[1] _Chronicles of London Bridge_, by R. Thomson (1827), 313, quoting
Stow.
[2] _Cal. of St Pap. Dom._ (1673-1675), p. 449.
[3] Letter of Morley, Bishop of Winchester, to Danby (June 10, 1676).
(_Hist. MSS. Com._ xi. Rep. pt. vii. 14.)
[4] _Memoirs of Great Britain and Ireland_, by Sir J. Dalrymple
(1773), i. app. 104.
[5] _Letters to Sir Joseph Williamson_ (Camden Soc., 1874), i. 64.
[6] Halifax note-book in Devonshire House collection, quoted in
Foxcroft's _Life of Halifax_, ii. 63, note.
[7] _Life of Shaftesbury_, by W. D. Christie (1871), ii. 312.
[8] Macky's _Memoirs_, 46; Pepys's _Diary_, viii. 143.
[9] See the description of his position at this time by Sir W. Temple
in _Lives of Illustrious Persons_ (1714), 40.
[10] Add. MSS. 28094, f. 47.
[11] Boyer's _Annals_ (1722), 433.
[12] The title was taken, not from Leeds in Yorkshire, but from Leeds
in Kent, 4½ m. from Maidstone, which in the 17th century was a more
important place than its Yorkshire namesake.
[13] _Memoirs of Sir John Macky_ (Roxburghe Club, 1895), 46.
[14] Boyer's _Annals_, 219, 433.
[15] _Harleian MSS._ 2264, No. 239.
[16] Boyer's _Annals_, 515.
LEEDS, a city and municipal county and parliamentary borough in the West
Riding of Yorkshire, England, 185 m. N.N.W. from London. Pop. (1891)
367,505; (1901) 428,968. It is served by the Great Northern railway
(Central station), the Midland (Wellington station), North-Eastern and
London & North-Western (New station), and Great Central and Lancashire &
Yorkshire railways (Central station). It lies nearly in the centre of
the Riding, in the valley of the river Aire.
The plan of the city is in no way regular, and the numerous handsome
public buildings are distributed among several streets, principally on
the north side of the narrow river. The town hall is a fine building in
Grecian style, well placed in a square between Park Lane and Great
George Street. It is of oblong shape, with a handsome façade over which
rises a domed clock-tower. The principal apartment is the Victoria Hall,
a richly ornamented chamber measuring 161 ft. in length, 72 in breadth
and 75 in height. It was opened in 1858 by Queen Victoria. Immediately
adjacent to it are the municipal offices (1884) in Italian style. The
Royal Exchange (1872) in Boar Lane is an excellent Perpendicular
building. In ecclesiastical architecture Leeds is not rich. The church
of St John, however, is an interesting example of the junction of Gothic
traditions with Renaissance tendencies in architecture. It dates from
1634 and contains some fine contemporary woodwork. St Peter's parish
church occupies an ancient site, and preserves a very early cross from
the former building. The church was rebuilt in 1840 at the instance of
the vicar, Dr Walter Farquhar Hook (1798-1875), afterwards dean of
Chichester, whose work here in a poor and ill-educated parish brought
him fame. The church of All Souls (1880) commemorates him. It may be
noted that the vicarage of Leeds has in modern times commonly formed a
step to the episcopal bench. There are numerous other modern churches
and chapels, of which the Unitarian chapel in Park Row is noteworthy.
Leeds is the seat of a Roman Catholic bishop, with a pro-cathedral
dedicated to St Anne. There is a large free library in the municipal
offices, and numerous branch libraries are maintained. The Leeds old
library is a private institution founded in 1768 by Dr Priestley, who
was then minister of the Unitarian chapel. It occupies a building in
Commercial Street. The Philosophical and Literary Society, established
in 1820, possesses a handsome building in Park Row, known as the
Philosophical Hall, containing a laboratory, scientific library, lecture
room, and museum, with excellent natural history, geological and
archaeological collections. The City Art Gallery was completed in 1888,
and contains a fine permanent collection, while exhibitions are also
held. The University, incorporated in 1904, grew out of Yorkshire
College, established in 1875 for the purpose of supplying instruction in
the arts and sciences which are applicable to the manufactures,
engineering, mining and agriculture of the county. In 1887 it became one
of the constituent colleges of Victoria University, Manchester, and so
remained until its separate incorporation. The existing building was
completed in 1885, and contains a hall of residence, a central hall and
library, and complete equipments in all departments of instruction. New
departments have been opened in extension of the original scheme, such
as the medical department (1894). A day training college is a branch of
the institution. The Mechanics' Institute (1865) occupies a handsome
Italian building in Cookridge Street near the town hall. It comprises a
lecture room, library, reading and class rooms; and day and evening
classes and an art school are maintained. The grammar school, occupying
a Gothic building (1858) at Woodhouse Moor, dates its foundation from
1552. It is largely endowed, and possesses exhibitions tenable at
Oxford, Cambridge and Durham universities. There is a large training
college for the Wesleyan Methodist ministry in the suburb of Headingley.
The Yorkshire Ladies' Council of Education has as its object the
promotion of female education, and the instruction of girls and women of
the artisan class in domestic economy, &c. The general infirmary in
Great George Street is a Gothic building of brick with stone dressings
with a highly ornamental exterior by Sir Gilbert Scott, of whose work
this is by no means the only good example in Leeds. The city possesses
further notable buildings in its market-halls, theatres, clubs, &c.
Among open spaces devoted by the corporation to public use that of
Woodhouse Moor is the principal one within the city, but 3 m. N.E. of
the centre is Roundhay Park, a tract of 700 acres, beautifully laid out
and containing a picturesque lake. In 1889 there came into the
possession of the corporation the ground, lying 3 m. up the river from
the centre of the city, containing the celebrated ruins of Kirkstall
Abbey. The remains of this great foundation, of the middle of the 12th
century, are extensive, and so far typical of the usual arrangement of
Cistercian houses as to be described under the heading Abbey. The ruins
are carefully preserved, and form a remarkable contrast with the
surrounding industrial district. Apart from Kirkstall there are few
antiquarian remains in the locality. In Guildford Street, near the town
hall, is the Red Hall, where Charles I. lay during his enforced journey
under the charge of the army in 1647.
For manufacturing and commercial purposes the situation of Leeds is
highly advantageous. It occupies a central position in the railway
system of England. It has communication with Liverpool by the Leeds and
Liverpool Canal, and with Goole and the Humber by the Aire and Calder
Navigation. It is moreover the centre of an important coal and iron
district. Though regarded as the capital of the great manufacturing
district of the West Riding, Leeds is not in its centre but on its
border. Eastward and northward the country is agricultural, but westward
and southward lies a mass of manufacturing towns. The characteristic
industry is the woollen manufacture. The industry is carried on in a
great number of neighbouring townships, but the cloth is commonly
finished or dressed in the city itself, this procedure differing from
that of the wool manufacturers in Gloucestershire and the west of
England, who carry out the entire process in one factory. Formerly much
of the business between manufacturer and merchant was transacted in the
cloth halls, which formed a kind of market, but merchants now order
goods directly from the manufacturers. Artificial silk is important
among the textile products. Subsidiary to these leading industries is
the production of machine-made clothing, hats and caps. The leather
trade of Leeds is the largest in England, though no sole leather is
tanned. The supply comes chiefly from British India. Boots and shoes are
extensively manufactured. The iron trade in its different branches
rivals the woollen trade in wealth, including the casting of metal, and
the manufacture of steam engines, steam wagons, steam ploughs,
machinery, tools, nails, &c. Leeds was formerly famed for the production
of artistic pottery, and specimens of old Leeds ware are highly prized.
The industry lapsed about the end of the 18th century, but has been
revived in modern times. Minor and less specialized industries are
numerous.
The parliamentary borough is divided into five divisions (North,
Central, South, East and West), each returning one member. The county
borough was created in 1888. Leeds was raised to the rank of a city in
1893. The municipal borough is under a lord mayor (the title was
conferred in 1897 on the occasion of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee),
16 aldermen and 48 councillors. Area, 21,572 acres.
Leeds (Loidis, Ledes) is mentioned by Bede as the district where the
Northumbrian kings had a royal vill in 627, and where Oswy, king of
Northumbria, defeated Penda, king of the Mercians, in 665. Before the
Norman Conquest seven thanes held it of Edward the Confessor as seven
manors, but William the Conqueror granted the whole to Ilbert de Lacy,
and at the time of the Domesday Survey it was held of him by Ralph
Paganel, who is said to have raised Leeds castle, possibly on the site
of an earlier fortification. In 1207 Maurice Paganel constituted the
inhabitants of Leeds free burgesses, granting them the same liberties
as Robert de Lacy had granted to Pontefract, including the right of
selling burgher land to whom they pleased except to religious houses,
and freedom from toll. He also appointed as the chief officer of the
town a reeve who was to be chosen by the lord of the manor, the
burgesses being "more eligible if only they would pay as much as
others for the office." The town was incorporated by Charles I. in
1626 under the title of an alderman, 7 principal burgesses and 24
assistants. A second charter granted by Charles II. in 1661 appointed
a mayor, 12 aldermen and 24 assistants, and is still the governing
charter of the borough. The woollen manufacture is said to have been
introduced into Leeds in the 14th century, and owing to the facilities
for trade afforded by its position on the river Aire soon became an
important industry. Camden, writing about 1590, says, "Leeds is
rendered wealthy by its woollen manufactures," and the incorporation
charter of 1626 recites that "the inhabitants have for a long time
exercised the art of making cloth." The cloth was then, as it is now,
made in the neighbouring villages and only finished and sold in the
town. A successful attempt was made in the beginning of the 19th
century by Mr William Hirst to introduce goods of a superior quality
which were made and finished in his own factory. Other manufacturers
followed his example, but their factories are now only used for the
finishing process. The worsted trade which was formerly carried on to
some extent has now almost disappeared. The spinning of flax by
machinery was introduced early in the 19th century by Mr John
Marshall, a Holbeck manufacturer, who was one of the first to apply
Sir Richard Arkwright's water frame, invented for cotton manufacture,
to the spinning of linen yarn. The burgesses were represented in
parliament by one member during the Commonwealth, but not again until
by the Reform Act of 1832 they were allowed to return two members. In
1867 they were granted an additional member.
See James Wardell, _The Municipal History of the Borough of Leeds_
(1846); J. D. Whitaker, _Loidis and Elmete: or an Attempt to
illustrate the Districts described in these words by Bede_ (1816); D.
H. Atkinson, _Ralph Thoresby, the Topographer; his Town (Leeds) and
Times_ (1885-1887).
LEEK, a market town in the Leek parliamentary division of Staffordshire,
England, 157 m. N.W. from London, on the Churnet Valley branch of the
North Staffordshire railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) 15,484. The
town lies high in a picturesque situation near the head of the river
Churnet. The church of St Edward the Confessor is mainly Decorated, and
stands in a churchyard commanding a beautiful view from an elevation of
some 640 ft. There is here a curious pillar of Danish work ornately
carved. An institute contains a free library, lecture hall, art gallery
and school of art. A grammar school was established in 1723. In the
vicinity are ruins of the Cistercian abbey De la Croix, or Dieulacresse,
erected in 1214 by Ralph de Blundevill, earl of Chester. The slight
remains are principally embodied in a farm-house. The silk manufacture
includes sewing silk, braids, silk buttons, &c. Cloud Hill, rising to
1190 ft. W. of the town, causes a curious phenomenon in the height of
summer, the sun sinking behind one flank to reappear beyond the other,
and thus appearing to set twice.
Leek (Lee, Leike, Leeke) formed part of the great estates of Ælfgar,
earl of Mercia; it escheated to William the Conqueror who held it at the
time of the Domesday Survey. Later it passed to the earls Palatine of
Chester, remaining in their hands until Ralph de Blundevill, earl of
Chester, gave it to the abbey of Dieulacresse, which continued to hold
it until its dissolution. The same earl in a charter which he gave to
the town (_temp._ John) calls it a borough and grants to his free
burgesses various privileges, including freedom from toll throughout
Cheshire. These privileges were confirmed by Richard, abbot of
Dieulacresse, but the town received no royal charter and failed to
establish its burghal position. The Wednesday market which is still held
dates from a grant of John to the earl of Chester: in the 17th century
it was very considerable. A fair, also granted by John, beginning on the
third day before the Translation of Edward the Confessor is still held.
The silk manufacture which can be traced to the latter part of the 17th
century is thought to have been aided by the settlement in Leek of some
Huguenots after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. In the 17th and
18th centuries the town was famous for its ale. Prince Charles Edward
passed through Leek on his march to Derby (1745) and again on his return
journey to Scotland. A story in connexion with the Civil Wars is told to
explain the expression "Now thus" occurring on the tombstone of a
citizen, who by this meaningless answer to all questions sought escape
on the plea of insanity.
LEEK, the _Allium Porrum_ of botanists, a plant now considered as a mere
variety of _Allium Ampeloprasum_, wild leek, produced by cultivation.
The plant is probably of Eastern origin, since it was commonly
cultivated in Egypt in the time of the Pharaohs, and is so to the
present day; while as regards its first appearance in England both
Tusser and Gerard--two of the earliest writers on this class of
subjects, the former of whom flourished in the early part and the latter
in the later part of the 16th century--speak of it as being then
commonly cultivated and used.[1] The Romans, it would appear, made
great use of the leek for savouring their dishes, as seems proved by the
number of recipes for its use referred to by Celsius. Hence it is more
than probable that it was brought to England by the Romans. Italy was
celebrated for leeks in the time of Pliny (_H.N._ xix. c. 6), according
to whom they were brought into great esteem through the emperor Nero,
derisively surnamed "Porrophagus," who used to eat them for several days
in every month to clear his voice. The leek is very generally cultivated
in Great Britain as an esculent, but more especially in Scotland and in
Wales, being esteemed as an excellent and wholesome vegetable, with
properties very similar to those of the onion, but of a milder
character. In America it is not much cultivated except by market
gardeners in the neighbourhood of large cities. The whole plant, with
the exception of the fibrous roots, is used in soups and stews. The
sheathing stalks of the leaves lap over each other, and form a thickish
stem-like base, which is blanched, and is the part chiefly preferred.
These blanched stems are much employed in French cookery. They form an
important ingredient in Scotch winter broth, and particularly in the
national dish _cock-a-leekie_, and are also largely used boiled, and
served with toasted bread and white sauce, as in the case of asparagus.
Leeks are sown in the spring, earlier or later according to the soil and
the season, and are planted out for the summer, being dropped into holes
made with a stout dibble and left unfilled in order to allow the stems
space to swell. When they are thus planted deeply the holes gradually
fill up, and the base of the stem becomes blanched and prepared for use,
a process aided by drawing up the earth round about the stems as they
elongate. The leek is one of the most useful vegetables the cottager can
grow, as it will supply him with a large amount of produce during the
winter and spring. It is extremely hardy, and presents no difficulty in
its cultivation, the chief point, as with all succulent esculents, being
that it should be grown quickly upon well-enriched soil. The plant is of
biennial duration, flowering the second year, and perishing after
perfecting its seeds. The leek is the national symbol or badge of the
Welsh, who wear it in their hats on St David's Day. The origin of this
custom has received various explanations, all of which are more or less
speculative.