The decennial census of the kingdom was taken on the 3rd April, 1871. Owing to the demolition of dwellings for street improvements in the ancient city, there was a considerable decrease of population in some of the parishes, especially in St. James's, St. Nicholas', Redcliff, and Temple. The aggregate was 62,662. The population of the entire borough was 182,552. St. Philip's out-parish (42,287), Clifton (26,364), St. George's (16,209), and the District (13,841), showed a great advance. The other parishes stood as follows: Stoke Bishop tything (within the borough), 9,211; Bedminster, 32,488 (of which 23,522 were within the borough); Horfield, 2,985; Stapleton, 6,960; Mangotsfield, 4,533.

Greenbank Cemetery, an extensive burial place for the out-parish of St. Philip, laid out by the Burial Board of the district at a cost of about £11,500, was consecrated on the 14th April, 1871. Owing to the rapid growth of population, it was deemed advisable to extend the limits of the cemetery in 1880.

The story of the famous Bristol porcelain factory of Richard Champion does not come within the chronological limits of this work. Those desirous of information on the subject may be referred to Mr. Owen's beautiful and trustworthy “Two Centuries of Ceramic Art in Bristol”. It may be stated, however, that at an auction in London, in April, 1871, some pieces of the magnificent service presented by Champion to Burke, soon after that statesman's election for the city, sold as follows: the teapot (the beautiful decorations of which were attributed to Henry Bone, R.A., one of Champion's apprentices), 190 guineas; cream-jug and cover, 115 guineas; a chocolate cup and saucer, 90 guineas; two teacups and saucers, 70 and 40 guineas; the cover of the sugar basin, 60 guineas. A fine Bristol vase was bought in at over £200. At another sale, in February, 1875, a cup and saucer of the Burke set brought £83, and a set of three jugs £120. In July, 1876, at the sale of Mr. W.R. Callendar's collection, the Burke teapot sold for £215 5s., and a chocolate cup and saucer of the same set brought £91. Another famous Bristol service was that ordered by Burke for presentation to his friend Mr. Joseph Smith, of Queen Square. The teapot of this set sold, in 1876, for £74 10s., and a teacup and saucer have brought £55. On the dispersion of the Edkins'

collection, in 1874, a Bristol vase, with landscape, sold for £300; four figures emblematic of the quarters of the world brought £610; and a pair of compotiers £270.

In consequence of the complaints of some of the inhabitants, a Government order was issued in July for the closing of the three burial grounds connected with Clifton parish church, and of the cemetery attached to Dowry Chapel, subject to certain reservations as regarded surviving relatives of those already interred there.

The Odd-Fellows' Hall, Rupert Street, was commenced during the summer, and opened in the following January. The building cost about £2,000. In February, 1873, the local Foresters, with a similar purpose in view, purchased a house in Broadmead known as the Alhambra Music Hall. A portion of the building continued to be used for public entertainments, and in June, 1874, after an evening concert, it was destroyed by fire. The Foresters appear to have relinquished the property in 1880.

The foundation stone of Cotham Grove (Baptist) Chapel was laid on the 22nd June, and the building was opened for public worship in the following year.

After many years interruption, regular steam communication between Bristol and New York was revived this summer by Messrs. Mark Whitwill & Son. The first vessel of the new line, the iron screw-steamer Arragon, 1,500 tons register, sailed from Bristol on the 1st July, with forty-four passengers and a general cargo. The vessel returned to the Avon on the 11th August. In March, 1872, another steamship, the Great Western, was placed on the service, which took the name of the Great Western Steamship Line. Other vessels were added at intervals. The Great Western was wrecked near New York, through a collision, in March, 1876. In May, 1878, the first cargo of live American cattle arrived in this port, and an active trade in meat subsequently sprang up. In 1881 the Great Western Steamship Company was formed, with a capital of about £300,000, for purchasing the above line and extending the business. The development, however, was followed by a reaction; and the transatlantic trade became so unprofitable, except as regarded vessels of great burden, that several of the ships ceased to run. In February, 1886, it was announced that four vessels, the Cornwall, the Somerset, the Devon, and the Gloucester, which were too small for the American trade, had been sold to the Turkish Government for £39,000. The Warwick and the Dorset, each of about 4,000 tons, were then trading regularly between Avonmouth

and New York; and the Bristol, the only remaining small boat, was laid up. At the annual meetings a few weeks later, it was stated that a large part of the capital was lost; but the directors expressed confidence that if additional large vessels were purchased, and weekly sailings re-established, the concern would work through its difficulties. In 1879 another line of steamers, called, after the first vessel, the Bristol City Line, was started by Messrs. Charles Hill & Sons, and is still continued. The Bristol City, after leaving New York on the 28th December, 1880, with a crew of twenty-six men, was never heard of again. The Bath City was lost off the coast of Newfoundland in November, 1881. The crew suffered dreadfully from the frost, and the captain and several men perished. The Gloucester City foundered at sea on the 23rd February, 1883. The Wells City, of the same line, was sunk in New York harbour on the 10th February, 1887, through an accidental collision with another steamer. There was no loss of life in the last two disasters.

During the summer the ancient thoroughfare bearing the appropriate name of Steep Street, up and down which the Welsh mail once crawled on its to-and-fro journey, was entirely swept away by the Streets Improvement Committee. A fierce hand-to-hand struggle between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians is recorded to have taken place in this thoroughfare after the surrender by Fiennes to Prince Rupert. The street contained a notable seventeenth century house, long known as the Ship Inn.

A small wooden chapel of ease to Bedminster was erected at Knowle early in 1865. The attendance increasing, the chancel of a permanent church, in brick, dedicated to the Nativity, was erected, and the building was consecrated on 14th September, 1871. A large portion of the permanent nave was added in 1883; but Bishop Ellicott, before its consecration in June of that year, required the removal of a structure called a baldacchino, surmounting the Communion-table, and the incumbent, with much lamentation, complied with the demand. The church, which was soon after reported to be fitted up with “confessional boxes”, had cost £6,000 up to that date.

The Jewish synagogue in Park Row, constructed upon a portion of the site evacuated by the Little Sisters of the Poor [see p.441], was consecrated with much ceremony on the 7th September, 1871. The building cost about £4,000,

Upon the death, in 1871, of the Rev. John Hall, for many years rector of St. Werburgh's, the Council represented to the

Lord Chancellor, the patron of the living, the desirability of removing the church to one of the necessitous districts in the suburbs, by which a great public improvement would be effected in the city. It was shown that the number of parishioners was only eighteen - not one of whom was a ratepayer - and that the congregation attending divine service was extremely limited. The carriage way in front of part of the church - one of the most crowded thoroughfares in Bristol - was only 18 feet wide. Lord Hatherley consented to suspend his presentation, provided that a new church were built in a suitable position; and the Council thereupon resolved to apply for powers to remove the edifice, and to widen Corn and Small streets. Advantage was taken of the opportunity to apply for powers to make a new street from Lower Maudlin Street to Broadmead, to effect some improvements at Montpelier, and to improve a road from Regent Street to Victoria Square opened by the Merchants' Society, the total expenditure being estimated at £30,000. No measures, however, were taken for a considerable time to carry out the removal of St. Werburgh's, which in the meanwhile had been supplied with a new rector; and in the session of 1875 a Bill was privately promoted in Parliament for transferring the church and its revenues to another district. The lovers of ancient monuments warmly disapproved of the scheme, but finding that resistance to the improvement of Corn and Small streets had no prospect of success, they contented themselves by agitating for the preservation of the tower of the church, as a graceful ornament as well as an historical feature of the city. They were defeated in the Council, however, by a large majority. The Corporation subsequently resolved to acquire the site of the church and churchyard; but the promoters of the Bill, pleading the cost of carrying it to success, withdrew it from Parliament. In 1876, when a second Bill received the royal assent, the Council approved of an agreement with the parish authorities for the purchase of the site for the sum of £11,900, being £2,400 in excess of the price asked by the parish in 1872. Another agitation now sprang up for the maintenance of the tower, which the Council at one meeting resolved to preserve; afterwards reversed its decision; and again rescinded the latter vote on the antiquaries offering to contribute upwards of £1,000, the estimated value of the site. In consequence of these changes of policy, and of the necessity of ascertaining whether the ecclesiastical authorities would allow the tower to be separated from the church, the

signature of a positive contract for the purchase of the ground was deferred from time to time. At length, in March, 1877, it was ascertained that the bishop and archdeacon would permit the tower to remain, provided the Corporation would hold itself responsible for accidents which might occur if the fabric fell when deprived of support. To this condition the Council demurred, and the matter threatened to be again indefinitely postponed, when the London and South Western Banking Company offered to buy of the Corporation as much of the site of the church as was not required for widening the streets, undertaking to retain the tower, to make a thoroughfare through its base for foot passengers, to keep the structure in repair, and to be responsible for accidents. As the Council had not completed the purchase, it could not have dealt immediately with the bank's proposal, even if it had felt a wish to do so. What it really did, was to again reverse its decision with respect to the tower, which was finally condemned by a great majority. It was further resolved to complete the long suspended contract. In the meantime, the churchwardens of the parish had received a direct application from the South Western Bank, and at a meeting of the vestry it was resolved that, as the Corporation had allowed more than a year to elapse without definitively accepting the proposal made by the parish, the negotiation should be considered at an end. The bank then purchased the site for £15,130, and gave £3,120 additional for the old parsonage on the north side of the passage leading from Small Street to the Commercial Rooms. The church, in which divine service was performed for the last time on the 12th August, 1877, was taken down in the spring of 1878,^[91] when forty large chests of human remains, and about a hundred leaden coffins, were removed to Greenbank Cemetery at an outlay of about £700. The monuments in the church were placed in the new St. Werburgh's (erected in Mina Road, Baptist Mills), which was, or rather professed to be, a reproduction of the ancient edifice, and which was consecrated on the 30th September, 1879. The foundations of the new bank were carried down to an unusual depth, and bones were found at such a distance from the surface as to lead to a belief that the cemetery of the original church was fully twelve feet below the level of the fifteenth century edifice. The purchasers of the site adopted a design for a lofty building, occupying the whole of the

ground purchased, excepting that reserved for widening the streets, and extending over the passage leading to the Commercial Rooms. But the committee of the latter institution obtained injunctions restraining the company not only from covering the passage but from raising their new premises to a height which would obscure the lights of the reading room. After three years of costly litigation, the proprietors of the Commercial Rooms succeeded in maintaining their rights, and the great structure contemplated by the bank was left unfinished. The closing incident in this protracted affair occurred in the Council in August, 1881, when, as the result of an arbitration, the sum of £9,689 was ordered to be paid to the banking company for the value of two small slices of ground given up for the improvement of Corn and Small Streets, a further sum of £1,200 being paid in the shape of costs. As the Corporation had thus to give considerably more for an insignificant fraction of the site than was asked for the entire plot nine years before, its vacillating and dilatory conduct provoked much angry and derisive criticism.

During a heavy gale on the 20th December, 1871, the spire of the Church of St. Mary, Stoke Bishop, was entirely demolished by the wind. It was a wooden structure, 90 feet in height, and had just been completed. The spire was soon afterwards rebuilt in a more substantial manner.

A private company, unconnected with the city, having brought forward a scheme for furnishing Bristol with a series of street tramways for the accommodation of passengers, the subject engaged the attention of the Council for some time, there being much difference of opinion as to whether the new system of communication should be allowed to pass into the hands of private persons, or should be dealt with by the Corporation. A committee recommended the former course, but at a meeting in October, 1871, a resolution was carried desiring the Local Board of Health to obtain plans for a tramway from St. Augustine's Place to Redland, and also for another from Castle Street to Lawrence Hill. The necessary powers were obtained in due course, but owing to the inflated price to which iron soon after advanced, the lowest tender for constructing the lines amounted to £25,356, being more than double the estimate made by the civic surveyor. The Council at first resolved on a postponement of the undertaking, but subsequently determined to lay down the Redland line, reserving the other for a later period. In the meantime, preparations were made for the eastern route by the widening

of West Street, which was effected at a cost of upwards of £7,500. Nothing was done towards the construction of the Redland line until July, 1873, when the term granted by law for the execution of the works was drawing to a close. Excavations were then made in Whiteladies Road, but the first rail was not laid until the 19th November, and as the needful supplies of iron were unobtainable, the road continued in a half blocked condition for upwards of six months, to the great wrath of those using the carriage way. When at length the work was finished, in the spring of 1874, at an outlay of £14,200, a new difficulty was encountered by the Corporation - the Tramways Committee could not obtain a reasonable offer for working the line. In July, a few responsible citizens suggested the formation of a company for the purpose, but they required in the first place certain concessions from the Corporation, amongst them being a claim for the use of the tramway free of charge for seven years. No better offer was forthcoming, but at a Council meeting in August a great majority refused to entertain the proposition. The promoters of the intended company thereupon abated their demands, and in October an arrangement was entered into, by which the Council granted a lease of the tramway for twenty-one years, the first three [afterwards extended to five] years free of charge, and the rent for the remainder of the term rising at intervals from £360 to a maximum of £600 per annum. The Council also sanctioned the construction by the company of a line from Old Market Street to St. George's, with a branch to Eastville, and of another line from Castle Street to Perry Road. Those schemes were resisted in Parliament by certain tradesmen in the suburbs, and also by the advocates of “Sabbath” observances, who strongly objected to Sunday travelling, while a few persons avowedly opposed the lines from a dread of the influx into the fashionable suburbs of working men and their families on holidays. The tramways were, however, sanctioned. The line from Perry Road to Redland was opened on the 9th August, 1875. The first three cars used on the occasion contained the mayor (Mr. C.J. Thomas), several members of the Council, the directors of the company, and a number of friends, the party subsequently dining together to celebrate the event. So great was the popularity of the line that upwards of 115,000 persons were carried during the first month, although only three cars were at work during part of the time. The dividend for the first half year was at the rate of 15 per cent. per annum. In September a prospectus was issued of the Bristol Tramways

Company, with a capital of £50,000 in £10 shares, with a view to the further development of the system. The tramway from St. Augustine's Place to Perry Road was opened on the 4th December, and a few weeks later the Council was asked to sanction the extension of the rails from the Victoria Rooms to Victoria Square, and from the Drawbridge to Bristol Bridge and Totterdown. The former of those projects was warmly opposed by influential residents in Clifton, and was rejected by a large majority of the Council. The other scheme having being referred to a committee, it was resolved, by 30 votes against 17, that no additional tramway should be sanctioned unless the company undertook to suspend traffic during the hours of worship on Sunday mornings and evenings. In February, 1876, a tramway from Bristol Bridge to Totterdown was sanctioned, subject to the condition just mentioned, to which the company objected. The line to Eastville was opened in June, that from Old Market Street to Perry Road in September, and a section of that to St. George's in October, 1876. The completion of the last-named line was prevented by the opposition of Messrs. Garton & Co., of Lawrence Hill, who contended that the thoroughfare was not wide enough to admit of the construction of a tramway in accordance with legal requirements. The obstruction was ultimately overcome by the Corporation giving Messrs. Garton £8,500 for setting back their premises, by which the width of the street was increased to forty feet. The Tramway Company (which during the year increased its capital to £150,000) subscribed £2,000 towards the improvement. In November, 1876, the Council approved of two new schemes - for a line from the Talbot Hotel to Totterdown, and from the Old Market to Victoria Street. A revulsion of opinion was observable on the Sunday question, for an attempt to prevent the cars running on these lines during the hours of service in the evening was defeated by 31 votes against 12. In October, 1878, the company applied for permission to make five new lines, namely, from the Victoria Rooms to Clifton Suspension Bridge; from the Drawbridge to the Port Railway station; from the Drawbridge, by way of New Baldwin Street, to the joint railway station; from Old Market Street to Victoria Street, and thence to Bedminster; and from St. James's Churchyard to a spot near Bishopston church. The directors subsequently proposed a sixth line - from St. Augustine's Place, by way of Park Street, to a junction with the existing tramway in Queen's Road; but this, as well as the Suspension Bridge line, was withdrawn. As the extensions were calculated to

throw much additional traffic on the corporation tramway, and thus enhance the cost of its maintenance, borne by the ratepayers, it was agreed that the rental should be increased £100 a year. The Council thereupon sanctioned all the plans, save those withdrawn; and again rejected a motion requiring the suspension of traffic on Sunday evenings. Early in 1880 the Corporation assented to the construction of a line from St. James's Churchyard to the Drawbridge, bringing all the routes into communication with each other; but though it was soon after laid down, one or two punctilious persons in the neighbourhood raised legal objections against its being worked. The company also applied for powers to construct tramways on the quays in connection with the Harbour Railway; but the Council, after approving of the plan, subsequently reversed its decision. The tramway to the Hotwell was opened in June, 1880; and the Bedminster and Horfield lines came into operation in the following November. The last named was worked by steam; but the engines were neither economical to the company nor agreeable to passengers, and were removed after a year's trial. The Baldwin Street extension was opened in April, 1881, in which year powers were obtained, but never exercised, for extensions to Fishponds, Kingswood, and Horfield barracks. In January, 1882, the Council sold to the company, for £8,000, the original tramway of 1873, the construction and maintenance of which had cost the ratepayers at least double the money. In 1887 the company applied for parliamentary powers to make various improvements in their system, including the substitution of steam or other mechanical power instead of horses. The introduction of tramways has in no wise prejudiced previous modes of conveyance - omnibuses excepted. The report of the local inspector of public carriages for 1886 stated that the number of licensed vehicles was as follows: tram-cars, 60, four-wheel cabs, 214; hansom cabs, 99; breaks, 56; omnibuses, 9; wagonettes, 38; wheel-chairs, 50. The total, 526, was 129 in excess of the licences of the previous year.

On the 1st April, 1872, the second class railway carriages on all the Midland lines, except a few “through” vehicles running in connection with the trains of other companies, were withdrawn, and third class carriages were added to all the trains upon the system. The maximum fare for the latter class was fixed at a penny per mile. This bold measure, which gave deep offence to other great railway boards, was received with applause by the public, and proved profitable to the company, who, in the first three months,

affected by the change, had, as compared with the same period in 1871, an increase of 38,000 first class and of 1,185,000 third class passengers, against a decrease of 266,000 in the second class. The augmented first class receipts were stated to have covered the loss on the second class, whilst there was an enhanced receipt of £70,000 from the third class. The action of the company forced the Great Western board to add third class carriages to some Bristol trains from which they had been excluded, with the effect of greatly increasing the number of travellers. At a meeting in February, 1873, the chairman. Sir Daniel Gooch, stated that during the previous half year they had carried 106,000 more first class and 3,594,000 more third class passengers, against a decrease of 1,109,000 in the second class - results which did not deter him from lamenting over the revolutionary policy of the Midland board. The latter company, on the 1st January, 1875, discontinued running second class carriages on all their trains. A sensible abatement was also announced in first class fares; but the Great Western board, under the provisions of an old agreement, placed an interdict upon any reduction in the districts in which the two companies had competitive lines. One of the consequences of this intervention was, that the Midland Company's first class fare from Bristol to Birmingham was maintained at 16s. 6d., whilst a similar ticket issued at Clifton Down station (opened after the agreement was signed) cost only 12s. 6d. The matter having been remitted to the Railway Commissioners, the agreement was abrogated as regarded most of the lines in this district. The liberal policy of the Midland directorate necessarily had an influence upon the directors of the Great Western, who made concessions from time to time. In June, 1878, third class carriages were added to the first morning express train from Bristol to London, thereby enabling Bristolians to transact business in the capital and return home on the same day. The citizens, however, still complained of the treatment they received from a company expressly formed to promote their interests. Before a committee of the House of Commons, in 1882, Mr. C. Wills, President of the Chamber of Commerce, stated that the company carried third class passengers from London to towns westward of Bristol by certain trains, but refused to extend this privilege to Bristolians. As to the first and second class fares, he added, they were from 43 to 50 per cent. higher between London and Bristol than they were between London and equally distant northern towns. A year or

two later, the board, bending to public opinion, remitted the excess fares imposed on travellers by express trains, and added third class carriages to all the trains passing through Bristol, save one or two of unusual speed.

The foundation stone of St. Nathanael's Church, Redland Road, was laid on the 8th April, 1872. The edifice was consecrated by Bishop Ellicott in the following year.

At a meeting of the Council in June, it was resolved to convert the carcase market in Nicholas Street into a fish market, in order to remove the latter from its exposed situation on the Welsh Back. The alterations entailed an outlay of about £2,300. The market, which was opened on the 1st May, 1874, proved too large for its requirements, and became the resort of a worthless class who deterred respectable persons from entering the building. The Council at length gave orders for its reconstruction; and a smaller but more convenient market was opened on the 1st July, 1884.

Several pieces of land near Montpelier, on which were the field works thrown up by the Parliamentary army at the second siege of Bristol, and the farm house in which Cromwell is said to have slept on the eve of the assault, were purchased at this time for building purposes. The field works were subsequently levelled. A neighbouring mansion, Ashley Court, was demolished about 1876, and the site and adjoining land were converted into building plots, the demand for which was then very active.

The Midland Railway Company's branch line to Thornbury was opened on the 2nd September.

The latter half of the year 1872 was remarkable for an unusual activity of trade and industry, especially in connection with coal and iron works. The price of coal advanced with “leaps and bounds”, owing in part to the unexampled demand, but still more to the conduct of the colliers, who not only insisted on repeated advances in wages, but refused to work more than a few hours a day for three or four days a week. Under the operation of this “stint” - on which the masters, who were reaping unparalleled profits, were said to look with secret satisfaction - a certain description of coal required for making gas, previously sold at about 5s. per ton, advanced to 25s. The Bristol Gas Company, in order to maintain their 10 per cent. dividend, twice advanced their prices to consumers. As an example of the speculative spirit excited by the inflation, the Bristol Times of May 3rd, 1873, stated that a suspended colliery within fifteen miles of the city, which had been offered before the “fever” for £1,000,

had been bought by two mining agents, who forthwith started a company with £30,000 capital, to which they disposed of their purchase for £6,000 in debentures and £15,500 in paid-up shares. In October, 1874, some collieries at Nailsea, which had not been worked for sixty years, were re-opened; but the tide of prosperity was then fast ebbing, and the speculation was unsuccessful. In consequence of the inordinate prices of coal, the demand for iron at length fell off, while the opening of many new collieries brought fresh supplies into an already glutted market, thereby greatly depressing values and wages. For two winters, however, the dearth of fuel caused much suffering amongst the poor.

For several years previous to 1872 communications had been addressed from time to time to the Corporation by the Home Secretary, complaining that the condition of the gaol and of the house of correction was not in accordance with the requirements of the Prisons Act; to which the city authorities had repeatedly responded that the subject should receive earnest attention. In September, a more peremptory missive was received from the Home Office, declaring that the buildings in question were unfit for their purposes, and that immediate steps must be taken to comply with the law. A deputation was appointed to wait upon the Minister, to acquaint him with the heavy pecuniary burdens of the ratepayers, and to point out that the gaol, notwithstanding admitted shortcomings, was in a healthy condition and fairly adequate for its object. The mission proving fruitless, the Council, in June, 1873, determined to build a gaol upon a new site, it being anticipated that the sale of the ground occupied by the two prisons would go far to cover the expense of another building. In the following September, the Corporation gave £3,875 for Horfield Gardens [see p.379] , and in 1874 the Home Secretary approved of the Council's plans for the intended erection, the estimated cost of which was £65,000. A contract was entered into for the boundary walls, which were to cost about £4,000. But when tenders were invited for building the gaol, the lowest offer, owing to the abnormal rise in prices and wages, was £32,000 in excess of the estimate. It appearing probable that the engineering works, furnishing, etc., would raise the total cost to nearly £120,000, strong protests were made against such an outlay for the retention of criminals whose average number did not exceed 150. Whilst the subject was still under consideration, it transpired that the Ministry of Mr. Disraeli contemplated legislation for transferring the gaols of the kingdom from

the local authorities to the Government; and the Corporation prudently kept the question in suspense until 1877, when an Act was passed to carry out the Ministerial policy. The last gaol delivery under the old system took place in April, 1878, in which month the Government entered upon the ownership and management of the prisons. Bridewell was closed in the following May, and the Home Secretary at that time intended to abolish the gaol also, and to remove Bristol prisoners to another district. This design was afterwards dropped. In the meantime, the Council was called upon to pay £17,161, as compensation for the certified cell accommodation which it had neglected to provide in the gaol, and a further sum of £4,320 on account of similar deficiencies in Bridewell. The latter building was thereupon reconveyed to the Corporation, which saved about £4,500 a year by being relieved of the management of the prisons. At a later date, the Government entered into an exchange of property with the Council, by which the latter again became possessed of the condemned gaol, upon surrendering the ground purchased at Horfield. The site of Bridewell, saving a portion required for the extension of Rupert Street, was granted on lease, at £600 a year, to Messrs. Budgett & Co., who built warehouses on part of the site. The prison at Horfield was sufficiently completed in April, 1883, to receive the prisoners detained in the old gaol, which was thenceforth deserted.

The curious statue of Neptune, said by some local writers to have been cast in 1588, and presented to the city by a resident in Temple parish to commemorate the defeat of the Spanish Armada, but which Sarah Farley's Journal of December 22, 1787, alleges to have been cast by one Randall and erected in 1723, was bronzed and burnished during the autumn, and “inaugurated” as a drinking fountain on the 26th November, by the chairman of the Sanitary Authority, Mr. P. Terrell. The site now occupied by the figure is the fourth which it has occupied in the locality; it having originally stood near the bottom of Temple Street, next near the site of Dr. White's almshouse, and thirdly near the parish church.

The rainfall of the year 1872 in this city was believed to have been the greatest that had occurred for upwards of half a century. The quantity collected at Clifton reached a total of 42.36 inches. The statistics of 1870 recorded a fall of less than 23½ inches. During the second half of the year rain fell in Bristol on twenty-five Saturdays in succession. Amongst many newspaper notices of the farming adversities of the

season, was one stating that a field of clover grass, mown at Doynton in September, was not stacked until the following March.

From about the close of 1870 many citizens had been annoyed by the adoption, at a factory in St. Philip's, of an American invention called a “hooter”, devised for the purpose of arousing operatives from their morning slumbers. The instrument created so violent a vibration of the atmosphere that the sound was sometimes heard at a distance of twelve miles, and its effect within the limits of the borough proved extremely distressing to invalids and nervous persons. The invention being popular amongst labourers, however, it was rapidly adopted in various parts of the kingdom, several being frequently set up in a single town. The nuisance at last became so intolerable that an Act of Parliament was passed in 1872, forbidding the use of the instrument except with the consent of the local authorities. In Bristol the Health Committee refused to sanction it; but upon the question being brought before the Council, in January, 1873, the decision was overruled by 21 votes to 18. The vote was significant of the increasing influence of the labouring classes on corporate affairs, for the majority made no attempt to answer the arguments advanced against the nuisance, but contented themselves with asserting that the comfort and convenience of a minority of the inhabitants should not be allowed to override the desire of the masses. In compliance with an order of the corporation, the noise made by the instrument was afterwards greatly diminished.

On the 18th January, 1878, a meeting was held in the Guildhall to consider the desirability of establishing a periodical series of musical festivals in Bristol. The mayor (Mr. Hathway) presided, and resolutions approving of the movement were carried unanimously. About 250 gentlemen, who had offered to guarantee £50 each in the event of a deficiency in the receipts of the first festival, were appointed a provisional committee. An executive committee was afterwards formed, of which Mr. Alderman Baker was elected chairman and Mr. William Smith vice-chairman. Mr. Alfred Stone was appointed chorus master, and a choir of 290 voices was soon in training. Mr. Charles Hallé was chosen to conduct the public performances. The first festival opened on the 21st October in Colston Hall, to which galleries had been added by the festival committee, and the building was filled with one of the most brilliant audiences ever assembled in the city. The first oratorio given was “The Creation”, the leading parts being sustained by

Messrs. Sims Reeves and Santley, and Mesdames Sherrington, Alvsleben, etc. “Elijah” was performed on the 22nd, Rossini's “Stabat Mater” and Macfarren's “John the Baptist” were given on the 23rd, and “The Messiah”, on the 24th, completed the series. Evening miscellaneous concerts also formed part of the programme. The total receipts amounted to £5784. The surplus after paying expenses was made up by the committee to £250, which sum was divided between the two great medical charities. The second festival was held in October, 1876, for which the oratorios selected were “Elijah”, “Israel in Egypt”, the “Fall of Babylon”, “Engedi”,and “The Messiah”; evening concerts being given as before. The chief vocalists were Messrs. B. Lloyd, W.H. Gummings, Kearton, Pope, Maybrick, and Behrens, Mdlles. Titiens and Albani, and Mesdames Wynne, Patey, and Trebelli. Though the receipts (£6473) showed an increase, the guarantors were called upon to pay a guinea each to cover the expenditure. Collections, amounting to £210, were divided as before. The third festival commenced on the 14th October, 1879, and extended over the three following days. The chief works given were “Samson”, “Elijah”, Mozart's “Requiem”, Rossini's “Stabat Mater”, and “The Messiah”. The leading vocalists were Mesdames Albani, Trebelli, and Patey, Miss Emma Thursby,and Messrs. Santley, Lloyd, and McGuckin. The chorus had at this festival increased to 346. The receipts amounted to £6136, and the accounts showed a surplus of £402, exclusive of £208 collected at the doors. The Infirmary and Hospital received £250 each, the balance being reserved. The fourth festival was opened on the 17th October, 1882, and, being under the presidency of H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh, the proceedings excited more than usual public interest, though, singularly enough, the aggregate attendances showed a falling off. The oratorios performed were “Elijah”, Gounod's “Redemption”, Mackenzie's “Jason” (written for the festival), and “The Messiah”. The leading vocalists at the morning and evening performances were Messrs. Lloyd, Santley, Maas, Kearton, and Warlock, Miss Williams, and Mesdames Albani, Patey, and Trebelli. The performance on the 19th was attended by the royal duke and duchess, who were welcomed into the city with great cordiality. Their Royal Highnesses were met at the railway station by the mayor (Mr. Weston) and members of the corporation; and the prince was presented with an address, for which he gracefully returned thanks. The streets were gaily decorated, and the volunteers supplied an efficient guard of honour. [A local reporter records that on the arrival of the distinguished

visitors at Colston Hall, a prominent member of the Council, who was also a very active member of the festival committee, observing that the path from the carriage to the vestibule was somewhat dirty, pulled off his overcoat and placed it on the ground for the duchess to walk over, which she did.] The duke, before leavings thanked the committee for their intention to devote the surplus of the receipts to a fund for establishing a Bristol scholarship in the new College of Music; and he also accepted the office of president of the Festival Society. The receipts of the week (£6,263) left a balance over expenditure of £148, which were forwarded to the College. The collections (£215) were divided in the usual manner. The festival of 1886 opened on the 20th October with Handel's “Belshazzar”, the other oratorios of the week being “Elijah”, Berlioz's “Faust”, and “The Messiah”. The chief singers were Mesdames Albani, Trebelli, and Patey, Miss Williams and Messrs. Santley, Lloyd, Hilton, and Maas. The chorus, numbering 360 voices, excelled all its previous performances. The attendances, however, were below the average, and the guarantors were called on for a guinea and a half each to supply the deficiency in the receipts. The collections for the hospitals produced £146.

The new church of St. Matthew's, Moorfields, was consecrated on the 28th January, 1873, by the Bishop of the diocese.

A report on the charities of Bristol was published in February by the Charity Commissioners. The following is a summary of the yearly value of the endowments then belonging to the city:- For education, £19,986 12s. 6d. Apprenticing and advancing the young, £803 10s 10d. Clergy, lectures, and sermons, £702 17s. 11d. Church purposes, £4,727 14s. 10d. Dissenting chapels and ministers, £983 19s. 3d. Education of Dissenters, £308 4s. 3d. Public uses, £143 8s. Almshouses and pensioners, £12,176 12s. 1d. Doles in money and goods, £3,336 11s. General uses of the poor, £4,998 6s. 6d. Total, £48,167 17s. 2d. In January, 1875, the Rev. J. Percival, head master of Clifton College, observed that many of the gifts to the poor, instead of alleviating poverty, perpetuated a spirit of dependence and improvidence, and suggested that £1,000 yearly of the doles should be employed to encourage the regular attendance of children at school, by the payment of the fees of orphans, providing clothes for the offspring of distressed parents, and establishing prizes. Mr. Percival offered, if his proposal were accepted, to guarantee £100 a year for similar purposes from

the offertory of Clifton College. There was, however, no response.

A local journal of the 1st March stated that, in excavating for a Roman Catholic School adjoining Victoria Street, a discovery had been made of the foundations of an old religions house. Some old coins and a monastic token were said to have been found in the rubbish.

On the 19th March the opening of a new Bristol racecourse, at Knowle, took place under the patronage of the Prince of Wales. The ground had been laid out, and a grand stand, accommodating 3,000 persons, built by the Bristol and Western Counties Racecourse Company, which had been established in the previous year, with a capital of £8,000 in £100 shares. The first meeting was chiefly devoted to steeple-chasing, but there was some flat racing on a course of a mile and three quarters. The attractiveness of the gathering, which extended over three days, was much increased by the fact that the National Hunt Steeplechase Association had determined that its annual prize should be competed for on the ground. The Prince of Wales, who was a guest at Berkeley Castle, proceeded to the course each morning with a numerous party of friends. The attendance of the public on each of the first two days was estimated at 100,000. The money given in prizes during the meeting exceeded £2,000, the most notable gifts being the Bristol Grand Steeplechase prize of £500; the Association prize of £350; the City Hurdle Race of £200; the Ashton Court Steeplechase of £200; and the Clifton cup of £200. At the close of the last day's sport, the Prince of Wales was driven to the offices of Messrs. Miles Brothers & Co., Queen Square, where tea was provided. At the railway station, a great crowd assembled to cheer the departing visitor. In 1874, besides the spring steeplechase meeting of three days, there was a September meeting of the same duration for ordinary races, the prizes for which were also, on a munificent scale. The company sustained a heavy loss on the two gatherings, and the autumn meeting was afterwards relinquished. The last spring races under the management of the company took place in 1878, in November of which year, owing to repeated heavy losses, it was resolved to wind up the concern. The races were continued by private enterprise in the spring and winter of 1879, and again in the spring of 1880; but the results were so unsatisfactory that the ground was given up. Subsequently the grand stand and other buildings were demolished, and the materials sold by auction.

In the spring of 1873 the faculty of the Medical School in Old Park were taking steps to remove to more convenient premises, when a proposal was started for founding a Technical College of Science, of which the school might form a department. An appeal was soon afterwards made to the public for pecuniary assistance towards carrying out the design. At this stage of the movement, a communication was received from the master of Balliol College, Oxford, stating that his College, and probably at least one other, would be disposed to co-operate in the work. This led to further negotiations, resulting in a definite offer from Balliol and New Colleges to contribute £300 a year each for three years under certain conditions, the chief of which were that the instruction given should be literary as well as scientific, that the requirements of adult education should be specially considered, and that the College (the medical classes excepted) should be open to women. This proposal having been assented to, the promoters of the movement again addressed themselves to the public, dwelling upon the importance of such an institution to the West of England, and the urgency of establishing it upon a creditable basis. On the 11th June, 1874, a meeting in aid of the project was held in the Victoria Rooms, the mayor (Ald. Barnes) presiding, when addresses in approval of the scheme were made by Professor Williamson, then president of the British Association, Professor Jowett, master of Balliol, the Bishop of Exeter (Dr. Temple), Mr. B.A. Freeman, the Rev. J.E. Sewell, warden of New College, the members of Parliament for the city, and others. It was estimated that £40,000 would be required to establish the College, and that £3,000 a year would be needed for its maintenance. In July, 1875, a meeting of peers and members of the House of Commons connected with the West of England and South Wales was held at Westminster, the Earl of Cork, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset, presiding, for the promotion of the Institution. A similar meeting was held in Bristol a few weeks later, during the sittings of the British Association, when the value of the proposed College was strongly urged by Sir John Hawkshaw, president of the Association, Sir William Thompson, Professor Jowett, and other eminent visitors. In December it was announced that £22,000 of the required capital had been promised (£19,000 by Bristolians); and steps were then taken for the incorporation of the College. Soon afterwards the Clothworkers' Company, of London, offered a subscription of £500 a year for five years to assist in the establishment of a department of

textile industries. A staff of two professors and four lecturers having been selected (Professor Marshall^[92] being subsequently appointed Principal), the work of the College commenced on the 10th October, 1876, a large house in Park Row, vacated by the Deaf and Dumb Institution, having been temporarily engaged. In 1880 the council, though inadequately supported by wealthy Bristolians, ventured upon building a portion of the north wing of the proposed quadrangle in Tyndall's Park, at a cost of £5,000. This was opened for certain classes at the beginning of the winter term of that year. About the same time, £800, the fruit of a subscription for a memorial to Miss Catherine Winkworth, of Clifton, an earnest advocate of female education, were invested as a fund for providing scholarships for women; while the Anchor Society offered £300 per annum for three years to found an additional professorship. The College continuing to progress, another wing of the building was erected, at a cost of about £6,000; and on its completion, in January, 1883, the house in Park Row was given up. The annual subscriptions then amounted to about £1,200, and the receipts from students to £2,200, while the yearly expenses were £4,600. The two Oxford colleges still continued to support the institution. A few words must be added with reference to the Medical School, whose needs originated the College movement. The opening of the winter session of 1879-80 took place in a plain but serviceable building situated near the College. The removal from Old Park was accompanied by an extension of the curriculum. The management of the school had shortly before been placed by the faculty in the hands of an independent governing body, elected by the council of University College, the leading officials of the Infirmary and Hospital, and the faculty of the school. The effect of those changes was to nearly treble the number of students.

On the 31st March, 1873, while some excavations were being made in an orchard at Little Sneyd, overlooking Sea Mills, the workmen found, a few inches below the surface, a gravestone of pentagonal form. It bore a rude representation of a head with rays, on one side of which was the figure of a dog, and on the other of a cock, while below was a deeply cut inscription in Roman letters, SPES C. SBNTI. The discovery excited much interest, some antiquaries believing that the stone marked the resting-place of a Roman Christian; but the weight of authority was against this supposition.

The success of wood pavements for carriage roads in London induced the Coancil, at a meeting in March, to order a trial of the system in some of the central thoroughfares in the city. A contract was soon afterwards entered into with the Improved Woodpaving Company for laying down the roadway in Wine Street, at a cost of £960. The experiment was deemed so satisfactory that the pavement was extended to Corn Street and part of Broad Street before the close of the year.

The old building known as Dowry Chapel having been removed in 1872, a new church, dedicated to St. Andrew the Less, was erected on the site, at a cost of about £2,700, and was consecrated on the 24th September, 1873.

During the autumn Narrow Wine Street, until then appropriately named, was widened by the demolition of several projecting houses at the western entrance.

At a meeting of the Council in November, it was announced that Alderman Proctor had expressed his willingness to plant trees along the riverside footpath in Coronation Road, from near Bath Bridge to Vauxhall Ferry. The expense was estimated at £500. A vote of thanks was passed to the alderman for his liberal gift. A foolish attempt has been made to style this parade a “boulevard”, but the public have declined to adopt the misnomer.

The recovery by the city of its ancient library has been recorded under a previous year [see p.333] . At a meeting of the Council on the 28th November, Mr. J.D. Weston moved that the corporation should take measures for the proper maintenance of the institution under the provisions of the Public Libraries Act. Only one councillor disapproved of the resolution. The question was laid before the ratepayers at a public meeting held in May, 1874, the mayor (Alderman Barnes) presiding, when Mr. Weston moved that the powers of the Act should be brought into operation; and he was as successful with the citizens as he had been with the Council, only three dissentient hands being raised against the proposal. Mr. Weston offered to give £1,000, provided £10,000 were raised by subscription, towards building a structure worthy of the end in view; and other donations, amounting altogether to £1,100, were promised at the meeting. Nothing further, however, was done in this direction. In May, 1875, the Council resolved on the purchase, for £400, of the building known as the St. Philip's Literary Institute, which had been founded by a few philanthropic inhabitants, but had proved unsuccessful. The place was opened as a

branch library by the mayor (Ald. J.A. Jones) in July, 1876. A house in King Square, bought for £1,070, and fitted up as a branch for the northern parts of the city, was opened in March, 1877, by the mayor (Alderman Edwards). The Library Committee also purchased, for £1,650, the premises of a defunct Conservative Institute in Bedminster, and a well appointed branch library was opened there in the following September. In May, 1883, the Council sanctioned the creation of a new branch, in Whiteladies Road, for Redland and West Clifton. A plot of 666 square yards was bought for £650, and a building having been erected thereon at a cost of £2,400, and 10,000 volumes placed on the shelves, the building was opened by the mayor (Mr. Weston) in June, 1885. Two months later, the Council resolved on purchasing the abandoned Church of St. Peter, Jacob's Wells [see p.346] , and on converting it into a branch library for Hotwells and St. Augustine's. The building, with alterations, cost about £8,000.

In the course of the year 1873, the committee of the Children's Hospital appointed a female physician. Dr. Eliza Walker, to the office of house surgeon; but the lady was compelled to relinquish the post a few weeks later, in consequence of the hostile action of the rest of the medical staff, who succeeded in their object by resigning in a body. In referring to the subject in a letter read at a public meeting in Gloucester, Mr. Wait, M.P. (mayor 1869-70), said, he had become a convert to the agitation for female suffrage, “its necessity having been driven home by a trades' union combination among a section of the medical men at Bristol to prevent a woman earning her bread in their profession”.

At the general election, which took place in February, 1874, the candidates nominated were Messrs. Morley and Hodgson, the Liberal Members in the previous Parliament, and Messrs. S.V. Hare and George Henry Chambers, who were brought forward by the Conservatives. The latter were sanguine of success, as Mr. Hare had been defeated by a small majority in 1870, and in the four registration courts which had subsequently been held the Conservative Association claimed an aggregate gain of 1,614 votes. This was the first Bristol election held under the Ballot Act; and the good order which reigned during the struggle offered a marked contrast to the disturbances which were almost chronic under the old system. The counting of the votes on the evening of the poll (February 2) occupied many hours, and the result could not be announced until nearly three hours after midnight; yet, though many thousand persons remained in the

streets, there was no symptom of tumult. The return was as follows:- Mr. K.D. Hodgson, 8,888; Mr. S. Morley, 8,732; Mr. S.V. Hare, 8,552; Mr. G.H. Chambers, 7,626. The last mentioned gentleman, in the course of one of his electioneering addresses, made a singular avowal of his regret at the abolition of slavery in the West India colonies.

A fourth volunteer organisation was started in February, under the name of the Royal Navy Artillery Volunteers. The 22 persons first enrolled paid all the expenses attending the launching of the Corps. In August, Mr. Ward Hunt, first Lord of the Admiralty, visited Bristol with a view to promoting the movement, in which, Mr. Hunt stated, the Admiralty felt much interest. At a public meeting, held a few weeks later, the Corps was definitely constituted. Captain Dunn, R.N., being recommended to the Admiralty as the commanding officer.

During the spring the Cattle Market was reconstructed by the local railway companies [see p.123], at a cost of nearly £10,000. The new market afforded accommodation for 9,700 animals.

The most serious disaster which had happened in the Avon since the stranding of the Demerara occurred on the 1st April to the Kron Prinz, a steamer which had arrived from the Danube with a cargo of 7,000 quarters of barley. In proceeding up the river at high water, the vessel struck on the right bank, near the Horseshoe Point, and became practically a wreck. Her removal was not effected until the 20th April, when the damage was estimated at £34,000. A somewhat similar disaster occurred in the beginning of May, 1878, to the Gipsy steamer, said to be worth £15,000, which struck on the right bank of the Avon, near Black-rock quarry, as she was proceeding to Waterford, and became a total wreck.

At a meeting of the Council on the 28th April, 1874, the town clerk stated that he was instructed by Alderman Proctor to offer as a free gift to the city the mansion in which he lived - Elmdale House, Clifton Down, to be dedicated to the use of the mayor for the time being. The house was charged with a ground rent of £50 per annum, but the donor had taken measures to redeem this burden. The value of the property was estimated at £16,000. It transpired that Mr. Proctor had had the object in view for several years, and had in fact constructed the house for this especial purpose. At the request of Mrs. Proctor the transfer of the property took place on the 1st May - the anniversary of the wedding of the estimable couple. The deed of gift was executed on the 20th

June, when Alderman Proctor presented the city with the fittings of the house, and a cheque for £500 for effecting decorations and repairs. Mr. Robert Lang presented the Corporation with a cabinet of Bristol china, valued at £750, for the drawing-room of the house. The mayor (Mr. Thomas) presented a picture by O. Branwhite, a local artist; and similar gifts have been made by many of his successors. Mr. T. Canning (mayor 1870-1) gave a portrait of the late Mr. R.H. Davis, M.P.; Mr. Cruger Miles forwarded two pictures by Danby, R.A., another Bristol artist; and other handsome presents were made by Alderman Edwards (mayor 1876-9) and Mr. Mundy. The furnishing of the Mansion House cost the Corporation £8,263, and the permanent charge for its maintenance was estimated at about £1,000 a year. It was hoped that the establishment would effect a saving in the yearly charge incurred for the entertainment of the judges of assize, for whom private lodgings had been provided since 1831. Their lordships, however, would not take up their Quarters in the civic building. In June, 1875, Alderman Proctor added another to his various gifts to the city, in the shape of a recreation ground at Fishponds, which he fitted up for the entertainment of school children, some thousands of whom are taken there yearly on summer excursions.

The Council, in July, resolved upon another extensive series of street improvements. For many years the ever increasing flow of traffic through Corn and Clare Streets had been strengthening the arguments of those who urged the necessity of a new thoroughfare between the central districts and Clifton. Various plans had been proposed to supply the want, but the great expense involved in all of them had deterred the Council from taking action. The city surveyor, Mr. Josiah Thomas, now proposed a scheme for obtaining the desired relief at a comparatively limited outlay, namely the widening of Baldwin Street from Back Street to Baldwin Street Hall, and the continuance of the thoroughfare from the latter spot to the west end of Clare Street. The estimated net cost was £32,000. The plan was adopted by a large majority. The Streets Improvement Committee further recommended alterations in the following localities, at the estimated expenditure affixed to each:- Black-boy Hill, Redland, £16,000; Narrow Plain and Unity Street to the Old Market, £20,000; the widening of Redcliff Street, £45,000; two new thoroughfares near Kingsland Road, £6,500; Lower Ashley Road, Brigstock Road, and Montpelier, £8,550; Stratton Street to Lawson Street, £5,000; Back Street,

£13,500; West Street, Bedminster, £4,500; Granby Hill to Hotwell Road, £3,000. The whole of these schemes were approved with little or no opposition. The total expenditure voted during the sitting was £184,050. Mr. Spark, the chairman of the Committee, stated that between 1854 and 1864, before extensive improvements were effected, the rateable value of the city increased only from £456,000 to £503,000, while the advance in the ten subsequent years marked by improvements had been from £503,000 to £727,000. He added that the estimated cost of the properties taken under previous improvement schemes had been £280,300, but that the actual outlay had been only £226,000. The Baldwin Street scheme was afterwards warmly opposed by influential citizens possessing property in the locality; and the subject remained in suspense for some time. Early in 1877, however, the Council obtained power from Parliament to borrow £194,000 (afterwards increased to £214,000) for carrying out the schemes, and orders were given to proceed with the plans relating to Baldwin Street, Back Street, and Redcliff Street, the last-named thoroughfare being described by Mr. Spark as “a disgrace to the city”. New Baldwin Street was opened with some ceremony on the 1st March, 1881, by the mayor (Mr. Weston). The gross cost of the improvement was £120,000. The surplus lands not having been disposed of, the net cost has not been ascertained.

The members of the British Archæological Association assembled in Bristol in August, to hold their thirty-first annual congress. Mr. K.D. Hodgson, M.P., was the president for the year. The proceedings extended over a week, visits being paid to all the important historical monuments of the district. A local committee, of which the mayor (Ald. Barnes) was chairman, was indefatigable in its attentions to the visitors, who were also hospitably entertained by the mayor, the Society of Merchants, the vestry of Redcliff, and other bodies. The Association's “Transactions” for 1874 contain a full record of the proceedings.

A scheme of the Endowed School Commissioners for reorganizing the Cathedral School received the assent of the dean and chapter in August. The school formed part of the cathedral corporation as established by Henry VIII.; but the chapter for many generations manifested indifference to the original purposes of the foundation. In the statutes of Henry the salary of the head-master was fixed at £8 8s. 8d.; of each prebend, £7 17s. 8d.; of each minor canon, £5 2s.; and of the dean, £27. In our own time, the dean has an income of £1,500,

while the canons receive about £700 each. But the headmaster's yearly share of the cathedral revenues in 1874 amounted to only £120. Under the scheme, the dividends on a sum of £12,000, furnished by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, were devoted to the establishment of a training college and a grammar school. In the latter, eighteen choristers were to be instructed free of charge. The new system came into operation in January, 1876, but the college proved a complete failure. In May, 1882, the institution was again reorganised, the college being suppressed.

The first Cabmen's Rest in Bristol, constructed at the expense of Mr. Henry Taylor (mayor, 1879-80), was opened near the Drawbridge stand on the 7th November. Mr. Taylor's example was soon afterwards followed by Mr. Hodgson, M.P., and several citizens, and altogether fifteen Rests have been provided. Some “Chairmen's Rests” were set up in 1876.

A special meeting of the Council was convened on the 20th November, in consequence of the sudden death, ten days previously, of the town-clerk, Mr. Daniel Burges. Mr. William Brice was unanimously elected to the vacant office. The friends of Mr. Burges subsequently resolved on establishing a lasting memorial of that gentleman's services, and subscriptions amounting to upwards of £1,200 having been received, a scholarship called the Daniel Buries Scholarship, tenable at Oxford or Cambridge, was founded in connection with the Grammar School. The first holder of the scholarship was Mr. Cyril Travers Burges, then a student at St. John's College, Oxford. The Charity Trustees grant the income (about £53) for four years to a pupil educated at the Grammar School. Mr. Brice having relinquished the town-clerkship after holding it nearly six years, the Council, on the 28th September, 1880, elected Mr. Daniel Travers Burges to the post, which had been successively held by his grandfather and father.

Upon the death, on the 5th December, of Lady Haberfield, widow of Sir John Kerle Haberfield, it became known that her ladyship, some time before her demise, had executed a deed by which she transferred a considerable real estate to trustees, who were charged with the erection and endowment of almshouses for twenty-four poor persons. The building was to be erected on ground at Jacob's Wells, which Lady Haberfield had bought for that purpose. The deceased also bequeathed £5,000 to the Infirmary, £500 to the Charity Trustees for establishing doles to poor women, and handsome sums to various charities. The trustees for the almshouse resolved

to delay the erection of the building until the expiration of certain life interests in the estate, which exceeds £40,000. In the meanwhile, the piece of ground bought by Lady Haberfield has been acquired by the Corporation for street improvement purposes.

An extraordinary ecclesiastical case, said to be the first of the kind which had arisen since the Reformation, came on the 8th December before commissioners appointed by Bishop Ellicott, sitting in the Chapter House. It appeared that, a considerable time before this date, a gentleman named Henry Jenkins, of Vyvyan Terrace, Clifton, entertaining doubts as to the existence of demoniacal spirits, and deeming certain passages in the Bible concerning them unfit to be read in the presence of children, published a selection of passages from the Old and New Testaments for use in family devotion. Copies of the book were sent to various persons, amongst others to the incumbent of the parish, the Rev. Flavel S. Cook, Vicar of Christ Church, who took no notice of it. During the month of July, 1874, however, Mr. Cook preached a course of sermons against Ritualism, which Mr. Jenkins sharply criticised in a private letter; whereupon the irritated vicar, calling to mind that his correspondent had written a book, proceeded to its examination - probably with a view to returning his parishioner's compliment. To use the expression of his counsel, he then “discovered to his extreme sorrow that the volume was a systematic and wicked mutilation of the Bible”. The reverend gentleman forthwith called upon Mr. Jenkins to expostulate upon his conduct. And as Mr. Jenkins declined to hold any communication with him, and even claimed the right of using his book in the devotions of his own family, Mr. Cook, professing profound grief, informed him by letter that so long as he refused to disavow his mutilation of the Scriptures he could not “be received at the Lord's Table in my church”. Mr. Jenkins retorted that if the church was the minister's it was also the parishioners', and gave notice that on a certain day he should present himself at the Communion Table. He did accordingly attend, but Mr. Cook refused to let him communicate. An appeal was then made to the bishop, who issued the above commission of inquiry. Mr. Cook's counsel contended that the promoter, having been guilty of slandering the Word of God, was properly rejected from the Table. The commissioners were of opinion that the matter ought to be decided in the ecclesiastical courts, and the case thereupon proceeded. In the course of the subsequent arguments before Sir R. Phillimore, Dean of Arches,

it transpired that the vicar, before repelling Mr. Jenkins from the Communion, had consulted the bishop of the diocese. Dr. Ellicott, who had dictated the letter addressed to the promoter of the suit. His Honour, in giving judgment, held that Mr. Cook was justified in practically excommunicating a person who held sceptical views as to the personality of the devil. An appeal having been lodged, the parties were heard before the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, and Lord Chancellor Cairns gave definitive judgment in February, 1876, reversing the previous decision, admonishing Mr. Cook for his illegal act, and warning him against its repetition. The vicar then intimated that if Mr. Jenkins insisted on communicating at Christ Church he should resign the living, and as Mr. Jenkins replied that he should exercise a right which it had cost him a large sum to vindicate, Mr. Cook carried out his intention, and quitted the parish. The heavy law costs incurred by the reverend gentleman were defrayed by his admirers, who also presented him with testimonials to the value of upwards of £4,500.

Another remarkable instance of growth in the value of ancient charitable bequests was brought before the Charity Commissioners during 1874. One Abraham Birkin, by a will dated in 1668, bequeathed six acres of land in the hundred of Barton Regis, then worth £10 a year, to the feoffees of St. Mary-le-Port church lands, upon trust to distribute 40s. yearly amongst four poor people of that parish, and a similar amount amongst poor in St. Nicholas, St. James', and Temple parishes respectively. £1 was to be paid for a yearly sermon, 10s. for bread given to the poor after the sermon was preached, 9s. 6d. to the collector of the rents, and 6d. to the lord of the manor for chief rent. For upwards of a century and a half the estate brought in only sufficient to provide for the bequests; but about 1820 the ground was let on building leases, and, when the leases began to fall in, the yearly proceeds rose to £400, with the prospect of advancing to £600, or sixty times the original value. The testator having left no directions as to the appropriation of a surplus, an application was made to the Charity Commissioners, which resulted in the settlement of a scheme. After providing for the 40s. gifts, it was ordered that seven-twelfths of the surplus should be employed in promoting education amongst the children residing in the parishes of St. Mary-le-Port, St. Nicholas, St. James, Temple, St. Philip, and St. Paul, in the elementary schools of those parishes, and in granting bursaries at the same schools, or in assisting children of both

sexes to obtain instruction in technical subjects. Out of the remaining five-twelfths, £50 were to be paid in augmentation of the living of St. Mary-le-Port, half of the residue to be applied to repairing the church, and the remainder to the purposes to which the seven-twelfths had been devoted, the poor of St. Mary's having a preferential claim to this portion. The scheme was ordered to come into operation on the 25th March, 1875. Some fifty bursaries have since been established for the benefit of meritorious poor children.

Early in the year 1875, the Right Honourable Stephen Cave, M.P., a member of an old Bristol family, purchased of a lady living at Cheltenham a curious goblet, called the Colston Cup, the history of which is unknown. It was elaborately carved, and bore figures of members of the Colston family, with representations of the arms of Bristol and of a ship entering the port.

At a meeting of the Council in March, the inconvenience and unwholesomeness of the police court [see p.109] were strongly represented by the mayor (Mr. Thomas) on behalf of the magistrates. The Finance Committee shortly afterwards recommended the construction of a new court in Bridewell Street, extending into St. James's Back. Three houses in the former street were bought for £2,540; most of the tenements in the latter, inhabited by a dissolute class, belonged to the Corporation. The design was subsequently extended, accommodation being provided for the city fire brigade; and the total outlay amounted to £17,000. Through one of those unlucky freaks by which the Council is sometimes tempted to deal with ancient names [see p.356, note], St. James's Back was ordered to be called Silver Street - the name of an old thoroughfare swept away by recent improvements. The new court was opened for magisterial business in March, 1880.

The tendency of a centralising system of government to be made ridiculous by routine and “red tape” was illustrated about this time by a dispute between the Local Government Board and the Bristol Board of Guardians. In 1701, Alderman Samuel Wallis bequeathed a sum of money to the Incorporation of the Poor, on condition that they should pay 20s. yearly to the incumbent of St. Peter's, for a sermon to be preached on the election of each governor. A year or two earlier than this bequest, the Incorporation had begun to pay 20s. to the incumbent and clerk of St. Stephen's (or of St. Nicholas) for an annual service. Dr. Edward Tyson having made the guardians a gift under that condition. The two

payments were made for upwards of a hundred and seventy years as a simple matter of course. At the revision of the accounts in 1875, however, a punctilious auditor refused to allow the items; and the chairman, who had signed the cheques, was ordered to refund the amount. An appeal was made to the Local Government authorities, but they affirmed the decision of the auditor. After submitting to two years' surcharges, the guardians discontinued the payments in 1877, whereupon one of the clergymen interested in the gifts sued for his money, and obtained a verdict. The auditor, nevertheless, still refused to pass the items, and after the fees had been defrayed on two or three occasions by the chairman, the board again ordered the payments to be stopped. In February, 1882, as the result of another action, the bailiffs entered St. Peter's Hospital, and seized four antique chairs, which were put up by auction (they were purchased by the chairman), and produced sufficient to satisfy the clergyman's claim, with costs. Notwithstanding the scandal, the auditor again made a surcharge on his next visit. The guardians were by this time resolved on obtaining relief from petty official persecution, and being about to apply to Parliament for the abolition of the Harbour rate, they introduced clauses into their Bill to legalise the disputed payments. The clauses having become law in 1883, the unseemly controversy might have been expected to terminate; but the pedantic auditor, on discovering that a yearly payment had been made before the Act came into force, made another surcharge. His superiors at the Local Government Board were, however, tired of the controversy, and the item received their sanction in the following September.

Soon after the reorganisation of Colston's School, the new governing body resolved upon the abolition of the uncomely and irksome garb in which the boys had been hitherto arrayed. In lieu of a long gown, short breeches, and flat cap, each lad received a uniform of modern cut, the badge of the dolphin being placed on a peaked cap. The action of the governors was not lost upon the authorities of the City School, who also, for a time, clothed their boys in a costume consistent with modern ideas and with the requirements of youth. Finding, however, that jackets and trousers were slightly more expensive than gowns and breeches, the governors ordered the revival of the grotesque old habiliments.

At a meeting held in July, Dr. Beddoe, F.R.S., presiding, it was resolved to establish an association for promoting

antiquarian pursuits, under the title of the Bristol and Gloucestershire Archælogical Society. Many of the local nobility and gentry and other influential inhabitants had previously promised their support to the movement. The society was “inaugurated” at another gathering, in February, 1876, at which the Earl of Ducie, Lord Lieutenant, took the chair. The first general meeting was held at Gloucester, the president being Sir William V. Guise, bart. The third annual gathering took place at Bristol in July, 1878, Mr. C.J. Thomas being the president of that. year. A winter meeting was also held here in January, 1880, under the presidency of Mr. T.G. Parry. The society has published an annual volume of “Transactions”.

The forty-fifth annual congress of the British Association was opened in this city on the 25th August, when the president for the year. Sir John Hawkshaw, delivered his inaugural address in the Victoria Rooms. The vice-presidents were the Earl of Ducie, Sir S. Northcote (late Earl of Iddesleigh), the mayor (Mr. C.J. Thomas), Sir Henry Rawlinson, Dr. W.B. Carpenter, and Mr. W. Sanders, F.R.S. Although the gathering did not kindle the enthusiasm which greeted the association on its former visit, the proceedings excited much interest, and a hospitable reception was offered to the guests. The work of the week was divided amongst seven sections. Mathematical and Physical Science (presided over by Professor Balfour Stewart) had its quarters in the Fine Arts Academy; Chemistry (Mr. A.G.V. Harcourt, F.R.S.) at the Freemasons' Hall; Geology (Dr. T. Wright) at the lecture room of the Museum; Biology, three departments (Dr. P.L. Sclater), at the Royal Hotel, the Grammar School, and rooms in Park Street; Geography (General Strachey, C.S.I.) at the Blind Asylum; Economic Science (Mr. J. Heywood, F.R.S.) at Victoria Chapel schoolroom; Mechanical Science (Mr. W. Froude, F.R.S.) at the Fine Arts Academy. Lectures and conversaziones took place in the evenings at Colston Hall. With one exception, the meeting places of the previous congress were abandoned, and the list of new buildings made available illustrated the local progress that had been made in forty years. At the close of the proceedings, the courtesy and hospitality of the inhabitants, and the energetic services of the local secretaries, Mr. W.L. Carpenter and Mr. J.H. Clarke, were the themes of much eulogistic comment.

Owing to complaints as to the unhealthy condition of the Infirmary, the committee resolved, in September, upon closing the building with a view to extensive alterations. A range

of warehouses in Colston Street was hired and fitted up for the accommodation of about seventy patients whose cases might be considered of an urgent nature. The alterations, which entailed a cost of nearly £15,000, were completed in about a twelvemonth, and the institution was reopened in October, 1876.

In October, 1875, a meeting was held under the presidency of the mayor (Mr. Thomas), with the object of promoting a movement, originated by Canon Norris, for the erection of a memorial in the city to Bishop Butler. It was suggested that the north-west tower of the cathedral should be raised in honour of the bishop, and a donation of £50 was announced from a gentleman at New York. The subscriptions promised at the meeting did not amount to £400, and the proposal met with a cheerless reception out of doors. A suggestion, made about the same time, that the companion tower of the cathedral should be erected as a memorial of Colston, fell still-born. In October, 1886, however, Mr. J.W. Dod, of Clifton, offered a donation of £5,000 towards the construction of the towers, under conditions which, it may be hoped, will be realised.

During the autumn a company was formed, under the title of the Bristol Industrial Dwellings Company, with a capital of £20,000 in £50 shares. A lease was obtained from the Merchant Venturers' Society of a plot of ground at Jacob's Wells, and, as a preliminary effort, the company erected, at a cost of £8,000, three blocks of buildings, containing altogether eighty tenements, provided with all appropriate sanitary arrangements. The experiment proving popular amongst the working classes, another large block, containing fifty-one tenements, was erected, and the company secured additional land adjoining, with a view to future extensions. The movement was started by Miss Susannah Winkworth, who for many years had taken a deep interest in solving the problem as to the better housing of the poor, and had begun the work by a practical experiment in Dowry Square, where she hired two or three large houses, and let them to poor families at low rentals. The results there were so satisfactory that Mr. George Wills, Mr. W.K. Wait, Mr. W.H. Budgett, Mr. L. Fry, and a few other philanthropic citizens assisted in the promotion of the more extensive project described above.

It was announced in October that an agreement had been entered into for the purchase of the Bristol and Exeter Railway by the Great Western Company. The terms agreed

upon provided for a yearly dividend on the ordinary stock of the Bristol and Exeter Company at the rate of 6 per cent. for seven years, and thereafter at the rate of 6½ per cent. The amalgamation took effect on the 1st August, 1876. Four days before that date, an accident happened near Long Ashton to the express train known as “the Flying Dutchman”, which left the rails whilst on its journey towards Bristol, the two men on the engine being killed and several of the passengers seriously injured. At the coroner's inquest, the jury declared that the fatality was attributable to the defective condition of the permanent way, as represented to them by the Government inspector, and “great blame” was passed on those officials who were responsible for the default. On winding up the accounts of the Bristol and Exeter undertaking, upwards of £14,000 were distributed amongst the old officers and servants of the company.

During the autumn and winter of 1875, which were marked by excessive rains, the eastern parishes of Bristol bordering on the Froom suffered severely from inundations. For some years the population had rapidly increased in that neighbourhood, and a number of houses were built on low-lying ground which had been at all times liable to be flooded. In many of these dwellings the floors of the lower rooms were occasionally from three to four feet under water; and the poor tenants were reduced to extreme misery. In February, 1876, the Council voted £10,500 for repairing the banks of the river from Ashley Road bridge to Wade Street, and for clearing the bed of the stream. A still more disastrous inundation occurred in October, 1882 [see p.520].

An attempt to form a social centre for the mercantile classes in the city was started about the close of 1875, when a large new house in Quay Street was fitted up at a cost of £8,500, and opened as the Bristol and County Club. About 250 members, paying a yearly subscription of three guineas, were enrolled; but the expenditure largely exceeded the receipts, and repeated additional demands on the subscribers led to withdrawals, and, after a four years' trial, to the closing of the premises.

The excitement caused by the theological lawsuit of Jenkins v. Cook [see p.482] had not wholly subsided when a new and more acrimonious controversy arose with respect to certain decorations erected in front of the cathedral. According to the architect's designs for the new north porch, statues of the four great doctors of the Western Church - Gregory, Jerome, Ambrose, and Augastine - were to adorn the portal.

The figures were in consequence executed, at a cost of about £450, and they were elevated to the niches constructed for them about the middle of February, 1876. For some days they occasioned as little remark as had similar statues of the same personages when erected, shortly before this date, at Gloucester and Salisbury cathedrals. At length, however, a vigilant Protestant, signing himself “No Pope and No Popery”, published a letter in the newspapers, and his protest was forthwith re-echoed by still more vehement disputants of the same school. A few days later, the local journals were authorised by Canon Grirdlestone to assert that the statues had been erected without the consent of the dean (who was in Italy) or of the chapter, whereupon Mr. Wait, M.P., at whose expense the porch had been built, retorted that the plans, including the figures, were submitted to, and approved by, the capitular body in 1867. [Mr. Wait subsequently admitted that this statement was “stronger than was warranted by the facts of the case”.] At an excited meeting - “one of the absurdest meetings”, said an influential London journal, “that British citizens ever attended” - after violent speeches by some Low Church clergymen, it was resolved that the images were insulting to English Protestantism and ought to be immediately removed, Dr. Percival and Mr. J.M. Mills, almost the only cool-headed persons present, being interrupted and insulted whilst deprecating the passionate proceedings. On the return of the dean, early in April, a chapter was held, at which it was resolved - Canons Norris and Wade protesting - that the dean should take measures for the removal of the figures. The dean having been informed that the restoration committee would resist this step until the figures had been pronounced illegal by a judicial tribunal, a band of workmen was secretly engaged, who carried out their orders at an early hour. After the large statues had been torn from the niches, “a couple of masons”, according to the Bristol Times, “went on with the work of demolition, splintering off the lesser saints that enriched the moulding of the doorway; so that the passer-by was for a moment beguiled by the fancy that he was back in old commonwealth times”. The Daily Press stated that the figure of St. Gregory was injured, and that “the day's work concluded with the excision of the Virgin Mary, who was one of the two top figures on the outside of the arch”. This figure was broken to pieces by the workmen. In defence of his action, the dean informed Mr. Wait that the chapter had not sanctioned the subjects of the figures, and had taken the

sketches in the design to represent the Evangelists. It appeared that the restoration committee were not responsible for the artistic treatment of the statues, and did not approve of the papal tiara, cardinal's hat, and other insignia introduced by the sculptor (Mr. Redfern), which gave so much offence. It was also admitted that those decorations were as much in contradiction to historical truth as they were opposed to Protestant sentiments. The anachronisms might easily have been removed; but the dean, who became more unconciliatory and peremptory as the matter proceeded, at length objected to the erection of any figures save those of scriptural personages. For excluding the Virgin from this category he pleaded an iconoclastic Act of Edward VI. On the 18th April the restoration committee resolved that, as Dr. Elliott had “expressed no regret for the outrage, or for the discourtesy offered to the donor and architect of the porch”, they felt that their only course was to discontinue their work. The committee also addressed a letter to the dean, in which they contrasted the indifference he had all along exhibited in reference to the restoration with the vigour he had shown in defacing “a very beautiful work of art”. As they had no security, they added, that this conduct might not be followed by other mutilations, they repudiated further responsibility. The dean, rendered uneasy by this issue, appealed to Canon Norris, asking for his endeavours to influence the committee to acquiesce in the removal of the figures, and to accept scriptural subjects in their place; but the canon replied, that after the affronting resolution of the chapter, and the indecorous way in which effect had been given to it, the committee naturally expected some expression of regret for the steps which had been taken. Dr. Elliott, retorting that the only persons in the wrong were the committee, thereupon appealed to the public, stating that the chapter would accept the responsibility of completing the building, and asking for pecuniary help on behalf of a new committee, which would finish the works “under the presidency of the dean”. If that dignitary anticipated that the response would be such as to prove that public opinion applauded his proceedings, the result must have been mortifying. The original committee had obtained about £43,000 from the public; but the appeal of the chapter for £1,500 to enable them to open the nave was somewhat coldly received, although the dean and his supporters in the capitular body (Canon Girdlestone and Canon Reeve) subscribed £200 of the amount. What was still more edifying, the entire sum contributed by those who

had excited the “No Popery” agitation did not exceed £300. After considerable delay, and some further expenditure, the new nave was opened on the 23rd October, 1877, when the mayor (Ald. Edwards) and the members of the Council attended in state. The bishop of the diocese, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, and the Deans of Canterbury and Westminster took part in the opening services, which extended over two days. About £48,000 had been expended on the reconstruction at that date. In January, 1885, the dean, in a report addressed to the Cathedral Commissioners, stated that the sum disbursed in the renovation of the cathedral, between 1860 and 1884 inclusive, was £77,447, of which £14,508 had been contributed by the chapter. Figures of the four Evangelists, said to have cost fifty guineas each, but of slender artistic merit, were placed in the vacant niches during the summer of 1878. The rejected statues are now in the tower of East Heslerton Church, Yorkshire.

The most extensive fire which had occurred in the city for nearly half a century broke out during the night of the 24th May, in the premises of Messrs. Clutterbuck & Griffin, drysalters, Christmas Street. The flames rapidly spread to the warehouses of Messrs. Couzens & Co., clothiers; Messrs. Leonard & Co., drysalters; Messrs. Gardner & Thomas, wholesale grocers; and Mr. S. Hunt, provision merchant; as well as to an old-established inn, the Old Globe. The destruction in those buildings was in most cases complete, and the entire loss was estimated at upwards of £80,000.

A friendly suit in Chancery, between the governors of Colston's School and the trustees of Colston's Free Schools in the parish of Temple, was occasioned during the summer through a bequest of £5,000 having been made by a Mr. McGhie to “Colston's School, Bristol”. A suggestion of the Master of the Rolls, that the money should be divided between the two institutions, being accepted by the parties, a formal judgment was given to that effect.

In consequence of the Government having introduced a Bill into Parliament for preventing the pollution of rivers - a measure which, when passed, turned out to be utterly valueless - the Council, at a meeting in August, determined upon the purchase, for £6,000, of Clift House, Coronation Road, with about seven acres of land adjoining, for the purpose of establishing works on the spot for deodorising part of the sewage of the city. The latter project excited so much opposition in Clifton that it was never carried into execution.

The passenger toll at Prince's Street Bridge having been

long regarded as a grievance, negotiations were opened during the autumn by the Corporation with the Great Western Railway Company, which had purchased the bridge when the Harbour Railway was constructed; and at a meeting of the Council, in Norember, it was agreed to give £15,000 for the property, to abolish the tolls, and to build a more convenient bridge. The tolls had previously been let for £1,100 a year. Parliamentary powers were obtained in the following session, and the new bridge, made to open and close by hydraulic machinery, came into use on the 27th January, 1879.

A scheme for the improvement of Jacob Street, Tower Hill, Ashley Road, Castle Mill Street, and Newfoundland Road, and for making a new street on the north side of the Froom, was recommended by the Streets Improvement Committee and sanctioned by the Council on the 9th November. The estimated outlay for carrying out the design was only £6,000.

Upon an announcement being made that the Ministry of Lord Beaconsfield were resolved upon recommending Parliament to create four additional English bishoprics, a movement was started in Bristol for obtaining a restoration of the privileges withdrawn some forty years before. At a meeting held in January, 1877, the mayor (Alderman Edwards) presiding, a memorial to the Home Secretary was adopted, pointing out that £1,500 - half of the income proposed to be conferred on each of the new prelates - could be secured by uniting the office of dean with that of bishop. It was added that Dr. Ellicott was prepared to surrender £500 a year of his income if the united dioceses were separated, and that the remainder of the endowment would be speedily furnished by the public, provided the Government would aid in restoring the see. Several large subscriptions were promised at the meeting, and the contributions soon exceeded £8,000. The Ministry, however, refused to countenance the movement. During the autumn of 1883 some influential citizens, then promoting a scheme of church extension which will be noticed in a later page, placed themselves in communication with the Prime Minister, Mr. Gladstone, in reference to the question of the bishopric. It was soon after intimated that the Ministry would render assistance in carrying out the wishes of local Churchmen. The chief conditions imposed were that the old see of Gloucester should be left in its integrity, and that £1,500 a year should be provided by the public towards the income of the new bishop, in addition to the £500 offered by Dr. Ellicott. At a meeting in January, 1884, the mayor (Mr. Weston) in the chair, thanks were voted to Mr. Gladstone, and a subscription

was started, Canon Norris, the Merchants' Society, Miles & Co., Sir J.G. Smyth, Mr. H.C. Miles, Mr. A. Gibbs, Alderman Edwards, Messrs. Daniel & Sons, and two anonymous donors contributing £1,000 each. In July, the £20,000 required by the Government preliminary to taking action having been subscribed, a Bill for the creation of a new diocese of Bristol (to consist of the deaneries of Bristol - with slight modifications to include the docks at the mouth of the Avon - and the three deaneries of North Wilts) was brought into the House of Lords by the Archbishop of Canterbury. Special facilities were granted by the Ministry for the progress of the measure in the Commons; and Mr. Gladstone, on the 9th August, upon the motion that the House should go into committee on the Bill, delivered a brilliant address in its favour, declaring that it would be “hardly compatible with the dignity of Parliament”, to refuse the city what it was seeking to obtain. The Prime Minister's intervention practically put an end to opposition, and the Bill received the royal assent on the 14th August. Mr. Gladstone, on the day on which he addressed the Commons, forwarded to the Archdeacon of Bristol a donation of £60 in aid of the bishopric, fund, being desirous, he said, “to render a tribute, however small, of gratitude as well as admiration to the illustrious memory of Bishop Butler, whose episcopal career was chiefly passed at Bristol”. An anonymous friend has promised £10,000 towards the endowment fund, provided an equal sum (in addition to the subscriptions previously offered) be raised before June, 1888. The amount subscribed in March, 1887, was about £24,000.

The insurance offices, which up to this time had maintained fire engines in the city (the Imperial office excepted), having given notice of their intention to discontinue their establishments, the Council, in March, 1877, unanimously affirmed the desirability of founding a city fire brigade. The Watch Committee soon afterwards recommended that the brigade should form part of the police force, that the staff should consist of a superintendent and twelve additional policemen, and that a powerful fire-engine should be purchased, and stationed at the central police station. The report was adopted, and, as already recorded, offices for the brigade were built in St. James s Back.

For some years previous to this date, the reputation of Clifton as a watering-place had been injured by the quarterly returns of mortality issued by the Registrar-General, whose statistics were founded on the deaths reported in the entire Union of Clifton - a district embracing a large

population residing in the poorest parishes of eastern Bristol. Repeated remonstrances having been made on the injustice of the arrangement, the Local Grovemment Board at length ordered that, from the 14th March, 1877, the name of the Union should be changed to Barton Regis. The mortality in Clifton alone is now included in the Registrar's returns of watering-places, with the effect of proving the parish to be amongst the most salubrious in the kingdom.

The steam vessels and business of the Bristol Steam Navigation Company were sold during the spring to certain capitalists in Cork. The price given for the concern was £120,000, half of which amount was accepted in shares of a new company bearing the same name, which started in July with a capital of £150,000.

Arrangements were made during the spring for the amalgamation of the banking firms of Messrs. Baillie, Cave & Co. (the Old Bank) and of Sir William Miles, bart., & Co. The union took effect on the 1st May, the business of the new firm being carried on in the premises of the Old Bank. The partners were Messrs. Charles D. Cave, George O. Edwards, Hon. H. Baillie, and George Bright from the Old Bank, and Sir Wm. Miles and Messrs. John Miles, W.H. Harford, W.H. Miles, and Fenton Miles from the other concern. The latter thereupon ceased to issue bank notes, a step which had been adopted by the Old Bank some years before.

At a Council meeting in June, the desirability of obtaining a park for the eastern districts of the city was affirmed, and a committee was appointed to choose a site and to consider the best means of meeting the expense. The site suggested by Mr. L. Fry, the mover of the resolution, was certain fields, about sixty-five acres in extent, situated between Fishponds and Stapleton roads, and bounded by the Froom on the north. It was ascertained that the owner. Sir J. Greville Smyth, bart., required, as a condition of sale, that the land should be settled for all future time as a park, and that the Corporation should, under no contingency, sell any portion for building sites. As the price demanded for the ground (£25,000) was nearly double its value as agricultural land, the Council declined to pursue the negotiation.

At a meeting of the Council in September, it was resolved that the Black-rock quarry, which had been worked since 1868 for road material, should be closed, as the excavations were attended with danger to the surface of Durdham Down, and tended to destroy the beauty of the scenery. The Sanitary Committee, encountering difficulty in obtaining supplies

of stone elsewhere, entered into negotiations with Sir Philip Miles, bart., for opening a quarry on the Somerset shore of the Avon; and in February, 1879, a lease was concluded, for twenty-one years, at a rent of £250 per annum, with a royalty of 6d. per ton on all rock quarried beyond 10,000 tons a year. Another hideous gash was consequently made in the sylvan prospect; and the destruction necessarily became more extensive from year to year. Towards the close of 1883, the Council passed a resolution for closing the great quarry at the top of Pembroke Road - the only one remaining open on Clifton Down. But in the February following the vote was rescinded, the Sanitary Committee having reported that if the 7,300 tons of stone obtained annually had to be purchased elsewhere, the additional cost would be £714 per annum.

Towards the close of the year considerable uneasiness began to be felt by many citizens respecting the future prospects of the port. The results predicted by Sir John Hawkshaw, and foreseen by thoughtful persons in the city, had, in fact, arrived; for the business of the city docks was seriously affected by the competition for trade arising from the opening of accommodation at the mouth of the river. The diminished arrivals in the Float led to various suggestions. The Chamber of Commerce expressed itself strongly in favour of the “dockisation” of the Avon; but while the vast estimated cost of the undertaking deterred most of the ratepayers from lending it their support, it was pointed out that, even if it were executed, the competition of the Channel docks would, continue unabated. Another section of the citizens was of opinion that the Corporation should purchase the works at Avonmouth and Portishead, thus fulfilling the warnings of those who had prophesied that the Corporation's refusal to provide for indispensable wants would have a similar costly result to that which followed its supineness seventy years before. Eventually, at a meeting of the Council in January, 1878, a committee was appointed to consider as to the measures which should be adopted. In November of the same year, at the instance of Alderman Baker, the Council resolved that directors of the two Channel docks should be ineligible to sit on the Docks Committee, a motion which had the effect of expelling from the board four eminent members of the civic body - Messrs. C.J. Thomas, C. Nash, T.T. Taylor, and M. Whitwill - who were shareholders in the Avonmouth Company. In the summer of 1879, the Docks Committee reported to the Council that, with a view to obviate competition, it was expedient to purchase the

Avonmouth undertaking on equitable terms. At a meeting on the 1st July, however, the Council unanimously resolved that the matter should be deferred until the Avonmouth Company made an offer to negotiate. The river dockisation scheme was discussed at the same meeting, Mr. Howard, the docks engineer, having produced two plans for carrying it out - one proposing locks at the mouth of the Avon, at an estimated cost of £850,000; the other for a dam below the Horseshoe Point, the outlay for which was set down at about £700,000. The expense of constructing quays and of diverting the sewage of the city was not included in either sum; but Mr. Ashmead reported in favour of carrying the sewage to Charlcombe Bay, near Clevedon, a distance of nearly ten miles, at an approximative cost of £280,000. The Council, dismayed by the costliness of the project, resolved that dockisation was, under existing circumstances, inexpedient. The competition of the rival docks, in the meantime, continued unabated, and the diminished receipts of the Floating Harbour caused much dissatisfaction in the Council. At a meeting in August, 1880, a resolution was passed, condemning the rivalry of the three concerns, and urging the directors representing the Corporation on the Portishead board to effect an arrangement by means of a sub-committee emanating from the three undertakings. The Avonmouth board, it appeared, had agreed to act in concert with the civic authorities; but the arrangement had broken down through the action taken at Portishead, which was spoken of as “a daughter seeking to cut the throat of her mother”. At a subsequent meeting, the Docks Committee recommended, with the view of meeting the competition, that the town dues levied on grain in the Float should be reduced to a nominal sum, that the wharfage dues should be suspended, and that the expense of discharging grain cargoes should be defrayed out of the dock estate, so as to encourage corn merchants to bring vessels to Bristol. Alderman Baker, in moving the adoption of those recommendations, asserted that the grain trade had been diverted to the new docks by means of bribes, and that vigorous retaliatory measures could alone restore matters to a right footing. The resolution was condemned by other speakers as a further outcome of the huckstering and senile system which it was alleged had long characterised the management of the docks. The opposition pointed out that the timber and sugar arrivals had fallen off still more largely than those of grain, although there had been no competition in those trades; and they strongly censured a

scheme by which poor ratepayers would be saddled with increased burdens in order that a few corn merchants might put £5,000 a year into their own pockets. The motion, however, was carried by an overwhelming majority, and similar bounties were afterwards conferred upon other importations. The dockisation party had by this time recovered courage. At a meeting of the Chamber of Commerce in September, a motion recommending that the three dock properties should be vested in a single governing body was met by an amendment in favour of dockising the river, and the latter was carried by a large majority. Similar resolutions having been passed at various ward meetings, the Council appointed a committee to make an inquiry into the practicability of the project. In October the Docks Committee reported that although the Avonmouth board were willing to agree to a non-competitive tariff, the Portishead authorities had again positively refused to enter into an arrangement. Much indignation was expressed at the policy of an undertaking which was deeply indebted to the liberality of the Corporation; but the representatives of the Council on the Portishead board contended that it was their duty to maintain the interests of the dock. The Council next proposed to apply the principle of arbitration to the purchase of the rival concerns; but the Portishead board, asserting that the interests of their railway were inseparably identified with the dock, advanced conditions which rendered negotiations impossible. This attitude - not a little irritating to many who had voted for the grant of £100,000 in 1872 - strengthened the predominant party in the Council, which determined upon applying for parliamentary powers to reduce the charges on shipping and goods entering Bristol dock as the Corporation might see fit, to levy dues upon ships and goods entering within the port of Bristol (thus including the Channel docks), to impose dues and wharfage rates on goods conveyed from the rival docks to Bristol, to spend £48,000 in erecting free warehouses to be maintained out of the rates, and to provide free steam-tugs for vessels coming up the Avon. The injustice of levying taxes for the benefit of the city on shipping entering the Channel docks, thereby ruining the two companies, and enabling the Corporation to buy up the concerns at an insignificant fraction of their cost, which was the supposed object of the scheme, was denounced by Alderman Ford in the Council as “worse than the worst description of communism”; and the same argument was strongly urged before the select committee of the House of Commons by whom the Bill was

considered. In the result, the latter body struck out the clause for levying dues in the Channel docks, as well as those permitting a system of rebates at Bristol and the establishment of free steam-tugs. Soon after the Bill, in its restricted form, had become law, the Council, with the view of crippling the competing docks, and in despite of the decision of the House of Commons, made further reductions in the town and wharfage dues on timber, sugar, and other imports, the increased charge thereby imposed on the ratepayers being estimated at £5,000 a year. This policy, by which, according to Alderman Ford's statement in the Council, over £20,000 per annum were taken out of the purses of the citizens for the benefit of particular trades, was disapproved in many quarters; and the position of its author and most vigorous advocate. Alderman Baker, the head of a firm which reaped large profits from the system, occasionally gave rise to insinuations which he indignantly repudiated. At length a citizen, Mr. Henry White, disputing the legality of the Council's proceedings, laid the facts before the Attorney General, who applied for an injunction against the Corporation in the High Court of Justice. The case was not heard till May, 1884, before Mr. Justice Field, who delivered judgment against the civic authorities. His lordship held that the Council, as trustees of the ancient town and wharfage dues, had acted illegally in practically abolishing those charges, the revenues of which ought to have been applied to the benefit of the ratepayers. The act complained of was, he added, as illegal as if the Corporation had given up the rents of the city property, or relieved certain inhabitants from the payment of rates; and the fact that an attempt had been made - unsuccessfully - to obtain parliamentary approval of the system, showed that the Council was aware that its action was unwarrantable. He did not doubt, however, that the members had intended to protect the interests of the city. Whilst these legal proceedings were in their infancy, eighty influential merchants and tradesmen proposed the formation of a Harbour Trust Association, with the object of uniting the docks into one property, under the supervision of a board. A Bill for effecting that object was introduced into Parliament in 1882; but although the Council was memorialised by upwards of six thousand ratepayers to co-operate in settling the details of a satisfactory scheme, the Chamber resolved, in February, 1882, to strenuously oppose the Bill. A motion declaring that the docks ought to be under one management was defeated by 23 votes against 19. The

advocates of an uncompromising policy of “beggar my neighbour” began, however, to yield to the influence of public opinion, and, at a subsequent meeting, Alderman Fox, describing the competition between the three docks and the squandering of £25,000 a year as a scandal and reproach to all, moved that the mayor (Mr. Weston) be requested to communicate with the belligerents with a view to an equitable arrangement. The mayor having expressed his willingness to attempt a reconciliation, Alderman Fox's resolution was adopted unanimously. When the Harbour Bill was remitted to a committee of the House of Lords, it encountered a rival scheme of a similar character, ostensibly promoted by obscure persons in London; but their lordships summarily rejected both measures. The mayor's intervention put an end to a conflict which had never been creditable to the practical sagacity of those concerned in it, and which had become almost universally unpopular owing to the certainty that the reckless waste of money would have in the end to be borne by the public. At a Council meeting on the 9th May, 1882, the mayor was enabled to report a provisional arrangement for a year, which he had successfully effected. Its chief points were, that the dues on foreign arrivals were to be 2½. per ton less at Bristol than at the Channel docks; that the town and wharfage dues, equal to 1½. per quarter on grain, should be reimposed in the Float upon a due of a similar amount being levied at the other docks; and that the reductions in dues made to old lines of steamers should not exceed 25 per cent. until the same concession was made to new lines. His worship added that the Sharpness dock board - which had been compelled to reduce its rates through the competition - had promised that the dues of that undertaking should again be raised. The action of the mayor was unanimously confirmed. Shortly afterwards the Docks Committee reported that arrangements had been made with the Avonmouth and Portishead companies, under which a uniform tariff of charges would be established at the three docks. This was expected to increase the income of the Corporation by about £4,000 a year. The opportunity was taken to consolidate the Bristol charges, so that a single payment superseded the three imposts known as dock, town, and wharfage dues, whilst ships were in future to pay one due instead of five. The working of the new arrangement gave general satisfaction, but its temporary character caused uneasiness as to the future, and the desirability of consolidating the undertakings began to be acknowledged on all hands. As Mr.

Weston had been so successful in the last negotiation, it was suggested in November, 1883 (when he was again re-elected mayor), that he should undertake another, with a view to arriving at a definitive settlement. His worship accordingly addressed himself to the two boards, and after making a thorough investigation into the pecuniary position of the companies, he advised the Council to promote a Bill for powers to purchase the two undertakings. His suggestion was adopted by 47 votes against 3. The main difficulty encountered at this stage arose out of the attitude of the Portishead board, which refused to sell the dock without also disposing of the pier and railway. The mayor appealed to the Great Western Railway Company to assist the city in the emergency, and his application was successful, an arrangement being soon after made for the absorption of the railway and pier into the Great Western system. The issue of the whole negotiations was communicated by the mayor to the Council at a meeting on the 19th February, 1884. The amount of capital expended at Avonmouth on the dock, warehouses, and land was (nominally) £718,000, but the directors expressed their willingness to transfer the property for £560,000, of which £450,000 were to be paid on the 1st September, 1884, in Corporation bonds, bearing 3½ per cent. interest; £75,000 more were to be taken in deferred bonds, bearing no interest for five years, and the remaining £25,000 in bonds to bear interest in seven years. The nominal amount expended in constructing the dock and warehouses at Portishead was stated to have been £375,000, but the undertaking was offered for £250,000, of which £25,000 were to be accepted in deferred bonds, bearing no interest for the first five years. The mayor stated that the charge on the city incurred by the purchases would be £23,550 a year, while the income of the two companies was only about £18,000. But by raising certain small dues and rates to the amount charged previous to the competition, £4,710 yearly would be realised, so that the direct annual loss to the city would be only about £900; and as the citizens had been losing £16,000 a year during the rivalry, he thought there were good grounds for making the existing conditions permanent. [Some alterations having been subsequently made in the arrangements, Mr. Weston produced a revised estimate in July, showing that the loss to the city at the outset would be about £5,000 a year, exclusive of a sinking fund of £2,800 per annum, also to be provided for.] After a brief discussion, in which the mayor's exertions received unqualified eulogy.

a resolution approving of the purchase was passed by a unanimous vote. Outside the Couucil the feeling in favour of the compact was equally cordial, and the statutory meeting of ratepayers convened to consider the Bill manifested enthusiasm in expressing its approval. The measure received the royal assent in due course, and the formal transfer of the two docks to the Corporation took place on the 1st September, 1884, when the sums above mentioned were paid over to the companies. A few weeks later a banquet was given to Mr. Weston by the leading citizens, when he was presented with a massive and elegant piece of plate, in recognition of his valuable public services in connection with the purchase of the docks. In the division of the sum paid for the Avonmouth property, certain classes of debenture holders received bonds for the full amount of their claims, while other categories received 60 and 80 per cent. of their respective (nominal) advances; and the shareholders in the warehouse company were paid £14 for each £20 share. The balance, about £35,000, remained for distribution amongst the ordinary shareholders. In respect to Portishead, the debentures were paid in full; the preference shareholders received about 62 per cent., and the ordinary shareholders, both in the dock and in the railway, obtained about 25 per cent, on their investments. The £100,000 advanced by the Corporation ranked in the last category, so that three-fourths of the money were lost. The Docks Act of 1884 abolished the fourpenny rate imposed in 1848. No real relief, however, was afforded by the abolition; on the contrary, the annual deficiency of the dock revenue to meet the expenditure was made a charge on the borough rate, and the burden on the inhabitants was increased. But against this was to be set the marked improvement which soon became visible in the trade of the port. In 1885 the tonnage of vessels entering the three docks from foreign and colonial ports was 653,594 tons against 566,100 in the previous year; while the coasting tonnage also increased from 642,198 to 684,494; and this in despite of a marked depression in the trade of the kingdom. The report of the Docks Committee for the year ending April 30th, 1886, stated that the revenue from all sources, including a borough rate of £14,500, amounted to £148,637, while the expenditure, inclusive of £5,559 devoted to a sinking fund for discharging the debt, had been £148,547. There had been a profit of £4,063 on the Floating Harbour, and a loss of £1,322 at Avonmouth, and of £2,651 at Portishead. For the year 1886-7, the committee anticipated that.

owing to further outlay on the works, the receipts would be insufficient to meet the expenditure by £18,839, and, to avoid increased taxation on the citizens, they proposed that a small due should be levied on goods landed coastwise, which up to that time were exempt from dock charges, and a trifling addition made to the charge on certain foreign imports. The tax on the coasting trade excited so much opposition out of doors that the matter was deferred; but at a meeting in October the Council resolved that the dues on foreign goods, reduced in 1881 during the competition between the docks, should be raised to their former amount.

Although the scheme for dockising the Avon ceased to interest the public after the amalgamation of the docks, it is necessary to complete the story of the committee appointed in 1880. In June, 1882, that body presented a preliminary report, stating that, in order to prevent disasters from floods, it would be needful, before carrying out dockisation, to construct a culvert from the Froom at Stapleton to the Avon near Cook's Folly, at an estimated cost of £200,000. The outlay for the proposed dam at Avonmouth was put down at £790,000; and these sums, added to the expenses involved in Mr. Ashmead's sewer scheme, raised the estimated charge for dockisation to £1,270,000. The committee, which had spent £900 on the inquiry, asked for a further grant, and the Council voted £1,500 more. In May, 1888, the committee reported that the cost of the scheme would be about £1,750,000, the payment of interest on which would entail an additional borough rate of 2s. in the pound, unless the trade of the port should increase. A further grant of £3,000 was asked for, to make a new survey and further investigations. The Council, however, was almost unanimous in regarding dockisation as beyond the range of practical projects, and, by a majority of 34 votes against 8, it was declared to be inexpedient to pursue the inquiry further.

A prospectus was issued in June, 1878, of the North Clifton Hotel Company, with a capital of £20,000 in £10 shares. The directors purchased a portion of the nursery garden fronting Whiteladies Road, and erected an hotel, at a cost, including furniture, of about £18,000. The “Imperial Hotel” was opened in the following year.

The Royal Agricultural Society having undertaken to hold its annual exhibition in Bristol in 1878, and the Prince of Wales having intimated his intention to visit the city on the occasion, great preparations were made for the fitting reception of the expected guests. A subscription amounting

to upwards of £4,000 was placed at the disposal of a local committee, to make additions to the prize list and meet the incidental expenses of the show. A further sum of £1,000 was contributed for the decoration of the streets through which the royal visitor was to be conducted. The show-yard on Durdham Down occupied nearly the entire space between the Stoke Bishop and the Westbury and Combe Dingle roads, the hoarding being nearly a mile and a half in length. The exhibition was one of the largest ever held by the society. The progress of scientific agriculture since the show held in 1842 was strikingly manifested by a comparison of the entries made on each occasion. In 1878 the number of horses entered was 350 against 60 in 1842; of cattle the figures were 443 against 213; of sheep, 397 against 134; and of pigs, 164 against 95. The development was still more remarkable in the mechanical department. In 1842 the number of implements shown was 455, whereas in 1878 the collection exceeded 6,000. In point of value the advance was still more considerable. The exhibits in 1878 of a single manufacturer - Mr. Fowler, of Leeds - were stated to be worth £60,000, and the whole of them were sold in the show-yard. Ample accommodation was afforded in 1842 by an enclosure of six acres, while the area required thirty-five years later was 67 acres. The president on the latter occasion was Colonel Kingscote, M.P. (one of whose short-horned calves was sold during the exhibition for a thousand guineas). The attendance was very large, the aggregate admissions to the yard numbering 121,851, and £10,825 were received at the gates.

The visit of the Prince of Wales took place on the 13th July, the fourth day of the meeting, his Royal Highness reaching the city by special train from London, accompanied by his suite and the chairman and vice-chairman of the Great Western railway. On his arrival he was received in state by the mayor (Ald. Edwards) and the members of the Council, in the presence of a large gathering of leading citizens. About a thousand of the local volunteers formed an imposing guard of honour. An address having been presented by the mayor, the Prince briefly returned thanks, expressing his regret that he could devote only a very brief period to the inspection of the objects of interest for which the city was so deservedly renowned. He was well aware, he added, of the highly favourable impression produced on other members of his family by the noble town, the splendour of its public and private buildings, and the good disposition of its inhabitants; and it would be his privilege to report to

the Queen the loyal terms which had been used towards her Majesty in the address. The Prince was then conducted to an open carriage, in which he was accompanied by the mayor, Lord Skelmersdale, and Colonel Kingscote. Other carriages followed, containing the Prince's attendants, the sheriff (Mr. W.H. Wills), Mr. Morley, M.P., and others, two squadrons of Lancers forming the guard of the cortége. The streets through which the heir apparent passed had been decorated in a manner unprecedented in local annals. Victoria Street was lined throughout with Venetian masts, flags, trophies, and floral devices, the general effect of which was highly-picturesque. At Bristol Bridge, an arch in the Tudor Gothic style had been erected, representing an old city gate, with side arches, battlements, towers, and portculis, the centre being emblazoned with heraldic devices. About a hundred persons were accommodated in galleries over the fabric, which was one of the most effective designed for the occasion. High Street was plentifully decorated with cordons of flags stretched across the roadway. At the entrance into Corn Street was another triumphal arch, the effect of which was heightened by the decorations of the adjoining Council House. Corn Street and Clare Street were one long blaze of brilliant drapery; and at the approach to the Drawbridge ranges of Venetian masts, trophies, etc., imparted additional animation to the scene. The decorations reached their climax in College Green, which was “transfigured into a garden worthy of Aladdin's palace”. Two Gothic arches were raised to the right and left of the restored High Cross, and through the co-operation of the principal tradesmen the roadway was densely hung with festoons of flowers, banners, and streamers, interspersed with richly coloured trophies. Park Street was also elaborately beautified by the concerted action of the inhabitants. The Prince's colours - red, white, and blue - artistically clothed the fronts of the houses, and at the top of the street was an arch of Saracenic type, with a dome and minarets, the colours of which harmonised with the surrounding objects. The general effect was much admired by the Prince as he ascended the hill. The Royal Promenade and the Triangle had also received artistic attention, and Whiteladies Road, though less copiously decorated, was set off by the brilliant dresses of the ladies assembled in balconies before nearly every house. Another triumphal arch, situated on Black-boy Hill (just cleared of its old hovels by the Council at an outlay of £11,000), was of large dimensions, the central span being 30 feet, and the two side arches 20 feet each in

width. The spandrils were adorned with heraldic shields, and from the summit waved a gigantic royal standard. Redland was richly caparisoned, no less than 3,700 pennons and streamers being counted in that locality alone. The Prince of Wales, who was enthusiastically greeted along the route by an enormous crowd of spectators, expressed himself as equally surprised and gratified by the splendour of the display which his visit had evoked. His Royal Highness, who reached the show-yard in somewhat less than an hour, on his arrival was entertained to luncheon in a beautiful pavilion. He afterwards made a rapid survey of the chief features of the exhibition, accompanied by the Earl of Ducie, Lord Fitzhardinge, Colonel Kingscote, and the sheriff of Bristol. He then left the ground, and was driven slowly along the Downs to the Suspension Bridge, and thence to Clifton-bridge station. A special train being in readiness there, the Prince cordially bade farewell to the mayor and other officials.

A new iron bridge over the Froom, connecting Monk Street with Paul Street, Pennywell Road, was opened for traffic in September.

On the 9th September, great consternation was excited in the city and the adjoining counties by an announcement that the West of England and South Wales District Bank had suspended payments. This financial catastrophe was stated to be due to adverse rumours circulated for some weeks previously, causing so rapid a drain that the directors had not time to realise the assets; but it was added that the bank was still solvent as a going concern. On the books being handed over to official liquidators, however, it was discovered that the paid-up capital (£750,000), and the reserve fund (£156,000) had entirely disappeared, and that against the liabilities, about £3,500,000, there was a further estimated deficiency of assets exceeding £300,000. These calamitous results were found to be attributable to the imprudent advances made, to two iron firms in South Wales, begun upwards of thirty years previously, and afterwards enormously increased from time to time in the vain hope of ultimately extricating the bank from the difficulty. The collapse of the concern was ruinous to the bulk of the shareholders, several of whom had invested their entire capital in the establishment. As these sufferers were unable to provide their share of the deficiency, the wealthier proprietors had to sustain a double burden, under which some of them succumbed. The calls of the liquidators amounted to £12 per share. A resolute effort was made to

resuscitate the bank, with the view of preserving the profitable business which it possessed in Bristol and Somerset; and a new company, entitled the Bristol and West of England Bank, was formed on the limited liability principle, with a capital of £300,000 in £20 shares, of which £7 10s. were paid up. In August, 1879, the Home Secretary (Sir Richard Cross) ordered a prosecution to be instituted against the chairman (Mr. Jerom Murch) and five directors of the original company (Messrs. G.H. Leonard, J. Coates, A. Allen, C. Lucas, and the Rev. H.B. Greorge), and also against the general manager (Mr. J.P. Gilbert), the defendants being charged with publishing fraudulent balance sheets with intent to deceive. The trial began in London in April, 1880, and resulted, after an eight days' hearing, in the acquittal of all the accused. The liquidation of the bank was not concluded until 1887, although repeated complaints as to its tardiness were made in the House of Commons. Dividends amounting to 16s. 6d. in the pound on the debts were, however, paid within eleven months of the failure. The creditors who consented to relinquish interest on their claims were satisfied in April, 1880; and the remaining liabilities were discharged in March, 1881. The sum of £2 10s. per share was afterwards returned to the proprietors who had paid the calls, and it was announced in January, 1887, that a final sum of 5s. or 6s. per share would shortly be distributed.

An election for the city was rendered necessary in December, 1878, by the retirement of Mr. K.D. Hodgson, owing to a severe illness (which soon after proved fatal). The candidates were Mr. Lewis Fry, a member of an old Liberal Bristol family, and Sir Ivor B. Guest, bart., a Conservative connected with the South Wales iron trade. On this occasion, for the first time, the Liberals made choice of their candidate by means of an organisation called the Four Hundred - or, as their opponents styled it, the Caucus - chosen by the voters at district meetings. Mr. Fry had a majority of nearly two-thirds in this body, and his competitor, Mr. E.S. Robinson, withdrew. The contest excited interest throughout the kingdom from its being the first of any moment after the signature of the peace of Berlin. Sir Ivor Guest strove, indeed, for local sympathies by recalling the fact that his maternal grandmother [a daughter of Dean Layard] lived in Bristol in her younger days. The polling took place on the 14th December; and the declaration, made by the sheriff shortly before midnight, was as follows: Mr. Fry, 9,342; Sir I.B. Guest, 7,795.

The parish church of St. George was totally destroyed by

fire on the morning of Sunday, the 22nd December. The disaster was attributed to the overheating of the stoves. The church was insured for £3,000, and no time was lost in setting about its reconstruction, which was completed at a cost of about £6,000. The new edifice, the tower of which is finished in a bizarre foreign style, was reopened in May, 1880.

Towards the close of 1878 a movement started in London for converting disused churchyards into ornamental gardens spread to this city. The authorities of Temple parish spent £800 in removing the unsightly walls of the extensive churchyard, and converting the dilapidated enclosure into a pleasant place of recreation, which was opened in July, 1880, by the mayor (Mr. H. Taylor). The burial ground of St. Nicholas' parish, on the Welsh Back, and also that adjacent to the church, were repaired and planted with shrubs. A most successful improvement of the same character was effected in 1881-2 by the authorities of St. James's, who laid out upwards of £600 in converting the parochial cemetery into an agreeable promenade and garden for the use of the crowded population of the locality. The ground was opened by the mayor (Mr. Weston) on the 30th June, 1882. In 1884 the churchyard of St. Philip - in a closely packed district still more destitute of open spaces - was similarly transformed at an outlay of £1,150, chiefly borne by a few philanthropic citizens connected with the parish. It was opened on the 5th of November by the mayor (Mr. Weston), who warmly congratulated the authorities on the results.

At a meeting of the Council in February, 1879, the town clerk produced a return of the indebtedness of the Corporation up to the 31st of December of the previous year. The bonds outstanding amounted to £123,263. The unredeemed debt of the Bristol Docks was £690,113. The sums owing by the Sanitary Authority, expended on public improvements, amounted in the aggregate to £461,481 (the gross cost of these works had been about £700,000). The total indebtedness of the civic body was upwards of a million and a quarter. The amount was increased to upwards of two millions by the subsequent purchase of the Channel Docks.

The Corporation, at a meeting in March, determined upon opening out a street at the back of the abandoned Bridewell, over the covered course of the Froom, with the view of facilitating traffic from the quays to the northern parts of the city. The improvement was completed soon afterwards. The Docks Committee, about the same time, ordered the construction of a shed on the quay at the bottom of Clare

Street - an erection which was strongly condemned as tasteless and unsightly, and as destroying the picturesque view previously obtainable from St. Augustine's. An extensive range of cattle sheds, erected at Cumberland Basin for the accommodation of foreign stock, was opened in May. The buildings entailed an outlay of £5,000. The Council in August, 1882, voted a further sum of £7,000 for the erection of sheds on the quays.

In accordance with the scheme of the Endowed School Commissioners for the future management of the Grammar School [see p.453], the new governors took measures for the removal of the institution to a more convenient site. A piece of ground was purchased in Tyndall's Park, and an imposing building in the late Perpendicular style was erected for the school, adjoining which was placed a residence for the head, master. The outlay for the land and buildings was about £20,000. Mr. W.H. Wills gave an organ, which cost about £1,000, and the same gentleman, with other members of his family, contributed a clock and chimes; while generous gifts were made by Mr. Herbert Thomas (chairman), and other governors for launching the school in a manner worthy of its high reputation. The new school buildings were first occupied by the boys on the 15th February; but the formal opening ceremony was deferred until the 17th May, when an address was delivered to an influential gathering of citizens by the Right Honourable W.E. Forster, who expressed himself as much struck by the magnificence of the schoolroom.^[93]

At the Wimbledon Rifle competitions in July, Captain Sam Lang, of the local Engineer corps, won the prize for the highest aggregate score at the meeting, thereby enabling his corps to hold for the ensuing year the Dominion of Canada trophy - a splendid shield given by Canadian riflemen in 1877. Captain Lang's score was then the highest ever made at Wimbledon. The shield was deposited at the Mansion House.

During the summer, a well, which had once been in or adjacent to the keep of Bristol Castle, was discovered in Castle

Green. It had probably been closed when the castle was demolished, and contained several cannon balls of stone, including some cut for “cannon royal”, the largest siege guns of the seventeenth century.

A Telephone Exchange was opened in the city in November. The value of the new invention was so little appreciated at the outset that only twenty subscribers to the Exchange were obtained during the first three months of its existence.

Although the Gloucestershire house of correction at Lawford's Gate had been disused as a prison some twenty years previous to this time, the justices had taken no steps for disposing of the site. Early in 1880 the subject was considered at quarter sessions, when it was resolved to sell the garden ground at the back of the building. But the Corporation of Bristol at once claimed to be the owners of the land, the rents of which, in fact, had been paid to the city treasurer. At the Michaelmas sessions at Gloucester, it was reported that the right of the county to the ground could not be established, there having been an adverse possession of more than twenty years. It was determined to confer with Mr. Fry, M.P., with the view of getting the land appropriated to the purposes of public recreation. No further reference to the subject has been found. It would appear that the city authorities denied the claim of the county to dictate conditions as to the future disposition of the property; but its ultimate appropriation to recreative purposes is highly probable.

Mr. Charles Branwhite, an eminent painter in water colours, died on the 15th February, 1880, aged 62 years. Mr. Branwhite, who was born in Bristol, and was the son of a portrait painter of some standing, gained wide repute for his pictures of winter scenery.

An exciting struggle took place at the general election in April. Owing to the defeat sustained by the Conservatives in 1878, they were unprepared with a candidate; and possibly, if the Liberal party had continued united, no opposition would have been offered to Messrs. Morley and Fry, who solicited re-election. But Mr. Elisha S. Robinson, who had taken umbrage at what he deemed the neglect of his pretensions, entered the field as an “independent”, candidate, avowing himself a partisan of what was called the “Imperialist” policy of Lord Beaconsfield; and the Conservatives, inspirited by the incident, induced Sir Ivor B. Guest to re-enter the field. The polling, which took place on the 2nd April, resulted as follows: Mr. Morley, 10,704; Mr. Fry,

10,070; Sir I. Guest, 9,395; Mr. Robinson, 4,100. Nearly nine-tenths of Mr. Robinson's poll consisted of split votes given to him by Conservatives. This was Sir Ivor Guest's fourth unsuccessful attempt to win a seat. Lord Beaconsfield, a few months later, rewarded the baronet's zeal by conferring upon him the title of Baron Wimborne. The Bristol Conservatives subsequently presented his lordship with his portrait, which cost about £2,000.

The Council, at a meeting in April, gave its consent to the closing of the Guard House Passage, Wine Street, the owner of the adjoining property having offered to open a more convenient thoroughfare, and to set back his houses without demanding compensation. A beautiful Perpendicular archway at the entrance of the passage, of which a representation is given in Seyer's Bristol, was consequently removed. The arch was re-erected by Mr. Henry Stevens, at Cheltenham House, Bishopston. The guard house had disappeared several years previously.

Immediately after the election for the city of Gloucester, which resulted in the return of two Liberals, Alderman Thomas Robinson (brother of Mr. E.S. Robinson, of Bristol) and Mr. Monk, son of the late Bishop Monk, a petition to the House of Commons, asserting that the issue was due to bribery, was forwarded by a supporter of the defeated Conservative candidates, Mr. W.K. Wait (mayor of Bristol, 1869-70) and Mr. Ackers. The petition caused as much dismay in the political camp from which it proceeded as in the other; but the step taken was irrevocable, and a judicial inquiry was opened on the 9th June. The proceedings were significantly brief. The petitioner's counsel withdrew the charges against Mr. Monk; on the other hand, Mr. Robinson declined to defend his seat; and evidence having been adduced that a servant of the latter had bribed two or three voters, the election as regarded Mr. Robinson was forthwith declared void. It subsequently transpired that the proceedings before the judges were the outcome of an arrangement between the local leaders of the two parties, who had further agreed that Mr. Wait should fill the vacant seat without opposition. But the report of the judges stated that extensive corruption had prevailed, and a second investigation was ordered to be made by special commissioners. Before this tribunal, Mr. John Bernard, a magistrate of Gloucester, and a partner of Mr. Wait, deposed that, on learning that money would be required to secure the success of his friend, he wrote - unknown to Mr. Wait - to another partner in the

firm, Mr. J.W. Dod, of Clifton, who forwarded him £1,500 in small notes, and that the money was handed over to the secret agents of corruption. A further sum of £500 was obtained from Mr. Wait, who, while admitting that Bernard had told him that the £1,500 would be wanted before if was sent for, declared that he did not know in what manner the two sums were expended. But he confessed to having paid between £600 and £700 after the election of 1874, knowing that the money had been spent in bribery. At the election under review, it was discovered that bribes to the amount of £1,300 had been distributed by the Liberals, that 2,756 burgesses out of the 4,904 who polled were paid for their votes (some of them by both parties), and that upwards of 200 citizens, including twenty men holding the offices of magistrate, alderman, or councillor, had acted as bribers. In the result the writ for the vacant seat was never issued, and the ratepayers were compelled to pay £4,400 for the expenses of the commission.

The centenary of the establishment of Sunday schools was celebrated in many of the parish churches on the 27th June, 1880, and a meeting of clergy, laity, teachers, and scholars took place on the following day in Colston Hall. On the 8th July about 16,000 children attending schools maintained by dissenting congregations walked in procession, accompanied by their 2,000 teachers, to the Zoological Gardens, where they spent an agreeable holiday.

At a meeting of the Council on the 20th July the Dock Committee reported that, in the existing state of the revenues under their control, they could no longer undertake to pay the interest on the sum of £100,000, borrowed for the purpose of subscribing towards the construction of Portishead Dock [see p.400]. They therefore requested the Council to provide for the charge. The interest - £4,000 - thereupon became a charge upon the borough rate.

A new religious denomination styled the Salvation Army, founded by a person styling himself “General” Booth, rose into notoriety during the summer, and gained many adherents amongst the poorer classes. An old circus near North Street was hired by the local leaders, and opened as a chapel on the 21st of August. The noisy parades of the “Army” in the streets provoked for some time antagonistic displays amongst the lower orders.

The Council, at a meeting in September, resolved to remove Bedminster Bridge, which had become insufficient for the traffic of that district, and to erect a more commodious

structure. After a tedious delay, contracts were obtained in the spring of 1882, and about £16,000 were borrowed to carry out the works. The new bridge was opened by the mayor (Mr. Weston) on the 1st February, 1884, though it had been partially available for traffic from the previous November. A temporary foot-bridge, used during the reconstruction, was permanently erected in May, 1884, opposite St. Luke's Church, and was found very serviceable.

A large steamship called the Ailsea, trading between Bristol and Glasgow, was totally wrecked on the 16th November, 1880, near Milford Haven, while on her way to Scotland. The crew, twenty in number, and seven passengers, perished with the vessel.

Owing to the activity of speculative builders, the erection of new houses in the suburbs for some years previous to this date had been largely in excess of the demand. A collapse at length occurred, and during the winter of 1880 there was great distress amongst the families of workmen connected with the building trades. The extent to which speculation had been carried was shown by the fact that, in the spring of 1881, the unoccupied houses within the limits of the borough were officially reported to number 3,567, exclusive of 308 then in course of construction. If the uninhabited houses in the suburbs had been added, the aggregate would have exceeded 5,000.

An unusually intense frost, accompanied by a great fall of snow, commenced on the 13th January, 1881, and the low temperature continued for about a fortnight. During the snowstorm, a fast train, which left Bristol for London at half-past five in the evening, did not reach its destination until seven o'clock on the following evening, having been snowed up near Didcot. The chairman of the Great Western Railway Company, at the half-yearly meeting held soon afterwards, stated that 111 miles of their lines had been drifted up, and that 64 of their trains were buried in the drifts, exclusive of 141 temporary blocks sustained by others. The clearing away of the snow added many thousand pounds to the working expenses of the company. Postal communication in some parts of the country was suspended for three days.

Early in January, when proposals for substituting the electric light for gas were exciting national interest, the Council ordered an experiment on the subject to be made in the city; and seven lamps, constructed on the “Brush” system, were placed on the 17th January in the four great business thoroughfares converging at the Council House.

Owing to the defective apparatus by which electricity was generated, the experiment was not deemed satisfactory, and the lamps were withdrawn in a few weeks.^[94] The chief objection to the new illuminant was the enhanced cost of electric motors as compared with gas. In November a novel proposal for surmounting the difficulty was laid before the Council by Mr. William Smith, who suggested that the ebb and flow of the tide might be made available for generating electricity, and expressed his belief that the adoption of the course proposed would effect a saving to the city of about £6,000 a year. According to calculations made for Mr. Smith by Professor Sylvanus Thompson, upon data supplied by Mr. Howard, the engineer of the docks, the available tidal power at Totterdown was over 6½ billions of foot pounds per annum; equal to 279,389 horse power per tide. At Rownham the power was estimated to be more than threefold greater; while at the mouth of the river it was 50 billions of foot pounds per annum, or considerably more than 2 million horse power per tide. The power required to light by electricity the 4,274 existing street lamps was, by Swan's system 4 1/5 billions, by Edison's system 3½ billions, and by the arc light on the Brush system 2 billions of foot pounds yearly. A committee of inquiry was appointed, but the investigation led to no practical results.

On the 25th January, 1881, a dinner was given in the Victoria Rooms to Major-General Sir Frederick Roberts, G.C.B. (who passed his early boyhood and received part of his education in Bristol), in honour of his distinguished military services. The mayor (Mr. Weston) presided over a large party, and the health of the gallant guest was drunk with enthusiasm. On the following day Sir Frederick was presented by the mayor, on behalf of a number of leading citizens, with a service of plate, valued at £350. In the evening the Merchant Venturers' Society gave a grand ball in honour of the general, at which upwards of five hundred persons were present.

On the 30th March opening services were held in a new Congregational place of worship at Bishopston, styled the David Thomas Memorial Church, in memory of a distinguished minister of Highbury Chapel, Cotham. The cost of the building was about £6,300, and nearly the entire amount was contributed at or before the opening services.

The census of 1881, taken on the 4th April, showed a further large decrease in the population of the “ancient city”, whose numbers were returned at 56,964. The extended city, on the other hand, had largely increased, the aggregate for the borough being 206,874. The population of the suburban parishes was: Clifton, 28,695; the District, 19,114; St. Philip's out, 50,108; St. George's, 26,423; Bedminster, 44,759; Mangotsfield, 5,707; Stapleton, 10,833; Stoke Bishop tything, 13,347; and Horfield, 5,739.

The remains of the mansion of the Canynges' family, in Redcliff Street, occupied by Messrs. Jefferies & Sons, booksellers, were seriously damaged by a fire which occurred in the premises on the 9th October. The woodwork of the “oratory” was almost entirely destroyed, but the fine roof was preserved.

A religious census of the city was taken by the Western Daily Press on the 30th October. According to the published statistics, it appeared that out of a population of about 210,000, there were 48,596 persons present at the mornings and 60,856 at the evening services on the day in question.

The Council, in October, resolved upon redeeming the rent charge of £6,734 15s. 6d. payable under the provisions of the Docks Transfer Act of 1848. The sum required for this purpose was £168,381 5s. The Corporation had also borrowed £636,400 for dock purposes, including the subscription to Portishead Dock, and it was resolved to issue 3½ per cent. bonds in lieu of the old securities, whereby a saving of £4,000 per annum would be effected. In August, 1882, Alderman Baker informed the Council that bonds to the amount of £283,660 had been taken up, at an average price of £98 8s.4d. per cent., which was considered satisfactory. Further conversions took place as the old bonds expired.

The Corporation gave notice in November of its intention to introduce a Bill into Parliament to strengthen the hands of the police in dealing with disorderly houses, gambling, street nuisances, and other matters. The more important clauses of the Bill were copied from the Police Acts of Manchester and other cities; but they were obnoxious to certain classes of tradesmen, and an agitation was excited on the pretext that the measure would be injurious to the liberty of the subject. At the statutory meeting of citizens convened to consider the proposal, it was almost unanimously condemned. After two years' delay, the Council resolved, in November, 1883, to make another effort of the same character. With the view of disarming the leading opponents of the

previous Bill, the clause prohibiting overhanging signboards was omitted, and tramcars were exempted from the regulations for street traffic. Nevertheless, at the public meeting convoked to give assent to the scheme, an excited crowd refused to listen to the explanations of the mayor (Mr. Weston), and the Bill was condemned by a large majority. A poll wad then demanded, the result being a definitive disapproval of the project by 15,409 votes against 6,798.

The Dolphin Society, which for about a century had attended morning service at the cathedral on the Colston anniversaries, suspended that custom in 1881, owing to the action of the dean. It appeared that Dr. Elliott, on receipt of the usual application, had consented to a sermon being preached on Colston's Day, and that the preacher should be the Rev. R.W. Randall, of All Saints', Clifton. But Canon Girdlestone, who was in residence, having protested against the admission into the cathedral pulpit of Mr. Randall, on account of his obstinate defiance of the orders of the bishop in reference to ritualistic practices at All Saints', the dean thereupon withdrew his permission. The society attended service at St. Mary Redcliff, where Mr. Randall preached.

Whilst some alterations were being made, during the autumn, in the premises No. 19, Maryleport Street, a handsome mantelpiece was exhumed from a thick covering of mortar. The mantelpiece was elaborately sculptured, and bore a shield of arms - on a chevron, between three pairs of garbs saltierwise, three barrels. These arms, which occur on the fronts of two houses in the same street and of a house in the Pithay, were borne by George Harrington, mayor in 1617. They were at all events placed on his monument. Being really the coat of the Brewers' Company of London, it is probable that the local brewers adopted the bearings, and that Harrington, who was a brewer, used them with some trifling “difference”, just as his contemporary, Robert Aldworth, adopted the arms of the Merchants' Society. Curiously enough, the monuments of the two men - both too proud to claim heraldic devices to which they were not entitled - are to be found almost close together, in St. Peter's Church.

The Duke of Edinburgh visited Bristol in November, for the purpose of inspecting the Royal Naval Reserve and the local brigade of Naval Volunteers. The visit was purely of an official character, and at the duke's request there was no public reception.

An appalling catastrophe occurred on the 15th November in the steamship Solway, trading between Bristol, Belfast, and

Glasgow. During a storm in the Irish Channel, a barrel of naphtha broke loose and was burst by concussion, when by some means the contents became ignited. The result was the partial destruction of the ship, and the death of eighteen persons, most of whom perished in the flames.

About the close of 1881, when the carving of the west front of Bristol cathedral had just been completed, the dean and chapter ordered the removal of the chapter-office, a mean structure which had partially concealed that portion of the cathedral. An older and more interesting building near the abbey gateway - the minster-house - the roof and walls of which anciently formed part of the Prior's lodgings, was removed shortly afterwards. Its demolition evoked some protests, but certainly improved the appearance of the western front. Nothing now remained of the unsightly modern constructions between the cathedral and the grand gateway except the house partially incorporated with the latter, and occupied by the precentor. Fears were entertained that this excrescence could not be removed without endangering the gateway, some of the upper portions of which were in the last stage of decay. At a meeting in October, 1883, a committee was appointed to consider what steps should be taken; and after careful consideration of the remains, it was determined to restore the archway and the fifteenth-century building above it, to remove the precentor's house, and to rebuild the tower which had previously abutted upon the south-east comer of the gate; the estimated outlay being £8,100. The precentor's house was demolished in May, 1885, when some interesting relics of the old tower were brought to light.

About the beginning of 1882 Mr. [Sir] J.D. Weston, who had purchased Manilla Hall, Clifton (the mansion built by Sir William Draper and subsequently possessed by the Gordon and Miles families), detached from it a portion of the grounds for the purpose of converting them into building sites. In the following September the hall was bought by a French Roman Catholic sisterhood styled the “Dames de la Mère de Dieu”, who established a school there. The nuns ordered the removal of the cenotaph erected by Sir Wm. Draper; but it was rescued from destruction by the exertions of Dr. Beddoe, F.R.S., and was, together with the obelisk to the elder Pitt, re-erected upon Clifton Down, not far distant from the original site, by means of a private subscription.

The dearth of religious agencies amongst the rapidly increasing suburban population having impressed itself upon

the bishop of the diocese, his lordship entered into conferences with several prominent citizens, and eventually issued a commission to consider what remedies should be attempted. An investigation having been made, a public meeting was convened at the Guildhall in February, 1882, at which Bishop Ellicott stated the results of the inquiry. It was proposed to build and endow six new churches in the following parishes: St. Andrew's (which had a population of 8,340); St. Barnabas (10,232); Trinity, St. Philip's (13,450); St. Luke's, Barton Hill (9,851); St. Silas (6,700), and in Bedminster (20,847). The church of St. Matthew, Moorfields (6,989), was proposed to be enlarged, and it was recommended that sites should be secured in the districts of St. Mark's, Easton, Downside, and Windmill Hill, Bedminster, where the growth of population was considerable. The commissioners further advised the building of three mission chapels, and the provision of nine curates or missionaries. At a meeting in the Merchants' Hall, in March, resolutions, approving of the scheme were adopted, and subscriptions amounting to over £19,000 were announced, the bishop contributing £1,000, Mr. A. Gibbs, £3,000, the Merchants' Society, £2,500, Messrs. Baker & Son, £1,000, and the Old Bank, £1,000. The foundation of Christ Church, Barton Hill, the first undertaken, was laid by the mayor (Mr. Weston) in July, 1883. During the course of that year four new parishes were constituted by Orders in Council, namely, St. Francis, Ashton Gate; Holy Nativity, Knowle; St. Agnes, Newfoundland Road; and St. Lawrence, Lawrence Hill. Within about two years, the commission received nearly £27,000 from the public, and building operations were prosecuted with great vigour. Christ Church, Barton Hill, was consecrated on the 12th November, 1885. On the 16th November, 1886, Bishop Ellicott consecrated a church dedicated to St. Michael, near Bedminster railway station. The only portion then finished was the chancel, but a temporary nave had been constructed of timber. Two mission chapels had been built in the same district, where the total outlay had been £3,645. Towards the church of St. Agnes [see p.444] the commission contributed £2,500 and the site, besides giving £3,000 to the endowment fund.

During the early weeks of 1882 a temperance movement was started in Bristol by Mr. R.T. Booth, by whom great crowds were attracted to Colston Hall. The public were invited to assume “the blue ribbon”, which Mr. Booth had selected as the badge of total abstinence, and 36,000 persons

followed the example of Mr. Morley, M.P., in accepting this decoration, 21,000 of the recipients being, it was said, converts to teetotalism. The agitation materially affected the consumption of liquor in the city, and some publicans and beershop-keepers withdrew from the business.

In the parliamentary session of 1882 the Incorporation of the Poor promoted a Bill, the chief object of which was to secure the abolition of the Harbour rate imposed on the “ancient city” by the Dock Act of 1803 [see p.14]. The charge of £2,400 per annum had at the outset involved the imposition of a rate of sixpence in the pound. Through the increased rateable value of the city, the burden had fallen to one-third of its original amount, but the guardians had long regarded as a grievance the immunity enjoyed by the suburban parishes, and now sought to include them within the rateable area. The Bill was opposed by the Corporation on the ground that property in the ancient parishes was largely enhanced in value by the construction of the Float. It was also contended that the rate was the result of what was considered, in 1803, a fair agreement between the city parishes and the dock promoters, and that it would be unjust to alter its incidence in the interest of one party only. The House of Lords approved of these arguments by rejecting that portion of the Bill. The remaining clauses received the royal assent.

St. Saviour's Church, Woolcott Park (which had been preceded by an iron construction removed from Tyndall's Park in 1875), was consecrated on the 30th May. The building cost upwards of £4,000.

For some time previous to this date, the members of the Bedminster board of guardians who represented rural parishes had repeatedly urged that the urban district of the union, where pauperism was always prevalent, should be separated from the country districts. Arguments of a like character had occasionally been advanced at the Bristol board, some members contending that the city ought to form a single union instead of being divided into three; but as the change would have involved the abolition of the Incorporation of the Poor and of the system of churchwarden guardians, it had been always deprecated by a majority. In consequence of the complaints of the Somerset guardians, the Local Government Board sent down an official inspector, who opened an inquiry at St, Peter's Hospital on the 19th June. The Barton Regis guardians being, most of them, opposed to an amalgamated board, refused to take part in the proceedings, which extended over two days, and elicited wide

differences of opinion. In the following January another inquiry took place in the same building, the Board in London having in the meantime approved of the principle of a union conterminous with the municipal borough. The Council had discussed the subject previous to the inquiry, and had determined, though only by 25 votes against 23, that the proposal was inopportune. A similar diversity of views was manifested amongst those who attended the renewed investigation. In April a committee of the Bristol guardians, believing a consolidated union to be inevitable, drew up a scheme to carry it into effect, under which the churchwarden guardians were to be abolished. The plan was rejected by their colleagues. After lengthy deliberation, the Local Government Board announced in September, 1883, that “it was not prepared at the present time to proceed further in the matter”.

At a meeting of the Council on the 15th June, the Sanitary Committee reported that, with a view to providing open spaces for public recreation, they had inspected a piece of land near Clift House, Bedminster, the property of Sir J. Greville Smyth, having an area of rather more than twenty-one acres; and they recommended that it should be purchased for a public park. The report having been adopted, the chairman of the committee, Mr. Low, read a letter from Sir J.G. Smyth's agent, stating that the owner of the land, having read the committee's report in the newspapers, would have great pleasure in presenting the ground to the city for the purpose of forming a pleasure ground, but expressed a hope that a portion would be reserved for the Bedminster Cricket Club. A vote of thanks to Sir Greville for his gift was passed by acclamation. In September, 1884, after the ground had become legally vested in the Corporation, a sum of £3,000 was voted by the Council for works to protect the park from inundations, to which it was liable in winter, and for entrance gates, etc. At the same meeting £1,500 were granted for laying out two pieces of ground near Newfoundland Road - for which the Corporation had given £2,358 to the feoffees of St. James's parish - one piece to be asphalted as a playground for children, and the other planted as a pleasure ground. A plot of land near Baptist Mills, adjoining Mina Road and Cowmead Walk, having been offered as a recreation ground by Mr. William Hunt, the Council voted £1,480 for laying it out. Another plot, left after making a new street from the Broad weir to Redcross Street, and valued at £2,700, was devoted to a similar purpose. For these improvements, and for alterations at Lovers' Walk and the Tabernacle

burying ground, referred to elsewhere, the Council proposed to borrow £12,100 on mortgage of the rates; but the Local Government Board, being aware that the Redcross Street ground already belonged to the Streets Improvement Committee, reduced the amount to £9,400. In April, 1886, the Council resolved to purchase, for £1,800, two acres of ground belonging to the vestry of St. Mary Redcliff, for the purpose of adding the land to the Bedminster park. The price demanded was deemed extravagant by many ratepayers, and the Council soon afterwards rescinded the resolution. The Mina Road and Broadweir recreation grounds were opened by the mayor (Mr. Wathen) on the 30th June, 1886. In January, 1887, the Council resolved to purchase, for £450, a quarter of an acre of ground in St. Philip's Marsh, to be converted into a playground, and it was reported that negotiations were pending for the acquisition of plots of land, for a similar purpose, in the eastern district of Bedminster and at Barton Hill.

On the 10th July a meeting was held in the Council House to receive a deputation from the Royal College of Music, who attended to urge the claims of the institution on the cultivated classes. The mayor (Mr. Weston) presided. The deputation having advocated the interests of the college, it was resolved to raise £3,000, the amount required to found a Bristol scholarship. About £350 were subscribed in the room, but the movement met with slender support out of doors.

The sheriff of the city (Mr. W.B. George) having had an addition to his family during his term of office, was presented in August by the committee of the Grateful Society, of which he was then president, with an elegant piece of plate in the form of a silver cradle, as a memorial of the double functions which he had fulfilled during the year. The presentation was made by the mayor (Mr. Weston).

Owing to unusually heavy rains during the month of October, which attained their maximum on the 22nd and 23rd, when upwards of three inches of rainfall were measured within forty-eight hours, a large area of country around Bristol was deeply flooded, and much property was destroyed. The damage in the city was still more serious, thousands of houses being flooded at and near Baptist Mills, Stapleton Road, and Bedminster. On the evening of the 23rd a portion of Stapleton Road was about four feet under water, and as the Froom continued to rise during the night, the district near its banks presented an extraordinary aspect on the following morning, when traffic was entirely stopped. At the Black Swan Inn, Stapleton Road, the water mounted

nearly to the signboard over the door of the premises. The only means of communicating with a great number of houses in the locality was by means of rafts and boats, by which provisions and necessaries were supplied to many of the imprisoned inhabitants. In the afternoon, the accumulated waters spread in an immense lake along Newfoundland Road and Newfoundland Street to Paul Street, Portland Square. All the low-lying streets in that district were submerged several feet. When the flood receded on the following day, a deplorable sight was presented in the neighbouring dwellings, the basement floors of which were thickly covered with mud. The disaster was attended with fatal results to a young baker, named Foot, who, while delivering bread in a cart in Mina Road, was swept away by the torrent, both man and horse being drowned. A brewer's dray was carried off near the same place, but the driver escaped. Two houses in that road were undermined by the water, and fell into ruins; but the inhabitants, about twenty in number, warned by some premonitory crumblings, had escaped on rafts. Some idea of the extent of the calamity may be formed from the fact that in the single district of St. Agnes 372 houses, inhabited by twice that number of families, suffered from the inundation, the furniture of many of the inmates being irreparably damaged. The low-lying districts of Bedminster were devastated in a similar manner. In Hereford Street, the flood was nearly eight feet in depth, and the dwellings in many other thoroughfares were submerged fully three feet. Altogether upwards of a thousand houses suffered in that locality, the effects being quite as deplorable as those recorded in the eastern suburbs. The clergy and other citizens made devoted efforts on behalf of the poor who were practically ruined by the disaster, and a large fund was raised; but many of the families nevertheless suffered from sickness during the winter owing to the soaked condition of their dwellings. Several houses became totally unfit for habitation, and their ruins still remain as memorials of the flood. At a meeting of the Council, in May, 1883, the town clerk stated that he had been served with 194 notices of claims for compensation for damages, by persons owning property in the Froom district, who alleged that the disaster was mainly due to the negligence of the authorities. The claims amounted to £44,890, but no attempt was made to prosecute them. It was notorious, indeed, that many of the houses ravaged by the flood had been erected by unscrupulous speculators on land which was more or less under water every winter. The Council, on the

28th September, 1886, with a view to mitigating the effects of future inundations, resolved to apply for parliamentary powers to construct a culvert from the Froom, near the Broadweir, to the Floating Harbour, near St. Philip's Bridge. The outlay was estimated at £13,000, but the Bill, as finally approved, sought for power to expend £52,500. The scheme was sanctioned by a practically unanimous vote of the ratepayers.

At a meeting of the Council on the 28th October, 1882, a report was read from the Sanitary Committee, explaining the provisions of the new Electric Lighting Act, and stating that ten companies had given notice of their intention to apply for powers to supply the new illuminating agent in the city. The Council was recommended to defeat attempts to create a private monopoly by claiming its right to put in operation the provisions of the Act. Application was accordingly made for a legislative order authorising the Council to supply electricity within the borough. The order, which was granted in the session of 1883, required the Council to light the main thoroughfares within two years. Motives of economy deterred the authorities from exercising the powers.

Much local interest was created in 1883 by the introduction into Parliament of a Bill for authorising the construction of a railway to connect the London and South Western line, near Andover, with the North Somerset line at Radstock, and thus to open out a new communication between Bristol and London. The capital of the proposed company was £1,866,000. The contemplated works in Bristol were of a gigantic character, the projected line being intended to run through a dense mass of property between St. Philip's Marsh and the Stone Bridge, while a site for the city terminus was to be obtained by covering over the Float from the Stone Bridge to the Drawbridge. The scheme met an amount of approval rarely accorded to local plans of improvement, the provisional committee formed for promoting the Bill comprising a majority of the Council and of the leading mercantile firms, while the Merchants' Society made a liberal grant towards the expenses; the Chamber of Commerce forwarded petitions in favour of the scheme, and meetings in its support were held in every ward. In fact, as was observed at the time, Bristolians presented the rare spectacle of being unanimous. The public satisfaction was visibly diminished by an announcement that the proposed station was to be indefinitely postponed. The junction with the North Somerset line was also abandoned through the opposition of the Midland Company, and the promoters had to fall back upon

a proposed railway to join the Midland system at Bath, thus diverting Bristol traffic by way of Mangotsfield. After a long struggle with the Great Western Company before a committee of the House of Commons, the Bill was rejected. Shortly afterwards the Great Western and South Western boards entered into a compact, by which they mutually undertook to refrain for ten years from an aggressive policy towards each other. The agreement raised an insuperable bar against the revival of the above scheme.

Some years before this date, the Corporation, in obtaining powers for the construction of new streets, had “scheduled” a portion of the Redcross Street burial ground belonging to the Tabernacle congregation, with the intention of opening a thoroughfare from Redcross Street to the Weir.

Negotiations for the purchase of the ground had subsequently taken place; but as the trustees insisted that the human remains should be removed to another cemetery, while the civic authorities believed that they could not legally spend money for that purpose, the matter remained in abeyance. About four o'clock one morning in June, 1883, however, a number of labourers, employed by no one knew whom, broke down the wall of the cemetery, fenced off a portion for the proposed road, and began to dig and cart away the mould, which was largely mingled with the relics of the dead, the tombstones being, it was said, buried. As soon as these proceedings became known, the trustees lost no time in applying for, and obtaining, an injunction from the High Court, restraining the Corporation from further proceedings until the case had been judicially heard. At a special meeting of the Council, a few days later, some members of the Streets Improvement Committee defended the measures that had been taken; but a resolution was adopted regretting the course pursued, and directing operations to be suspended until an arrangement was effected. The Corporation eventually purchased the cemetery for £800, and paid £187 for removing the remains. The portion not required for the street was laid out as an ornamental garden at a further cost of £600. The Council had also to defray the legal expenses arising out of the affair, which had excited great disapproval.

Much discussion arose during the spring in reference to the announced intention of the Docks Committee, which had purchased a property known as Green's dock, St. Augustine's, to close that place, in consequence of the expense incurred in maintaining a bridge which crossed the entrance. The Council, at a meeting in June, approved of the committee's

decision, and resolved on purchasing, for £10,000, another property known as the Albert dock, which it was stated could be converted into a graving dock capable of accommodating the largest class of vessels entering the Float.

In response to an appeal made to the Government by the civic authorities, an Order in Council was issued in July, by which the practice in the Bristol Tolzey and Piepoudre courts was reorganised and amended, portions of 1 and 2 William IV., c.58, and of the Common Law Procedure Act, 1860, relating to interpleader summonses, being applied to the ancient institutions.

The dilapidated old building known as Dr. White's almshouse, in Temple Street, was removed during the summer by order of the trustees, and a block of dwellings was constructed on the site for the accommodation of 32 inmates. The cost of the new buildings, which were opened by the mayor (Mr. Weston), on the 22nd December, was £3,250.

At a meeting of the Council in October, a number of minor improvement schemes, recommended by the Streets Improvement Committee, and estimated to cost about £50,000, were approved. They included alterations in Hotwell Road, near Dowry Square; at Blackboy Hill and Ellenborough Buildings, Redland; Highbury Place, Cotham; St. Michael's Park; Rupert Street; Lewin's Mead; Lower Maudlin Street; Richmond Road, Montpelier; East Street to Church Lane, Bedminster; Redcliff Mead Lane; Redcliff Street; Thunderbolt Street; and Leek Lane. Two schemes affecting Clifton were rejected, but a strong feeling was excited out of doors in reference to one of them - for opening a thoroughfare from Pembroke Road to Worcester Terrace - which was obnoxious to some members of the Council living in the vicinity. Public opinion was so strongly manifested that the original vote was reversed. The schemes received legislative sanction in the following year, but some of them still remain unexecuted.

About this time an interesting panel-fronted house in King Street, built by John Romsey, town clerk, in 1664, was demolished without any apparent reason. The site still remains unoccupied. It was in this house that Judge Jeffreys was entertained by Romsey, who furnished him with the facts on which he founded his famous invective against the mayor and aldermen for “kidnapping”.

The Prince of Wales arrived in Bristol on the 28th January, 1884, on a visit to Sir Philip and Lady Miles, at Leigh Court. In accordance with his desire there was no public reception. On the evening of the following day, the Prince attended a

concert in Colston Hall, given by his hosts in aid of the funds of the Infirmary and Hospital. The attendance was much below expectations, but £110 were handed over to the charities. The Prince left for London on the 31st.

At a meeting of the Council in February, the Docks Committee presented a report disapproving of a proposal for the construction of graving docks, which it was stated would involve an outlay of £60,000; while the construction of a gridiron, at a small fraction of that expense, would adequately supply the wants of the shipping interest. It was accordingly determined to construct a gridiron near Cumberland Basin, at an estimated cost of £6,000. A floating fire-engine was also ordered at an outlay of £2,500. The gridiron was completed in April, 1885.

The Whitsuntide of 1884 was fixed for the first parade of draught horses employed in the city, an experiment promoted by several influential residents. About 600 animals were brought together at the cattle market, and passed in procession through the principal streets to Clifton Down, where prizes were awarded. The exhibition met with so much approval that it was repeated a twelvemonth later, when nearly 750 horses (valued at over £40,000) entered into the competition, and a dinner was subsequently given to about 600 carters. In 1886 the number of horses exhibited was 775. The show has now become a local institution.

At the quarter sessions in July, the Corporation, acting as the local Sanitary Authority, and Mr. T.D. Sibly, a ratepayer, applied to the recorder to put in force the provisions of a clause in the Gasworks Act of 1847, by which the court was enabled, on the petition of two ratepayers, to appoint an accountant to examine into the accounts of the Gas Company, with a view to discover whether their financial condition did not admit of a reduction in the price of gas The directors of the Gas Company contended that the Sanitary Authority, although immeasurably their largest customer, was not a ratepayer within the meaning of the Act but the recorder at once made the order, and Mr. E.H. Carter, of Birmingham, was appointed as accountant. Mr. Carter presented his report early in the following year. He stated that in 1880 the company had applied upwards of £6,000 out of their reserve to erecting works, instead of charging the amount to capital. A somewhat similar error, and for about the same amount, was committed in 1875. The company had further maintained a contingency as well as a reserve fund, which they were not entitled to do, and the

aggregate of these funds was about £9,200 above the legal maximum. Mr. Carter thought that the working expenses might be considerably reduced. He was also of opinion that the meter rents were excessive. The company had made a reduction in the price of gas since his appointment, and the state of the accounts did not warrant another. The capital account stood after his correction at £721,000. The company were ordered to pay the cost of the inquiry.

A new hall, attached to the premises of the Young Men's Christian Association in St. James's Square, was opened at the end of June. The building had cost about £4,000, the whole of which was provided by the friends of the institution.

A prospectus was issued in August of the Bristol Joint Stock Bank. The company commenced business in Corn Street in the following December.

An Industrial and Fine Arts Exhibition for Bristol and the adjoining counties - on a scale never before attempted in the city - was opened on the 2nd September in the Rifle Drill Hall. On the platform were the mayor (Mr. Weston), the Bishop of Bath and Wells, several members of Parliament, and the mayors of Gloucester, Bath, Wells, Taunton, Yeovil, Chard, Tewkesbury, and Glastonbury. In addition to the accommodation afforded by the Drill Hall and its appurtenances, the committee had erected extensive temporary buildings for the exhibition of machinery, working models, and manufactured products, the result being a satisfactory representation of the industries of the district. A valuable collection of works of art was an attractive feature of the affair, which was admirably organised throughout. Shortly after the close of the exhibition, at the end of November, it was announced that the admissions had reached 210,000, and that although the expenses had amounted to £7,889, there was a surplus of £1,520. The money was handed over to Bristol University College, for whose benefit the exhibition had been promoted.

In anticipation of the Redistribution of Seats Bill, introduced into Parliament in 1885, Mr. Gladstone's Ministry prepared plans for the extension of the parliamentary boundaries of the city by the abstraction from Gloucestershire of the local government district of Horfield and of the parishes of Stapleton and St. George, and by the appropriation from Somerset of the Knowle and Totterdown districts of the old parish of Bedminster. The representatives of the city were increased by the Bill from two to four, but the electors, instead of voting for the whole number according to ancient custom, were divided into four constituencies, named after the cardinal

points, and having one member each. At a court of inquiry held at the Guildhall, on the 15th January, 1885, before Mr. J.J. Henley and General P. Carey, R.E., boundary commissioners, an application was made on behalf of the Council for the inclusion within the borough of the Sneyd Park district of Westbury parish; but this was energetically opposed by the inhabitants and disapproved by the commissioners. The following arrangement - which had the assent of the local leaders of both political parties - was approved.

Western Division. Population, 60,874; comprising the municipal wards of Clifton (22,915), Westbury (13,324), St. Michael (10,712), and St. Augustine (9,147), and the local district of Horfield (4,766).

Northern Division. Population, 64,713; comprising the municipal wards of the District (19,114), St. Paul (15,083), and St. James (8,420), so much of the ward of St. Philip North as is bounded by Wade Street on the west and Stapleton Road an the south (11,263), and the parish of Stapleton (10,833).

Eastern Division. Population, 61,986; comprising so much of the ward of St. Philip North as is bounded by Wade Street on the east and Stapleton Road on the north (13,202), the municipal ward of St. Philip South (22,351), and the parish of St. George (26,433).

Southern Division. Population, 65,633; including the municipal wards of Bristol (10,022), Redcliff (17,274), Bedminster East (13,014), and Bedminster West (20,737), and so much of the Somerset portion of Bedminster parish as extends from the municipal boundary to Redcatch and Knowle lanes (4,306).

These divisions were subsequently embodied in the Redistribution Bill, which was passed in the following session.

A steam vessel, called the Bulldog, designed for river improvement purposes by Mr. J.W. Girdlestone, recently appointed engineer to the Docks Committee, was brought into use in March, 1885. Amongst the apparatus belonging to the boat was a centrifugal pumping engine, capable of raising 6,000 gallons per minute from a depth of 30 feet, or 10,000 gallons per minute from a depth of 10 feet; a crane lifting 5 tons; a large dredger bucket, and an electric dynamo machine, generating a light of 6,000 candle power.

A public room, styled St. James's Hall, erected in Cumberland Street by the Bristol Public Hall Company, and capable of seating an audience of 1,200, was opened in April.

A meeting was held in the Council House on the 1st June, the mayor (Mr. Wathen) presiding, to consider the desirability

of raising a memorial to Mr. Frederick John Fargus, a Bristolian whose premature deaths on the 7th May, at the outset of what promised to be a brilliant literary career, had caused wide-spread regret. It was determined to erect a tablet and bust in the cathedral, and to found a literary scholarship at University College. Upwards of £750 were subscribed on behalf of those objects. The monument in the cathedral, executed by Mr. J. Hayard Thomas, was erected in March, 1886.

On the evening of the first Sunday in June, a band of forty musicians, engaged by “a number of gentlemen interested in the welfare of the working classes”, assembled on Durdham Down, and played a selection of pieces from the works of Handel and other eminent masters. There was a large attendance, and the newspapers estimated the numbers present on subsequent fine evenings at upwards of twenty thousand. The concerts excited great indignation in certain circles; and upon the supporters of the movement announcing that they would be continued throughout the summer, the Council passed a resolution declaring Sunday bands inexpedient, and instructing the town clerk to request their patrons to discontinue them. The promoters having declined to acquiesce, a special meeting of the Council was convened by their opponents, who intended to have a bye-law enacted, expressly prohibiting Sunday bands. On second thoughts, however, the leader of the anti-band party contented himself with moving an instruction to the Downs Committee to draft byelaws for the regulation of the public property. By this time the action of the promoters of the concerts had been defended by Canon Percival and other clergymen; and, as the Downs Committee took no action, the programme of the band committee was successfully carried out. The performances were revived in the summer of 1886, when the attendances of the public were greater than ever. But the expectation of the promoters that the sale of programmes would go far to meet the expenses was disappointed, the public purchasing a very limited number. After the experiment had been continued for about two months, the committee found their funds exhausted, and discontinued their efforts.

The advisability of giving a more permanent character to the composition of the Barton Regis board of guardians having commended itself to many of the members, it was resolved to take a vote of the ratepayers in June, upon the question whether future elections should be annual or triennial. A majority declared in favour of the triennial system, and the

alteration was approved by the Local Government Board. The first election under the new regulation took place in April, 1886.

Shortly after the death, on the 29th April, 1885, of Mr. Edward Phillips, who, previous to his retirement from business, had been a wine merchant in Broad Street, the Charity Trustees were informed that they had a large reversionary interest in his will. Mr. Phillips devised his personal estate, subject to the payment of certain legacies, and of a life annuity to his wife, to the trustees, “for the relief of deserving needy persons, either by gifts, apprenticing boys and girls to learn trades, or by granting annuities to widows, or for such other charitable purposes as may be consistent with the above directions”. A sum of about £4,600 was received from the testator's solicitors, with an intimation that about £24,000 more would be available upon the death of Mrs. Phillips. The interest of the sum in hand is dispensed by the trustees in pensions to aged gentlewomen of good education, born in Bristol, or resident in the city for at least ten years.

At a meeting of the Council in July, a report was presented by the Docks Committee, urging the necessity of taking further measures for improving the accommodation of the port. One of the most pressing requirements, it was alleged, was the provision of facilities for the shipment of steam coal. The committee were of opinion that existing wants might be supplied by the erection of coal “tips” at Avonmouth, at an outlay of £60,000. They further recommended the construction of a new entrance lock to Avonmouth dock (estimated at £20,000), and of a new graving dock there (£45,000), the construction of a deep-water wharf at Canon's Marsh, on the site of Liverpool wharf, with storage accommodation on the city quays (£85,000), the reconstruction of buildings at Avonmouth to the extent of £100,000, and the purchase of a powerful dredger at an outlay of about £30,000; the total estimated expenditure being £340,000. The chairman, Mr. Low, in moving the adoption of this report, which would have taken away the breath of any previous generation of civic senators, congratulated his hearers upon the results of their recent dock policy. Future prospects, he added, had been improved by the starting of a fortnightly service of large steamers from the Avon to Montreal. There was practically no opposition to the motion. The meeting of the ratepayers to consider the Bill for obtaining the necessary powers sanctioned the scheme by a unanimous vote, and the measure received the royal assent on the 25th June, 1886.

The inclusion of the Trades School in the scheme for the future management of Colston's School has been already recorded [see p.453]. On the 25th July, the former institution, under the name of the Merchant Venturers' School, was installed in a vast pile of buildings in Unity Street (on the site of the old Grammar School), erected and fitted up by the Merchants' Society at a cost of upwards of £40,000.^[95] Amongst those who took part in the ceremony were the bishop of the diocese. Sir Frederick Bramwell, C.E., and Mr. S. Morley, M.P. The visitors, after inspecting the great hall, the engineering workshops, library, laboratories, lecture rooms, class rooms, etc., were entertained to a luncheon, provided by the master of the Company (Alderman Butterworth).

The death was announced on the 29th August of Mr. Elisha Smith Robinson, for many years an active member of the Council and of the Corporation of the Poor. Entering the city in humble circumstances, he succeeded by energy and skill in founding a highly prosperous business, whilst by his public spirit he won the approval of his fellow citizens, and filled the highest offices they could bestow with general satisfaction. His funeral was attended by the mayor, the members of the Council, and representatives of many religions and charitable institutions, the procession comprising upwards of fifty private carriages. A bust of Mr. Robinson was shortly afterwards placed in Colston Hall.

The dissolution of Parliament, consequent upon the concession of household suffrage to counties and a redistribution of seats, took place in November. The event having been long foreseen, both political parties were prepared for the struggle, and much curiosity was felt as to the result. Owing to the extension of the parliamentary borough, and to the increased facilities given to persons claiming the lodger franchise, the constituency had largely increased, the total number of electors being 36,549, of whom 33,233 were householders, 1,930 freeholders, 939 lodgers, and 447 freemen. The

nominations took place on the 23rd and the polling on the 25th November. It will be convenient to record the issue under separate heads:-

In Bristol West (with 7,657 electors) the Conservatives nominated Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, bart., then Chancellor of the Exchequer. The Liberal nominee was Mr. Brinsley de Coucy Nixon, of Westward Ho, Devon, banker. The poll was declared as follows: Sir M.H. Beach, 3,876; Mr. Nixon, 2,463.

In Bristol North (9,002 electors) the Liberals brought forward Mr. Lewis Fry, one of the former members for the city (his colleague, Mr. Morley, retired into private life). The Conservative candidate was Mr. Charles Edward H.A. Colston, of Roundway, Wilts. The numbers polled in this division were: Mr. Fry, 4,110; Mr. Colston, 3,046.

Bristol East (9,506 electors). Mr. James Broad Bissell, of Diptford, Devon, was the Conservative aspirant, and was opposed in the Liberal interest by Mr. Handel Cossham, of St. George's and Bath, an extensive colliery owner in the district. The deputy sheriff's declaration was as follows: Mr. Cossham, 4,647; Mr. Bissell, 2,383.

Bristol South (10,384 electors). This was the most exciting conflict of the day. The Liberals brought forward Mr. Joseph Dodge Weston, of Clifton, who had served the office of mayor for four successive years, and had gained universal applause for his solution of the docks difficulty. The Conservatives nominated Lieut.-Colonel Hill, C.B., of Cardiff and Bristol, shipowner. The polling resulted as follows: Mr. Weston, 4,217; Lieut.-Col. Hill, 4,121.

The total poll for the city credited the Liberals with 15,437, and the Conservatives with 13,426 votes. The polling booths, under the new law, remained open until eight o'clock in the evening. Although immense crowds thronged the streets until after midnight, awaiting the declarations, the proceedings passed off with perfect tranquillity.

The Council applied for parliamentary powers during the session of 1886 for the erection of a bridge from St. Philip's Marsh to Totterdown. The estimated cost of the structure was originally stated at £12,870, but it was subsequently deemed advisable to acquire additional ground at a further cost of £8,000, an expectation being held out that a re-sale of the surplus plots for building purposes would more than cover the extra outlay. The Act received the royal assent in April; and the Council, on the 1st June, authorised the Streets Improvement Committee to carry its provisions into effect.

It has been already recorded [see p.496] that Mr.

Ashmead, the city engineer, prepared a plan in 1879 for carrying the sewage of Bristol to the Channel, at a cost of £280,000. His proposal was referred to Sir Joseph Bazalgette, who, in January, 1886, reported favourably upon the project, but estimated the expenditure at £300,000. Sir Joseph was of opinion that the works might be deferred for several years, provided the sewer outlets were removed beyond the city boundaries, the locality indicated being Sea Mills, and the cost £85,000. At a meeting of the Council in May, it was resolved, by a majority of 24 to 20, that it was inexpedient at that time to proceed further in the matter.

In March, the Princess Beatrice was presented with an elaborately carved marriage chest and an embroidered coverlet by “the women of Bristol”, in testimony of their affectionate interest in her recent marriage. The chest, which was chiefly made from ancient oak taken from Redcliff Church, was richly carved by Mr. C. Trapnell, the lid having a representation of Queen Elizabeth's visit to Bristol, while the front displayed Henry VII. presenting his sword to the mayor on confirming the city charters. The Princess expressed much admiration of the gift in acknowledging its reception.

An elaborately decorated suite of offices in Queen Square, erected for the use of the staff of the Bristol Docks, was opened on the 10th May. The cost of the site and buildings was £9,200, but, as portions of the premises were let to private persons, it was stated that the rent fairly chargeable to the dock estate would not exceed £150 per annum.

Another dissolution of Parliament took place in June, 1886, in consequence of the defeat of Mr. Gladstone's Ministry on the question of Irish Home Rule. The Bill introduced by the Premier had caused a disruption of the Liberal party in the House of Commons, Mr. Fry being one of several members who withdrew their support from the Cabinet. Much difference of opinion also prevailed amongst the Liberal electors in all parts of the kingdom. The nominations in Bristol were made on the 1st July, and the polling took place on the following day.

In Bristol West the Conservatives again nominated Sir M. Hicks-Beach, while the Liberals brought forward Mr. James Judd, of Upper Norwood, London, printer. The contest resulted as follows: Sir M.H. Beach, 3,819; Mr. Judd, 1,801. [Another election for this district took place in August, consequent upon the appointment of Sir M. Hicks-Beach as Secretary for Ireland. The right hon. gentleman was returned without opposition.]

In Bristol North, Mr. Lewis Fry again offered himself; and the Conservatives, instead of opposing his re-election, lent him their support. The Liberal Association nominated Dr. Alfred Carpenter, of Croydon, London. Mr. J.D. Marshall, a labour candidate, entered the field, but withdrew on the eve of the nomination. The polling was as follows: Mr. Fry, 8,587; Dr. Carpenter, 2,737.

In Bristol East, the re-election of Mr. Handel Cossham was opposed by Mr. James Inskip, a solicitor in the city, but without success, the voting being: Mr. Cossham, 3,672; Mr. Inskip, 1,936.

Bristol South. Mr. Weston, who had supported the Government Bill for Ireland, lost the support of several influential Liberals in this district, with the effect of reversing the decision of the previous November in favour of Lieut.-Col. Hill, the Conservative candidate. The declaration of the poll was as follows: Lieut.-Col. Hill, 4,447; Mr. Weston, 3,423. [The latter gentleman, on the 26th November following, received the honour of knighthood.]

The total poll for the city was 25,422, or 3,441 less than on the previous occasion upon the same register.

During the great Indian and Colonial Exhibition in London in the summer of this year, a local movement was started for inviting representatives of the various dependencies to pay a visit to Bristol. The invitation was accepted with much cordiality by the colonists, about 150 of whom arrived in the city on the 6th September, and were welcomed at the railway station by the mayor (Mr. Wathen), the members of the Corporation, and many leading citizens. The visitors inspected the chief local objects of interest, and various entertainments were provided in their honour, including a dinner at the Mansion House, luncheons by the Chamber of Commerce and Society of Merchants respectively, a concert by the Madrigal Society, and a grand ball and supper. The colonists departed on the 8th September, expressing themselves highly gratified with their hospitable reception.

Mr. Samuel Morley, who had represented the city in three Parliaments, expired on the 5th September, aged. 77, to the general regret of charitable and religious circles, as well as of the political party of which he was an earnest supporter. In some of the notices of his career which appeared in the newspapers, it was stated that Mr. Morley had for many years dispensed between £20,000 and £30,000 of his large income annually in the support of pious and philanthropic objects. Some months before his decease, a movement had been

started amongst the Liberals of Bristol with a view to erecting some permanent memorial of his connection with the city. Upon his demise, a feeling was evinced by many citizens of both political parties that the work of commemorating his memory was worthy of being assumed by the inhabitants generally; and a meeting held at the Guildhall on the 1st October, the mayor presiding, was attended by representatives of every school of religious and political opinion. Addresses were delivered by the bishop of the diocese, Mr. Fry, M.P., Mr. Cossham, M.P., the vicar of Temple, and several other gentlemen, and it was resolved to start a subscription for the purpose of securing the erection of a statue of the deceased, in testimony of his distinguished charity and public services. The commission was confided to Mr. J. Havard Thomas. The subscriptions in a few weeks exceeded £1,100.

At the triennial election of aldermen in November, Mr. Charles Nash, who had represented St. Augustine's ward for thirty-five years, was raised to the aldermanic dignity. Mr. Nash was the first councillor on whom this honour had been conferred during the existence of the reformed Corporation - a period of more than half a century.

A scheme for supplying the city with water from certain mines near Frampton Cotterell was noticed at page 285. Subsequently, a company styled the West Gloucestershire Water Company, with a capital of £100,000, obtained an Act enabling them to supply a district extending from Wotton-under-Edge to the suburbs of Bristol and Bath. The mains to Frenchay were completed in September.

A meeting was held in the Guildhall on the 29th September, the mayor (Ald. Edwards) presiding, for the purpose of considering the desirability of improving the water supply of the city. Many influential citizens took part in the proceedings. It was resolved that an increased supply of pure water was urgently required, and that such a supply could be best obtained by utilising the Severn tunnel springs [p.416], which were stated to produce 14,000,000 gallons daily. It was further determined to support a Bill for this purpose promoted by a new undertaking styled the Bristol Consumers' Water Company, which had bound itself to transfer the works to the Corporation if required so to do; and the Council was requested to avail itself of this provision, and also to reopen negotiations with the existing company for the purchase of its property on equitable terms. At a meeting of the Council on the 7th January, 1887, a resolution approving of the Bill, and appointing a committee to consider the

whole question in the interests of the Corporation, was adopted by a large majority. At another meetings on the 1st March, a report was presented by the committee, stating that the existing company had declined to negotiate for a transfer of their property whilst the Bill for the new project was pending in Parliament. With respect to the Sudbrook springs, the committee had obtained a report from an eminent analyst, who stated that he had never met with a purer water, but that for household purposes it was of an undesirable “hardness”. The above estimate as to the supply was deemed correct. The Council, on the motion of Mr. Charles Townsend, adopted the report, and resolved to petition the House of Lords in favour of the Bill promoted by the Consumers' Water Company; an amendment deprecating that step being defeated by 29 votes against 19.

On the invitation of the mayor (Ald. Edwards), a meeting of influential citizens took place in the Guildhall on the 20th December, to consider what steps should be taken to commemorate the approaching jubilee of the reign of Queen Victoria. A proposal for the erection of a statue of Her Majesty had been previously started by the mayor, who subscribed £100; and his suggestion to the meeting that this project should be carried out was generally approved. A proposition had also been made for the founding of a Maternity Hospital, but considerable diversity of opinion was evinced on this subject; and eventually a committee was appointed to consider the whole question. The committee, at a meeting on February 24th, 1887, adopted a resolution recommending that subscriptions should be invited for three purposes: the erection of a statue at a cost not exceeding £2,000, the contribution of not less than £2,000 towards the establishment of an Imperial Institute in London, and the celebration of the jubilee in the city by public rejoicings and entertainments to the poor. These suggestions were unanimously approved at a public meeting held in the following week.

The civil year, under the old charters, began and ended on the 29th September. The first election of mayors under the Municipal Reform Act took place in January, 1836, and all since that date on the 9th November.

Accidents: Fall of Hill's bridge, 27, 342; the William Miles, 55; explosion, Red Rover, 819; the Demerara, 827; Mr. J. Gibbs killed, 382; at New Theatre, 447; the Kron Prinz, 478; the Gipsy, 478; to “Flying Dutchman”, 488; Solway burnt,515; death through floods, 521.

Acland, James, 118, 137.

Act, first Improvement, 250.

Adams, Francis, 429 note.

Advowsons, corporate, sold, 215.

Ady, William, 18.

African trade lifeboat, 409.

Agricultural shows, Royal, 258, 502; Bath and West of England, 409.

Agricultural Society, 348.

Albert dock, 524.

Albion Chambers, 270.

Alhambra music-hall, 458.

Allen, Bishop, 227.

Almondsbury, rectory, 56; estate at, 216.

Almshouses: Bengough's, 79; Foster's, 235, 381; Haberfield's, 481; Hills', 428; St. James's, 295; Miles's, 340; Spencer's, 332; Tailors', 311; Trinity, 234; Dr. White's, 106,524.

Amateur theatricals (C. Dickens & Co.), 329.

America, peace, 62; steam to, 218, 458.

Ames, Ald. Levi, charity, 88.

Amos, Isaac, 311.

Amusements, lack of, 3; brutal, 68; Easter, 97.

Antiquities: Bewell's Cross, 134; Castle well, 508; vaulted cellars, 362; city wall, 309; coins, 73; chapel, High Street, 321; chapel, Nicholas Street, 288; Canynges' tomb, 260; St. George's chapel, 254; seal of Henry VIII., 259; tomb, St. James's, 81; St. Lawrence's church, 24; St. Leonard's crypt, 324; mediæval buildings, 366, 407, 473; Mayor's Chapel oratory, 110; mantelpiece, 515; minster house, 516; Roman gravestone, 475; Roman lead, 423; Roman yillas, 246; tombs, St. Stephen's, 275; White Lodge, 441.

Arcades, the, 110.

Archæological Congresses, 326, 480.

Archæological Society, Bristol, 485.

Armourer, The, 417.

Armoury, the, 23, 60, 138, 140, 174.

Arno's Court, 319; Vale, 226, 426.

Art, indifference towards, 287, 383.

Ash, Richard, 231, 270.

Ashley Hill, orphanages, 223; boiling well 284; Court, 467.

Ashmead, George, 384, 496, 531.

Ashton, Long, common, 45; ghastly story, 100; Roman villa, 246.

Ashton Gate, 413, 456.

Assembly Rooms, Mall, 38; old City, 39; Prince's Street, 48.

Assizes, criminal, granted, 418; new court. 418.

Asylum, Lunatic. 346; Roman Catholic, 441.

Athenæum, 288, 356.

Avon: unimproved state, 1, 13; New Cut, 15; perils of, 358; proposed dockisation, 359,496-7, 502; alteration of mouth, 386; proposed deepening, 395; removal of points, 250, 411; old tea gardens, 397. 412; power for electric purposes, 513; destruction of scenery, 265, 397. 495.

Avonmonth pier, 386; rifle range, 365; and see Docks.

Back Street, 356, 479.

Badminton, the Council at, 338.

Baillle, Evan, 18, 21, 30, 51; Hugh, 82; James Evan, 88, 137, 142, 185, 188. 203, 423.

Baily, Edward Hodges, B.A., 109, 277, 434.

Baker, William, 318, 319, 343.

Baker, William Proctor, 261, 421, 470.

Baker's Road, 319.

Baldwin Street, 270, 275; New, 479, 495-8.

Balloon, perilous voyage, 40.

Ballot, a test, 449; first election by, 477.

Bankes, Edward, 94, 429.

Bankruptcy Court, 449.

Banks: Tolzey, 84; Bullion, 112; old firms, 113, 438; Miles & Co. and Old Bank, 494; Stuckey's, 324; West of England, 201, 278, 340, 505; Bank of England, 120, 275; circulation of local, 278; South Western, 461; Bristol, 526.

Baptist Mills, floods, 488, 520.

Baring, Bishop, 349, 358, 370.

Barracks, proposed, 10; Horfield, 266; Hotwells, 356.

Barrow, John, 109.

Barrs Street, 296.

Bartholomew lands, the, 126, 234.

Barton Alley, 295.

Barton Hill, 466; playground, 520.

Barton Regis Union, 498, 528.

Bath, 11, 53 note, 76, 77. 173, 190, 270, 446.

Baths, Turkish, 249; public, 309; Victoria, 311.

Bathurst, Charles Bragge, 8, 18, 30, 50, 55.

Bathurst Basin, 16.

Beach, Sir Michael Edward Hicks, 531, 582.

Beacons, war, 22.

Beale, John William, executed, 365.

Beatrice, Princess, present to, 532.

Beaufort, Dachess of, 406, 420.

Beaufort, Dukes of, 199, 338, 487.

Beaven, Rev. Alfred Beaven, 212 note.

Beckwith, Major, 171.

Beddoe, Dr. John, F.R.S., 486, 516, 530.

Beddoes, Dr. Thomas, 8, 268, 334 note.

Bedminster: included in borough, 186, 526; in city, 208; and in diocese, 298; union, 200; volunteers, 21; yeomanry, 171, 324; revels, 97; body-snatching, 99; poor relief abuses, 188; springs at, 284; sanitary defects, 313; sewage, 316; parish church, 380; reredos dispute, 331; tramway, 463; trees planted, 476; branch library, 477; parks, 519, 520; floods, 520; local taxation, 201.

Beeke, Dean, 95.

Belcher, Thomas, 57.

Bellevue, 10.

Benedictines, mock, 413.

Bengough, Henry, 37; almshouse, 79.

Bere, Montague, 298.

Berkeley, Francis Henry Fitzhardinge, 239, 256, 295, 304, 324, 331, 547, 352, 363, 368, 372, 382, 411, 421, 435, 442, 449.

Berkeley Square, 409.

Bewell's Cross, 134.

Bicycles invented, 270.

Bingham, John, 403.

Bird, Edward, R.A., 86.

Birkin, Abraham, charity, 488.

Bishopric, income of, 66, 227; united to Gloucester, 227, 349; restoration of see, 349, 492.

Bishops, list of, 536; rapid succession of, 56.

Bishop's palace burnt, 161, 181; site sold, 228 note; new, at Stspleton, 228; sold, 362.

Bishops, Roman Catholic, 199, 307, 321, 352.

Bishopston church, 307, 358.

Bissell, James Broad, 531.

Bitton, 48 note, 424.

Blackboy Hill, 314, 479, 504.

Black Castle, 319.

Black-rock quarry, 494.

Blind Asylum, 202.

Blisset, Charles, 294.

Blomberg, Rev. Frederick William, 92; ghost story, 93.

Blue Ribbon movement, 517.

Bodies, stealing dead, 99.

Boiling well, 284.

Bonaparte, fall of, 60.

Bonville, Thomas, charity, 78.

Borough, parliamentary, 185, 526; divided, 526.

Borough rate increased, 216.

Bowling greens, 4; in Pithay, 40.

Bowring, Edgar, 440.

Boyce's Buildings, battle of, 383.

Bragge, Charles, see Bathurst.

Brandon Hill, 292, 354.

Branwhite, Charles, 287, 509.

Bread, high prices, 6, 42; Bread Concern, 8.

Brean Down forts, 391; harbour, 414.

Brereton, Lieut.-Col. Thomas, 153 et seq. 177.

Bribery, actions for, 240.

“Bribery Box”, 186.

Brice, William, 481.

Brickdale, Matthew, 110.

Bridewell, state of 66; burnt, 168; rebuilt, 205; sold, 469.

Bridewell Lane, 206, 296.

Bridges: Bedminster, 511; Drawbridge, 78, 121, 435; Bristol, 291, 386; Hill's, 27, 342; St. Philip's, 240; St. Philip's Marsh, 531; Prince's Street, 491; Stone, 292; Froom, 505; proposed, at Redcliff, 278; suspension, 131, 229, 375.

Bridge-valley Road, 84.

Briellat, John, 42.

Bright, Henry, 23; Henry, 88, 116; Richard, 134, 188; Robert, 188, 189, 298, 301-2, 386, 396.

Brigstook estate, 372.

British Association, 228, 486.

Brittan, Meshach, 236.

Broad gauge railways, 191, 246.

Broadmead, Rooms, 251; trees in, 90.

Broad Street, 9, 109, 270, 275; barriers in, 108.

Broad Weir playground, 519.

Broughton, Lord, 203, 445.

Browne, Cavanagh & Co., failure, 112.

Brunel, Isambard Kingdom, 131, 189, 192, 218, 222, 246, 276, 278, 291, 326, 359, 397, 420.

Brunswick Square, 378.

Bruton, Leonard, 302.

Buckingham spring, 281.

Building mania, effects of, 512.

Bull-baiting, 68.

BoTges, Daniel, 214; Daniel, jun., 214 note, 481; Daniel Travers, 481.

Burgess, Bishop, 321.

Burgesses,number of, 185,530; female, 447.

Burial grounds, 226, 315, 426; closed, 337, 356, 458; Tabernacle, 523.

Burke, Edmund, 29, 457.

Bush, Henry, 193, 295; Robert, 364, 396, 442.

Butler, Bishop, memorial, 487.

Buxton, [Sir] T.F., on the gaol, 67.

Byron, Lady, 297.

Cabmen's Bests, 481.

Caldicott, Rev. John Wm., D.D., 367.

Caley, Rev. Robert Llewellyn, 308, 379.

Canadian trophy, 508.

Canals, Kennet and Avon, 41; proposed, 42, 45.

Canning, Thomas, 400, 479.

Canons, number of, 227; honorary, 258; minor, 309; marsh, 529.

Canynges' Society, 260; mansion, 514; tomb, 260.

Cardiff, rival steamers to, 326.

Caroline, Queen, sympathy with, 89, 92.

Carpenter, Dr. Lant, 160; Mary, 296-8; Dr. Alfred, 533.

Carriages, see Coaches.

Carriok, Andrew, M.D., 71, 84, 140.

Carter, Rev. Eccles C, 308.

Castle Mill, 110; well in, 508.

Castle, Robert, 28; Michael, 397.

Cathedral: lectern sold, 18; new, 379; altars found, 91; remarkable sermons, 92, 127; neglected services, 95; intoning suspended, 308; partial restorations, 206, 250, 369; relics of old naves, 345, 429; Prince of Wales at, 349; central tower, 370, 430; restoration of nave, 429, 490; north porch,488; Minster house, 516; Abbey gate, 516; towers, 487.

Cathedral Grammar School, 480.

Cathedral, Romanist Pro-, 199, 321.

“Catholic Question”, the, 127, 128.

Cattle, American, trade in, 458.

Cattle Market, 128, 478; suspended during plague, 424.

“Canons”, the, 506.

Cave, Right Hon. Stephen, 484.

Caverns at Reddiff, 426.

Cemeteries, Arno's Vale, 226, 426; Greenbank, 457.

Census, 9, 42, 91, 143, 256, 324, 381, 457, 514.

Census, religious, 514.

Chain, mayor's, 126.

Chairing members, 52, 69, 143.

Chamber of Commerce, 103, 115, 300, 327, 436, 495-7.

Chambers, George Henry, 477.

Champion, Richard, 457.

Channel (Bristol) forts, 391; tunnel, 415.

Chapels: Arley, 344; Bethesda, 223; Bridge Street, 443: Brunswick, 205; Buckingham, 303; City Road, 372; Clifton Down, 443; Cotham Grove, 458; Counterslip, 435; French, 113; Grenville, 130; Highbury, 270; Irvingite (St. Mary's, R.C.), 250, 270, 356; St. Joseph's, R.C., 356; Langton Street, 148; Lewin's Mead, 27, 43; Oakfield Road, 414; Pembroke, 433; Presbyterian, 370; Quakers', 202, 262; Redland Park, 385; D.

Thomas Memorial, 513; Trinity, 433; Tyndale, 441; Victoria, 408, Zion, 136.

Charities, see Almshouses. Ames's, 88; Bartholomew lands, 126, 234; Birkin's, 483; Bonville's, 78; Codrington's, 234; Dimsdale's, 275; Gist's, 61; Loan Money, 127, 453; Ludlow's, 444; minor, 236; Owen's, 235; parochial, misapplied, 256; St. Nicholas', 355; Peloquin's, 453; Phillips', 529; Sir T. White's, 81; value of local, 472.

Charity Commission, 90, 233, 472.

Charity Trustees, 231, 236, 239, 257, 278, 452.

Charleton, Robert, 338.

Charlotte, Queen, 77; Princess, 68.

Charters, city, 88, 54.

Chartism, 239, 246.

Chatterton monument, 249, 258; poems, 268.

Children's Hospital, 420, 477.

China, Bristol, 457.

Cholera visitations, 186, 313, 316, 340.

Christmas Steps, 348, 381.

Church Congress, 412.

Church Rates, 238, 380, 405.

Churches, old: All Saints', 81, 272, 335; Christ Church, 8, 216; St.

George's chapel, 23, 254; St. James', 81, 216, 327, 414; St. John's, 24, 127, 216, 373, 410; St. Lawrence, 24; St. Leonard's, 324; St. Mark's (Mayor's) chapel, 101; St. Mary-le-port, 59, 484; St. Mary Redcliff, 258, 259, 335, 378, 426; St. Michael's, 216; St. Paul's, 216; St. Peter's, 216; St. Philip's, 216; St. Stephen's, 275, 373; Temple, 216; St.

Werburgh's, 459.

Churches, new: St. Agnes, 414, 517; All Saints', Clifton, 413; St.

Andrew's, Montpelier, 288; St.

Andrew-the-Less, 476; St. Barnabas, 274; St. Bartholomew, 380; Blind Asylum, 202; Christ Church, Clifton, 257, 482; Christ Church, Barton Hill, 517; St. Clement's, 344; Emmanuel, Clifton, 433; Emmanuel, S. Philip's, 396; S. Francis, 413, 517; St. Gabriel's, 450; St. George's, 83, 216; Hensman memorial, 366; Holy Nativity, 459, 517; St. James-the-Less, 437; St. John's, 254; St. Jude's, 304; St. Lawrence, 517; St. Luke's, Barton Hill, 274; St. Luke's, Bedminster, 380, 408; St. Mark's 304; St. Mary's, 424; St. Mary's, Stoke Bishop, 344, 462; St. Matthew's, 204; St. Matthew's, Moorfields, 472, 517; St. Matthias, 253, 319; St Michael's, Bedminster, 517; St. Michael's, Bishopston, 358; St. Nathanael's, 467; St. Paul's, Clifton, 337; St. Paul's, Bedminster, 130; St. Peter's, Clifton, 345; St. Raphael's, 340; St Saviour, 424, 518; St. Silas, 428, 437; St. Simon's, 304; Trinity, Hotwells, 130; Trinity, St Philip's, 130, 216; St Werburgh's, Mina Road, 461.

Churchyards, 226, 315, 337, 458; gardens, 507.

Chute, John Henry, 482.

City; boundaries, 185, 208, 526; extent of, 292; claims three M.P.s, 435, 437; divided, 526.

City Road, 372.

Clare Street, strange scene in, 424.

Claxton, Christopher, 145, 148.

Clergy, old-fashioned, 93, 184, 206, 289.

Clevedon, 40 note, 411; railway, 286.

Clifford, Bishop, 352; Rev. John Bryant, 289, 356.

Clift House, 491.

Clifton: included in the borough, 185; included in the city, 208; poor law union, 200, 278, 493; its vilhige condition, 2, 10, 53, 71, 72, 88, 84, 343; enclosures of common land 45, 317; assembly rooms, 33, 320; squabbles in “society”, 3,; churchyards, 47, 458; church rebuilt, pew system, 98, 405; bells, 443; first fly, 116 note; haymaking in, 343; Improvement Association, 310; local taxation, 201, 432; libraries, 477; proposed markets, 322; observatory, 124; poor law abuses, 187; roads, 84, 198; sanitary defects, 312-5; Subscription Rooms, 353; street watering, 382; female voters, 447; volunters, 21; water supply, 45, 281,284; watching and lighting, 84, 315; workhouse, 278.

Clifton College, 373,451; cadets, 382 mission, 443.

Clifton Down, 97, 124, 281, 310, 317, purchased by the city, 318; roads, 319; quarries, 412, 495; tunnel, 454.

Clifton Wood, 372, 477; road, 352 park, 423.

Clock, Exchange, 89.

Clubs, volunteer, 390; literary, 144 Bristol, 488.

Coaches, slow speed, 8, 12 note, 84; steam, 121, 332; kite, 122; last stage, 191, 276, Bush office, 274.

Coal, excessive price of, 467.

Cockburn, Sir Alexander, 298.

Codrington, [Sir] Christopher William, 164.

Coffee House, Forster's, 109.

Coinage, debased state of, 73; new, 74.

Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 267.

Colleges: Bristol, 140; Bishop's, 141, 202, 390; Clifton, 373, 382, 443, 451; University, 474.

Collier, Sir Robert, 298.

Colston, Edward, his remains (?), 272; “house”, 419; cup, 484; proposed monument, 378, 487; Charles Edward H.A., 531.

Colston Hall, 389.

Colston's School, 86, 491; estates, 261; removed, 362; reorganised, 450; boys' dress, 485.

Colston Street, 422, 441.

Combinations, trade, 63.

Commercial Rooms, 32, 44, 87, 462.

Commons, indosure of, 45.

Companies, trading, 91 note; 311.

Compensation (Riots) Act, 181, 215.

Conservative banquet, 437.

Convents, 200, 296, 319, 441, 516.

Conviviality, old habits of, 4, 30, 78, 87, 92.

Cook, Rev. Flavel Smith, 482.

Cook's Folly, 25, 344.

Copley, Sir John Singleton, 118.

Com, enormous price of, 6; tax on, 62, 295.

Corn Market, 56, 444; Street, 462.

Cornwall, new trade with, 238.

Cornwallis Crescent, 10.

Coronation Road, 98.

Corporation, old: lethargy of, 2, 11; pension system, 11, 85, 110, 196; gifts of wine, 27; end of Whig rule in, 36; costly feasts, 31, 35, 69; inordinate salaries, 36, 37, 90; refusals to serve in, 18, 36, 38; expensive deputations, 25, 61, 62, 68; persecution of McAdam, 64; non-resident justices, 68, 196; ezceseive port charges, 108, 115, 193; insolence of its claims, 104; town dues reduced, 105, 194; quo warranto against, 114; prosecutes Acland, 119; robes, 120; heavy debts, 125; extravagent gifts, 126; dealings with charity funds, 126, 232; new mansion house, 134, 183; its claims after riots, 180; accounts published, 180; expenditure after riots, 184; day police, 187; condenmed by Royal Commissioners, 195-7; opposes Corporations Reform Bill, 207; its last meeting, 209 note; its treatment of City Library, 383.

Corporation, reformed: extended boundaries, 208; new and old systems, 208; representation of wards, 209, 430; first elections, 210; selection of aldermen, 211, 342, 534; and of mayor, 213; retrenchment, 214; sales of property, 215; borough rate, 216; new magistrates, 217; Charity Trustees, 231; litigation respecting charities, 237 et seq.; treatment of dissent, 252; water supply of city, 280; port charges, 286, 309; purchase of dock, 249, 294, 299; Health Acts applied, 315, 417; purchase of Downs, 318; complaints of party spirit, 342; lunatic asylum, 346; case of Mr. Greville Smyth, 355; opposes Channel docks, 362, 396; vote to Portishead, 400, 511; Harbour Railway, 426; local taxation, 432; School Board, 454; the story of St. Werburgh's, 460; tramways, 462; free library, 333, 476; sewerage, 316, 581; the battle of the docks, 495; bounties to merchants, 496; reaction against corporate policy, 499; an arrangement, 499; purchase of rival docks, 500; corporate debt, 507; Police Bills, 514; new parks, etc., 519; Tabernacle cemetery, 523; dry docks, 524-5; action against Gas Co., 525; dock improvements, 529.

Cossham, Handel, 531, 533.

Cotham, unlighted, 303, 313; Road, 134, 352; Park, 296; Tower, 296.

Cottle, Joseph, 26, 267.

Cotton factories, 237; famine, 394.

Council House rebuilt, 108; attacked, 154.

County Court Judges, 303.

Court of Conscience, 255, 303; Pie-poudre, 280. 524.

Cow Street, 422.

Cradles, silver, 108, 520.

Cricketers, local, 377.

Crime, excessive, 7.

Crinoline, 384.

Cross, High, 308; Bewell's, 134.

Crowder, Richard Budden, 298.

Cruger, Henry, 110, 340.

Cumberland Basin, 15, 22, 55, 278, 411, 508; Road, 77.

Cunningham, James, 188, 281.

Curfew, the, 461 note.

Curnock, James, 322.

Custom House burnt, 165, 181; rebuilt, 237.

Customs, strange law, 118; political patronage, 256, 294.

Cut, New, 15.

Cyprian, Brother, 413.

Daniel, Thomas, 87, 149, 175, 188, 203, 211, 213.

Davis, Richard Hart, 50, 51, 82, 87, 116, 137, 142, 186.

Davy, [Sir] Humphry, 268.

Dead bodies stolen, 99.

Deaf and Dumb Asylum, 257.

Dean and Chapter estates, 392, 480.

Deanery, 379; Road, 422, 447.

Deans, list of, 536; Dr. Layard, 19; Dr. Beeke, 95.

Dearth, national, 6, 42, 73 note; Irish, 303.

Debt, prisoners for, 66, 448; charity, 453; of the city, 507.

Deodands, law of, 107.

Dickens, Charles, 329, 356.

Dimsdale, Ann, charity, 275.

Dinner bills, old, 30, 78.

Diocese, see Bishopric.

Dix, John Ross, 220 note.

Dock office, new, 532.

Dockisation of Avon, 359, 495-6, 502.

Docks, Bristol, projects for, 13; opposition to, 14; tax on city, 14; cost of works, 15; completion of, 16; heavy taxation, 17, 103, 194, 286, 299; mandamus against Co., 117; Great Western steamer, 220; proposals to purchase, 249, 294, 299; transferrea to city, 300; reduction of dues, 300; effects, 302; insufficiency of, 358; agitation for extensions, 359; dues reduced to prevent improvements, 362; reversal of this policy, 395; new locks, 411; consequences of rival docks, 495; bounties on goods landed in city, 496; this policy forbidden by law courts, 498; arrangement effected, 499; the dock estates united, 500; effects on trade, 501; improvements, 529, 532.

Docks, Avonmonth: pier and railway, 386; dock projected, 396-8; chief promoters, 400; completed and opened, 401; rivalry with city docks, 495; treatment of directors, 495; bitter struggle, 496; arrangement and purchase by Council, 499; distribution of assets, 501; improvements, 529.

Docks, Portishead: early projects, 221, 396; pier and railway, 398; dock projected, 399; promoters, 400; Council grants a subsidy, 400; works completed, 402; rivalry with city docks, 495; conduct of corporate directors, 497; bitter struggle, 496; arrangement and purchase by Goundl, 499; distribution of assets, 529.

Docks, Green's and Albert, 528.

Dod, John Woodwell, 487, 511.

Dolphin Society, 515.

Draper, Sir William, his monuments, 516.

Dredger, powerful, 529.

Drill Hall, Rifles', 390, 437.

Drinking customs, 4, 80, 78, 85, 87, 92; decline of, 456.

Drinking fountains, 365, 469.

Droughts, great, 283, ib., 410.

Duels, 31, 32, 34, 236; intended, 145, 218, 294, 324.

Dunball island, 361; disappearance of, 386.

Dundas, Charles A. Whitley, 413.

Durdham Down: pugilism on, 97; races, 127; cavern, 265; reservoir, 282; encroachments, 317; purchased by city, 318; roads, 319; quarries, 412.

Eagles, Rev. John, 78, 87, 176.

Eales, Charles Thomas, 425.

Early Closing Association, 288.

Earthcott, Gaunt's, estate, 216.

East India trade, opening of, 50.

Eaton, Joseph, 145.

Ecclesiastical Court, local, 245, 269, 482.

Eden, Sir Fred. M., 18; Rev. John, 140.

Edgar, John Foy, 26.

Edgeworth, Rev. Francis, 168, 199.

Education, low state of, 4, 230, 350, 455.

Edwards, George Oldham, 428; George William, 479, 493; W.H., 423.

Election, Municipal, first, 210.

Elections, cost of, 52, 138, 143; literature of, 256; action of vestries at, 196, 266.

Elections, Parliamentary (1801), 8; (1802), 18; (1806), 30; (1812), 50; (ib.), 51; (1818) 82; (1820), 87; (1826), 116; (1830), 137; (1831), 142; (1832), 185; (1835), 203; (1837), 239; (1841), 256; (1847), 303; (1852), 331; (1857). 352; (1859), 368; (1865), 421; (1868), 440; (do.), 442; (1870), 449; (do.), 450; (1874), 477; (1878), 506; (1880), 509; (1885), 530; (1886), 532.

Elections, petitions against, (1812), 52; (1818), 82; (1830), 138; (1832), 186; (1837), 239; (1868), 440; (1870), 449.

Electric light, the, 405, 512, 522.

Electric telegraphs, 325, 392, 448.

Ellicott, Bishop, 340, 404, 459, 482, 516.

Elliott, Dean, 429, 489, 515.

Endowed Schools Commission, 450.

Fair, St. James's, 187, 242.

Fairfax Street, 353.

Famine, 6, 42, 78 note; Irish. 303.

Fargus, Frederick John, 528.

Ferney Close, 383.

Fine Arts Academy, 286.

Finzel, Conrad William, 223, 435; refinery, 436.

Fire offices, local, 81; fire reels, 372; brigade, 484,493; floating engine, 525.

Fires: Old Mill, Hotwells, 184: Old Castle Inn, 274; Cider House Passage, 366; Canynges' house, 514; Christmas Street, 491; Fuidge's sugar house, 368; St. George's church, 506; Leigh church, 305; music hall, 458; St Paul's church, 337.

Fish, bounty for, 6; tolls on, 195.

Fisher, Robert Alexander, 303.

Fishponds, recreation ground at, 479; college, 311.

Fitch, Joshua Girling, 450.

Floating Harbour, see Docks; frozen over, 42, 59; sewage in, 78, 117, 312; tight rope feat, 258; explosion in, 319.

Floods, great, 83, 488, 520.

Flour and Bread Concern, 8.

Flys established, 115.

Ford, James, 388, 390, 397, 400, 431.

Foresters' Hall, 458.

Forlorn Hope estate, 355.

Fortifications of Severn, 391.

“Four Hundred”, the, 506.

Fowler, James, 61.

Fox, Francis Frederick, 312, 499.

Freemasons' halls, 70, 426.

Freemen: fines on admission, 38; number of, 185, 530.

Freemen, honorary: George, Prince of Wales, Duke of Suffolk, and Duke of Gloucester, 31; Duke of Cumberland, 22; George Canning, 111; Earl of Eldon, 129; Sir Francis Freeling, 124; Lord Grenville, 35; Earl of Liverpool, 111; Duke of Wellington, 69.

Free Port Association, 298, 301; holiday, 301.

Fremantle, Sir Thos. F., 249; Thos.

F., 421.

French chapel, 113.

French prisoners, 22, 31; prison sold, 189.

Fripp, Willlam, 82, 119, 207, 213, 234, 239, 256, 304, 331; Edward Bowles, 244; Charles Bowles, 230, 334; Samuel Charles, 422.

Froom, river, 291, 313, 353, 488, 520, 522.

Frosts, great, 42, 59.

Fry, Sir Edward (Lord Justice), 141; Lewis, 400, 455, 494, 506, 509, 531-3; Francis, 423; Richd., 397, 400, 423.

Fuidge, Richard, 400, 432.

Gallows Acre Lane, 84, 428.

Gallows Field, 134.

Gaol, horrors of old, 65-7; new, 67, 468.

Gardens, public, 423.

Gardiner, Allen, 341.

Garrard, Thomas, 80, 102, 348.

Gas introduced, 42; history of company, 43, 467; Oil Gas Co., 44; price of, 525.

Gateways, St. John's, 24; Temple, 32; Abbey, 516.

Gauge of railways, 191, 246.

Gay, George, 204.

Geographical phenomenon, 386.

Geological discoveries, 249, 265.

George III., 25, and Bristol elections, 29; Jubilee, 34; statue of, 35.

George IV. proclaimed, 87; coronation, 91.

George, James, 108; Christopher, 212; William Edwards, 520.

George's, St., chapel, 254; church, 506; road, 352; tramway, 464; included in borough, 526.

Ghost, Blomberg's, 93; at Long Ashton, 100.

Gibbs, Antony, 493, 517; James, 332; Sir Vicary, 39, 54, 80.

Gifford, Lord, 81, 118, 186.

Girdlestone, Canon, 342, 355, 429, 515.

Gist, Samuel, his charity, 61.

Gladstone, Wm. Ewart, 493.

Gloucester, 393, 510.

Gloucestershire, land added to, 386.

Goldney, Samuel, 168.

Goodenough, Dr. John Joseph, 47, 508.

Goodere murder, the, 409.

Goodeve, Henry Hurry, 344, 399.

Goodhind estate, 486.

Gore. Lieut.-Col. William, 21, 60, 61.

Government offices, patronage of, 256, 294.

Grace, E.M. and W.G., 377; G.F., 378.

Grammar School, perversion of, 46; funds of, 106, 235, 453; headmasters, 340, 367, 508; reorganised, 451; new school, 508.

Graving docks, 524. 525, 529.

Gray, Bishop, 95, 140, 161, 181, 206.

Great Western Cotton Works, 237, 274, 394.

Great Western Steamship Co., 218, 271; (second), 458.

Greaves, Rev. Talbot A.L.G., 406.

Greenbank cemetery, 457.

Green's dock, 523.

Grenville, Lord, 35.

Gridiron, 523.

Griffith, Edward, 90.

Grove, trees on the, 90.

Guardhouse, the, 23, 216; Passage, 510.

Guest, Sir Ivor Bertie, 506, 509.

Guild of Literature, 329.

Guildhall rebuilt, 264; scenes in old, 255.

Guinea Street, 426.

Gully, John, 67.

Gun-boats, proposed local, 22; built, 348.

Guppy, Thomas Richard. 189, 218.

Gurney's steam coach, 121.

Guthrie, John, memorial chapel. 374.

Haberfield, Sir John Kerle, 323; Lady, 323, 409, 481.

Hall, Rev. Robert, 142.

Hampden, John, 417.

Harbour of Refuge, proposed, 414.

Harbour Railway and wharves, 426.

Harbour rate, 14, 518.

Harbour Trust Association, 498.

Hare, John, 136; Sholto Vere, 449, 450. 477.

Harford, John, 189, 278; Henry Charles, 427.

Harris, Wintour, 80.

Harwood, William, 382.

Hathway, William, 400.

Hawkshaw, Sir John, 361. 375, 416, 486, 495.

Health, inquiries on, 312, 313; Acts applied, 315. 417.

Henbury, Lords of, 310, 317, 318; common, 45.

Hendren, Bishop, 312.

Henry VIII., seal of, 259.

Hensman, Rev. John, 366.

Herapath, William, 149, 161, 173, 204, 299.

High Street Improvement, 406.

Hilhouse, Abraham, 37, 134, 158-9, 171, 363.

Hill, Charles, & Sons, 459; Matthew Devonport, 449; Rowland, 245; Edward Stock, 531, 533; Thomas William, 428.

Hinton, proposed chapel at, 252.

Histrionic Club lifeboat, 409.

“Hoax, the Bristol”, 262.

Hobhouse, Sir John Cam (Lord Broughton), 203, 445.

Hodgson, Kirkman David, 449, 450, 477, 480, 506.

Hogarth, pictures by, 335.

Holiday customs, 97; weekly half-holiday, 364.

Holmes, Steep, 199; forts, 391.

Homes for destitute children, 297.

Honeypen Hill, 199, 322.

Hooter, the, 470.

Horfield, Manor of, 305; barracks, 266; growth of suburb, 307, 381; pleasure gardens, 379, 468; included in borough, 526; gaol, 469.

Horn Fair, 98.

Horse parades, 525.

Hospital, General, 144; children's, 420, 477.

Hospital Sunday, 380.

Hotels, Beeves', 30, 163; Bush, 12, 201, 340; Royal Western, 248; Queen's, 330; Bath, 398; Imperial, 502; Royal (Clifton), 358; Royal Gloucester, 356; Clifton Down, 393; White Lion, 404; White Hart, 404; Grand, 404; Royal (College Green), 408; St. Vincent's Rocks, 442.

Hotwell, new, 280.

Hotwell Point, 101, 411; Road, 352, 357.

Hotwells, rank and fashion at, 71; decline, 72; pump room removed, 100, 101; loss of spring, 101.

Houses, ancient, removed, 237, 241, 270, 275, 288, 406, 409, 420, 459, 524.

Houses unoccupied, 1881, 512.

Howard, Thomas, 360, 387, 395, 411, 496.

Hudson, Dr. Charles Thomas, 340, 366.

Hunt, Henry, 30, 35, 50, 51, 53 note.

Illuminations, public, 12, ib., 60, 89, 92, 143, 144, 242, 349, 405.

Imprisonment for debt, 65, 448.

Improvement Act, first, 250; rate created, 292; schemes, see names of streets.

Indian and Colonial visitors, 533.

Industrial exhibitions, 258, 383, 421, 526; school, 279; Dwellings Co., 487.

Infirmary enlarged, 28; renovated, 486; bequest, 316.

Inland Revenue offices, 439.

Inns, 4; Sunday regulations, 347; restricted hours, 419, 456; Angel, 406; Giant's Castle, 241; Mulberry Tree, 52, 109; Old Castle, 274; Old Globe, 491; Plume of Feathers, 404 Queen Bess, 288; Red Lion, 409 Rose and Crown, 19; Ship, 459 Three Blackbirds, 54.

Inskip, James, 533.

Institution, Literary, 107, 425.

Intolerance, outbreak of, 424.

Irish packets, 75; a long voyage, 76; vagrants, 188; and see wrecks.

Irvine, Rev. G.M. D'Arcy, 269.

Italian exiles, 367.

Ivyleaf, James, 316.

Jacob's Wells, 280, 291, 310, 329, 392, 487.

Jamaica Street, 423.

James II., picture of, 322.

James's, St., Fair, 187, 242; Back, 297, 484; Hall, 527.

Jenkins, Henry, 482.

Jervis, Sir John White, 22.

Jessop, William, 13.

John's, St., gateway, 24; conduit, 410.

John's, St., Hole, 25.

Jones, Charles, supposed murder, 433; George, 189; Joshua, 233.

Jose, Thomas Porter, 365.

Judd, James, 532.

Juvenile ruffianism, 296, 350.

Kaye, Bishop, 96.

Kempster, John Mills, 421.

King, Wm. Poole, 320; Richard Poole, 362.

Kingdon, Thomas Kingdon, 298.

Kinglake, John Alexander, 298.

Kingsley, Charles, on riots, 167, 172.

King's birthday revels, 87.

King's Orchard, 202,.a5.

King's Square library, 477.

Kingsweston estate, 198.

Kingswood, lawlessness, 48; wages, 187; reformatory, 297.

Kites, travelling by, 121.

Knowle, 459, 478; included in borough, 526.

Lamb, Dean, 308, 309.

Lamplighters' Hotel, 40.

Land Transport corps, 341.

Lane, Henry, 437.

Lang, Robert, 287, 335, 366, 479; Sam, 508.

Langley, John, 80.

Langton, Wm. Henry Gore, 331, 352, 368, 421.

Lardner, Dr. Dionysius, 229.

Lavington, William Frederick, 327.

Law, Bishop, 130, 293.

Law Ditch, 305.

Law Library, 1l9, 421.

Lawford's-gate prison, 161, 509.

Lawrance, Theodore, 75.

Lawrence, Sir Thomas, 135.

Lawrence Hill improvement, 464.

Layard, Dean, 19.

Lee, Rev. Charles, 46.

Leech, Joseph, 110, 255, 289, 294, 357.

Leigh, Abbot's, church burnt, 305.

Leigh Court, Prince of Wales at, 524.

Leigh Down, 73, 132.

Leigh Woods, desecration of, 264, 397, 407; murder in, 354; Land Co., 408.

Leighton, Robert Leighton, 367.

Lewin's Mead, 296, 343.

Library Society, 332-5, 425; City, history of, 333, 476; branches, 476.

Licensing Act, 456.

Lifeboats, Bristol, 409.

Lighthouse erected, 250.

Lighting of city, defective, 2, 11, 313, 315; of shops, 4; Acts, 28, 84.

Lind, Jenny, 304.

Lippincott, Sir Henry, 39.

Liverpool & London & Globe offices, 420.

Lloyd, Edward John, 303.

Loan Money Fund, 127, 453.

Local Government Act applied, 417.

London freeman, claim of a, 312.

Long Ashton, see Ashton.

Lover's Walk, 423.

Ludlow, Ebenezer, 85, 104, 108, 153-8, 196, 213; Hannah, 444.

Lunatic Asylum, 346.

Lunell, Samuel, 107.

McAdam, James Loudon, 63, 111.

Macadamisation; 64.

McGeachy, Forster Alleyne, 133, 332.

McGhie, -, 491.

Macgregor, Rev. Sir Charles, 308.

Mackworth, [Sir] Digby, 153, 156, 170, 172.

Macliver, Peter Stewart, 357.

Madan, Rev. George, 341.

Magistrates, appointment of, 217.

Manchee, Thomas John, 90, 195, 232.

Manias, speculative, 111, 112, 289, 467.

Manilla Hall, 516.

Mansion House, 61, 185; proposed new, 134, 201; destroyed, 152-5; revived, 183; suppressed, 214; gift of new, 478.

Man-trap, thief in a, 10.

Mardyke Wharf, 357.

Marine Board, local, 321.

Markets: riots, 7; leather, 11; butcher, 32, 307; corn, 56, 414; cattle, 123, 424, 478; hay, 244; fish, 275, 467; goose, 339; St. James's, 362.

Marriages, Royal, 68, 404; Dissenters', 205.

Marshall, Alfred, 475; J.D., 533.

Mary-le-Port, St., charities, 483.

Mathias, William, 383.

Matthew, Archbishop Tobias, 333.

Maudlin Street, 206, 441.

Mayday amusements, 97.

Mayor's Chapel, mutilated, 101; oratory, 110; 252.

Mayors' Kalendar, 205; paddock, 310; tolls on fish, 196; robes, 252; dues, see Port charges.

Mayors, list of, 586; deaths of, 23; salaries of, 27, 125, 183, 214; refusals to serve as, 13, 27, 213; a parsimonious, 61; on commissions of assize, 418.

Meat, foreign imports of, 458.

Mechanics' Institute, 113, 258, 288.

Medical Library, 114.

Medical School, 199, 474-5.

Mercantile Marine Board, 321.

Merchant Taylors' Company, 311.

Merchant Venturers' School, 530.

Merchant Venturers' Society, 115, 132, 134, 195, 197, 250, 261, 280, 286, 301, 318, 323, 362, 381, 383, 400, 434, 452.

Metcalf, William James, 303.

Miles, Henry Cruger William, 479, 493; John William, 439, 442; Philip John, 88, 188, 198, 203, 289, 265; Philip William Skynner, 239, 266, 275, 287, 295, 304, 386, 396, 399, 400, 440; Sir Philip John William, 265, 495, 524; Robert Henry Wm., 340; Sir William, 190, 324, 368, 429 note.

Mill, at St. James's Back, 16 note; proposed, on Float, 17 note; opposite Hotwells, 184.

Mills, John, 174; Henry John, 380, 431, 446 note, 489.

Mina Road, 519, 520, 521.

Missal, curious, 357.

Mission, Clifton College, 443.

Mission to Patagonia, 340.

Model dwellings, 274-5.

Mogg, John Jenner, 429 note.

Monk, Bishop, 56, 95, 141, 202, 226, 227, 269, 305, 309, 311, 331, 339, 349.

Montpelier, 418, 460, 467, 479.

Monuments: George III., 85; Colonel Gore, 61; Bishop Gray, 206; Chatterton, 249, 268; Mary Carpenter, 297; Fred. John Fargus, 528; Sir J.K.

Haberfield, 323; Samuel Morley, 534; Robert Southey, 277; Queen Victoria, 535.

More, Hannah, 198.

Morley, Samuel, 400, 440, 442, 477, 509, 533.

Mortality, rate of (1844), 312; recent, 316.

Mulberry trees in city, 439.

Müller, Rev. George, 223.

Müller, William James, 292.

Murders: Clara A. Smith, 204; Melinda Payne, 344; Charlotte Pugsley, 354; Charles Jones, 433.

Museum and Library, 426.

Music, Royal College of, 472, 520.

Musical Festivals, 21, 59, 95, 470.

Mylnes' Culvert, 117.

Naish, William, 482.

Napoleon, fall of, 60.

Narrow Wine Street, 476.

Nash, Charles, 396, 399, 534.

Naval Reserve, 378.

Neat, William, 57.

Neptune statue, 469.

New Passage pier, 291.

New York, steamers to, 218, 458.

Newfoundland Road playground, 519.

Newgate, horrors of, 65.

Newspapers, price of, 5,63; first daily, 118; Bristol Journal, 240; existing papers, 357.

Nicholas, St., abuse of charities, 355.

Nicholas Street, improved, 307, 406.

Nixon, Brinsley de Coucy, 531.

Noble, John, 27, 30.

Norfolk, Duke of, 19, 35.

Norris, John Pilkington, D.D., 429,487, 490, 498.

Oakfield Road, 314.

Oddfellows' Hall, 458.

Odger, George, 449.

Old Market, improvements, 422, 479.

Onslow, Serjeant, 68.

Orphanages: Hook's Mills, 120; Ashley Down, 223; Dighton Street, 296.

Ostrich Inn, Durdham Down, 4, 319.

Page, Thomas, 361.

Palmer, Henry Andrews, 28, 396, 408; James, 372; Arthur, 255, 303.

Parish clerks suppressed, 341.

Park for east end, 494.

Park Row widened, 441.

Park Street, improvement of, 131, 422; proposed engine at, 348.

Parliamentary boundaries of city, 185, 527.

Parochial charities, 256.

Patagonian mission, 340.

Patchway tunnel, 291, 416.

Patriotic Funds, 27, 341.

Patterson, William, 218, 328, 410.

Pauperism, excessive, 138.

Paving and Lighting Acts, 28, 313, 315.

Payne, Charles, 210, 213; Melinda, 344.

Peace rejoicings, 11, 60, 349.

Pellatt, Apsley, 304.

Penance, punishment of, 245.

Pen Park Hole explored, 269.

Penton, Henry, 272.

Perambulators, 383.

Percival, Rev. John, D.D., 373, 443, 451, 472, 489, 528.

Perry Road, 422, 441.

Peter's, St., Hospital: bad state of, 139; portion sold, 140; lunatics at, 346.

Peto, Sir Samuel Morton, 421, 439.

Philip's, St. (out), included in borough, 185; and in city, 208; in Clifton union, 200; bridges, 240, 531; railway station, 446; library, 476; playground, 520.

Phillips', Edward, charity, 529.

Phippen, Robert, 252, 331.

Phippen Street, 250, 258.

Piepoudre Court, 230, 524.

Piers, see Docks.

Pile Hill, 339.

Pill warner, the, 325.

Pillory, punishment of the, 89.

Pilotage, compulsory, 383.

Pinney, Charles, 152 et seq., 179, 188, 212.

Pithay, fashion in the, 89.

Pleasure grounds, 423, 519.

Pocock, George, his kites, 121.

Poerio, Baron, 367.

Police, defective, 2, 89; Bills, 179, 181; first day, 187; regular force, 216.

Police Bills disapproved, 514.

Police courts, new, 109, 484.

Police station, central, 216.

Polling-booths, district, 256.

Poor, Corporation of the: woollen factory, 8; lavish relief, 138; purchases French prison, 139; new workhouse, 140, 367; lunatics, 346; struggle with Poor Law Board, 351; end of old system, 351; expenditure, 352; unequal wards, 446; sermons dispute, 484; Harbour Bate Bill, 518; proposed amalgamation of unions, 518.

Poor Laws, abused of old, 187; unions, 200, 493.

Poor rates, inequality of, 201; present charge, 432.

Pope, Richard Shackelton, 422.

Population, see Census.

Port charges, 17, 103, 105, 114, 193, 286, 300, 309, 362, 499, 502.

Portishead: hotel, 126; advowson, 215; battery, 371; proposed piers, 221, 396; railway and pier, 397; dock, see Docks.

Portland, Duke of, 85.

Post office, 438, 448.

Postage, old rates of, 244; stamps, 245.

Powell, Thomas (“Volcano”), 253, 317.

Prebendaries, 92, 227.

Press gangs, 5, 20, 55.

Prichard, James Coles, M.D., 140.

Prideauz, Charles Grevile, 298.

Priest, Richard, shot, 34.

Prince Consort, proposed monument to, 392.

Prisoners, old treatment of, 65, 81.

Proctor, Thomas, 259, 260, 335, 366, 476, 478.

Promenade, Royal, 369.

Protheroe, Edward, 61, 82, 116; Edward, jun., 134, 137, 142, 145, 148, 179, 185; Sir Henry, 27, 52.

Provis, Thomas, trial of, 335.

Prudent Man's Friend Society, 53.

Pryce, George, 335.

Public houses, number of, 456.

Pugilism, popularity of, 5, 56, 97.

Pugilists, famous, 57.

Pugsley's field, 249, 286, 410.

Quarries on Downs, 265, 318, 412.

Quay, sheds on, 381.

Queen, the: in Bristol, 138, 349; jubilee, 535; rifle prize, 437.

Queen Elizabeth's Hospital, 85, 106; estates misappropriated, 126, 232, 234; new school, 274; reorganised, 450.

Queen's Road, 202 note, 291, 329, 352, 369. 409.

Queen's Square, 109, 150 et seq., 418; rooks, 447.

Queen's tenant, claim of a, 312.

Races, Durdham Down, 127; Knowle, 473.

Rackhay, the, 356.

Ragged school, first, 296.

Raglan, Lord, funeral of, 344, Railway manias, 111, 289; gauges, 246, 276.

Railway station, proposed central, 387, 393; joint, 420.

Railways: first projects, 34, 110; to Coalpit Heath, 123; Great Western, 189, 191, 246, 276, 279, 291, 326, 388, 415, 420, 426, 454, 466; Bristol and Exeter, 222, 248, 286, 420, 426, 446, 487; Bristol & Gloucester (Midland), 276, 420, 446, 454, 465, 467; Wilts and Somerset, 279; South Wales Junction, 290, 414; Port and Pier, 366, 453; Bristol and Clifton (proposed), 387; South Western Co.

Portishead, 398; North Somerset, 402; Wells, 446; Bath (Midland), 446; Clifton and Sea Mills, 453; Thornbury, 467.

Railways snowed up, 512; 3rd class trains, 465.

Rainfall, excessive, 469, 488, 520.

Ralph, Benjamin, 162, 169, 170.

Ramsay, William, Ph.D., 475 note.

Randolph, Francis, D.D., 92, 94.

Rateable value of city, 108, 209, 216, 246, 432.

Ravine, footpath in, 319.

Recorders: Sir V. Gibbs, 80; Sir R.

Gifford, 81, 118, 136; Sir J.S.

Copley, 118; Sir C. Wetherell, 118, 129, 146-153, 176, 207, 214, 230, 236, 255, 298; subsequent, 298.

Recreation, places of, 292, 423, 479, 519.

Red Lodge Reformatory, 297.

Red Maids' School, 86, 450.

Redcliff Hill, 73 note, 258; caverns, 426.

Redcliff Street, 258, 479; vicarage, 426.

Redcross Street burial ground, 523; pleasure ground, 520.

Redland, unlighted, 303; undrained, 314.

Redland Road, 352; Court, 379, 423; High School, 424.

Redwood, Robert, 333.

Reform Bill (1832), 142, 146, 175, 184; effect of, 185; effect of Act of 1867, 437, 442; (1885), 526.

Reformatory Congress, 350.

Register, Parliamentary, 185, 442.

Religious destitution, 516; census, 514.

“Resurrection men”, 99.

Reynolds, Richard, 53, 69; Joseph, 38, 103.

Richards, Rev. Henry, 306, 358.

Richmond Hill, 53, 330; Terrace, 10, 314; Spring, 281, 284.

Ricketts, Henry, 212, 369.

Ridley, Henry John, 94.

Rifles' Headquarters Co., 202 note, 390, 426.

Riots, the great: causes of, 146-8; special constables, 149-151; arrival of recorder, 149; disturbance in Queen's Square, 160; Mansion House attacked, 152; flight of recorder, 153; Colonel Brereton, 153 et seq.; second day's riot, 155; escape of mayor, 155; Mansion House plundered, 155; conflict in St. Augustine's, 156; the churches on Sunday, 156; apathy of public, 157; burning of Bridewell, 158, of the gaol, 159-161, of Lawford's Gate prison, 161, of the bishop's palace, 161, and of the Mansion House, 163; conduct of magistrates, 164, 168, 171; destruction of half of Queen's Square, 165; appearance of city, 167; scenes in Queen's Square, 167; the mayor orders action of troops, 169; their decisive charge, 170; volunteer constables, 170; the riot suppressed, 172; the loss of life, 172; recovery of plunder, 174; the silver salver, 175; cathedral library, 162, 175; trial of rioters, 176; executions, 177; courts martial, 177; prosecution of the mayor, 178; Compensation Act, 181; tax on city, 182; debt paid off, 215.

Riots: market, 7, 42; of dock workmen, 16; serious, 39; election, 51, 137, 442; no popery, 129; of paupers, 139; “religious”, 424.

Road money charity, 105.

Roads, bad state of, 64, 315.

Roberts, Sir Fred., dinner to, 518.

Robes, civic, 120; revived, 252.

Robinson, Elisha Smith, 351, 400, 415, 440, 449, 450, 506, 509, 580; Robt., 397.

Roman relics, 428.

Romilly, Sir Samuel, 51.

Rooks, city, 379, 447.

Round Point improved, 250, 412.

Rownham Ferry, 418.

Royal York Crescent, 9.

Rupert Street, 358, 507.

Russell, Lord John, 206, 289.

Russian war, 338, 341, 348; peace, 349; guns, 358.

Sailors' Home and Institute, 327.

Salt, high price of, 25.

Salvation Army, 511.

Salver, singular recovery of a, 175, 184.

Sanders, John Naish, 140, 350; George Eddie, 231.

Sanitary Authority, 417.

Sanitary state of city, 312, 313, 316.

Saturday half holiday, 364.

Savile, Henry Bourchier Osborne, 371.

Saville Place, 10.

Savings Bank, 53; Post-office, 385.

School Board established, 455.

Schools: City (Queen Eliz.), 85, 106, 126, 232, 234, 274, 450; Colston's, 86, 261, 362, 450. 485; Diocesan, 336; Grammar, 46, 47, 106, 235, 340, 366, 451, 508; St. Nicholas', 355; Red Maids', 201, 450; Trade, 336, 434, 452; Board, 456; Merchant Venturers', 530; Cathedral, 480.

Sea Mills, Roman gravestone at, 475.

Sea Walls, 318.

Severn Bridge schemes, 290, 415, 417.

Severn Tunnel, 415.

Sewerage works, 316; Clift house, 491; proposed sea outlet, 496, 531.

Seyer, Rev. Samuel, 54, 143.

Sharples, Miss, 127; Mrs., 287.

Shaw, John George, 359, 360.

Sheffield, Lord, 18.

Sheriffs, list of. 536; salaries of, 36, 87, 90, 125, 184; refusal to serve, 355.

Shipbuilding, decline of, 410.

Shipwrecks, see Wrecks.

Shirehampton, telegraph to, 325.

Shops, open, 4 note; long hours in, 288 note.

Shute, Captain Henry, 324.

Silver Street, 484.

Simpson, Rev. Francis, 94.

Sion Spring, 45, 281, 441.

Slade, [Sir] Fred. William, 368.

Slaughter, Edward, 408.

Slave Trade, abolition of, 29.

Slaveowners, local, 188.

Slaves in Bristol, 29.

Sledges in the streets, 2.

Small Street, improvement of, 460.

Small-pox, fatality of, 5.

Smith, Henry, 34, 59, 170; Richard, 17, 18, 59; Rev. Sydney, 95, 127, 320; William, 518.

Smyth, Lady, 92, 98; Sir John, 130, 132, 264; trustees, 310, 317, 335, 339; [Sir] John Greville, 145, 318, 339, 355, 375, 400, 407, 493, 494,519.

Sneyd Park, 343, 462.

Snowstorm, great, 59, 135, 512.

Social Science Congress, 446.

“Society”, Squabbles in. 320.

Somerset, Rev. Lord Wm. Geo. Henry, 93.

Somerton, Wm. Henry, 164, 166; Charles and George, 357.

Southcott, Joanna, followers of, 25.

Southey, Robert, 266; monument, 277; family, 90.

Spolasco, Baron, 241.

Stamp distributor, office of, 425.

Stapleton: bishop's palace, 228; Colston's school, 362; workhouses, 140, 279, 367; church, 339; becomes part of borough, 526.

Stapleton Road, floods, 488, 520.

Steadfast Club, 52, 88.

Steam Navigation Company, 494.

Steamboat, first, 75; Irish trade, 76; to London, 190 note; to America, 218, 229, 458; explosion, 319; competition, 326.

Steam-tug, first, 77.

Steep Street, 381, 459.

Stewards, Lord High, 35, 199, 338.

Stock Exchange, 289.

Stocks, the, 88, 117.

Stokes, George Gabriel, 141.

Stokes Croft Road, 352.

Stone Kitchen, the, 19.

Stone, tax on, 67.

Streets, state of, 2; watering, 382; great improvement schemes, 291, 422, 479. 492, 524.

Struth, Sir William John, 62.

Suez Caoal, 352.

Sugar duties, protective, 106, 275.

Sogar refining, decline of, 435.

Sunday, observance of, 24, 347, 463; band, 528.

Sunday-school centenary, 511.

Sun-dial, old, 381.

Suple, Robert, 305.

Surtees, Prebendary John, 94.

Suspension Bridge, 131, 229; completed, 375; suicides, 377.

Swash, the, 387.

Swayne, John Champeny, 140.

Synagogues, Jews', 262, 459.

Tabernacle burial ground, 523.

Tanning a convict's skin, 18.

Tanning trade, increase of, 309.

Tavern bills, 30, 78.

Taverns, temperance, 456.

Taxation, local, 432.

Taylor, John, 265; Thomas Terrett, 396, 415; Thomas David, 357; Henry, 481.

Taylors' Company, 311.

Tea, imports of, 203.

Teetotal Society, 240; Alliance, 347; temperance taverns, 456; blue ribbon movement, 517.

Telegraph, electric, 325, 392, 439, 448.

Telephone Exchange, 509.

Temple Gate, 32.

Theatres, Regency, 48; Prince's, 432, 447.

Thomas, Christopher James, 386, 396; 415, 430, 479, 486; George, 145, 244, 408, 423, 447; Herbert, 442, 508; Josiah, 417, 422,479.

Thomson, Bishop, 370 note, 404.

“Three deckers” in churches, 341.

Time, regulation, 253, 326.

Tokens, local, 74.

Toll houses burnt, 161; abolished, 330, 427.

Tolzey Bank, failure of, 84.

Tolzey Court, 90, 524.

Tontine property distributed, 378.

Tothill, William, 189.

Totterdown, 198, 330, 463; included in borough, 526.

Tovey, Charles, 333.

Town dues, see Port charges; refusals to pay, 312.

Trade, export, 194, 302, 501.

Trade Unions, 63; Congress, 486.

Trades School, 336, 434, 452, 530.

Training ship for boys, 444.

Tramway, projected, 402; on Downs, 412; history of street, 462.

Transatlantic steamers, 218, 458.

Travelling, discomforts of, 3, 75, 84, 191.

Tricycles invented, 270.

True Blue Club, 294.

Turnpike tolls abolished, 427.

Tyburn tickets, 55.

Tyndall's Park, 202, 329, 343, 374.

Ullathorne, Bishop, 199.

Union Street, extension of, 460.

Unions, poor law, 200, 493, 518.

University College, 474, 528.

Vaughan, Sir Richard, 62, 119; Charles, 320; Dr. Robert, 440.

Vegetables, Cornish trade, 288.

Vehicles, public, number of, 465.

Vestries, action at elections, 196, 256; close, 446.

Vick, Wm., gift for a bridge, 181, 375.

Victoria, Princess, 138; Queen, proclamation, 238; coronation, 242; in Bristol, 349; Jubilee, 535.

Victoria Rooms, 241, 330; Square, 383, 423, 460; Street, 291, 422.

Vincent's, St., Rocks, 72; flying leap, 116.

Visgar, Harman, 195, 309, 317.

Visitors: the Queen, 138, 349; Queen Adelaide, 292; Prince Albert, 271; Duke of Beaufort, 338; Prince Jerome Bonaparte, 372; Duke of Buckingham, 434; Duke of Cambridge, 258; George Canning, 111; Queen Charlotte, 77; Duke of Clarence [William IV.], 77; Duke of Cumberland, 22; Prince of Denmark, 98; Duke of Edinburgh, 471, 515; William E. Forster, 508; Prince William of Prussia [Emperor of Germany], 272; Earl Granville, 337; Lord Grenville, 35; “Henry V.”, 271; Ward Hunt, 478; Indians and Colonials, 533; Italian exiles, 367; Duchess of Kent, 138; Prince Leopold, 138; M. de Lesseps, 352; Earl of Liverpool, 111; Dr. Livingstone, 376; Prince Puckler Muskau, 28; Duke of Norfolk, 19, 35; Marquis of Northampton, 228; Sir Stafford Northcote, 446; Prince of Orange, 372; Lord John Russell, 206, 289; King of Saxony, 271; Lord Stanley [Earl of Derby], 437; George, Prince of Wales, and Duke of Sussex, 31; Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, 349, 473, 503, 524; Duke of Wellington, 68; Cardinal Wiseman, 200, 307.

Volunteers, Bristol, 21, 60; Rifle corps, 364, 390; Artillery. 371; Engineers, 382; Naval Artillery, 478; reviews, 217, 239.

Weston [Sir] Joseph Dodge, 23?, 476, 499, 501, 516, 531. 538.

Weston, North, estate at, 216.

Weston-super-Mare, 3, 40, 223.

Wetherell, Sir Charles, 118, 129, 146-153, 176, 207, 214, 230, 236, 265, 298.

Wharfage dues, 115, 197, 301, 381.

Wherries, passenger, 116.

Whippie, Thomas, 129.

Whipping, punishment by, 5, 80, 83.

Whish, Rev. Martin Richard, 249, 259, 269, 293, 330.

Whisky, restrictions on import, 118.

White Lodge, 441.

White, Sir T., his charity, 81; Dr., charity, 105, 524; Henry, 498.

Whiteladies Road, 314, 329, 362, 463; spring, 281; library, 477.

Whitson's mansion, 288; estate, 305.

Whitwill, Mark, 399, 415, 420, 468.

Wife, sale of a, 123.

Willes, William Henry, 303.

William IV., proclaimed. 136; crowned, 144.

Williams, John, 186.

Wills, William Henry, 399. 508; George, 415, 487; Charles, 466.

Wilmot, Sir John Eardley, 303, 414.

Wilson, Rev. James Maurice, 374.

Window tax abolished, 322.

Wine, Corporate gifts of, 27, 183; purchases of, 125; Ald. Ricketts' sale, 369.

Winkworth, Catherine, 476; Susannah, 487.

Withy-bed in the city, 426.

Women, municipal voters, 447.

Wood pavements, 476.

Woodford, John Russell, 141, 304.

Woodward, Rev. Jonathan Henry, 321, 342; George Bocke, 400.

Wool-hall, 123, 174 note.

Wool, Spanish, high price of, 34.

Woolcott Park, 436.

Woollev, John, love adventures of, 262.

Workhouses, 139, 140, 200, 278, 367.

Working-class dwellings, 274. 275. 487.

Worrall, Samuel, 86; Samuel, 318.

Wraxall, Sir Nathaniel William, 57.

Wright, William, 390.

Yeamans, Robert. supposed body of, 69.

Young Men's Christian Association, 379, 526.

Zigzag constructed, 134; second, 316.

Zoological Gardens, 205.