Stafford in 1872

STAFFORD, a town, a parish, a sub-district, and a district, in Staffordshire. The town stands on the river Sow, and on the Northwestern railway, at the junction of the lines to Shrewsbury and to Colwich, 29 miles NNW of Birmingham; was known to the Saxons as Staetford or Stafeford; grew around a castle built in 913, by Ethelfleda, sister of Edward the Elder; had a mint in the times of Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror; was given, by the latter, to Richard de Todeni; acquired, in his time, a new castle; was visited, in 1575, by Queen Elizabeth; had, as natives, the monkish historian John of Stafford, the Bishop of Exeter John of Stafford, Wycliffe's opponent T. Assheburn, the theologian F. Fitzherbert, and the famous angler Izaak Walton; gives the title of Marquis to the family of Gower, and that of Baron to the family of Jerningham;

It is a seat of assizes and quarter-sessions, a polling-place, and the head-quarters of the Staffordshire militia; publishes a weekly newspaper; stands on low ground, among pleasant environs; comprises well-built streets, the contiguous suburb of Forebridge, and the detached suburb of Stone-road; retains one of the gates of an ancient encompassing town-wall; and has a head post-office, a railway station with telegraph, two banking-offices, two chief inns, and a number of public buildings, schools, and institutions. The castle stood on a bold, well-wooded, conical eminence SW of Forebridge; underwent restoration in the time of Edward III.; was taken and dismantled in 1643; and gave place, in 1810-5, to a massive castellated private edifice, flanked by octagonal towers, but left off unfinished.

The Manchester and Liverpool banking-office was built in 1867; and is in the pointed style, of red brick, with stone-dressings and red stone shafts. The county and town hall, with assembly-rooms, was built in 1798, at a cost of more than £5,000; and has a front 120 feet long, with Doric portico. The county jail was built in 1793; and has capacity for 528 male and 152 female prisoners. St. Mary's church is cruciform, and chiefly early English: was restored in 1846, at a cost of £16,000; has a lofty octagonal tower; and was once collegiate for a dean and 13 prebendaries.

St. Chad's church is small, and was originally Saxon; but has been almost entirely altered by additions and repairs. There are chapels for Independents, Baptists, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, and Roman Catholics; and the last was built in 1862, and is in the decorated English style. A grey friary was founded in the time of Edward I., and an Augustinian friary in 1344; but they have completely disappeared. A black priory was founded, on a spot 2 miles to the E, about 1180; and has left some vestiges. The grammar school dates from the time of Edward VI; was endowed with the property of two dissolved hospitals; and has £335 a-year from endowment. There are also national, British, and Industrial schools, a mechanics institute, and a public library. The county infirmary was built partly in 1766, partly at two subsequent periods; and has beds for 78 patients. The county lunatic asylum was built in 1812-8, at a cost of £30,525; stands on a plot of 30 acres, with gardens and pleasure-grounds; and has accommodation for 500 patients. There are three suites of alms-houses; and the total of endowed charities is about £1,360.

The manufacture of boots and shoes is the staple trade; and the transit railway traffic produces much business. A weekly market is held on Saturday; and there are 7 annual fairs. The town was chartered by King John; has sent two members to parliament since the time of Edward I.; and, under the new act, is governed by a mayor, 5 aldermen, and 18 councillors. The corporation revenue is about £1,260. The borough limits are the same parliamentarily as municipally; and include part of the united parish of St Mary and St Chad, and part of the parish of Castle-Church. Real property in 1860, £27,919; of which £1,065 are in gas-works. Amount of property and income tax charged in 1863, £1,066. Electors in 1833, 1,176; in 1863, 1,520. Pop. in 1851 11,829; in 1861, 12,532. Houses, 2,241. 

The parish of Stafford is St Mary and St Chad; includes the townships of Whitgreave, Marston, Salt and Enson, and Hopton and Coton, and is ecclesiasticalIy cut into the sections of St Mary, St. Chad, Christchurch, Salt, and Marston-with-Whitgreave. Acres 6,373. Pop in 1851, 12,176; in 1861, 13,206. Houses, 2,223. The living of St. Mary is two-fold, a rectory, and a perpetual curacy, and the other livings are perpetual curacies, in the diocese of Lichfield. Value of St. Mary rectory, £400; of St Mary perpetual curacy, £170; of St. Chad, £85; of Christchurch, £300. Patron of St Mary rectory, the Lord Chancellor; of St Mary perpetual curacy, and of Christchurch, the Rector of St Mary; of St Chad, the Prebendary in Lichfield Cathedral. Salt and Marston are separately noticed. The sub-district contains also 3 other parishes, and 5 extra-parochial tracts. Acres, 17,581. Pop., 14,739. Houses, 2,521.

The district comprehends also Castle-Church and Colwich sub-districts, and comprises 52,022 acres. Poor-rates in 1863, £7,440. Pop. in 1851, 22,787; in 1861, 24,474. Houses, 4,503. Marriages in 1853, 178; births, 828, of which 52 were illegitimate; deaths, 646, of which 267 were at ages under 5 years, and 14 at ages above 85. Marriages in the tea years 1851-60, 1,820; births, 7,133; deaths, 5,263. The places of worship, in 1851, were 27 of the Church of England, with 8,243 sittings; 1 of English Presbyterians, with 400 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 950 sittings; 1 of Quakers, with 124 sittings; 4 of Wesleyans, with 706 sittings; 2 of New Connexion Methodists, with 520 sittings; 4 of Primitive Methodists, with 396 sittings; 1 of Brethren, with 50 sittings; 1 undefined, with 250 sittings; and 3 of Roman Catholics, with 579 sittings.  The schools were 28 public day-schools, with 2,004 scholars; 38 private day-schools, with 840 scholars; and 26 Sunday schools, with 2,817 scholars. The workhouse is in Stafford; and, at the census of 1861, had 144 inmates. 

[Description(s) from The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72) - Transcribed by Mike Harbach ©2020]