The aim of this book is to furnish a reliable account of remarkable
frosts occurring in this country from the earliest period in our Annals
to the present time. In many instances, I have given particulars as
presented by contemporary writers of the scenes and circumstances
described.
In the compilation of this Chronology, several hundred books, magazines,
and newspapers, have been consulted, and a complete list would fill
several pages. I must not, however, omit to state that I have derived
much valuable information from a scarce book printed on the Ice of
the River Thames, in the year 1814, and published under the title of
“Frostiana.” I have gleaned information from the late Mr. Cornelius
Walford’s “Famines of the World,” which includes a carefully prepared
summary of “The Great Frosts of History.” Some of the poems in my pages,
bibliographical notes and facts, are culled from Dr. Rimbault’s “Old
Ballads Illustrating the Great Frost of 1683-4,” issued by the Percy
Society. It will be also observed that I have drawn curious information
from Parish Registers and old Parish Accounts.
Several ladies and gentlemen have rendered me great assistance, and
amongst the number must be named, with gratitude, Mrs. George Linnæus
Banks, author of “The Manchester Man;” Mr. Jesse Quail, F.S.S., editor
of the _Northern Daily Telegraph_; Mr. C. H. Stephenson, actor, author,
and antiquary; Mr W. H. K. Wright, F.R.H.S., editor of the _Western
Antiquary_; Mr. W. G. B. Page, of the Hull Subscription Library;
Mr. Frederick Ross, F.R.H.S., and Mr. Ernest E. Baker, editor of the
“Somersetshire Reprints.” Mr. E. H. Coleman kindly prepared for me a long
list of books and magazines containing articles on this subject. I have
to thank Mr. Mason Jackson, the author of “The Pictorial Press,” for
kindly presenting to me the quaint cut which appears on page 29 of my
work.
In 1881, the greater part of the matter contained in this book appeared
in the _Bradford Times_, a well-conducted journal, under the able
editorship of Mr. W. H. Hatton, F.R.H.S. The articles attracted more than
local attention, and I was pressed to reproduce them in a volume, but
owing to various circumstances, I have not been able to comply with the
request until now. The record is now brought up to date, and many facts
and particulars, gleaned since the articles appeared, have been added.