THE following pages, completing the Annals of Bristol in the Nineteenth Century, have been written at the urgent request of numerous purchasers of the volume issued in 1887; and the compiler has once more to appeal for that kindly consideration which has been already so largely extended to him.

The years whose story is here narrated have been more full of incidents interesting in themselves, and more big with promise as regards the future of Bristol and its citizens, than any previous period of similar length. Much compression has been found necessary in dealing with the principal events, but it is hoped that no important fact has been omitted, and that the narrative will be found both impartial and trustworthy.

Many persons being apparently desirous to bind this supplement with the published Annals, the sheets are issued in a form convenient for that purpose.

JOHN LATIMER.
Trelawny Place, December, 1901.

At a meeting of the Council on January 1st, 1887, it was announced that Mr. Charles Wathen, who had twice occupied the civic chair, had presented the Corporation, for the use of the Mansion House, with two elegant pieces of plate, weighing nearly 300 ounces. A cordial vote of thanks was accorded to the donor.

Owing to the urgent want of additional accommodation for shipping, the Council, on February 8th, adopted a proposal for the construction of a deep-water wharf at Canons' Marsh. The wharf was completed and opened in February, 1891, having cost, including the purchase of the land, £72,461.

“Number 1” tunnel, near St. Anne's, on the Great Western Railway, was ordered to be converted into an open cutting during the early months of 1887. Its demolition, which was not completed until March, 1889, enabled the directors to lay out extensive sidings in that locality for facilitating traffic.

The governors of the General Hospital resolved in March upon a considerable extension of the institution, by the erection of additional wards, nurses' rooms, &c. The outlay was originally estimated at £10,000, but was ultimately double that amount. (See October 23rd, 1891.)

The Bill of the Bristol Consumers' Water Company, proposing to utilise the Severn Tunnel springs for the supply of the city {see p.534), after encountering a determined opposition from the Water Company, was rejected by a committee of the House of Lords on May 16th.

A portion of the church of St. Francis, Ashton Gate, was consecrated by Bishop Ellicott on June 2nd. His lordship stated that it was the last of the churches proposed to be erected by the Commission of 1883. (See p.517.) The nave of the

church was opened on April 1st, 1891, when £5,000 had been expended on the fabric.

The completion of the fiftieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria was celebrated on June 21st with universal demonstrations of loyalty. On the previous day a religious service had been held in the Cathedral in the presence of the Mayor and Corporation, the magistrates, the Merchants' Society, the Corporation of the Poor, the clergy of the city, about sixty ministers of various denominations, and a great number of citizens of all sects - a reunion quite unprecedented in local annals. On the morning of the Jubilee the members of the Corporation, attended by the regular troops stationed at Horfield, the various corps of Volunteers, and the boys of the endowed schools, assembled in Old Market Street, and proceeded through the principal thoroughfares, which were gaily decorated and crowded with spectators, to Durdham Down, where the military tired a royal salute. Generous subscriptions had been offered for the entertainment of the poor, about 9,000 of whom were liberally regaled. In the evening the city was brilliantly illuminated, and enormous bonfires blazed on Brandon Hill and Durdham Down. Similar beacon fires had been prepared on all the chief eminences in the adjacent counties, and on the Observatory Hill upwards of thirty could be discerned in more or less distant localities. On the 22nd the children of the elementary schools walked in procession through the streets to the places fixed for their entertainment - the park at Bedminster, Durdham Down, and Arley Hill. About 38,000 in all were said to have been present. On the 23rd musical services took place in the Cathedral, Handel's Dettingen Te Deum and Mendelssohn's Hymn of Praise being performed in the morning, and the oratorio of Elijah in the evening, by a body of 597 vocalists and instrumentalists. On the 25th, a body of Regular and Volunteer troops, numbering nearly 4,000, assembled on Durdham Down, it being intended that the manoeuvres should take the form of a pitched battle. Owing to the conduct of the spectators (about 50,000), many of whom were said to have resented the erection of large stands, admission to which was reserved to ticket holders, the military display became impracticable. It was announced on the 21st that the Mayor (Alderman Edward) would receive the honour of knighthood, and the formal ceremony was performed by the Queen on the 5th of August. At a meeting of the Council in October, Sir George Edwards stated that the public subscription had amounted to £5,900, of which £2,280 were expended on treats, and £2,000 had been remitted in support of the Imperial Institute in London. Bonfires and

various expenses had absorbed £310, and a balance of £1,300 would be contributed towards the erection of the Queen's statue. (See p.535.)

Telephonic communication was opened on July 7th between Bristol and Gloucester. Communications had been previously opened with Cardiff and Swansea. The annual charge for communicating with Swansea was £40; or to and fro, £60. To Gloucester the charges were £20 and £30.

The Council resolved in August that a piece of ground called Gaunt's Ham, at Barton Hill, about two acres in extent, should be prepared for a place of public recreation. The purchase, laying out and enclosure of the ground were stated in January, 1889, to have cost £5,846, and a further vote was afterwards required to complete the ornamentation.

On August 11th Sir George Edwards exhibited to the Council his plan for the construction of a new road from the Blind Asylum to the centre of the city, by which the journey would be shortened by nearly a quarter of a mile and the gradient greatly improved. He proposed that in the first instance the section between the top of Park Row and Colston Street should be taken in hand. At a subsequent meeting, October 15th, Sir George stated that if the Corporation would lay out a street fifty feet wide, and give up for that purpose some property standing on the line of route, he would himself present nine-tenths of the rest of the ground required. The Council, by a majority of 15 votes to 14, declared it inexpedient to consider the scheme until the question of retaining the Drawbridge was disposed of. The project thus remained dormant for several years. But on February 11th, 1896, a report was submitted to the Council by a special committee that had been appointed to consider Sir George's plan for a thoroughfare from Colston Street to Park Row, he having offered to sell nearly all the property required to make the street for £20,000. The committee recommended that his proposal should be accepted, and stated that the cost of construction would not exceed £42,000. On a division the scheme was rejected by 29 votes against 24.

During the summer months of this year, at the instance of a number of public-spirited citizens, evening concerts were given at the Promenade, Clifton Down, the public garden in Lovers' Walk, and the park at Bedminster, for the entertainment of the public. It was hoped that those who attended would support the movement by small subscriptions; but on more than one occasion the amount collected from several thousand people amounted to only a few shillings. The expenses were thus chiefly borne by the promoters, who, nevertheless, resolved to

continue their efforts in the following summer; and in spite of the discouraging lack of public support, the band was maintained yearly down to the autumn of 1893. On February 21st, 1894, in a letter to the newspapers, the secretaries of the Public Band Society announced that a deficiency of £150 had resulted from the concerts of the previous year, following upon a call of £3 on each of the guarantors to make up a previous deficit in 1892. In despite of the large attendances at each concert, the subscriptions of the public had every year decreased, and from the £892 received in 1887, the total collected in 1893 had fallen to £491. Under these circumstances the Society would discontinue its efforts unless the above deficiency was at once discharged. The appeal practically met with no response, and the promoters of the movement relinquished their labours.

The authorities of the Post Office accepted tenders in September for the removal of New Buildings, Small Street (see p.439) and for the erection thereon of additional premises for the accommodation of the postal staff. The cost of the new wing was estimated at £16,000. The demolition of the buildings began on the 26th September. Beneath the superstructure there were two tiers of ancient cellars, one below the other, forming part of the original mediaeval mansion once owned by the Creswick family, and the destruction of these was found very difficult. The new building was opened for business on the 4th November, 1889.

On the morning of October 25th the well-known public pump in Wine Street was no longer to be seen, its removal having been effected during the previous night by the order of some corporate official. Soon afterwards, St. Peter's Pump, standing over St. Edith's Well, which had been an established institution for many centuries, disappeared in a similar manner.

In the course of the summer a movement was started by some members of the Corporation and other citizens for a thorough restoration of the Mayor's Chapel, and an effort was made by Mr. Alderman Fox, as the mouthpiece of the party, to induce the Council to undertake the cost of the work, which was estimated at about £3,500. This proposal meeting with slender support, the subject was deferred. At the annual meeting in November a modified proposal was made, and a vote of £1,800 was granted without opposition, it being understood that the remaining outlay would be defrayed by public subscription. The work of renovation commenced soon afterwards, under the superintendence of Mr. Pearson, of London, the ugly 18th century porch being demolished in September, 1888, and the whole of the sham ornamentation deforming the structure was

gradually removed. The architect, however, also demolished the tracery of two or three ancient Perpendicular windows, in order, as he alleged, to introduce others in harmony with the rest; but the destruction excited great indignation amongst many antiquaries. The church was re-opened on the 29th September, 1889. Towards the outlay thirteen gentlemen contributed £100 each, and there was a long roll of minor subscriptions. Two stained-glass windows presented by Sir Charles Wathen and Sir George Edwards, a lectern given by Mr. J.H. Lockley, and an organ, were introduced in the following summer.

The top stone of the tower of St. Agnes's Church was laid on November 16th, The total cost of the building had been £9,520, of which £3,000 were granted by the Church Extension Commissioners and £5,287 by a committee consisting chiefly of gentlemen connected with Clifton College.

For some years previous to this date the constantly increasing traffic between the central districts of the city and the western suburbs was greatly impeded by the inconvenient narrowness of the Drawbridge, and by the occasional necessity of opening it at busy periods of the day for the movement of vessels. By degrees a strong feeling arose that no satisfactory remedy of the grievance was practicable so long as shipping was allowed to enter the water space between the obstruction and the Stone Bridge, and on December 13th the Council, by a majority of 36 votes against 11, resolved that the covering over of that portion of the Floating Harbour would be a desirable improvement. The subject, however, produced some singular fluctuations in the policy of the corporate body. On October 12th, 1888, on the recommendation of a committee appointed to consider the Drawbridge question, the Council, practically renouncing the above resolution, determined on the erection of a new swivel bridge of double the existing width, an amendment in favour of a fixed bridge being rejected by a majority of 24 votes against 20. On July 26th, 1889, it was resolved, by 30 votes against 8 (an amendment in favour of a fixed bridge having been previously rejected by 27 votes against 20), to erect a “bascule” bridge of considerable width. As any movable structure was calculated to defeat the projects of the Tramway Company, an agitation was incited against the corporate resolve, and several ward meetings were convened to demand its re-consideration. Nevertheless, on January 28th, 1890, the Council, by a majority of 27 against 18, ordered that the work should proceed. The organised agitation out of doors was thereupon renewed, and a petition praying for a fixed bridge obtained 20,000 signatures.

A motion was made at a Council meeting on February 25th to rescind the resolution of the previous month; but it was defeated by the casting vote of the chairman (Sir G. Edwards), an amendment being carried to defer operations until a committee should report upon the subject. The advocates of a fixed bridge continuing their agitation, the Council, on November 10th, by a majority of 26 against 25, rescinded the resolution of February, and appointed a committee with instructions to apply for Parliamentary powers to cover over the upper portion of the Floating Harbour and to erect a permanent bridge thereon. A statutory resolution approving of the Bill was passed by the Council on November 25th by 34 votes against 15, and a similar meeting of the ratepayers sanctioned the measure with practical unanimity. The required Act received the Royal Assent on May 11th, 1891.

A short tramway line from St. James's Churchyard to St. Augustine's Parade, thus uniting the Horfield branch with those to Redland and the Hotwells, was opened on January 21st, 1888.

A committee of gentlemen, promoters of athletic recreations, and especially desirous of providing a suitable ground for the use of the Gloucestershire Cricket Club, reported on January 23rd that an offer had been made of 26 acres of land on Ashley Down for £6,500. A “County Ground Company” was thereupon formed, with a capital of £12,000, for the purpose of acquiring the estate, laying out the ground, erecting stands, etc., and the project was soon afterwards carried out, and met with widespread support. About 15 acres of the land were reserved for cricket, football, etc., and the rest was converted into building sites.

The Free Library for the Hotwells district (see p.477) was opened by the Mayor on January 25th. It was stated during the proceedings that since the establishment of the Free Libraries five million books had been lent to applicants, and that only twelve had been lost.

The first meeting of the Bristol Tramways and Carriage Company, formed for the purpose of taking over the lines and plant of the original company, was held on January 31st. It was reported that during the twelve years' working of the lines 53 million passengers had been conveyed by the old company.

The prospectus of “The Bristol Brewery, Georges and Co. Limited”, was issued on February 16th. The capital was fixed at £300,000 in £10 shares, and £100,000 in debentures; but the subscriptions were twenty-four times in excess of the aggregate demanded.

An election for West Bristol, caused by the appointment of Sir M. Hicks-Beach as President of the Board of Trade, took place on February 21st, when the right honourable gentleman was returned without opposition.

The eight old women inhabiting All Saints' Almshouse, in All Saints' Street, were removed in March to a new building erected for their accommodation in Bridewell Street, the site of their former dwelling being required for the extension of Messrs. Fry and Sons' cocoa manufactory. This almshouse, down to 1814, was situated in St. John's Lane. It underwent another removal in 1899, the Bridewell Street site being purchased by a brewery company, and the almshouse is now located in St. James's Barton.

On March 26th the members of a newly-formed Conservative Club, styled, in honour of the Prime Minister, the Salisbury Club, entered into possession of the premises in Queen's Road originally occupied as a club by a number of members of the Rifle Volunteers. (See p.390.) The building was formally opened on April 3rd; but the institution met with inadequate support, and, after a chequered existence, was definitely closed in 1896.

At a meeting of the Council on April 24th it was determined to purchase from Sir J. Greville Smyth 79 acres of land at Windmill Hill, Bedminster, and 70 acres lying between the Fishponds road and the Froom at Stapleton, for conversion into public parks. The purchase and laying-out of the parks were stated, in January, 1889, to have been effected by means of a loan of £46,154 - a sum subsequently increased to upwards of £50,000 by further improvements. The Windmill Hill ground was afterwards styled Victoria Park.

At a meeting of the Council on May 8th it was announced that the widow of Charles Abraham Saint, a Bristolian, had presented the Corporation with an elegant silver epergne, weighing 90 ounces, given to her husband by numerous friends as a testimonial of their approval of his public services. Mr. Saint was in his youth a printer in the Bristol Gazette office, and edited for some years the Mount Alexander Mail in Australia.

The property of the Grand Hotel Company (see p.404), a concern which had gone into liquidation in the previous February, was taken over in May by a new company, consisting chiefly of the original shareholders.

The foundation stone of the pediment intended for the reception of the statue of Queen Victoria in College Green (see p.535) was laid on June 1st by Mr. W.A. Powell, with much masonic ceremony. The statue, by J.S. Boehm, arrived a few

weeks later, and H.R.H. Prince Albert Victor (the late Duke of Clarence) kindly promised to be present at the ceremony of unveiling. The royal visitor accordingly arrived on July 25th about midday, and was escorted to the Council House, where he was presented with the freedom of the city in a silver-gilt casket. He then proceeded to College Green, accompanied by the civic authorities, and unveiled the monument in the presence of many thousand spectators. The proceedings were unhappily marred by heavy showers of rain. The Prince next proceeded to the Mansion House for luncheon, passing on his way under a triumphal arch erected at Clifton College. He afterwards visited Colston Hall, where he distributed prizes to the local brigade of Naval Volunteers, and finally returned to the railway station, and departed about half-past five o clock.

A musical service in celebration of the completion of the nave and towers of the Cathedral took place in that edifice on the evening of June 8th. About 3,000 persons were present. The Cathedral was illuminated by electric lights - then a great novelty. The oratorio given was Israel in Egypt Another service took place on the following evening, when Elijah was performed.

In consequence of a reduction of interest effected in Government Three per Cent. Stocks, the trustees of the Bristol Savings Bank found themselves unable to pay the three per cent. interest previously allowed on deposits. Arrangements were accordingly made for the transfer to the Post Office Savings Bank of the funds of the institution, less such sums as should be claimed by depositors. The process began on June 18th. When the annual accounts were made up in the previous November there were 14,840 depositors, to whom £577,477 were due, whilst the trustees had assets amounting to £595,253, exclusive of the bank premises, which had cost about £10,000. The Bank finally closed on the 18th August, when accounts amounting to £484,959 had been transferred to the Postal Banks, and £82,908 had been demanded in cash. A balance of £24,255 - probably representing for the most part unclaimed accounts on which interest had accumulated for many years - was transferred, together with the surplus funds, to the Post Office, which undertook to pay allowances to the old staff of the trustees. (The local Postal Banks had already aggregate deposits amounting, in January, 1887, to £450,000.)

The Council on June 19th approved of the construction of a bathing-place on the Froom, near the Midland Viaduct, at an estimated cost of £1,100. Owing to the disorderly conduct of many of the youths resorting there, the place was closed a few

years later. The Dean and Chapter's offer of their spring at Jacob's Wells for the use of the new baths there was accepted with thanks, and it was resolved to build a tank, costing £800, for storage of the water. It was reported that the spring produced 1,570,000 gallons yearly.

On July 3rd the Council, by a majority of 29 against 23, adopted a report of the Docks Committee, recommending that dues should be imposed on goods imported from coastwise ports, excepting such goods as were destined for exportation. The opposition was mainly composed of persons who were interested in maintaining the previous exemption of the coasting trade.

The Council on July 13th resolved to lay out the ground adjoining Lawford's Gate Prison (see p.509), partly as a playground and partly as a garden, at an estimated cost of about £1,000.

During the summer the Corporation, resuming possession of the garden ground at the top of Charlotte Street, originally part of Brandon Hill, but long demised to private persons, opened a road through it for the use of pedestrians, the remainder of the ground being again added to the open space.

The opening of the free libraries having largely reduced the number of subscribers to the Athenaeum, and there being no prospect that the institution would thenceforth be self-supporting, the proprietors - after unsuccessfully appealing to the Corporation to purchase the building for the purposes of a central free library - determined upon its sale; and on August 19th it was offered by auction, and was bought by Mr. George Corner for £3,050. The Athenaeum was closed on the 6th October. The building was in October, 1889, opened as a Liberal Club, of which Mr. John Morley was the first president.

The Small Arms Commission appointed by the Government to select a magazine rifle for the use of the army selected in September a barrel invented by Mr. Wm. Ellis Metford, of Bristol, and a magazine invented by a Mr. Lee. It was determined to give each inventor a royalty on the weapon, known as the Lee-Metford rifle, and both gentlemen found the arrangement highly profitable.

On September 18th, the Council granted permission to Mr. H. Bennett to work the seams of coal under the new course of the Avon between Bedminster and Bath bridges, on payment of £1,000. A lease of the old Post Office was granted on the same day to the Lancashire Assurance Company for eight years, at a rent of £150 for the first year and £250

per annum for the rest of the term. The shed behind the same house was leased for a like period to Mr. George Corner at £150 for the first year and £200 a year for the remaining years.

The new Granary, erected by the Docks Company near the Harbour Bailway at a cost of £58,000, was opened on September 18th for the storing of corn. The machinery was capable of raising 40 tons of grain per hour.

The sixth Musical Festival was held on October 16th and the three following days. The morning performances included the Elijah, Mackenzie's Rose of Sharon, Cherubini's 4th Mass, Sullivan's Golden Legend, the Walpurgis Night, and The Messiah. There were also three evening concerts. The sum of £4,339 was received for admissions; but the outlay exceeded the receipts by £320, and this was increased by losses on the intermediate concerts to £1,493. A call of £3 10s. was made on each of the guarantors. The collections made for the hospitals realised £154.

On the morning of November 21st, a schooner, laden with 310 barrels of petroleum spirit, about to depart for London, exploded in Bathurst Basin with a tremendous report. The captain, the mate and a boy perished. A sailor, the only other person on board, was blown to a distance of 20 feet, but was rescued with a fractured leg. The basin was covered with flames for some time, owing to the spreading of the spirit, but no material damage was done. Many windows of the General Hospital, however, were blown out by the explosion.

In March, 1888, the model of the ancient High Cross, erected in 1850 at the eastern angle of College Green (p.308), was removed from that site to make room for the statue of Queen Victoria; and was reconstructed in the centre of the Green on the identical spot on which the High Cross stood for a few years prior to its final disappearance from the city. The foundation stone of the new structure was laid on April 16th, the old stone, with the coins originally placed in it, being again made available. The opportunity was taken to fill the model with the seven royal statues that it had previously lacked. They were executed by an Exeter sculptor, and were set up in December, 1889.

The honour of knighthood was conferred on New Year's Day, 1889, on Mr. Charles Wathen, then serving the office of Mayor of Bristol for the fourth time.

The memorial stone of a new building afterwards styled Redland Park Hall, erected at the cost of the Independent congregation of Redland Park Church, chiefly for the instruction

and amusement of the working population, was laid on January 17th. The hall was opened in the autumn.

On the 8th and 9th March, owing to a rapid thaw, accompanied by nearly 48 hours rain after several snowstorms, a wholly unprecedented flood occurred in the valleys of the neighbouring district, especially in that of the Froom. On the evening of the 8th that river rose with great rapidity, and policemen were engaged to arouse the inhabitants near Baptist Mills, in order that they might save their furniture in ground-floor apartments, many of which were soon deeply inundated along a space of two miles. The flood attained its maximum early in the morning of the 9th, and at daybreak that part of the city presented an extraordinary appearance, an area of about 150 acres being submerged. In part of Broadmead the water was from four to five feet high in the middle of the street, and many of the low-lying thoroughfares were in a similar condition. The inhabitants of the northern districts were cut off from the city, and communication could be effected only by boats or high-wheeled vehicles. Another flood occurred at Cheltenham Road from the overflowing of the brooks descending from the neighbouring valleys. A more serious inundation occurred in Bedminster from the rise of the Malago brook, the water finding its way into hundreds of dwellings; and equally pitiable scenes took place in numbers of streets near Stapleton Road, many of which were supposed to be beyond the reach of such a calamity. Altogether, upwards of 2,700 families suffered more or less from the inundation, and in a great number of cases provisions had to be temporarily supplied to them by means of rafts and boats. No time was lost in starting a subscription for the relief of the sufferers, and £11,700 were soon raised. Committees were also appointed in each district to render help, and their first duty was to supply the necessaries of life to the extent of £1,000. Subsequently grants were made to those whose furniture, bedding, &c, were destroyed or damaged; and relief was administered to the extent of about £4,000 to nearly six hundred small shopkeepers and tradesmen who were unable to contend against their losses. Fifteen tons of disinfectants were required to counteract the effects of the sewage deposits left in hundreds of houses on the subsidence of the flood. The Mayor and Mr. W.R. Barker, who superintended the distribution of the funds, attended the Council House daily for about five weeks in the discharge of their duties. In addition to the losses referred to above, twelve churches and chapels and three schools were invaded by the water, and enormous damage was sustained

by many large firms from the flooding of cellars filled with perishable goods. These firms were naturally the loudest in condemning the inactivity of the Council in taking measures to obviate the frequent inundations of the Froom. The public, discontented on this score, was exasperated by the discovery that Mr. Howard, the former engineer to the Docks Committee, had presented a report on the subject in 1882, recommending that a conduit should be constructed to carry off part of the water arising from floods, and that this document had been practically suppressed, although the expense involved in carrying out the proposal would have been only about £5,000. The subject underwent very serious consideration for several months, and on September 17th, the Council, by an almost unanimous vote, resolved on promoting a Bill in Parliament for the construction of a gigantic conduit from the Froom, near Stapleton Road, to the Avon at Black Rock, tapping in its course the Horfield and Cutler's Mills brooks; the expense of the work being estimated at about £200,000. At another meeting on the 1st October a scheme was approved for making additional culverts near the course of the Froom, so as to carry off flood-water more rapidly into the Floating Harbour, and to make three similar conduits at a cost of £9,000 to relieve the overflows of the Malago stream. (Steps had been already taken to remove the obstructions that prevented the passage of the Froom floods by way of Castle Ditch.) A public meeting in the Guildhall approved of the scheme to be laid before Parliament by a practically unanimous vote. The subsidiary schemes were first taken in hand; and at a meeting of the Council on May 22nd, 1891, when it was stated that £40,000 had been already spent, and a further expenditure of £53,000 approved of, for carrying out preventive measures, it was resolved, by a majority of 20 against 17, to proceed with the Black Rock conduit scheme. The resolution, however, was not carried into effect. Another attempt to further the plan was made in February, 1893; but it was met with an amendment to defer operations until the works already approved had been tested by experience, and the latter was adopted by 29 votes against 19.

A man named Withy, convicted of murder, was executed in Horfield gaol on March 11th. This was the first execution after the removal of the prison from the city.

The Council, at a meeting on April 12th, resolved to purchase from the South Western Banking Company, for £3,000, the old rectory house of St. Werburgh's, part of which projected several feet into Small Street. A large additional sum had to be given

to the lessee in order to obtain possession, which was not effected for some months. After the removal of the projection, the proprietors of the Commercial Rooms claimed the rest of the building, under a right of pre-emption reserved to them under a previous agreement with the Bank, and the Council surrendered the premises on receiving £1,180.

The Marquis of Salisbury, Prime Minister, arrived in Bristol on April 22nd, and became the guest of Mr. C.D. Cave, of Clifton. On the following morning, accompanied by the Duke of Beaufort, he visited the Suspension Bridge, and afterwards addressed two meetings of working men at Bedminster and Old Market Street. Having lunched at the Salisbury Club, he made a short speech to the members, over whom Sir Michael Hicks Beach presided; and in the evening, previous to his departure, he addressed a crowded gathering at the Drill Hall, when the chair was taken by the Duke of Beaufort.

The public baths at Jacob's Wells, erected by the Corporation at a cost of £10,000 (see p.310), were opened by the Mayor on April 25th, in the presence of a numerous gathering. The completeness of the building and its arrangements gave general satisfaction.

The practical completion of the buildings of Clifton College by the erection of an imposing tower and gateway was resolved upon during the spring, the headmaster, the Rev. J.M. Wilson, having offered a donation of £2,000 towards the outlay. The building, which contains a Council Room, a Natural History Museum, and a school for the sixth form, was finished during the year, and was subsequently designated the Wilson Tower.

On April 26th, whilst some workmen were digging clay in a brickyard near Mina Road, they disinterred a rude lead coffin of a Romano-British type, containing human remains. The lid of the coffin fitted on to the bottom like the lid of a pill-box. A brass coin of the Emperor Constantine, found in some clay near the spot, doubtless indicated the date of the burial. Two stone cists, also containing bones, were discovered a few days later. The Roman road from Bath to Sea Mills probably crossed the Froom near the site of this little cemetery.

On May 11th and 12th the ex-Empress Eugenie of France, who received part of her youthful education at a school in Royal York Crescent, paid a brief visit to Clifton to review the scenes of her early life, taking up her abode at the St. Vincent's Rocks Hotel.

The church of St. Saviour, Woolcott Park (see p.518), having been completed in accordance with the original design, was

again consecrated by Bishop Ellicott on May 21st The outlay on the entire edifice had been £12,000.

The Bristol Water Company obtained Parliamentary powers during the Session for increasing the supply of the city and district by drawing water from the river Yeo, and constructing a new reservoir capable of containing 3,500 million gallons, by which the estimated daily supply would be raised to 15 million gallons (see p.281). Powers were also taken to increase the capital of the undertaking to £1,250,000. The construction of the reservoir, which is in fact a lake about a mile and three quarters in length, was a gigantic undertaking, and was not completed until 1901.

It was announced in June that the Rev. Henry Daniel had presented an extensive mansion, long occupied by his family in Berkeley Square, as a dwelling for the Bishop of Bristol, when the old diocese should be revived in an independent form.

The authorities of Bristol University College received an intimation from the Government on July 23rd that an annual grant of £1,200 had been allotted to the institution.

At a meeting on September 17th the Council approved of the purchase of property adjoining the Council House, for £12,000, with a view to extend the existing Municipal Buildings.

The stokers employed by the Bristol Gas Company struck work in October, demanding a reduction in their period of labour to eight hours daily. Men were brought from distant towns to supply their places, but were treated with such brutality by those on strike that they were afraid to work. The directors, who complained bitterly of the apathetic conduct of the police, were forced to accede to the demands of the stokers on the 9th, but protected the interests of the shareholders by advancing the price of gas.

Encouraged by the success of the stokers, the workmen of several other trades went upon strike during the closing weeks of the year. The hands employed at the Cotton Works demanded an advance in wages of 10 per cent., leaving their employment without notice, and surrendered only after a long struggle. Ten thousand shoemakers also refused to work, requiring terms which the masters declared would destroy the local trade. Bargemen, seeking for higher terms, attempted to block the upper navigation of the Avon; while many labourers at the Docks sought to render the loading and unloading of ships impossible by violently assaulting those willing to work. The dislocation of trade was not terminated until the end of the following January.

The Council, on October 22nd, affirmed the desirability of

acquiring about 12 acres of land, part of the St. Andrew's Park estate, Montpelier, for conversion into a public pleasure ground, and instructed the Sanitary Committee to negotiate for the purchase. (Eleven acres were obtained in the following August for £6,600.) The Council also resolved to promote a Bill in Parliament for connecting the Harbour Railway with Cumberland Basin, and for constructing a coal tip in the Floating Harbour.

A feeling as to the desirability of an extension of the city boundaries had begun to prevail widely amongst members of the Corporation for some time previous to this period. The area within civic jurisdiction applicable to building purposes having been practically exhausted, the needs of an increasing population could be supplied only by resorting to suburban districts, some of which were already inhabited by thousands of Bristolians enjoying all the benefits of the city whilst escaping its burdens and responsibilities. The subject having been brought under discussion in the Council, a committee was appointed to consider the matter and produce a desirable scheme. The committee, after protracted inquiries, reported on February 21st, 1891, recommending the inclusion in the city of the parishes of Horfield, Stapleton, St. George, Mangotsfield (part), Oldland, Hanham, Brislington (part), Bedminster (further part), Long Ashton (part), Shirehampton, Henbury (part), and Westbury (further part). The total area of these districts was 18,503 acres, the population 72,320, and the rateable value £270,000. The Council subsequently entered into negotiations with the authorities of the parishes in question, but the project was received with a chorus of disapproval, and the County Councils of Somerset and Gloucester being equally antagonistic, the matter was temporarily dropped.

The fourth division of the Ordnance Survey Corps left Bristol on November 12th, after a sojourn of seventeen years. The corps produced a number of plans of the city of various sizes, one of them being on a scale of about ten feet to a mile.

The Llandaff City steamer, of Messrs. Hill's New York line, left for America on January 1st, 1890, but had to return to Bristol for repairs in consequence of a storm. Whilst steaming up the Avon on the 9th, she was run into near Pill by a steamer called the Virant, proceeding at a high speed. The former vessel almost immediately sank, and lying athwart the river completely blocked the navigation. The Llandaff City was raised and brought up to the Floating Harbour on the 18th. The Virant, which proceeded, was wrecked a few days later on the Spanish coast. Her owners had to pay £13,000 damages to the owners of the Llandaff City.

At a meeting of the Council on April 1st, a report was presented from the Downs Committee recommending the opening of a new carriage road across the Downs from Upper Belgrave Road to Sneyd Park. The proposal, which was a revival of the scheme that created so much indignation in 1862 (see p.319), was rejected by 37 votes against 5.

On April 23rd Mr. Handel Cossham, M.P., was seized with illness in the House of Commons, and died in about two hours. His funeral, which took place at Avon View cemetery, St. George's, on the 28th, occasioned a public demonstration of unprecedented magnitude in the district. The procession of mourners was 50 minutes in passing a given point, and many thousands of persons lined the route. By his will Mr. Cossham left a large sum to his wife for life, to be subsequently devoted to the building and endowment of a medical hospital for Kingswood.

An order was issued on April 26th for the winding up of the Bristol Joint Stock Banking Company. The paid-up capital amounted to about £12,000, most of which had been absorbed in expenses.

An election for Bristol East, caused by the death of Mr. Handel Cossham, took place on May 9th. The polling was as follows: Sir Joseph Dodge Weston, nominated by the Liberals, 4,775; Mr. James Inskip, Tory, 1,900; Mr. J.H. Wilson, a Labour candidate, 602.

The Council approved on May 13th of plans for the erection of an extensive police station at Redland, at a cost of £4,275.

A party of 3,500 Bristolians paid a visit on May 27th to Mr. Gladstone at Hawarden. The excursionists, who were conveyed in five special trains, returned to Bristol early on the following morning.

The Council on May 10th rejected a report of a committee recommending that a contract should be entered into with a private company for lighting the four central streets by electricity, and resolved by 33 votes against 5 to keep lighting by that power in its own hands - the committee being directed to produce an eligible scheme. It is probable that few members of the civic body then foresaw the magnitude of the enterprise on which they resolved to embark, or the brilliancy of its results. A brief narrative of the subsequent progress of the undertaking may, perhaps, be conveniently given at once in a connected form. On March 11th, 1891, the Electrical Committee, in a report to the Council, recommended that 90 arc lamps of 1,000 candle-power each should be erected in the central streets. The yearly cost of lighting was estimated at £2,500, or double the expense of gas.

The cost of the plant was estimated at £66,000, exclusive of a site belonging to the Corporation, but it was anticipated that a profit would be made by furnishing 10,000 lights to places of business, &c. The Council adopted the report, and empowered the committee to proceed. On October 21st, 1892, another report of the committee, recommending the acceptance of a tender for the erection of an electric power station at Temple Back, at a cost of £13,346, was also approved. (Great difficulty was subsequently encountered in securing a solid foundation for the building on the marshy ground, involving an additional expenditure of £7,000). On November 20th, 1893, the works being in full operation, Bristol Bridge and the neighbouring thoroughfares were illuminated with great success; the system was extended a few days later to other streets; and on December 7th the new lamps were completed in the last section of the district selected by the Council, namely, from St. Augustine's Bridge to the Victoria Rooms. The total number of arc lights was then 93. In the meantime, so large a demand for incandescent lamps had been made by private consumers within the illuminated area, that it was found necessary to order an extension of the plant. At a meeting of the Council on the 12th December the Electrical Committee reported that their original estimate had been exceeded, partly owing to the difficulty mentioned above, and partly from the necessity of extending the works. The increased outlay amounted to nearly £19,000, and £5,000 more were required for additional plant. The Council voted the sums demanded. St. John's Church, Broad Street, was lighted by electricity on January 21st, 1894, and the example was soon afterwards followed at St. Nicholas. On April 9th, 1895, the Council resolved to borrow £10,000 for further extensions of the system to Whiteladies Road, Stokes Croft, Bedminster, &c. The loss on the first year's working of the system was reported to have been only £824. On May 1st, 1896, the Council adopted a report of the Committee, recommending the borrowing of a further sum of £75,000 for additional buildings and plant, and for the extension of the system to various parts of the city. It was stated that the receipts had sufficed to pay working expenses and interest of capital, and had left a profit of £1,500 during the first six months of the current year. On December 14th, 1897, the Council, at the suggestion of the Committee, resolved on obtaining an additional loan of £25,000, for the purpose of erecting 200 more lamps in various thoroughfares. On September 2nd, 1898, arc lamps were extended throughout Whiteladies Road, and soon afterwards to the main thoroughfares in Clifton. On February 14th, 1899, the Council approved of a further vote of £25,000 to the Electric Committee.

It was stated that the receipts of the winter quarter during the first year's installation were £1,231; and for the like period of 1898, £10,301. A further vote of £10,000 was granted by the Council in May, when, owing to the increasing demands of consumers, the Committee felt themselves in a position to reduce the charge for lamps by 16 per cent. The effect was naturally to increase the public requirements, and on September 11th the Committee, stating that their resources were nearly exhausted, applied to the Council for power to purchase nine acres of land in St. Philip's Marsh, at a cost of about £15,000, for the erection of another power station. The report was approved. On January 1st, 1900, the Committee recommended that in view of meeting anticipated public demands they should be empowered, as needs arose, to erect additional buildings and increase the plant by an outlay of £145,000. Alderman Pearson, the Chairman of the Committee and the prime mover of the undertaking from the outset, stated, in presenting the report, that the number of private lights had increased from 9,750 in the first year to 81,196, the largest annual increase being in 1899. In a further report submitted in the following July, it was stated that the gross receipts, which amounted to £6,452 in the first year of the installation, had risen in the past twelvemonth to £31,718, leaving a profit of £13,756. The capital expended had been £539,650, but £40,000 of that sum had been already paid off, and there was a reserve in hand of over £7,000. The number of arc lamps in the streets was 311, and of private lights 85,956.

On May 10th, 1890, the Council resolved to apply for power to borrow £30,000 for an extension of the Lunatic Asylum, to enable it to accommodate nearly 800 patients. The entire cost of the additional buildings was estimated at £47,000.

Under the provisions of an Act which received the Royal Assent in July, the property of the Port and Pier Railway Company (see p.453) was acquired by the Midland Company.

The Rev. J.M. Wilson, headmaster of Clifton College, was nominated in July to the Archdeaconry of Manchester and vicarage of Rochdale. His successor at the College was the Rev. M.G. Glazebrook, M.A., who entered on his duties at the close of the year.

The area of Chatterton Square, near Temple Gate, one of the most sordid localities in the city, was converted during the autumn into a recreation ground, at a trifling cost to the Corporation.

The Trustees of Lady Haberfield (see p.481), having purchased the property in Hotwell Road formerly known as the

“Royal Gloucester Hotel”, demolished the old buildings, and erected on the site an extensive almshouse for the reception of twenty-four inmates. The work, which was completed in September, involved an outlay of £10,000, exclusive of the site.

At a meeting, on September 26th, of gentlemen of literary and scientific tastes, it was resolved to establish a place of reunion under the title of the Science Club. A house having been secured in Berkeley Square, and suitably furnished, the club, whose name was altered to “Literary and Scientific”, took possession of the premises on January 1st, 1891. Subsequently, further accommodation being found necessary for the increased number of members, the club took, on what was supposed to be a temporary tenancy, the large mansion in the same square that had been given by Mr. Daniel as an episcopal residence in expectation of a revival of the bishopric of Bristol. But, as will be subsequently shown, the site was disapproved soon after the appointment of the Bishop, and in May, 1898, the club purchased the premises for £2,750.

The seventh Bristol Musical Festival commenced on October 22nd, and was continued on the three following days. The morning performances comprised Gounod's Redemption, the Elijah, C.H. Parry's Judith, and the Messiah. There were also two evening concerts. The total number of attendances was 9,190; but the receipts, a little under £4,000, were insufficient to meet the expenditure, which amounted to £4,858, and a call was made upon the guarantors. The subscriptions for the hospitals amounted to £148.

The north transept window of the Cathedral (erected in 1705 after being destroyed in the Great Storm of 1703) was entirely reconstructed during the year under the superintendence of Mr. Pearson, who furnished an original design instead of restoring the former tracery. The window was filled with stained glass by Powell and Son, of London; and the whole expense of the work was borne by members of the Dolphin Society, who constructed it as a memorial of Edward Colston. The window was unveiled on October 30th, after a special service in the Cathedral.

It was announced on November 4th that Mr. [afterwards Sir} George Newnes, M.P., was about to excavate a tunnel for an hydraulic railway, or lift, from the shore of the Avon near the Hot Well, to the summit of the precipice, near the Zigzag, for the convenience of pedestrians. Although not so stated at the time, the Merchants' Society gave their consent to this undertaking on condition that Mr. Newnes should construct, at the

northern end of Prince's Buildings, a hydropathic institution, including a Pump Room for a revived Hot Well Spa. Preparations for boring the tunnel commenced soon afterwards, and the first “shot” to blast away the rock was fired by Mrs. Mayoress on March 7th, 1891. Owing to unsuspected “faults” encountered in the strata, the excavation proved a laborious work, and the original estimate of the cost (about £10,000) did not represent a third of the actual outlay. The railway was opened without any public ceremony on March 11th, 1893, and attracted many visitors, about 110,000 passengers being conveyed in the first six weeks of its operation. Whilst it was under construction, Mr. Newnes obtained an elegant design for the proposed Pump Room, but it could not be carried out owing to the self-seeking opposition of an individual, and a building of only one storey was erected. This fine hall, styled the Clifton Pump Room and Spa, was opened by the Mayoress on August 1st, 1894, when the event was celebrated by a luncheon, at which the enterprise of Mr. Newnes and the beauty of the building were warmly eulogised. The interior reconstruction of three large houses in Prince's Buildings was subsequently undertaken by a joint-stock company, and the “Clifton Grand Spa Hydro” was opened on March 31st, 1898, at a musical reception given by the chairman, Sir George Newnes, and his brother directors, to nearly 700 guests. Sir George, in a brief address, narrated the history of the undertaking, observing that his engagement with the Merchants' Society had now been fulfilled, and that the institution would bear comparison with those of some of the most celebrated continental watering places.

The Governors of Clifton College resolved in November to purchase from the trustees of Alderman Proctor a field 4½ acres in extent, fronting Canynges' Road, in order to form an additional playground for the schoolboys. The price obtained for the plot was £20,375.

A meeting was held at Merchants' Hall on December 3rd to further the work of church extension by building a church (St. Martin's) at Montpelier, and to acquire sites for others at Easton and Bishopston. About £7,500 was required, and nearly £3,000 was subscribed in the room.

The Council approved on December 9th of the purchase of a small property near Mina Road for £1,080, with a view to adding the site to the pleasure ground already opened there.

The banking house of Messrs. Miles, Cave, Baillie, & Co. (the “Old Bank”), the last of the once numerous private banking firms of Bristol, was merged on January 1st, 1891, in a new

united company, comprising (in addition to the former proprietors) Messrs. Prescott, Cave & Co., and Messrs. Dimsdale, Fowler & Co. of London, and Messrs. Tugwell & Co. of Bath. The paid-up capital was stated to be £1,250,000.

At a Council meeting on January 1st it was reported that Mr. John Evan Davies had made a gift to the Corporation of a handsome silver salver, formerly presented by the Corporation of the Poor to Sir John Kerle Haberfield.

The Council, at the above meeting, confirmed an agreement made with Sir Joseph Weston by which he surrendered his manorial rights over the corporation land at Portishead, together with two acres of land, receiving in compensation 12J acres of land.

The Council on January 13th resolved upon the construction of a graving dock and coaling dock at Avonmouth, at an estimated cost of £121,400. The plans underwent a modification in the following August, when a pontoon graving dock was determined upon, reducing the outlay by about £30,000.

On February 2nd the Arno's Vale Cemetery Company (which had added about seven acres of ground to the cemetery, under the Act of 1880, see p.226) resolved on promoting another Bill, to enable them to purchase eight additional acres. The scheme met with no opposition. During the month an attempt was made to establish a cemetery near Stoke Bishop. The Home Secretary at first looked with approval on the project, but owing to the vehement protests of some of the neighbouring residents his assent was soon afterwards withdrawn.

A dispute between the local Footpaths Association and Mr. James Sinnott, owner of land at St. Anne's, respecting certain footpaths to the site of St. Anne's Chapel, arose in the summer of 1888. In June, 1881), the Association established a ferry over the Avon near the chapel, contending that such a communication had existed from time immemorial, and Mr. Sinnott then commenced an action against Mr. E.C. Tuckett, the Secretary of the Association, claiming £1,000 damages. By order of the Supreme Court, Mr. Verey, Official Beferee, opened a court to hear the parties in July, 1890. After sitting two days he adjourned the case until October, when he heard evidence for six days, a great number of witnesses being produced by the defendant to prove the constant plying of the ferry and the use of the footpaths until the purchase of the estate by Mr. Sinnott. The Beferee again sat in London in January, 1891, to hear counsel on each side. Finally, on March 20th, he gave judgment for the defendant, with costs.

The Council resolved in March to borrow £5,600 additional

for laying out Windmill Hill and St. Andrew's parks and Gaunts Ham pleasure ground. The sum was increased in August and October to £9,200.

To obviate the confusion caused by the almost synonymous appellations of three railway stations, the Clifton Bridge station on the Portishead line had its name altered in March to Rownham, Clifton station on the Avonmouth branch was styled Hotwells, and Clifton Down station became Clifton only.

H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh paid a brief visit to the city on April 22nd, to fulfil a previous promise to conduct a concert given in aid of the funds of the District Nurses Society. There was a large and fashionable attendance, and the Prince displayed remarkable efficiency in the performance of his task. He was entertained at the Mansion House to luncheon, dinner and supper.

The foundation stone of a new church was laid in Leigh Woods by Lady Smyth on August 1st. The church, dedicated to St. Mary, was opened on October 16th, 1892. The cost of the fabric had been £3,130, exclusive of numerous gifts of stained glass and other ornaments; and a vicarage house was afterwards added. The ceremony of consecration was performed by Bishop Bromby, coadjutor, on October 18th, 1893.

The foundation stone of the Ford Memorial Hall, intended for a place of reunion for the Conservative residents in Bedminster, was laid on August 4th by Lord Cross, Secretary of State for India. The hall was opened on April 20th, 1892, by Lord Chancellor Halsbury, who afterwards delivered several political addresses in various parts of the city.

At a meeting of the Council on August 11th a committee on technical instruction, previously appointed, reported that the amount to be received from the Government under the Local Taxation Act, 1890, (for dealing with a financial surplus originally intended to compensate publicans who might be deprived of their licenses) would be about £5,220 annually. They recommended that this sum should be devoted to the promotion of education, and suggested that £500 should be allotted to University College, £200 to the Grammar School, £500 to making better provision for art teaching, £1,350 for founding junior scholarships, £950 for senior scholarships, £1,000 for making better provision for the education of girls, £200 for evening class scholarships, £200 for the extension of evening classes, and £200 to instruction in the building, shoe, and metal trades. A surplus of £5,000 would remain over the outlay during the first two years, during which the scholarship grants would be only partially in operation, and it was

recommended that £2,000 should be given to University College, £2,000 to the Grammar School, and £1,000 to the School of Art. The report was adopted.

Dr. Gilbert Elliot, who had held the office of Dean of Bristol for forty-one years, died on August 11th, in his ninety-second year. He was buried a few days later in the cloisters, and in July, 1895, a marble recumbent statue of the very reverend gentleman was placed by his family in one of the monumental recesses in the nave of the Cathedral. Dean Elliot was a Low Churchman, and had invariably resisted what he deemed the innovating proclivities of the High Church canons. In the following November the latter ordered that a large brass cross, with vases of flowers, together with the old Cathedral candlesticks, should be placed upon the Communion Table, whilst the chorister boys were provided with black cassocks and shortened surplices. The new Dean, Francis Pigou, D.D., preferred from the deanery of Chichester, was installed on December 9th, the Mayor, many members of the Corporation, and nearly 100 clergymen being present at the ceremony. Dr. John Pilkington Norris, Archdeacon and Canon of Bristol, and a munificent contributor towards the restoration of the Cathedral, was nominated to the deanery of Chichester, but died on December 29th, a few days after his appointment. A bronze portrait tablet to his memory was unveiled in the Cathedral on January 6th, 1893.

At a meeting of the Council on August 28th a tender was accepted for the erection of a refuse destructor, at a cost of £5,959. The apparatus, however, including the land purchased for the site, involved an outlay of £14,000.

A disastrous explosion of gas in the workings of the Malago Colliery, Bedminster, occurred on August 31st, by which ten men lost their lives.

The Act empowering the Corporation to deal with the Drawbridge and the Floating Harbour having come into operation, the Council, at a meeting on October 13th, adopted a report of the Fixed Bridge Committee recommending the carrying out of plans by Mr. F. Fry, C.E., for the erection of a permanent bridge at a cost of £8,065, and for arching over the condemned water space at an outlay of £15,493. The former proposal was approved unanimously; the second by a large majority. To provide quay accommodation in the place of that destroyed by the scheme, the Council voted £30,500 for widening St. Augustine's Parade, and also for constructing wharves there; but the latter projects were subsequently postponed for two years. The improvement works were begun in February, 1892,

the first operation being the removal of the remains of 1,189 bodies from those portions of St. Augustine's Churchyard intended to be thrown into the streets; whilst another band of workmen were employed in constructing a dam across the Float, in order that the water space between the Stone Bridge and this bulwark might be pumped dry. The dam gave way just after the pumping operations were completed, but the accident was quickly remedied, and excavations for the side walls to support the arches for the narrowed course of the Froom were begun on May 10th. The southern half of the new bridge was opened for traffic on March 29th, 1893. This portion occupied the site of the former Drawbridge. A temporary wooden bridge that had been erected on the northern side of the Drawbridge was next removed, and the other moiety of the new structure was rapidly reared on the site, completing what was forthwith styled St. Augustine's Bridge. On the 6th May, 1893, the “last brick” of the arched covering of the water space was laid by the son of Mr. Krauss, the contractor. The Docks Committee demanded, and obtained, £30,000 in compensation for the lost accommodation for shipping occasioned by the project.

H.R.H. the Duke of Edinburgh paid another visit to the city on October 23rd. He was received at the railway station by the civic dignitaries, and was conducted to the Council House, where he was presented with the freedom of the city. After briefly returning thanks, he proceeded to Colston Hall, where he was entertained to luncheon, and subsequently presided at a rehearsal of an intended evening concert. This task accomplished, he repaired to the Mansion House, where he partook of dinner with a numerous party; and shortly afterwards returned to Colston Hall, to fulfil the chief object of his visit. The concert, which attracted a brilliant audience, was given on behalf of the funds of the St. Agnes' Institute, and the Prince ably conducted a large body of instrumentalists. After the performance, Mr. John Harvey entertained his Royal Highness, the Duke of Beaufort, the Earl of Cork, and other distinguished persons to supper. On the following morning the Prince, who had slept at the Mansion House, proceeded to the General Hospital, where he opened a new wing, just completed at a cost of £10,000. He next planted a tree at the St. Agnes' Industrial Home, at Knowle, and finally lunched at the Mansion House before departing for Plymouth.

On November 30th, Dr. Ellicott, Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, was presented in the chapter-house of the Cathedral with a richly-decorated pastoral staff, mitre, and cope, the results of a subscription amongst local High Churchmen. The

presentation was made by Sir Charles Wathen, in the presence of an influential gathering.

At a meeting of the Council on December 9th a committee was appointed to consider as to the desirability of continuing the Mansion House as the official residence of future mayors. The yearly cost of the establishment was stated to have increased to £1,200. Alderman Fox observed that until recent years a mayor was considered to amply fulfil the duties of hospitality if he entertained 300 or 400 citizens, but since the opening of the Mansion House the number of guests had reached nearly 3,000. (The inquiry of the committee was resultless.)

At another meeting on March 8th, 1892, the Council resolved on the purchase of Kennison's Bath for the purpose of opening it as a public swimming bath, at a cost of £1,500. (The bath was reopened in the autumn of 1893.) A tender was also accepted for erecting public lavatories on Durdham Down, at an outlay of £1,115 - a sum barely representing one-third of the actual expenditure upon them.

The Bristol Naval Volunteer Corps (see p.478) was disbanded in April by a summary order of the Government, which refused to continue the Parliamentary grant to this class of volunteers.

A local newspaper of April 22nd announced the discovery of some interesting remains of the Franciscan Friary in an ancient house near Lewin's Mead. The building appeared to have been the dormitory, and the upper part of some handsome traceried windows in the Decorated style was brought to light. A singular arched passage (a conduit?) was found to pass under the premises in the direction of the Froom.

A tremendous fire broke out in the afternoon of May 14th at a petroleum warehouse on Temple Back. The burning fluid poured in vast quantities into the Floating Harbour, the surface of which resembled a lake of fire; and several small vessels, including one of the Corporation barges, were destroyed. The total damage was estimated at £60,000.

At a meeting, on May 26th, of the proprietors of the Bristol and West of England Bank, a proposal for the transfer of the business to Lloyds Bank, Limited, was approved and confirmed. Under the agreement the shareholders were to receive a dividend of 13 per cent, per annum on the paid-up capital.

The last remaining section of the broad gauge system of the Great Western Railway Company (the lines west of Exeter) was superseded by narrow gauge rails between the 20th and 22nd of May. The last broad gauge train passed through Bristol for London on the morning of the 21st.

A meeting was held in Merchants' Hall on June 13th with

the object of raising funds for the further restoration of the Cathedral. Dean Pigou stated that the restoration of the central tower and Elder Lady Chapel, and various alterations in the choir, would involve an outlay of upwards of £18,000. The Merchants' Society subscribed £1,000; and in March, 1893, when £6,000 had been contributed, the reparation was commenced of the tower and Lady Chapel. At a meeting of the restoration committee in the following June permission was given to Mr. Pearson to remove the ancient north entrance to the Lady Chapel, a fine doorway built by one of the latest abbots of St. Augustine's. This step was taken, it was said, with a view to “restoring the chapel to its original symmetry”. The demolition of this historical feature of the building was strongly condemned by many antiquaries. The chapel was reopened on January 6th, 1894, with a religious service. Six months later, July 4th, the capstone of the chief pinnacle of the central tower, completing the restoration of that massy structure, was laid by the Dean. The extreme height of the new pinnacle from the ground was officially stated to be 148 feet. The “dedication service” of the reconstructed choir, in which Bishop Ellicott took a leading part, was celebrated on May 2nd, 1895; but the formal opening took place with great ceremony on the following day, when the Archbishop of Canterbury paid a visit to the city to manifest his interest in the work accomplished. The Primate was received at the railway station by the Mayor, and conducted to the Council House, where he was entertained to luncheon, with the Duke of Beaufort and other visitors. He was then taken to the Cathedral, into which he was ushered by an imposing procession, including many ecclesiastical dignitaries, the members of the Corporation and of other civic bodies, nearly all the leading inhabitants (including many dissenters), and as great a number of clergymen in their robes. After preaching an eloquent sermon, his Grace returned to London in the afternoon. The collections at these reopening services did not meet the expectations of the restoration committee. As a matter of fact, the so-called “restorations”, which resulted in a choir such as had never existed at any previous period, were regarded by many persons with the reverse of approval. The public subscribed several thousand pounds to carry out the “restorations” of 1860, a leading feature of which was the increased accommodation provided for worshippers, the 300 seats previously available in the choir being raised to 1,000. By the latest remodelling the laity were swept out of that part of the edifice, the only sittings retained being the stalls intended for the clergy and the Cathedral officers. A copious display of

glaring marbles on the floor was deemed by old worshippers a poor equivalent for the arrangement by which the services could be heard, and not, as the new plan prescribed, merely be seen as a dumb-show. The rebuilding of the north side of the cloisters was finished in July, 1895. Some remaining fragments of the original work were preserved. The cost of this restoration was borne by Canon Tetley and Mrs. Gale Coles.

At a meeting of the Council on June 14th, 1892, a letter was read from Mr. W.H. Wills, offering to erect, on the new bridge at St. Augustine's, a replica in bronze of the marble statue of Edmund Burke standing in St. Stephen's Hall, Westminster. A cordial vote of thanks was passed for the generous offer. The statue was unveiled by the Earl of Rosebery, then Prime Minister, on October 30th, 1894. The noble visitor arrived at the railway station about mid-day, and proceeded to the Council House, where he was presented with the freedom of the city. He was then conducted to the statue, which he was invited by the Earl of Cork to unveil, and this he did amidst the cheering of a vast crowd of spectators. An adjournment was then made to Colston Hall, where Lord Rosebery delivered an eloquent address on the life and character of Burke, and his connection with Bristol. After partaking of luncheon with the Mayor, his lordship left for London. The certificate of freedom was forwarded subsequently in an elegant silver-gilt casket, enamelled with Lord Rosebery's arms, and with views of the Burke statue, the High Cross, the Cathedral, and the Suspension Bridge.

The Royal Assent was given on June 27th, 1892, to a Bill for transferring the endowments, schools, etc., of St. Bartholomew's parish (see page 380) to a new district partially formed out of St. Andrew's, Montpelier. The church of St. Bartholomew had become almost wholly enclosed by repeated extensions of the cocoa works of Messrs. Fry and Sons, and those gentlemen gave a large sum for the site, which was needed for further developments. The memorial stone of the new church was laid by the Mayoress on July 25th, 1893. The building, to which a district parish was allocated by subtractions from the adjoining parishes, was consecrated by Bishop Marsden on May 10th, 1894.

At a meeting of the Clifton Down Hotel Company in June it was resolved to reconstruct the concern. A petition praying for the necessary powers was heard in the Chancery Division on the 14th January, 1893. It was stated that the original share capital was intended to have been £40,000 in £10 shares, but that only 2,715 of these were issued, on which £2 each had been paid. A sum of £18,230 had been raised on debentures, and £21,000 on mortgages. The loss sustained by the company

was stated to have been £21,000. The Court gave leave to reduce the share capital to 4,000 shares of £2 each.

Parliament was dissolved at the end of June, and new writs were issued immediately. By a private arrangement between the political leaders, contests were avoided in Bristol West and Bristol East, where the previous members, Sir Michael Edward Hicks-Beach (Tory) and Sir Joseph Dodge Weston (Liberal) were re-elected. Bristol North - The retiring member, Mr. Lewis Fry (Liberal Unionist), warmly supported by the Tories, was opposed by Mr. Charles Townsend (Liberal), and was rejected, the poll being: Mr. Townsend, 4,409; Mr. Fry, 4,064. Bristol South - Sir Edward Stock Hill (Tory) again offered himself, and the opposition of Mr. William Henry Wills (Liberal) was unsuccessful, the retiring member polling 4,990 votes, and Mr. Wills 4,442.

On July 8th, Mr. Arthur Ruscombe Poole, Q.C., was appointed Recorder of Bristol in the room of Mr. Prideaux, who had died on the 18th of June.

Mrs. Rosa Mliller having offered to place in the Cathedral a bust, by Nathan Branwhite, of the great Bristol artist, William Müiller, a subscription was started in July to defray the cost of a pedestal. The monument was erected in the following December.

About this time the Gas Company ordered the demolition of the remarkable chimney originally built in 1852 by Messrs. Leonard and Jordan, for their alkali works in St. Philip's Marsh. The chimney was 250 feet in height, and contained about 750,000 bricks.

At a meeting of the Council on September 20th a report was read by Mr. Charles Wills, on behalf of the Docks Committee, recommending very extensive and important additions to the dock at Avonmouth, with a view to accommodating the largest class of ocean steamers and developing the advantages of the port. The committee advised the construction of a new dock, with an entrance lock, 730 feet in length (afterwards increased to 800), the existing dock being incapable of admitting ships whose length exceeded 435 feet - a dimension far surpassed by many new vessels. The cost of the additional basin was estimated at £800,000. It was further suggested that a half-tide landing stage should be erected at Dunball, at a cost of £85,000, and that another granary should be built at an expense of £40,000. A bridge, to be thrown over the Avon near Cumberland Basin, and coal tips and sidings for the shipment of fuel, were estimated to entail a further outlay of £67,500, making, with the required purchases of land, etc., a total of

£1,012,500. The report underwent a lengthy discussion, which was continued at an adjourned meeting a week later, when Mr. H.N. Abbott moved as an amendment that the matter should be postponed. The amendment was rejected by 40 votes against 8, and the original motion was then adopted. At another meeting on the 11th October, a resolution to promote a Bill in Parliament for carrying out the new dock was adopted by 42 votes against 2. A statutory meeting of ratepayers was held on the 18th October, when the project was approved by an overwhelming majority. At a further meeting of the Council on the 31st January, 1893, the Bill, as drawn up for presentation - including the works mentioned in the next paragraph - was approved by 43 votes against 1. See June 20th, 1893.

At the Council meeting on October 11th, Alderman Low, Chairman of the Docks Committee, moved a resolution pledging the Council to promote a Bill in Parliament for the construction of a railway connecting the Harbour Railway of the Great Western Company with Cumberland Basin and with the Portishead Railway; also for erecting coal tips at Cumberland Basin, and for constructing a bridge over the Avon. Forty-five voted for the resolution; 4 declined to vote. Alderman Low moved another resolution for promoting a Bill to enable the Corporation to make extensive improvements at the Butts, and to make other alterations for facilitating traffic in St. Augustine's. The vote on this subject was unanimous.

At the same meeting, on the motion of Mr. Charles Wills, a resolution passed by the Council in September, 1889, approving of the existing site of the Council House for intended new Municipal Buildings, was unanimously rescinded. A committee was appointed to report on other sites and their probable cost. A motion for proceeding with various improvements in the existing buildings, to render them more convenient, at a cost of £1,250, produced an equal division of 17 against 17, but was carried by the casting vote of the deputy-mayor, Sir Charles Wathen. The Municipal Buildings Committee, after deliberating on the subject for a year, produced a report on October 23rd, 1893, recommending as a site the space of ground left at disposal by the covering of the Float above St. Augustine's Bridge; but a resolution to that effect was met by an amendment that the report do lie on the table, and that the vacant ground in Baldwin Street - an alternative site advocated by some members - should be disposed of to the best bidder. The amendment was carried by 27 votes against 22.

A new laboratory, lecture room, etc., were opened at the Grammar School on October 20th, the event being celebrated

by a conversazione, at which Sir John Lubbock delivered an address.

A meeting of the proprietors of the Museum and Library was convoked for November 3rd to consider a proposal made by Sir Charles Wathen for the transfer of the institution which had been long in a state of extreme financial embarrassment - to the Corporation. It was stated that in 1879 the subscriptions amounted to £1,198, which admitted of large purchases of new books. In 1892 the subscriptions had sunk to £894, which sum was almost wholly absorbed in the expenses of maintenance. The mortgage debt amounted to £4,000, and there was a debt due to the bankers of £1,267. The subscriptions continuing to fall off. and the institution being almost at a dead-lock, Sir Charles Wathen proposed that it should be transferred to the Corporation, undertaking to liquidate all such outstanding liabilities as should remain after the application to that purpose of the existing Museum Endowment Fund, amounting to £1,475. A resolution approving of Sir Charles Wathen's proposal was moved by the chairman, Mr. Lewis Fry, and was adopted by 35 votes against 16. A second meeting was held a few weeks later, when the transfer was definitely approved. On January 2nd, 1893, the Council formally accepted the offer of the proprietors, and undertook to maintain the institution for the free use of the citizens, the disinterested and public-spirited conduct of the shareholders in surrendering the building and its vast and valuable collections being, warmly eulogised. The powers of the Museums' Act were shortly afterwards taken advantage of, under which the produce of a rate of one halfpenny in the pound was set aside for the maintenance of the institution. The Museum and Library were thrown open to the public on July 1st, by virtue of a provisional agreement between the proprietors and the Corporation. (In consequence of technical legal difficulties, the formal transfer was not effected until May 31st, 1894.) The widow and relatives of Sir Charles Wathen, who did not live to see the accomplishment of his proposal, fulfilled his uncompleted promise by the payment of £2,871. [A bronze tablet commemorating the generosity of Sir Charles and the munificence of the proprietors of the Museum and Library was placed in the vestibule of the institution, and was unveiled by the Mayor on October 30th, 1896.] Large sums were spent by the Corporation during their first three years of ownership in finishing and ornamenting the building according to the original design, and in lighting it by electricity. In order to meet the wishes of many old subscribers to the Library, the Council

entered into an agreement by which the former news-room was converted into a lending library, for the use of about 500 members paying a guinea each yearly, the subscriptions being wholly applied to the purchase of books, which, after a specified time, were to become the property of the Corporation and be transferred to the Free Libraries.

The formal opening of the new building erected for the Medical School took place on November 16th, 1892, when Sir Andrew Clark, President of the Royal College of Physicians, delivered an address. The expenditure incurred in erecting and furnishing the School was upwards of £6,000. The large reference library of the Medico-Chirurgical Society was placed in the institution.

On the evening of November 18th, according to a statement subsequently published, a party of burglars entered Leigh Court, and carried off jewellery belonging to Lady Miles, the value of which was estimated at £30,000.

Owing to a “lock-out” of labourers employed in unloading timber ships - who had refused to be paid by piecework, as was the custom at other ports, - their leaders resolved on holding on the evening of December 23rd a “great labour demonstration”. The men were to assemble at the Grove, and then perambulate the principal streets bearing lanterns and torches, their final destination being the Horsefair, where addresses were to be delivered. The labourers having already resorted to violence and intimidation towards those willing to work on the masters' terms, the authorities apprehended serious disorder, and it was notified that the procession would not be allowed to pass through the principal thoroughfares, but that the men might march, if without lights, from the Grove to the Horsefair by way of Prince's Street, the Quays and Rupert Street. To this notification the ringleaders replied by declaring that their original design would be persisted in. To guard against a breach of the peace, the magistrates applied to the Government for military support, and two squadrons of cavalry reached the city on the morning of the 23rd. The organisers of the affair, after some hesitation, then resolved to dispense with lanterns, &c, but asserted a right to parade the streets, and declared that they would yield only to a stronger force. The labourers accordingly assembled at the Grove in the evening, and made efforts to break through the ranks of the police guarding the approaches to High Street and Clare Street; but being defeated in these attempts, the crowd made its way to the Horsefair by the route prescribed by the Chief Constable. Some speeches were made and resolutions passed condemning

the conduct of the authorities, after which the formal meeting came to an end. The populace, however, refused to disperse, and their attitude was so menacing that part of the troops were ordered to clear the ground, which was effected with no worse consequences than a few broken heads. The labourers eventually submitted to the terms offered by the employers.

A new building, specially erected for a music hall in Baldwin Street by Messrs. Livermore Brothers, and styled the People's Palace, was opened during the Christmas festivities. The site was purchased from the Corporation, who reserved a ground-rent of £350 per annum, and afterwards sold the ground-rent for £8,100.

A melancholy incident occurred at a meeting of the Council on February 14th, 1893. After the adoption of a report of the Finance Committee recommending the construction of some improvement works at Portishead, in concert with Sir J.D. Weston, Sir Charles Wathen moved that the open space that had just been formed by covering over that part of the Float lying east of the fixed bridge should be granted until March, 1894, to the promoters of a proposed Industrial Exhibition (Mr. J.W. Arrowsmith, Mr. E.G. Clarke, and others) as a site for the undertaking. During the discussion of the resolution Sir Charles was suddenly seized with apoplexy, and expired in a few minutes. The Council immediately adjourned. The funeral service of the lamented gentleman - whose ability, liberality and hospitality during his six years' tenure of the civic chair had won him the respect of all classes - was held in the Mayor's Chapel on February 18th, after which the body was conveyed to Arno's Vale, followed by the members of the Council, the magistrates, and an unprecedented number of private carriages. [The above resolution moved by the deceased was adopted at a subsequent meeting of the Council.]

The church of St. Raphael, which was ordered to be closed by Bishop Ellicott in 1878, was reopened on May 30th, when it was consecrated by his lordship, in the presence of a crowd of Ritualistic clergy and laity. It was stated in the course of the proceedings that the founder's intention of making it a sailors' church had been abandoned, and that the church had been consequently severed from the charity, and converted into the parish church of a new district, the patronage being vested in Keble College, Oxford. The Rev. A.H. Ward, the original incumbent, whose Ritualistic excesses had led to the closing of the edifice, retained his position.

The first “corridor” train, between London and the West of England, passed through Bristol on June 1st - one in each direction.

The London Gazette of June 2nd announced that the Queen had been pleased to confer the title of baronet on Mr. William Henry Wills. About the same date the firm of W.D. & H.O. Wills, of which Sir William was the senior partner, was converted into a limited liability company with a capital of £1,900,000, the shares being held exclusively by members of the Wills family.

A well-known inn, the “Adam and Eve”, in Wine Street, was closed on June 6th, the property having been purchased by Messrs. Jones & Co., drapers, for an extension of their premises. The Adam and Eve Passage, between Wine Street and Mary-le-Port Street, which had been a public thoroughfare for several centuries, was closed at the same time.

An extraordinary revulsion in the policy of the Corporation with reference to extended port accommodation took place at a meeting of the Council on June 20th. It has been already recorded (p.29) that in the previous October a resolution to promote a Bill for constructing an additional dock at Avonmouth had been adopted by a majority of 42 votes against 2, and that a further resolution to obtain powers to connect the Harbour Railway with the Portishead line at Rownham was carried by 45 votes against 0. After the introduction of the Bill, Alderman Proctor Baker, who had been on the Continent when the above proceedings took place, returned to Bristol, and forthwith organised an agitation against the measure amongst the non-progressive section of the Council, the owners of warehouse property, and persons in dread of increased rates, succeeding eventually in obtaining petitions against the Bill from thinly attended meetings in some of the wards, and in frightening many timid Councillors by threats of opposition to their re-election. The train being thus laid, a special meeting of the Council was convened for June 20th, to determine whether the Bill should be further proceeded with. At the commencement of the debate, Ald. Low, chairman of the Docks Committee, announced that the negotiations with the Great Western and Midland Railway Boards had proceeded satisfactorily until the previous day, when the Companies' engineers, in signing their approval of the scheme, added the words “Terms of user to be arranged hereafter”. Under these circumstances he moved, amidst much sensation, that the portion of the Bill relating to Avonmouth should be withdrawn, and the resolution was immediately adopted. Ald. Baker then moved that the clauses relating to the Harbour Extension works should also be struck out, alleging that they compelled the city to make railways and other works which were to become the property of the Great Western Company without any compensation. The

proposed bridge from Clifton to Bedminster he also condemned as in the wrong place. After a debate, in the course of which Ald. Baker boasted of his successful opposition on personal grounds to the great railway scheme of 1861, and to his promotion of the vote to the Portishead Docks, his resolution was put and carried by 36 votes to 13, to the great astonishment of the citizens at large. The remaining clauses of the Bill (St. Augustine's improvements and additions to Dock capital) were agreed to. In consequence of the Council's change of face, the Chairman of the Docks Committee and four of his leading supporters resigned their seats at the Board, but the Council refused to accept their resignations, professing its desire to further a policy of dock development. The cost of the practically abortive Bill was £4,105.

On July 1st the Great Western Railway Board reduced the third-class passenger rate on all its trains to a penny a mile, thus adopting the policy started by the Midland Company in 1875. In the meantime third-class carriages had been added to some express trains, but at enhanced fares; afterwards the extra rates for express travelling were abolished; and later still third-class passengers were carried by all trains. The above reduction completed the work.

The marriage of H.R.H. the Duke of York to the Princess May took place on July 6th, and the event was celebrated with much local rejoicing. A committee appointed to superintend the arrangements having received over £900 in subscriptions, a picture by John Syer, formerly of Bristol, was purchased for £300 for presentation to the Royal couple. The inmates of the work-houses and other charitable institutions were generously entertained; bands of music were engaged to play in the various parks and on Clifton Down; and in the evening fine displays of fireworks took place on Durdham Down, and other suburban localities. Though there was no concerted decoration of the streets, many frontages were gaily adorned, and some were illuminated in the evening. The celebration committee's expenses for the day amounted to about £400. The balance of the fund was handed over to the medical charities.

The restoration of the church and crypt of St. Nicholas, which had been going on for nearly twelve years at a cost of about £4,000, was practically completed this summer, and the crypt was “re-dedicated” on the 19th July.

The Hon. William Joseph Clifford, Romanist Bishop of Clifton (consecrated Sept. 15th, 1857), died at Prior Park, Bath, on August 14th, aged 70. He was succeeded in the following April by Monsignore W.E. Brownlow, of Plymouth.

The first use which was found for the covered water space between the Stone Bridge and the abolished Drawbridge was to erect upon it a vast wooden building in which to hold a “Bristol Industrial Exhibition” (see p.32). A guarantee fund having been subscribed, operations for its construction were begun in the spring, and the structure, 520 feet in length and 110 in breadth, was rapidly completed at a cost of £11,000. The city electrical works were made available for illuminating the building, there being 20 arc lamps of 1,000 candle-power and nearly 400 incandescent lamps. The southern section, 360 feet long, was devoted to mechanical and industrial exhibits, and the northern, of 160 feet, to a fine collection of pictures, china, and works of art, chiefly arranged in the galleries, 25 feet wide, which extended throughout the building. The exhibition was opened on August 28th by the Mayor, accompanied by a crowd of leading citizens, and the mayors of several of the neighbouring boroughs, who met at a luncheon given at the Royal Hotel, and afterwards repaired in procession to the building, the contents of which excited general admiration. The admission fee on this occasion was 5/-, but the ordinary charge was 1/-, and on one or two evenings a week sixpence. The musical entertainments by first-class military bands proved a great attraction. The exhibition closed on January 31st, 1894, having been attended by upwards of 510,000 persons, excluding holders of season tickets. The total receipts amounted to £24,484. The sale of the building material realised £1,830. After the payment of all expenses, a net balance remained of £2,271, which was divided amongst the principal medical charities.

At a meeting of the Council on September 1st, a letter was read from Sir George W. Edwards stating that he had recently purchased, for £8,000 and the value of the fixtures, the estate of Ham Green. Believing that it might prove of great value to the city owing to the proximity of the Avon, he expressed his willingness, if desired, to hand it over to the Corporation at the price it had cost him. The proposal was referred to the Finance Committee, which reported in favour of accepting the generous offer, and on November 9th their recommendation was adopted unanimously, the exact price being fixed at £8,627.

The Bristol School of Cookery, in Great George Street, established by the Corporation out of the funds devoted to technical education, was opened by the Mayor on September 4th. The institution proving highly successful, the house was subsequently purchased for £1,050, and a laundry school was attached to it at a further outlay of £700. Classes for millinery

work were also introduced; and branch cookery schools were opened in St. Philip's and Bedminster.

The Streets Improvement Committee reported to the Council on October 10th that the power to borrow £30,000 conferred upon them in October, 1891, for improvements in St. Augustine's had not yet been exercised, and that it was desirable to give them fresh authority to carry out the work. They further asked for power to raise £69,550 for various street improvements, including the widening of Wine Street and part of Baldwin Street, and a great many minor alterations in all the districts of the city. That portion of the report referring to St. Augustine's was confirmed unanimously; the proposal referring to Wine Street and Baldwin Street was approved by 26 votes to 24; and the other plans were postponed. At another meeting, a fortnight later, when the £69,000 loan was again discussed, a motion to raise the money was negatived by the casting vote of the Mayor, there being 27 members in its favour and 27 against it. The resolution to proceed with the widening of Wine Street was also rescinded by 31 votes against 23. The vacillation of the civic body was not yet over. See August 14th, 1894.

The eighth triennial Musical Festival commenced on October 28th, and was continued on the three following days. The chief works given on this occasion were Samson, Faust, The Hymn of Praise, Stabat Mater, The Wilderness, Paradise and the Peri, The Flying Dutchman, and The Messiah. The attendances on the whole (8428) exceeded those of the previous festival, but the collections for the charities amounted to only £126. The balance sheet of the Festival Society for the three years closing with this festival showed a deficiency of £1,923, necessitating a call of £4 10s. on each £10 guaranteed.

A concert room in Old Market Street, styled the Empire Theatre of Varieties, built by a joint-stock company, at a cost, it was said, of nearly £40,000, was opened for public entertainments on November 6th. The interior was lighted by electricity, and was very handsomely decorated and furnished. The place was well patronised, but at the beginning of May, 1894, it was suddenly closed, owing to heavy debts and an inability to meet the interest on the mortgages, which amounted to £27,800. It has since been in the hands of various occupiers.

The Council, on December 12th, granted the freedom of the city to General Lord Roberts in recognition of his distinguished military services. Lord Roberts spent part of his boyhood in Clifton, where his father resided for some years. His lordship attended at the Council House on January 24th, 1894, in order

to sign the Freemen's Roll, and met with a very cordial reception. His signature was witnessed by the Duke of Beaufort, Lord High Steward. An illuminated certificate of the freedom, enclosed in a finely designed casket, was then presented to the General. The ceremony concluded with a luncheon given by the Mayor, to which the guest was accompanied by the Duke of Beaufort, the Earl of Ducie, Bishop Ellicott, and a number of magistrates and members of the Corporation.

Alderman Sir George W. Edwards presented the Corporation, in December, with a massive piece of plate - a salver two feet in length - formerly the property of Henry Cruger, the colleague of Burke as representative of Bristol. The present was offered to Mr. Cruger in 1775, by a numerous body of admirers, in acknowledgment of his parliamentary services.

At a meeting of the Council on March 16th, 1894, the Docks Committee presented a report recommending that, in consequence of the heavy taxation imposed on the citizens for the support of the docks (the deficiency met in the previous year exceeding £31,000), the dues on wine and spirits, which had been reduced in 1891, should be raised to their previous level; that the dues on coastwise shipping and goods, imposed in 1888, be further enhanced; and that a passenger tax of a penny per head be imposed on persons making trips by the pleasure steamers, which paid a very insignificant sum for the accommodation they required. The first proposal was adopted unanimously, and the others by large majorities. The tax on passenger traffic was vehemently protested against by the steamboat proprietors and their friends, and so much resistance was offered to its collection that the Corporation erected a palisade around the quay used by the vessels, where scenes of confusion occurred daily. In July, 1896, when opposition was threatened by outside agitators against the re-election of every councillor who supported the impost, the Council ordered its discontinuance by a majority of 28 votes against 23.

The feeling in favour of an extension of the city boundaries having widely extended since the abortive movement in 1888 (see page 15), the Council, on March 20th, by a majority of 40 votes against 10, resolved on the promotion of a Bill in the following year, for the absorption of the whole or part of a number of parishes surrounding the city, a detailed mention of which will presently be given. A statutory meeting of the ratepayers, to consider the project, was held soon afterwards, when a resolution sanctioning the promotion of the Bill was carried by a great majority. Sir George Edwards and other zealous opponents of change thereupon demanded a poll on the

question. About the end of May, 42,000 voting papers were issued, and nearly 150 persons were engaged to collect them. The result was made known on the 1st June, when it was found that 17,955 ratepayers had voted in favour of the Bill and 2,476 against it. The cost of the poll was about £450. On the 27th October the Council, without a division, approved of the Bill that had been drawn up, and this resolution was confirmed on the 29th January, 1895, by 41 votes against 7, the minority menacing a strenuous opposition. The Bill was introduced into the House of Lords, and came before a select committee of that chamber on May 14th, the Earl of Belmore presiding. The Bill proposed to extend the municipal area of the city from 4,461 to about 21,000 acres, by the absorption of the whole of the parishes of Horfield, Stapleton, Shirehampton, St. George, and Kingswood, and of those parts of Westbury, Mangotsfield, Brislington, Bedminster, and Long Ashton which were alleged to be rapidly becoming urban, a small portion of Henbury bordering on the Avon and lying between Westbury and Shirehampton being also included, as well as Dunball “Island”, a detached fragment of Easton-in-Gordano parish, now separated from Somerset by the altered course of the Avon and become attached to Gloucestershire. These additions comprised a population, collectively, of about 91,000, with a ratable value of £321,000. Including the existing city, the various districts were in five poor-law unions, with nine sanitary authorities, five school boards, and 62 authorities collecting or spending public rates - many with overlapping jurisdictions and conflicting interests. The Bill provided that there should be one municipality, one poor-law board, and one school board for the whole area. Twelve petitions were presented against the scheme, the opponents including the Somerset and Gloucester County Councils, the railway companies, inhabitants of Westbury, Barton Regis, Stapleton, Mangotsfield, Bedminster, Horfield, and Stoke Bishop, Sir Greville Smyth, and the Corporation of the Poor. The unwillingness of many wealthy residents in Stoke Bishop, Sneyd Park, and Leigh Woods - the majority of them Bristolians - to be made liable to city taxation was the most prominent feature of the opposition. It was stated for the promoters that in 1894 the borough rate amounted to £54,000, the school board rate to £28,000, and the sanitary rate to £208,000. The ratable value of the city was £1,107,000, and the debt was:- civic, £337,000; sanitary, £503,000; docks, £2,100,000; and school board, £123,000. After hearing much evidence, the committee announced on the 24th May that they had resolved on excluding Long Ashton, part of Bedminster,

Mangotsfield, part of Horfield, Westbury, Henbury, and Shirehampton, but with regard to the last they were willing to add Avonmouth Dock and the neighbouring houses to the city. The chairman had previously stated that the clause for consolidating the poor-law union areas would be struck out. As the Bill thus curtailed deprived the city of all the wealthy residential districts while burdening it with all the poorer localities, the counsel for the Corporation, on the 27th, withdrew the measure, except those clauses incorporating Avonmouth and Dunball with the borough, and this fragment of the scheme was passed by the Upper House. In the committee of the House of Commons, the promoters applied for the insertion of a clause empowering the Corporation to collect the borough rate - a privilege hitherto enjoyed by the Corporation of the Poor, - and notwithstanding an ardent opposition on the part of that body, the request was acceded to. The Bill soon afterwards received the Royal Assent. Its promotion cost the city £4,300.

The passing of an Act for the revival of the Bishopric of Bristol was recorded at page 493. In March, 1894, a Bill was introduced into Parliament, at the instance of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, providing that at the next avoidance of the bishopric of Gloucester, a further sum of £200 a year (making £700 in all) should be transferred from the income of that see for the augmentation of the revenue of the bishopric of Bristol. The Bill met with no opposition and received the Royal Assent. About the same time a strong appeal was addressed to the Commissioners by influential Bristolians for the restoration of about £7,000, chiefly contributed by the ratepayers of this city in compensation for the loss of the old episcopal palace; but the Commissioners refused to accede, alleging that the money had been spent in building a new palace at Gloucester. In July, 1896, it was announced that the fund for endowing the new bishopric with an immediate income of £2,500, increasing to £63,000 at the end of five years, had been completed, but that the Ecclesiastical Commissioners had further required the outlay of £5,000 in structural alterations of the house already provided for the Bishop, including the erection there of a private chapel. The statement was received by churchmen with a general feeling of dissatisfaction, and appeals for additional subscriptions were for some time ineffectual. The amount, however, was raised by April, 1897, when it was stated that out of £70,000 obtained from local donors, the late Archdeacon Norris had given £11,500; Sir G.W. Edwards, £5,500; Mr. W.K. Wait, £2,700; Mr. W. H. Miles, £1,600; and the Merchants' Society and Mr. Antony Gibbs, £1,250 each. On the 2nd August, all preliminaries to

the re-foundation of the see having been at length arranged, the Right Rev. George Forrest Browne, B.D., suffragan Bishop of Stepney, was nominated by the Crown as its first prelate. The formal election by the Dean and Chapter took place on the 16th September, and the Bishop was enthroned on the 28th October, when there was an attendance of clergymen unparalleled in the history of the Cathedral. The ceremony was also attended by the Mayor and Corporation, the members of the Merchants' Society, and a numerous concourse of laymen. The number of honorary canons of the Cathedral was soon afterwards increased from twelve to twenty-four. Under the original Act defining the boundaries of the new diocese, the deaneries of Bristol (excepting the rural deanery of Hawkesbury), Stapleton, Malmesbury, Chippenham, and Cricklade were allotted to the see. By an amending Act passed in 1896, Kingswood was added to this jurisdiction, whilst four parishes in Wiltshire and three in Somerset were withdrawn. The final arrangement was ratified by the Queen in Council on February 3rd, 1898.

About the close of March, 1894, another portion of St. Augustine's churchyard, 25 feet in breadth, was appropriated by the Corporation to improve the approach to College Green. This was the third abstraction from the cemetery for street improvements, and was the most extensive of the series, involving the removal of the remains of 1,340 persons, besides innumerable fragments.

At a meeting of the Council on May 8th a report of the Finance Committee, recommending that the open space above St. Augustine's Bridge should not be built upon, and that prizes should be offered for plans for converting it into an ornamental pleasure garden, was approved. A further sum of £30,000 was ordered to be raised for St. Augustine's improvements. The design of expending a considerable sum in laying out the above ground was eventually abandoned, and in January, 1895, the Council resolved on a less pretentious scheme, involving an outlay of only £1,500 for concrete walks and ornamental shrubberies. It was also determined to widen St. Augustine's Bridge to 150 feet, and to improve the gradient from Colston Street to Baldwin Street. A month later, a further sum of £12,000 was voted for widening the roads on each side of the open space (soon after styled Colston Avenue). After the discussion a member pointed out that when the project of covering in that part of the Float was produced it was alleged that £20,000 would suffice to carry it out, whereas the vote just passed had increased the outlay to £63,500.

A dedication service was held on May 6th, 1894, in the newly

erected church of St. Alban, Westbury Park. The cost of the building was about £3,300.

The neglected state of the walks and turf of College Green having been complained of as an eyesore, the Corporation entered into negotiations during the spring with the Dean and Chapter, the proprietors of the Green; and the latter body, rejoicing to be relieved of a responsibility, granted a lease of the ground to the Council for fifty years, at the annual rent of a shilling, on the lessees undertaking to put and maintain the place in a satisfactory condition

An old tavern at the east end of Bridewell Street, known as the “White Lion”, was demolished in May, in order to extend the adjoining police station. In the course of removing; the foundations the workmen came upon the remains of a mediaeval building, supposed to have been the chapel referred to in William Worcester's Itinerary as standing in the cemetery of the neighbouring Priory. About 75 ancient tiles, bearing arms, etc., were found in situ.

A piece of ground at St. George's, about 38 acres in area, having been purchased from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for £12,000, for the purpose of forming a public park, a portion of the land was at once laid out, and was opened on July 18th for recreative purposes. Possession of the remainder of the estate was obtained in December, and this was added to the park, on which the total outlay had been about £17,000. The park was taken over by the Corporation on the extension of the city boundaries, and £7,000 were voted by the Council in July, 1899, to complete the undertaking.

On August 11th judgment was delivered by Mr. Justice Kekewich in an action brought by the vestry of St. James's parish against the Corporation. The question at issue was the ownership of the ground occupied by the Haymarket; the plaintiffs contending that it was the property of the parish, subject to a quit rent of £3 6s. 8d., whilst the Corporation alleged that they were the owners of the freehold. The judge, admitting that the question was somewhat doubtful, owing to neither party having for centuries asserted their rights in a tangible form, decided that the plaintiffs held the ground only by virtue of a lease granted to them in 1570 at the above rent, and gave judgment for the Corporation. But on May 29th, 1895, Lord Justice Smith gave judgment on the appeal raised by the parish against this decision, reversing the judgment of the Court, below, and declaring that the parish was entitled to the ground in fee simple, as part of the churchyard, subject to the payment to the Corporation of the ancient ground rent of £3 6s. 8d.

The Corporation were also ordered to pay the costs. The vestry thereupon took possession, and offered the ground to be disposed of for building sites, letting it in the meantime to travelling showmen, steam organ owners, and others, who made the neighbourhood distracting by tumultuous discords. In February, 1896, on the recommendation of the Finance Committee, the Council resolved to purchase the Haymarket for the sum of £7,500, and to pay £500 as mesne profits for the two years during which litigation had been pending. A further sum of £2,000 was laid out in the summer of 1897 for decorating the central space as a pleasure ground, and widening the contiguous streets

On August 14th, 1894, the Council approved of proposals for street improvements in almost every part of the city at a cost of £85,200. The widening of the eastern portion of Wine Street was put down at £38,000, but the actual outlay there exceeded the estimate by £20,000.

The tower which had been for some time in course of construction at Tyndale Chapel, White Ladies Road, as a memorial of the twenty-five years' services of the Rev. Dr. Glover, was completed on August 17th.

An addition of seventeen gentlemen was made by the Lord Chancellor about this time to the city bench of magistrates. The fact is worthy of record, chiefly because three of the new justices, Messrs. Davis, Curie, and Pembery, were working-men.

A novel celebration, styled a Life-boat Saturday, took place on September 22nd. Its chief feature was a gigantic procession through the chief thoroughfares, starting from the Neptune in Temple Street and ending at the Downs. The procession, which included cyclists, Gloucestershire Yeomanry, Corporate officials, naval reserve men, members of countless benefit societies, workmen of every trade, and a great many bands of music, flag-bearers, &c, occupied an hour and a half in passing the top of Park Street, and was one of the most remarkable ever known in Bristol. Upwards of 500 persons undertook to collect subscriptions from the crowds that bordered the route, and a considerable sum was received.

Under the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1894, a re-organization of the Bristol Poor-law Board became necessary, the eighteen churchwarden guardians originally foisted into the body during the High Church fever of Queen Anne's days losing their seats, as well as most of the thirteen nominated by the Corporation. The Council resolved at a meeting in September that the elected board of forty-eight members should be continued, with the addition of four ex-officio members. The last

meeting of the old board was celebrated in December by a dinner. The first elections under the new system took place on the 17th of that month.

At the annual meeting of the Society of St. Stephen's Ringers, on November 19th, a subscription was started for introducing an ornamental chancel screen into the church, at an estimated cost of £600. The Society's annual festivals down to 1873 had been entirely of a convivial character, but it was then resolved to restore the chancel, involving an outlay of £600; and between 1881 and 1892 upwards of £4,000 was spent in introducing a stained-glass window, new stalls, a handsome pulpit, carved seats, and other improvements.

Owing to long-continued rain, the streams near the city were much flooded on November 12th, and considerable damage was done in and near Picton Street by the overflowing of the brooks from Horfield and Redland and the bursting of the culverts. In the Froom districts, owing to the preventive measures previously adopted, the damage was of a trifling character. The flood continued on the 13th and 14th, when some houses in Mina Road district were partially invaded. About £500 was raised for the relief of the sufferers. The flood in the Avon was one of the greatest ever known. It was calculated that on the 15th the water passing Bristol measured 52 million cubic feet per hour.

The Post-office in Small Street having again become inadequate to accommodate the ever-increasing staff, the authorities purchased, in December, for about £3,000, a block of offices known as Royal Insurance Chambers, adjoining at the back the new postal buildings, and fitted up the building for the parcels department.

The Council, on February 12th, 1895, sanctioned the sale to the Government of a plot of vacant ground in Baldwin Street, comprising 469 square yards, for the sum of £4,221. New Inland Revenue and Bankruptcy offices were soon afterwards erected on the site.

Great distress was created amongst the working-classes by the severity of the weather, frost having set in early in January and continued until near the close of the following month. A subscription for relieving the unemployed was started by the Mayor, and upwards of £6,900 were distributed amongst about 6,000 families. The Corporation expended £4,100 more in clearing the streets of snow, employing many destitute labourers for the purpose.

Sir Joseph Dodge Weston, M.P., four times Mayor of the city, died at his residence in Clifton on March 5th. The

funeral, which took place on the 9th, was attended by the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort, the magistrates, the members of the Council, and a great number of leading citizens. The procession, which was upwards of half a mile in length, passed through the city in the presence of tens of thousands of spectators.

The Council, on March 12th, adopted a report of the Sanitary Committee recommending that £32,000 should be borrowed for various purposes. The items included £19,000 for additions to the scavenging plant, &c, and £13,000 for improvements in various parks, including the purchase of additional land at Eastville.

The election for Bristol East, caused by the death of Sir J.D. Weston, took place on March 21st. The candidates were Sir William Henry Wills, Bart. (Liberal), and Mr. Hugh H. Gore (Socialist). The former was elected by 3,740 votes against 3,608. Mr. Gore's chances of election were greatly furthered by the irritation of several thousand operative boot and shoe makers (a trade “locked out” throughout the kingdom), but it was stated that he also received extensive support from the Tory party.

The Chancellor of the Diocese of Bristol (Judge Ellicott), acting for the Bishop, held a visitation in the chapter-room of the Cathedral, on April 3rd, for the purpose of hearing an appeal of the organist, George Riseley, against an order of the Dean and Chapter. The order, dated the 4th January, expressed regret that Mr. Riseley had refused to obey an order of the previous 12th June, requiring him to fulfil his duties according to the terms of his appointment, and admonished him as to the consequences of further disobedience. Mr. Riseley grounded his defence on an informal agreement made between himself and a deceased Canon (Girdlestone) before his election - a document which was not made known to the Chapter until after the death of the canon and of Dean Elliot; but it was alleged by the Chapter that he had not even conformed to that agreement. The Chancellor deferred judgment, but held another court on the 27th May, when he dismissed the appeal. Mr. Riseley subsequently resigned his post, and was granted a pension by the Chapter.

St. Andrew's Park, Montpelier, was formally opened to the public on May 1st. The purchase and ornamentation of the ground had then cost the Corporation about £8,500.

The premises of Messrs. B. Perry and Son, warehousemen, Redcliff Street, were destroyed by fire on the evening of May 3rd. The damage was estimated at £60,000.

The Duchess of Beaufort opened a Bazaar on May 7th in St. Mary Redcliff Parish Room, the erection of which had just been completed at a cost of about £3,200.

A review of the United Corps of Bristol Volunteers took place on Durdham Down on May 11th, General Sir R. Harrison being the inspecting officer, on the occasion of the presentation of long service medals to members who had been enrolled upwards of twenty years. The proceedings attracted a large concourse of spectators.

On June 13th, at a meeting of the proprietors of the Great Western Steamship Company it was resolved to wind up the concern. Three of the four ships of the company had been already sold to meet liabilities, and it was anticipated that the directors would be able to return £9 and £7 respectively on each preference and ordinary share.

On July 1st, Sir M. Hicks-Beach, Bart., was re-elected M.P. for Bristol West, after having been appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Workmen commenced operations in July for widening the lower end of St. Michael's Hill by the removal of the eastern portion of the churchyard. The work involved the transportation of a great quantity of human remains, and the destruction of several lofty elms.

Parliament having been dissolved after the resignation of the Rosebery Ministry, the polling for the new elections for Bristol took place on July 15th. The results were as follows: Bristol West - Sir M. Hicks-Beach (re-elected), 3,815; Mr. H.H. Lawless (L.), 1,842. Bristol South - Sir Edward Hill (re-elected), 5,190; Mr. J. O'Connor Power (L.), 4,431. Bristol North - Mr. Lewis Fry (Unionist), 4,702; Mr. Charles Townsend (former L. member), 4,464. Bristol East - Sir William H. Wills (re-elected), 4,129; Mr. S.G. Hobson (Socialist), 1,874. The cost of the election to the eight candidates was £4,591; Sir Edward Hill heading the list with £936.

On July 30th the Council approved of a proposal for the sale of the site of the abandoned gaol for £22,500. The purchasers were the Great Western Railway Company.

A bust of the late Christopher James Thomas, for nearly forty years a member of the Council, and Mayor in 1874-5, was presented to the Corporation by his brother, Mr. Charles Thomas, and was unveiled at the Council House on August 14th by the Mayor in the presence of many leading citizens.

On August 26th the Great Western Railway Company concluded the purchase of the refreshment rooms at Swindon at a cost of £100,000, with a view to abolishing the stoppage of

every train there for ten minutes, in fulfillment of the terms of the lease granted by the original directors. A few days later, a fast train to London, known as the Cornishman, was timed to perform the journey from Bristol in 2¼ hours instead of 2½ as before.

An old Circus in York Street, St. Paul's, which for the previous fifteen years had been the property and “head-quarters” of the Salvation Army, was destroyed by fire on September 1st. Its owners immediately set about the construction of a more convenient edifice; and a building erected in Ashley Road, at a cost of about £6,500, was opened on December 19th, 1896. The large hall accommodates 2,000 hearers.

On September 27th the Council, by a majority of 34 votes to 17, adopted a report of the Docks Committee, recommending the expenditure of £120,000 on the construction of a wharf 1,570 feet in length from the Harbour Railway to Cumberland Basin. The sum included the purchase of part of Messrs. Hill's premises for £36,000. The Great Western Railway Board had undertaken to contribute £20,000 more towards the improvements. The wharf was chiefly devised to benefit the timber trade, which was alleged to be leaving the port. The work included a junction railway from the Harbour line to that running to Portishead, and the swing-bridge to be constructed for that purpose was proposed to be made available for passenger traffic. The last design, however, was condemned as insufficient by the Councillors for Bedminster; and at another meeting of the Council a few days later, it was resolved to erect a foot-bridge near Vauxall ferry at a cost of £8,000. (This structure, which is worked by electric power on the swivel principle, was opened by the Lady Mayoress on June 1st, 1900, when her ladyship was presented with a silver key as a memorial of the occasion.) On October 16th the Council were again convened for the purpose of formally sanctioning the promotion of a Bill for carrying out the wharf and railway scheme, and a resolution to that effect was moved by Ald. Baker, who had become chairman of the Docks Committee. He admitted, however, that the Great Western Board had made alterations in the proposed agreement with them which the committee could not sanction; and his motion failed to obtain a statutable majority of two-thirds of the members present, the voting being 28 in favour and 18 against it. Mr. Baker's promotion of a scheme practically identical with that which he had opposed in 1893 (see page 33) was strongly commented upon during the debate.

An Exhibition of Handicrafts was opened on September 20th

at the Drill Hall, by the Mayor. The exhibition, which was similar to that held at St. Augustine's in the previous year, though on a much smaller scale, was closed on the 30th November. The number of visitors was 96,510, and the balance of receipts over expenditure amounted to nearly £170, which were handed over to the Colston Statue fund.

The Council on September 30th, by a vote of 25 against 18, adopted a report of the Docks Committee recommending the erection of two pontoons for the accommodation of the pleasure steamers, at a cost of £15,000.

An electric tramway from Old Market Street to Kingswood was opened on October 14th with much ceremony. The Tramway Company had invited about 200 gentlemen - members of the Council, magistrates, &c, - for whom eight motor cars were provided; and the journey was accomplished in about half an hour, the entire route being thronged with spectators. The works had entailed a cost of £50,000, raising the capital of the Company to £330,000.

A subscription started in June by a London newspaper, under the title of a “Testimonial Fund in honour of Mr. W.G. Grace, the celebrated Gloucestershire cricketer”, was closed on October 17th, the amount having reached £5,000. Subscriptions of a similar character were opened by the Marylebone, Gloucestershire, and other cricket clubs, and altogether Mr. Grace received about £9,000. The Gloucestershire fund, which reached £1,400, was presented at a dinner to Mr. Grace at which the Duke of Beaufort presided.

On November 13th a bronze statue of Edward Colston, designed by John Cassidy, of Manchester, was unveiled in Colston Avenue, St. Augustine's, by the Mayor, in the presence of the members of the Corporation, Bishop Ellicott, and a large concourse of citizens. A subscription to meet the cost (upwards of £800) had been started some time previously; but there was a considerable deficiency, which it was hoped would be supplied by donations at the Colston dinners, which took place in the evening. The sum obtained, however, was, at the Anchor Society's banquet £12, and at the Dolphin Society's gathering £1 10s. The remaining balance, about £150, was given by an anonymous citizen who had already subscribed liberally.

On December 2nd the local Orpheus Glee Society gave a concert, by command of the Queen, at Windsor Castle, before her Majesty and the Court.

At the sale of the library of the late Jeremiah Hill, Esq., on December 5th, a small sheet of paper containing a portion

of Chatterton's poem of “Kew Gardens”, in the boy's handwriting, was briskly contended for by American and other collectors, and was finally sold for £70. A collection of 118 sketches of old Bristol houses, &c, brought £41. The two lots were bought by Mr. A. Capper Pass, who presented them to the Museum and Library.

On December 10th the Council resolved to borrow £31,500 for carrying out further extensions of the wood-paving system in the principal streets. The vote encouraged similar demands from other districts, and large sums were subsequently expended in extending the system.

During this year Mr. C.P. Knight, a meritorious artist, presented to the Fines Arts Academy his fine pictures of the Floating Harbour and of Portsmouth Harbour. The late Sir J.D. Weston bequeathed to the same institution a large water-colour picture by Charles Branwhite.

In February, 1896, a report on the various proposals for the improvement of the port was received from Mr. (now Sir) John Wolflfe Barry, C.E., to whom the subject had been referred by the Council. Mr. Barry stated that the proposed dockisation of the Avon would, in his opinion, entail a cost of £2,580,000, including the indispensable works for sewerage and the prevention of floods. The proposed new dock at Avonmouth he estimated would cost £1,308,000, and he set down the proposed extensions at Portishead at £850,000. In each of these cases a deep-water pier would also be needed, and this would entail a further outlay of £320,000. Mr. Barry was further of opinion that if the course of the river were improved, and extended dock accommodation provided in the city at an estimated cost of £330,000, vessels of much increased burden might be safely navigated to Bristol. The report cost the Council £2,517. Acting upon its advice, the Council, on March 3rd, approved of works for the improvement and deepening the course of the Avon, from Cumberland Basin to Sea Mills, at a cost of £93,000.

At a meeting of the Council on February 21st, sanction was given to the Tramways Company to work the line to Eastville by electric power and to make various minor improvements on other routes. Electric traction on the Eastville line commenced on February 1st, 1897, and that tramway was extended to Fishponds on September 29th and to Staple Hill on November 4th in the same year.

A meeting was held in the Merchants' Hall on March 4th to further a movement for the restoration of the exterior of

the Cathedral and the erection of another north portal, at an estimated cost of £4,800, and also to liquidate the deficiency (£1,200) in the accounts of the previous restoration. It was stated that not more than 500 citizens had up to that time contributed towards the renovation of the building. About £900 was subscribed by those present at the meeting.

A meeting presided over by the Mayor was held in the Guildhall, on March 18th, to consider the defenceless condition of the Bristol Channel. Resolutions were passed expressing the desirability of a gunboat being stationed permanently in the Channel for the protection of the ports, and of the reorganisation of a force of Volunteer Artillery to serve on board the gunboat for the special protection of Kingroad and Avonmouth. Petitions to Parliament and the Admiralty to the above effect were adopted. After some delay a gunboat was stationed in the Channel, and the Government ordered the reconstruction of the fort at Portishead to fit it for the reception of powerful guns.

At a meeting of the Council on March 31st a report was brought up by the Boundaries Committee, recommending that another Extension Bill should be laid before Parliament in 1897. Mr. Pearson, the chairman, stated that some alterations in the area sought for in the previous Bill (see p.37) were proposed, the chief of which were the exclusion of Shirehampton, of the village of Westbury and the agricultural land near it, of Kingswood and Staple Hill, and of Long Ashton so far as regarded Leigh Woods and Ashton Park, while an extended area was included in and near Brislington. Thus, instead of an additional area of 21,000 acres, it was proposed to ask for 13,594 acres; the gross population of the extended city being 291,900 instead of 312,000, and the rated value £1,362,000 instead of £1,399,000. The resolution moved by Mr. Pearson was adopted by 35 votes against 13. On July 31st a statutory resolution approving of the Bill was carried by practically the same majority, and the scheme was also approved by the ratepayers. On May 13th, 1897, the Bill for carrying out the extension was brought before a Committee of the House of Lords. The lessened area proposed to be absorbed as compared with the preceding Bill reduced the number of opponents; but a numerous array of counsel, representing the Gloucestershire and Somerset County Councils, the Duke of Beaufort, the parishes of Horfield and Stapleton, and many of the residents of Sneyd Park and Stoke Bishop, who were especially averse to the scheme, appeared to resist the promoters. The Committee, however, found the preamble proved on the 20th May, and the

Bill passed the Upper House soon afterwards. The opposition was renewed before a Committee of the Commons, which assembled on the 12th July. On the 23rd the Committee approved of most of the proposed absorptions, but refused to include Sneyd Park, Stoke Bishop, and northern Horfield. The Bill in this form soon afterwards received the Royal Assent. The area of the borough was increased by the Act to nearly 11,500 acres; the number of councillors elected by the ratepayers was subsequently raised from 48 to 63, and the aldermen were similarly augmented from 16 to 21. The alteration in the administration of the poor-laws will be described in a future page.

The Duke and Duchess of Beaufort took up their permanent residence at Stoke House, Stapleton, early in April, 1896, having relinquished Badminton to their son, the Marquis of Worcester.

An appeal was published in April by the Council of University College for a capital sum of £10,000, in order to clear the institution of debt and to satisfy pressing demands for its development. An addition of £700 a year to the Sustentation Fund, which had fallen off by that amount since the early days of the College, was also urgently solicited. Subscriptions amounting to £5,300 towards the Capital Fund were promised within a few days. Shortly afterwards the city Council, on the recommendation of the Technical Instruction Committee, voted £2,000 towards the Capital Fund, on condition that three Corporate representatives should be added to the governing body, which was at once effected.

At a meeting of the Council on May 12th a report was presented by the Froom Floods Committee, recommending the construction of a “relief” culvert to carry off flood waters from Horfield, Redland, and Cotham. It was to extend from near Cheltenham Road to the Weir, 1,330 yards, and was estimated to cost £21,000. A similar relief conduit of 1,112 yards, to carry off storm water from the Boiling Well valley, was recommended to be made at a cost of £25,000. It was further proposed that, as the capacity of the Floating Harbour to receive flood waters was insufficient when high spring tides occurred simultaneously with a storm, a pumping station capable of carrying off five million gallons per hour should be constructed near Cumberland Basin at an estimated cost of £28,000. An improvement of the course of the Froom within the then existing boundaries of the city was recommended, the anticipated outlay being £16,000, and £7,000 more were put down to cover the capitalised cost of maintaining

the pumping station. A motion for the adoption of the report having been proposed, Alderman Baker moved that a further sum of £46,000 should be spent in constructing a reservoir above Stapleton bridge, so as to provide more effectually against floods in that direction, but his amendment was rejected by 41 votes against 6. The report was adopted unanimously. On the 9th June, when the matter came up for confirmation, preparatory to seeking for Parliamentary powers, it was stated that Mr. McCurrich, the docks engineer, had strongly recommended an improvement of the course of the Froom near Stapleton at a further expense of £11,000, raising the total estimated outlay to £108,000. This proposal was added to the scheme, and the whole was adopted. A meeting of the citizens was held on the 25th June to sanction the promotion of a Bill in Parliament, and a resolution to that effect was adopted. A poll was, however, demanded, and the result was announced on the 30th July, when it appeared that 7,640 votes had been recorded against the scheme and 7,028 in its favour. The poll cost the Corporation £443. The Mayor subsequently informed the Council that a majority for the project had not been obtained even in the districts liable to inundation. Perhaps moved by this intimation, the Council, on September 30th, rejected, by 46 votes against 15, another proposal by the Floods Committee to construct two “relief” culverts for the Cutlers' Mills and Boiling Well brooks at a cost of £46,000. A recurrence of floods, however, forced the Corporation to take action. At a meeting of the Council, on July 18th, 1899, the Sanitary Committee reported that they had obtained an Act, styled “The Bristol Floods Prevention Act, 1899”, authorising the Council to construct a culvert for the prevention of floods arising from the Cutlers' Mills brook at a cost of £27,000. The Council ordered the committee to carry out the work.

Mr. Charles D. Cave, banker, Clifton Park, one of the leaders of the local Conservative party, was created a baronet on May 19th.

On June 9th the Council discussed a proposal for the erection of a waiting-room for tramway passengers on a triangular piece of ground on St. Augustine's bridge, at a cost of £3,000, for which the company had offered to pay a yearly rent of £260. A motion for its adoption was met by an amendment that no building whatever should be erected on the spot, and the latter was carried by 22 votes against 15.

An Order of the Local Government Board was published on July 30th, confirming, with slight modifications, a draft scheme previously adopted by the Council for uniting, for County

Council purposes, the parishes within the municipal boundary into three parishes, to be called North Bristol, Central Bristol, and South Bristol. (As this part of the scheme was superseded by the Boundaries' Act of 1897, it is unnecessary to enter into details.) The Commissioners of the District were abolished. The chief object of the Order was to reduce the expense of collecting the local rates, and it was anticipated that this charge, £6,500, would eventually be reduced to £2,500. Under the new Order the Corporation became the Burial Board of the city, and took over the Greenbank Cemetery belonging to St. Philip's parish, and soon afterwards the Avonview Cemetery at St. George's.

At a meeting of the Council on July 31st Alderman Baker moved the adoption of a report from the Docks Committee, recommending that the previous year's scheme for the construction of a deep water wharf along the Floating Harbour for the convenience of the timber trade, the erection of a coal-tip on the south side of the river, the making of a railway and bridge connecting the Harbour Railway with the line to Portishead, and minor improvements, should be, with some modifications, approved. The committee also recommended an extension of the pier at Avonmouth by 220 feet, at a cost of £5,000, so as to afford accommodation for passengers at certain states of the tide. They further reported arrangements made with the Great Western Company for carrying out these and other improvements. The Company were to be empowered to make a railway from the Harbour line, along the towing-path in Cumberland Road, and adjoining the new course of the Avon, £10,000 being offered for the land, and the Corporation undertaking to make a new towing-path. The swing-bridge connecting this line with the Portishead Railway was to be constructed by the Corporation, and to consist of a railway on a lower, and a roadway for general traffic on a higher level, the Company contributing £18,000 towards the cost, estimated at £36,000. (As it turned out, the bridge cost over £60,000, and the Corporation were saddled with all the extra charge.) A motion approving of a Bill to carry out these proposals was adopted by 42 votes against 3, though some regret was expressed at the destruction of the public promenade along Cumberland Road. At a statutory meeting to confirm the scheme, held shortly afterwards, it was again approved by 51 votes against 2. But at a statutory meeting of the citizens on the 29th September, a motion approving of the intended Bill was rejected by a large majority. This result was due to the Corporation having resolved on applying for parliamentary powers to impose

increased dock dues on pleasure steamers, in lieu of the rescinded passenger tax. A clique interested in these vessels succeeded in bringing together a considerable number of the labouring classes, and both Bills met with the same fate. A poll of the city was demanded, but the Bill for additional dock dues was forthwith abandoned. The result of the poll was declared on the 5th November, and was as follows:- For the Harbour Improvement Bill, 16,905; against it, 4,437. About 40,000 voting papers had been issued.

Down to 1886, the only hospital provided by the Corporation for the isolation of small-pox and infectious fever patients consisted of two small buildings in St. Philip's Marsh, each having 12 beds. An outbreak of small-pox in 1887 showed the necessity of further provision, and in 1892 the Sanitary Committee purchased a site of 13 acres at Novers Hill; but the Government refused to sanction a scheme by which smallpox and other diseases would be treated in the same building. The new place, which cost £17,500, was therefore reserved for small-pox cases only; and in August, 1896, it was resolved to erect a hospital for infectious diseases at Ham Green, 38 acres of that newly acquired estate being devoted to the institution. The new hospital, which cost nearly £45,000, was opened by the Lord Mayor on July 12th, 1899, his Lordship being presented with a silver key to commemorate the event. The building contained 76 beds, located in four pavilions. The Novers Hill hospital accommodated 58 patients. A port hospital was also established at Avonmouth for the reception of infected persons arriving in ships. [In May, 1901, it was resolved to double the accommodation at Ham Green, at a further cost of about £25,000.]

During the summer of 1896, the upper portion of St. James's Church tower, which had been disfigured in the previous century by bastard classical “ornaments”, was restored to medieval form. Moved by this example, the vestry of St Thomas's undertook the restoration of the ancient tower of that church, deprived of its battlements about 1845, and become seriously decayed. The capstone of the newly-erected chief pinnacle was laid by the Mayoress on May 19th, 1897, when the outlay was stated to have been £1,600.

On September 18th, about two o'clock in the morning, a man named Browne, a tradesman residing near Birmingham, threw his two children, a girl of twelve and another of three years of age, over the Suspension Bridge into the river below. The tide was high at the time, and some pilots, whilst proceeding to the Floating Harbour, succeeded in rescuing the children, who were

removed to the Infirmary. The younger of them proved to be uninjured by the fall, and the elder, though partially hurt in the spine, eventually recovered. The father was captured soon afterwards, and was evidently insane. (The thirty-fourth suicide from the Suspension Bridge had occurred a few weeks previously.)

Extraordinarily high tides occurred in the Avon on the 7th and 8th October, in consequence of a strong south-west wind and an excessive amount of flood water following after rains. The greatest rise at Cumberland Basin was 39 feet, when the tide flowed over the top of the outer lock. Many houses were inundated at St. Philip's Marsh, Bedminster, Pill, and other districts.

The ninth triennial Musical Festival took place on October 14th and the three following days. The oratorios given were Elijah on the 14th, the Creation on the 15th, Job on the 16th, and the Messiah on the 17th. There were three evening concerts, of which the Golden Legend was the leading feature. The conductor was Mr. Geo. Riseley vice Sir C. Hallé, deceased. The collections for the hospitals amounted to £142. The attendances as a whole showed a marked improvement on those of previous festivals, and the receipts - £4,895 - sufficed to meet the expenditure.

Cotham Wesleyan Chapel (opened in September, 1878) was destroyed by fire on the morning of October 24th. A new steam fire-engine, recently purchased by the Corporation, was employed with good effect, but only the vestry and school-rooms were saved. The fire had doubtless been kindled by a man named Moore, who had first stolen some chisels from a neighbouring shed, and had then used them to break into one of the chapel windows and burst open some cupboards in search of plunder. The charge of arson could not, however, be proved at his trial, but he was sentenced to nine months' imprisonment for the theft. The chapel was rebuilt in the following year at a cost of £6,500, and was re-opened on October 20th, 1897.

A handsome new Free Library for the St. Philip's district was opened by the Mayor on November 6th. The cost of its erection was about £5,000. A few weeks later, a small branch library was opened at Avonmouth.

At a meeting of St. George's District Council on November 10th a letter was read from Sir Wm. Henry Wills, Bart., M.P., offering to erect a building for a public library and newsroom for the free use of the inhabitants, on condition that the District Council provided a site, and undertook to adopt the provisions of the Free Libraries Act It was stated that

the building would cost about £3,000. The offer was thankfully accepted, and the edifice was erected in the following year. Under the provisions of the Boundaries Act of 1897, the institution was taken over by the Corporation.

In consequence of a persistent demand for increased wages made by the workmen employed at the Malago Vale Colliery, the owners suspended operations and permanently closed the pit on November 12th. About 300 men were thrown out of employment.

A bazaar for the benefit of the Church of England schools of the district was opened in Colston Hall on November 12th by H.R.H. the Duchess of Teck. The Duchess had arrived at the railway station on the previous day, and had been the guest for the night of the Duke and Duchess of Beaufort at Stoke House.

The local newspapers announced on November 18th that the Bristol Tramways Company were about to make application to Parliament for an extensive development of their existing system. The project, which involved an extension of the capital of the company from £330,000 to £730,000, contemplated an extension of the Eastville line to Fishponds and Staple Hill, of the Totterdown line to Knowle and Brislington, of the Bedminster line to Ashton Gate, of the Hotwell line to Clifton Down and Redland, and of the Whiteladies' line from Blackboy Hill to Cheltenham Road. New tramways were also proposed from the Victoria Rooms to the Suspension Bridge, and from Queen's Road to Clifton Down by way of Pembroke Road. The whole of the lines, old as well as new, were to be worked by electric power, supplied by “overhead” wires; but the Company intimated that their promotion of the scheme was conditional upon the Corporation surrendering their right to supply the electric current within the city boundaries. As it was known that the Council would be unwilling to comply with this condition, an agitation of an extraordinary character was started, by persons professing to be acting purely in the public interest, to coerce the civic body into submission, committees being formed in each ward for the obvious purpose of opposing the re-election of recalcitrant Councillors. The attempts of the agitators to obtain the support of the ratepayers at district meetings convened for that purpose were, however, far from successful, in despite of the means that were stated to have been employed with the view of securing a majority. The project was brought before the Council on the 8th December, when several petitions disapproving of the Company's demand were presented. Mr. Pearson moved that the overhead wire system should be sanctioned, subject to its

being substituted, at the end of five years, by any improved system that might be approved of by the Council, and that the proposed extensions should be approved only on condition that the electric power should be supplied by the Corporation. An amendment was moved by Alderman Inskip to the effect that the Council should not insist on its right to supply the required motive power. Strong indignation was expressed during the debate at the manner in which it had been attempted to “rush” the scheme upon the Council, and on a division the amendment was rejected by 31 votes against 21. The voting of the Councillors, apart from the Aldermen, was 29 against 11. The resolution was then adopted. The Tramway Company immediately announced that the extensions within the city would not be proceeded with. In 1897, however, notice was given of an intended application to Parliament for powers to construct the lines described above, with the exception of the two Clifton routes, and in the course of negotiations, the Corporation relinquished their claim to supply the electric power. At a meeting of the Council on April 29th, 1898, the Sanitary Committee reported the arrangements that had been mutually agreed upon. The Company, it was stated, had made numerous concessions to the Committee, but refused to pay a yearly way-leave for the use of the streets, or to give the Council power to veto the overhead wire system if it were deemed inconvenient; and the Committee recommended that those claims should be insisted upon. A motion to that effect having been proposed, an amendment was moved by Alderman Inskip to sanction the progress of the Bills. On a division the amendment was adopted by 32 votes against 30. (Eleven Aldermen voted in the majority and two in the minority.) The discussion was resumed at an adjourned meeting on May 3rd, when an amendment was proposed stipulating for a way leave when the net profits of the Company reached 7£ per cent, per annum; but this was resisted as unfair, seeing that the lines were to be surrendered to the civic body at the end of 17 years, and was rejected by 34 votes against 30. Alderman Inskip's amendment was finally adopted as a substantive motion. The Bills accordingly passed without opposition, and received the Royal Assent.

At a meeting of the Council on December 8th, 1896, it was resolved, on a recommendation of the Docks Committee, to expend £20,000 on the construction of a floating caisson to be attached to the lock at Avonmouth, by which expedient vessels 470 feet in length and 7,000 tons burden would be enabled to make use of the dock. The caisson was brought into operation on September 27th, 1898, when the steamship Montrose, bringing

a Canadian cargo of nearly 8,000 tons, was enabled to discharge a number of cattle in the lock before entering the basin.

The Hon. T.F. Bayard, American Minister in England, visited Bristol on Dec. 17th for the purpose of addressing the students and presenting the prizes at the Merchant Venturers' Technical College. He was received at the railway station by the Mayor and Sheriff, and by the President and members of the Chamber of Commerce, and the latter body entertained him at a luncheon in the Grammar School. In returning thanks for his reception, Mr. Bayard stated that his maternal ancestors were descended from a Welsh family originally named Llewellin, but who were long established at Bristol under the name of Willing.

Two somewhat remarkable illustrations of the increasing value of land within the city occurred about the close of the year. A plot of ground in Canons' Marsh, about seven acres in area, and having a frontage to the harbour, was purchased by Messrs. Fry and Sons for £48,300; and a building site in Baldwin Street was sold by the Corporation to the Scottish Widows' Assurance Society for £7,370.

It was announced on New Year's Day, 1897, that the Queen had been pleased to confer the honour of a baronetcy on Mr. Frederick Wills, of Bristol. Mr. Wills, like his relative Sir William Henry, was a member of the great local firm of W.D. and H.O. Wills and Company, and it will presently be seen that a third member of that house shortly afterwards received the honour of knighthood.

The premises of Messrs. R. Todd and Co., wholesale clothiers. Temple Meads, were destroyed by fire on January 27th. The damage was estimated at £40,000.

A meeting of influential citizens was convened by the Mayor on February 27th for the purpose of considering the most fitting manner of commemorating the conclusion of the sixtieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria. After some discussion, it was resolved, on the motion of Mr. J.S. Fry, seconded by Sir Charles D. Cave, that a Convalescent Home should be established and endowed at a cost of about £50,000. A second subscription was opened for the purpose of celebrating the Queen's accession by public rejoicings. It was shortly afterwards announced that Mr. H.O. Wills and Mr. Edward Payton Wills had offered £10,000 each, provided that the above amount for the Convalescent Home were raised in full. In August Mr. J.S. Fry, another ardent friend of the movement, offered to subscribe the last £10,000 of the £50,000, and Sir W.H. Wills thereupon increased his subscription from £1,000 to £5,000. In November Mr. E.P. Wills increased his previous subscription to £20,000,

by purchasing Waynflete House (built a few years previously for a boarding school), and Sir J. Greville Smyth added £1,500 to his first donation of £500. About the same time the Rev. Dr. Glover and Mr. J.K C. Pope were appointed honorary secretaries, and proved indefatigable in promoting the movement. By their exertions the working-classes were induced to take part in the work, and contributed liberally, whilst a shilling subscription fund opened by each of the local newspapers brought in an aggregate of £3,700. In December it was announced that the total sum subscribed had reached £80,000. The chief promoters soon after resolved to make a further effort to raise the aggregate to £100,000, Mr. E.P. Wills contributing £5,000 and Mr. J.S. Fry £2,000 towards that object. As will be seen hereafter, complete success attended the effort.

About the beginning of March, workmen began the demolition of the ancient houses standing upon the southern side of the Pithay. The dwellings had overhanging roofs, and probably dated from the reign of Elizabeth. Several houses on the north side of Wine Street, extending from the entrance into the Pithay to Union Street, were also removed, in order to widen the thoroughfare.

The Royal Society of Canada having transmitted an address to the Corporation inviting it to send representatives to attend a meeting at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in June, to commemorate the fourth centenary of the discovery of the continent of America by the Bristol ship commanded by John Cabot, the Council, on March 9th, requested two ex-mayors, Messrs. Barker and Howell Davies, to attend the gathering on behalf of the city. The mission was accepted, and the Bristolians, who were received by the colonists with great cordiality, were present at Halifax, on the 25th June, at the uncovering of a memorial tablet to the discoverers of the American continent.

A newly completed railway station in Lovers' Walk, Redland, was opened for traffic on April 12th.

On May 11th the Council adopted a report of the Baths Committee recommending the purchase of the Victoria Baths, Clifton, for £3,025, and of the Swimming Baths, Kingsdown, erected a few years previously by a Mr. Popham, for £3,500.

Mr. Arthur Ruscombe Poole, Recorder of Bristol, died on May 22nd. Mr. Edward James Castle was shortly afterwards appointed by the Crown to the vacant office.

A building known as St. James's Hall, Cumberland Street, was offered for sale by auction on May 26th, but was bought in at £3,500. The hall was built in 1884 by a number of gentlemen desirous of providing Sunday evening lectures, etc., and cost about £3,800; but as no charge could legally be made for

admission, and the voluntary collections did not suffice to pay expenses, the promoters resolved on discontinuing their efforts.

The revival of an independent bishopric of Bristol was recorded at page 39. Under the provisions of the Act, Bishop Ellicott formally relinquished his connection with the see in June, 1897, after having held it for the unexampled period of thirty-four years. At a special service held in the Cathedral on June 4th, which was attended by 180 clergymen, the Mayor and members of the Corporation, and a crowd of influential laymen, the retiring prelate delivered an affecting farewell discourse. At the conclusion of the service his lordship was presented in the chapter house with an address from the clergy, and was afterwards entertained at the Mansion House, where a similar address from the laity was presented by the Mayor.

The celebration of the completion of the sixtieth year of the reign of Queen Victoria, oddly styled the Diamond Jubilee, took place on June 22nd amidst general manifestations of joy. On the 20th (Sunday) the Mayor, accompanied by the members of the Corporation, the magistrates, and the officers of all the chief public institutions, attended morning service in the cathedral, which in the afternoon was filled by the members of the volunteer corps, the regular troops from the barracks, the Gloucestershire and North Somerset yeomanry, and a number of army veterans. The proceedings on Tuesday morning commenced with a civic procession from Queen Square to the Downs, passing through nearly all the principal streets, which were all largely, and some profusely, decorated with flags, drapery, and floral devices. Great crowds assembled at Bristol Bridge and other convenient points of view, and a majority of the spectators wore some indication of the festival in the shape of rosettes and badges. On arriving at a space near the Sea Walls, the procession formed in lines to witness a review of the volunteers, in the presence of a great concourse of spectators. The military display concluded with a feu de joie, and a royal salute from the artillery. In the afternoon concerts were given in all the parks, in Colston Avenue, and on Brandon Hill. The entertainment of the poor and of the children of the primary schools was provided for by a public subscription, and extended over three days owing to the vast numbers that were to be dealt with. The illuminations on Tuesday evening exceeded in splendour everything hitherto attempted in the city, the introduction of the electric light adding greatly to the brilliancy of the display. In the outskirts, there were bonfires and displays of fireworks. The illumination of Clifton Suspension Bridge with 3,000 lamps was especially admired.

On June 24th, the fourth centenary of the discovery of North America by the Bristol ship Matthew, commanded by John Cabot, the foundation stone of a monument intended to be a perpetual memorial of the achievement was laid on the summit of Brandon Hill by the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, ex-Governor-General of Canada. His lordship, who received a hearty reception on his arrival by railway, was first conducted to the Council House, where he was presented with the freedom of the city. His lordship next proceeded to the Victoria Rooms, where luncheon was provided, and where in an eloquent address he eulogised the services of Cabot and of the Bristolians who sent him forth on his momentous voyage. The Marquis then made his way to Brandon Hill, where he went through the usual masonic formalities, and subsequently addressed a vast concourse assembled around the spot. Sir M. Hicks-Beach, one of the Members for Bristol and Chancellor of the Exchequer, also took part in the proceedings, which evoked much public enthusiasm. (See Sept. 6th, 1898.)

At the summer Assizes on July 8th, Charles Francis Ball, a civil engineer in the service of the Corporation, pleaded guilty to a charge of embezzling large sums, the property of his employers, and was sentenced to seven years' penal servitude. The frauds were effected by falsifying the wages sheets of the scavengers, a great number of fictitious names being entered on the lists, and the wages ostensibly owing to those labourers being embezzled. Ball had begun this practice about two years before its detection, and gradually increased his drawings until they reached £70 a week, investing the whole sum (£2,500) in the purchase of house property. It was stated during the trial that the stolen money would be refunded. A subordinate named Pearce, whom he had bribed to assist in the peculation, was sentenced to a year's imprisonment.

The newly erected church of St. Anselm, Whatley Road, Clifton, was opened for divine service on August 8th. A lady named Bowen had bequeathed, about three years previously, £5,000 towards the erection of the church, a site for which had been offered some time before. The gift sufficed for the erection, of the nave and choir. The transepts were added in 1900.

It was announced in August that Canon G.S. Streatfield had accepted the vacant incumbency of Clifton, in the gift of the Simeon trustees; but a few days afterwards the Canon publicly intimated that he had withdrawn his acceptance. It then transpired that his withdrawal was due to the fact that, having announced his intention to preach in his surplice, he had been threatened by the Rev. Talbot Greaves, a former vicar, with a

deprivation of income of over £200 a year. When a number of freehold pews in the parish church were purchased by Mr. Greaves and others in 1884 (see p.406), the new owners settled their property by a trust deed, the trustees under which were empowered to pay over the pew rents to the incumbent, or, at their discretion, to withhold them if in their opinion the incumbent failed to maintain the Protestant principles of the Church. The trustees, of which Mr. Greaves and Mr. James Inskip were the guiding spirits, deemed that the discarding of the black gown, hitherto always worn in the pulpit, was a change inconsistent with those principles, and the result was Canon Streatfield's resignation. The Simeon trustees experienced great difficulty in supplying the vacancy. Eventually, at the end of November, the Rev. G.F. Head accepted the living.

On August 10th the Council adopted a report of the Docks Committee recommending the erection of another granary at Avonmouth; the existing building, which afforded storage for 75,000 quarters of corn, being inadequate for the increased trade. The new granary, with some subsidiary works, was estimated to cost £44,000, but actually cost £65,000. It was completed in July, 1899.

Mr. C.N. Creswell, a Commissioner appointed by the Home Secretary to inquire into and determine the number of Councillors which should be added to the existing municipality for the districts included in the city by the new Boundaries Act, opened his court at the Guildhall on August 19th, and proceeded to take evidence. The Commissioner decided that five new wards should be formed, to be each represented by three Councillors, and each having an Alderman elected by the Council. (The new wards were subsequently styled Somerset, Stapleton, Easton, St. George and Horfield.)

On August 30th a vessel called the Montcalm arrived at Avonmouth from Quebec with a cargo of 6,728 tons of grain, &c. - the largest corn importation hitherto recorded. The owners of the Dominion line of steamships had some time before established a weekly service of vessels from Canada with remarkable results, the grain imports during the first four months of 1897 having been more than 50 per cent, in excess of the corresponding period of 1896. The inadequacy of Avonmouth Dock to provide for the growing traffic, and the urgency of providing suitable accommodation for the largest class of ocean steamers, whose dimensions had doubled within about twenty years, and were still increasing, began at last to be recognised by many who had previously resisted progress; and the Docks Committee was urgently appealed to by Mr. Howell Davies to provide a

new dock. The majority of the members were nevertheless still opposed to action, and Mr. Davies' proposal was shelved. The pressure of public opinion, however, could not be ignored by the Council, which at a special meeting on the 21st September discussed a resolution, moved by Alderman Inskip and seconded by Alderman Fox, requesting the Docks Committee to give the necessary instructions for the promotion of a Bill authorising the construction of new works. Alderman Baker, the Chairman of the Committee, energetically deprecated the motion as premature, alleging that the cost of the proposed works would involve an outlay of over £1,600,000, and an annual burden on the citizens of £50.000 a year; while they had no security of any additional trade that would justify the expenditure. His amendment to postpone the matter was defeated by 36 votes to 21, many of his former supporters having gone over to the progressive party, and the original motion was adopted. The Docks Committee lost no time in producing a report, accompanied with a plan for a dock of 40 acres in area, with about a mile of quays, and having an entrance lock 850 feet in length. The scheme, which also provided for granaries, a graving dock, and a low-water pier, was estimated to cost £1,535,000. The report was discussed at a meeting of the Council on the 5th October, when a resolution for proceeding with it in the next Session of Parliament was met by an amendment virtually recommending indefinite delay. The latter was defeated by 39 votes against 8, and the resolution was adopted. At a statutory meeting on the 19th October the Council passed a formal resolution for the promotion of the Bill, 47 members voting in its favour, while 5 refused to vote. But at a meeting on the 9th November the Chairman of the Docks Committee announced that upon communicating with the Directors of the Great Western Railway Company they had stated that it would be impossible for them to concur in promoting the Bill in the following year, inasmuch as they had not had an opportunity to consider its provisions, or to enter into negotiations with the Midland Company. A similar intimation had been received from the Midland board. Under these circumstances the Council rescinded the previous resolution, and directed the Docks Committee to reconsider the matter and to negotiate with the two companies. For the convenience of the reader, the subsequent vicissitudes of the question will be given in a connected form. On June 14th, 1898, the committee submitted plans which they had procured from Mr. McCurrich, the docks engineer, and Sir J.W. Barry, the former gentleman estimating that a new dock would cost about a million and a half, and the

dockisation of the Avon nearly two millions; whilst the latter's scheme for dockisation, including a pier at Portishead, was expected to involve an outlay of £1,890,000. The committee offered no opinion on these projects, but stated that their efforts to obtain the co-operation of the Great Western Railway board had met with an unsatisfactory response. Alderman Baker, in moving that the report be received, reiterated his contention that the existing resources of the port had not been proved to be insufficient, and that the ratepayers would be burdened with a rate of more than a shilling in the pound for a dock, and 1s. 5d. in the pound if dockisation were adopted. Alderman Inskip moved an amendment re-affirming the Council's repeated resolutions, and returning the report to the committee with a request for a definite plan. The amendment was adopted by 39 votes against 15. Six weeks later, the committee produced a report recommending new works at Portishead, at an aggregate cost of £350,000. Alderman Baker having moved its adoption, an amendment was proposed in favour of dockisation, but was negatived by 41 votes against 20. The original motion was carried without a division. (Another report, recommending the purchase for £6,000 of a portion of the estate of the late Sir J.D. Weston at Portishead was also confirmed.) At another meeting, on September 20th, Alderman Baker proposed that a Bill should be laid before Parliament authorising the construction of the proposed works. The feeling of the Council, however, had veered, in compliance with the prevalent opinion out of doors, in favour of improvements at Avonmouth, and Alderman Baker's change of front since his elaborate speech in June was sharply commented upon. On a division, 38 members (including 14 aldermen) voted for his motion, and 29 (two aldermen) against it. As the resolution had not obtained a statutable majority of two-thirds, it was declared to be lost. On October 11th a meeting was specially convened for a full consideration of the whole question. Alderman Inskip, in introducing the subject, observed that for forty years the Corporation had been wandering amidst delusive paths, and had practically made no progress. It was high time to deal seriously with the matter; and as the Portishead scheme had been laid aside, and dockisation involved the facing of great risks and an enormous expenditure, they must either undertake an extension at Avonmouth or abandon improvement altogether. He moved that the Docks Committee be instructed to promote a Bill for extending the accommodation at Avonmouth, the cost of which, he anticipated, would be a little over a million. Alderman Townsend moved as an amendment that the committee be

instructed to report as to the lowest cost of dockisation. Alderman Baker again denied that there was such an increase of trade as to justify a vast expenditure. But if there were no alternative between extension at Avonmouth and dockisation, he preferred the latter, and was willing to pay more for it - a statement that, in view of his former speeches, caused great surprise. On a division, the amendment was adopted by 57 votes against 12. It was further resolved that six members of the Council should co-operate with the Docks Committee in considering the subject. Twelve months later (October 10th, 1899), whilst this committee were still deliberating, Alderman Baker presented another report from the Docks Committee, reviving the Portishead scheme, there being, it was stated, a prospect that Bristol would be selected as the port of departure of an important line of mail steamers. Though the estimated cost of the works had increased to £462,000, Alderman Baker's motion that Parliamentary powers should be applied for was carried by 40 votes against 27. But on October 31st it was announced that the mail steamer vision had vanished, and the scheme was abandoned, causing another year's delay. Alderman Baker resigned the chair of the Dock board a few days later. On June 9th, 1900, the Dockisation Committee met to consider a report made at their request by three eminent engineers, Sir J.W. Barry, Sir Benjamin Baker, and Mr. A.C. Hurtzig. The report opened with a statement that dockisation was practicable, but that since Sir J.W. Barry made his report in 1894 important changes had affected the conditions to be dealt with. Steamships of great size had increased in number, and were still increasing both in numbers and in magnitude; aud whilst the large vessels proceeding to Bristol were rapidly decreasing, those docked at Avonmouth had nearly doubled within a few years. If dockisation were determined upon, the writers estimated that the aggregate cost would be £2,775,000, exclusive of the necessary sewage works, which had been estimated in 1896 at £500,000, and of a low-water passenger pier, the outlay on which was calculated at £250,000. In addition to this expenditure, the yearly cost of dredging was expected to be £36,625. The report concluded by asserting that, even if dockisation were carried out, the largest class of vessels would never be brought to Bristol. Excepting amongst a few extreme enthusiasts, the above report definitely routed the advocates of dockisation; but the committee soon afterwards reported to the Council that an alternative plan had been propounded, based on the Barry scheme of 1896, which would reduce the outlay by about £300,000. They added that the estimated charge on the

ratepayers, if the engineers' scheme was adopted, would entail a yearly rate of 2s. 1d. in the pound, or, if the latest plan were selected, a rate of 1s. 10½d. On the presentation of this report to the Council, on July 30th, Mr. Parsons moved that the committee be requested to report on an adequate scheme of dock extension, and the resolution was adopted. The three engineers mentioned above were thereupon again employed, and in the following October they submitted their plan. After recommending certain deviations in the railways at Avonmouth for the purpose of obtaining a clear site of 250 acres, they advised the construction of a dock on Dunball “island” of 25½ acres in area, and capable of future extension to 40 acres. The entrance lock was proposed to be 850 feet in length, with sills eight feet deeper than the sills of the existing lock, and with approach piers enabling steamships drawing 30 feet to discharge passengers into trains for four hours at every high tide. The expenditure necessary to carry out these works and other appliances was estimated at £1,804,700, exclusive of a yearly outlay of about £5,000 for dredging. The Committee reported in favour of promoting a Bill to carry out the project, and at a meeting of the Council on October 30th their recommendation was adopted without a division. At another meeting on November 20th a resolution to promote a Bill for the construction of the dock, and also for acquiring land in Canons' Marsh and the neighbourhood for harbour improvement purposes (the borrowing powers for the latter works - on which £407,000 had been already expended during the three previous years - being fixed at £500,000), was adopted unanimously, 65 members supporting the motion, whilst 5 declined to vote. A statutory meeting of the ratepayers, held on November 26th, also approved of the Bill by a large majority. A poll being demanded by the opposition, the result was declared on January 8th, 1901, as follows:- For the Bill, 25,251; against it, 9,377. At a statutory meeting of the Council, held on the 22nd, it was resolved to proceed with the Bill by a majority of 70 votes against 1. The scheme became law during the following session.

This opportunity may be taken to show the progress of the tonnage entering the port during the following years, ending April:-

The once famous Montague Hotel at Kingsdown was sold by auction in October, 1897, for £6,000. A few weeks later the King's Head Inn, Redland, was disposed of by the Corporation and brought £10,600. A block of buildings in Baldwin Street was purchased by the Edinburgh Life Assurance Office for £15,000, and Redland Lodge and grounds were sold for £16,000.

The first election of fifteen Councillors for the districts incorporated with the city by the Enlarged Boundaries Act took place on November 1st. The ratepayers entitled to vote in the new wards numbered 14,276. (The burgess roll of the older wards gave a total of 35,267.) The Conservative candidates were numerous, but only three were successful. On the 9th November the Council elected five additional Aldermen - one for each new ward. The choice fell upon three Conservatives and two Liberals.

A destructive fire occurred on November 19th in the brush manufactory of Messrs. Greenslade, Thomas Street.

On December 3rd the Council adopted a report of a committee recommending the adoption of an Order of the Local Government Board, by which the three civil parishes of North, Central aud South Bristol, together with the newly incorporated districts of Stapleton and St. George's, were formed into one united civil parish, to be known as the parish of Bristol on and from March 31st, 1898.

Amongst the royal honours announced on New Year's Day, 1898, was a knighthood conferred upon Mr. Robert Henry Symes, Mayor of Bristol.

At a meeting of the Council on the same day a report was presented by the Corporation Act (1897) Committee recommending that, in constituting the new Board of Guardians, the number of members for each district should be fixed on the basis of the municipal representation. It transpired that this proposal had been adopted by the Committee by a majority of only one vote, the minority being of opinion that the number of Guardians in each ward should be allocated in proportion to ratable value and population. On a division the motion was adopted by 45 votes against 33. (17 aldermen voted in the majority and 2 in the minority.) The first election of Guardians took place in March, the poll being declared on the 28th. Sixteen of the wards were contested; but out of a register of about 53,000 electors, only 18,000 persons recorded their votes. Under the provisions of the Act, the Incorporation of the Poor, after an existence of over 200 years, was finally dissolved.

At a late hour in the evening of January 11th, a fire was discovered to be raging in the passenger steamer Xema, plying

between Bristol and Cork, and then lying in Cumberland Basin. Two lives were lost before the Fire Brigade succeeded in extinguishing the flames.

An election of members of the first School Board for the enlarged city concluded on January 14th. Seven candidates nominated by the undenominational party and four by their opponents were returned, together with a nominee of the Roman Catholics and three “Independents”. Only 45 per cent, of the electoral body recorded their votes. The Rev. Urijah Thomas was elected chairman at the first meeting of the Board.

According to the statistics of local pauperism made up on January 31st, the number of paupers in the city was 11,451, being 326 per 10,000 of the estimated population. The latter figures were greatly in excess of those in any other English large town, and nearly three times greater than the return from Birmingham; although the money distributed by charities in Bristol was enormously in excess of similar gifts in any other provincial centre. In connection with the subject it may be added that in the following October the secretary of the Hospital Reform Association in London published statistics collected from the various medical charitable institutions in the city (irrespective of the districts lately absorbed in the borough). Some of the minor institutions made no returns, but from those who responded it appeared that during the year 1896 the number of patients admitted into the institutions was 6,844, whilst no less than 103,348, about one-third of the total population, obtained relief as “out-patients”.

The Rev. George Müller, founder of the orphanages on Ashley Down, died on March 10th, in his 93rd year. In his last annual statement respecting the institutions, he wrote: “I have been able, every day and all day, to work, and that with ease, as 70 years since”. From about 1871, however, the orphan houses were superintended by his son-in-law, Mr. James Wright, their founder having spent much of his later life in travelling abroad. The funeral of the deceased, on the 14th, occasioned a remarkable demonstration of public respect, citizens of all classes and sects taking part in the ceremony. Nearly 100 carriages followed the hearse to Arno's Vale, and many thousand persons lined the route and assembled in the cemetery. Mr. Müller's will was proved soon afterwards. Although upwards of a million sterling had passed through his hands as voluntary offerings, the entire value of his property and effects was sworn to be only £160 9s. 4d.

It has been already stated (p.39) that an additional demand

of £5,000 was made by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners for improving and extending the premises in Berkeley Square given by Mr. Daniel for the residence of the Bishops of Bristol, and that the sum had been contributed by the public. Bishop Browne, however, was of opinion that the mansion, even if the money were spent upon it, would be unsuitable for an episcopal palace, and intimated his desire that a properly constructed house should be built in the suburbs. Mr. Greville Edwards thereupon offered a large site fronting Redland Green; and it was resolved to sell the house in Berkeley Square, and to devote the proceeds, together with the above subscription, to the erection and equipment of the new palace. The approval of the Commissioners was obtained in March, when their architect was ordered to furnish plans; and building operations were begun during the summer. The cost of the erection was £13,000. The funds being inadequate, the Bishop obtained £4,000 from the Commissioners by way of mortgage. On March 3rd, 1900, a local journal stated that soon after the arrangements had been completed for building the new palace, the Ecclesiastical Commissioners deducted £500 per annum from the minimum income fixed for the revived bishopric, on the ground that an adequate residence had been provided for the bishop! As already recorded, the house in Berkeley Square was acquired by the Literary Club for £2,750.

On March 14th, a meeting convened at the instance of the Bishop of Bristol was held in the Chapter House to consider the desirability of taking steps to extend the inadequate church accommodation in various populous districts. His lordship had previously nominated a commission of influential residents, directing them to inquire into the necessities of each locality, and to determine what funds would be needed to carry out the purposes in view. The meeting recognised the urgency of action, and resolutions were passed in furtherance of the movement. It was stated that about £7,000, chiefly arising from a bequest made by Mr. Richard Vaughan, had been handed over by Bishop Ellicott to his successor in Bristol, and would be applicable to the scheme. Another meeting in support of the project was held on June 13th, when it was reported that 17 new churches and 14 mission buildings were needed, as well as funds for the endowment of 24 curates, and half stipends for 14 more. As a first step towards attaining these objects, a sum of at least £100,000 was asked for, to be disbursed in five years. It was announced that Mr. W.K. Wait, Mr. C.B. Hare, and Mr. E.P. Wills had offered £1,000 each, and the Bishop £750, and the total donations promised were about £11,000.

Extensive additional buildings at Kingswood Reformatory were opened in April. The only relic preserved of Wesley's original school is the chapel, in which he often officiated.

At a sale by auction on April 21st of building sites in Wine Street, remaining after the widening of that thoroughfare, a plot having a frontage of 57 feet to Wine Street and the Pithay was disposed of at the enormous annual fee-farm rent of £380. An adjoining plot, having a frontage of 20 feet in Wine Street, brought £250 a year.

At a meeting of the Council on April 29th it was announced that Mr. J.C. Clayfield Ireland, who was about to dispose of the “Black Castle” estate at Arno's Vale for building purposes, had offered to return to the Corporation the four ancient statues that were given by the civic body about 1766 to Mr. Reeve, then owner of the property. Two of the statues originally stood in Newgate, and the others at Lawford's Gate. A cordial vote of thanks was tendered to Mr. Ireland.

A memorial bust of Mr. James Greig Smith, an eminent local surgeon, whose death on May 28th, 1897, inspired great regret, was unveiled on May 5th in the vestibule of the Museum and Library by the Sheriff of Bristol, in the presence of a numerous gathering of the medical profession. The memorial was the result of a subscription, the proceeds of which sufficed for the erection of a memorial medallion in the Infirmary, and for a considerable contribution towards the improvement of the operating theatre in that institution. (The theatre was reopened by Sir William Mac Cormac, President of the College of Surgeons, on September 30th of the same year.)

On May 10th the Council (reversing a vote of the previous year) adopted a report of the Finance Committee recommending the erection of a new chamber, for the meetings of the civic body, on ground at the back of Broad Street adjoining the Council House. The Council Chamber constructed in 1826 was designed for the accommodation of a body only 42 in number, which jealously excluded reporters, and the narrow limits of the room occasioned great inconvenience when, in 1836, the number of representatives was increased to 64, and debates were thrown open to the press. The discomfort, however, was submitted to until, by the passing of the Act for enlarging the borough, the Council room was required to accommodate a body numbering 84, and the situation became intolerable. Many members urged the desirability of abandoning the existing Council House altogether, and of constructing Municipal Buildings on a scale worthy of the city. But the great expenditure on public improvements incurred during

several years had led to constant augmentations of local taxation, and in the year under review the rates had risen to 7s. 4d. in the pound, creating intense public dissatisfaction. The scheme of the Finance Committee was recommended by the unimportant outlay (£2,500) that it was estimated to involve, and it was adopted without opposition. Subsequently, it was found desirable to remove the three houses in Broad Street adjoining the Council House, which had been reduced to mere shells by the progress of the above work, and a plan was adopted in October for the erection on the site of offices for the rate collectors, and for the staff of the School Board and of the City Surveyor, the expenditure being thus increased to about £7,500. The new Council Chamber was occupied for the first time on July 11th, 1899. The room is 59 feet in length by 34 in breadth, and is 21 feet high.

A railway station for the recently erected suburb of St. Anne's was opened on May 23rd by the Great Western Company.

A new tramway line - from Sussex Place, Ashley Road, to Stapleton Road - was opened for traffic on May 26th.

At a meeting of the Council on June 14th, an offer was received from Sir W.H. Wills, Bart., M.P., of a painting by P.E.A. Miiller, “In the Sahara”, as the beginning of a collection for a Municipal Art Gallery. The gift was gratefully accepted, and it was temporarily placed in the Fine Arts Academy. The present was but the forerunner of a more munificent offering from the same hand. See July 25th, 1899.

The sites in a newly laid-out thoroughfare connecting Baldwin Street with Marsh Street, and intended to be called Telephone Avenue, owing to the establishment of a Telephone Exchange there, were offered for sale on June 30th. Only one, however, was disposed of. The remaining sites were sold privately.

The Council on July 12th approved of a scheme for an increase of the Fire Brigade, chiefly for the better protection of the newly-incorporated districts. Another powerful steam fire-engine and other appliances were estimated to cost about £1,450.

About a quarter past two o'clock in the morning of September 1st a fire was discovered to be raging in the premises of Messrs. Clarke and Co., wholesale clothiers, extending from Colston Street to Trenchard Street, and so rapid was the progress of the flames that the extensive building was ablaze from end to end before the Fire Brigade reached the spot. The peril of Colston Hall, adjoining the premises, was quickly apparent, and in

despite of the exertions of the firemen the flames soon communicated with the roof, enveloped the organ and orchestra, and rapidly spread over the great hall, which was reduced to ruins. The lesser hall was preserved; but a dwelling-house in Trenchard Street was destroyed, and others were much damaged. Messrs. Clarke's premises and stock were insured for £50,000. The great hall, with its fine organ, was fully covered by insurance. The destruction of the building occurred at a singularly unpropitious moment. The hall was being utilised at the time for the meetings of the Trades' Union Congress, and would in a few days have been the scene of gatherings and festivities in connection with the opening of the Cabot Tower, of the meetings of the British Association, and of the visit of a squadron of men-of-war; while the triennial Musical Festival, which would have followed shortly afterwards, had to be indefinitely postponed.

The Cabot Tower on Brandon Hill, 105 feet in height, was completed early in July at a cost of £3,250, but it was deemed advisable to defer the formal opening of the structure until the visit of the members of the British Association, when the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, K.P., consented to perform the ceremony. On his arrival at the railway station on September 6th, his lordship, who was accompanied by Lord Strathcona, Lord High Commissioner for Canada, was received by the Mayor and Sheriff, Sir W.H. Wills, Bart., M.P., Sir George Edwards, Mr. Fry, M.P., the Master of the Society of Merchants, and some of the leading promoters of the tower, and was conducted to the Council House, and thence to the monument. A vast assemblage had gathered around the building, and the distinguished visitor was received with hearty cheers. Amongst the company assembled there were the Earl of Ducie (Lord-Lieutenant of the city), the Bishop of Bristol, Bishop Brownlow of Clifton, the President of the Board of Trade of New Brunswick, and a representative of Harvard University, United States, together with many prominent citizens. The Bishop having offered prayer, Alderman Howell Davies, chairman of the Tower Committee, thanked Lord Dufferin for his second visit in connection with the memorial, and handed him a gold key, bearing an inscription, “Cabot Memorial Tower”, with the date of the ceremony. With this the Marquis unlocked and opened the door of the building, and then handed the key to the Mayor as the representative of the Corporation, to whom the custody of the tower was to be committed in perpetuity. The National Anthem having been sung, Lord Dufferin, in a brief but felicitous address, expressed his admiration of the

magnificent beauty of the monument, and his delight that representatives of Canada were present to manifest the sympathy of the Dominion, adding his hope that the proceedings would indicate to Americans generally that the friendly feelings they had recently displayed were cordially reciprocated by the English people. The Mayor, in proposing a vote of thanks to the eminent statesman, observed that all present must feel indebted to the Cabot Memorial Committee for this grand monument of a remarkable local event. At this point a letter was read from the Mayor of Halifax, New Brunswick, congratulating the citizens of Bristol on the completion of the tower, and trusting that the bonds between the mother country and the American colonies would be drawn even closer than before. The Sheriff having seconded the vote of thanks in a happy speech, Lord Strathcona spoke in its support., and delivered an eloquent eulogy on Lord Dufferin's services whilst Governor-General of the Dominion. The noble Marquis having briefly expressed his acknowledgments, the proceedings terminated. In the evening a banquet was given in the Grammar School, hurriedly arranged for the purpose owing to the destruction of Colston Hall. In the course of the evening, Lord Dufferin, in a brilliant speech, observed that it was to John Cabot and to the connection he was the first to establish between Newfoundland and Western England that this country was indebted for the germination of her dominion over the seas. Spain, it was true, had been first in founding colonies in the New World, and was long our greatest rival; but since he had last addressed his fellow-citizens in Bristol the final act of a great drama had been played, and Spain had lost the last of her American possessions. To us Englishmen it was a momentous fact that the vast regions of North America were peopled by an Anglo-Saxon race, instead of, as once seemed probable, by an alien people, and it must never be forgotten that it was John Cabot who opened the door of these mighty regions to Anglo-Saxon enterprise.

Amongst the subsequent speakers at the above dinner was a person styling himself M. Louis de Rougemont, a Frenchman, who had just proclaimed himself to have lived for twenty-eight years amongst the savages of Australia. He subsequently read a paper before the Geographical Section of the British Association, narrating his alleged adventures, and enjoyed for a time considerable notoriety. His extraordinary tale, however, was speedily discovered to be a tissue of fictions.

In response to earnest local appeals, the Board of Admiralty gave orders that a detachment of first-class ships of war should

be despatched to the Bristol Channel, and remain near the city during the Congress of the British Association. The squadron, which consisted of four of the most formidable battleships - the Nile, Trafalgar, Sanspareil, and Thunderer - and a first-class torpedo gunboat, the Spanker, was under the command of Commodore J.H. Bainbridge, and anchored at Walton Bay on the evening of September 6th. The Sanspareil was notable for its tremendous armament, two of the guns being 110-ton breechloaders, each of which, charged with 900 lb. of gunpowder, was capable of throwing a projectile weighing upwards of three-quarters of a ton for upwards of ten miles. On the announcement of the ships having passed within the Holmes, the Mayor and a numerous party embarked in a yacht, and reached the Nile just after the squadron had anchored. The Mayor having welcomed Commodore Bainbridge in the name of the city, and the commander having expressed the thanks of himself and brother officers, the visitors were shown round the gigantic vessel, and the Mayor, by moving a small handle, turned one of the huge turrets. The ships were thrown open for the inspection of the public every afternoon during their stay, and the privilege was greatly appreciated by many thousands. A large sum was subscribed for the entertainment of the sailors, marines and engine-men on board the fleet, the whole of whom were brought up in detachments, and feasted at the Zoological Gardens and Clifton Spa. A grand ball was also given to the officers in the Grammar School. The squadron departed on September 15th.

The third Congress held in Bristol by the British Association was formally opened on the evening of September 6th by the President, Sir William Crookes, F.E.S. The ceremony was to have taken place in Colston Hall, but owing to the disaster already recorded, the members assembled in the People's Palace. For several months previous to the gathering an energetic local committee had been employed in preparing suitable accommodation for the visitors, and the arrangements left nothing to be desired. The Victoria Rooms were opened for the reception of the guests and for the use of the permanent staff, while a portion of the Fine Arts Academy was made available for the committee of the Association. As an agreeable resort for leisure hours, the Drill Hall was elegantly decorated with works of art, and tastefully furnished, the walls being covered with fine paintings, chiefly by local artists, lent by a number of citizens, while a fine military band performed at intervals each day. Provision for the meetings of the various sections of the Association was made as follows: Mechanics (under the presidency of Sir John Wolfe Barry), at the Merchants' College;

Geology (W.H. Hudlestone, F.R.S.), at Hannah More Hall; Economics and Statistics (J. Bonar, LL.D.), at the Merchants' College; Geography (Col. Church), in the Concert Room, Blind Asylum; Mathematics (Prof. Ayrton, F.R.S.), in the Lecture Room, Museum; Zoology (Prof. Weldon, F.R.S.), in Victoria Chapel Schoolroom; Anthropology (E.W. Brabrook, C.B.), in Park Place School; Chemistry (Prof. Japp), at University College; and Botany (Prof. Bower), at the Fine Arts Academy. In connection with the Congress, a Biological Exhibition was opened on September 8th in the Zoological Gardens by Sir John Lubbock (now Lord Avebury), the local chairman being Dr. J. Harrison, and proved highly interesting. The Gardens were thrown open to members of the Association. An International Conference on Terrestrial Magnetism was also held under the presidency of Prof. Rucker, Sec. R.S. A conversazione was given by the Council of Clifton College and the head master, Canon Glazebrook, and this gathering was remarkable for an exhibition by Signor Marconi of his new system of wireless telegraphy. A second conversazione, given by the local committee, was also held at the College. Garden parties were given by Mr. and Mrs. Roscoe, Westbury; Mr. E.P. Wills, Sneyd Park; Mr. Jolly, Henbury; Mr. Fry, M.P., Goldney House; Mr. J.C. Godwin, Stoke Bishop; the Masters of Clifton College (at which there was a scientific balloon ascent); Mr. E. Robinson, Sneyd Park; Mr. G.A. Wills, Leigh Woods; and Mr. H. Ashman, Cook's Folly. A “symposium” in honour of the President took place in the Merchants' College; a grand dinner, to which the officers of the royal squadron were also invited, was given in the Grammar School by the Chamber of Commerce; and another banquet to the leading members of the Aissociation was given by the Merchants' Society in their Hall. Excursioos to every place of interest in the neighbouring districts and to the warships off Clevedon were also arranged by the local committee. The number of ladies and gentlemen who attended the opening meeting was 2,260, and subsequent arrivals raised the aggregate to 2,446. The Congress closed on September 14th. At the final gathering Sir Norman Lockyer moved a vote of thanks to the citizens for the “magnificent general hospitality and the admirable arrangements”, which had eclipsed all previous efforts during his thirty years' experience. Alderman Howell Davies, chairman; Mr. J.W. Arrowsmith, treasurer; and Mr. A. Lee and Dr. Bertram Rogers, secretaries of the local committee, briefly returned thanks. Apart from liberal private hospitality to the visitors, the city raised £3,836 for the entertainment of its guests. After the payment of

all expenses, a surplus balance of over £200 was handed over to the Cabot Tower fund. On January 26th, 1899, a complimentary dinner was given at Clifton Spa to Mr. Arrowsmith, Mr. Lee, and Dr. Rogers, through whose exertions the Congress had proved so remarkable a success; when each of those gentlemen was presented with a silver salver, bearing a suitable memento of their services.

The chancel of All Saints' Church, which had been rebuilt at a cost of £1,800, was re-dedicated on September 14th by the Bishop. (A few days previously, a private letter of his lordship to a local clergyman on the anti-Ritualistic agitation then in progress was published without permission, and an unfortunate reference in it to “Nonconformists of the baser sort” provoked much comment in the press.)

The Cabot Industrial Exhibition, started for the purpose of clearing off a deficiency in the Cabot Tower fund, was opened in the Drill Hall by the Sheriff on Sept. 26th, in the presence of a numerous gathering. The exhibition, which continued open for several weeks, was of an interesting character, but its chief attraction was a series of concerts, performed by several first-class military bands, successively engaged, which proved highly popular. [At a final meeting of the Tower Committee on February 13th, 1899, it was announced that every liability had been liquidated, and that the monument had been handed over to the Corporation.]

On October 6th, at a meeting of the subscribers to the Fine Arts Academy, the Dean presiding, Mr. Wilson Barrett, the eminent tragedian, deputed by a number of local artists, presented to the institution upwards of twenty paintings in oil and water colours, executed by the donors, to be added to the permanent collection of the Academy. At the commencement of the proceedings, a letter was read from the Duchess of Beaufort, offering a fine picture by A. Weigall for the same purpose. Mr. Barrett, in offering the artists' gifts, commented on the absence in Bristol of a municipal Art Gallery, and trusted that the deficiency would be speedily supplied. The Dean, Bishop Brownlow, and others, returned cordial thanks for the presents, and expressed their admiration of the generosity of the donors. The artists who took part in this interesting gift were - Mrs. Rosa Müuller, Miss J. Russell, and Messrs. A.W. Parsons, C.B. Branwhite, F.A. Armstrong, S.P. Jackson, H. Whatley, W.M. Hale, H.E. Stacy, E. Gouldsmith, E. Smith, A.O. Townsend, H.M. Park, E.H. Ehlers, C C. Grundy, J. Skelton, G.H. Edwards, E. Mayes, J. Wyard, G. Hastings. Pictures were afterwards given by Reginald

Smith, J. Doubting, S.M. Fisher, Haywood Hardy and James Hardy.

The Tramway Company came into possession during October of extensive buildings at Counterslip, including a portion of the old sugar refinery of Messrs. Finzell and Co., and workmen were forthwith employed to clear the site for an electrical power station. About the same time the Company acquired six acres of land near Arno's Vale, on which to construct sheds for the storing of 100 cars, and the depots at Horfield and Whitsun Street, St. James's, were considerably enlarged.

At a meeting of the Council on October 18th the purchase was resolved upon of Messrs. Garton's Brewery, in St. Philip's, for £11,250, with a view to street improvements. A motion to apply to Parliament for power to maintain a band of musicians for performances in the public parks, and another, to acquire the Colston Hall premises as a site for a municipal hall for public purposes, were negatived by large majorities.

A temporary church, dedicated to St. Catherine, in Salisbury Road, Redland, was dedicated by the Bishop on October 22nd. It adjoined the site offered by Mr. Greville Edwards for the permanent church, and was intended, after the latter was built, to be converted into a parochial hall. The edifice cost about £1,600.

A new and extensive Board School in Fairfield Road was opened by Sir G.W. Kekewich, of the Education Department, on November 3rd. The buildings, which with their equipment cost £24,000, were designed for a higher grade school, included scientific laboratories, workshops, drawing-rooms, &c, and accommodated 1,054 pupils. The place was filled with scholars immediately after the opening. The Board had been encouraged by the Education Department to establish the school, and, as stated above, the building was opened by a Government official. But in 1900 the Department, suddenly reversing its previous policy, practically forbade School Boards to deal with education in science and art, and would not permit the above school to be carried on for the purposes for which it was provided. A similar paralysis would have befallen the evening classes in science and art, which had been established by the School Board in several of its schools. Happily, by an arrangement made in 1899 with the Bristol School of Art, that institution took over the art classes, and by a similar agreement effected with the Merchants' Society, the science classes were placed under the superintendence of the staff of the Merchants' Technical College.

At a meeting of the Council on November 28th a report of

the Municipal Buildings Committee was submitted, recommending the appropriation of the block of property bounded by St Augustine's Place, Orchard Street, Denmark Street, and Pipe Lane. The purchase of this extensive site was estimated to cost £145,000, which would, it was thought, be reduced to £107,000 by the sale of salvages. Mr. Pearson moved that the report be confirmed, and that the committee be instructed to report on the cost of suitable buildings. On a division the motion was defeated by 34 votes against 31, an amendment being carried instructing the committee to report on other sites. Nothing more was heard of the subject for nearly a year and a half. But at a meeting of the Council on April 10th, 1900, the committee produced another report, recommending that a site should be secured by the purchase of all the property on St. Augustine's Back from the end of Colston Street to the west end of Rupert Street, which it was believed could be acquired for £85,000, and which would provide an area for the proposed buildings of 6,347 square yards. It was further estimated that the site of the Council House and other existing offices could be sold for £98,200. The proposal was condemned as untimely, having regard to the heavy pressure of the rates (then 7s. 8d. in the pound), and the report was rejected without a division.

At a public meeting on November 29th, convened by the National Union of Conservative Associations - then holding a Conference in the city under the presidency of the Duke of Beaufort, - Mr. J.W. Balfour, First Lord of the Treasury, and Sir M. Hicks-Beach, Chancellor of the Exchequer, delivered lengthy addresses on the political questions of the day.

At a largely-attended meeting at the Council House on December 1st, the Mayor presiding, Sir E.H. Symes presented Mr. Richardson Cross, ex-Sheriff, with a beautiful silver cradle and other plate, to commemorate the birth of a daughter during his tenure of the shrievalty, and in recognition of the grace and ability which he had displayed whilst holding that office.

The Council on December 13th adopted a report of the Libraries' Committee recommending the erection of a branch library in Cheltenham Road, in substitution of the inconvenient premises situated in King's Square. The outlay was estimated at £8,000. [The total outlay, however, was nearly £11,400. The library was opened by the Lord Mayor on February 13th, 1901.] The Council also sanctioned the purchase, for £1,675, of land at Barton Hill, for the purpose of erecting public baths for that district. On July 25th, 1899, the Council approved of plans for these baths, the cost being estimated at £12,100.

During the year 1898 the Corporation purchased, under the powers of the Docks Act of 1897, a plot of land, between 11 and 12 acres in area, near the Floating Harbour, for £69,350, for the further accommodation of commerce.

On January 2nd, 1899, at a meeting of the Council, a report of the Libraries' Committee, recommending the purchase, on a fee-farm rent of £45, of abandoned school buildings at Ridgway, Fishponds, for the purpose of converting them into a library and reading-room for the district, was approved.

Owing to the greatly increased number of members of the reorganised Board of Guardians, the beautiful ancient room at St. Peter's Hospital, in which the Corporation of the Poor had assembled for 200 years, was found to be too contracted for modern requirements. A committee of the new board, whose desire for comfort outran other considerations, recommended on February 3rd that four large holes for the reception of ventilators should be driven through the beautiful Jacobean ceiling. Strong protests were, however, raised by antiquaries and others, and at the next meeting of the board steps were ordered to be taken for the construction of a suitable board-room in another part of the building.

Owing to continuous heavy rain, the Avon was flooded on February 12th to a height said to have been unprecedented for forty years. Exceptionally high spring tides occurring simultaneously, the district of St. Philip's Marsh was extensively inundated, many low-lying streets becoming streams. Some parts of Bedminster and the Ashton Gate district also suffered severely, and the Rownham railway station was submerged several feet.

At a meeting of the Colston Hall Company on February 13th a proposal of the directors to acquire additional ground at the east end of the building, in order to increase the capacity of the new hall, was adopted, as was also their recommendation to raise about £15,000 by means of loans.

A Bill, promoted by the Gas Company for enabling them to increase their capital from about £1,439,000 to £1,839,000, to supply the public with motors and dynamos for generating; electricity, and to sell gas for engines at a lower cost than that charged for lighting, came before Parliamentary committees in March. The House of Lords, on the application of the Corporation, struck out the powers relating to electric lighting, and compelled the company to adhere to their former agreement to supply gas for street lamps at the minimum rate charged to private consumers.

Soon after the death, on March 24th, of Mr. Vincent Stuckey

Lean, son of one of the founders of the bank of Messrs. Stuckey and Co., it was announced that the deceased gentleman had bequeathed £50,000 to the British Museum, £50,000 to the Corporation of Bristol for the development of free libraries and the establishment of a general Reference Library (indicating a desire that the latter institution should be opened for some hours on Sundays), and £5,000 to Bristol University College. Other large bequests were made to local charities. His representatives subsequently intimated that his valuable collection of 3,000 volumes of books would be presented to the intended Reference Library.

A new institution - the Pupil Teachers' Centre School, created in Castle Green by the School Board at a cost of £6,500 - was opened on April 13th by the Bishop of Bristol, who was accompanied by Bishop Percival, of Hereford. The building accommodates 440 pupils.

Henry Charles, eighth Duke of Beaufort, K.G., died at Stoke Park, Stapleton, on April 30th, aged 75. The Lord High-Stewardship of Bristol becoming vacant by his lamented demise, the Council on September 26th conferred the honorary office on his son, Henry Adelbert, the ninth holder of the dukedom.

The extension of the city boundaries having greatly increased the already onerous expenditure incidental to the office of chief magistrate, the Council on May 9th augmented the salary of the Mayor from £750 to £1,050.

The Council on May 30th sanctioned the purchase, for £13,000, of 16 acres of land adjoining Greenbank Cemetery for an extension of the burial ground, thereby nearly doubling its area. Judgment was given in the High Court on May 31st in an action brought by Mr. George White against the proprietors of the Commercial Rooms. In November, 1897, the proprietors formally resolved that no person should in future be permitted to acquire more than five shares in the undertaking, or to hold more if he already held five. Mr. White, who was said to have bought up over 30 shares, having purchased another, which the officials refused to register in his name, he raised an action to compel them. But the Court held that the plaintiff had no case, and dismissed the suit with costs.

The London Gazette of June 2nd announced, on the occasion of the celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday, that her Majesty had been pleased to confer the style and title of Lord Mayor upon the chief magistrate of Bristol and his successors. A similar honour had been previously conferred upon Birmingham and three or four northern towns, and the raising of Bristol to equal dignity gave general satisfaction.

The Council on June 13th voted a sum of £2,000 towards the support of an Inebriates' Home at Brentry, recently established. The Council also adopted a report recommending the construction of a mortuary and Coroner's Court at Quakers' Friars, at a cost of about £2,300; also another, recommending the erection of a bridge over the Feeder near Pinney Terrace, in the place of an existing inadequate structure, at a cost of £5,000. A motion instructing the Baths Committee to open the swimming baths on Sunday mornings was adopted by a majority of 22 against 21.

Judgment was delivered on June 20th in the High Court in an action brought by the Tramways Company against the National Telephone Company, to restrain the latter from breaking up the streets over which tramways were laid unless the plaintiffs had given their consent to such operations. It was admitted that the defendants had obtained the consent of the Corporation. The learned judge ruled that the claim of the plaintiffs was untenable, and dismissed the action with costs.

The first underground street lavatory in Bristol was opened in Nicholas Street on June 24th.

A meeting was held at Merchants' Hall on June 29th to further the completion of the restoration of the exterior of the Cathedral, which had been going on for some time. Including an adverse balance on account of the work already done, a sum of £3,000 was required. The amount was raised soon afterwards. On July 25th, 1900, at a final meeting of the Restoration Committee, whose labours had been completed, it was stated that the sum contributed since June, 1892, had amounted to £19,332. Of this, £4,896 had been expended in restoring the central tower, £1,866 on the elder Lady Chapel, £4,490 on the reparation of the exterior, £3,901 on the reconstruction of the choir, and £712 on the cloisters.

Three additional sections of the Tramway Company's lines from St. Augustine's Bridge to the Railway Station, from Old Market Street to Totterdown, and from Bristol Bridge to Arno's Vale - were first worked by electric power on July 11th, and met with a large measure of public support. Owing to the inability of the company to obtain an adequate supply of plant, the lines in other directions were much delayed; but on December 22nd, 1900, the entire electric system was brought into operation, including a “light railway” which had been constructed from Kingswood to Hanham. The tramway from Zetland Road to Durdham Down was entirely new; the Whiteladies' Road line was extended to the Down,

the Horfield Road line to the Barracks, and the Bedminster line to Ashton Gate. The aggregate length of the system was about 30 miles. The improved accommodation of the new cars increased the popularity of the mode of traction, and nearly 843,000 passengers were conveyed during the first week's running.

Memorial-stones of a new building about to be erected at the corner of the Wells Road and Bushy Park for the Totterdown Christian Young Men's Association were laid on July 13th, in the presence of the Dowager Duchess of Beaufort and a numerous gathering, by Mr. J.S. Fry, Sir Edward Hill, Lady Smyth, the Lord Mayor, and others. The cost of the building was estimated at £6,200.

The Council on July 18th sanctioned the purchase, for £2,050, of a site at the junction of the Wells and Knowle Roads for the erection of a Free Library for Somerset Ward.

At a meeting of the Council on July 25th the Finance Committee reported that, in pursuance of previous instructions, they had employed Mr. F.B. Bickley, of the British Museum, to make a descriptive catalogue of the ancient manuscript books of the Corporation, and translations of such documents therein as might be desirable. Mr. Bickley had consequently dealt with the Little Red Book, of which he had prepared transcripts for the press, and the committee recommended that this work should be printed and illustrated at an estimated cost of £500 for 500 copies. The report was approved. [The work, in two beautiful volumes, was published in November, 1900.]

The committee also reported that an offer had been made by the liquidator of the Bristol Rifles Headquarters Company to sell, for £10,000, the premises in Queen's Road formerly occupied as a club-house. The Museum and Library being greatly in want of increased accommodation, without which justice could not be done to their valuable collections, the committee recommended that this purchase should be effected, and that a further sum of £800 should be laid out to remove the entrance of the Drill Hall to the end adjoining the Blind Asylum, and to acquire for the Corporation the site of the existing entrance and the adjoining gymnasium.

During the debate on this report it transpired that Sir W.H. Wills, Bart., had expressed his willingness to give £10,000 towards the erection of an Art Gallery, if that offer would assist in the acquisition of the club-house site, and that it was intended, with the approval of the Council, to devote the ground floor of the premises to the extension of the Museum,

while the upper floor would be divided into seven large rooms for the Art Gallery. The report of the committee was adopted, the final disposition of the building being left for further consideration; and a vote of thanks to Sir W.H. Wills was carried by acclamation.

In consequence of arrangements made with the Chamber of Commerce, the Merchants' Society, in July, constituted the commercial department of their Technical College the Bristol School of Commerce, with a staff of 14 teachers. Evening classes in connection with this school were also established, and some members of the Chamber of Commerce undertook to give lectures. A few weeks later, owing to the rapid increase of students in the Technical College, the Merchants' Society converted a large house, extending from Unity to Frogmore Streets, into workshops for teaching bricklaying, masonry, plaster-work, plumbing, metal working, shoe making, &c. The Navigation department of the College was also placed in this building.

A steam vessel called the Bristol City, the largest ship hitherto built in the port, was launched on August 24th from the Albion dockyard by Messrs. C. Hill & Co., the owners of the vessel, in the presence of many thousand spectators. The Bristol City, the sixteenth steamer built for Messrs. Hill's line plying to New York, was 310 feet in length, and carried 4,000 tons dead weight.

At a meeting of the Council on September 11th the Docks Committee presented a report recommending the construction of a new wharf on the site of the East Mud Dock, 260 feet in length, together with a large shed fitted with hydraulic cranes, at a cost of £25,000. An agreement for a lease of the place at a rent of £700 had been conditionally made with a local firm. A recommendation was also made for the construction of additional sidings at Avonmouth owing to the increased traffic. The report was approved. [It was subsequently found that the above wharf could not be carried out unless a purchase was made of the Guinea Street ferry, and the Corporation accordingly acquired it for £2,000.]

The Health Committee recommended that a Municipal common lodging-house, with 102 beds, should be erected in Wade Street. The cost of the site was estimated at £1,560, and of the building £5,150, exclusive of furniture. Their proposal was approved.

On September the 11th a meeting was held in the Guildhall for the purpose of making suitable arrangements in view of the visit which Queen Victoria had promised to make for the purpose of opening the Convalescent Home. The Lord Mayor,

who presided, gave a brief sketch of the history of the Home (see page 57), adding that but little was now wanting to complete the sum of £100,000; and then went on to describe the route proposed for the forthcoming royal procession, and the manner in which the streets would be guarded by the various volunteer corps and regular troops. A resolution nominating 90 gentlemen as an executive committee to make further arrangements was adopted, and it was further determined to open a subscription for the decoration of the city, preparing demonstrations of rejoicing, entertaining the poor, and other appropriate purposes. How heartily the citizens concurred in this movement will presently be shown.

Sewage schemes for the districts of Upper Knowle, Brislington, Bath Road, and Malago Vale, estimated to cost £45,000, were approved by the Council on September 26th. The project seems to have been introduced as a shoeing-horn to a gigantic proposal. At a meeting on October 11th, the Sanitary Committee produced a plan for the construction of works for discharging the sewage of the city into the Channel at Avonmouth. The design included a pumping station near Clift House, a new Sewer extending from St. George's to Sea Mills, and an enormous tank at Avonmouth from which the accumulated sewage of twelve hours was to be discharged in a body at every high tide. The estimated outlay, including the sum voted on September 26th, was fixed at £650,000 supposing that Bath and other Avonside towns would co-operate, or at £490,000 for Bristol alone. The scheme met with no opposition, and on October 31st a resolution for promoting a Bill in Parliament was also adopted. But on the statutory appeal being made to the ratepayers a demand was raised for a poll, and the result, declared on January 30th, 1900, was as follows: for the Bill, 8,678; against it, 19,205.

On October 19th an elaborately carved reredos, about 18 feet in width and 27 feet in extreme height, filled with figures of saints and of a few local celebrities, and designed to be a memorial of Bishop Ellicott's episcopate, was “dedicated” in the Cathedral by the Archbishop of York, in the presence of the Bishops of Bristol and Gloucester, about 120 clergymen, and a crowded congregation. The work, which cost £2,500, was designed by the late Mr. J.S. Pearson, E.A.

At a meeting of the Council on October 31st it was resolved to have galleries erected in the Barton Hill Baths, and other measures taken in order to make the building applicable as a public hall.

At another meeting, nine days later, the Streets Committee

reported that before various improvement schemes already sanctioned could be carried out, the Government required that provision should be made for the housing of the working-class families whose dwellings would have to be demolished. They therefore recommended the construction of 70 suitable houses in Chapel Street, Braggs Lane, Millpond Street, and Mina Road at a cost of £15,400. The report was approved.

An Arbitrator sat in London on November 10th to determine the value of 26 acres of land belonging to Sir J. Greville Smyth, situated on the Avon, near Long Ashton, about 7 acres being required by the Corporation for the erection of a refuse destructor, &c, and the remainder being wanted for Great Western railway extensions in connection with the new branch to the Portishead line. A valuer employed by Sir Greville Smyth asserted that the land was worth £64,239. It was stated that the locality was subject to land floods. The Corporation had offered £25,000. The Arbitrator shortly afterwards assessed the value at £26,983.

The morning of November 15th, the day appointed for the visit of Queen Victoria to open the Convalescent Home, found the city in a state of considerable excitement. It has been already stated that a subscription had been opened with a view to demonstrate the affection of the citizens towards their venerable guest; and the contributions, exceeding £6,300, provided the Reception Committee with even more than was required. A sum of £1,000 was set apart for decorating the route of the intended procession, it being well known that much more would be spent by private individuals in the ornamentation of their premises; £1,200 were allotted for the entertainment of the poor; £1,500 for providing medals for upwards of 60,000 school children and refreshments for the 26,000 who were to be located on stands upon the Downs; £850 for entertaining the troops stationed along the route; and £300 for fireworks to end the day. Through the combined efforts of the committee and the inhabitants, every thoroughfare through which the Queen had to pass presented a continuous line of chaste ornamentation. To mention merely examples, from each side of High Street were suspended golden eagles carrying laurel wreaths and supporting garlands of flowers; whilst in Corn and Clare Streets crimson Venetian masts bore Imperial crowns, and supported trophies of flowers, flags, and monograms. The decorations of the Council House and the Exchange were especially elaborate and beautiful; but every important building offered something worthy of admiration to the vast crowds of sightseers. Large bodies of yeomanry and volunteers, moreover,

kept streaming into the city from the adjacent counties to assist the local forces in guarding the streets, and the military display itself was as unprecedented as it was animating. Another striking circumstance was the influx of country visitors, the railways alone having brought in about 80,000, whilst enormous numbers arrived by other means.

About two o'clock the Royal train from Windsor reached the Midland section of the railway station, which, like every other public building, was handsomely decorated, when a Royal salute was fired on Durdham Down by the Artillery Volunteers. The Queen was received on the platform by the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress; the Earl of Ducie, Lord-Lieutenant; the Duke of Beaufort, Lord High Steward; the Earl of Cork, Lord-Lieutenant of Somerset; Lord Fitzhardinge; the Recorder, the Sheriff, the four members of Parliament for the city, the Master of the Merchants' Company; the Earl of Cawdor, Chairman of the Great Western Board; Judge Austin, and various officials, all of whom had the honour of being presented, and her Majesty graciously accepted a bouquet from the Lady Mayoress. The Queen then entered her carriage, accompanied by their Royal Highnesses the Princess Christian, the Princess Henry of Battenberg, and the Duke of Connaught, and an imposing procession was soon in motion. It was headed by the Chief Constable and a body of police, an escort of Life Guards, and numerous officers. Five carriages were occupied by the noblemen and gentlemen mentioned above; three Royal carriages contained the members of her Majesty's suite in-waiting, and the file of vehicles was completed by the semi-State carriage of the Queen, the procession being closed by another escort of Life Guards and the military staff. The public enthusiasm, which burst forth from an immense concourse when the procession began to move, continued along every step of the route. Passing under some beautiful arches in Victoria Street, the cortege soon arrived at the Council House, where an address from the Corporation was read by the Recorder, and the document, beautifully illuminated, was presented to her Majesty in a gilt casket, and evoked a few gracious words of acknowledgment. In a more formal reply, handed to the Lord Mayor, her Majesty expressed her thanks for the hearty welcome offered, her pleasure, on revisiting the city, after seventy years' absence, to remark its growth in size and wealth, and in its provision of charitable, educational, and recreative institutions, and her pride that many of its citizens were then displaying their valour and devotion in the South

African War. The Lord Mayor was then permitted to present four ex-mayors (Alderman Proctor Baker, Sir Robert Symes, Mr. W.R. Barker, and Alderman Howell Davies), the ex-sheriff (Mr. C. Wills), the senior magistrate of the city (Mr. H. Thomas), the President of the Chamber of Commerce (Mr. Lindrea), and, in block, the aldermen and councillors. A striking incident then occurred. The Queen commanded the Lord Mayor to kneel, and, the Duke of Connaught providing her with a sword, she touched the chief magistrate on the shoulder, and bade him rise as Sir Herbert Ashman. The ceremony, so unusual in its publicity, was hailed with enthusiastic cheers. The procession then resumed its course along the densely crowded streets, passing through an enormous concourse at St. Augustine's Bridge (near which the Antelope gunboat was stationed), another in College Green, where the Queen's statue, elaborately adorned, was surrounded by upwards of a hundred Crimean and India Mutiny veterans, and a third extending from the top of Park Street to the Victoria Rooms. More rapidly, Queen's Road, Pembroke Road, Clifton Park, and the Promenade were traversed, and the plateau of the Downs was reached at the summit of Belgrave Road. At this point was the most touching demonstration of the day. A series of stands about 300 yards in length was filled with upwards of 26,000 children from the elementary and endowed schools and the Ashley Down orphanages. Her Majesty's carriage paused a few minutes to allow her to hear this remarkable choir sing the National Anthem, during which the Queen manifested feelings of deep emotion. The Home was reached at a few minutes past three o'clock. Within the grounds stands had been erected for 3,000 spectators, who had purchased seats at prices varying from three guineas to half a guinea each, and on the arrival of her Majesty the National Anthem was again sung. The Lord Mayor having presented Mr. E.P. Wills, the President of the Home, and the Bishop of Bristol, the latter proceeded to read a short form of prayer, which was followed by the singing of Dr. How's Jubilee hymn, “The King of Kings”. The Rev. Dr. Glover, Honorary Secretary, next read an address of the President and Governors of the institution, briefly narrating the circumstances under which the Home, which bore her Majesty's name, had been designed and brought to completion. In reply, the Queen said that it gave her very great pleasure to be present to open the admirable institution, and then handed to the President a more extended response, in which she expressed her satisfaction at the generosity displayed by the citizens, her hopes that the Home would contribute to

the alleviation of human suffering, and her thanks for the attachment to her throne and person manifested in the address. Having been driven to the north front of the building, the Queen was presented by Mr. Wills with a gold and jewelled letter weight, enamelled with the royal arms, her Majesty's monogram, the arms of Bristol, a view of the Council House, and a suitable inscription. In the centre was a diamond button surrounded by rubies, to which an electric wire was attached, and on the Queen pressing the button the great door of the Home flew open amidst a flourish of trumpets from the band of the Life Guards. Her Majesty thereupon declared the Home open, observing that the building was a very noble one. The procession was then re-formed, and made its way, amidst continuous demonstrations of joy, by Blackboy Hill, Redland Road, Cheltenham Road, Stokes Croft, St. James's Barton, the Broad Weir, the west end of Old Market Street, St. Philip's Bridge, Temple Street and Victoria Street, reaching the railway station at 4.15. On the platform, the Queen briefly congratulated the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress, observing that the proceedings had passed off very nicely, and she had been greatly pleased with everything. Bidding them farewell, she gave each of them her hand to kiss, and stepped into her carriage amidst deafening plaudits, which she acknowledged by repeated bows. The train arrived at Windsor at 6.29. In the evening the Queen's private secretary telegraphed to the Lord Mayor that her Majesty had been deeply touched by her enthusiastic reception through her entire progress along the beautifully decorated route, and fully appreciated the part which his lordship had personally taken in contributing to the success. About the same time, the fact that the whole of the £100,000 required for the Home had been made up was telegraphed to Windsor Castle, and her Majesty's secretary, in acknowledging the message to the honorary secretaries, stated that the Queen was delighted by the announcement, and thanked all concerned for the perfection of the day's arrangements. Before these communications had been exchanged the city was ablaze with illuminations, any detailed description of which is here impracticable. Every thoroughfare had its display, and many buildings were magnificent in brilliancy and colour. The Suspension Bridge attracted especial attention from the splendour of its appearance, upwards of 3,000 lights marking out the lines of the graceful structure. Fireworks had also been prepared in great profusion on Brandon Hill, where a monster device, “Bristol welcomes its beloved Queen”, and a colossal firework portrait of her Majesty, wearing her Crown

and the badge of the Garter, excited great admiration. Other displays of the same character took place in some of the suburban parks. During the evening Mr. E.P. Wills, who had received an intimation that he would forthwith become a Knight Commander of the Bath, held a reception in the Victoria Rooms, assisted by his daughter. Nearly a thousand guests had been invited, including the nobility and gentry of the neighbouring counties, the Bishops of Bristol, Bath and Wells, Hereford and Clifton, the Mayors and Mayoresses of many neighbouring towns, and the officers of the army, navy, and volunteers, whose forces so largely contributed to the success of the pageant. On the following day the Queen sent a characteristic message to the Lord Mayor, hoping that no accident had marred the proceedings, and that the children got home in safety, to which his lordship was able to send a satisfactory reply. The illumination of the city was resumed in the evening, when about 11,300 poor persons who were alive when the Queen ascended the throne were entertained in the eighteen wards. It may be added that 63,240 school children received medals in commemoration of the royal visit, and that 6 tons 2 cwt. of buns were distributed amongst the elder children who witnessed the procession. In addition to the expenditure defrayed by subscriptions, the visit cost the Corporation £1,989. The Home, which contains 80 beds, received some of its earliest inmates before the close of the month. On April 4th, 1900, the Rev. Dr. Glover and Mr. J.N.C. Pope, the honorary secretaries, were presented with handsome pieces of plate, bearing inscriptions commemorating their indefatigable exertions on behalf of the institution; and a sum of £500 was raised by subscription and presented to the Home, to qualify Dr. Glover for a seat in the governing body.

At a meeting of the Council on December 5th, attention was drawn by Mr. Curie to the great anomalies that existed in the arrangement of the city wards. As examples, he pointed out that St. Augustine's had 1,093 burgesses, whilst St. George's had 5,013; St. James's had 1,040 and the District 4,189; St Michael's had 1,829 and Easton 3,869. Bristol Ward, having six representatives, had only 1,904 burgesses, whilst Bedminster, with no more councillors, had 7,924 electors. Redcliffe again had six members for 2,521 burgesses, whilst St. Philip's, also with six, had a constituency of 7,273. He moved that a petition should be presented to the Crown praying for a revision of the system. Another member observed that 23,597 burgesses in favoured wards elected 42 councillors, while 28,268 rate-payers in the remaining wards had only 21 representatives.

The motion was opposed on the ground that the proportionate rateable value of the wards was a vital element in the question, and it was rejected by 44 votes against 25.

A portfolio of sketches by the artist members and associates of the Fine Arts Academy was presented to the Queen on December 2nd, by Sir W.H. Wills, president, in commemoration of her visit to Bristol. Her Majesty cordially accepted the gift, and expressed much admiration of the works.

The first annual dinner of a newly-founded association, styled the University College Colston Society, was held on December 7th at Clifton Spa, Bishop Percival, of Hereford, president of the College, taking the chair. The attendance was large and influential. His lordship stated, in the course of the evening, that the object of the society was to promote the cause of higher education in the city by the endowment of Colston chairs in the College, or in some other desirable manner. He hoped to see the city the home of a Bristol and West of England University. His observations were warmly approved by the Lord Mayor and other speakers. The contributions of the guests amounted to nearly £400, and Mr. Albert Fry was appointed president for the following year.

At a meeting of the Council on December 12th, it was resolved to borrow £15,000 for the purpose of substituting granite paving for macadamising in several roads subject to heavy traffic, and £7,735 for a further extension of wood pavements.

The Second Gloucestershire Regiment having been, at its own earnest request, summoned to embark for South Africa to take part in the war, a deputation of the officers arrived in Bristol on December 18th to deposit with the Corporation the regimental colours whilst the troops were on active service. The deputation, which was escorted to the Council House by the militia battalion of the regiment, was met at the door by the Lord Mayor, the Bishop, and many leading citizens; and the colours having been brought up, the Lord Mayor said the city felt honoured by the trust reposed in it, and was satisfied that the regiment would uphold the credit of Bristol and of the county in the same distinguished manner that had marked its whole history. The colours would be faithfully preserved until the war was at an end; in the meantime the city would do its duty in taking care of the wives and children who were left behind. The Bishop having added a few appropriate remarks, the colours were deposited in the Council Chamber. There was an immense assemblage in the streets to witness the proceedings, and great enthusiasm was manifested. The officers were subsequently

entertained by the Lord Mayor. About the same time a number of members of the Rifle Volunteers and of the local Yeomanry Corps offered their services for the campaign, and these contingents, as well as the troops stationed at Horfield and a large number of army reservists ordered to the war, were the objects of much popular favour on their departure. A subscription for the relief of the families deprived of their breadwinners, of the widows and orphans of those who fell, and of men wounded or invalided in the service, was opened by the Lord Mayor, and his appeal was liberally responded to by all classes, upwards of £20,000 being contributed.

At a final meeting of the Queen's Reception Committee on December 21st it was announced that, after defraying all expenses, a surplus remained in hand of £817. The money was ordered to be handed over to the governors of the Convalescent Home.

During the month of December a discovery was made of the remains of a Roman villa near Brislington, on an estate which was being laid out for building purposes. The foundations of what had been a spacious mansion, a few coins, and large portions of fine tessellated pavements were disinterred, and were presented by the owners - a local land company - to the Bristol Museum.

During the year the governors of the Infirmary erected a large home for the nurses employed in the institution, at a cost of nearly £8,000.

At a meeting of the Council on January 1st, 1900, Mr. Tryon, on behalf of the members and other citizens, presented Sir Herbert Ashman, Lord Mayor, with an elegant silver casket, in recognition of the distinguished manner in which he had sustained the office of chief magistrate during the previous year. The casket, a fine work of art, and bearing an appropriate inscription, contained a copy of the royal Letters Patent conferring the title of Lord Mayor on the chief magistrate of Bristol, and of a congratulatory vote to the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress passed by the Council in the preceding June.

A letter was read at the same meeting from Sir W.H. Wills in reference to his previous offer of £10,000 towards the cost of erecting an Art Gallery, stating that as the expense of a suitable building would be about £30,000, he was prepared, provided the Council were willing to expend £10,000 for extending the Museum on the ground-floor of the newly-purchased premises, to complete the building. The generosity of his offer elicited warm expressions of thanks.

The confectionery works of Messrs. Sanders and Co., Redcliff Street, were destroyed by fire on January 13th.

Sir Chih-chen Lo-fen-gluh, Chinese Minister in England, whilst on a provincial tour, arrived in Bristol on January 22nd, and was officially welcomed at the Council House by the Lord Mayor. After being entertained to luncheon, he visited the cocoa manufactory of Messrs. Fry and Sons and the city electrical works. A reception was given in the evening at the Victoria Rooms by the Lord Mayor and Sheriff. On the following day his Excellency visited Avonmouth Dock, one of the great tobacco factories of Messrs. Wills, where luncheon was provided, and the Merchants' Technical College; and was entertained to dinner in the evening by the Chamber of Commerce. On the 24th he inspected Müller's Orphanages and Messrs. Derham's boot factory. In the course of his visit his Excellency made many felicitous little speeches, touching upon the commerce, manufactures, and history of Bristol, with which he seemed familiar, and on departure he cordially thanked the citizens for their kindness and hospitality.

At a meeting of the Clifton Suspension Bridge Company on January 25th an official statement was made respecting the sinking fund established by the Company's Act, with a view to ultimately freeing the bridge from toll. The trustees of the fund, it appeared, were then in possession of 370 of the £10 shares of the company, of which there were originally 3,250 (besides a borrowed capital of £11,500). The dividend on the bought-up shares, at the rate of 5 per cent, declared that day, together with the £50 per annum set aside by the Act, would be devoted to the purchase of more shares; and if a sufficient number could not be obtained voluntarily, the trustees were empowered to make compulsory purchases at the rate of £1 for every shilling of dividend. It was further stated that the maximum dividend was fixed by law at 7½ per cent., any surplus profits being appropriated to the sinking fund.

The Mina Road School, belonging to the School Board, was accidentally destroyed by fire on January 25th. It was rebuilt soon afterwards, and re-opened in September.

At a meeting of the Bishop's Church Extension Commission, on January 29th; his lordship stated that upwards of £30,000 had been contributed, and £8,000 obtained in grants from ecclesiastical bodies. Sites had been purchased for three new churches - St. Martin's, Upper Knowle; St. Aldhelm's, Bedminster; and St. Aidan's, Crew's Hole; and several mission chapels. [A portion of St. Martin's was consecrated on April 23rd, 1901.]

Two parties of Bristol Volunteers, who had offered themselves for active service in the South African war, comprising

56 Riflemen and 26 Engineers, were sworn in at the Council House, before the Lord Mayor, on January 30th. The proceedings excited much popular sympathy, which was still more strongly displayed on the departure of the men. A battalion of Gloucestershire Imperial Yeomanry left soon afterwards, amidst renewed displays of public approval.

The Great Western branch railway, from the Severn Tunnel to Avonmouth, seven miles in length, was opened for traffic on February 5th. In consequence of the construction of this line, the shooting-range of the Bristol Volunteers, on the shore of the Severn, had to be abandoned in October, 1898.

The Bath City steamship, of Messrs. Hill and Son's American line of steamers, was wrecked on Lundy Island on February 23rd.

At a meeting of the Council on February 27th it was resolved to widen the Fishponds Road, near Barton Regis Workhouse, at a cost of £12,300.

The Council, on March 13th, adopted a report of the Finance Committee recommending that a number of houses situated between Alderskey Lane and Thunderbolt Street should be sold to the Co-operative Wholesale Society at a fee-farm rent of £430, on the Society convenanting to erect buildings on the site of the minimum value of £20,000. A recommendation of the Docks Committee that, in order to reorganise the property near the Underfall Yard, twenty houses in Avon Crescent should be purchased, with a view to their demolition, at a cost of £9,900, was approved.

The erection was ordered of a shed on the Welsh Back, at an estimated cost of £1,725.

The foundation-stone of a new church at Eastville, dedicated to All Hallows, intended to supersede a temporary iron church erected a few years earlier, was laid on March 18th by Mr. Averay Jones, Master of the Merchants' Society. A portion only of the church was erected in the first instance, at an outlay of £6,000. A large contribution to the funds was made by the vestry of All Saints', Bristol, a parish which had practically lost its resident population.

On April 19th a destructive fire occurred at Messrs. Love and Waite's joinery factory in St. Paul's parish. The premises had been built on the site of the old Circus, burnt down some years previously (see page 46).

At a meeting of the Council on May 8th it was resolved to raise £16,000 by way of loan for laying down additional wood-paving - that sum being, it was stated, the first instalment of a charge of £58,600, arising out of an agreement with the Tramways Company.

Intelligence of the relief of the little garrison of Mafeking, South Africa, after a seven months' siege, reached Bristol about two hours before midnight on May 18th, and forthwith excited demonstrations of rejoicing. In spite of the lateness of the hour, the news spread with wonderful rapidity, and the central streets were soon filled with thousands eager to display their enthusiasm. Countless flags seemed to appear by some magical process, the church bells burst into merry peals, patriotic songs were sung by multitudinous choruses, musical instruments were brought out to swell the din; and the somewhat hysterical proceedings were prolonged for many hours. On the following day the display of flags in the principal streets was almost as great as on the occasion of Queen Victoria's visit; pedestrians decorated themselves with cockades and flowers of the national colours; and a vast concourse gathered in Queen Square in the neighbourhood of the Docks Office, the front of which was covered with trophies and drapery, where the Lord Mayor and a number of leading citizens had assembled. The chief magistrate eventually came forward to move the thanks of the city to Colonel Baden Powell and his troops, for their noble defence of Mafeking, which was carried by immense acclamation. A procession was then formed, headed by mounted police and several hundred volunteers, the civic carriages being followed by a multitude of pedestrians. The pageant made its way over Bristol and St. Philip's Bridges to Old Market Street, and thence by way of Wine Street, St. Augustine's Bridge, Park Street, and Pembroke Road to Durdham Down, most of the route being thickly lined with spectators, who rivalled the moving mass in rending the air with jubilant sounds. On the Down the Lord Mayor made another brief address, the volunteers fired three volleys, and the demonstration came to an end. In the evening a display of fireworks took place on Brandon Hill, at the expense of the Lord Mayor, many citizens illuminated their dwellings, and the scenes in the streets were even more boisterous than on the preceding night.

The Kingswood and Parkfield collieries, having a workable area of 1,600 acres, and which in 1899 raised 210,000 tons of coal, were sold by auction on May 24th, and realised £61,000. The sale was ordered by the trustees of the principal proprietor, the late Mr. Handel Cossham, in order to carry out the instructions of that gentleman's will (see page 16).

On June 8th the Council, in order to pay off many loans liable to be demanded at short notice, resolved to create a Stock bearing 3 per cent, interest, to be issued at 95½ per cent. The nominal amount of the Stock was £500,000, actually yielding

about £475,000; and was to be repayable at par at the expiration of twenty years. On being offered to the public, the loan was subscribed for twice over.

The Council on June 12th adopted a report of the Finance Committee, recommending that on the proprietors of the Theatre Royal surrendering their lease, the premises should be granted to them in fee, on a reserved fee-farm rent of £37 10s., they covenanting to rebuild the front part of the premises at a cost of £1,800.

An institution styled the Shaftesbury Workmen's Institute was established on a humble scale some years before this date in Kingsland Road, St. Philip's, by a few philanthropists, for the purpose of affording the working-classes an agreeable place of meeting for instruction and recreation. The place having become a popular resort, its promoters resolved on largely extending the premises by adding two large clubrooms for young men, another for women, a gymnasium, and classrooms, Sir W.H. Wills contributing £2,000 to the building fund. These additions, which had cost £6,000, were opened on June 19th, when the Lord Mayor presented Sir W.H. Wills with a silver key with which to perform the ceremony.

At a meeting of the Council on July 10th the Docks Committee reported that, in order to carry out the construction of the proposed timber wharf in the Floating Harbour, they had purchased from various owners 12½ acres of land for £70,750, and had also negotiated for the acquisition of thirteen houses called Hanover Terrace, required for the same purpose, for £11,400. Their proceedings were confirmed.

A new wing of the Lunatic Asylum, enabling that institution to accommodate 1,000 patients, was opened on July 17th. The extension had cost nearly £50,000.

At a meeting of the Council on July 30th, the Streets Committee reported that they had purchased the curious wooden house at the corner of Wine and High Streets for £7,700. A sum of £2,500 was voted for the erection of a footbridge over the Feeder. At an adjourned meeting on the following day a Committee announced that they had settled with the Gloucestershire County Council to pay £17,500 to the latter body for St. George's and Stapleton Police Stations, and other works. On the other hand the County Council would pay, on revenue account, £19,300 accrued since the passing of the Boundaries Act, and about £7,000 would be received annually for the future. The arrangement was approved.

It was announced through the War Office, on July 24th, that Queen Victoria was pleased to accept the services of a new

battalion of Bristol Volunteer Riflemen, to be designated the Third Volunteer Battalion of the Gloucestershire Regiment, with an establishment of eight companies. The honorary colonelship of the battalion, which had been formed mainly through the exertions of Mr. Ernest Mardon, was accepted by Earl Roberts whilst commanding in South Africa, and a uniform of khaki was adopted. The headquarters of the corps were shortly afterwards established in St. Michael's Hill House, and nearly 900 men had joined the corps before the end of the year. A perambulation of the city boundaries, considered to be essential through the extension of the civic jurisdiction, was commenced on September 10th, when about 100 gentlemen, chiefly members and officers of the Corporation, met near the bottom of St. Vincent's Rocks, where 300 policemen, with trumpeters and banner bearers, were already assembled. Proceeding along the river bank to the entrance to the Ravine, the hilarious proceedings of the day were inaugurated by the “bumping” of a few of the company against the first boundary stone. After climbing the rugged footpath, the party emerged on the plateau of Durdham Down, which was traversed to the end of Parry's Lane, and thence to the Westbury road. So far the path had followed the old boundary, but soon afterwards, after passing through a house, the old line was abandoned for a new one, along which guiding stones had been erected at intervals. The procession thus made its way to near Horfield Church, and in that neighbourhood various houses standing across the line had to be passed through, or surmounted by means of ladders. On reaching Purdown after a five miles march, the party halted for luncheon. Progress was next made to Stoke House, where the boundary passed through two rooms, entrance and egress being made through windows. The Dowager Duchess of Beaufort and the Duke (her son) personally received a deputation of the company, and the Lord High Steward and the Lord Mayor underwent the process of bumping, which had been already undergone by most of the pedestrians, several ladies, and a baby. The day's perambulation finished at the Frenchay road, where tea was provided and conveyances were in readiness. The proceedings were resumed on the 12th at the point where they had been dropped, the conductors proceeding to the valley of the Froom, and following that river for some distance, thence past Downend road and Staple Hill railway station to Kingswood Chase and Kingswood, where luncheon was in readiness. Again proceeding, in some cases through houses and factories, the walls of the Reformatory were clambered over, and a halt was called at Magpie Bottom, were tea and carriages were in waiting. On

the 13th the perambulation was resumed at the same spot, much of the day's journey being over a somewhat difficult country, interspersed with water-cress beds, marshes, orchards and gardens. The Avon was reached near Conham, whence two steam vessels conveyed the visitors to Hanham weir, the eastern extremity of the river jurisdiction. Luncheon was provided at Hanham Court, and after a brief rest the company returned to Conham by water, climbed the steep bank on the Somerset shore, and made for St. Anne's Park and Brislington, where they were entertained by Mr. Henry Williams before returning to town. The land perambulation concluded on the 14th, commencing at Brislington, passing the outskirts of Bedminster almost to Bishopsworth, thence over Bedminster Down, and finishing on the shore of the Avon at Rownham. Bumping had by that time become so popular a ceremony that a party of young women had formed themselves into a volunteer bumping corps, and dealt vigorously with many of the perambulators. On the 15th and final day, a party of about 250 embarked on the steamer Britannia for a survey of the water boundaries, and picked up numerous companions at Avonmouth and Portishead. The active officials landed at Shirehampton and fixed the boundary between Gloucestershire and Avonmouth, and they disembarked again for a similar purpose at Portishead, where the dock had been severed from Somerset. At the Steep Holm a landing was effected in a somewhat rough sea, and an iron stake driven into a rock as a memorial of the visit. The Flat Holm was more easy of access, and a numerous party inspected the island, another boundary mark being also placed there. Dinner was served in the steamer during the return voyage to Bristol. The cost of the week's perambulations was £712.

On September 11th, at a meeting of the Council, the Finance Committee reported that the inadequate accommodation provided in the magisterial courts had been strongly represented by the justices. An extension of the building being absolutely necessary, the purchase was recommended of some adjoining property at a co3t of £5,000. The report was approved. [A vote of £15,000 for new buildings was passed in May, 1901.]

Mr. Daniel Travers Burges, Town Clerk, died on September 15th, after a protracted illness, aged 61. His great-grandfather, Daniel Burges, after having been long in the service of the Corporation, was appointed Clerk of the Arraigns in 1788. His grandfather and father, also named Daniel, successively filled the office of City Solicitor, and subsequently of Town Clerk, their eminent services in those capacities extending over fifty-two years, and their descendant occupied the Town Clerkship

with equal ability for upwards of twenty years. Mr. Edmund Judkin Taylor was elected to the vacant office on October 23rd.

The third side of the quadrangle of the University College buildings, comprising a large hall for lectures and examinations, an art and science library (affording accommodation for a remarkable collection of scientific works numbering 6,000 volumes bequeathed by the late Mr. Thomas Exley), a laboratory, and class-rooms for the biological department, was completed in September. The cost of this wing, including furniture, was £7,000.

A dissolution of Parliament having taken place in September, the nomination of candidates for Bristol took place on October 1st. In West Bristol, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach was returned without opposition. In the three other divisions, where all the previous members retired into private life, polling took place on October 4th, with the following results:- North Bristol: Sir Frederick Wills, Bart. (Liberal Unionist), 4,936; Sir Clarence Smith (L.), 4,182. Voters on the register, 12,157. South Bristol: Right Hon. Walter H. Long (C), 5,470; William Howell Davies (L.), 4,859. Number on register, 13,206. East Bristol: Charles Edward Henry Hobhouse (L), 4,979; Eobert Arthur Sanders (C), 3,848. Number on register, 13,181. The expenditure of the three ministerial candidates amounted to £2,522, and that of their Liberal opponents to £1,877.

At a meeting of the Council on October 9th the Docks Committee reported that they had let 2½ acres of land at Avonmouth, for a term of eighteen years, to a Petroleum Company, at a rent of £135 per acre, the lessees covenanting to expend £7,500 in the erection of tanks and buildings. The report was approved. A report of the Streets Committee, recommending that powers should be applied for to carry out various minor street improvements at an outlay of £15,000, was also adopted.

On October 11th the Chamber of Commerce gave a complimentary dinner, at the Royal Hotel, to the Governor of Jamaica, Sir Augustus Hemming, then on a visit to England. One of the objects of the gathering was to celebrate the establishment by Messrs. Elder, Dempster, and Co. (who had been effectively supported by the Docks Committee) of a direct line of mail steamers between Bristol and Jamaica, in support of which they had obtained the promise of a yearly subsidy of £40,000 from the Government. Almost simultaneously with the banquet, an exhibition of Bristol products was opened at Kingston, Jamaica, under the auspices of delegates sent out by the Chamber of Commerce. The Bristolians were cordially welcomed and entertained by the colonists, and the exhibition

proved a great success. [The first steamship of Messrs. Elder and Co.'s line, the Port Movant, built specially for the service, left Avonmouth on her first voyage on February 16th, 1901.] The Council, on July 11th, 1899, appointed a committee to receive subscriptions for the purpose of obtaining a portrait of Queen Victoria, as an addition to the numerous regal pictures in the possession of the Corporation. Intimation of the desire of the civic body having been conveyed to the Queen, her Majesty suggested that a copy should be taken of a portrait painted for her in 1885 by Henry de Angeli, of which she had a highly favourable opinion. The work, which, with its frame, cost £186, was exhibited to the subscribers on October 18th, and was generally admired. A balance of nearly £300 remaining on hand, it was resolved that the money should form the nucleus of a fund for obtaining an historical painting, representing the knighting of the Lord Mayor at the door of the Council House, and also a portrait of the Lord Mayor himself. Soon afterwards, Mr. Caton Woodville was commissioned to produce the former work, which was completed in 1901, and for which he received 1,000 guineas.

Colston Hall, reconstructed after the disastrous fire of September, 1898, was opened on November 27th by a reception offered by the directors to about a thousand guests, including a number of the gentry of the neighbouring counties, and nearly all the leading inhabitants of Bristol. The appearance of the new hall excited a universal feeling of satisfaction. Its size had been considerably enlarged, the massive columns of the original building had disappeared, two elegant tiers of galleries surrounded three sides of the area, the accommodation for an orchestra had been greatly extended, a perfect system of ventilation had been introduced, and means of entrance and egress had been abundantly provided. Under the new arrangement 4,000 persons could be comfortably seated, or 1,500 in excess of the original accommodation. Mr. Lewis Fry, who presided in the absence of Mr. Herbert Thomas through illness, briefly sketched the history of the building since it was destroyed by the fire, which he observed had proved a benefit in disguise, inasmuch as they possessed a hall immensely superior to its forerunner. The Lord Mayor and Sheriff, who followed, complimented the directors on the happy results of their labours. After brief addresses by Mr. J.S. Fry and Sir W.H. Wills, Mr. Willis, one of the builders of the new organ, which was only partially erected, gave an example of its tone and power, after which the chairman seized the opportunity to thank Sir W.H. Wills for this munificent gift, which had cost the donor £5,000.

Subsequently three well-known local choirs, the Madrigal Society, the Royal Orpheus Glee Society, and the Society of Bristol Gleemen, rendered a fine selection of vocal music. A grand ball concluded the evening's entertainment. On the morning of the 29th the oratorio of “Elijah” was performed by seven leading vocalists, supported by 600 choristers and 80 instrumentalists; and in the evening the “Golden Legend” of Sir A. Sullivan was followed by the same composer's In Memoriam, and some other pieces, in commemoration of the English soldiers who had fallen in the South African war. [Sir A. Sullivan was to have conducted on this occasion, but unhappily died a few days previously.] On the 30th the oratorio of the Redemption was rendered in the morning, and the Flying Dutchman and a selection in the evening. Finally on December 1st there was a magnificent performance of the Messiah in the morning, and a popular concert in the evening.

The party of Bristol Engineer Volunteers who left in February, under the command of Lieut. E.S. Sinnott, to take part in the South African campaign, returned to this city on November 28th, after completing their period of service, and received a hearty popular welcome. They were met at the railway station by the Lord Mayor, and were escorted through the crowded streets by a large number of the city volunteers to the Cathedral, where a brief thanksgiving service was held, followed by a sermon delivered by the Bishop. The Lord Mayor subsequently entertained the men and a numerous party to luncheon. With the exception of one man suffering from fever, all the party returned uninjured.

An appeal was published on December 3rd for the assistance of the public on behalf of the Engineer Volunteer Corps, who were about to be deprived of their headquarters in Trinity Street in order to carry out a street improvement scheme. The Corporation had offered a site for a new building in the same neighbourhood, provided a sum of £6,000 was laid out on its erection. A considerable sum was contributed soon afterwards.

In the first year of the century the staff of the Bristol Post Office consisted of a postmaster, two or three clerks, and two postmen, the total salaries of whom did not amount to £500 a year. The Civil Service estimates voted by the House of Commons for the year ending March, 1901, included the following items for Bristol:- Postal establishment, £59,585; telegraphic service, £27,165; total £86,750. The chief items were:- Postmaster, £800; sub-postmasters (165), £6,817; clerks (327) and telegraphists (78), £41,512; and 666 postmen and messengers, £36,994.

These remarkable figures may be regarded as typifying the general progress made by the city during the century whose annals are now brought to a close. In 1801 the population of Bristol, including the suburbs since incorporated in the borough, was only 64,000. At the beginning of 1901 the number had increased to 328,800. Still more striking was the advance in wealth indicated by the value of fixed property. In 1803 the rateable value of the ancient city parishes was £96,000, and that of the suburban districts would not have raised the aggregate to so much as £120,000. In 1900 the rated value had risen to nearly £1,520,000, In other words, whilst population had multiplied five-fold, rentals had increased more than twelve-fold. The records of the shipping trade of the port also show a notable improvement, though progress in this direction was long seriously retarded by the inadequacy of accommodation. In 1806, the earliest return obtainable, the tonnage of vessels entering the Avon was under 209,000. In the year ending April, 1900, the tonnage was 1,611,730. Could information be had in reference to traffic by land, which was quite insignificant in 1801, the development would unquestionably prove gigantic.

In a brilliant passage known to everyone, Macaulay once foreshadowed a New Zealander of a future age contemplating the ruins of London. Could an aged Bristolian of a century ago revisit the earth to view the city of our own time, the contrast betwixt the past and the present would be infinitely more cheering and little less astounding. And the growth of population, wealth and commerce would not be its greatest marvels. The ghostly visitor, like nearly all his contemporaries, had lived in a chaos of dingy, narrow, and ill-kempt streets, of many of which he would hardly be able to trace the locality. The stately villas of the prosperous classes would have to be sought for in regions which in his day were solitary fields; and thousands of ordinary workmen would be found occupying dwellings superior in comfort to those of many tradesmen in George the Third's reign. Unless he had been a wealthy man, he could have had no experience of those decent sanitary arrangements which are now universal. The majority of his neighbours of every rank bore marks of having suffered from a hideous disease that on the average swept away 500 or 600 inhabitants annually. He would find a vast city in which small-pox is practically unknown. The water supply of his family had probably been drawn from a polluted well, or bought daily by pailfuls. By an expenditure almost equalling the capital value of city property in 1801, an unlimited service is now available at every door. The only charitable institution

for the relief of human disease and suffering mentioned in the Bristol Directory for 1800 was the Royal Infirmary. Hospitals, Asylums and Homes are now dotted about in every district. The tiny weekly newspaper of 1801 cost sixpence, and the average workman was too illiterate to read it. The halfpenny daily paper of 1901 is twice the size of the sixpenny sheet; over 60,000 children are in free public schools; and free libraries are open to all. The artificial light of 1801 was limited to smoky lamps and dismal tallow candles. Our imaginary visitor would behold the streets illuminated with lamps of 1,000 candle-power. He had left the world when travelling was not merely tedious but perilous. He would now see luxurious carriages speeding along at the rate of fifty miles an hour, at one-third the former charge, and conveying more passengers every day than an old mail coach could convey in a year; sedan chairs displaced by tramcars, motor carriages and bicycles; postboys superseded by electric messengers; and, most astonishing of all, merchants transacting business with London and other great centres by telephonic conversations.

It would be tiresome to expatiate further on improvements effected within the lifetime of many still amongst us; but one important point deserves a moment's attention, The foreign trade of Bristol was carried on in 1801 by sailing vessels rarely exceeding 250 tons burden. The port then possessed only one ship of 500 tons, and, owing to the tortuous course of the Avon, such a vessel could not be brought up to the quays except at perilous risk. At the close of the century, in view of the rapid development of commerce, and the construction of steam vessels of 20,000 tons register, the citizens, with a thorough determination to recover the ancient prestige of the port, resolved on the adoption of a scheme for the accommodation of vessels considerably more than twice the length of Bristol Cathedral; and it may be safely asserted that this magnificent project will in due time be carried out, with every prospect of securing its well-merited reward. That the city has a great future before it seems happily beyond dispute; and the annalist of the nineteenth century may be permitted to envy the task which promises to devolve upon his successor.

[The following information did not come to hand in time to be inserted in its proper placed]

On December 21st, 1898, the executive of the Bristol Constitutional Club, exercising an option contained in the

lease of the premises occupied by them, purchased the property in fee for £6,636 9s. The house was specially built for the use of the club by the late Mr. John Lysaght, and was first occupied by the members on July 20th, 1885. The president is the Duke of Beaufort, who succeeded his father in that position.

Adam and Eve inn, 33.

Agnes, St., Institute, 24.

Alderskey (Aldworth's Quay) Lane, 92.

Almshouses, All Saints', 7; Lady Haberfield's, 18.

Anne's, St., footpath dispute, 21; railway station, 70.

Antiquities:- Ancient cellars, 4; Roman coffin, 13; Franciscan priory, 25; ancient chapel, 41; old statues, 69; Roman villa, 90.

Arno's Vale cemetery, 21.

Arrowsmith, J.W., 32, 47, 74; presentation to, 75.

Art, School of, grant to, 23; evening classes, 76.

Art gallery, Municipal, projected, 81, 90.

Artist's, Bristol, present to the Queen, 89.

Ashman, (Sir) Herbert, knighted, 86; presentation to, 90; portrait of, 98.

Ashton, Long, land at, purchased, 84.

Athenaeum closed, 9.

Augustine's, St., churchyard removed, 24, 40; bridge, 23-4, 40; new wharves, &c, 23, 29, 40.

Avon, vessel stranded, 15; extensive river improvements, 48; high tides, 54, 78; see Dockisation.

Avon Crescent demolished, 92.

Avonmouth, proposed dock extensions, 28, 33, 48, 61; new dock approved, 65; included in borough, 39; pier, 52; granaries, 61; oil stores, 97; graving docks, 21; caisson, 56; hospital ship, 53; library, 54; new railway to, 92.

Baker, Sir Benjamin, docks reports, 64-5.

Baker, Ald. W.P., 33, 46, 52, 62, 63, 64, 86.

Baldwin Street, 43, 57, 66.

Balfour, Rt. Hon. J.W., 77.

Band Concerts at Clifton, &c, 3; proposed city, 76.

Bankruptcy offices, new, 43.

Banks, Bristol Joint-Stock, 16; Old Bank, 20; West of England, 25.

Barker, W.R., 11, 58, 86.

Barrett, Wilson, 75.

Barry, Sir J.W., 48, 62, 64-5.

Barton Hill baths and hall, 77, 83.

Bath City steamer lost, 92.

Bathing place on Froom, 8.

Baths, Public:- Jacob's Wells, 9, 13; Rennison's, 25; Victoria, 58; Cotham, 58; Barton Hill, 77, 83; Sunday bathing, 80.

Bathurst basin, explosion at, 10.

Beach, Sir M. Hicks, M.P., 7, 13, 28, 45(2) 60, 77, 97.

Beaufort, Eighth Duke of, 13, 24, 37, 44, 47, 50, 55, 77; death, 79; Ninth Duke, 79, 85, 95.

Beaufort, Duchess of, 45, 75, 81, 95.

Bedminster, Ford Memorial Hall, 22; see Floods.

Biological exhibition, 74.

Bishopric of Bristol, revival of, 39, 59; palace, 14, 39, 68.

Black Castle estate, 69.

Boundaries, city, extension of, 15; first Bill, 37; second Bill, 49; arrangements under, 61, 66, 94; perambulation of, 95.

Brandon Hill, new road to, 9.

Brewery, Georges & Co.'s, 6; Garton & Co.'s, 76.

Bridges:- Drawbridge, 5; removed, 24; St. Augustine's, 23, 24, 40; Rownham, 28, 29, 33, 46, 52; Vauxhall, 46; over Feeder, 80, 94.

Brislington, Roman villa at, 90.

Bristol, rateable value, 38, 100; city debt, 38, 93; trade of port, 65, 101; constituted a parish, 52, 66; sketches of, 48; progress during the century, 99, J 00; population, 100.

Bristol Channel defences, 49.

Bristol City steamship, 82.

British Association Congress, 73; entertainments, 74.

Browne, Rt. Rev. G.F., appointed Bishop, 40; 68, 75, 79, 86, 89, 91, 99.

Brownlow, Bishop W.R., of Clifton, 34.

Burges, Daniel T., death of, 96.

Burial Board, Bristol, 52.

Burke, Edmund, statue of, 27.

Cabot John, memorial tower, 60, 71, 75(2).

Canada, trade with, 61; civic deputation to, 58.

Canon's Marsh, see Floating Harbour; land at, 57.

Canterbury, Archbishop of, visit, 26.

Castle, Ed. J., Recorder, 58.

Cathedral, completion of nave, 8; electric lighting, 8; Colston window, 19; cross and candlesticks in, 23; further “restorations”, 26, 27, 49, 80; destruction of ancient work, 26; choir re- opened, 26; dispute with organist, 44; reredos, 83.

Cathedral and civic dignitaries, 102.

Cave, (Sir) Charles D., 13; created a baronet, 51.

Cemeteries:- Arno's Vale, 21; Greenbank, 52, 79; Avon View, 52; Stoke Bishop, 21.

Chamber of Commerce, 57, 74, 82, 91; 97.

Chapels:- Tyndale, 42; Cotham, 54.

Chatterton, MS. sold, 48; Square, 18.

Chimney, tall, demolished, 28.

Chinese Ambassador's visit, 91.

Church extension schemes, 1, 5, 20, 68, 91.

Churches:- St. Agnes, 5; St. Alban, 41; St. Anselm, 60; All Saints, 75, 92; All Hallows, 92; St. Aldhelm, 91; St. Aidan, 91; St Bartholomew removed, 27; St. Catherine, 76; St. Francis, 1; St. James, 53; St.

Mark's (Mayor's Chapel) restored, 4; St. Martin, 20; St. Martin, Knowle, 91; St. Mary, Leigh Woods, 22; St. Nicholas, 34; St.

Raphael's, 32; St. Saviour, 13; St.

Stephen, 43; St. Thomas, 53.

Church schools, bazaar, 55.

Churchyard ornamented, 42.

Churchyards removed, St. Augustine, 24, 40; St. Michael, 45.

Clifford, Bishop W.J., death of, 34.

Clifton, bishopric of, 34.

Clifton College, Wilson Tower, 13; playground extended, 20; headmasters, 18; gifts to St. Agnes Church, 5; conversazione, 74.

Clifton parish incumbency, 60.

Clifton Spa and Hydro, 20.

Clifton Rocks railway, 19.

Clifton Down hotel, 27.

Clubs:- Salisbury, 7, 13, 81; Liberal, 9; Literary, J9; Constitutional, 101.

Coal under New Cut, 9.

Coasting trade, dues on, 9, 37; statistics of, 65.

College Green, lease of, 41; statue in, 7; Cross, 10.

Collieries, local, 55, 93.

Colston, Edward, monument to, 47(2); memorial window, 19.

Colston Avenue, 40, 47.

Colston Hall destroyed by fire, 70, 76; new hall, 78; re-opened, 98.

Colston Society, new, 89.

Commercial Rooms, 12; action against, 79.

Conservative Congress, 77.

Constitutional Club, 101.

Convalescent Home, Jubilee, 57, 90; opened by Queen Victoria, 84.

Cookery, School of, 35.

Cork, Earl of, 24, 85.

Coroner's Court erected, 80.

Corporation, gifts of plate to, 1, 7, 21, 37; frauds on, 60; increase of wards and members, 50, 61, 66; deputation to Canada, 58; new council chamber, 69; municipal offices, 70; ward anomalies, 88; Little Red Book, 81; issue of corporate stock, 93; debt, 38; local rates, 70, 77.

Cossham, Handel, M.P., death, 16; his bequest to Kingswood, J 6, 93.

Cotton factory, strike at, 14.

Council House, adjoining property purchased, 14, 70; new Chamber, 69; see Municipal Buildings.

County Cricket Ground, 6.

Crookes, Sir William, 73.

Cross, High, model of, 10.

Cross, F. Richardson, 69; presentation to, 77.

Cumberland Road towing-path, 52.

Cruger, Henry, M.P., 37.

Daniel, Rev. H., his gift to bishopric, 14, 19, 39, 68.

Davies, (Ald.) W. Howell, 58, 61, 71, 74, 86, 97.

Davies, John E., gift to city, 21.

Distress of poor, 43.

Dockisation of the Avon, 48, 63.

64.

Docks {see Avonmouth and Floating Harbour), dues on coasting trade, 9, 37; strike, 14; dues increased, 37; passenger toll, 37; harbour works, 1, 28, 33; pontoons, 47; Barry's first report, 48, - his plan for docks, 62; MeCurrichs, 62; Portishead schemes, 63, 64; Barry's joint reports, 64-5.

Dolphin Society, gift to Cathedral, 19.

Downs, proposed road on the, 16; lavatories, 25.

Drawbridge, see Bridges.

Drill Hall, 13, 81; entertainments in, 73.

Ducie, Earl of, 37, 71, 85.

Dufferin, Marquis of, visits, 60, 71.

Dunball included in borough, 39; site of dock, 65.

Edinburgh, H.R.H. Duke of, visits of, 22, 24.

Education, grants to promote, 22.

Edwards, Geo. W., knighted, 2, 71; his proposed road to Clifton, 3; sale of Ham Green estate, 35; gift of plate, 37; gift to bishopric, 39; gift to Mayor's Chapel, 5.

Edwards, Mr. Greville, 68, 76.

Elections, Parliamentary, 7, 16, 28, 44, 45(2), 97.

Electric lighting introduced, 16.

Ellicott, Bishop, 32, 37, 47; presentations to, 24; resigns bishopric, 59; memorial to, 83.

Ellicott, Chancellor, 44.

Elliot, Dean, death of, 23; monument, 23.

Empire Music Hall, 36.

Execution, first at Horfield, 12.

Exhibitions, Industrial, 32, 35, 46, 75.

Exley, Thos., bequest of library, 97.

Explosions, of petroleum, 10; at Malago Pit, 23.

Fairfield Road School, 76.

Fine Arts Academy, gifts to, 48, 75.

Fire brigade increased, 70.

Fires:- Petroleum stores, 25; Perry & Co.'s, 44; Old Circus, 46; Cotham Chapel, 54; Todd & Co.'s, 57; Greenslade's, 66; ship Xema, 66; Clarke & Co. 's and Colston Hall, 70; Redcliff Street, 90; Mina Road, 91; York Street, 92.

Fishponds, library, 78; road, 92; see Parks.

Floating Harbour, portion covered in, 5, 23, 35, 40; new wharves, 1, 23, 28, 33, 46, 52, 65, 78, 82, 94; shed, 92.

Floods, great, 11, 43, 54, 78; provisions against, 12, 50; Prevention Act, 51.

Footpaths Association, 21.

Ford Memorial Hall, 22.

Fox, Alderman F.F., 4, 62.

Freemen, Honorary:- Prince Victor, 8; Duke of Edinburgh, 24; Earl of Rosebery, 27; Lord Roberts, 36; Marquis of Dufferin, 60.

Froom, see Floods.

Fry, Lewis, M.P., 28, 45, 71, 98.

Fry & Sons' cocoa factories, 7, 27, 57.

Fry, J.S., 81; large gifts, 57, 91.

Gaol, Old, sale of, 45.

Garton's Brewery removed, 76.

Gas Company, strike at works, 14; new Act, 78.

George's, St., absorbed in city, 49; park, 41; cemetery, 52; library, 54.

Giobs, Antony, 39.

Gladstone, Mr., visit to, 16.

Glazebrook, Rev. M.G., 18, 74.

Gloucestershire Regiment, 2nd, and the War, 89; Yeomanry, 92; County Council, 94.

Glover, Rev. Dr., memorial, 42; 58, 86, 88.

Gore, H.H., 44.

Grace, W.G., testimonials to, 47.

Grammar School, grants to, 22-3; extensions, 29.

Granary, Corporation, 10.

Great Western Steamship Co., 45.

Greaves, Rev. Talbot, 60.

Greenbank cemetery, 52, 79.

Guinea Street ferry, 82.

Haberfield, Lady, almshouse, 18.

Ham Green estate bought, 35; Hospital, 53.

Hanham, light railway to, 80.

Hanover Terrace demolished, 94.

Harbour railway, extension of, 15, 28, 29, 33, 46, 52, 84.

Hare, C.B., 68.

Harrison, Dr. J., 74.

Harvey, John, 24.

Haymarket, see St. James's.

Hemming, Sir Aug., entertained, 97.

Hill, Sir E.S., M.P., 28, 45, 81.

Hill, C, & Co., 15, 46, 82, 92.

Hobhouse, Charles E.H., M.P., 97.

Hobson, S.G., 45.

Holms, Corporate visit to, 96.

[the index ends here - pages missing in the original]