A lengthy excerpt from the 1790 Universal British Directory is included to give the
reader a feel for the kind of material compiled in the introduction/ History section of
the Directory. Obviously, this section becomes more sophisticated as more
institutions and a wider range of issues are covered.
Carlisle is an ancient city and of some renown, is situated in the forest of Englewood,
and near the confluence of the rivers Eden & Caldew. The name of the city may,
probably, be derived from its contiguity to the Roman wall. The Romans called it
Luguvallium, Lugaballiun, and Luguballia. The Saxons, in imitation of the British
name, called it Caer Lyell, ie the city near the wall; hence by a change and
transposition of words, Carlisle. There is nothing, however, more uncertain than the
true derivation of the names of places, when we have not the authority of authentic
records to go by. Carlisle is distant from Newcastle 56 miles, 38 from Hexham, 91
from Edinburgh, 104 from Glasgow, 45 from Moffat, 40 from Dumfries, 22 from
Langholm, 10 from Brampton, 18 from Gilsland Spa, 18 from Penrith, 32 from
Appleby, 44 from Kendal, 22 from Keswick lakes, 28 from Cockermouth, 42 from
Whitehaven, 33 from Workington, 28 from Maryport, 23 from Allenby, 11 from
Wigton, and 300 from London.
It is said that the site of old Carlisle is some miles to the South west of the ground
upon which the city now stands. Be that as it may, we cannot ascertain the time
when, nor by whom Carlisle was founded. Being a frontier town, it is fortified with a
wall, a citadel, and a castle. The wall was first built by Egfrid, king of
Northumberland, in the seventh century; the citadel and castle by William Rufus.
The wall has three gates or entrances into the city ; the English gate Southward, the
Scotchgate Northward, and the Irishgate Westward. The gates were formerly shut at
ten o'clock at night and opened at five in the morning; but this regulation is not at
present attended to. The wall and citadel are in a ruinous state; their total removal
would greatly improve the situation, convenience and salubrity of the city. The castle
is still kept in repair ; guns are mounted on the ramparts, to be fired on rejoicing days;
to the castle belong a governor, who is the present Earl of Darlington; a
lieutenant-governor, Frech. Ramsden ; a town-major, John Brown; a store keeper,
-Mead; a master-gunner and two matrosses, but no garrison.
The castle, though a place of strength, could not hold out long against the attacks of a
regular siege. The Duke of Cumberland soon forced the rebels to capitulate. The
castle itself cannot much attract the attention of strangers; the rooms are out of repair;
even that in which Mary, the beautiful but unfortunate queen of Scots, was detained
prisoner is a dreary place, nothing to be seen but bare walls. The arsenal is not well
stored; but the view of the surrounding country from the top of the castle, or from the
ramparts, will give pleasure to those who have a taste for rural scenes; the foreground
is formed of level meads washed by the Eden, part of which is insulated by a division
of the river. This plot is enriched by two fine stone bridges, one of four the other of
nine arches, the great passage towards Scotland. To the Westwards is a fine view of
the Firth to its mouth, with a vast tract of Scotch land, surmounted by Scriffell and a
chain of hills extending Westward as far as the eye can reach. To the East a rich plain
of cultivated land, bounded by heights of Northumberland. To the South, the plains
towards Penrith, with Cross Fell and Skidaw; and to the North, a large Scotch
territory.
Carlisle, from its situation on the confines of two kingdoms, often felt the calamities
of war; being more than once taken, pillaged, and burnt, in the days of barbarous
depredation. The last time it was taken was in the year 1745, by the rebels. It is a
bishop's see, and was anciently part of the diocese of Durham, but made a distinct
bishopric by Henry I. and consists of a bishop, dean, chancellor, archdeacon, and four
prebends. Athewald was the first bishop of Carlisle; Dr Vernon is the present bishop.
There are in this city two churches, (St. Mary and St. Cuthbert) three different
meeting houses, a Quaker's meeting house, and a Methodist chapel.. St Mary's, the
cathedral is a venerable building, partly in the Gothic and partly in the Normanic
style. The Western wing extending in length 135 feet, was demolished by fanatics in
the civil wars; yet what remains commands respect, and is sufficient to answer the
purposes of a cathedral. The roof was once elegantly vaulted, and adorned with
various coats of arms; it has at present a stucco ceiling. The East window, which is
43 feet high, 30 broad and of stained glass is one of the chief beauties of the church.
The steeple, or tower, is ascended in the inside by a flight of narrow stone stairs, but
the toil of getting up is amply compensated by an extensive and picturesque prospect.
The inside of the church is adorned with sepulchral monuments, and with some
legendary tales painted in a grotesque style. The organ is inferior to some in England,
and so is the choir. It has a clock and a chime of six bells. What remains of this
edifice shows it was a noble structure: part is in the Old Saxon style, massive pillars
and round arches; the other part is more modern, and said to owe its being to Edward
III . This part is supported on clustered pillars, light and well proportioned, and their
inner mouldings pierced and decorated with rose-work. Two galleries run round the
building. The choir, it is said, was not founded till about the year 1354. The
wood-work above the stalls , of the tabernacle style, is light and elegant. In arches
formed in the walls of the aisles are some monumental effigies mitred, but the
personages they represent are not known. The height of the tower is 123 feet. The
fate and execution of Sir Andrew de Harcla, created the earl of Carlisle by Edward II
and afterwards condemned as a traitor are very singular. His spurs were cut off with a
hatchet; he was in the next place ungirdled and divested of his military belt, to which
his sword was suspended, and with which at his creation he was girt: He was then
stripped of his gauntlets and shoes, and afterwards hanged, decollated, drawn, and
quartered. On the screens of the aisles are several paintings of the histories of St.
Augustine, St. Anthony, and others composed of the most ridiculous figures and
barbarous devices, placed in panes or panels. To every circumstance represented is a
distich in old monkish rhyme, written in an uncouth language, a mixture of Scotch
and English. The ecclesiasticals of later days, ashamed of the follies of their
predecessors, have endeavoured to deface them with white-wash, which now, yielding
to time, discovers them again. In the history of St. Augustine, he is visited by the
devil, headed like a bull, amply tailed and chained, bearing a book of temptation and
arms of terror. In that of St. Anthony, the spirit of uncleanness lays before the holy
man such a figure of temptation as would disgrace the chambers of a brothel.
St. Cuthbert is the other parish church, founded in honour and bearing the name of
that saint, who was bishop of Durham in the Seventh Century. It is said to be more
ancient than St. Mary's. This church was lately rebuilt at the expense of the
parishioners, so that it is now both commodious and elegant, and an ornament to the
city.
Carlisle enjoys many great privileges and immunities conferred on it by charters,
granted at various times, and by different kings. These are, the return of writs; a
market every Wednesday and Saturday; two fairs, the first on the 26th August, and the
other about three weeks after; two statute- days for the hiring of servants, the
Saturdays immediately before Whit Sunday and Martinmass, during which
intermediate time the fair is supposed to last, and no attachment for debt can then be
put into execution; a free guild; the election of a mayor, two bailiffs, and two
coroners; the assize of bread, beer and wine; trials of felonies, and all pleas of the
crown, which belong to the sherrif & coroner, &c.. King Charles I in a charter,
granted in the 13th year of his reign, (which was the last,) confirmed all former
privileges, save only the free election of mayor, bailiffs, and coroners. By this
charter, the mayor and citizens were made one body corporate, by the name of
Mayor, Alderman, Bailiffs, and Citizens, of the city of Carlisle. That the corporation
should have a common seal, and that one of the Aldermen shall be mayor. The
number of aldermen is twelve, and of the common-councilmen twenty-four. The
mayor and other officers of the corporation are chosen annually on the fifth Monday
after Michaelmass day, and the oath of office is administered by the old mayor. The
Mayor and senior Aldermen, ex gradu, are justices of the peace within the city. The
mayor's court, in which he sits judge, is holden every Monday, and the town sessions
four times a year. The present mayor is Maurice Coulthard, MD. To the corporation
also belong a recorder and town clerk. They are chosen by the Mayor , Aldermen,
and common council; and their continuance in office is durante bene placito. The
present recorder is James Boswell, barrister at law.
The session of assize and jail delivery, for the county of Cumberland is holden in
Carlisle once a year, by an act of parliament passed in the 14th year of the reign of
Henry VI. There are always two judges of assize, the one to try criminal the other
civil cases. They sit in the mote hall in different apartments. The judges must be in
this city the tenth Sunday after Trinity. They have for many years opened the session
of assize upon the preceding Friday, and having finished the business, they set out the
Wednesday following to open the court at Appleby, in Westmoreland. The Easter and
Summer quarter sessions are also holden here.
Carlisle sends two members to parliament, who are chosen by the freemen whose
number may be between seven and eight hundred. The present members are John
Christian Curwen, of Workington hall, Esq and Wilson Braddyll, Esq. The freedom
of this city can be obtained only by birth or servitude. Every attempt hitherto made to
set this aside has proved ineffectual. The noble patronage which this city has derived
may be traced as far back as 1072, when Ranulph, Earl of Chester, by some called of
Carlisle, began to build the city and grant to its inhabitants several immunities. King
William, finding it rise in consequence, took it again in to his possession; in which
state of English royal demense it remained, until it was given by Stephen to David,
son of Malcolm III king of Scotland. During the reigns of Edward II. Henry IV
.Edward IV. Richard III. and James I it was under the authority of its earls. Charles
II. by letter patent, dated April 20,1661, advanced Charles Howard, decendant of
William, Lord Howard of Naworth castle, third son to Thomas Duke of Norfolk, to
this earldom. This noble family, by the mother's side, is decended from Cospatrick,
chief lord of Cumberland, Westmorland, and Northumberland, who, according to
Leland, lived temp Will.I. at Naworth castle, the seat of the present Earl of Carlisle.
Notwithstanding the former charters, the corporation is now deemed prescriptive. Its
present form is derived from a charter of Charles I. in the year 1637. The corporation,
and about a hundred and thirty of the freemen dependent on them, are in the interest
of the Earl of Lonsdale: but the majority, forming a body of near five hundred, are in
the interest of the Duke of Norfolk, and the independence of the city. The influence
acquired by his grace in this instance is not that of a feudal lord, or an arbitrary
landowner, who derives his consequence from a court-baron, or his possessions in the
neighbourhood of Carlisle; but from a firm and manly opposition to a most
unconstitutional and desperate attempt to overturn the rights of election within this
city, and to overwhelm the electors with an army of what are called honorary
freemen, or faggots, in order to outnumber the legal electors on a poll. No less than
fourteen hundred of this description, mostly elected from the collieries and estates of
Lord Lonsdale, were admitted by the mayor to their freedom, without any one of them
having either the claim of birth or servitude to sanction their right, or having obtained
admission to the brotherhood of either of the guilds, as the charter and prescriptions
of the city directs. These surreptitious freemen were three several times petitioned
against to the house of commons: first by J Christian Curwen, Esq. who became a
candidate for the representation of the city upon the vacancy occasioned by the death
of the Hon. Edward Norton; secondly by Rowland Stephenson, Esq. who became a
candidate upon the Earl of Surry's becoming Duke of Norfolk in 1786; and, thirdly, by
Mr Curwen and Mr Braddyll, at the last general election: and in all instances they
were declared, by the several committees, illegal. The mayor is the returning officer.
The following case came before the King's Bench in Michaelmas term 1791: the
minister had a mind to compliment Mr Garforth, a member of the last and present
parliament, and steward and agent to the Earl of Lonsdale, with the place of collector
of the customs in the city of Carlisle. Mr Garforth, on account of his situation, was
incapable of holding the office; and the place was given in trust for him to Mr.
Fearon, Mr Pearson acted as deputy to Mr Fearon and performed the duties of the
office for him. A dispute, which was succeeded by a law suit, happened between Mr
Garforth and Mr Fearon; and it was decided , in the Common Pleas, "that holding
places in trust was illegal." The defendant had paid over the profits of the place to Mr
Garforth: and this action was brought to recover the amount of the profits from Mr
Pearson, the acting officer, and receiver of the dues. Lord Kenyon said, the conduct
of the parties was such as not to entitle them to any indulgence; and therefore would
not grant the application.
Carlisle is pleasantly situated, not an unhealthy town to live in, and the country
around, owing to the improvements in agriculture, is abundantly fertile. The rivers
Eden and Caldew supply the inhabitants with plenty of wholesome water; and, being
at considerable distance from the mountains, the city is not incommoded with heavy
falls of rain or snow. Even in Winter, the inhabitants of Carlisle and its
neighbourhood do not experience the tempestuous weather which their more
Southern neighbours are sometimes exposed to. The market is well supplied with
grain and butcher's meat. The average prices of grain are, (taking one season of the
year to another,) wheat from 16s to 21s per Carlisle bushel, equal to three Winchester
bushels; black and white rye from 10s to 14s. oats from 5s.6d to 7s.6d. barley from
7s.6d to 10s. butcher's meat from 3¼ to 4¼ per lb. butter (16 ounces) from 6d to 8d
per lb. This market would be plentifully and cheaply supplied with salmon fish in the
season, were it not that the dealers in this commodity carry it on to other markets;
hence here it is often scarce and dear. There is the greatest plenty of white fish in the
Winter season. The prices of the several commodities sold in this market are a rule
to the other markets in the county. The ground called the Sands, lying between the
bridges over the two branches of the Eden, is the market place for horses and black
cattle, of which there is mostly a great show during the proper seasons for the sale of
these animals.
The population of Carlisle and the suburbs, (named Botchergate, Rickergate,
Caldewgate), has increased greatly from the last twenty-five years. The number of
inhabitants of this city and the environs, when taken about twenty-four years ago, was
found to be 4000. The number, about six years ago, was nearly double, and at present
it is between 8000 and 9000. This increase in population is owing to the advances in
trade and manufactures, at present flourishing and progressive. Carlisle, from its
central situation, is well adapted for the extension of trade, and may by the exertion of
a liberal and public spirit, vie with the first manufacturing towns in the kingdom. A
canal from the Western sea to Carlisle would facilitate the progress of trade, increase
the wealth of the rich, and make living more comfortable for the poor.
Carlisle is regularly built, the houses are generally good, some of them elegant,
finished without and within in the modern style. The principal streets are in number
five, viz English street, Scotch street, Fisher street, Castle street, Abbey street, so
called perhaps from their situation. The streets are spacious and well paved, and the
corporation keep them in repair; but (which is a disadvantage to the inhabitants and to
strangers) they are not lighted at night. Carlisle is not adorned with any other
magnificent public buildings but those already mentioned. The mote-hall, in the
centre of the city, has nothing to recommend it to the attention of strangers. The
guildhall, where the trades meet, is a mean paltry house. The trades which entitle to
the freedom of the city are eight in number: merchants, butchers, shoe makers,
taylors, blacksmith, skinners, weavers, and tanners. Those admitted to the privileges
of freemen, must previously be made brothers in one of the eight guilds. The free
brothers meet once a quarter, and their grand convocation is annually upon
Ascension-day. Then the mayor, attended with a numerous company, and escorted by
the trades, with their respective colours, to the boundaries of the city, used to go to a
place called King-moor, where a saddle was run for, and then he returned it and was
met by the trades, who conducted him into the city. But political differences have, for
some time past, prevented this mutual respect; yet the custom is still kept up by the
freemen. The market-place is adorned with a pillar, on the top of which is seated a
lion seant. The pillory, which stood near it, has been lately removed. The county jail,
which stands near the English-gate, is not a superb edifice; but those contained in it
have a spacious courtyard to walk in; and the courtyard allotted to the felons is
separated from the debtors walk by an iron palisade. The present jailer is Mr. Joseph
Mullinder. The prison for the town, over the Scotch-gates, is a wretched place. The
bridges over the Eden are not modern; their narrowness (the fault of all old bridges)
will not allow two carriages to pass each other. The bridges on the West, over
Caldew, have nothing but their usefulness to recommend them to the attention of
travellers.
The public institutions in this town are, a free school, well endowed for the benefit of
the children of freemen; the Rev. Brown Grisdal, DD is the present master; Sunday
schools; a dispensary for the benefit of the poor; and a workhouse for the poor.
Carlisle, being a great thoroughfare to Scotland and Ireland, by the way of
Portpatrick, is every day visited by strangers.
The goods manufactured in Carlisle are cotton yarn, cotton and linen checks, grey
cottons, Osnaburghs, coarse linen, drills, pocketing, worsted shag, silk, and cotton
fancy pieces, stamped cottons, hats, shamois and tanned leather, linseys, nails, coarse
knives, stockings, dressed flax, soap, candles nankeens, and ropes. At Dalston, four
miles from Carlisle, is a large manufactory of grey cottons, and fustian goods, carried
on by Mr Hudson; also a forge for the manufacturing of bar iron, spades, shovels &c.
At Warwick, five miles distant, a cotton-yarn manufactory is carried on by Messrs
Ferguson. And at Rowcliff, the same distance from the city, there is a manufactory of
raw fustians.
BANKERS AND AGENTS
The bankers in Carlisle as follows: Messrs John Forster, Sons, James & Co. who draw
on Messrs. Down, Thornton and Free, bankers, London. Messrs Liddell, Losh,
Staples, Ferguson, and Co. who draw on Messrs Staples, Day, Cox, Staples, and Lynn,
bankers, London.
Agents; for the Tyne bank; Mr John Mitchinson; for Wakefield and Sons, Kendal, Mr
David Carrick; for Maud, Wilson, and Co. Kendal, and for the Paisley Bank, Mr
John Hebson; for the Union Bank, Paisley, Mr Joseph Hodgson; and for Surtees and
Co. Newcastle, Mr Topping.
MAIL AND STAGE COACHES
The Manchester mail coach sets out every day, alternately from Mr Fairburn's, the
Bush-inn, and Mrs Alkin's, the Coffee-house, Carlisle, at half past three o'clock in the
morning, by Penrith, Shap, Kendal, Burton, Lancaster, Garstang, Preston, Chorley,
Bolton-le-Moor, and arrives at the Star inn, Mr. Farrer's, in Dean's-gate, Manchester,
the same evening, at half-past eleven, where it meets the London mail coach; sets out
from the Star inn, Manchester, at three o'clock in the morning, by the same route,
and arrives at Carlisle about eleven o'clock the same evening. Fare from Carlisle to
Manchester 2l. The Ferrybridge mail-coach sets out every day, alternately from the
before mentioned places, at eight o'clock in the morning, by Penrith, Appleby,
Brough, Greta-bridge, Catterick, Oaktree, Borough-bridge, Wetherby, Aberford, and
arrives at Denton's, Ferrybridge, at one o'clock in the morning of the following day,
where the mail is taken up by the Edinburgh and York mail coach, and the
passengers conveyed to London, or to any part upon the road, in a light coach; sets out
from Denton's about seven o'clock in the evening, by the same route, and arrives at
the Coffee house, Carlisle, at two o'clock in the afternoon of the following day. Fare
from Carlisle to London 3l 15s. The Glasgow mail coach sets out every day from
Coffee house, Carlisle, at three o'clock in the afternoon, by Longtown, Ecclefechan,
Lockerbie, Moffat, Elvanfoot, Douglas-mill, Hamilton, and arrives at Smart's Hotel,
Glasgow at eight o'clock in the morning of the following day; sets out from the same
house at three o'clock in the afternoon, and arrives at the Coffee house, Carlisle, at
eight o'clock in the morning of the following day. Fare from Carlisle to Glasgow 1l
15s. The Dumfries mail coach sets out every day from Coffee house, Carlisle, by
Longtown, Annan, at three o'clock in the afternoon, and arrives at the George, Mrs
Mc Vitie, Dumfries at ten o'clock the same night, sets out from the same inn about
nine o'clock at night, and arrives at the Coffee house, Carlisle, at three o'clock in the
morning of the following day. This is the Portpatrick mail coach. Fare from
Carlisle to Dumfries 13s. The Post-office is opened at eight o'clock in the morning
and shut at ten at night. Letters delivered at nine o'clock in the morning . A coach
sets out from the King's Arms inn, Carlisle every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at
five o'clock in the morning , arrives at the Saracen's Head, Snow-hill, London, every
Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday about noon ; returns from London every Sunday,
Tuesday, and Thursday at seven o'clock in the morning, and arrives at Carlisle every
Sunday, Thursday and Saturday about noon. Fare to London, inside 3l 15s. Outside
1l 17s. Short passengers, 3d per mile.
WAGGONS, CARTS &c
Nichol Wright arrives Mrs Alkin's, Carlisle every Friday, from Newcastle and
Hexham, and returns on Saturday. The distance 56 miles. Edward Tweddle, arrives
at, and returns from, Mrs Barnes' the same days as Wright, and from the same places;
he also arrives on Monday and returns on Tuesday. William Holmes arrives at Mrs
Marshall's, Thomas Mason at John James', and Thomas Bell at N Jefferson's every
Monday from the above places and returns on Tuesday. Hugh Pickering, and Robert
Pickering, both from Hexham, arrive at Mrs Barnes' and Mrs Pringles' every Friday,
and return on Saturday; 38 miles. Isaac Holmes, from Kendal, arrives at home,
Wednesday, and Friday, returns Tuesday and Thursday; 44 miles. Thomas Kendly,
from London and Thirsk, arrives at Mrs Beck's, Tuesdays and Fridays; returns
Saturday and Wednesday ; 300 miles. Scot and Co, from Penrith, arrive at N
Jefferson's Saturday and Wednesday ; return same days. Also Jonathan Wilson, who
arrives at Home Saturday and Wednesday ; returns Monday and Thursday. 18 miles.
James Baxter and William Graham, from Dumfries, arrive at Mrs Barnes' and N
Jefferson's, Monday, return same day; 40 miles. John Hislop and son and John
McIntosh, from Edinburgh, arrives at Mrs Beck's and James Nixon's; Hislop, Tuesday
and Friday, returns Saturday and Wednesday ; McIntosh, on Friday and returns next
day. 91 miles. Jos Blain and William Robinson from Whitehaven, arrive at N
Jefferson's and J Johnson's Saturday and Monday , return on Monday. Walter
Johnson and James Henderson, from Glasgow, every other week, arrive at Mrs Beck's
and N Jefferson's, Saturday, Wednesday and Thursday; return Saturday, Wednesday
and Friday. Also Scot & Co who arrive at James Nixon's, Saturday and Wednesday ,
return same days; 104 miles. John Sewell, from Wigton, arrives at Mrs Moses',
Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday ; returns Tuesday and Friday; 11 miles. George
Slack, and John Knight from Caldbeck, arrive at R Harrington's and Thomas James',
on Saturday, and returns the same day. 10 miles. John Beck, from Brampton, arrives
at home, Tuesday and Friday, returns the same days; and from Longtown on
Thursday, return same day; 10 miles distant each.. Waggons are employed in the
carriage of goods from Carlisle to London, Newcastle, Hexham, Dumfries, Penrith,
and Kendal; to all the other towns carts are used.
INNS
The principal inns in Carlisle are, the Bush, English street, kept by Fairburn; the
King's Arms, by Hardesty, English street; the Coffee-house, by Alkin, Castle street;
the Grapes Inn, by Pringle, Scotch street; and the Duke's Head, by Sowerby, Scotch
street.
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