A. D. Trades Institution, this laudable design with the munificent donation of 500 guineas, and such is the zeal, and, it may be added, the enthusiasm with men's which his example has been followed, that the society is now in a Benevolent high state of prosperity, and promises to be as permanent as its originated results are beneficent. The annuity allowed to a male is £24, and in 1845. to a female £18, paid quarterly. Certain conditions, character among the number, are indispensable, to render a person eligible for admission, and as the ordeal is very close, the charity is protected from imposition. The amount of good already accomplished by this admirable institution, and the misery averted, is incalculable. There are annuitants, both male and female, some of them approaching to eighty and ninety years of age, formerly large contributors to the local rates, and the general taxes, who, but for the enlarged philanthropy which brought it into existence, must have become recipients of the parish fund, or ended their days in the workhouse. Facts like these speak for themselves, and at once point to Mr. Sidney as a public benefactor, entitled to the thanks and gratitude of his townsmen. The amount of capital invested in November, 1851, was £8,000, including a handsome bequest by the late Mr. William Prince, of Spencer-place, Leeds, of 500 guineas, which, however, was subject to a deduction of 50 guineas, for legacy duty. At the period referred to, there were forty-three pensioners enjoying the bounty of the institution, one of whom, Mr. William Tute, formerly an extensive dyer, and the first person elected, is ninety years of age. There are generally two elections in the year, May and November, but this is conditional upon the state of the funds. Guardians. An important alteration has been made within the last few years Poor Law with respect to the administration of the poor law. Leeds is not Board of in union, like some neighbouring towns, the persons who compose the Board of Guardians being chosen for the township alone, and having nothing whatever to do with the affairs of the out-townships. The collection of the rates devolves upon the overseers, or their assistants; but it is the province of the guardians to receive all applications for relief, and to decide on the amount to be given in each case, either on the statement made by the applicant, personally, or on the report furnished by the relieving officer, after visiting the family. The board is subject to the control of the Poor Law Board, at Somerset House, by whom inspectors are sent, specially, or periodically, to investigate and report to the superior authorities. Mr. John Beckwith is the present clerk to the guardians, and being, in addition, superintendant registrar, marriages take place before him, under an act of parliament passed for that purpose. The duties of Mr. Beckwith as superintendant, are limited to the township, Mr. Rawson, solicitor, holding a similar office in connection with the out-townships. The means of public worship and spiritual instruction have been remarkably extended in Leeds within the last few years. The merit of this "revival," so far as the Church is concerned, is undoubtedly due to that able, zealous and devoted clergyman, Dr. Hook, the vicar. The self-denying labours of this estimable man, for the promotion of the temporal and eternal interests of his parishioners, will be remembered in the latest ages, and cause his name to be held in perpetual veneration. At the close of the year 1843, the Rev. gentleman proposed a plan for the division of the parish and vicarage into distinct and separate parishes and vicarages, and at a meeting of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, held in January, 1844, they assented to the general principle of the intended arrangements. The plan, when matured, so strongly commended itself to the good sense of parliament, that it speedily received the sanction of both houses, and having received the royal assent, is now in force as "The Leeds Vicarage Act." By this measure, the vicar has relinquished much patronage, and probably, emolument; but with him these appear to have been trifling considerations in comparison with the great object to be accomplished. There are now no fewer than sixteen churches in the township of Leeds alone, (inclusive of the parish church, of which a description is given in the first volume;) and if to this number be added the churches in the out-townships, closely bordering upon Leeds, together with all the schools connected with them, we have an aggregate of religious and moral instruction, unprecedented, and perhaps, unequalled in any other part of the country. These efforts are well seconded by Christians of other denominations, whose chapels are to be found in every direction, so that a well-defined system of education, offering common ground for all parties, seems now only wanting to complete the mission which men, conscious of their high destiny, are called to fulfil. A.D. Leeds Vicarage Aet, 1844. 1851 founded in The Free Grammar School was originally founded in 1552, by Grammar Sir William Sheafield. The original endowment, augmented by School subsequent benefactions, now produces about £2000 per annum. 1552. The school is open to all boys of the parish for instruction in the classics, mathematics and writing, and it has the privilege of sending a candidate for one of Lady Elizabeth Hasting's exhibitions to Queen's College, Oxford. It is also entitled to one of the four scholarships of £80 per annum, founded by the Rev. T. Milner, in Magdalen College, Cambridge, tenable till the holder takes the degree of M.A.; and likewise, in failure of a candidate from the school of Normanton, to one of the two scholarships founded by Mrs. Frieston, in Emanuel College, Cambridge. Leeds, as we have already remarked, had no representatives in parliament, till the passing of the Reform Bill, in 1832; though at the commencement of the Commonwealth, Adam Baynes, Esq., of Knostrop, an officer in the parliamentary army, represented the borough. Two members are now returned. The following gentle A. D. 1832 to 1851 Railway cation. men have been honoured with a seat in the legislature since the enfranchisement of the borough : It is unnecessary to enlarge on the advantages derived by Leeds communi. from railway communication to every part of the kingdom. Since the opening of the three stations in Wellington-street, namely, the Midland (from which the Leeds and Thirsk, Leeds and Bradford, and London and North Western trains also start,) the Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the Great Northern, the approaches to the west end of the town, present a very busy aspect, and during the great exhibition, the thousands who thronged to the stations, day by day, attracted by the unparalleled cheapness of the fares, to see the world's wonder, forcibly reminded the spectator of a crowded thoroughfare in the metropolis. Such is the continued influx of strangers to this part of Leeds, that most of the houses on each side of the street, are appropriated to lodgings, or converted into beer shops. Eminent The parish of Leeds has produced several eminent men. Among them are John Harrison, the distinguished benefactor; Saxton, the chorographer; Thoresby the eminent antiquarian; Fairfax, the poet and translator of Tasso; Dr. David Hartley, the pupil of Sir Isaac Newton, and author of "Observations on Man;" Dr. Priestley, the natural philosopher; General Guest, the commander; Smeaton, the celebrated engineer, and builder of the Eddystone lighthouse; Joseph and Isaac Milner, eminent theologians; Dr. James Scott, author of three Seatonian prize poems, and a writer in the Public Advertiser, under the signature of Anti-Sejanus; Benjamin Wilson, F.R.S., an eminent landscape painter; Sir John Beckett, Bart., banker; and William Hey, Esq., surgeon. The population of the borough has progressed very rapidly since the commencement of the present century, and the number of houses has increased in a corresponding ratio. The following statement shows these results : *This election was to supply the vacancy caused by Mr. Macaulay's appointment in India. 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 : -- A.D. Population from 1801 to 1851. 1821 1331 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 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, Antiquity. 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 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. Gas Companies. Water Works. |