been the property of some chief of the name of Lede or Leod· Thoresby, the antiquarian, imagines that there may have been a town here in the time of the Romans, and Dr. Whitaker seems to have entertained little doubt that the Roman road traversed the site of the present town of Leeds, in the line of Briggate. Another authority inclines to the opinion, that after the destruction of Cambodunum, by Cadwallo, a British prince, and Penda, King of Mercia, Leeds was made a royal vill, and obtained the Saxon appellation of Loidis. During the heptarchy, a memorable battle took place here between the kings of Northumbria and Mercia, in which the latter was slain, and numbers of his forces, in their attempt to escape, perished in the river Aire. At the time of the Conquest, the manor of Leeds was given to Ilbert de Lacy, who erected a baronial castle in the town, which is supposed to have been situate in Mill-hill, overlooking the river, and encompassed by a park extending northward to Park-lane. In 1139, this fortress was besieged and taken by King Stephen, in his march against the Scots, who had taken up arms in defence of his neice, the Empress Matilda, whose son, Henry, was heir to the throne. A. D. 1139 In 1399, the castle was for some time the scene of the confinement of Richard II., previously to his removal to the castle of Pontefract, in which he was inhumanly murdered. At what period, or by what means the castle was destroyed, does not appear. Thoresby states it to have been the tradition of his time, that the old bridge was built out of its ruins, but this is obviously incorrect, as the bridge and the chantry connected with it, were in existence in 1373, and the fortress certainly remained till the 15th century. In a record in the tower of London, of the 47th Edward III., the castle is mentioned in connection with the mills then existing in the town. A tower also stood near Lydgate, in Woodhouse-lane, called Tower Hill," which might possibly have been in some manner connected with the castle; but not a vestige of either fabric remains. In 1376, occurs the first notice of a bridge over, The Bridge the river Aire, with a chapel or chantry dedicated to St. Mary, in 1376. attached thereto, according to the custom of that period. On the dissolution of religious houses, the chapel was appropriated to the purposes of a school, and continued to be so until 1728. can be little doubt but that a bridge existed in the times of the Saxons, and it is thought the word " Briggate," which cannot be of less than Saxon origin, favours that opinion. This bridge has been twice widened, once in 1730, and again in 1760, when the chapel, then used as a warehouse, was demolished. There In 1535, Henry VIII. dissolved all religious establishments, whose annual revenues did not exceed £200 each. A rebellion ensued in the following year, which was designated the "Pilgrimage of Grace," and the bailiffs of Snaith, Leeds, Kellam, and Beverley, were amongst the leaders. In 1540, the abbey of Kirkstall A.D. 1552 Leeds School. was surrendered to the crown, by John Ripley, the last abbot. In 1552, during the reign of Edward VI., the grammar school, in Leeds, was founded by Sir William Sheaffield, priest, on the place Grammar now occupied by the pinfold, in Edward-street. It was removed to its present site in 1624. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, orders were received in this town, to contribute a proportionate part of the expense of providing a ship of war to cruise against the The Soke. Spaniards. In 1609, the soke originated, by letters patent, granted by James I., originally to Edward Ferrers, of London, mercer, and Francis Phelips, of the same place, gentleman. The mills to which this grant applied, are supposed to have stood on the stream of water running along Swinegate, known by the name of the "Mill Goit." A bill of complaint was exhibited in Chancery, on the 3rd of November, 1615, signed by a great number of the most wealthy and influential inhabitants of the district, stating that the town and parish had become very large and populous, and consisted of more than 5000 communicants, and that although some of them were three or four miles distant from the church, yet, 3000 or 4000 ordinarily resorted thither every Sabbath-day. This statement shows not only a large increase in the population, but also, the existence of a strong religious feeling at that remote period. In 1631, another grant of the soke was made; but in 1839, the inhabitants of the manor of Leeds were discharged from the custom by act of parliament, and a compensation of £13,000 was paid to Edward Hudson, Esq., of Roundhay, the then proprietor. In 1644, the Plague made its appearance, proving fatal to 1325 persons, being (according to Dr. Whitaker) about a fifth part of the population. It was about this time that the privilege of returning a member to serve in parliament was conferred on Leeds; and accordingly, Adam Baynes, Esquire, of Knostrop, an officer in the parliamentary army, was returned, and was the only representative the borough had till the passing of the Reform Act in 1832. The Old Prison old prison of the borough (originally situate in that part of Brigremoved in gate, formerly called "Cross Parish") was removed to the south side of Kirkgate in 1655. It was a most wretched place, containing five or six dark and miserable apartments, without even a sewer or a fire place, in addition to which the windows were not even glazed. The philanthropic Howard remarked, with reference to this building, that an hour was too long to remain within its walls. Yet it was here, that John Nelson, one of the first methodist preachers, was confined on the 6th of May, 1744, when passing through the town, after having been illegally impressed for a soldier. The name of the gaoler who, according to Nelson's Journal, kindly permitted above one hundred of his friends to visit him the same night, was "James Barber," late "an innholder in this burrough." Opposite the prison was the common bake-house, which had existed from an early period. It was also about this date that, owing to the great scarcity of money, merchants and 1655. This tradesmen obtained, or assumed, the privilege of coining those During the war in the reign of Charles I., numerous skirmishes between the contending parties, took place in the neighbourhood of Leeds. In 1643, the town was taken by the parliamentary forces under General Fairfax, and after the battle of Marston moor, in the same year, the Scottish troops halted here. In the reign of William III., Thomas, Marquis of Carmarthen, was created Duke of Leeds, and the title is still inherited by his descendants. The principal residence of this noble family is Hornby castle, near Catterick, in the North-riding of Yorkshire. town was vested in a chief officer called the A.D. 1626-1672 Leeds received its first charter of incorporation in the second 1st Charter year of the reign of Charles I. Previously, the government of the of Incorpo"Bailiff." This ration 1626. having been forfeited, a new charter was granted by Charles II., in the 13th of his reign, under which the inhabitants were governed by a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 24 assistants, a recorder, deputy recorder, town clerk, coroner, clerk of the market, and other officers. Without wishing to introduce any irrelevant topic in a history of this kind, it is only proper to state, that the gentlemen composing the corporation under the old regime, belonged exclusively to one political party, and although they were men of high standing and inflexible integrity, and governed the town with a sincere desire to promote the prosperity of the inhabitants, still, considering that there were gentlemen belonging to another party, equally entitled both by wealth, station, and capability, to share in the honour and responsibility of local government, such a system of exclusion excited much dissatisfaction and ill-feeling in the minds of a large proportion of the rate-payers. Publicity, more especially with regard to financial matters, was strongly insisted upon, and notwithstanding it was said that the old corporation possessed no funds but such as arose from fines imposed among themselves, public meetings were held from time to time to petition parliament for a reform in this department of local affairs. These efforts, combined with similar movements in other towns, were at length successful. The passing of the municipal act in 1835, opened the door to men of all parties, and the result is, that every shade of opinion, political and religious, is now represented in the town council. The new corporation, however, did not fall on a bed of roses. Their predecessors had alienated the whole of their funds, £6,500, to public and charitable objects, for the avowed purpose of preventing the new authorities obtaining control over the money. A. D. This proceeding excited a strong feeling of indignation, and in one of the discussions which took place from time to time on the 1661-1662 subject, an alderman, belonging to the whig party, characterized the alienation of the funds as the act of a Turpin. A suit in chancery was instituted, which "dragged its slow length along," and ultimately, the town council succeeded in recovering back the money, which forthwith formed part of the borough fund.* Armorial the borough. Some very interesting records connected with the corporations of by gone times, appear in the Municipal History of Leeds, compiled by Mr. James Wardell, of this town. The armorial bearings of the borough are; Arms—Azure, a bearings of fleece or, on a Chief Sable, three mullets argent. Crest—An Owl, argent. Supporters-Two Owls, argent, ducally crowned, or, Motto -Pro rege et lege. Previously to the granting of the first charter in 1626, it is probable that the borough had no regular armorial bearings; but at that period, the fleece suspended from the middlechief point of the escutcheon, was adopted by the corporation, as denoting the woollen manufacture, then becoming of some importance in the town. The crest and supporters were added in honour of Sir John Savile, knight, the first alderman, and was so borne until after the granting of the second charter (1661;) when the chief with its bearings were introduced to commemorate Thomas Danby, Esq., the first mayor of the borough. 66 In 1662, the churchwardens were authorised to lay an eightfold assessment" upon the inhabitants of the borough, to reimburse them for the money expended in erecting a baptismal font in the parish church. On the 26th of March, in the same year, the corporation appointed Thomas Gorst to be their cook, and ordered that he should "from tyme to tyme, upon any publique occation, dresse, or order to be dressed, the severall dishes appoynted for any such meeting or solempnitye." It does not appear that our ancestors were a more moral race of beings than those of the present age, for we find in the year just mentioned, the corporation complained that "many masters of familyes and parents of children doe give libertye to their servants and others, to profane the Sabbath, by theire open playing in the streets, sitting in publique places in great companyes, to the great dishonour of God in poynte of divine worshippe, in scandall to christian profession and to the bad example of the younger sort in poynte of education." In 1663, a subsidy called "hearth money" was granted to the crown by Act of Parliament, and it appears from the returns relating to this borough, that there were 1431 inhabitants, possessing 2845 hearths, or stones, which would make very nearly the sum of £300 to be contributed by Leeds. This tax so "grievous to the people," was repealed by the statute of 1 William and Mary. On the 1st of April, 1667, the corporation "haveing due respect to the lawes and canons of holy * See Annals, vol. 1, page 292. A.D. 1673 Market Re church," ordered contracts to be made for repairing and restoring the leads and windows of the parish church. On the 18th of December, 1673, an inquisition was taken into the administration of estates bequeathed for charitable purposes, within the borough of Leeds, in pursuance of a commission for that purpose. All the deeds, writings, &c., connected with these trusts, were ordered to be safely laid up in a strong chest, and they are at present deposited in an iron safe in the vestry of the parish church, secured by three separate locks, of which one key is kept by the mayor, another by the vicar, and a third by the churchwardens. On the 11th of gulations March, 1674, it was ordered as a regulation for the market, and in 1674. also to prevent forestalling, that no corn should be sold in the market, until the ringing of a bell, to be called the "Market Bell," which should be rung at ten o'clock in the forenoon. In 1670, the corporation, with the consent of the vicar, ordered the pew in the parish church, commonly called the "aldresses pew," to be enlarged and rendered more commodious, in order that the ladies attending divine service there, might "with more freedome exercise their devotions." In 1679, the corporation took into consideration, the great profit and advantage which would accrue to the inhabitants, if the river Aire were made navigable, and the mayor urged the court then assembled to name some person capable of carrying into effect an order relating thereto, but all declining to do so, his worship (Thomas Danby, Esq.,) expressed his willingness to become sole “undertaker" in the business, and to carry the same fully into effect, which was ratified and confirmed by the court. It appears Market forfrom the first charter, that the market day was formerly held on merly held on Monday Monday, but was subsequently changed to Tuesday, the present market day, as being more convenient to the public. The first record of an assessment paid by the several townships in the borough, occurs in 1680, when an account was presented to the corporation by Mr. Alderman Ibbitson, treasurer. From this statement, we learn that the whole amount was only £20. 10s. 5d., and of this small sum, £1. 18. 11d, was left in arrears. On the 20th of June, 1681, Mr. Alderman Foxcroft solicited the assistance of the corporation, in redeeming his son, who had been taken prisoner by the Turks, and was then in captivity. The sum required was estimated at £350, and the alderman not being in a condition to raise the same, the corporation ordered a general collection to be made from house to house, for the "redemption of a christian soul out of the hands of those barbarous infidels." In 1687, the quakers were subject to considerable persecution in the borough, on account of their religious tenets, and the goods of one John Wales and others, were seized and ordered to be sold. On a representation to the king, however, the property was ordered to be restored, his majesty's intention being that all his subjects should receive the full benefit of his declaration for liberty of conscience. The first notice of the Mace now used by the mayor of Leeds, occurs in 1694, when the |