Transcribed from the [1858] Hugh Roberts edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org
[Picture: Cover]
[Picture: Decorative graphic for Evans & Gresty, Engravers, 71 Eastgate
Row, Chester]
[Picture: Chester from Curzon Park]
[Picture: Plan of Chester]
ROBERTS’
CHESTER GUIDE;
WITH
FORTY-SIX ENGRAVINGS.
AND AN
ILLUSTRATED PLAN OF THE CITY.
REVISED BY
JOHN HICKLIN,
_Editor of the Chester Courant_, _and Honorary Secretary of the Chester
Archæological_
_and Historic Society_.
* * * * *
CHESTER:
HUGH ROBERTS, EASTGATE ROW.
LONDON: HAMILTON, ADAMS, & CO.; AND WHITTAKER & CO.
AND OTHER BOOKSELLERS.
INDEX.
PAGE
Abbey Gate 57
Bars 46
Bridge Gate 41
Bridge 42
Bridge Street 60
Cab Fares 106
Cathedral 65
Castle 35
Cemetery 35
Chester—Its Ancient History 1
Chester—Its Ecclesiastical History 11
Chester—Its Municipal Institutions 12
Churches 78–90
City Gaol 32
County Gaol 37
County Hall 37
Dissenting Places of Worship 90–95
Distances 108
Eastgate 45
Eaton Hall 97
Exchange 56
Grosvenor Bridge 40
Hotels 108
House of Industry 35
Infirmary 31
Mayors of Chester 15
Music Hall 58
Museum 30
Newgate 44
Northgate 27
Old Houses 54
Pemberton’s Parlour 29
Phœnix Tower 26
Population 107
Railway Station 105
Roman Antiquities 17
Roodeye 33
Rows 49
Schools 95
Streets 51
Training College 29
Walls of Chester 26
Water Gate 32
Water Tower 30
PREFACE.
THE visit of the Royal Agricultural Society of England to Chester in
July, 1858, seems a fitting occasion on which to present to the public an
entirely NEW EDITION of the CHESTER GUIDE, which has been carefully
revised throughout, with the requisite care and intelligence for securing
to strangers a useful memorial of the “old city.” The work is also
embellished with a numerous series of engravings, and an illustrated
plan, which will facilitate the visitor’s inspection of the interesting
remains and modern attractions with which Chester abounds; and also
supply a pictorial reminiscence of scenes and places that may perchance
excite pleasant memories. In this hope our Manual is committed to public
favour, which, the editor trusts, will be so heartily manifested, as to
require, at no very distant day, a renewal of his services as a literary
“GUIDE.”
_Chester_, _June_ 24, 1858.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Chester, from Curzon Park to face page 1
Edgar’s Cave 6
Stone Altars 18
City Walls 25
King Charles’s Tower 26
Water Tower, &c. 30
Chester Cemetery 35
Watergate Street Row 49
Eastgate Street 53
God’s Providence House 54
Bishop Lloyd’s House 56
Old Palace House 58
Chester Cathedral 65
Cloisters ditto 70
St. John’s Church 79
Chancel Ruins of ditto 82
Independent Chapel 92
With a Novel Plan, containing Eight Views of EATON HALL:—
West Front East Front
Grosvenor Lodge Eaton Lodge
Dining Room Drawing Room
Saloon Library
Together with Twenty-One other Illustrations:—
Chester from the Dee Northgate Street
Eastgate Street Eastgate
Chester Castle Railway Station
Chester from Boughton Ford Abbey Gate
Bridge Street Roman Bath
Watergate Street Row, North Diocesan Training College
Savings’ Bank Grosvenor Bridge Exchange
Northgate Street Row Blue Coat Hospital
Crypt, Bridge Street Eastgate Street Row
Bridge Street Row (West)
and the Bridge Gate.
CHAPTER I.
THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF CHESTER.
THREE are but few places, if indeed there are any, which can present such
varied attractions to the antiquary as this remarkable and ancient city.
It is rich in memorable incidents and associations. It has a history
chronicled not only in books, but in its walls, towers, rows, and
venerable remains.
The origin of Chester is of very remote date. No definite conclusion has
been reached respecting the exact time of its foundation. Various
hypotheses have been started, some of them grotesque and ridiculous
enough, but its origin is lost in those mists of antiquity where history
fades into fable.
It is quite clear, as an authenticated matter of fact, that Chester was
in very early possession of the Romans. It was the headquarters of the
20th Legion, which, we find, came into Britain before the year 61; for it
had a share in the defeat of Boadicea by Suetonius. After that important
victory this mighty and intrepid people marched onward towards North
Wales, and established their authority in Cheshire.
Scattered through the city, have been discovered many vestiges of their
power, which enable us to trace their history with considerable
distinctness. Wherever they planted their settlements, they left
permanent records of their greatness and skill. Many of these memorials
have been discovered, in various parts of the old city; and through the
intelligent and zealous investigations of the Chester Archæological
Society, these antiquities are now made tributary to the instruction of
the inhabitants respecting the history of their own locality.
Not only to the antiquarian, however, is Chester interesting; there is
scarcely any order of mind or taste but may here find its gratification.
Its noble arched bridge, venerable cathedral and churches, unique rows,
and ancient walls encompassing the city, with a considerable number and
variety of relics, all combine to make Chester an attractive place of
resort. It is the metropolis of the county palatine of that name, and is
pleasantly situated above the river Dee, on a rising ground. Its names
have been various. Its Roman name was Deva, undoubtedly, because of its
being situated on the river Dee. Then Cestriæ, from Castrum, “camp;” and
Castrum Legionis, “the Camp of the Legion.” Its British names were Caer
Lleon, “the Camp of the Legion;” and Caer Lleon Vawr, or Ddyfrdwy, “the
Camp of the Great Legion on the Dee.”
During the brilliant lieutenancy of Julius Agricola, A.D. 85, it became a
Roman colony; and the place was called from them and from its situation,
Colonia Devana. This is clearly demonstrated by a coin of Septimus Geta,
son of Severus, which has this inscription:—
Col. Devana. Leg. xx. Victrix.
For two or three centuries after this date, Chester appears to have
continued undisturbed in the power of the Romans; during which period “it
was a centre of operations while conquest was being produced; a centre of
civilization and commercial intercourse when the dominion of the empire
was established. The actual form of the city, its division by streets
into four quarters, exhibits the arrangement which the Romans established
in their camp, and which they naturally transferred to the cities which
took the place of their military stations. Traces of the work of that
wonderful people still remain on our walls, and on the rocky brows which
surround them; and excite the attention, and reward the diligence of the
antiquarian. Those pigs of lead, the produce of Roman industry, which
are first mentioned, in ‘Camden’s Britannia,’ as being found in the
neighbourhood of Chester, and two of which have recently been discovered,
are memorials of the early period at which the mineral wealth of this
district was known, and of the commerce to which it gave rise.” It is a
fact, clearly established by history, that to the Romans we are greatly
indebted for the introduction of a much higher order of civilization than
that which they found existing when they took possession of the country.
They were the pioneers of social and religious progress. Previous to the
Roman invasion, the inhabitants were unacquainted with the laws and arts
of civilized life;—painted their bodies,—despised the institution of
marriage,—clothed themselves in skins,—knew very little of
agriculture,—were furious in disposition, and cruel in their religious
superstitions. We find that the practice of human sacrifices was very
general amongst them, and in every respect their social and moral
condition rude and barbarous in the extreme. So wedded were they to
their idolatrous worship and cruel rites, that the Romans, after their
conquest, found it necessary to abolish their religion by penal statutes;
an exercise of power which was not usual with these tolerating
conquerors. About the year 50, the Emperor Claudius Cæsar subdued the
greater part of Britain, and received the submission of several of the
British states who inhabited the south-east part of the island. The
other Britons, under the command of Caractacus, still maintained an
obstinate resistance, and the Romans made little progress against them
until Ostorius Scapula was sent over, in the year 50, to command their
armies. This renowned general found the country in a state of great
excitement and dissatisfaction, but speedily advanced the Roman conquests
over the Britons—defeated Caractacus in a great battle—took him prisoner,
and sent him to Rome—where his magnanimous behaviour procured him better
treatment than those conquerors usually bestowed on native princes. He
pardoned Caractacus and his family, and commanded that their chains
should immediately be taken off.
Holinshed is of opinion that Ostorius Scapula was the founder of Chester,
and the reasons he adduces are certainly very plausible. He says, “It is
not unlike that it might be first built by P. Ostorius Scapula, who, as
we find, after he had subdued Caractacus, King of the Ordonices, that
inhabited the countries now called Lancashire, Cheshire, and Salopshire,
built in those parts, and among the Silures, certeine places of defense,
for the better harbrough of his men of warre, and keeping downe of such
Britaines as were still readie to move rebellion.”
Passing over the space of a few years, we find Julius Agricola completing
the conquest of this island. Such was his formidable power and skilful
policy in governing the people, that we are told they soon became
reconciled to the supremacy of the Roman arms and language. He quelled
their animosity to the Roman yoke, and certainly did very much for the
progress of the people in civilization, knowledge, and the arts of peace.
There is perhaps no place in the kingdom that can boast of so many
monuments of Roman skill and ingenuity as Chester; but as these will be
described in detail as we proceed, we need not specify them here.
About the year 448 the Romans withdrew from the island, after having been
masters of the most considerable part of its territory for nearly four
centuries, and left the Britons to arm for their own defence. No sooner,
however, had the Romans withdrawn their troops, than the Scots and Picts
invaded the country with their terrible forces, and spread devastation
and ruin along the line of their march. These vindictive and rapacious
barbarians, fired with the lust of conquest, made a pitiless onslaught
upon the property and lives of the people. The unhappy Britons
petitioned, without effect, for the interposition of Rome, which had
declared its resolution for ever to abandon them. The British
ambassadors were entrusted with a letter to the legate at Rome,
pathetically stating their perilous dilemma, and invoking their immediate
aid.
The intestine commotions which were then shaking the Roman empire to its
centre prevented the masters of the then world from affording the timely
aid sought at their hands.
Despairing of any reinforcement from Rome, the Britons now invoked the
aid of the Saxons, who promptly complied with the invitation, and under
Hengist and Horsa, two Saxon chiefs, who were also brothers, wrested
Chester from the hands of the invaders. The Saxons, perceiving the
weakness of their degenerate allies, soon began to entertain the project
of conquering them, and seizing the country as their spoil. During the
conflict which ensued between the Britons and Saxons, who from allies
became masters. Chester was frequently taken and retaken, and suffered
severely in various sieges. Ultimately, the Aborigines were totally
subjugated under the mightier sway of Saxon arms.
In 607 Ethelfrid, King of Northumbria, waged a sanguinary battle with the
Britons under the walls of Chester, whom he defeated.
It is recorded that he came to avenge the quarrel of St. Augustine, whose
metropolitan jurisdiction the British monks refused to admit. Augustine
is said to have denounced against them the vengeance of heaven, for this
reason, three years previously.
Sammes, in his Antiquities of Britain, gives an interesting statement of
this celebrated battle: “Edelfrid, the strongest King of the English,
having gathered together a great army about the city of Chester, he made
a great slaughter of that nation; but when he was going to give the
onset, he espied priests and others, who were come thither to entreat God
for the success of the army, standing apart in a place of advantage; he
asked who they were, and for what purpose they had met there? When
Edelfrid had understood the cause of their coming, he said, ‘If,
therefore, they cry unto their God against us, certainly they, although
they bear no arms, fight against us, who prosecute us by their prayers.’”
The victory was not destined, however, to be an abiding one. The
supremacy of Ethelfrid over the Britons was not long in duration.
History tells us that a few years after he had achieved his conquest, the
united forces of Brocmail and three other British princes rescued from
his hands the possession of Chester, and put his armies to flight. In
613, the Britons assembled in Chester, and elected Cadwon their king, who
reigned with great honour for twenty-two years.
From this period to the close of the Heptarchy, we have but very scanty
materials respecting the history of Chester. The Britons appear to have
retained possession of it until about the year 828, when it was finally
taken by Egbert, during the reign of the British prince Mervyn and his
wife Esylht.
In a few years afterwards (894 or 895) the city underwent a heavy
calamity, from its invasion by Harold, King of the Danes, Mancolin, King
of the Scots, and another confederate prince, who are said to have
encamped on Hoole heath, near Chester, and, after a long siege, reduced
the city. These predatory pirates were soon after attacked and conquered
by Alfred, who utterly routed them from the military defences in which
they had embosomed themselves, and destroyed all the cattle and corn of
the district.
After the evacuation of the city by the Danes, it remained in ruins until
about the year 908, when it was restored by Ethelred, the first Earl of
Mercia, and Ethelfleda, his wife, who, it is said, enlarged it to double
the extent of the Roman town. Sir Peter Leycester says that “Ethelred
and his countess restored Caerleon, that is Legecestria, now called
Chester, after it was destroyed by the Danes, and enclosed it with new
walls, and made it nigh such two as it was before; so that the castle
that was sometime by the water without the walls, is now in the town
within the walls.” All the narratives which have been handed down to us
of this celebrated woman represent her as possessed of incomparable
talent, great enterprise, and pure mind. She employed the great power
and opportunity she possessed with admirable wisdom, and made them
subservient to acts of munificence and piety. She died at Tamworth in
922, whence her body was translated to Gloucester. Leycester gives a
lengthy record of her good deeds, which prepares us for the fact that her
loss was deeply and universally regretted throughout the whole kingdom.
[Picture: Edgar’s Cave]
The security of Chester against the Danish invaders was ultimately
effected by the victories of Edmund, in or about 942, after which it was
occasionally honoured by the residence of the Saxon sovereigns. Pennant
says, King Edgar made this one of the stations in his annual
circumnavigation of his dominions. About the year 973, he visited
Chester, attended by his court, and received the homage of his vassal
kings. It is said that one day entering his barge, he assumed the helm,
and made his eight tributary princes row him from the palace which stood
in the field at Handbridge, opposite the castle (and which still bears
his name), up the river Dee, as far as the monastery of St. John’s. In
the following century Chester was possessed by the Earls of Mercia, until
the Norman Conquest in 1066. The tyranny, violence, and bloodshed which
marked the course of William the Conqueror, met with determined
resistance in various parts of the country; but in the course of six or
seven years he utterly crushed all opposition, and became absolute master
of the island. He introduced into England the feudal system, “with its
military aristocracy, its pride, its splendour, and its iron dominion.
The importance of Chester, as a military station, was shown by its being
assigned as a fief to one of the chief leaders in the Norman army, and on
his death by its being given to the nephew of the Duke himself, under
whom it was invested with privileges which raised it almost to the rank
of a separate principality. Under Hugh, the first Earl of Chester, and
his immediate successors, we may suppose that most of those castles were
built, which form objects of antiquarian research in the neighbourhood,
but which are melancholy records of the state of society at the time,
since they were evidently built to protect the frontiers from the
continued invasions of the Welsh. Some of these still remain, and, from
their extent and magnificence, appear to have been the residences of the
Earls themselves. Many more have perished, and can only be traced by the
banks which mark the outline of their plan. These were probably of an
inferior description, and are rather to be considered as guard-houses for
the protection of some particular pass than as regular fortresses. There
are traces of this kind at Doddleston, at Pulford, at Aldford, at Holt,
at Shotwick, beside the larger and more distinguished holds at Beeston,
Halton, Chester, and Hawarden; and probably few years passed but that
some inroad of the Welsh carried fire and slaughter to the very gates of
Chester, and swept the cattle and produce from the fields.” {7}
For many years previous to the Norman Conquest, Chester was governed by
Dukes or Earls; but William, perceiving the danger of entrusting so large
a territory in the hands of any one of his barons, curtailed the
provinces within narrower limits, and thereby crippled the power which
had often proved dangerous to the throne, and at the same time augmented
his own, by having a larger number of gifts and emoluments to bestow on
his followers. In the first instance, William gave Chester to Gherbodus,
a noble Fleming, who, having obtained permission of the king to visit
Flanders for the transaction of some private business, there fell into
the hands of his enemies, and was obliged to resign the earldom to Hugh
Lupus, the nephew of the Conqueror, who was appointed in his stead. The
Earldom was now erected into a Palatinate. Camden says, “William the 1st
created Hugh, surnamed Lupus, the first Earl of Chester and Count
Palatine, and gave unto him and his heirs all the county, to be holden as
freely by the sword as the king himself held England by his crown.”
By reason of this grant, the Earls of Chester were invested with
sovereign jurisdiction, and held their own parliaments. It is supposed
that Lupus was invested with his new dignity at Chester by William
himself, when he was present there in person in 1069.
He created several barons to assist him in his council and government,
some of whom we find upon record, as Nigel, Baron of Halton; Sir William
Maldebeng, of Malbanc, Baron of Witch Malbanc, or Nantwich; Richard de
Vernon, Baron of Shipbroke; Gilbert Venables, Baron of Kinderton; Hamon
de Massey, Baron of Dunham Massey; Warren de Poynton, Baron of Stockport;
Eustace de Monthalt, Baron of Monthalt. He converted the church of St.
Werburgh into an abbey, by the advice of St. Anselm.
He continued Earl thirty-one years, died the 27th of July, 1101, and was
buried in the churchyard, but afterwards removed to the present
Chapter-house of the Cathedral, where his body was found in 1724, wrapped
in leather, enclosed in a stone coffin.
His Sword of Dignity forms one of the many valuable curiosities preserved
in the British Museum. His parliament was formed of eight barons, who
were obliged to attend him. Every baron had four esquires, every esquire
one gentleman, and every gentleman one valet. The barons had the power
of life and death. Hugh Lupus was succeeded by his son Richard, who was
drowned in his passage from Normandy. He governed nineteen years, and
was succeeded by Ranulph, surnamed _Mechines_, son of Margaret, sister to
Lupus. Ranulph died at Chester, A.D. 1129, {8} and was succeeded by the
heroic Ranulph II., surnamed _Geronjis_, who, having held the earldom
twenty-five years, was poisoned in 1153, and was buried at Chester.
Hugh II., his son, surnamed Cyvelioc, succeeded him, and continued in the
earldom twenty-eight years. He died at Leek, in Staffordshire, and was
buried at Chester.
Hugh was succeeded by his son Ranulph, surnamed _Blundeville_, who, for
his benevolence, was styled _Ranulph the Good_. He served in the holy
wars, and was as celebrated as any of the Seven Champions of Christendom.
After his return, he built Beeston Castle, in Cheshire, a noble and
imposing fortress, which, before the use of fire-arms, might have been
deemed impregnable. It is built on an insulated rock, and its summit is
one hundred yards above the level of the brook that runs at its base. It
endured three sieges during the civil wars. The middle part of the slope
is surrounded by towers, which time, however, has dismantled; the well in
the upper part was cut through the rock to the depth of one hundred
yards; in the course of time it became nearly filled up with rubbish, but
within the last few years was cleared, built round, and enclosed, by J.
Tollemache, Esq., M.P., to whom the castle belongs. It is ten miles
distant from Chester, on the London and North-Western Railway.
This Earl Ranulph was besieged by the Welsh in the castle of Rhuddlan,
and was relieved by Ralph Dutton, son-in-law of Roger Lacy, Constable of
Chester, at the head of a large body of fiddlers, minstrels, &c., who
were then assembled at the fair of Hugh Lupus. A remarkable privilege of
this fair was, that no thief or malefactor that attended it should be
attached or punished, except for offences then and there committed. With
this motley crew Dutton marched into Wales, and raised the siege; for
which Ranulph rewarded him with full power over all the instruments of
his preservation, and the privilege of licensing the minstrels. The
anniversary of this achievement was formerly celebrated on the festival
of St. John the Baptist, by a regular procession of the minstrels to the
church of their tutelar saint, St. Werburgh, in honour of whom Hugh Lupus
granted to the minstrels, &c., the above-mentioned privilege, which is
recognized in all subsequent vagrant acts, by a special exception in
favour of the minstrel jurisdiction of the Duttons, of Dutton, in
Cheshire. The last Earl Ranulph died in 1232, and was buried at Chester.
John Scott succeeded Ranulph, who died without issue; not without
suspicion, Leycester says, of being poisoned by the contrivance of Helene
his wife.
The Earls of Chester continued to exercise their local sovereignty for
about one hundred and sixty years. They held that sovereignty, it is
true, as the representatives of the paramount sovereignty of the King of
England, and as owing allegiance to him in all things; but so far as the
government of the Palatinate was concerned, their rule, though nominally
mediate, was actually absolute, for the King does not appear to have
thwarted their jurisdiction, or in any way to have exerted his supreme
authority, beyond retaining a mint at Chester.
After the death of the seventh Earl, in 1237, Henry the Third united the
Earldom to the Crown; he afterwards conferred it upon his eldest son,
Prince Edward, about A.D. 1245, who, two years after this, received the
homage of his military tenants at Chester. From that period to the
present the title of Earl of Chester has been vested in the eldest son of
the reigning sovereign, and is now held by His Royal Highness Albert,
Prince of Wales.
In 1255 Llewellyn ap Gryffid, Prince of Wales, provoked by the cruel
injuries his subjects had received from Geffrey Langley, Lieutenant of
the County under Prince Edward, carried fire and sword to the gates of
Chester. In 1257 Henry the Third summoned his nobility and bishops to
attend, with their vassals, at Chester, in order to invade Wales; and in
1275 Edward the First appointed the city as the place for Llewellyn to do
him homage, whose refusal ended with the ruin of himself and his
principality; for in 1300 Edward of Carnarvon here received the final
acknowledgment of the Welsh to the sovereignty of England; and in a few
years afterwards, Llewellyn was brought hither a prisoner from Flint
Castle. Richard the Second visited this his favourite city in 1397, and
in 1399 he was brought a prisoner from Flint Castle to the castle of
Chester, which Bolingbroke, afterwards Henry the Fourth, had seized.
In Owen Glendower’s wars this city was a _place d’armes_ for the English
troops in the expeditions against the Welsh, who, ever tenacious of their
independence, were as unwilling to submit to the Norman as the Saxon
yoke.
In 1459 Henry the Sixth, with Queen Margaret and her son Edward, visited
Chester, and bestowed little silver swans on the Cheshire gentlemen who
espoused her cause.
It appears that Henry the Seventh and his Queen also visited Chester in
1493. In 1554 George Marsh, the pious martyr was publicly burnt at
Boughton, for his steadfast adherence to the Protestant faith. In the
year 1617 the city was honoured with the presence of James the First,
when Edward Button, the then Mayor, presented the King with a gilt cup
containing one hundred jacobuses of gold.
From this time no event of any great importance appears to have
transpired, until the city was involved in the calamities of a siege, in
consequence of its loyalty to Charles the First. The city stood the
siege for some months; but the inhabitants at last, reduced to the
extremity of famine, so that they were compelled to eat horses, dogs,
cats, and other animals, abandoned their resistance, made honourable
terms of capitulation, and yielded the city on February the 3rd, 1645–6.
Chester was, probably, in the time of the Romans, or earlier, a thriving
port. The Saxon navy was stationed here, and it was also the seat of the
Mercian kings. About the time of the Conquest the imports and exports
appear to have been considerable. But as an illustration of the times we
may mention, that one article of the latter was slaves, obtained, it is
conjectured, from the captives which were made in the frequent wars with
the Welsh. It is quite clear that Chester was, in ancient days, a busy
and nourishing port, because of the perfectly navigable condition of the
Dee. All the early writers of its history unite in bearing testimony to
this point. It may here be mentioned as a curious and interesting fact,
that some centuries ago, Flookersbrook was covered with water, and that a
deep and broad channel flowed through Mollington, Stanney, and that
direction, which emptied itself into the estuary now called the Mersey.
Holinshed, after tracing minutely the course of the Dee through
Flookersbrook up to Stanney, distinctly states that it “sendeth foorth
one arme by Stannie Poole, and the Parke side into Merseie arme,” &c.
Speed distinctly marks out this course in his map; and it is still more
broadly defined in an old Dutch map, of a much earlier date, printed at
Rotterdam.
In consequence of the uncertain and imperfect state of the river, the
once thriving commerce of this ancient port has dwindled into comparative
insignificance, and Liverpool has reaped the advantage. Spirited efforts
have latterly been made to improve the navigation and port of Chester.
With regard to the ecclesiastical history of Chester, it may suffice to
observe that, according to King’s ‘Vale Royal,’ Theodore, the first
Anglo-Saxon Primate, ordained at Rome in 669, appointed St. Chad the
first Bishop of Chester, who fixed his seat at Lichfield. “After him one
Winifred was bishop, who, for his disobedience in some points, was
deprived by Theodore, who appointed in his place one Sexulph. The said
Theodore, by authority of a synod held at Hatfield, did divide the
province of Mercia into five bishoprics, that is to say, Chester,
Worcester, Lichfield, Cederna in Lindsey, and Dorchester, which after was
translated to Lincoln. After Sexulf, one Aldwin was Bishop of Lichfield,
and next to him Eudulfus, who was adorned with the Archbishop’s pall,
having all the bishops under King Offa’s dominions suffragans to him.”
The diocese of Chester seems to have continued one with that of Lichfield
to the time of the Conquest, when Pennant says a Bishop of Lichfield, in
the year 1075, removed his episcopal seat to Chester, and during his life
made use of the monastery of St. John’s for his cathedral.
His successor was Robert of Lindsey, chaplain of Wm. Rufus, who removed
the see to Coventry; St. John’s church, however, continued collegiate up
to the time of the Reformation, at which period it had a dean, eight
canons or prebends, and ten vicars choral. The prelate and his
successors, although having seats at Lichfield and Coventry, as well as
Chester, continued to have the designation of Bishop of Chester, until
the appointment of John Ketterich, in 1415, who was not so styled, nor
any of his successors until the time of the Reformation. “The bishops
that were before that time (although they were commonly called Bishops of
Chester) were Bishops of Lichfield, and had but their seat or most
abiding in Chester.” Henry the Eighth erected Chester into a distinct
diocese in the 33rd year of his reign, “turning the monastery of St.
Werburgh into the Bishop’s palace; unto which jurisdiction was allotted
Cheshire, Lancashire, Richmondshire, and part of Cumberland; and was
appointed to be within the province of York.”
John Bird, D.D., “formerly a fryer of the order of the Carmelites, was
the first bishop of this new foundation.” He was deprived of his
bishopric by Queen Mary, A.D. 1544, because of his adhesion to the
Protestant faith. He was succeeded by George Cotes, who survived his
consecration only about two years. He died at Chester, and was buried in
the Cathedral near the Bishop’s throne. His memory is stained with the
blood of George Marsh, who, during his episcopate, suffered martyrdom at
Boughton. The next Bishop was Cuthbert Scott, who was vice-chancellor of
Oxford in 1554 and 1555, one of the delegates commissioned by Cardinal
Pole to visit that University, and one of the four Bishops who, with as
many divines, undertook to defend the Church of Rome against an equal
number of reformed divines. He was deposed by Queen Elizabeth, for some
abusive expressions uttered against Her Majesty. William Downham,
chaplain to Queen Elizabeth before she came to the crown, was consecrated
Bishop of Chester, A.D. 1561. He died Nov., 1577, and was buried in the
choir of the Cathedral, having sat Bishop sixteen years and a half: from
that time to the present there has been a regular succession of Bishops
of the Reformed Church.
John Graham, D.D., formerly Master of Christ’s College, Cambridge, was
consecrated to the see of Chester in 1848, in succession to the present
Archbishop of Canterbury, and is at present fulfilling the duties of his
high office with pious earnestness, diligence, and general approbation.
* * * * *
Municipal institutions were first introduced into Britain by the Romans.
York was one of the first towns in England on which they were conferred.
We can discover very little to aid us in tracing the progressive history
of the municipal government of the ancient city of Chester until the time
of Ranulph, the third Earl Palatine, and nephew of the Earl Hugh; but
being a Roman colony, the inhabitants no doubt were regarded as Roman
citizens, and as such entitled to the same privileges which Rome itself
possessed. Pennant supposes that the Roman prætorium occupied the site
on which St. Peter’s church is now built. In this tribunal, if the case
be so, the civil law and power would be exercised in those days.
“Before the city had any charter,” says King’s ‘Vale Royal,’ “they used
by prescription divers liberties, and enjoyed a guild mercatory, that is,
a brotherhood of merchants, and that whosoever was not admitted of that
society, he could not use any trade or traffick within the city, nor be a
tradesman therein. And the tenor of this guild mercatory did even run in
these words:—‘Sicut hactenus usi fuerint;’ and was after confirmed under
the Earl’s seal. And there were appointed two overseers, and those were
appointed out of the chiefest of the citizens, and were greatly respected
of the citizens as officers that had the special care of maintaining
those privileges, before a mayor was ordained.” These officers were
elected annually, and were denominated leave-lookers; they were
accustomed to go round the city to see that its privileges were
preserved, and sometimes used to take small sums, called
_leave-lookerage_, for _leave_ for non-freemen to sell wares by retail.
In the reign of Edward the Confessor, the government of the city was
vested in twelve judges, selected from the vassals of the king, the earl,
and the bishop.
The first charter granted to the city was by the first Ranulph, also
styled Ranulph le Meschin, third Earl of Chester, who died in 1128. It
grants to his tenants demesne of Chester, that none but they or their
heirs shall buy or sell merchandise, brought to the city by sea or land,
except at the fairs holden at the nativity of St. John the Baptist, and
on the feast of St. Michael; and is directed thus—Ranul. com. Cestræ.
constabulario. dupifero justiciar, vicecom. baron. militibus bullivis et
omnibus servientibus suis præsentibus et futuris, salutem; Sciatis, &c.;
and so makes a large grant to the city, and warrants the same strongly
against his heirs, and appoints forfeitures upon all that shall
withstand. The charter, which is without date, is witnessed by Domino
Hugone, Abbate Cestriæ. Domino Hugone le Orebi, tunc. justiciar. Warren
de Vernon, &c., &c. It was confirmed by the other two Earls Ranulphs,
and also by Earl John, who strictly prohibited all buying and selling
except as aforesaid, with other additions. King John and Henry the
Second also established it, with the addition of some further privileges.
Henry the Third granted three charters, in the first of which he recites,
that he hath seen the former charters of the Earls, and doth grant and
confirm domesticis hominibus Cestr. &c., that none shall buy or sell
merchandise in the city, but citizens, except in the fairs, &c., sub pœna
£10.
It was at this time that, so far as we can ascertain, the first mayor was
created. {14} In the 26th year of Henry’s reign, Sir Walter Lynnet was
the first who was invested with civic honours and authority. The
mayoralty of Chester is, therefore, a very ancient one, only 58 years
younger, we believe, than that of London.
In 1300 Edward the First confirmed the former charter of his father,
Henry the Third; and by the same charter gave the city of Chester, with
the appurtenances, liberties, and freedoms to the citizens of Chester and
their heirs, to be holden of him and his heirs for ever, paying yearly
£100. He granted them also the election of coroners and pleas of the
crown, and that the citizens shall have sock, sack, toll, theme,
irfangtheof, outfangtheof, and to be free throughout all the land and
dominion of toll, passage, &c.
Many other charters follow, and other matters connected with the
government of the city.
Richard the Second, in 1347, “for the furtherance of justice and better
execution thereof, grants unto his subjects, maiors, sheriffs, and
commonality of the said city, to hold their courts; and limited what
processes they may award in actions, personal felonies, appeals, process
of uttagary, as at the common law;” and since then the sessions of the
peace have continued to be held down to the present time.
Henry Seventh, “in consideration that through the decay of the haven and
river, by many burstings forth, was become sandy and impassable, as
before, for merchandise,” remitteth £80 annually of the fee farm rent.
And the said King Henry Seventh granteth that the city of Chester and the
suburbs, towns, and hamlets thereof, the castle excepted, should be a
county of itself, by the name of the county of Chester.
Henry the Eighth sent letters in parchment under his privy seal to the
Mayor of Chester, charging that the citizens should not be pressed unto
the war, but remain within the city for the defence thereof. He also, by
letters patent, discharged the city from being a sanctuary for
malefactors, which was by proclamation removed to Stafford. In the 32nd
year of the same reign, the city obtained the privilege of returning two
burgesses as its representatives in the English parliament.
The important changes effected in the municipal corporations of England
and Wales in 1835 render it unnecessary to enter further into the various
charters granted to the city of Chester. By that Act, the local
government was vested in town councillors, elected by the burgesses, and
who serve for a term of three years. Chester is divided into five wards
for the election of the council; each ward elects six councillors, two of
whom retire from office annually. The councillors elect ten aldermen,
who hold their office for six years; and any member of the council is
eligible to the office of mayor.
The following is a list of those who have served the office of mayor of
Chester:—
1251 Sir Walter Lynnett, Knt.
1677 William Ince, Esq.
1696 Peter Bennet, Esq.
1700 Hugh Starkie, Esq.
1702 William, Earl of Derby.
1704 Edward Partington, Esq.
1705 Edward Puleston, Esq.
1708 James Mainwaring, Esq.
1709 William Allen, Esq.
1710 Thomas Partington, Esq.
1711 John Minshull, Esq.
1712 John Thomason, Esq.
1714 Francis Sayer, Esq.
1715 John Stringer, Esq.
1715 Sir Richd. Grosvenor, Bart.
1716 Henry Bennett, Esq.
1717 John Hodgson, Esq.
1718 Alexander Denton, Esq.
1719 Randle Bingley, Esq.
1720 Thomas Edwards, Esq.
1725 John Parker, Esq.
1729 Thomas Brock, Esq.
1731 Trafford Massie, Esq.
1733 Peter Ellamies, Esq.
1734 Roger Massie, Esq.
1736 W. W. Wynn, Esq.
1737 Sir Robt. Grosvenor, Bart.
1738 Nathanael Wright, Esq.
1743 Thomas Davies, Esq.
1744 Thomas Maddock, Esq.
1745 Henry Ridley, Esq.
1746 Edward Yearsley, Esq.
1747 William Edwards, Esq.
1748 Edward Griffith, Esq.
1750 John Hallwood, Esq.
1754 Wm. Cooper, Esq., M.D.
1757 Richard Richardson, Esq.
1758 Thomas Grosvenor, Esq.
1759 Thos. Cholmondeley, Esq.
1760 Thomas Cotgreave, Esq.
1761 Holme Burrows, Esq.
1763 Edward Burrows, Esq.
1764 George French, Esq.
1765 Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart.
1769 Gabriel Smith, Esq.
1773 Panton Ellamies, Esq.
1779 Thomas Amery, Esq.
1781 Henry Higg, Esq.
1783 John Hallwood, Esq.
1784 William Harrison, Esq.
1787 Sir Richd. Grosvenor, Bart.
1795 Richard Ollerhead, Esq.
1803 Edmund Bushell, Esq.
1807 Robert, Earl Grosvenor.
1809 Thomas Evans, Esq.
1810 Thomas Grosvenor, Esq.
1811 Robert Bowers, Esq.
1813 Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart.
1814 John Bedward, Esq.
1815 Sir J. Cotgreave, Knt.
1816 Thomas Francis, Esq.
1817 Henry Bowers, Esq.
1818 Thomas Bradford, Esq.
1819 John Williamson, Esq.
1820 William Seller, Esq.
1821 John S. Rogers, Esq.
1822 William Massey, Esq.
1823 Robert Morris, Esq.
1824 George Harrison, Esq.
1825 John Fletcher, Esq.
1826 John Larden, Esq.
1827 Thomas Francis, Esq.
1827 Henry Bowers, Esq.
1828 Robert Morris, Esq.
1829 William Moss, Esq.
1830 Titus Chaloner, Esq.
1831 Richard Buckley, Esq.
1831 George Harrison, Esq.
1832 John Fletcher, Esq.
1833 George Harrison, Esq.
1834 The same.
1835 The same.
1836 William Cross, Esq.
1837 Thomas Dixon, Esq.
1838 Ed. Samuel Walker, Esq.
1839 John Uniacke, Esq.
1840 The same.
1841 William Wardell, Esq.
1842 William Brown, Esq.
1843 Wm. Henry Brown, Esq.
1844 Henry Kelsall, Esq.
1845 Charles Potts, Esq.
1846 Edward Tilston, Esq.
1847 R. P. Jones, Esq., M.D.
1848 The same.
1849 Sir E. S. Walker, Knt.
1850 John Williams, Esq.
1851 The same.
1852 P. S. Humberston, Esq.
1853 Henry Brown. Esq., who, dying during his mayoralty, Dr. R. P.
Jones was appointed to the office for the unexpired period.
1854 John Smith, Esq.
1855 W. H. Brown, Esq.
1856 Major French.
1857 Peter Eaton, Esq.
1858 P. S. Humberston, Esq.