BRENTFORD, a market-town comprising Old
Brentford, in the parish of BALING, Kensington division
of the hundred of OSSULSTONE, and New Brentford, in
the parish of HANWELL, hundred of ELTHORNE, county
of MIDDLESEX, 7 miles (W. by S.) from Hyde-Park
Corner, on the great western road. New Brentford
contains 2036-. inhabitants, and the population of Old
Brentford is returned with Baling. This place, anciently
called Brainforde, takes its name from an ancient ford
on the small river Brent. In 1016, Edmund Ironside
having compelled the Danes to raise the siege of London,
pursued them to this place, where they were routed
with great slaughter1. A chapter of the Order of the
Garter was held at Brentford in 1445; and in the 25th
of Henry VI., an hospital, for a master and several brethren,
of the Nine Orders of Angels, was founded in a
chapel beyond the bridge, at the western end of the
town, anciently known as West Brainford: the revenue
appears to have been £40, and the site was granted to
Edward, Duke of Somerset, in the 1st of Edward VI.
In 1558, six Protestants were here burnt at the stake,
on account of their religious tenets. In the parliamentary
war during the reign of Charles I., this place was
the scene of a battle between the contending parties;
the royalists, though victorious, were obliged to retire
from the field, by the sudden arrival of a strong reinforcement
to the enemy from London. For his services
in this battle, which took place on the 12th of November,
1642, Patrick Ruthen, Earl of Forth, in Scotland,
was created an English peer, by the title of Earl of
Brentford, which title was subsequently conferred, by
William III., upon Mareschal Schomberg, who accompanied
him to England at the Revolution. Several
skirmishes also took place, in 1647, between the royal
guards stationed here and the parliamentary troops
quartered at Hounslow. The town consists principally
of one street, upwards of a mile in length, pattly paved,
and lighted with gas under an act of parliament obtained
in 1825. The river Thames, on which are several
wharfs, separates it from Kew Gardens on the south;
and over this river, at the eastern extremity of the
town, is a handsome stone bridge leading to Kew: the
Brent, uniting the Grand Junction canal with the
Thames, crosses it on the north, and over this is a neat
stone bridge, erected by the county in 1825, replacing
one of great antiquity, which was at one time supported
by a toll levied upon-Jewish passengers exclusively. In
Old Brentford is a large malt-distillery, an extensive
brewery, and a soap-manufactory, which afford employment
to many of the labouring poor; but the chief
trade of the town is derived from its situation on the
great western road, and from the union of the Grand
Junction canal with the Thames. The market is on
Tuesday; and fairs are held on May 17th, ] 8th, and
19th, for cattle, and September 12th, 13th, and 14th,
for toys and pedlary.
The town is within the jurisdiction of the county
magistrates, who hold a petty session for the division
every alternate week: the township of New Brentford
is within the manor of Boston, but consists only of customary
freeholds. A court of requests for the recovery
of debts under 40s., the jurisdiction of which extends over
the hundreds of Elthome and Spelthorne, is held here
during the summer half year, and during the winter at
Uxbridge. The parliamentary elections for the county
take place at New Brentford, it being the county town.
The living of New Brentford is a perpetual curacy, in
the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese of Loudon,
endowed with £400 private benefaction, and £400
royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Rector of
Hanwell. The chapel, dedicated to St. Lawrence, with
the exception of the tower, was rebuilt of brick in
1762; annexed to it is a house for the residence of
the minister. The chapel of Old Brentford, dedicated
to St. George, was rebuilt in 1770, by subscription: it
is a chapel of ease to the vicarage of Baling. There
are places of worship for Particular Baptists and Primitive
and Wesleyan Methodists. A charity school for
boys, established by subscription in 1703, was endowed
by Lady Capel, in 1719, with the twelfth part of an
estate, yielding at present £37.10. per annum: the endowment,
enlarged by subsequent benefactions, produces
an annual income of £ 143. 7. 6. The charity school for
girls is endowed with benefactions producing about
£ 145 per annum: there is also a National school, supported
by subscription. Mrs. Mary Spencer, in 1658J
gave a rent-charge of £6 for apprenticing children; for
which purpose also, in 1692, Lord Ossulston bequeathed
£100, producing £5. 14. per annum. Several human
skeletons 'have at various times been dug up in the
neighbourhood.