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in 1816. A chapel was built at Winlaton in 1705, as it is said, on the foundation of one destroyed in the rebellion of the northern earls against Elizabeth. The chapel was abandoned by the company carrying on the iron works, and having gone to decay was pulled down in 1816, and a national school-room built in its place, in which the rector of Ryton or his curate voluntarily performs service. There were in 1833 two national schools with 190 children, seven other day-schools with 239 children, and two Sunday-schools with 100 children.

Middleton in Teasdale is in Darlington ward: it lies on the north bank of the Tees, on the road from London to Haltwhistle. The whole parish comprehends an area of 38,410 acres, of which the township of Middleton includes 9750 acres. The village is situated among hills, and extends in somewhat an oval form round a spacious green. Almost every house is used for the sale of liquors or of some kind of goods. The inhabitants (who, in 1831, were 1824 for the township, or 3714 for the whole parish) are chiefly engaged in the numerous lead mines near. The church is small, but antient: the living, a rectory in the gift of the crown, is said to be worth 15007. per annum: it does not appear to have been included in the return laid before parliament of the revenue of the church. Some of our authorities assign to this place a weekly market held on Thursday: it is probably a customary market. The township contained, in 1831, one endowed day-school, with 50 children; two unendowed day-schools, with 45 children; one day and Sunday-school, with 150 day or 180 Sunday scholars, supported by the Lead Company, who oblige their work-people to send their children either to this school or to some other. There is a considerable library attached to this last school, containing a variety of useful works, which are lent gratuitously to those of the scholars or of the workmen who desire to have them.

Houghton-le-Spring is in Easington ward, on the road from Durham towards Sunderland, 7 miles from Durham. The whole parish, which is divided into 18 townships or chapelries, contained, by the returns of 1831, 14,560 acres, and 20,524 inhabitants; of which 1220 acres and 3917 inhabitants were in the township of Houghton-le-Spring; 1590 acres and 5887 inhabitants in that of Hetton-le-Hole; 1310 acres and 2539 inhabitants in the chapelry of Painshaw; and 1460 acres and 2198 inhabitants in the township of Newbottle. >

The village of Houghton is irregular and nearly half a mile long, at the head of a fine vale, sheltered on the north and east by limestone hills. It contains several handsome buildings. Houghton Hall is a heavy mansion, built probably in the reign of Elizabeth or James I., in the later Gothic style. The church is large, in the form of a cross, with a square tower, springing from four arches at the intersection of the transepts and nave. Some portions of the church are in the Early English, and some in the Decorated style: the east and west windows have fine Decorated tracery. The church contains the monument of Bernard Gilpin, some time rector of Houghton, the Apostle of the North,' and one of the most pious of the English church reformers: it is an altar tomb with pannelled sides, and a good specimen of the mixture of Gothic and Italian forms. The living is a rectory, in the gift of the bishop of Durham, of the yearly value of 21577., with a glebe-house. On the north-east side of the churchyard, on a rising ground, is the grammar school founded by the exertions of Bernard Gilpin with the aid of some friends; and in the churchyard to the south of the school-house an almshouse for six poor people. Houghton had, in 1833, one boarding-school with 45 boys; nine day-schools, one a charity school with 38 girls; another a national school with 300 boys; the seven other day-schools had nearly 200 children; and three Sunday-schools with 656 children. The grammar school is not distinguished in the Parliamentary Returns from other schools. Hetton-le-Hole is a mile or two south of Houghton-leSpring. The increase of the population between 1821 and 1831, when it rose from under 1000 to nearly 6000, was owing to the extension of the collieries, which in 1831 gave employment to nearly 1800 men and boys, of whom above 1000 were upwards of twenty years old. There were at Hetton, in 1833, one day and Sunday-school with 68 day scholars and nearly 330 Sunday scholars; fourteen other day-schools with nearly 700 children, and two Sundayschools with above 300 children.

Painshaw or Penshaw lies at some distance north of

| Houghton, on the banks of the Wear, at the western foot of a conical hill, Painshaw Hill: it is almost entirely occupied by persons connected with the collieries and stone quarries, the opening of which latter occasioned a considerable increase of population from 1821 to 1831. There is a chapel of ease, a plain convenient building, the minister of which is appointed by the rector of Houghton.

Newbottle is between Houghton and Painshaw. It is on a high exposed situation. A little to the north below the brow of the hill is Philadelphia Row, a group of houses entirely occupied by the colliers of the neighbouring pits. There is a considerable pottery at Newbottle. The population rather decreased from 1821 to 1831, from the decline or the collieries in the township.

Monk Wearmouth and Bishop Wearmouth are included in the parliamentary borough of Sunderland; and the parochial chapelry of Tweedmouth in Islandshire, which comprehends an area of 4520 acres, and had in 1831 a population of 4971 persons, may be considered as a suburb of Berwick-upon-Tweed in the parliamentary limits of which it is included. [BERWICK-UPON-TWEED, SUNDERLAND.] Divisions for Civil and Ecclesiastical purposes. The county of Durham is in the diocese of Durham and in the ecclesiastical province of York. It constitutes an archdeaconry, which is subdivided into the deaneries of Ches ter-le-Street, Darlington, Easington, and Stockton. Of the outlying portions of the county, Islandshire, Norhamshire, and Bedlingtonshire are in the archdeaconry of Northumberland, except the parochial chapelry of Ancroft in Islandshire, which is in the archdeaconry of Durham. Craike is in the peculiar jurisdiction of the bishop of Durham. The number of parishes, as we gather from the population returns compared with the Clerical Guide,' is 60; of which 33 are rectories, 21 vicarages, and 6 perpetual curacies. The richer benefices are among the wealthiest in any part of England. Besides the 60 parishes, there are 15 parochial chapelries; and by the subdivision of these or the parishes, 24 district chapelries have been formed. Some of the parishes and parochial chapelries are of great extent. Stanhope parish comprehends 55,030 acres or 86 square miles: Auckland, St. Andrew 45,470 acres or 71 square miles; Lanchester 41,890 acres or 65 square miles; Middleton in Teasdale 38,410 acres or 60 square miles; Chester-le-Street 31,260 acres or 49 square miles; Wolsingham 24,780 acres or 39 square miles; Gainsford 24,370 acres or 38 square miles; Brancepeth 21,850 acres or 34 square miles; besides eleven others, ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 acres, or from 15 to 31 square miles, and several which approach 10,000 acres.

Durham is included in the northern circuit. The assizes and the quarter-sessions are held at Durham, where stands the county gaol and the house of correction.

Before the Reform Act there were four members returned to parliament from this county, two for the county itself and two for the city of Durham. By the Reform and Boundary Acts the county was formed into two divisions, each returning two members. The northern division includes Chester and Easington wards; the principal place of election is Durham, and the polling stations are Durham, Sunderland, Lanchester, Wickham (or Whickham), Chester-le-Street, and South Shields. The southern division comprehends Darlington and Stockton wards; the principal place of election is Darlington, and the polling stations are Darlington, Stockton, Bishop Auckland, Stanhope, Middleton in Teasdale, Barnard Castle, and Sedgefield. By the Reform Act two members were given to Sunderland, including part of the parishes of Monk Wearmouth and Bishop Wearmouth; and one member each to Gateshead (including part of the chapelry of Heworth in the parochial chapelry of Jarrow) and South Shields, including the townships of South Shields and Westoe in the parochial chapelry of Jarrow.

History and Antiquities. At the time of the Roman invasion the main part of the county of Durham was included in the territory of the Brigantes (Bpiyavres Ptolemy), a powerful tribe who occupied the northern part of the island from the Mersey to the Tyne; the outlying portions, Islandshire, Norhamshire, and Bedlingtonshire, were included in the territory of the Ottadini (Oradŋvo Ptolemy), whose country extended from the Tyne to the Forth. The Brigantes were subdued by Cerealis and Agricola, and the Ottadini by Agricola; but no incidents have been recorded of their subjugation which are peculiarly connected with this county

The main part of the county remained in the possession of the Romans until they finally withdrew from the island, being defended by the wall of Hadrian or Severus, which extended from sea to sea across Northumberland and Cumberland; the outlying portions being beyond the wall, were occupied by the Romans or not, as circumstances, or the character of the emperor, or the commander in the island, dictated. The notices of the district by the antient geographers are scanty. We gather from the Itinerary of Richard of Cirencester that the Tees was known to the Romans as the Tisa, the Tyne as the Tina, and the Tweed (which borders Norhamshire) as the Tueda; and from Ptolemy, that the Wear (Horsley will have the Tyne) was known as the Vedra. The Romans had several stations within the county. Vindomora and Vinovium, mentioned in the first Iter of Antoninus are fixed by antiquarians at Ebchester on the Derwent, and Binchester, near Bishop Auckland.

appear red with fire, and on the south side of the chancel are honeycombed by the weather.

Upon the invasion of England by William the Conqueror, Egelwin, bishop of Durham, took the oath of allegiance at York to William, who had advanced into the north to crush the threatened resistance of the earls Morcar and Edwin. Robert Comyn, a Norman noble, to whom William had committed the charge of the entire subjugation of the north, having entered the city of Durham with his troops (seven hundred men), in 1069 or 1070, was overpowered by the population of the surrounding country, and cut off with all his men: the cathedral narrowly escaped destruction in this tumult. William, enraged at the disaster, advanced in person with his army, and laid waste the country with the most savage ferocity.

For sixty miles between York and Durham he did not leave a house standing, reducing the whole district by fire and sword to a horrible desert, smoking with blood and in In Jeffreys' large map of Durham the Epiacum of Richard ashes. He did not spare even the churches and monas(which is placed by most at Lanchester) is fixed at Eb-teries. The ecclesiastics fled from Durham at his approach, chester, with which both the name and the distance from and retired to Lindisfarne. A dreadful famine ensued, and Vinovium in Richard's Itinerary seem best to agree: in a mortality not equalled in the annals of the country; the the same map the Longovicum of the Notitia is fixed at inhabitants were reduced to eat the flesh of horses, dogs, Lanchester, where Horsley proposes to place the Glanoventa and cats, and at last even human carcases. The lands lay of Antoninus. Ad Tisam, mentioned by Richard, is fixed untilled for nine years, infested by robbers and beasts of at Pierce Bridge on the Tees. Gateshead was considered by prey; and the poor remnant of the inhabitants spared from Camden to be the Gabrosentum of the Notitia, which others the sword died in the fields, overwhelmed with want and place at Drumburgh near Carlisle; and Brememum had misery. The treasures of the church, except those which been fixed at Monk Wearmouth; but this position is not to the bishop carried away in his flight, were plundered either be reconciled with Ptolemy's mention of it. Perhaps there by the Normans or by Gospatric, who had purchased of are few parts of the island of which the Roman topography William the earldom of Northumberland. The ravages of is more obscure. Roman antiquities have been found at the conquerors were carried forward from the Wear to the Chester-le-Street (coins), from whence Roman roads may Tyne, and the monastery of Jarrow was burned. Soon be traced leading northward towards Newcastle-upon-Tyne, after William withdrew, the Scots, under their king Maland southward to Binchester near Auckland; at Coniscliff colm, invaded the north of England, routed the men of or Conscliffe, near Pierce Bridge (an altar); Old Durham, Teasdale, who opposed them near Eglestone, and burned near Durham city (coins); at Lanchester (inscriptions, Wearmouth monastery and Hartlepool. Egelwin, bishop coins, and other antiquities); at Pierce Bridge (coins, the of Durham, was one of those who endeavoured to organize traces of an aqueduct, foundations of houses, and other in the Isle of Ely an opposition to William; but being marks of a station); at South Shields (an inscription indi- taken prisoner, was cast into prison, where he died from cating that a Roman town or station was fixed here in the famine or a broken heart. He was succeeded in the see time of Marcus Aurelius); at Stanhope (an altar); at Thorn- A.D. 1072 by Walcher, a native of Lorraine, who seems to ton, near Darlington (an urn with coins, chiefly of Con- have been the first bishop that possessed the palatine jurisstantine and his sons); at Monk Wearmouth (coins); at diction so long exercised by his successors. Walcher, or Whitborn Lizard (coins). Reynolds' Iter Britanniarum, those who acted under him, having provoked the indignaCambridge, 1799. tion of the people by their oppressive conduct, the bishop was surrounded by a tumultuous assembly at Gateshead, and taking refuge in the church, the building was fired, and the bishop attempting to escape, was put to death in 1080. The insurgents got possession of the city of Durham; but having in vain attempted to make themselves masters of the castle, were obliged to disperse in order to avoid punishment. To revenge this popular outbreak, the country was again laid waste by an army under Odo, bishop of Bayeux, half-brother of William. The next but one in succession to Walcher was Ralph Flambard, in who-e episcopate the diocese suffered diminution by the erection of the see of Carlisle; and the diocese of Hexham, which ou the failure of its own bishops had been annexed to Durham, was taken from that diocese and annexed to York. For some years following 1140 the diocese was thrown into disorder by the usurpation of the see by one Cumin, a priest, a native of Scotland, who attempted to hold it in opposition to the regularly-appointed bishop. After a desultory warfare Cumin submitted.

In the establishment of the Saxon Octarchy, Durham was probably included in the kingdom of Deira, the southernmost of the two which are frequently comprehended under the general name of Northumberland. When Oswald, who united the two kingdoms under one sceptre, wished to introduce or rather revive Christianity, Aidan, a monk of lona or elsewhere in Scotland, who had come as a missionary (A.D. 634), fixed his residence at Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, and established a monastery and a bishopric there. The seat of the Northumbrian bishopric was afterwards (A.D. 664) removed to York; but when, in 678; Northumberland was divided into two dioceses, Lindisfarne recovered its episcopal rank; and its diocese was permanently severed from that of York. Shortly after this time the see of Hexham was created, the diocese being severed from that of Lindisfarne. As the ravages of the Danes, towards the close of the ninth century, rendered Lindisfarne an insecure abode, the bishop and clergy forsook it (about A.D. 875), and, after they had wandered about for seven years, the seat of the bishopric was fixed at Chester-le-Street, where the foundations of a cathedral were begun. In the reign of Ethelred II. the ravages of the Danes were renewed, and the bishop and clergy leaving Chester-le-Street (A.D. 995), as deeming it insecure, removed first to Ripon, in Yorkshire, and afterwards to Dunhelm, now Durham, where the see has been fixed ever since. Lindisfarne, deserted by the bishop, was afterwards bestowed upon the Benedictine monastery of Durham, to which it became a cell. Its yearly revenues at the dissolution were valued at 601. 58. gross, or 487. 188. 11d. clear. The ruins of the conventual church still remain: the north and south walls, and great part of the west wall, are still standing: the east wall has fallen in. It has been a very magnificent building, in the Norman style. The length of the body of the church is one hundred and thirty-eight feet, the breadth eighteen, and with the two aisles thirty-six; but it may be doubted whether there ever was a transept. The stones P. C., No. 558.

In the year 1312 the Scots invaded the county of Durham, burned the suburbs of Durham, and plundered Hartlepool. They again invaded the county after the battle of Bannockburn, and for a third and fourth time in 1316 and 1317. Famine and pestilence followed the ravages of war, and the country became more desolate than at any time since the great Norman devastation. Marauders infested the country; and Lewis Beaumont, bishop elect (A.D. 1317 or 1318), was carried off by a party as he was proceeding to Durham to be installed.

In the beginning of the reign of Edward III. the Scots invaded the country, and took possession of the mountainous tract of Weardale; but the approach of the king with an army prevented them from penetrating into the more level districts of the eastern coast. In the year 1342 there is reason to think that they again invaded the country; and in 1346, under the conduct of their king David, they crossed the Tyne and the Derwent, and encamped about

VOL. IX.-2 F

three miles from the city of Durham. Edward was in France; but the northern nobles and prelates collected a powerful army, and the battle of Nevill's Cross terminated in the defeat of the Scots and the captivity of David. Durham does not appear to have been the scene of any remarkable event in the war of the Roses. The Yorkists, under the Marquis of Montacute, marched across it to attack the Lancastrians before the battle of Hexham. In the invasion of England by James IV. of Scotland, who favoured the cause of Perkin Warbeck, Norham Castle was besieged by the king; but when reduced to the last extremity, was relieved by the approach of the earl of Surrey with an army.

At the time of the Reformation the see of Durham was held by Cuthbert Tunstall, a man honourably distinguished in that persecuting age by his mildness and forbearance. He was imprisoned and deprived of his bishopric under Edward VI., the ample endowments of the see forming probably a greater inducement to his persecutor (Dudley, earl of Northumberland) than his steady adherence to the Catholic discipline. He was restored under Mary, but finally deprived after the accession of Elizabeth. The inhabitants of the northern counties were much attached to the antient church, and afforded full exercise to the laborious zeal of Bernard Gilpin and other Reformers. The religious establishments were not however richly endowed, with the exception of the priory at Durham. Kypen and Sherburn hospitals, which were among the wealthiest, had each considerably less than 2007. a year gross revenue. In the rebellion of the earls of Northumberland and Westmoreland in support of the Catholic faith, they found little difficulty in raising a tumultuous force, with which they entered Durham, tore and trampled under foot the English Bibles and prayer-books, and celebrated mass in the cathedral; and while a detachment occupied Hartlepool, the main body marched southward into Yorkshire. On the advance of the royal army under the earl of Sussex the insurgents retreated to Raby, and after losing some time in besieging Barnard Castle, which they starved into a surrender, they were obliged to disperse, the two earls escaping into Scotland. Northumberland was afterwards delivered up to the English and beheaded; Westmoreland escaped over sea, and entered into the service of the king of Spain. In the latter part of Elizabeth's reign the northern counties were much afflicted by a pestilence which broke out every year in some part or other. In 1597 the city of Durham suffered very severely.

1639, on occasion of his progress northward to oppose the Scots, he received similar hospitality. When the Scots invaded England, in 1640, they crossed the Tyne into this county, Lord Conway, who commanded the king's troops, retreating first to Durham and afterwards to Northallerton, in Yorkshire. By a convention which followed, the county was for some time heavily taxed for the payment of the Scottish army. When the civil war broke out in 1642, the earl of Newcastle formed the four northern counties into an association for the king's service. This county was not the scene of any remarkable incident in that war. The Scotch army entered England in 1644, in order to support the Parliamentarians. They were opposed by the Royalists; but though several skirmishes were fought in the country, no serious encounter took place, and the marquis of Newcastle being obliged to march into Yorkshire to sustain the royal cause there, Durhamn came into the hands of the Parliamentarians.

During the Commonwealth the see was dissolved; but upon the restoration of Charles II. it was re-established, and bestowed on Bishop Cosins, who distinguished himself by the munificent use he made of his large revenues. The local history of the county since the Restoration is not marked by any interesting features.

STATISTICS.

Population.-Durham is one of the principal counties in which coal is raised: it does not rank very high as an agricultural county, being the thirty-ninth on the list in that respect. Of 59,045 males twenty years of age and upwards living in Durham in 1831, there were 11,329 engaged in agricultural pursuits, 2,547 in manufactures or in making manufacturing machinery, and 19,473 labourers employed in labour not agricultural. Of those engaged in manufactures, 550 were employed in stuff and carpetmaking at Barnard Castle and in the city of Durham; about 500 were employed in the making of glass, especially glass bottles, at Gateshead, South Shields, Bishop's Wearmouth, Heworth, and Southwick; 350 in weaving linen and flax-dressing at Stockton and other places; 150 in iron works at Bedlington and at Bishop's Auckland; 150 in making engines, moulds, and patterns, chiefly at Birtley and Sunderland; 70 in woollen manufacture at Shildon and Walsingham; the remainder were employed in the manufacture of earthenware, sailcloth, &c., at various places.

The following exhibits a summary of the population, In 1633 Charles I. visited the county, and was en- taken at the last census, 1831, showing the number of the intertained by the bishop at his castle of Durham: again inhabitants and their occupations in each ward of the county:

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The sum expended for the same purpose in the year ending the 25th March, 1836, was 65,3927.; and if it be assumed that the population has increased at the same rate of increase since 1831 as in the ten preceding years, the above sum gives an average of not quite 4s. 8d. for each inhabitant. All these averages are below those for the whole of England and Wales.

The sum raised in Durham for poor's-rates, county-rate, and other local purposes, in the year ending 25th March, 1833, was 104,7077. 15s., and was levied upon the various descriptions of property as follows:

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mitted, 28 were against the person, 11 of which were for com mon assaults; 12 were offences against property committed with violence; 107 offences against property committed without violence; 7 for malicious offences against property; and 10 for riot or misdemeanor. Of the offenders 134 were males and 30 females. Among the whole number only 3 had received superior instruction, 83 could read and write imperfectly, 64 could neither read nor write, and the degree of instruction of the remaining 14 could not be ascertained. The proportion of offenders to the population in 1836 was_1 in 1720.

The number of turnpike trusts in Durham, as ascertained in 1834, was 19; the number of miles of road under their charge was 249; the annual income arising from the tolls and parish composition was 38,1997. 118. 10d., and the annual expenditure 36,6147. 2s. 11d.

The number of persons qualified to vote for county members in Durham (in 1836) were 5208 in the northern division, and 4864 in the southern division, being 1 in 28 of the whole population, and 2 in 13 of the male population above 20 years of age. The expenses of the last election of county members to parliament were to the inhabitants of the county 2597. 98. 4d., and were paid out of the general county-rate.

There are 8 savings'-banks in this county. The number of depositors, and amount of deposits on the 20th November, were respectively in

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1834.

£. 79,398 16 5,245 3

S.

20,391 18

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1835.
£.
72,197 2
4,221 4
9,107 16

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1836.
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65,391 10
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7,614 10
8,345
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Number of
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For all other purposes.

deposits,} £109, 352 114,436 115,678 122,109

The various sums placed in the savings'-banks in 1834 and 1835 were distributed as follows:

The saving effected in the whole sum expended in 1836, as compared with the expenditure of 1834, is therefore Not exceeding £20 19,9497. 17s., or nearly 19 per cent.; and the saving in the cost for the relief of the poor is 14,0077. 68., or rather more than 17 per cent.

The county expenditure in 1834, exclusive of that for the relief for the poor, was 8,9381. 28. 5d., disbursed as follows:

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1834.

1835.

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The number of persons charged with criminal offences in the three septennial periods ending with 1820, 1827, and 1834, were 452, 688, and 1010 respectively; making an average of 64 annually in the first period, of 98 in the second, and of 144 in the third. The number of persons tried at quarter-sessions in each of the years 1831, 1832, and 1833, in respect to which any costs were paid out of the county-rates, were 63, 73, and 91. Among the persons charged with offences, there were committed

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from 2 to 7 years:

Males
Females

Sex not specified

Schools. Scholars. Total.

18

Daily Schools
Number of children at such schools; ages

from 4 to 14 years:

222

264

330

816

769

Males
Females

15,142

Sex not specified

11,370
3,328

29,849

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30,656

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260

11,095
9,862
3,486

24,443

The total number of committals in each of the same years was 124, 198, and 168, respectively; of whom

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1832.

1833.

91

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Assuming that there was the same rate of increase from 1831 in the population of the county as in the ten preceding years, and that the portion of it between the ages of two and The number of persons charged with offences in 1836 15 bore the same ratio to the whole as it did in 1821, there was 164; of these 105 were convicted and 39 acquitted, or were living in Durham about 90,245 persons between those no bi.ls found against them. Of the 105 convicted, 6 were ages in 1834. Only two Sunday-schools are returned from sentenced to death, which sentence was commuted to trans-places where no other schools exist: with this trifling exportation; besides these there were 16 transported; 7 were imprisoned for 1 year, and above 6 months; and 75 for 6 months and under; and 1 was fined. Of the offences com

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against Scotland. After the battle of Newburn, the city of Durham became almost depopulated.

By the 6th and 7th Will. IV., chap. 19, the whole of the palatine jurisdiction of the bishops of Durham is taken away, and is vested in the crown as a separate franchise and royalty. Before the passing of that act, the bishop of Durham, as count palatine and earl of Sadberg, was custos rotulorum of the county; he presided at the assizes, with his Majesty's judges, and the sheriff was accountable to him, and not to the king.

The city sends two members to parliament. The first charter was granted by Hugh Percy, and was confirmed by Pope Alexander; the governing charter is that of Bishop Egerton, dated 1780. The limits of the parliamentary borough have been extended by the Reform and Boundary Acts, and now include part of the township of Crossgate,

The schools established by Dissenters, included in the part of the parish of St. Giles, part of the township of

above statement, are—

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Twenty-six boarding-schools are included in the number of daily schools as given above. No school in this county appears to be exclusively confined to any particular denomination of Christians, such exclusion being disclaimed in almost every instance, especially in schools established by Dissenters, with whom are here included Wesleyan Methodists, together with schools for children of Roman Catholic parents.

Lending libraries of books are attached to 52 schools in this county.

DURHAM, a city and borough, the capital of the county palatine of Durham, 67 miles east-south-east from Carlisle, 67 west-north-west from York, and 259 north-bywest from London.

We have no evidence of any town having existed where Durham now stands before the end of the tenth century, when the monks of Lindisfarne, or Holy Island, rested there with the remains of St. Cuthbert. According to the legend, when they arrived at Dunholme, the car, in which the saint's body was carried, by some miraculous interposition, became immovable, and the monks proceeded to build a sort of tabernacle wherein they deposited the relics; but soon after a stone church was built by Bishop Aldun, and dedicated to St. Cuthbert, whose remains were removed, and enshrined in it. The town of Dunholme, or Durham, was besieged by Duncan of Scotland in 1040; but was so well fortified and defended, that, after several fruitless assaults on the part of the assailants, the besieged made a successful sally and completely routed the enemy. By Leland it is called Duresme (the Norman name, whence Durham). The towne self of Duresme,' says Leland, stondith on a rocky hille; and stondith as men cum from the south cuntre on the ripe of Were, the which water so with his course naturall in a botom windeth about, that from Elvet, a great stone bridge of 14 arches, it crepeth about the towne to Trainegate bridge of 3 arches, also on Were, that betwixt these two bridges, or a little lower at St. Nicholas, the towne, except the length of an arrowshot, is brought

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In 1069, Robert Cumin was appointed governor by William the Conqueror; but, in consequence of the excesses committed by the Norman soldiers under his command, the inhabitants set fire to his house, and murdered the whole garrison, with the exception of one man who escaped. William, greedy of revenge, marched an army northward, and the terrified inhabitants fled from the city; the monks retired to Holy Island; but when tranquillity was restored, they again returned to Durham with their sacred relics, which they had carried with them. In 1072 a strong castle was built here, and Walcher, a Norman, was appointed to the bishoprick. This prelate purchased the earldom of Northumberland, and assumed the title of Count Palatine. In 1093 the old church built by Aldun was pulled down, and the present magnificent edifice begun by King Malcolm, Carilepho the bishop, and Turgot the prior. Durham was often the head-quarters of Edward III., and of other monarchs and commanders on their excursions

Elnet, the whole of St. Mary-le-Bow, and the whole of St. Mary-the-Less. There are now three wards, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors. The revenue of the corporation is small, but they have no debt.

The corporation hold a court-leet and a court-baron as lessees of the bishop, for the recovery of debts under 40s. The court of the county of Durham (not the ordinary county court) was abolished by the 6th and 7th Will. IV., c. 19. The assizes for the county are held here twice a-year by the judges going the northern circuit.

The city is nearly surrounded by the river Wear, and, as Leland remarks, forms a peninsula, the centre of which rises to a lofty eminence, partially enclosed by the antient walls, and skirted with hanging gardeus descending to the river, on each side of which are delightful public walks called The Banks. The cathedral and castle crown the summit. [CHURCH.]

At the northern extremity of the city is Framwell-gate bridge, erected about the year 1120 by Bishop Flambard. Elvet bridge, which crosses the river opposite Framwellgate bridge, was originally built by Bishop Pudsey, in 1170, but it has lately been considerably widened and improved. A handsome bridge, consisting of three arches, was erected in the end of the last century at the extremity of the South Bailey.

The castle, which forms the occasional residence of the bishops of Durham, is supposed to have been built by Wil liam the Conqueror. The north gateway was till lately, when a new gaol, county courts, and house of correction were erected at an expense of nearly 120,0007., used as a county gaol. In the market-place is the, guildhall, erected by Bishop Tunstall in 1555; and on the Palace Green is the exchequer, containing offices for the auditor, cursitor, prothonotary, treasurer, registrar, &c.

The town is lighted with gas, and well paved. A public fountain stands in the centre of the market-place; the water is conveyed to the reservoir through pipes from a spring granted to the city for ever in 1450, by Thomas Bellingham, Esq. There is a theatre, as well as a subscription library, news-room, and assembly-rooms. Races are held here in May. The population of Durham in 1831 was 9269. There were 806 voters registered in 1832, the first registration after the Reform Act.

The trade of Durham was formerly much more considerable than it is at present. There are manufactories of stuffs and carpets, for spinning and combing wool, and for making hats, a brass-foundry, and two iron-foundries. A market for corn and other provisions is held on Saturday. There are fairs for cattle and horses on the 29th, 30th, and 31st of March, on Whit Tuesday, on the Saturday before the 13th of May, on September 15th, and on the Saturday before the 23rd of November. The March fair is very celebrated for its horses.

The city comprises six parishes: St. Giles, St. Margaret, St. Mary-le-Bow, St. Mary (in South Bailey), St. Nicholas, and St. Oswald, the livings of which are respectively of the clear annual value of 997., 4097., 1117., 1197., 871., 2721. There are places of worship for Quakers, Independents, Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, and Roman Catholics. A mechanics' institute was established in 1825. There is a grammar-school connected with the cathedral which has four exhibitions for the sons of clergymen, of 257. each at the school, and of 50%. each at either of the universities; it has also five scholarships of 107. per annum each at Peter House, Cambridge, founded by Bishop Cosins, and one scholarship of 167. per annum at Emanuel College, Cam

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