GAINSBOROUGH, a parish in the wapentake of
CORRINGHAM, parts of LINDSEY, county of LINCOLN,
comprising the market-town of Gainsborough, and the
hamlets of Morton, East Stockwith, and Walkerith, and
containing 6761 inhabitants, of which number, 5893
are in the town of Gainsborough, 18 miles (N.W.
by N.) from Lincoln, and 147 (N. by W.) from London.
This town, which is situated on the eastern bank of the
river Trent, appears to have been founded by a tribe
of Saxons, soon after their first invasion of Britain:
under the Heptarchy, it belonged first to the kingdom of
Northumberland, and then to that of Mercia. In 868,
Alfred the Great celebrated his nuptials at this place,
with Ealswitha, the daughter of a Mercian nobleman;
and here the Danes, in 1013, landed under the command
of their king Sweyn, and commenced their
devastations, which terminated in the subjugation of
the kingdom. Matthew of Westminster says that
Sweyn was assassinated at this place whilst revelling
with his followers; but other historians consider Thetford
in Norfolk to have been the scene of his death.
On this event his son Canute, who was at Gainsborough,
was chosen king of England by the Danes;
but Ethelred II. returning from Normandy, where he
had taken refuge, his troops attacked the Danes, compelled
Canute to flee from England, and wreaked
their fury on his adherents. In the beginning of the
war between Charles I. and the parliament this town
was placed by the king under the government of the
Earl of Kingston, who, being taken prisoner and sent
to Hull, was unfortunately shot by the royalists, by mistake,
in crossing the Humber; it was taken by the parliamentarians,
but shortly after retaken by the Marquis
of Newcastle, who placed it under the protection
of a new governor. In 1643, Cromwell, on his way
to York, encountered a party of royalists near Gainsborough,
when they were defeated, and their commander,
General Cavendish, brother of the Marquis of
Newcastle, and Colonel Markham, of Allerton, fell in
the conflict. As evidence of the military contests
which have taken place here, it may be mentioned, that
in paving the streets many human bodies have been
found, which appeared to have been promiscuously interred
after battle;
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GA1 G A M
The town chiefly consists of one long street running
parallel with the river, with a cross street leading from
its bank to the cattle market: a new street, called
Spring-gardens, has been formed within a few years,
and a considerable number of buildings has been raised
on the south side of the town. The streets are well
paved, and were first lighted with gas in 1825; the
inhabitants are supplied with water from the Trent, by
means of an engine. A handsome stone bridge of three
arches was erected across the river in 1791> which has
contributed materially to the improvement of the town.
A theatre has been formed out of part of an ancient
structure, called the Old Hall, said to have been built
by John of Gaunt; it is open for six weeks at the
October mart. A room in the present town-hall is
occasionally used for assemblies; and races are held
annually in the North Marsh. Here are two extensive
rope-walks, four steam-mills for bruising linseed, several
malt-houses, three ship-yards, and a few brass
and iron-foundries. The town is favourably situated
for the purposes of commerce, and enjoys a very fair
proportion for an inland town. The Trent is navigable
for vessels of two hundred tons burden, and a considerable
trade to the Baltic is carried on; a great quantity
of corn is also shipped for the London and other markets;
and the counties of Stafford, Nottingham, and Leicester,
are chiefly supplied with foreign produce through
this port. Before the completion of the Grand Junction
canal, the whole of the Staffordshire ware was shipped
here for London. The annual number of vessels which
entered inwards, on an average, from 1812 to 1816, was
about three hundred, and that which cleared outwards
about two hundred and sixty. Besides those entered
at the custom-house (which was established ia 1820)
many small craft are employed in the trade to Hull,
and the counties of York, Leicester, Nottingham, &c.,
along the Trent and the various canals which intersect
this part of the country. The market is on Tuesday;
and there are two fairs, or marts, one commencing on
Easter-Monday, and the other on the 20th of October,
both lasting ten days; and a large market for wool on
the Monday before July 5th, and every alternate Monday
until August 5th, then on the Friday following for the
last day. The highest civil officer is a burgess-constable,
elected annually at a court leet: a court baron is also
held twice a year, soon after Easter and Michaelmas, at
which the steward of the manor presides; here is also
a court for the recovery of small debts. The quarter
sessions for the north parts of Lindsey were formerly
held at the town-hall, but they have been removed to
Kirton. The gaol is a small building, lately erected at
the bottom of Church-lane, near the workhouse.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry of
Stowe, and diocese of Lincoln, rated in the king's books
at £22. 16. 8., and in the patronage of the Prebendary
of Corringham in the Cathedral Church of Lincoln.
The church, dedicated to All Saints, appears to have
been founded and endowed by the Knights Templars,
about the year 1209. In 1736 the nave was taken
down, and the rebuilding of it completed in 1748, at an
expense of £ 5230, which was raised by a duty on coal
brought to the town, aided by a parochial rate. The
tower affords a fine specimen of the later style of
English architecture, and contrasts curiously with the
modern portion of the building. There are places of
worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents,
Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, au]d
Presbyterians. Mrs. Sarah Mott, of Doncaster, in
1704, bequeathed £300 to be invested in lands, from
the produce of which three poor boys are apprenticed
annually. In 1708, Joshua Tyler bequeathed land,
chargeable with the payment of £5 per annum, for
the education of children. In 1731, Mr. Wharton
gave, by will, land to the trustees of the free schopl,
directing the proceeds to be applied in clothing and
educating children, and providing bread for the poor.
In 1736, Mrs. E. Hopkinson bequeathed £365, the iaterest
to be applied to clothing poor women, and to the
education of children. In 1781, Miss Hickman gave
£200 for the education of poor girls, and the benefit
of the poor generally; and she subsequently gave land
for the erection of a school-room, and a house for the
master. The free school was founded by letters patent
granted by Elizabeth, in 1590, and endowed with a rentcharge
of £30 per annum on the estates of the crown,
which was never paid, so that it is, consequently, only
nominally free: the master has the gratuitous use of
the school-room, dwelling-house, and play-ground, and
receives a quarterage for the education of children. A
school on the Madras system is supported by subscription,
wherein about two hundred children are instructed;
and thirty girls are also educated on the same plan, at
a school-room in the old Methodist chapel yard. The
Old Hall is a curious structure, forming three sides of
a quadrangle, and occupying nearly half an acre of
ground; it is in the ancient style of domestic architecture
-. part of it is said to have been built by John
of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the western wing by a
member of the Burgh family, about 1490, and the
eastern one, about 1600, by a member of the family of
Hickman, in whose possession it remains; it has been
converted into small tenements or workshops, and the
theatre. Near North-holme, on the hills eastward from
the town, is a spring possessing tonic qualities, similar
to those of the Buxton waters, but of a different degree
of temperature. This is the birthplace of William
de Gainsborough, the firm defender of the doctrine of the
pope's infallibility, who was advanced by Boniface VIII.
to the see of Worcester, at which place he died, in
L308. Simon Patrick, Bishop of Ely, was born here
in 1626; as also was his brother, John Patrick, one of
the translators of Plutarch.