LEEDS, a parish and liberty, in the West riding of the county of YORK, comprising the market-town of Leeds, which has a separate I jurisdiction, though locally in the wapentake of Skyrack, the chapelries of Armley, Beeston, Bramley, Chapel-Allerton, Farnley, Headingley with Burley, Holbeck,Hunslet or Hunfleet, and Wortley, and the township of Potter-Newton, and containing 83,796 inhabitants, of which number, 48,603 are in the town of Leeds, 25 miles (S.W. by W.) from York, and 191 (N.N.W.) from London. From what source this place, anciently called Loidis, derives its name, has not been ascertained. It was made a royal vill after the destruction of the ancient Cambodunum by Cadwallo, a British prince, and Penda, King of Mercia, over the last of whom, on his subsequent invasion of Northumberland, in 655, Osweo, King of Bernicia, obtained a signal victory in the immediate vicinity of the town. During the reign of William the Conqueror, Ilbert de Lacy is supposed to have erected a castle here, which was besieged by King Stephen, on his route towards Scotland, and in which Richard II., after his deposition, was for some time confined, previously to his removal to Pontefract: but there are no vestiges of it, nor can the site, which is stated to have been on Mill hill, be distinguished by any traces of its previous existence. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., many skirmishes between the contending parties took place in the neighbourhood, and that monarch resided for some time in the town, in a mansion supposed to have been the first in that part of the kingdom that was built of brick, and, from the colour of that material, called the Red Hall. The town, which is more celebrated as the principal seat of the woollen manufacture, than either for its antiquity or for its historical importance, is pleasantly situated on the summit and acclivities of an eminence rising gradually from the northern bank of the river Aire, over which are two substantial bridges of freestone; one consisting of five arches, and the other, about a mile to the west, erected in 1817, from a design by Rennie, at an expense of £7000, and called Wellington bridge, consisting of one beautiful arch, one hundred feet in span: to the east of the latter a suspension bridge is now being constructed, the expense of which is estimated at £4500. The streets in the more ancient parts of the town are inconveniently narrow, but in other parts spacious and commodious; many improvements have been effected under the provisions of acts of parliament obtained in 1809 and 1815, under which also the town is well paved, lighted -with oil and coal gas by companies who have extensive works in York street and Park-street, and supplied with excellent water forced from the Aire by an engine into three capacious reservoirs, from which, after undergoing a process of purification, it is distributed to the houses of the inhabitants. The houses are in general neatly built of brick, and roofed with white slate, and in various parts of the town are some elegant mansions and handsome ranges of modern buildings, among which latter is Park-place, in front of which the ground is tastefully laid out in shrubberies and walks; the environs afford much beautiful scenery, and are embellished with numerous seats and elegant villas. There is an establishment of hackney coaches in the town. The Lite rary and Philosophical Society, consisting of sixty proprietary, and one hundred ordinary, members, was established in 1820; meetings are held on the first and third Fridays in every month, from November till May, for the discussion of literary and philosophical subjects. The hall appropriated to this purpose is a handsome stone building, erected, by Mr. Chantrell, in the Grecian style of architecture, and comprises a lectureroom, library, and museum. A museum of natural curiosities was also established by Mr. Calvert, in 1827. The Northern Society, for the encouragement of the fine arts, and under the patronage of the King, has a handsome gallery adjoining the music-hall; and a horticultural society, established in 1820, holds its meetings in the town. There are several public subscription libraries, of which the principal are, the old library, in Commercial- street j the new library, in Albion-street, consisting of one hundred proprietary members, whose shares are £7 7. each, and an annual subscription of £1. 5.; the parochial library, containing works on Theology, for the use of the resident clergy of the establishment; the Methodists' and the Eclectic libraries. The commercial buildings,-a handsome edifice of stone, with a noble circular portico, comprising a news-room, hotel, and commercial offices, were erected in 1826, and are equally an accommodation and an ornament to the town. The mechanics institution, to which a useful library is attached, was established in 1825. The theatre, a neat building erected, in 1771, by Mr. Tate Wilkinson, is opened, during the months of May and June, by the York company; subscription concerts take place every fortnight during the season, at the music-hall in Albion-street j and assemblies are held every alternate week during the winter, in a handsome suite of rooms over the White Cloth hall. The public baths, in Wellington-road, a handsome range of buildings erected, in 1820, by the same architect, and in the same style, as the philosophical hall, are commodiously arranged, and comprise hot, cold, shower, and vapour baths, with others artificially prepared, and possessing the properties and temperature of the Matlock and Buxton waters. The Masonic hall is a neat edifice in Stein's buildings, Briggate j and a bazaar, on the principle of those in the metropolis, was established in 1826, for which a neat building has been erected, which is well calculated for the exhibition and sale of fancy articles. The cavalry barracks, near the north road, form a very extensive and complete establishment, occupying eleven acres of ground j the buildings, which are handsome, and contain every requisite accommodation, were erected at an expense of £28,000. To the extent and variety of the manufactures carried on in this town and its neighbourhood, particularly the manufacture of woollen cloth, which has within the last few years been brought to a very high state of perfection, may, in a great degree, be attributed the prosperity of the West riding of the county. Formerly only the coarser kinds of cloth were made here, but, since the introduction of machinery, and more especially under the improvements made in the manufacture by Mr. Hirst, a native of this town, the Yorkshire cloths, which were always regarded as inferior, have been made to equal, if not to surpass, those of the western counties of England, in fineness of texture, and brilliance and permanence of colour; and superfine black and blue cloths, made from wool carefully selected, have been sold for £ 5 per yard. Many very extensive factories have been established, in some of which the whole process, from the first breaking of the wool to the completion of the cloth for the consumer, is performed by machinery worked by steam. The principal branches of manufacture at present are, superfine broad and coarse narrow cloth, ladies' pelisse cloth and shawls, stuffs of various kinds, Scotch camblets, blankets, and carpets. Several large factories have been established in the town and neighbourhood, for the spinning of flax; and a great quantity of worsted goods, the manufacture of which has been progressively increasing, is sent hence to every part of the kingdom. The cotton manufacture has extended in some degree from Lancashire to this town, and at present affords employment to a small proportion of the labouring class. In the immediate vicinity are large manufactories for crown and flint glass and glass bottles; an extensive pottery, the reputation of which procures for its wares a large demand in every part of the united kingdom; several large iron foundries, and an extensive manufactory for steam-engines, inferior to few in the country. In the parish is dug clay for making fire-proof bricks, also another kind for tobacco-pipes. The neighbourhood abounds with mines of coal: on the banks of the Aire are numerous mills for grinding corn, rape-seed, dye-wood, and for fulling cloth, and several turning, carding, and spinning establishments. In addition to the staple trade and manufactures, Leeds carries on an extensive trade in tobacco, for the preparation of which from the leaf, several mills have been erected. The river Aire, which passes through the southern part of the town, affords a navigable communication with the Humber; and the Leeds and Liverpool canal, constructed in 1776, which joins the Aire, opens a direct line of navigation extending to Hull, Liverpool, and the principal towns in the kingdom. The cloth-halls are spacious buildings for the sale of cloth in an unfinished state; they occupy quadrangular areas divided into rows, on each side of which are stands for the manufacturers; the hall for dyed cloths contains one thousand eight hundred of these stands, and that for white cloths about the same number: the former was erected in 1758, and the latter in 1775. The market is announced by the ringing of a bell, and in the course of an hour, for which it continues open, purchases to the amount of many thousand pounds are effected, with the utmost regularity and in perfect silence, by the merchants who attend them, and under whose directions, or by persons accustomed to that business, the cloths are dressed and finished for the use of the consumer. The number of pieces of cloth manufactured in the West riding, from the year 1772 to 1781 inclusive, was two millions nine thousand nine hundred and seventy-two and a half, and from 1812 to 1821, the number was four millions five hundred and twenty-one thousand seven hundred and forty-two. The market-days are Tuesday and Saturday; the former for corn and general merchandise, and the latter for woollen goods and provisions. The corn market is held in the corn exchange, in Briggate-street, a handsome stone building, having in the front a statue of Queen Anne sculptured in white marble; the market for cattle and hay is in Vicar-lane: the market for butchers meat is held in various parts of the town, of which the most central are Fleet-street, Cheapside, the South market, and Butchers'-row; the wholesale market for carcasses is held in Leadenhall, a spacious area considerably below the ground, by which means it is pre served from the heat of summer and the frosts of winter; to this market is attached a spacious slaughter-house, also underground: the fish market is held at the Old Cross, in Fish-street; and the fruit, vegetable, poultry, and pig markets, are held in various parts of the town, and, like all the others, are abundantly supplied. The fairs are on July 10th and llth for horses, and No- vember 8th and 9th for cattle; and a fair for the sale of leather is held quarterly in the South marketplace. The government of the town, by charter of incorporation granted in the reign of Charles I., and extended and renewed by Charles II., is vested in a mayor, recorder, twelve aldermen, and twenty-four common council- men, assisted by a town clerk and subordinate officers. The mayor is appointed from among the aldermen, who in general succeed to that office in rotation. The common council-men fill up vacancies in their own body, and appoint a chief constable, deputy constable, and constables for the ten districts into which the town is divided. The mayor and aldermen are justices of the peace within the borough, and among the privileges enjoyed by the freemen is exemption from serving on juries out of the parish; any inhabitant is eligible to offices under the corporation, and any person becoming an inhabitant is free to exercise his trade without restriction. The corporation hold quarterly courts of session for the borough, in January, April, July, and October, at which the mayor and recorder preside, for all offences not capital: the mayor sits daily for the examination of delinquents; and some of the aldermen attend every Tuesday and Friday at the court-house for the determination of police affairs. The town is within the jurisdiction of a court of record for the recovery of debts to any amount; and within that of a court baron for the recovery of debts not exceeding £5, for the Honour of Pontefract; the latter of these courts is occasionally held at Leeds. The Michaelmas quarter sessions for the West riding are held here, by adjournment from Knaresborough, and also the petty sessions for the wapentake of Skyrack. A relic of feudal servitude subsists in the custom which obliges all the inhabitants of Leeds, except those whose houses stand within the manor of Whitkirk (formerly belonging to the Knights Templars), to have their corn ground at the King's mills, which are held under a lease from the crown. The court-house, erected in 1813, is an elegant edifice of stone, with a handsome portico of the Corinthian order in the centre, on each side of which the facade is decorated with panels enriched with emblematical sculpture; the principal entrance, from Park-row, leads into a spacious vestibule, on one side of which is the Rotation office, and on the other the rooms appropriated to the magistrates of the "West riding, communicating with the sessions-hall, which is commodiously arranged; above the vestibule are the grand jury room, and other requisite apartments. Behind the courthouse is the prison for the town, containing thirteen cells, intended only for the confinement of prisoners prior to their trial, when, if found"guilty, they are sent either to the house of correction~at Wakefield, or to York castle. Leeds never enjoyed the privilege of parliamentary representation, except during the Protectorate of Cromwell, when one member was returned for this borough to the parliament of 1654. On the disfranchisement of Grampound, in 1821, a "bill passed the House of Commons, for the transfer of the elective franchise to Leeds; but it was re-modelled in its progress through the upper house, and the town yet remains unrepresented. The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and diocese of York, rated in the king's books at £38. 0. 2i., and in the patronage of twenty-five trustees. The parish church, dedicated to St. Peter, is an ancient and venerable cruciform structure, with a square embattled tower rising from the centre, and decorated with pinnacles, and, though plain, retains considerable portions of its ancient Norman character; the roof is painted m fresco, and the interior contains several interesting monuments 5 marriages are solemnized at this church exclusively. Thoresby, author of the "Ducatus Leodiensis," who was a native of Leeds, is interred in it, but there is no monument to his memory. The church of St. James, formerly a chapel belonging to those in the late Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, is a neat octangular edifice of stone; the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar, and the Mayor and Corporation. St. John's church was founded in 1634, and endowed with & 80 per annum, and £ 10 per annum for repairs, by John Harrison, Esq., a native of the town, whose remains are therein deposited, under a monument of black marble: the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar, and the Mayor and Corporation. The church dedicated to St. Paul is a neat stone building; the living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £300 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of the Vicar. Trinity church, erected in 1721, is a handsome structure in the Roman Doric style of architecture, with a tower surmounted by a spire; the living is a perpetual curacy, in the joint patronage of the Vicar, the Recorder and the Minister of St. John's. The church on Quarry bill, dedicated to St. Mary, and containing one thousand two hundred and seven sittings, of which eight hundred and one are free, was erected, in 1824, by a grant from the parliamentary commissioners, at an expense of £10, 951. 15. 4.: it is a handsome edifice in the later style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower. Christchurch, in Meadow-lane, containing one thousand two hundred and forty-nine sittings, of which eight hundred are free, was erected, also in 1824, by a grant of £10,456. 13. from the same funds, and differs from St. Mary's only in having angular pinnacles and no tower. The church at Woodhouse, dedicated to St. Mark, was erected, in 1825, by grant from the parliamentary commissioners, at an expense of £9003, and contains one thousand two hundred sittings, of which eight hundred are free; the architecture is similar to that of St. Mary's; the livings are all perpetual curacies, in the patronage of the Vicar. There are upwards of twenty places of worship for Arians, Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyan, Primitive, and other Methodists, Female Revivalists, Swedenborgians, and Unitarians, also a Roman Catholic chapel. The free grammar school was originally founded, in 1552, by William Sheafield, priest, who endowed it with several portions of land, on condition that the inhabitants should erect a school-house, which was subsequently built at the cost of John Harrison, Esq., in 1624, and enlarged, in 1692, by Godfrey Lawson, mayor, and in 1780 a house for the master was erected by the trustees. The original endowment, augmented by subsequent benefactions, produces an income of more than £1600 per annum: the establishment consists of a head-master, second master, and an assistant, whose salaries are respectively £500, £250, and £ 60; the school is free to all boys of the parish, for instruction in the classics and mathematics: it is entitled to send a candidate for one of Lady Elizabeth Hastings' exhibitions at Queen's College Oxford; and it is also, in turn with the schools of Heversham and Halifax, entitled to one of three scholarships of £20 per ann. each, and tenable till the holders take the degree of M. A., founded by the Rev. Thomas Milner, in Magdalene College; and, in failure of a candidate from the school at Normanton, to one of two scholarships founded, by Mr. Frieston, at Emanuel College, Cambridge. A charity school, in which eighty girls are clothed and instructed, is supported by a portion of the produce of lands appropriated to charitable uses, amounting annually to nearly £400; and a very neat and commodious building was erected for its use, in 1815, at the expense of £ 1000. A National school, also a neat building, erected in 1812, in which three hundred and twenty boys, and one hundred and eighty girls, are taught; a Lancasterian school, in which one thousand children are instructed; and a similar school for girls, are all supported by subscription; there are also, in connexion with the established church and the various dissenting congregations, not less than forty Sunday schools in various parts of the town. Harrison's hospital, comprising originally thirty almshouses, to which twelve more have been added, were founded, in 1653, by John Harrison, Esq., who endowed them with mills and tenements producing about £80 per annum: the endowment has been augmented by Mrs. Catherine Parker, Mr. Joseph Midgley, Arthur Ikin, Esq., and others, and the buildings, occupying a large quadrangular area, afford an asylum to sixty-four aged women, who receive an allowance of £ 10 per annum each, paid quarterly. Almshouses for ten aged widows were founded by Mrs, Mary Potter, in 1729, and endowed by her with £2000, to which was added £400 by Mrs. Barbara Chantrill; from the produce of which sums, together with other benefactions, each of the inmates receives an allowance of £12. 12. per annum. Eight houses were left by Josias Jenkinson, Esq., in 1643, for the reception of sixteen aged persons, but no funds having been appropriated to keep them in repair, they became dilapidated, and have been since entirely rebuilt: the rents of a farm bequeathed by the same Mr. Jenkinson, for distribution among the poor, have been appropriated as an endowment to these houses, the tenants of which receive an annual allowance of £5. Under the superintendence of the governors of the workhouse are schools of industry, in which the children of the poor are taught to prepare the different wools for the loom, by an intimate intermixture of the various colours, in order to produce uniformity of pattern in the mixed cloths. The general infirmary, founded in 1771, is a neat and commodious edifice, in an open and healthy situation; it is liberally supported by subscription, and is well regulated under the superintendence of a president and a committee, and attended by three physicians, three surgeons, an apothecary, and an assistant. The house of recovery, in Vicarlane, was built by- subscription in 1802, and has been found very efficacious in arresting the progress of con- tagion. A dispensary for curing diseases of the eye was established in 1821, and is principally supported by members of the medical profession, by whom it is gratuitously attended. The general dispensary, and a lying-in hospital, were both established in 1824. The Strangers' Friend Society, for the visitation and relief of the distressed of all denominations; and the Guardian Society, for reclaiming females who have deviated from the path of virtue, are supported by subscription; and there are various other charitable institutions and bequests for the wants of the inhabitants of this large and populous manufacturing district. Mrs. Rachael Dixon bequeathed certain houses and premises in trust to the vicar of Leeds and the minister of St. John's, the rents of which are to be equally distributed among three widows of clergymen of the established church. In the neighbourhood are several chalybeate and other mineral springs; that of Holbeck is like the sulphureous water of Harrogate, but more slightly impregnated; and it is so much esteemed, that it is brought daily to Leeds for sale. On the declivity of Quarry hill are vestiges of a Roman camp, the trenches of which are covered with buildings; and Roman coins and other relics of antiquity have been discovered in the neighbourhood. In Briggate-street are some remains of the chantry of St. Mary Magdalene, founded, in 1470, by the Rev. William Evers, vicar of the parish; and on a sequestered spot on the banks of the Aire, about three miles from the tdwn, are the picturesque ruins of Kirkstall priory, founded, in 1152, for monks of the Cistercian order, the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £512. 13. 4.: the remains, exhibiting a mixture of the Norman and early English styles of architecture, occupy a quadrangular area, four hundred and fifty feet in length, and three hundred and forty in breadth, and form one of the most interesting specimens of monastic grandeur in the kingdom. Dr. Berkenhout, author of several works on Chemistry, Natural History, and other subjects; Dr. James Scot, author of three of the Seatonian prizepoems, and a writer in the Public Advertiser, under the signature Anti-Sejanus; and Benjamin Wilson, F. R. S., a landscape painter of respectable talent, were natives of this town. Leeds gives the title of duke to the family of Osborne.