocket knives of every description, scissors, razors, surgical, mathematical and optical instruments, engineers' and joiners' tools, scythes, sickles, and files, of which vast numbers are exported, and an endless variety of steel ware. Cutlery made from cast steel was added to the ancient articles from hammered steel, and has been brought to great perfec- Silver Plattion. The manufacture of silver plate in all its branches, from the ed Wares. most minute to the most massive articles, is also carried on to a very considerable extent, and has obtained a high degree of celebrity for elegance of pattern and beauty of workmanship. The manufacture A. D. 1742 Metal. German of silver plated wares, introduced in 1742, has much contributed to the fame of the town, and has been applied to the making of waiters, urns, tea pots, candlesticks, and numerous articles previously made of solid silver. The rims, mountings, bosses, and other ornamental parts, are usually of the last-mentioned material; and as the Sheffield plate has a much thicker coating of silver on the other parts than the plated wares of other towns, it possesses a decided superiority, which has long since opened for it a ready market throughout the world. The manufacture of numerous articles of a similar kind in Britannia Britannia metal, a sort of pewter, composed of tin, antimony, and regulus, has been pursued extensively, and forms an important branch of foreign and domestic trade. Considerable improvement has been made in this branch within the last few years, by the substitution of the Albata or German silver, which is wrought into an infinite variety of useful and elegant articles. Wire-drawing, and the refining of silver, are carried on to a considerable extent; and along the banks of the rivers, are numerous iron and steel works, in which the heavier castings are made, and also, extensive mills for slitting and preparing the iron and steel for the use of the manufacturers. Among the manufactured iron goods are, stovegrates in every variety of pattern, fenders, fire-irons, boilers for steam engines, and all the articles usually made of wrought and cast iron. A type foundry was established in 1806, and in 1818, another, on a more extensive scale. There are also several factories for the weaving of horse hair seating for chairs, and various other establishments. The introduction of that new branch of trade "Sheffield Plate," gave rise to an Assay office in 1773, and the weight of silver articles assayed at this office has varied from 3,000 to 6,000 lbs. per annum; but this quantity is largely augmented yearly, in the coatings and mountings of plated goods. The refining of the precious metals was introduced by Mr. John Read, in 1795. The metal button trade formed an important branch of manufacture at one period, but since the introduction of silk and cloth-covered buttons, it has, of course, materially declined. In 1791, a tailor was convicted in the penalty of forty shillings a dozen for setting covered buttons upon a gentleman's waistcoat; and the wearer in a like penalty, for appearing in the waistcoat so made. This monstrous interference with the right of a man "to do as he likes with his own" was threatened to be renewed ten years afterwards, but it was put down by the force of common sense, and will never be repeated. A few manufacturers of gilt and plated buttons are, however, to be found in the town, and the fickle goddess of fashion may yet again extend their number. We have already alluded to the Britannia metal trade, and it may here be noticed that the first manufacturers were Messrs. Ebenezer Hancock and Richard Jessop. The former was the son of Joseph Hancock, the celebrated silver-plater. A remarkable circumstance, in connection with the cutlery trade, occurred in 1626. Thomas Wild, a cutler Assay Button trade. 66 A.D. 1690 tions. living in the Crooked Bill Yard, High-street, made Lieutenant Felton the knife with which he stabbed the Duke of Buckingham. The knife was found in the Duke's body, and had a corporation mark upon it, which led to the discovery of the maker, who was immediately taken to the Earl of Arundel's house, in London, Lieutenant where he acknowledged the mark was his, and that he had made Felton. Lieutenant Felton two such knives, when he was recruiting at Sheffield, for which he charged him tenpence. According to ancient record, the Earl was well satisfied of the truth of Wild's testimony, and ordered him to be paid the expenses of his journey home." In 1786, the first steam grinding wheel was erected by Messrs. Proctor, on the east bank of the Sheaf, and there are now New a large number of similar establishments in the town and suburbs, Machinery in addition to smaller ones connected with manufactories. In and inven1760, Mr. Robert Hinchcliffe produced the first pair of hard polished scissors, and nine years afterwards, Mr. Thomas Bolsover, the founder of the silver plated trade, established the first machinery for rolling iron and steel into plates, suitable for saws, fenders, spades, &c., which had previously been formed solely by the laborious and more extensive operation of the hammer. In 1770, Mr. Hunstman introduced the art of making cast-steel, by reducing bar-steel into a fluid state for the purpose of improving its quality. Most of the shear-steel was imported from Germany until 1775, when it was first made in England, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne. In 1785, forges were erected at Sheffield for its manufacture, but tilts and rolling mills had been established in the town and neighbourhood more than half a century. The consumption of coal con-Consumpsiderably exceeds half a million tons annually, including the tion of quantities used for household purposes; but although the coal mines of Sheffield are prolific, they are inadequate to its growing requirements, so that large deliveries of coal and coke take place from all the surrounding parishes. It is estimated that the number of men, women, and boys, employed in the iron and metal Labourers. trades of the town, amount to upwards of 22,000. During the present century, and since the introduction of the steam engine, many extensive manufactories have been erected, in which every process is performed, from the conversion of the iron into steel, to the finishing of the article for the market. coal. Inland The trade of the town is greatly facilitated by its advantageous Navigation. line of inland navigation. In 1815, an act was passed for the construction of a canal from Sheffield to the Don at Tinsley. The head of this canal forms a basin at the eastern extremity of Sheffield, and adjoining is a spacious wharf, where vessels can load and unload under cover, with an extensive range of warehouses and offices for the transaction of business. The basin is capable of containing more than 40 vessels of 50 tons burthen. Great facilities are also Railways. provided by railways, by means of which rapid intercourse is kept VOL. II. D |