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Hull or Kingston upon Hull, Lancashire

Historical Description

Hull or Kingston-upon-Hull, a municipal and parliamentary borough, a seaport, a market-town, and a county in itself, situated in the Holdemess division of the E.R. Yorkshire. It is on the N bank of the Humber, at the point where the river Hull falls into that estuary, 171 miles from London, 41½ from York, and 22 from the German Ocean at Spurn Point, It sent two members to the House of Commons from 1305 to 1885; under the Redistribution Act of the last-named year it returns three members, for the Central, Eastern, and Western divisions respectively. The municipal borough is divided into twelve wards, the corporation consisting of a mayor, 14 aldermen, and 42 councillors. The mayor is also Admiral of the Humber. The sheriff is elected annually by the corporation. There is also a High Steward. Market days are Tuesday and Friday. A pleasure, horse, and cattle fair is held on 11 and 12 Oct., and a horse and cattle fair on the second Tuesday in April. It has a head post office. The municipal and parliamentary boroughs are co-extensive. Acreage, 8226; population (1881) 165, 690, (1891) 200, 044; of the Eastern parliamentary division, 55, 488; of the Central, 65, 648; and of the Western, 78, 908. It has railway communication with the inland districts by the N.E.R., the M.S. & L.R., and the Hull and Barnsley railway.

The name of Kingston was given to the place by Edward I., who purchased lands here from the Abbot of Meanx, and by whose charter the borough was incorporated in 1299. The town had at that time already attained some consequence as a seaport. Other royal charters were from time to time granted, and the town and liberties were created a county by Henry VI. Its first mayor, 1332, was Sir William de la Pole, father of the first Earl of Suffolk. Daring the Wars of the Roses Hull adhered steadily to the house of Lancaster. In the great Civil War the possession of the town, with its large quantities of warlike stores, was looked upon by both sides as of the greatest importance. It was held for the Parliamentarians by Sir John Hotham, by whom in 1642 admittance was refused to Charles I. During 1643 and 1644 it sustained two sieges by the Royalists. Hull continued to be a military station until 1864, when the citadel was demolished, since which time a guardship has been stationed off the town.

The " old town," to the west of the river Hull (here called the Old Harbour), has become an island by the construction of a chain of docks connecting that river with the Humber, and following the course of the town wall demolished in the 18th century. These docks are crossed by four movable bridges. The Hull is also crossed within the borough by four bridges, in addition to two railway bridges. The North Bridge, immediately above the old town, is the principal connection with the Holdemess portion of the E. Riding. The thoroughfares in the old town are mostly narrow, though on the whole straight. Here are situated the chief public buildings and places of business. The Town-hall, opened in 1866, is a stone building in the Italian Renaissance style, with frontage to Lowgate of 105 feet. It has a central tower and dome 135 feet in height, containing clock with four dials and belL The vestibule is lofty, with a fine staircase leading to the mayor's reception rooms and private apartments. The council chamber is decorated with frescoes illustrating events in the history of the town. There are also committee rooms and record room, besides the departmental offices of the corporation. The town-hall contains statues of Edward I., Sir William de la Pole, Sir Michael de la Pole (Earl of Suffolk), Marvell, William Wilberforce, and others. The corporation insignia includes two swords of state, and there is also plate of considerable interest. In the rear of the town-hall are the police, sessions, and county courts, and the offices of the school board. Holy Trinity Church is a noble building, being one of the three largest parish churches in England. It is cruciform in plan, and comprises choir and nave (each with two aisles), transepts, porches, several chantry chapels, and tower. Its principal dimensions are:-Choir, length 100 feet, breadth 70; transepts, length 96 feet, breadth 28; nave, length 144 feet, breadth 72; height of tower 150 feet. The transepts and choir are of early 14th-century work, the nave being of the later years of that century, and the tower of slightly later date than the nave. The transepts and choir are externally of brick, probably the oldest post-Roman brickwork in England; the nave and tower are of stone. The great E window, of seven lights, measuring 40 feet by 20, is a good example of the transition from flowing to perpendicular tracery. It was filled with stained glass in 1834; the figures in the lower portion, representing the cardinal virtues, are from designs by Reynolds. There is a fine piscina, and an altar-piece by Parmentier representing the Last Supper. The reredos was erected as a memorial to the late Lieut.-Col. J. W. Pease of Hesslewood. The choir contains five bays, the nave eight, the piers of the former being remarkably slender and beautiful. The great window of the fine west front was filled with stained glass, by Hardman, in 1862'. The Broadley Chapel contains a beautiful canopied altar-tomb, over which are two shields charged with the arms of De la Pole. The font, of Late Decorated date, is curiously sculptured. The organ, by Forster and Andrews, cost £2000. The tower is of three stages, and contains a ring of eight bells and a clock with four dials and chimes. The church was restored under the superintendence of Sir G. Scott at a. cost of £57, 000. St Mary's Church is in the Perpendicular style, and is a fragment of a much larger edifice. It consists of a nave of six bays, with north aisle, two south aisles, and western tower. The footpath of the street passes under the tower, which was pierced with this object when the church was restored (at a cost of £10, 000) in 1863. This church has many stained glass windows of great beauty. There ia a fine organ by Snetzler. The walls have been recently wainscoted in oak. The tower contains a peal of six bells. The parish church of Sculcoates (All Saints) is a fine red brick building, built at a cost of about £10, 000 from designs by Street. It was consecrated in 1869, the detached south-west tower being added in 1883. There are twenty-one other churches in the borough, all modern. There are besides numerous places of worship belonging to the Methodists, Congregationalists, and other bodies, including three Roman Catholic chapels and two synagogues.

The Trinity House, rebuilt 1753, is a building in the Tuscan style, belonging to the Corporation of the Trinity House, founded 1369. The buoying and lighting of the Humber are in the hands of this important corporation, by whom dues on shipping are received for these purposes. The house contains handsome apartments, including hall, dining-room, board-room, reading-room, and small museum containing relics of Captain Cook and other objects of interest. The practice of strewing the floors with rushes survives in this-institution. The plate is esteemed one of the finest collections belonging to any corporate body in the kingdom; there are also several fine oil paintings. The chapel contains a stained-glass window representing the Ascension. Close by is the day school, maintained by the corporation, in which about 150 boys intended for the mercantile marine service are educated free of charge. The Trinity House also maintains several almshouses in different parts of the town for marine officers and seamen and their widows. The Exchange, erected 1865, is a lofty building; it contains a hall 70 feet long by 40 wide. The Corn Exchange, in High Street, has a great hall measuring 157 feet by 36. In the same street, which runs near to and parallel with the harbour, is Wilberforce Buildings, an antique Dutch-looking brick house standing in a courtyard, and the birthplace of William Wilberforce. This house, like many other former residences in the immediate neighbourhood, is now occupied as offices, this being the principal commercial quarter of the town. Hereabout are several interesting mediaeval buildings. The Market-hall, opened 1887 is in the Flemish Renaissance style. The central hall measures 196 feet by 86. An open-air market is also held in the space surrounding Holy Trinity Church. Near the market-hall is a gilt equestrian statue of William III., erected by public subscription in 1734. A little farther south, facing the Humber, is Nelson Street; the Corporation Pier, approached from this street, was opened 1882, replacing a former pier; it has lower and upper promenades, from which pleasant views of the Hnmber and its shores are obtained. The post office, branch Bank of England, and other banks, are also situated in the old town. The dock office,. erected 1871 at a cost exceeding £90, 000, is a handsome stone building in the Italian style, well situated at the west end of the Queen's Dock, close to the Whitefriargate Bridge. Immediately facing it is the Wilberforce monument, erected 1834, and consisting of a fluted Doric column 90 feet high,. surmounted by a statue 12 feet high. The Royal Infirmary, in Prospect Street, founded 1782, is the chief medical charity of the town. The buildings have been repeatedly extended, the principal additions being made in commemoration of the centenary of the institution. In connection with the infirmary a convalescent home has been established at Withern-sea. The Hull and Sculcoates Dispensary, established 1814, provides free attendance in their own homes for the sick poor, besides giving medicine or advice to those attending at the institution. The present building was erected 1887. The Victoria Hospital for Sick Children was founded 1873, its present building was erected 1892. It has accommodation for fifty-four in-patients. There is a convalescent home at Hornsea in connection with this hospital. The Charterhouse was founded in 1384 by Sir Michael de la Pole; the present building dates from about 1780, but additions have been made at various times. There are rooms for forty-seven poor men and fifty-three women, each of whom receives 7s. per week, besides coal, turves, and medical attendance. The building contains a chapel for the use of the inmates., Opposite is the residence for the master, who must be a clergyman in priest's orders. The Municipal Almshouses, near the Sculcoates railway station, are a picturesque range of buildings occupying 3 acres of land, and erected by the local charity trustees in 1887. Here are brought together a number of charitable foundations, formerly each occupying separate premises in the older part of the town; the chief one is Lister's Hospital, founded 1642 by Sir John Lister.

The Grammar School was founded by Bishop Alcock in 1486. The present building was opened 1892, and has accommodation for 200 boys. The school now possesses an endowment of about £80 a year only, and the pupils pay fees for some branches of instruction. The old grammar school building, erected 1583, is now occupied by the choir school connected with Holy Trinity Church. The Hymers College, Spring Bank, opened 1893, occupies a portion of the site of the former botanic gardens. It was built and endowed out of a gift of £50, 000, made by the late Mr Robert Hymers, the will of his brother, the Rev. John Hymers, D.D., under which a still larger sum would have been available for this purpose, having been held to be invalid. Mr Hymers at his death left a further benefaction to the college. The building is of two storeys, and is faced externally with red brick, with Ancaster stone dressings; it contains sixteen class-rooms, eight on each floor, grouped around a central hall 92 feet in length by 45 in breadth. The college comprises a classical and a modern school. It has extensive playgrounds. The Girls' High School, in connection with the Church Schools Company, Ltd., occupies the buildings formerly belonging to the late Hull and East Biding College. A free day school for poor girls was founded by Alderman Cogan in 1753. Here about sixty girls are educated, also receiving their clothing free of charge. The Hull Seamen's and General Orphan Asylum and Schools are in the Elizabethan style of architecture, and occupy upwards of 2 acres of ground. The original portion of the building was opened 1866; large additions have since been made, the total cost of the site, buildings, and furniture being about, £22, 000. There is an endowment fund, but the institution is chiefly dependent upon voluntary contributions. About 200 children of both sexes are entirely maintained in this institution, which is conducted on the principles of the Church of England, but children of all denominations are eligible. A like number of children are maintained in the Sailors' Orphan Home. The buildings of this home were opened in 1867, the institution having been founded in 1863. The home is a large white brick building, with stone dressings; it is supported by voluntary contributions.

The Royal Institution is a stone building of the Corinthian order, erected in 1854, and occupying an area of 2200 square yards, with frontage to Albion Street of 160 feet. A noble colonnade of ten pillars fronts the main building; the wings project slightly. The height of the facade is 40 feet; it is surmounted in the centre by an emblematic group of sculpture representing Minerva, Science, and Art. This building is occupied by two societies-the Subscription Library and the Literary and Philosophical Society. The library is a proprietary institution, founded 1775, and now possessing considerably over 50, 000 volumes; it has a fine entrance-hall, and a lofty reading-room, 49 feet long by 31 broad. The Literary and Philosophical Society, founded in 1822, occupies the eastern half of the building, its premises comprising a lecture-hall, a museum, and class-rooms; there is also a residence for the curator. The central corridor of the museum measures 90 feet by 25; there are two aisles of less width. In connection with this society is a college of chemistry, the laboratory being situate a short distance from the museum. Among other literary and educational institutions are the Lyceum Library (founded 1807), Church Institute, Young People's Christian and Literary Institute, Mechanics' Institute, and School of Art. The James Reckitt Public Library on the Holdemess Road was founded in 1889 by Mr (now Sir) James Reckitt for the use of the inhabitants of the eastern portion of the borough. It is a red brick building of two storeys, and has lending and reference departments and newsroom. The volumes in the library are about 10, 000 in number. Those in the reference department were-the gift of Mr Francis Reckitt, brother of the founder. The library was endowed and made over to the town by its founder on the adoption by the burgesses of the Public Libraries Acts in 1892. A central public library under the-Acts is in course of formation. There are two theatres in' the town-the Theatre Royal, erected 1871, a stuccoed building with Corinthian front, accommodating about 2000 persons, and the larger Grand Theatre, opened 1893, an ornamental building of red brick with stone dressings. Both houses are lighted with electricity. The Assembly Rooms, erected 1839, are in the Grecian style of architecture. The-west front is 79 feet, the south 142 in extent. The building, having been greatly damaged by fire, was reopened in 1892 after thorough internal renovation and some enlargement. The principal hall is used for concerts and other large gatherings; it contains a good organ. There are commodious ante-rooms, and in connection is the adjoining smaller building known as the Lecture Hall. The circus OB the Aniaby Road is the largest hall in the town, and is frequently made use of for the purpose of public meetings.

The Artillery Volunteer Barracks are situate in the Corporation Field. The building, which is the property of the corporation, was originally erected for the purposes of an exhibition. The infantry volunteers (1st V.B. E. Yorkshire Regiment) possess their own drill-hall, the Londesborough Barracks, and the small adjoining drill-ground. Pearson's Park, 27 acres, was presented to the town in 1860 by Mr Z. C. Pearson, the then mayor. The principal entrance, from the Beverley Road, is through a fine iron gateway with wronght-iron gates. The park is tastefully laid out. It contains an extensive lawn, small artificial lake, greenhouses, and aviaries. There are marble statues of H.M. The Queen and the late Prince Consort. On three sides are villa residences. To the west of the park are the Princess and other avenues, forming a favourite residential neighbourhood. The Beverley Road between this park and the borough boundary to the north contains many fine trees. The West Park, on the Aniaby Road, was opened in 1885. It is 31 acres in extent, and contains a small lake and conservatories. The-East Park, on the Holdemess Road, opened 1887, is 52" acres in extent. It has a small lake, and also pond for model-yacht sailing. A portion of this park is kept as a stray for the playing of games. The East and West Parks were both provided at the expense of the ratepayers.

The Hull Workhouse, belonging to the united parishes of Holy Trinity and St Mary, is on the Aniaby Road. These parishes were incorporated as long ago as 1698. The other parishes of the borough are incorporated for poor-law purposes in the Sculcoates union, which also includes a number of the surrounding rural parishes. Her Majesty's Prison, Hedoa Road, was built by the corporation at a cost of £89, 000, and was opened in 1869. It was taken over by the Government under the Prisons Act of 1878, and has since been enlarged. The building is of brick, and there are residences for the-governor, chaplain, and other officers. The Sanatorium was erected by the corporation in 1885 for the reception of fever patients. It is built in isolated blocks, and covers altogether an area of about 8 acres.

The Docks of the port have an aggregate water-space of about 130 acres. They date from 1775, in which year the Old (now known as the Queen's) Dock of 10 acres in extent was opened. The Humber Dock was made in 1809, and the Junction or Prince's Dock, by which the two former were united, in 1829; the small Railway Dock was made in 1846. The more recently constructed docks lie parallel to the Humber, running east and west of the old town. On the east side are the Victoria and Alexandra docks. The Victoria Dock was made in 1850 and extended in 1863. It has a total water-space of 20 acres, and adjoining it are two timber ponds measuring together 25 acres. The Alexandra Dock: belongs to the Hull and Barnsley Railway Company. It is the largest and most commodious of the Hull docks, and almost the largest in the United Kingdom, having a water area of 46½ acres. From it run two large graving docks, 550 and 500 feet in length respectively. The quay-space is .greatly increased by means of several large jetties. The depth of water on the sill at high-water of neap tides is 28 feet, spring tides 34. The chief of the western docks is the Albert Dock of 24½ acres, opened by H.R.H. The Prince of Wales in 1869. Beyond it is the Sir William Wright Dock of 6 acres, from which runs a large graving dock; still further westward is the St Andrew's Dock (also provided with its own graving dock), where the vessels engaged in the fishing trade are accommodated. The whole of the docks, with the ex- ception already mentioned of the Alexandra Dock, were made by the Hull Dock Company, and were owned by the same company until 1893, when its estate was acquired by the North-Eastern Railway Company. The port has regular steam communication with the North Sea, Baltic, Black Sea, and Mediterranean ports, as well as with the United States and India. There are also steamers running regularly between Hull and London, Newcastle, Leith, Aberdeen, and other places on the east coast of Great Britain. The value of the total imports during 1893 was, £22, 810, 930; of exports, the ,'produce of the United Kingdom, £14, 041, 459; exports of foreign and colonial merchandise,, £5, 152, 914; total exports, £19, 194, 373. The gross amount of customs revenue col- lected in 1893 was £107, 734. The vessels registered at the port in 1894 were 838 in number, their tonnage being '240, 091. The number of vessels which entered in 1893 was 5225 (2, 429, 692 tons); and there cleared in the same year 5097 (2, 461, 251 tons). Among the imports were: - Wheat, 2, 317, 389 quarters; linseed, 612, 201 quarters; cotton seed, 216, 094 tons; timber, 174, 045 loads. Other imports are cattle, barley, maize and other cereals, flax, clover and other seeds, iron, deals, staves, provisions, &c. Among exports were:-Cotton oil, 15, 716 tons; linseed oil, 4248 tons; coal, 879, 127 tons. Other exports are cottons, plain and printed, cotton yarns and threads, linen, woollens, worsteds, &c.

Next to the shipping and allied trades, the chief industry of the town is seed-crushing for linseed and cotton oil and cake. This industry, of which Hull is the headquarters, is carried on in large oil-mills chiefly situated along the banks of the river HulL There are also very extensive manufactories of paint and colours, white lead, starch, black lead, rope and sailcloth, &c. Iron shipbuilding is carried on at the large yard of Earle's Shipbuilding Co., Ltd., between the Victoria and Alexandra docks. There are besides numerous boatbuilding yards and dry docks, and several engineering establishments. Organ-building is also carried on. The North-Eastern Railway Company's passenger station is in Paragon .Street, in the centre of the town; it is a fine stone building, erected about 1847, but since greatly extended. Adjoining it is the Royal Station Hotel. By this line there is communication with Selby, Doncaster, York, Scarborough, And all parts of Great Britain. The N.E.R. goods station is in Kingston Street. The Manchester, Sheffield, & Lincolnshire Railway Company's passenger station is in Nelson Street, passenger steamers running between the pier and New Holland in connection with this line. This company has also a goods station in the town. The Hull and Barnsley Railway Company, whose lines enter the town on embankments, has several goods stations; its terminal passenger station is in Cannon Street. This line, opened 1885, traverses the South Yorkshire coalfield, and, by means of junctions with other railways, gives access to the West Riding, Lancashire, and other parts. Hull has extensive inland water communication by means of the Trent, Ouse, Aire, Calder, and other tributaries of the Humber, and the canals connected with these rivers.

The town possesses a good water supply, which is in the hands of the corporation. The principal waterworks are at Springhead, about 4 miles from Hull. The concern of the Newington Water Company, by which some of the suburban districts were, until 1893, supplied with water, was in that year purchased by the corporation. The corporation has laid mains in the principal streets for the supply of the electric light to private consumers. Hydraulic power is extensively used about the docks and in the principal warehouses. The whole town and surrounding district are very flat, Hull being 202. only a few feet above the sea-level Several large agricultural drains enter the town from the north, falling into the river Hull. There are two pumping-stations, one in the eastern and one in the western portion of the town, for the purpose of discharging into the Hnmber the sewage, the flow of which, at certain states of the tide, would otherwise be stopped.

Hull is in the diocese of York. The ecclesiastical parishes within the borough are:-Holy Trinity (population, 12, 882), gross value of living, £650 with residence, in the gift of trustees; St Mary (3211), gross value, £380 with residence, in private patronage; All Saints' (Sculcoates parish church, population 11, 648), gross value, £528 with residence, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor; St Andrew (Drypool parish church, population 22, 981), gross value, £240 with residence, in the gift of Simeon's Trustees; St James (5256), gross value, £450; St John (5461), gross value, £305; St Luke (6571), gross value, £314; St Matthew (8702), gross value, £365 with residence; St Stephen (11, 517), gross value, £254 with residence; St Thomas (6333), gross value, £400 -these six are in the gift of the Vicar of Holy Trinity; St Mary, Sculcoates (6621), gross value, £207, in the gift of the Vicar of Sculcoates; St Peter, Drypool (7691), gross value, £200 with residence; St Giles, Marfleet (235), gross value, £47-these two are in the gift of Simeon's Trustees; St Jude (6231), gross value, £200 with residence; St John the Baptist, Newington (18, 395), gross value, £350 with residence; St Silas (5288), gross value, £238 with residence-these three in the gift of the Archbishop of York. St Mark (11, 330), gross value, £340 with residence; St Paul (17, 646), gross value, £324 with residence-these two in the gift of the Crown and the Archbishop of York alternately; Christ Church (6390), gross value, £397 with residence; St Barnabas (12, 639), gross value, £260; St Philip (5733), gross value, £235 with residence-these three in the gift of trustees; St John (Newland parish church, population 6940), gross value, £308 with residence and £120 for curate, in the gift of the Bishop of Chester. The foregoing are all vicarages except Christ Christ, which is a perpetual curacy. The Mariners' Church is a perpetual curacy, to which no district is attached, net value, £160, in the gift of trustees; St Augustine's is a new church in the parish of Newland. Parts of the parishes of Sutton and Hessle are also included in the borough.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

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