[1] Called "guinea-pigs."
BEDFORD, a city and the county-seat of Lawrence county, Indiana, U.S.A.,
in the south-central part of the state, about 60 m. north-west of
Louisville, Kentucky. Pop. (1890) 3351; (1910) 8716. It is served by the
Baltimore & Ohio Southwestern, the Chicago, Indianapolis & Louisville,
the Southern Indiana, and (for freight from the Wallner quarries about 5
m. distant) the Bedford & Wallner railways. It is the shipping point of
the Bedford Indiana (oolitic) limestone, which is found in the vicinity
and is one of the most valuable and best known building stones in the
United States--of this stone were built the capitols of Indiana,
Georgia, Mississippi and Kentucky; the state historical library at
Madison, Wisconsin; the art building at St Louis, Missouri; and many
other important public buildings. The city has large cement works,
foundries and machine shops (stone-working machinery being
manufactured), and the repair shops of the Southern Indiana railway.
Bedford was settled in 1826 and received a city charter in 1889.
BEDFORD, a borough and the county-seat of Bedford county, Pennsylvania,
U.S.A., on the Raystown branch of the Juniata river, about 35 m. south
by west of Altoona. Pop. (1890) 2242; (1910) 2235. Bedford is served by
the Bedford branch of the Pennsylvania railway. It lies in a beautiful
valley. In the borough are some interesting old houses, erected in the
latter part of the 18th century, an art gallery and a soldiers'
monument. There are deposits of hematite and limestone near the borough,
and less than 2 m. south of it are the widely-known Bedford Mineral
Springs--a magnesia spring, a limestone spring, a sulphur spring, and a
"sweet-water" spring--which attract many visitors during the summer
season. There are also chalybeate and other less important springs about
the same distance east of the borough, and a white sulphur spring 10 m.
south-west of it. Bedford has a large wholesale grocery trade,
manufactures flour, dressed lumber, kegs and handles, and is situated in
a fine fruit-growing district, especially known for its apples and
plums. The borough owns and operates the water works. A temporary
settlement was made on or near the site of the present borough about
1750 by an Indian trader named Ray, and for a few years the place was
known as Raystown; the present name was adopted not later than 1759. In
July 1758 Fort Bedford, for many years an important military post on the
frontier, was constructed, and here, later in the year, General John
Forbes brought together his troops preparatory to advancing against Fort
Duquesne. The town of Bedford was laid out in 1769, and in 1771 it was
made the county-seat of Bedford county which was organized in that year.
The borough was incorporated in 1795, and received a new charter in
1817. Washington came here in 1794 to review the army sent to quell the
Whisky Insurrection, and the Espy house, which he then occupied, is
still standing.
BEDFORDSHIRE [abbreviated Beds], a south midland county of England,
bounded N.E. by Huntingdonshire, E. by Cambridgeshire, S.E. by
Hertfordshire, W. by Buckinghamshire and N.W. by Northamptonshire. It is
the fourth smallest English county, having an area of 466.4 sq. m. It
lies principally in the middle part of the basin of the river Ouse,
which, entering in the north-west, traverses the rich and beautiful Vale
of Bedford with a serpentine course past the county town of Bedford to
the north-eastern corner near St Neots. North of it the land is
undulating, but low; to the south, a well-wooded spur of the Chiltern
Hills separates the Vale of Bedford from the flat open tributary valley
of the Ivel. A small part of the main line of the Chilterns is included
in the south of the county, the hills rising sharply from the lowland to
bare heights exceeding 600 ft. above Dunstable. In this neighbourhood
the county includes the headwaters of the Lea, and thus a small portion
of it falls within the Thames basin. In the north a few streams are
tributary to the Nene.
_Geology._--The general trend of the outcrops of the various
formations is from south-west to north-east; the dip is
south-easterly. In the northern portion of the county, the Middle
Oolites are the most important, and of these, the Oxford Clay
predominates over most of the low ground upon which Bedford is
situated. At Ampthill a development of clay, the Ampthill clay,
represents the Corallian limestones of neighbouring counties. The
Cornbrash is represented by no more than about 2 ft. of limestone; but
the Kellaways Rock is well exposed near Bedford; the sandy parts of
this rock are frequently cemented to form hard masses called
"doggers." The Great Ouse, from the point where it enters the county
on the west, has carved through the Middle Oolites and exposed the
Great Oolite as far as Bedford; their alternating limestones and clays
may be seen in the quarries not far from the town. From Woburn through
Ampthill to Potton a more elevated tract is formed by the Lower
Greensand. These rocks are sandy throughout. At Leighton Buzzard they
are dug on a large scale for various purposes. Beds of fuller's earth
occur in this formation at Woburn. At Potton, phosphatized nodules may
be obtained, and here a hard bed, the "Carstone," lies at the top of
the formation. Above the Lower Greensand comes the Gault Clay, which
lies in the broad vale south-east of the former and north-west of the
Chalk hills. The Chalk rises up above the Gault and forms the high
ground of Dunshill Moors and the Chiltern Hills. At the base of the
Chalk is the Chalk Marl, above this is the Totternhoe Stone, which, on
account of its great hardness, usually stands out as a well-marked
feature. The Lower Chalk, which comes next in the upward succession,
is capped in a similar manner by the hard Chalk Rock, as at Royston
and elsewhere. The upper Chalk-with-Flints occurs near the
south-eastern boundary. Patches of glacial boulder clay and gravel lie
upon the older rocks over most of the area. Many interesting mammalian
fossils, rhinoceros, mammoth, &c., with palaeolithic implements, have
been found in the valley gravels of the river Ouse and its
tributaries.
_Industries._--Agriculture is important, nearly nine-tenths of the total
area being under cultivation. The chief crop is wheat, for which the
soil in the Vale of Bedford is specially suited; while on the sandy loam
of the Ivel valley, in the neighbourhood of Biggleswade,
market-gardening is extensively carried on, the produce going
principally to London, whither a considerable quantity of butter and
other dairy-produce is also sent. The manufacture of agricultural
machinery and implements employs a large number of hands at Bedford and
Luton. Luton, however, is specially noted for the manufacture of straw
hats. Straw-plaiting was once extensively carried on in this
neighbourhood by women and girls in their cottage homes, but has now
almost entirely disappeared owing to the importation of Chinese and
Japanese plaited straw. Another local industry in the county is the
manufacture of pillow-lace. Many of the lace designs are French, as a
number of French refugees settled in and near Cranfield. Mechlin and
Maltese patterns are also copied.
_Communications_ are provided in the east by the Great Northern main
line, passing Biggleswade, and in the centre by that of the Midland
railway, serving Ampthill and Bedford. The Bletchley and Cambridge
branch of the London & North-Western railway crosses these main lines at
Bedford and Sandy respectively. The main line of the same company serves
Leighton Buzzard in the south-west, and there is a branch thence to
Dunstable, which, with Luton, is also served by a branch of the Great
Northern line. A branch of the Midland railway south from Bedford
connects with the Great Northern line at Hitchin, and formerly afforded
the Midland access to London over Great Northern metals.
_Population and Administration._--The area of the ancient county is
298,494 acres, with a population in 1891 of 161,704 and in 1901 of
171,240. The area of the administrative county is 302,947 acres. The
municipal boroughs are Bedford (pop. 35,144), Dunstable (5157) and Luton
(36,404). The other urban districts are--Ampthill (2177), Biggleswade
(5120), Kempston, connected with Bedford to the south-west (4729), and
Leighton Buzzard (6331). Potton (2033), Shefford (874), and Woburn
(1129) are lesser towns, and local centres of the agricultural trade.
The county is the midland circuit, and assizes are held at Bedford. It
has one court of quarter-sessions, and is divided into eight petty
sessional divisions. The boroughs of Bedford, Dunstable and Luton have
separate commissions of the peace, and Bedford has a separate court of
quarter-sessions. There are 133 civil parishes. Bedfordshire forms an
archdeaconry in the diocese of Ely, with 125 ecclesiastical parishes and
parts of 6 others. The county has two parliamentary divisions, Northern
(or Biggleswade), and Southern (or Luton), each returning one member;
and Bedford is a parliamentary borough, returning one member. The
principal institution, apart from those in the towns, is the great Three
Counties asylum (for Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Huntingdonshire),
in the south-east of the county near Arlesey.
_History._--Although the Saxon invaders were naturally attracted to
Bedfordshire by its abundant water supply and facilities for
agriculture, the remains of their settlements are few and scattered.
They occur, with one exception, south of the Ouse, the most important
being a cemetery at Kempston, where two systems--cremation and
earth-burial--are found side by side. Early reference to Bedfordshire
political history is scanty. In 571 Cuthwulf inflicted a severe defeat
on the Britons at Bedford and took four towns. During the Heptarchy what
is now the shire formed part of Mercia; by the treaty of Wedmore,
however, it became Danish territory, but was recovered by King Edward
(919-921). The first actual mention of the county comes in 1016 when
King Canute laid waste to the whole shire. There was no organized
resistance to the conqueror within Bedfordshire, though the Domesday
survey reveals an almost complete substitution of Norman for English
holders. In the civil war of Stephen's reign the county suffered
severely; the great Roll of the Exchequer of 1165 proves the shire
receipts had depreciated in value to two-thirds of the assessment for
the Danegeld. Again the county was thrown into the barons' war when
Bedford Castle, seized from the Beauchamps by Falkes de Breaute, one of
the royal partisans, was the scene of three sieges before it was
demolished by the king's orders in 1224. The peasants' revolt
(1377-1381) was marked by less violence here than in neighbouring
counties; the Annals of Dunstable make brief mention of a rising in that
town and the demand for and granting of a charter. In 1638 ship-money
was levied on Bedfordshire, and in the Civil War that followed, the
county was one of the foremost in opposing the king. Clarendon observes
that here Charles had no visible party or fixed quarter.
Bedfordshire is divided into nine hundreds, Barford, Biggleswade,
Clifton, Flitt, Manshead, Redbornestoke, Stodden, Willey and Wiscamtree,
and the liberty, half hundred or borough of Bedford. From the Domesday
survey it appears that in the 11th century there were three additional
half hundreds, viz. Stanburge, Buchelai and Weneslai, which had by the
14th century become parts of the hundreds of Manshead, Willey and
Biggleswade respectively. Until 1574 one sheriff did duty for
Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, the shire court of the former being
held at Bedford. The jurisdiction of the hundred courts, excepting
Flitt, remained in the king's possession. Flitt was parcel of the manor
of Luton, and formed part of the marriage portion of Eleanor, sister of
Henry III. and wife of William Marshall. The burgesses of Bedford and
the prior of Dunstable claimed jurisdictional freedom in those two
boroughs. The _Hundred Rolls_ and the _Placita de quo warranto_ show
that important jurisdiction had accrued to the great over-lordships,
such as those of Beauchamp, Wahull and Caynho, and to several religious
houses, the prior of St John of Jerusalem claiming rights in more than
fifty places in the county.
With regard to parliamentary representation, the first original writ
which has been discovered was issued in 1290 when two members were
returned for the county. In 1295 in addition to the county members,
writs are found for two members to represent Bedford borough.
Subsequently until modern times two county and two borough members were
returned regularly.
Owing to its favourable situation Bedfordshire has always been a
prominent agricultural rather than manufacturing county. From the 13th
to the 15th century sheep farming flourished, Bedfordshire wool being in
request and plentiful. Surviving records show that in assessments of
wool to the king, Bedfordshire always provided its full quota. Tradition
says that the straw-plait industry owes its introduction to James I.,
who transferred to Luton the colony of Lorraine plaiters whom Mary queen
of Scots had settled in Scotland. Similarly the lace industry is
associated with Catherine of Aragon, who, when trade was dull, burnt her
lace and ordered new to be made. As late as the 19th century the lace
makers kept "Cattern's Day" as the holiday of their craft. The Flemings,
expelled by Alva's persecutions (1569), brought the manufacture of
Flemish lace to Cranfield, whence it spread to surrounding districts.
The revocation of the edict of Nantes, and consequent French
immigration, gave further impetus to the industry. Defoe writing in
1724-1727 mentions the recent improvements in the Bedfordshire bone-lace
manufacture. In 1794 further French refugees joined the Bedfordshire
lace makers.
Woburn Abbey, belonging to the Russells since 1547, is the seat of the
duke of Bedford, the greatest landowner in the county. The Burgoynes of
Sutton, whose baronetcy dates from 1641, have been in Bedfordshire since
the 15th century, whilst the Osborn family have owned Chicksands Priory
since its purchase by Peter Osborn in 1576. Sir Phillip Monoux Payne
represents the ancient Monoux family of Wootton. Other county families
are the Crawleys of Stockwood near Luton, the Brandreths of Houghton
Regis, and the Orlebars of Hinwick.
With the division of the Mercian diocese in 679 Bedfordshire fell
naturally to the new see of Dorchester. It formed part of Lincoln
diocese from 1075 until 1837, when it was finally transferred to Ely. In
1291 Bedfordshire was an archdeaconry including six rural deaneries,
which remained practically unaltered until 1880, when they were
increased to eleven with a new schedule of parishes.
_Antiquities._--The monastic remains in Bedfordshire include the fine
fragment of the church of the Augustinian priory at Dunstable, serving
as the parish church; the church (also imperfect) of Elstow near
Bedford, which belonged to a Benedictine nunnery founded by Judith,
niece of William the Conqueror; and portions of the Gilbertine
Chicksands Priory and of a Cistercian foundation at Old Warden. In the
parish churches, many of which are of great interest, the predominant
styles are Decorated and Perpendicular. Work of pre-Conquest date,
however, is found in the massive tower of Clapham church, near Bedford
on the north, and in a door of Stevington church. Fine Norman and Early
English work is seen at Dunstable and Elstow, and the later style is
illustrated by the large cruciform churches at Leighton Buzzard and at
Felmersham on the Ouse above Bedford. Among the Perpendicular additions
to the church last named may be noted a very beautiful oaken
rood-screen. To illustrate Decorated and Perpendicular the churches of
Clifton and of Marston Moretaine, with its massive detached campanile,
may be mentioned; and Cople church is a good specimen of fine
Perpendicular work. The church of Cockayne Hatley, near Potton, is
fitted with rich Flemish carved wood, mostly from the abbey of Alne near
Charleroi, and dating from 1689, but brought here by a former rector
early in the 19th century. In medieval domestic architecture the county
is not rich. The mansion of Woburn Abbey dates from the middle of the
18th century.
AUTHORITIES.--_Victoria County History_ (London, 1904, &c.); Fishe,
_Collections, Historical, Genealogical and Topographical, for
Bedfordshire_ (London, 1812-1816, and also 1812-1836); J.D. Parrv,
_Select Illustrations of Bedfordshire_ (London, 1827); _Bedfordshire
Domesday Book_ (Bedford, 1881); _Visitation of Bedford, 1566, 1582,
and 1634_, in _Harleian Society's Publications_, vol. xiv. (London,
1884); _Genealogica Bedfordiensis_, 1538, 1800 (London, 1890); and
_Illustrated Bedfordshire_ (Nottingham, 1895). See also _Bedfordshire
Notes and Queries_, ed. F.A. Blades, and _Transactions of the
Bedfordshire Natural History and Field Club._