Riding, amid scenes of wild enthusiasm at both Selby and Hull, as well
as at the various stations along the line. The first train from Hull to
Selby—as reported in the _Hull Packet_—‘started about a quarter past
twelve, and was nearly two hours in going to Selby. In returning,
however, the Prince performed the trip, 31 miles, in one hour and five
minutes.’[62]
Footnote 62:
The _Prince_ was one of the five engines employed on the new line. The
fastest non-stop run in the British Isles to-day is that made on the
N.E.R. from Darlington to York, when 44-1/4 miles are covered in 43
minutes—an average speed of 61.7 miles per hour.
The first East Riding time-table was a very modest affair, as will be
seen from the reproduction overleaf. The order of arrangement of the
train is seen to be:—Engine and tender, goods waggon, second-class
carriage, first-class carriage, and third-class carriage; but the
last-named is on this occasion occupied by four-legged passengers. It is
recorded that when the passengers in this were two-legged cattle, ‘a
great number of hats were lost’ and many ‘colds and inconveniences’ were
caught—facts at which we shall probably not be surprised.
Several of the regulations of the Hull and Selby Railway seem very
quaint. It was the duty of a _station-keeper_ ‘to conduct himself
civilly,’ and ‘to enter on a waybill the number, class, and destination
of the passengers sent by each train.’
[Illustration: THE FIRST TIME-TABLE OF THE HULL AND SELBY RAILWAY.]
The _guard’s_ duties were very numerous. Among them—
He shall not allow any of the passengers to smoke in the trains, nor
in any manner to endanger themselves by imprudent exposure. No
passenger shall be allowed to ride on the outside of a carriage
without leave from the general superintendent. In the event of any
passenger being intoxicated, or disorderly, so as to annoy other
passengers, the guard shall use all gentle means to stop the
annoyance, and if he does not succeed, he shall set him down at the
next or most convenient station, and report the circumstance.
The new method of travelling proved very popular. In 1841 the number of
passengers carried by the Hull and Selby Railway amounted to 212,000,
‘without the slightest accident to any of them.’ This was the beginning
of the days of the ‘cheap tripper,’ and it is recorded that on August
22nd, 1844—
A pleasure train from Hebden Bridge and Luddington Foot brought
3,200 persons [to Hull] in 82 carriages; being the longest train
that ever visited the town.
In many cases the railway train, steam packet, and stage coach ran in
conjunction. Thus the journey from Hull to Knaresborough was completed
in the following three stages:—
Hull to Selby by steam packet,
Selby to Micklefield by railway,
Micklefield to Knaresborough by stage coach.
The fares for this journey were ‘6s. 6d. outside and fore-cabin,’ and
‘10s. 6d. inside and best cabin.’ Certainly the traveller could not
complain that he did not get plenty of variety for his money.
As an instance of the success of the new Railway in transporting ‘live
stock’ may be given another extract from the _Hull Directory_:—
1842. December 9. A cow, which arrived here by the same steamer as the
Post Office bags, outstripped those bags, 14 hours in her arrival
at Manchester.
It is to be presumed that the cow travelled from Hull to Manchester by
train, while the Post Office bags went by mail coach. But this is left
to the imagination of the readers of the Directory.
In 1845 the Hull and Selby Railway was leased to the York and North
Midland Company, a powerful company under the control of Mr. George
Hudson, the ‘Railway King.’
* * * * *
This year and the next saw what was called the ‘Railway Mania,’ when
promoters vied with one another in preparing schemes for new railways
which people with money to invest were only too anxious to support. Two
hundred and seventy-two Acts of Parliament authorizing new railways were
obtained during the ‘boom;’ and when the ‘crash’ came, many lost the
whole of the money they had so rashly invested.
The Hull and Bridlington Branch Railway was opened in 1846, and
continued to Scarborough the following year. In 1847, also, the York and
Market Weighton Branch Railway was opened; and the following year saw
the opening of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway ferry
from Hull to New Holland. Hull and Withernsea were joined by the Hull
and Holderness Railway in 1854.
[Illustration: THE HULL AND BEVERLEY STAGE COACH—WILSON’S ‘SAFETY.’]
Among the projected railways not carried out were the Hull and Market
Weighton Railway, via Brough, and the Hull, South and West Junction
Railway. One of the objectors to the former was the Vicar of South Cave,
whose objection was that if there were a station at South Cave, ‘the
scum of Hull would make it one place for their Sunday revels.’ His
summary of the results of the introduction of railways was that—
The country youths go to some neighbouring town for a ‘lark,’ and
the tag-rag-and-bob-tail of towns come into the country, not for
sober enjoyment, but for Sunday dissipation.
Although this line of railway was not built, an alternative route from
Hull to Market Weighton has long been provided. But the Hull, South and
West Junction Railway, which was to cross the Humber by a tunnel at
Hessle nearly forty years ago, remains as a project which will some day
be successfully carried out.
[Illustration:
ON THE ROAD IN 1912.
THE BEVERLEY AND BEEFORD MOTOR OMNIBUS.
]
XXV.
ENGLAND’S THIRD PORT.
THE MODERN GROWTH OF HULL.
We have seen in some of the foregoing chapters how the small town of
Wyke, or Hull, was born early in the twelfth century, how it received a
charter of privileges from King Edward I., and how it was afterwards
fortified with walls and ditches that withstood successfully a couple of
sieges during the Great Civil War. It remains to see how the small,
insignificant ‘King’s Town upon Hull’ has grown into a city so important
as to take rank after London and Liverpool as ‘England’s Third Port.’
Six hundred years ago Hull was much smaller than, and nothing like so
important as, its neighbours, Beverley and Hedon. Yet to-day its
inhabitants number twenty-one times those of Beverley, and two hundred
and thirty-nine times those of Hedon. Why should this be?
The answer is that in the first place Hull owes its greatness to its
position on the northern shore of the mighty Humber. When ships were
small, they could pass up the river Hull to Beverley, and could reach
Hedon by its Haven. But as ships grew in size this became no longer
possible, and Beverley and Hedon were left behind in the race, while
Hull, because of its deep water, went ahead. For it is situate at the
only spot on the north bank of the Humber where there is water
sufficiently deep to allow large ships to approach the shore.
But there is one remarkable thing about the growth of Hull. This has
taken place almost entirely within the last two hundred years. For 450
years after its walls were built, its inhabitants lived within them. Not
till nearly the close of the eighteenth century did their houses begin
to stretch out beyond its walls. In 1812 the area of the town was about
three times that within these walls. But in 1912 the city has extended
its arms so far beyond them that there are along its main roads six tram
routes, each measuring from one and three-quarters to two and a half
miles, while the houses of its inhabitants extend still farther.
The rapid growth of Hull within the last hundred years may be seen also
by comparing the numbers of its inhabitants in different years:—
In 1811 its inhabitants numbered 37,000
” 1841 ” ” ” 67,000
” 1871 ” ” ” 122,000
” 1901 ” ” ” 241,000
” 1911 ” ” ” 278,000
These figures show that during each period of thirty years from 1811 to
1901 the population almost doubled itself, and that the greatest actual
increase was between the years 1871 and 1901.
And why this sudden growth? Because of the introduction and perfection
of the railway and the steamship, which together have enabled merchants
to reap full benefit from the great advantages that nature herself
bestowed upon their city.
* * * * *
If you turn to the fourteenth-century plan given on page 165, you will
see that trading ships are moored in the river Hull—the ‘Old Harbour,’
as we call it to-day—on the right bank of which are the cranes for
removing their cargoes. For another four centuries the river continued
to be the only place for the mooring of ships.
[Illustration: WHITEFRIARGATE BRIDGE AND THE VICTORIA SQUARE, HULL.]
But when, by the revival of the whale-fishing industry in 1765, the
amount of shipping greatly increased, need was felt for more
accommodation. An Act of Parliament was therefore obtained in 1774
giving permission to ‘the Dock Company, of Kingston-upon-Hull,’ to make
a dock extending from the river Hull to the Beverley Gate along the line
of the town moat.[63]
Footnote 63:
The Hull Dock Company became extinct in 1893, when its property was
purchased by the North Eastern Railway Company.
The first stone of this dock was laid in the following year, amid scenes
of great enthusiasm. Saluted with the firing of nine cannon and
accompanied by ‘a large band of music, constables and flags,’ the Mayor
and Corporation walked in procession to the _Cross Keys_, where they
had, we read, ‘an excellent dinner.’ Nor did they forget their humbler
townsfolk, for the workmen were given ‘fifteen guineas to drink.’
In 1778 the work of building the dock was finished, and Hull had the
honour of possessing the first enclosed trading dock in Great Britain.
It proved a great success, paying to its 120 shareholders good dividends
out of the dues which were collected from the owners of vessels using
it.
These varied from two pence per ton for a coasting vessel trading as far
north as Holy Island or as far south as Yarmouth, to one shilling and
ninepence per ton for vessels trading with Greenland, Africa and
America—foreign vessels paying in all cases double dues.
THE DOCK measured nine acres in water area. In 1809 another dock was
built, with an entrance direct from the Humber. This became known as the
NEW DOCK, the corresponding adjective ‘Old’ being then applied to the
earlier one. In 1829 a JUNCTION DOCK was built between the two. The line
of the town moat was now entirely replaced with a line of docks.
In 1840 the railway came to Hull. The station was at that time in
Kingston Street—on the site of the present Goods Station—and to give
greater access to it for ships, the RAILWAY DOCK was built off the New
Dock.
But the four docks that Hull then possessed proved quite incapable of
dealing with the volume of trade to which they gave rise. So new ground
was tapped, and in 1850 the VICTORIA DOCK, with a water area of 20
acres, was built. At the same time the names of the three old docks were
changed, and became thenceforth the QUEEN’S DOCK, HUMBER DOCK, and
PRINCE’S DOCK.
For nineteen years this provision was sufficient. Then there was opened
the ALBERT DOCK, four acres larger than the Victoria Dock, and in 1880
and 1883 this was followed by the WILLIAM WRIGHT DOCK[64] and the ST.
ANDREW’S DOCK.
Footnote 64:
The Albert Dock and the William Wright Dock are now combined into one,
known as the ALBERT AND WILLIAM WRIGHT DOCK.
All this building of new docks was intended to provide greater
facilities for shipping, and as these were provided the volume of trade
went on increasing. Meanwhile new shipping companies were formed to cope
with the increase of trade.
* * * * *
Most famous of all the shipping companies is that known to us as ‘Thos.
Wilson, Sons & Co., Limited,’ which was started by Mr. Thomas Wilson
about the time of the opening of Junction Dock. ‘Beckinton, Wilson &
Co.’—as the firm was then called—possessed one or two sailing ships and
traded with Sweden in iron ore. ‘Thos. Wilson Sons & Co.’ possess a
fleet of nearly one hundred steamships, and trade with all the chief
ports of the world.
[Illustration: PLAN OF DOCKS WEST OF THE RIVER HULL.]
[Illustration: PLAN OF DOCKS EAST OF THE RIVER HULL.]
The history of the Wilson Line has been called a romance of the shipping
world. Trade with Sweden was followed by the opening out of trade with
Russia. When the building of the Suez Canal gave added importance to the
Mediterranean, the Wilson Line began to trade with the ports of the
Adriatic Sea, and later with Odessa and Constantinople. Next came trade
with India, the _Orlando_, built at Hull in 1870, being the first
steamship to arrive at Hull from India direct.
After this was laid the foundation of trade with New York. The success
of the new venture seemed very doubtful at first, but the Wilson Line
now carry more cargo to and from England and New York than the vessels
of any other line of steamships. Together with all these new enterprises
has gone the organisation of weekly services to the Belgian ports, and
of fortnightly services to the ports of the Mediterranean Sea.
[Illustration: THE WILSON LINER ‘ESKIMO’ GETTING UP STEAM.]
* * * * *
Early in this chapter it was stated that in the first place Hull owes
its greatness to its geographical position. It is this position which
has made it a great distributing centre for imported goods, and a great
collecting centre for exported goods. The Port of Hull has thus become
‘the gateway for the world to the great manufacturing centres of
Yorkshire, Lancashire, and the Midlands.’
[Illustration: GRAIN SHIPS DISCHARGING THEIR CARGOES INTO LIGHTERS.]
Much of the transfer and despatch of goods is carried on over the side
of the ocean-going steamships into or from the river-going lighters and
keels, which are able to make use of two systems of inland waterways.
One of these, the _Aire and Calder Navigation_, dates from the year
1698, and is the oldest as well as the most up-to-date waterway in Great
Britain. The other system is known as the _Trent Navigation_.
The relative cheapness of transit by water makes these inland waterways
of very great importance for all heavy traffic in which speed is not
required. For fast traffic Hull is served by three railway systems, the
North Eastern Railway, the Hull and Barnsley Railway, and the Great
Central Railway; and other Companies have running powers over the lines
of the North Eastern.
The coming of the first railway to Hull in 1840 was described in the
preceding chapter. Five years after this event the merchants of Hull
sought to establish a Hull and Barnsley Junction Railway; but the
project fell through, and it was not till 1885 that the line now known
as the Hull and Barnsley Railway was constructed.
With this new line was also constructed a new dock. This, the ALEXANDRA
DOCK, is the deepest dock on the east coast of Great Britain, and has a
water area of 53½ acres.
The opening of this huge dock gave a great impetus to the export trade
in coal. In 1884 not more than 600,000 tons were exported, but in 1910
the quantity exported reached the enormous total of 5,000,000 tons.[65]
Most of this went to North Russia, Germany, Holland, Sweden and South
America.
Footnote 65:
It is expected that this amount will be greatly increased within the
next few years by the opening of new collieries around Doncaster, and
the tapping of a new ‘Eastern Coalfield,’ which is believed to extend
deep down under the Humber and the Wash, right out into the North Sea.
* * * * *
Let us take a walk round some of the Hull docks, and try to realise what
the import and export trade really means.
Here, in the Alexandra Dock, is a huge iron steamship into which coal is
being shipped by means of electric coal hoists or by transporter belts.
Its cargo of 5,000 tons is being taken on board at the rate of ten tons
a minute. From the hold of another equally large ship grain is pouring
into lighters ranged alongside. It will require five working-days of ten
hours each to discharge its cargo of 6,000 tons. Then the ship will take
its place under the coal hoists, and its empty hold will be filled with
an outgoing cargo of ‘black diamonds.’
The Victoria Dock is mainly given up to vessels unloading timber from
the White Sea and the Baltic, a large proportion of it being ‘pit props’
for the coal mines of Yorkshire and Lancashire.
In the Albert and William Wright Dock, as well as in the Alexandra Dock,
are vessels discharging hundreds of cases of bacon and hams from the
United States, or of frozen carcasses of sheep from South America. From
the hold of another vessel are being brought up crate after crate of
eggs from North Russia, from another bale after bale of wool from
Australia. Lined up alongside another big steamship are dozens of
agricultural engines and machines made by workmen in Gainsborough and
Lincoln. In a few weeks’ time they will be at work in the corn-fields of
Russia.
[Illustration: AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY ON THE WAY TO RUSSIA.]
Every day of the week we shall find ships giving up their cargoes of
linseed and cottonseed from India, Egypt, or South Russia. But if we
want to see the ‘butter boats’ emptied, we must be on the spot in the
very early hours of a Monday morning. For these boats arrive from
Denmark during the Sunday, and the work of transporting their cargoes to
the lines of railway waggons that await their arrival begins with the
last stroke of midnight. By four or five o’clock on the Monday morning
the butter is on its way to all parts of the north of England. The cargo
of one ship alone is sometimes consigned to as many as 300 separate
stations.
[Illustration: A STEAM TRAWLER.]
Come for a walk along the Humber Dock or on the Riverside Quay and,
according to the season of the year, we shall see unshipped cargoes of
plums from Germany; new potatoes and other vegetables from Jersey,
France, and Holland; cranberries from Russia; bananas from the Canary
Isles; apples from Australia, Canada, and the United States; oranges,
lemons, grapes, nuts, tomatoes and onions from Spain, Portugal and
Italy.
Last of all we will pay a visit to the St. Andrew’s Dock, and watch the
entrance and unloading of the steam trawlers and steam carriers of the
Hull fishing fleets. From the fishing-grounds of the North Sea, the
White Sea, and the stormy seas around Iceland each brings its ‘catch.’
As quickly as it can be brought up from the hold—tubs of plaice, turbot,
halibut, codfish, ling, hake or herring—it is sold at auction to the
fish buyers who attend from all the large towns of the north of England;
and as quickly it is packed on board the waiting ‘Fish Trains,’ which
will distribute it among the fifteen million people who live within
reach of the port of Hull.
* * * * *
We shall now be able, perhaps, to understand what is meant when we call
Hull ‘England’s Third Port.’ The following table shows the position of
Hull in comparison with the other large ports of Great Britain:—
Annual Value of Imports
Name of Port. and Exports in 1910.
London 360 million pounds.
Liverpool 341 " "
Hull 73 " "
Manchester 47 " "
Southampton 46 " "
Glasgow 44 " "
Grimsby 32 " "
The growth of Hull’s shipping industry has meant a corresponding growth
of its manufacturing industries. Most of these find their home on the
banks of the river Hull, along whose winding course we can find oil and
cake mills, flour mills, saw mills, paint, colour and varnish works,
starch, blue and black-lead works, coal tar works, and cement works—all
one after another.
Among these mills and works are some that rank as the largest in the
British Isles. Thus the ‘British Oil and Cake Mills, Ltd.’ have the
largest oil refinery, the ‘Hull Oil Manufacturing Co.’ are the largest
producers of castor-oil, and the firm of ‘Blundell, Spence & Co.’ own
the largest paint works. There are forty different firms engaged in the
saw-milling industry, and an equal number in the manufacture of paints,
colours and varnishes.
[Illustration: THE N.E.R. RIVERSIDE QUAY.]
That ‘England’s Third Port’ is still going ahead may be seen in recent
shipping and industrial developments. One of these has been the building
of a new RIVERSIDE QUAY, available for large ships at any state of the
tide, and the inauguration of a daily service of steamers to and from
the Belgian ports. Another is the construction of a new JOINT DOCK by
the North Eastern and the Hull and Barnsley Railways. This is planned to
have eventually a water area of 83 acres, and to be thus an imposing
rival of the Great Central Railway’s new dock at Immingham on the
Lincolnshire shore of the Humber.
The year 1910 saw the beginning of a new direct steamship service
between Australia and Hull, a service which is expected to open out a
large trade in the import of Australian wool for the looms of the West
Riding. March, 1909, saw the arrival in Hull of the first large cargo of
soya beans sent out from China, and the beginning in Europe of a new
industry—the crushing of soya beans and the manufacture of soya oil and
feeding cake.
Another new industry was started in 1907, when the ‘National Radiator
Co.’ opened a branch of their American works. They have extended their
buildings each year since the opening, and now employ nearly 1000 hands.
[Illustration:
_Photo by_] The Garden Village, Hull. [_C. Bennett_
]
Most noticeable of all recent developments in Hull, however, have been
the destruction of slum districts and the opening out of wide
thoroughfares in the heart of the city—a work that was carried out
during the five years’ mayoralty of Sir Alfred Gelder—the securing of an
unfailing supply of pure drinking-water; the construction of a tramway
system that is one of the cheapest, if not the cheapest, in Great
Britain; and the planning of Garden Villages and Public Parks on the
outskirts of the city.
XXVI.
FAMOUS SONS OF THE EAST RIDING.
First in the list of those who may justly be called ‘Famous Sons of the
East Riding’ stand the names of ROGER OF HOWDEN, WILLIAM OF NEWBURGH,
and PETER OF LANGTOFT. All these were men of learning in an age when
knowledge was difficult to obtain, and each devoted himself to the work
of spreading the knowledge of which he became possessed. The work that
each of them bequeathed to us is a history of our country, the histories
of the first and second being written in Latin, and that of the third in
Norman-French rimed verse.
Roger of Howden and Peter of Langtoft took their surnames—_i.e._,
additional names—from the places at which they were born. But William of
Newburgh was born at Bridlington in 1136, and gained his surname from
the fact that he became an inmate of the monastery at Newburgh in the
North Riding. Peter of Langtoft was a Canon of the Priory at
Bridlington.
Peter of Langtoft’s _History of English Affairs_ takes rank as the
‘finest historical work left us by an Englishman of the twelfth
century.’ It is interesting because there are introduced several of the
songs sung by the peasantry and the townsfolk of Yorkshire in the
thirteenth century.
But most interesting to us is the _Annals_ of Roger of Howden. Roger was
a clerk, or secretary, to King Henry II., and later became one of the
King’s Justices in Yorkshire. He records several facts about his
birthplace—among them that King John spent Christmas, 1191, as a guest
of Hugh Pudsey, Bishop of Durham, at the latter’s palace or manor-house
at Howden, and that in 1200 the King granted Bishop Hugh the right to
hold there an annual fair.
* * * * *
Next in our list come the names of two famous churchmen, JOHN ALCOCK and
JOHN FISHER, who were both destined to become Bishops of Rochester.
[Illustration: JOHN ALCOCK, BISHOP OF ELY.]
John Alcock was born at Hull about 1428, and became Bishop of Rochester
in 1472. Four years later he was promoted to the see of Worcester, and
after another ten years received further promotion to the see of Ely. In
his time it was customary for churchmen to be at the head of all affairs
of the State, and twice was Bishop Alcock appointed by the King to be
Lord Chancellor of England. On the second occasion he had the duty of
opening the first Parliament of Henry VII.
Hull folk have reason to be proud of the memory of their great townsman,
John Alcock. For not only did he reach the highest position in the
country next to the King himself, but he was also famed as a great
architect and a great patron of learning. As ‘Comptroller of the Royal
Works’ he designed the wonderful ‘Henry VII.’s Chapel’ in Westminster
Abbey, and as a patron of learning he founded Jesus College, Cambridge,
and the Hull Grammar School.