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Stafford in 1859

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Topographical Dictionary of England, Samuel Lewis - 1859

STAFFORD, a borough and market-town, consisting of the united parishes of St. Mary and St. Chad, and the the S. division of the hundred of PIREHILL, N. division of the county of STAFFORD; containing 10,730 inhabitants, of whom 9245 are in the borough, 136 miles (N.W.) from London, on the road to Chester. This town, which is of great antiquity, was originally called Stadeford or Stadford, from the Saxon Stade, signifying a place on a river, and from the trajectus or ford across the Sow, on which it is situated. It is said to have been, in 705, the devotional retirement of St. Bertelin, the son of a Mercian king, upon whose expulsion from his hermitage, at a spot called Berteliney, and Betheney, meaning the island of Bertelin, several houses were built, which formed the origin of the present town.

In 913, Ethelfleda, Countess of Mercia, erected a castle on the north side of the river, and surrounded the town with walls and a fosse, of which the only remains are one side of a groove for a portcullis, at the entrance to Eastgate-street. Edward the Elder, brother of Ethelfleda, about a year after the erection of the castle, built a tower, the site of which Mr. Pennant supposes to have been the mount called by Speed Castle hill. From this period to the Conquest, the town appears to have increased considerably in extent and importance, and though it had not received any charter of incorporation, it is, in Domesday book, called a city, in which the king had eighteen burgesses in demesne, and the earls of Mercia twenty mansions. William, out of all the manors 
in the county, reserved this only for himself, and built a castle to keep the barons in subjection, appointing as governor Robert de Toeni, the progenitor of the house of Stafford, on whom he bestowed all the other manors, with the title of Baron de Stafford. The castle, after having been rebuilt by Ralph de Stafford, a celebrated warrior in the reign of Edward III., remained till the civil war in the time of Charles, when it was garrisoned by the royal forces under the Earl of Northampton, but was at length taken by the troops under the command of Sir William Brereton, and subsequently demolished by order of the parliament.

The remains consisted chiefly of the keep, and were situated on the summit of a lofty eminence, about a mile and a half to the south-west of the town; the walls were eight feet thick, and at each angle was an octagonal turret, with a tower similarly shaped on the south-west side. About fifty years since, the only visible remains were part of a wall, which the late Sir William Jerningham underbuilt, to prevent it from falling; in doing which it was discovered that the basement story lay buried under the ruins of the upper parts. Sir George Jerningham (now Lord Stafford) afterwards began to rebuild the castle on the old foundation, but has completed only the south front, flanked with two round towers, in which are deposited some ancient armour and other curiosities. 

The TOWN is pleasantly situated on the north side of the Sow, about six miles distant from its confluence with the Trent; the entrance from the London road is by a neat bridge over the river, near which was one of the ancient gates. The houses are in general well built of brick, and roofed with slate, and many of them are of modern erection; the streets are well paved, and lighted with gas, and the inhabitants are amply supplied with water. There is a theatre; assemblies are held in a suite of rooms in the town-hall, and races take place in September on Marston-field. The environs are pleasant, abounding with noble mansions and elegant villas. The principal branch of manufacture is that of shoes and boots for the London market, and for exportation; the tanning of leather is carried on to a considerable extent; and Stafford, in common with the neighbourhood, is noted for the quality of its ale.

The river Penk joins the Sow near Rutford bridge, an elegant structure of three arches, nearly a mile distant; the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal passes near the town, and one of the principal stations on the Grand Junction railway is situated here. The market is on Saturday; and fairs are held on April 5th, May 14th, June 25th, October 3rd, and December 5th. The inhabitants first received a regular charter of incorporation in the fourth year of the reign of John, confirming all privileges previously enjoyed; but after various additions in subsequent reigns, it became forfeited in 1826, by the common council neglecting to fill up vacancies; and, on petition, a new charter was granted by George IV., in 1827. The corporation, under the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76, now consists of a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors; the number of magistrates is nine; the borough is divided into two wards, and the municipal and parliamentary boundaries are coextensive, comprising an area of 600 acres. The town first exercised the elective franchise in the 23rd of Edward I., since which time it has regularly returned two members to parliament: the mayor is returning officer. 

Petty-sessions take place weekly; and the corporation have power to hold quarterly courts of session within the borough, for all offences not capital; but they transfer to the judges travelling the circuit all causes requiring the decision of a jury. The assizes and sessions for the county, which had previously been held here, were restored by Queen Elizabeth, the inhabitants having represented to her, on visiting the town, in 1575, that to their removal its decay at that time was, among other causes, to be attributed. The county-hall is a handsome modern building of stone, in the centre of the High-street, and occupying nearly the whole of one side of a spacious square, appropriated as a market-place, over part of which is a room for 1000 stand of arms, for the Staffordshire militia: towards its erection the corporation contributed £1050. It is 120 feet in length, ornamented in the front with finely-sculptured figures of Justice and Peace, and contains several good apartments, with an assembly-room in the centre, elegantly fitted up, and extending nearly the whole length. The county gaol and house of correction is a substantial edifice. 

There are places of worship for Presbyterians, the Society of Friends, Independents, and Wesleyans of the Old and New Connexion; also a Roman Catholic chapel in that part of the environs called Forebridge, a small handsome edifice, erected by the late Edward Jerningham, Esq., and containing several ancient oak stalls removed from Lichfield cathedral. The free grammar school, which, according to Leland, was originally established by " Sir Thomas, Countre Parson of Ingestre by Heywodde, and Syr Randol, a chauntre preste of Stafford," and further endowed with subsequent benefactions, was, on petition of the inhabitants, refounded by Edward VI., who augmented the revenue, in 1550; the income is now about £350 per annum. An institution for the relief of the widows and orphans of poor clergymen of the county is supported by subscription, and has also an income arising from property vested in old South Sea stock.

A county infirmary, or hospital, was established in 1766, and the present building erected in 1772. A county general lunatic asylum was instituted in the year 1818, for patients from all parts of the kingdom, upon moderate terms, regulated according to their circumstances; the buildings, erected at a cost of £30,524, are capable of accommodating 212 inmates, and the gardens and pleasure-grounds comprise 30 acres. Almshouses for twelve aged and infirm persons were erected in 1640, by Sir Martin Noel, at an expense of £1000, and twenty families reside in them. The poor law union of Stafford comprises 20 parishes or places, and contains a population of 20,293. A priory of Black canons was founded by Richard Peeche, Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, in 1181, and dedicated to St. Thomas a Becket, the revenue of which at the Dissolution was £198.0.9.; a small portion of the buildings remains, now converted into a farm-house, about two miles east of the town.

A house of Friars Eremites, of the order of St. Augustine, was established in the suburb of Forebridge, by Ralph, Lord Stafford, to which, on the abolition of the priory of Stone, the monuments of the family were removed; it continued till the suppression, at which time these splendid memorials were destroyed. A priory of Franciscan friars was instituted at the north end of the town walls by Sir James Stafford, of Sandon, in the reign of Edward I., the income of which at the Dissolution was £35.13.10.; and in addition to these were, a free chapel in the castle, dedicated to St. Nicholas; the free chapel, or hospital, of St. John, near the river, in Forebridge, for a master and poor brethren, the revenue of which was £10; and a free chapel dedicated to St. Leonard, of which the income was £4.12.4.

Several silver coins, of a later date than the reign of Edward VI., a silver cross, the lower portion of an ancient font or piscina, a cannon-ball, and two small mill-stones, were found on repairing the walls of the castle, some few years since. Among eminent natives have been, John de Stafford, a Franciscan monk; Edmund Stafford, Bishop of Exeter, and chancellor of England, in the reigns of Richard II. and Henry IV.; Thomas Ashebourn, a strenuous opponent of Wycliffe; Thomas Fitz-Herbert, a learned Roman Catholic divine of the 16th and 17th centuries, and principal of the English College at Rome; and Izaak Walton, the well-known author of the treatise on the art of angling. Stafford gives the title of Baron to the family of Jerningham. 

An 1859 Gazetteer description of the following places in Stafford is to be found on a supplementary page.

  • Coton
  • Enson
  • Hopton
  • Salt
  • Whitgreave

 

[Description(s) from The Topographical Dictionary of England (1859) by Samuel Lewis - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]