STAMFORD, a borough and market-town, having separate jurisdiction, though locally in the wapentake of Ness, parts of KESTEVEN, county of LINCOLN, 46 miles (S. by E.) from Lincoln, and 89 (N. by W.) from London, containing 5050 inhabitants. Its original name, which was Steanforde, is derived from the Saxon stean, a stone, and forde,from the passage across the river Welland being paved with stones; it was afterwards called Stanford, which was subsequently changed to its present name. The town is of very remote antiquity, its origin being ascribed by tradition to a period long before the Christian era; but the earliest authentic account respecting it is by Henry of Huntingdon, who records it as the place where the Picts and Scots, after having ravaged the country to Stamford, were defeated, in a battle fought betwixt them and the Britons, assisted by the Saxons under the command of Hengist, who had been called to the assistance of the Britons by their king Vortigern. It was one of the five cities into which the Danes' were distributed by Alfred the Great, when, after defeating them, he allowed that people, with Guthrum their prince, to settle in the kingdom, and who were thence called Fifburgenses, or Five-burghers (the other places being Derby, Nottingham, Leicester, and Lincoln), and subsequently Seqfen-burgenses, on the addition of two more cities, namely, Chester and York. A castle was erected by Edward the Elder, early in the tenth century, on the bank of the river, opposite the town, to check the incursions of the Danes, and of the Five-Burghers and other internal enemies, but every vestige of it has long since disappeared. Another castle, on the north-west of the town, the foundations of which are still visible, was fortified by Stephen, during the war with the Empress Matilda, but was captured by Henry of Anjou, her son, afterwards Henry II., and the town appears to have been at this period surrounded by a wall, of which no traces are discernible. The barons met at Stamford in the 17th year of the reign of John, to concert those measures which led to the signing of Magna Charta by that monarch. In the reign of Henry III., the Carmelites and members of other religious establishments here commenced giving lectures on divinity and the liberal arts, which being attended by a great number of youths of good family, led to the erection of colleges, and Stamford became celebrated as a place for education; insomuch that, from dissensions occurring in the reign of Edward III., in the University of Oxford, amongst the students from the southern and those from the northern parts of England, a considerable number of the latter, with several professors, removed hither; but they soon returned to Oxford, in consequence of a royal proclamation, and statutes were passed by both Universities, by which any person taking a degree at either of them bound himself by oath not to attend any lectures at Stamford: a part of the gate of Brasenose College, standing in St. Paul's street, is all that now remains of its university. The town suffered much during the war between the houses of York and Lancaster, a great portion of it having been burnt and otherwise destroyed about the year 1461, and it never afterwards regained its former importance. The town is pleasantly situated on the side of a hill, rising gradually from the northern bank of the Welland, across which a stone bridge of five arches connects it with Stamford-Baron, or St. Martin's, in Northamptonshire; the houses are chiefly built of freestone, obtained from the neighbouring quarries of Ketton and Barnoak, and covered with slate; the streets are partially paved, and lighted with gas, the works for which were erected in 1824, at an expense of upwards of £9000; it is well supplied with water, which is brought by pipes from Wothorpe, about a mile distant, and the approach from the south is pleasing and picturesque. The theatre, erected in 1768, is a neat and commodious edifice, lighted with gas, and there are assembly-rooms in St. George's square. Races are held in March and July, on a good course, a mile in circumference, on Wittering heath, near the town. On the banks of a stream are excellent cold and hot water baths. The trade is principally in coal, rafts, malt, and beer, and is much promoted by the Welland being navigable hither for boats and small barges. There was formerly a school for spinning and winding raw silk, which has been discontinued. The market days are Monday and Friday, the latter being noted for corn; the butchers' and fish markets were erected, in 1807, by the corporation. The fairs are on Tuesday before February 13th, Monday before Mid-Lent, Mid-Lent Monday, Monday before May 12th, Monday after the festival of Corpus Christi, and November 8th. At the time of the Conquest, Stamford was governed by lagemen, or aldermen, but was not incorporated by charter until the 1st of Edward IV. In 1663, a charter was granted by Charles II., in which the chief magistrate is first styled mayor; it was confirmed in 1685 by James II., being that under which the town is now governed. The corporation consists of a mayor, twelve aldermen, and twenty-four capital burgesses, who appoint a recorder, coroner, town clerk, and subordinate officers. The mayor and aldermen are elected annually by the members of the corporation, and the office of coroner is held in succession to that of mayor. The mayor and aldermen are justices of the peace, and hold quarter sessions, and a court of record for the recovery of debts to the amount of £40, contracted within the limits of the borough, every Thursday; they have also the privilege of trying for capital offences, but this they do not exercise. The freedom is acquired by birth, apprenticeship, purchase, or gift of the corporation. The custom of Borough English prevails here, by which, when the father dies intestate, the youngest son inherits the lands and tenements, to the exclusion of the elder branches of the family. The town hall, wherein the business of the corporation is transacted, was rebuilt in 1776; it is a large and handsome detached building, standing in the main street, near the end of the bridge, and containing a sessions-room, house of correction, gaol, guard-room, and other apartments. This borough first sent members to parliament in the reign of Edward I., and continued to do so, with occasional intermissions, until that of Edward IV., since which period it has exercised this privilege without interruption: the right of voting is vested in the resident inhabitants paying scot and lot, and not receiving alms: the number of voters is about eight hundred, and the mayor is the returning officer: the prevailing influence is exercised by the Marquis of Exeter. Stamford formerly contained fourteen parish churches, but several of those in the liberties were destroyed by the northern soldiers, in 1461; and the number was again reduced, in 1538, at the dissolution of the monastic institutions;. by an act of parliament, passed in 1547, five were allowed to remain, which still continue, the livings being in the archdeaconry and diocese of Lin- coln. The living of All Saints' is a vicarage, with the rec- tory of St. Peter consolidated, rated in the king's books at £12.7.8., and in the patronage of the Crown for one turn, and the Marquis of Exeter for two; the church is a large and handsome structure, combining some fine specimens of the early and later styles of English architecture, with a lofty embattled tower surmounted by an elegant octangular crocketed spire, in the later English style; it was built, about 1465, at the expense of Mr. John Brown, a merchant at Calais, who was buried in it. The living of St. George's is a discharged rectory, with that of St. Paul's consolidated, rated in the king's books at £5. 3. ll., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Marquis of Exeter; the church, a spacious plain edifice with a square embattled tower, was rebuilt in 1450, by William Bruges, Esq., the first Garter King at Arms. The living of St. John's the Baptist is a rectory, with that of St. Clement's consolidated, rated in the king's books at £8. 8. 6., and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation for one turn, and the Marquis of Exeter for two; the church, rebiiilt about the year 1452, is principally in the later English style; it has a neat embattled tower, adorned with pinnacles, and'a handsome porch at the south end; the screen sepa- rating the chancel from the nave and aisles, and the roof, are both very handsome. The living of St. Mary's is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £4. 18. 9., endowed with £400 private benefaction, and £600 royal bounty, and in Jhe patronage of the Marquis of Exeter: this handsome church, supposed to have been built about the end of the thirteenth century, is considered the mother church; it is principally in the later English style, with some portions, particularly a very fine tower and spire, of early English architecture. The living of St. Michael's is a discharged rectory, with the vicarage of St. Andrew's and the rectory of St. Stephen's consolidated, rated in the king's books at £8.14.2., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the King, ag Duke of Lancaster, for one turn, of the Mayor for one, and of the Marquis of Exeter for two: the church, situated near the centre of the town, is probably the oldest, having been built early in the thirteenth century; it has been much altered and modernised, the embattled tower at the west end having been erected in 1761. There are places of worship for Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and Roman Catholics. The free grammar school was founded by Alderman William RadclifFe, about the year 1500, and endowed by him with estates now producing £470 per annum; the election of the master is, by an act of parliament passed in 1548, vested in the aldermen of Stamford, with the advice and consent of the Master of St. John's College/Cambridge; a house is provided for him, and he receives the whole income, from which he pays the salary of the under-master, and keeps in repair the schoolhouse, which is situated in St. Paul's street, and has been recently rebuilt by subscription. The school is open to all boys of the town and its vicinity, but at present there are only a few on the foundation; it is entitled to one of the twenty-four scholarships at St. John's College, Cambridge, augmented by the first Lord Burghley, who was educated here, and Thomas, Lord Exeter, who, in 1613, also founded three fellowships and eight scholarships at Clare Hall, Cambridge, directing by his will that the Master and Fellows should, when vacancies occurred, prefer candidates educated at Stamford school, provided they are equally qualified in other respects with their competitors. Mr. Thomas Truesdale, in 1700, vested £50 in trust of the corporation for scholars going to the university, and £12 per annum was bequeathed by Mr. Marshall, for an exhibition for a scholar from the grammar school of Southwark, or Stamford. The Blue-coat school was established, in 1704, by subscription among the inhabitants, with which an estate at Hogsthorpe was purchased, the proceeds, aided by other contributions, affording instruction and clothing to about forty boys. Wells', or the petty school, was endowed in 1604. A National school for girls was established, in 1815, from the surplus fund of a lying-in charity, assisted by voluntary contributions. The charitable institutions are numerous and liberally endowed. The principal is the hospital,' or bead-house, founded and largely endowed by William Browne, in 1493, for a warden, confrater, twelve poor aged men, and a nurse, who are incorporated, and have a common seal: the edifice, situated in the cattle market, is now appropriated for decayed tradesmen of the town and neighbourhood, each of whom receives a weekly allowance, and some clothing once a year. Truesdale's hospital, in Scot-gate, was founded in 1700, and eight poor men, with their wives, are lodged in it, receiving a weekly allowance of five shillings, and some coal and clothing annually; and as, on the decease of any male inmate, his widow must quit the hospital, the sum of five shillings a week was bequeathed by H. Fryer, Esq. to each widow so leaving it, for the remainder of her life. Snowden's hospital, endowed in 1604, affords an asylum to eight poor women, with a small weekly allowance of two shillings. Williamson's callis, or almshouse, has apartments for ten poor women, with a weekly allowance of five shillings, arising from various legacies. All Saints' callis, for men and women, is supported by incidental legacies, and by subscriptions from the corporation; and Peter's Hill callis, for an unlimited number of poor women, is endowed by the corporation with the interest of £200, arising from the Black Sluice drainage. The principal bequests for charitable purposes are, one of £1800, by John Warrington, Esq., for the benefit, in equal proportions, of the poor widows of All Saints' callis and Snowden's hospital; £3000, left by Mr. Fryer, for the poor of Snowden's hospital and Peter's Hill callis; the rent of four houses, left by Mrs. Williamson, to be pai,d, in sums of three shillings and sixpence a week, to six poor women; and an estate producing £50 per annum, left by Mr. W. Wells for the education of children under ten years of ager belonging to the parish of All Saints. A handsome infirmary, for Stamford and the county of Rutland has recently been erected near the town, by subscription, which receives thirty-two patients, and towards the support of which, upwards of £7000 stock was bequeathed by Mr. Henry Fryer, and £2000 collected by the ladies at a bazaar; it is further supported by voluntary contributions. A Benedictine priory, dedicated to St. Leonard, and valued at the dissolution at £36. 17- per annum, is supposed to have been founded here in the seventh century, and refounded in the time of William the Conqueror, when it was made a cell to the monastery of Durham; the site is a small distance from the town, though formerly included within it; a portion of the conventual church still remains. Of the Carmelite friary, founded in 1291, the west gate exists, and is a handsome specimen of the architecture of that period; the infirmary occupies a portion of the site. Part of an outer wall, and a postern, are the only remains of the convent of Grey friars, founded by Henry III. A Dominican priory was founded prior to the year 1240; a Gilbertine priory in 1291; an Augustine priory before 1346; and an hospital, or house of lepers, in 1493. A custom, called bull-running, is practised here on St. Brice's day (the 13th of November), and is said to have originated in William, Earl of Warren, having, in the reign of King John, granted a meadow for the common use of the butchers of the town, on condition that they should find a bull to be hunted and baited annually on that day, for the diversion of the inhabitants. Stamford gives the title of earl to the family of Grey of Groby.