NEWPORT, a parish and market-town and borough,
having separate jurisdiction,
though locally in the
parish of Carisbrooke, liberty
of WEST-MEDINA, Isle of
Wight division of the county
of SOUTHAMPTON, 18 miles
(S. S. E.) from Southampton,
and 84 (S. W.)
from London, containing
4059 inhabitants. The situation
of Newport on the
principal branch of the Medina river being considered
more advantageous for commercial purposes
than that of Carisbrooke, which was formerly a market
town, has caused it to supersede the latter as the capital
of the island. The town is situated on a gentle ascent,
and is bounded on the east by the chief branch of the
river, and on the west by a small stream which unites
with the latter at the quay, where it becomes navigable
hence to the Isle of Wight channel at West Cowes; it
consists of five parallel streets, crossed by three others
at right angles, which are well paved, lighted with gas
under an act of parliament, and kept in excellent
order; the inhabitants are abundantly supplied with
water, by means of pumps which have been recently
ejected. Here is a small theatre; and assemblies are
held occasionally: a public library and news-room,
called the " Isle of Wight Institution," was established
in 1810; monthly meetings are held, during toe winter,
by a Philosophical Society, in a room adjoining the
library, which also contains a museum of natural and
artificial curiosities: a mechanics' institution also has
been recently established, to which is annexed a library.
The town has been much improved of late ,years, and
some new sewers are now in progress. The manu-
facture of thread-lace occupies a considerable number
of persons, chiefly children/ and furnishes an article
for exportation; some commerce is carried on in
timber, iron, and malt, and large quantities of wheat
and flour are exported. The market for corn and provisions
is on Saturday; there is likewise a cattle market
every alternate Wednesday: fairs are held on Whit-
Monday and the two following days; and there is a
statute fair at Michaelmas.
The first charter was granted, about 1193, by
Richard de Redvers, second Earl of Devon; and a
"more important grant was made by the Countess
'Isabella de Fortibus, in which the town is styled
"The New Borough of Medina," and its burgesses
invested with all the market tolls arid other privileges;
Henry VII. granted the petty customs within
all ports and creeks of the island, which charter was
confirmed and extended by Edward VI. and Elizabeth.
The borough was first incorporated by James I.,
and is at present governed by the confirmatory charter
of the 13th of Charles II.: the corporation consists
of a mayor, eleven aldermen, and twelve burgesses,
assisted by a recorder, deputy recorder, town clerk,
two Serjeants at mace, eight water-bailiffs, and other
officers, all of them chosen by the corporation, the
burgesses from among the principal inhabitants, and
the aldermen from the burgesses; the mayor, the preceding
mayor, the recorder, and his deputy, and the
two aldermen, are all justices of' the peace, with exclusive
jurisdiction. A court of record is held before
the mayor, recorder,, and aldermen, every Tuesday and
Friday, for the trial of actions to any amount. A court
of requests for the Isle of Wight, for the recovery of
debts not exceeding £5, is held before the commissioners
appointed by act of parliament passed in the 46th
of George III. A Knighton court (Curia Militum), of
unknown origin, the jurisdiction of which extends over
the whole island, excepting the borough of Newport, is
seldom used, except on occasion of the annual appointment
of constables; it is held under the presidency of
the governor's steward, or his deputy. A court of pie-
-powder is held annually. Sessions for the borough are
held quarterly, and a petty session of magistrates weekly.
The guildhall, a very handsome edifice of the Ionic order,
with corresponding pillars on the west front, was erected,
about fourteen years ago, from a design by Mr. Nash,
at an expense to the corporation of more than £10,000:
the upper part comprises the town hall, council-chamber,
and other offices, and the base forms an excellent
market-place; in the interior is a fine portrait of the
late Sir L. T. W. Holmes, Bart., by Owen, presented to
the corporation by the inhabitants. There is a common
gaol and house of correction for the borough, under
the jurisdiction of its magistrates, which is also used
as a bridewell for the whole island; it is divided into
four departments, and will contain thirty prisoners
This borough first returned members to parliament in
the 23rd of Edward I.; its privileges then ceased until
the 27th of Elizabeth: the right of election is vested in
the corporation, the number of voters being twenty-four:
the mayor is the returning officer; and the influence of
the trustees of the late Sir L. T. W. Holmes, Bart., is predominant.
The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the
vicarage of Carisbrooke, in the archdeaconry and diocese
of Winchester. The church, dedicated to St.
Thomas a Becket, is a spacious building, of different
styles of architecture, with an embattled tower at the
west end; in the interior were interred the remains of
the Princess Elizabeth, second daughter of Charles I.,
who died a prisoner in Carisbrooke castle, at the early
age of fifteen. The burial-ground was first appropriated
to this church in the reign of Elizabeth, in consequence
of a plague, the ravages of which were so great,
that the churchyard at Carisbrooke was too small-'to
receive the dead. There are places of worship for
Baptists, Independents, Wesleyan Methodists, and
Unitarians, and a Roman Catholic chapel. The free
grammar school was founded originally by subscription,
in 1619, and endowed with a grant of land to the extent
of thirty-four acres, by the bailiffs and burgesses;
also with land given by Sir Thomas Fleming, and augmented
by several subsequent benefactors; the income
is about £78 per annum; the schoolmaster is appointed
by the corporation, and there are fifteen-boys
on the foundation, some of whom are instructed in classical
literature: in the school-room the negociations
between Charles I. and the parliamentary commissioners
were conducted, in 1648. A girls' charity school
was founded by subscription, in 1761, for the clothing
-and instruction of a number of poor girls, to which, in
1764, Benjamin Cooke devised land; it is1 otherwise
supported by voluntary contributions; the annual income
is £84. 8. 2., and twenty girls are educated and
clothed, some of them being also boarded. National
and Lancasterian schools, for children of both sexes,
and an infant school, are supported by voluntary contributions;
the children educated in these institutions
amount to nearly six hundred. An almshouse was
founded, pursuant to the will of Giles Kent, by Sir
Richard Worsley, Bart., in. 1618, for five or more poor
aged persons; and another, of unknown foundation,
is inhabited by four poor families, each of which receives
a small sum annually. About a mile southward
of the town is the house of industry, erected- under
an act of parliament obtained about the year 1770, the
management of -which is vested in a corporation, styled
"The Guardians of the Poor in the Isle of Wight:
the requisite officers for the internal government of the
house include a governor, treasurer, chaplain, steward,
schoolmaster, matron, two surgeons, and a secretary,
all of whom, excepting the treasurer, have regular
salaries. The house consists of several ranges of builaingj
of sufficient magnitude for the reception and employment
of about seven hundred and fifty persons:
attached to the edifice are extensive workshops, a cnapel,
and a pest-house for persons affected with contagious
disorders; the sum borrowed for the erection was
£20,000. The principal articles manufactured in it are,
sacks, clothing, dowlas-sheeting, mops, shoes, &c.; an
the number of inmates varies from seven hundred to
seven hundred and fifty. A little towards the southwest
are the Parkhurst barracks and military hospital,
erected in the year 1798, and capable of receiving up-
wards of three thousand soldiers: they consist of parallel
ranges of building, the principal of which is one
hundred and sixty-three feet and a half in length; -the
hospital comprises a centre and two wings, with fumigating
rooms, baths, &c.: the whole enclosure occupies
an extent of twenty acres: water for domestic purposes
is procured from four wells of different depths, from
two hundred and sixty-two to two hundred and eighty-
gix feet.