UXBRIDGE, a market-town and chapelry in the parish of HILLINGDON, hundred of ELTHORNE, county of MIDDLESEX, 15 miles (W. by N.) from London, containing 2750 inhabitants. The most ancient name of this place was Oxebreuge, or Woxbrigge, probably of Saxon origin, which has passed through the several variations of Waxbridge, Woxbride, and Oxbridge, whence its present name. The town, which was probably founded aboutthe time of Alfred, was surrounded by a ditch, and the whole site comprised about eighty-five acres: in feudal times, it was an important station as a frontier town, and appears to have been fortified at an early period. It afterwards had a regular garrison; and, during the civil commotions in the reign of Charles, it was the scene of the memorable, but unsuccessful, negociation between the king and his parliament: sixteen commissioners on each side held a conference here, which commenced on the 30th of January, 1645, and continued about three weeks, in an ancient brick mansion, situated at the west end of the town, still designated as the Treaty House; it has undergone various alterations, and is now the Crown Inn; two of the principal rooms used on this occasion still present specimens of the ancient and curious wainscot, in a fine state of preservation. This edifice was occupied by the Earl of Northumberland, and a mansion in its vicinity was the temporary residence of the Earl of Pembroke; the royal commissioners selected the Crown Inn, which formerly stood opposite the present White Horse; and the parliamentary commissioners, the George, which, although materially diminished in size, yet remains. In 1647, the head-quarters of the. parliamentary army were fixed here; and there was a garrison so late as 1689. The town is situated on the high road from London to Oxford, called the Uxbridge road, occupying a gentle declivity on the banks of the river Colne; it is paved, lighted, and supplied with water from numerous wells, and consists of one principal street, about a mile in length, called London, or High-street, which runs south-east and north-west, with another diverging from it, in the direction towards Windsor. The common, which is surrounded by rich and beautiful scenery, has been reduced, by enclosures, to a space of fifteen acres. called the Recreation Ground. Vine-street., branching to the south-east, defines the limits of what was formerly denominated the borough, in that direction; and although the town extends considerably beyond it, eastward, this part, which is called Hillingdon End, is within the parish of Hillingdon, and is neither paved nor lighted. The Grand Junction canal passes through the town. A library and readingroom, called the Uxbridge Book Society, and containing about one thousand three hundred volumes, is supported by subscription. An assembly-room, recently fitted up, is attached to one of the inns. The facilities afforded by the river Colne for the erection of watermills, and by the canal to Paddington, and the Thames, of water-carriage, have rendered Uxbridge remarkable for an extensive flour trade. At the western extremity there are three large flour-mills, and within three or four, miles up and down the river, ten more, which are supposed, in the aggregate, to supply upwards of three thousand sacks of flour per week, a great part of it being sent to the metropolis; there are also two small breweries. South-east of the town is a fine soil of brick earth, which extends several miles, and has been sold at £500 or £600 per acre; the burning of bricks on these fields employs several hundred persons. The general trade of the town is very considerable; and manufactories for implements of Husbandry, and Windsor and garden chairs, are carried on to a considerable extent. The Colne is crossed by two bridges; over its principal branch is High bridge, which is of brick, and was built about fifty years since, at the joint expense of the counties of Buckingham and Middlesex, instead of an ancient one which had existed from the time of Henry VIII.; over the smaller branch is a short bridge at Mercer's mill. There is likewise a bridge across the Grand Junction canal, and on its bank are warehouses and wharfs for the convenience of trade. The market, granted in the reign of Henry II., is on Thursday, and is one of the largest markets in. the kingdom for corn, which is pitched in considerable quantities: there is another market on Saturday, for meat, poultry, eggs, butter, &c. Fairs are held annually on March 25th, July 31st, September 29th, and October llth; the two latter are now used as statute fairs. The old markethouse, erected in 1561, "was removed, by act of parliament, in 1785, and the present erected at an expense of nearly £3000: it is a commodious building, one hundred and forty feet in length, by forty-nine in width, constructed With brick, and supported on fifty-one wooden columns, with spacious apartments used for various purposes. Uxbridge was part of the manor of Colham till 1669, when it became a separate property, and, in 1729, was vested, by purchase and survivorship, in Edmund Baker and Edmund Blount, who conveyed 'it to trustees and their successors, who must be inhabitants and housekeepers in the town, for charitable uses, certain rights being reserved to the lord of the manor of Colham. The town was anciently a borough: it was governed by bailiffs until the close of the seventeenth century, two of whom were annually chosen at the court baron held for the manor; their office was to superintend the market, gather tolls, proclaim fairs, and collect duties for erecting stalls, called pickage and stallage. It is now under the superintendence of two constables, four headboroughs, and two ale-conners, who are elected annually, with a beadle and town crier! In the 13th of Edward I. it was ordained that the high constable for the Uxbridge division should be chosen by the justices in quarter session; he generally resides in the town. A petty session for the town and eleven adjoining parishes is held by the magistrates, on the first and third Mondays in every month; and there is a county court of requests, for debts under 40s., on the first Tuesday in every month. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the archdeaconry of Middlesex, and diocese of London, and in the patronage of the Trustees of G. Townsend, Esq., who are to present a fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford. The Chapel, dedicated to St. Margaret, was built about 1447, on the site, and partly from the materials, of an old chapel, which stood here in the thirteenth century, with various subsequent alterations: it stands behind the market-house, and is in the later English style; it is composed of brick and flint, and consists of a chancel, nave, and two aisles, separated by octagonal pillars and pointed arches, and is surmounted at the north-west end by a low square tower; in the interior are, an ancient octagonal stone font, decorated with quatrefoils and roses, and several fine monuments. The chapel has received an addition of three hundred free, sittings, towards defraying the expense of which the Incorporated Society for the building and enlargement of churches and chapels contributed £200. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, and Independents. The free school, for the education of boys in reading, writing, and arithmetic, was founded, in 1809, principally through the benevolent exertions of Thomas Truesdale Clarke, Esq.: it is held in a spacious apartment over the market-place, and is supported by donations and annual subscriptions, together With the interest of £600 given by Mr. J. Hall, to be divided between this school and the school of industry: the lords of the manor and borough lately subscribed £50 per annum. The school of industry for Uxbridge and its vicinity, esta- blished in 1809, by uniting two small schools on the improved system of education, is for girls only, and is held in a building in George-yard, erected, in 1816, by subscription among the inhabitants. The Unitarian school at Hillingdon-End was founded, in 1812, by - Brooksbank, Esq., at whose sole expense several girls are clothed and educated. The profits arising from the manor and borough are, by the trustees, according to the deed, appropriated to the payment of £20 per annum amongst six poor men or women, inhabitants of the town, to be nominated by the overseers; and £10 a year, by weekly payments, the donation of John Clarke; the remainder to be appropriated, at the discretion of a majority of the trustees, " for the benefit and advantage of the town of Uxbridge only." In consequence of an accident, which occasioned the death of a boy, as Lord Osselton's carriage was passing through the town, his lordship gave £ 100 for the purchase of land, directing the rental to be applied in apprenticing poor boys. In addition to these are several benefactions to the poor by different persons. About four miles from the town, at Breakspear, the seat of J. A. Partridge, Esq., some remains of Roman sepulchres have been recently discovered. Uxbridge gives the inferior title of earl to the Marquis of Anglesey.