NEWCASTLE-under-LYNE, a borough and market-town and parish,
having separate jurisdiction, though
locally in the northern division
of the hundred of
Pirehill, county of STAFFORD,
16 miles (N.N.W.)
from Stafford, and 149 (N.
W. by N.) from London,
containing 7031 inhabitants.
This was a place of
some note before the Conquest,
though known by a different name; its present
appellation being derived from a castle built here by
Edmund, Earl of Lancaster, in the reign of Henry III.,
a former edifice, called Chesterton castle, having fallen
into decay; and the descriptive affix, " under Lyne, or
Lyme," denotes its proximity to a forest of that name,
serving also to distinguish it from Newcastle in Northumberland.
The town is situated on a small branch of
the river Trent, on the great road from Birmingham and
London to Liverpool and Manchester, and consists of
two principal and several smaller streets, which are
paved (the foot-paths with brick), and lighted with gas,
under the provisions of an act passed in 1819: the
inhabitants are supplied with water by means of pipes
leading from water-works in the town, which is raised
by an engine; the houses are mostly ancient. There is
a small theatre, also a concert and assembly room; and
the races, held annually in the first week in August, on a
course near the town, are well attended. The manufacture
of hats is very extensive, and is conducted under
an incorporated company of Felt -makers; and silkthrowing,
cotton-spinning, tanning, malting, the manufacture
of copperas, white lead, and paper, are also
carried on: considerable business is done in the corn
trade, and in the vicinity are some iron-works. Its
commercial prosperity is much promoted by the neighbouring
potteries, which occupy a district nearly eight
miles in extent. A branch canal from this town, about
four miles in length, joins the Trent and Mersey canal
at Stoke; and another to Apedale is used chiefly for
the conveyance of coal hither. The markets are on
Monday and Saturday, and on every alternate Monday
is a great .cattle market: fairs are held on Shrove-Monday,
for cattle; Easter-Monday, Whit-Monday, and
July 14th, for wool; Monday after September 13th,
and the first Monday in November.
The first charter of incorporation was granted in
the 19th of Henry III., and was confirmed by subsequent
monarchs: that now in force is dated in the
32nd of Elizabeth, and is a confirmation of all former
grants, with several additions. Under it the corporation
consists of a mayor, two bailiffs, and twenty-four capital
"burgesses, who form a common council, by which
body the mayor and bailiffs are annually elected on the
Tuesday next after Michaelmas-day; assisted by a recorder,
town clerk, and two Serjeants at mace; the two
former enjoy the office for life. By a confirmation of this
charter, in the fifteenth of Charles II., the members of the
common council are empowered to elect annually from
among themselves two justices of the peace, who, with
the mayor, bold general sessions for'the borough quarterly,
but have no power to try capital offenders. A
court of record is held every three weeks, for the recovery
of debts not exceeding £ 50; the mayor and bailiffs
are the presiding officers. Courts leet and baron
are likewise held every three weeks. This borough has
returned members to parliament from the 27th of Edward
III.: the right of election is in the resident freemen,
in number about eight hundred: the mayor is
the returning officer. The freedom is obtained by birth
(being extended to all the sons of resident sworn burgesses),
by apprenticeship within the borough, by gift of
the common council, and by purchase.
Newcastle was formerly a chapelry in the parish
of Stoke upon Trent. The living is a rectory not in
charge, in the archdeaconry of Stafford, and diocese of
Lichfield and Coventry, and in the patronage of the
Society for purchasing livings. The church, dedicated
to St. Giles, was rebuilt in 1720; it is a modern
edifice of brick, with a very ancient to\yer of red sandN
stone. A new church, or chapel, containing six hundred
and seventy-one free sittings, was completed in
1828, the parliamentary commissioners having granted
£4400 towards defraying the expense, the remainder
being raised by subscription; it is intended as a chapel
of ease during the incumbency of the present rector,
after which the right of presentation will belong to the
Society for purchasing livings. There are places of
worship for Baptists, Independents, Methodists of the
New Connexion, and Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists.
The free grammar school originated in a benefaction
from Richard Cleyton, Esq., in 1602, augmented
by a bequest from John Cotton, and various other charitable
contributions; the entire annual income is about
£90; it is free for all the sons of burgesses, and poor
inhabitants of the borough; the school-house has been
rebuilt. An English school was founded, in 1704, by
means of a bequest from the Rev. Edward Orme, for
the instruction of the children of the poor in reading,
writing, and arithmetic; the income is about £ 160 per
annum, and there is a residence for the master, who
instructs fifty children. About fifteen or twenty children
are taught by a schoolmistress, for a salary of
£8 per annum, paid by the corporation; there is likewise
a National school. Almshouses for twenty poor
aged widows were erected and endowed under the will
of Christopher Monk, Duke of Albemarle, dated July
4th, 1687. John Goodwin, an eminent Nonconformist
divine and controversialist, was born here about 1593;
and Elijah Fenton, the coadjutor of Pope in his translation
of Homer's Odyssey, was also a native of the
town. Newcastle confers the title of duke on the family
of Clinton.