V. A.D. 1650 It CHAP. execution, when the culprit, having placed his head on the block, the pin was withdrawn, and his head was instantly severed from his body. If the offender was condemned for stealing an ox, a sheep, or a horse, the end of the rope was fastened to the beast, which, being driven, pulled out the pin, and thus became the executioner. From this description of the Halifax gibbet, it appears that it was an engine similar to the guillotine erected in France soon after the breaking out of the first revolution, and by which machine so much blood was shed. The gibbet-law at Halifax seems to have been nearly coeval with the town itself, but its origin is unknown. began about the time that the manor of Wakefield, (which includes the present parish of Halifax,) was bestowed upon the earl of Warren, and it may be traced to as early a date as 1280. Records of the executions are brought down to the year 1650, about which time it ceased, on an intimation to the bailiff, that if these executions were repeated, he would be called to public account for his conduct. The earl of Morton, regent of Scotland, in passing through Halifax, about the middle of the 16th century, witnessed one of the executions by the gibbet, and ordered a model to be taken of the machine, which he carried into Scotland, and had one of similar construction made from it. This instrument remained long unused, and hence obtained the name of the Maiden; but, in the year 1581, that nobleman himself was brought to the block, and suffered by the machine which he had caused to be erected, Remains of these fatal instruments may still be seen, both at the gaol at Halifax, and in the parliament house at Edinburgh. The number of persons executed in Halifax, under the operation of the gibbet, during little more than a century, namely, between 1541 and 1650, amounted to no less than 49. And Mr. Watson observes, that this list of executions, combined with the strict discipline observed by the police of Hull, probably gave rise to the proverbial petition of thieves and vagabonds, "From Hull, Hell, and Halifax, good Lord deliver us." If a felon, after his apprehension, or in his going to the place of execution, happened to make his escape out of the forest of Hardwick, then the bailiff of Halifax had no power to apprehend him, but if the felon ever came again into the liberty, and was taken, he was certainly executed. One Lacy, who made his escape, and lived seven years out of the liberty, after that time coming boldly back again, was re-taken and executed on his former verdict of condemnation. 1650 Hunslet in this year contained 200 families, and was famous for the manufacture of woollen cloth. It was one of the largest of the twenty-five towns" held by Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln, of the king in capite, and its name is said to imply "dog houses;" large dogs being anciently kept there to guard travellers from wolves. 66 Oliver Cromwell, the protector, was at York on the 4th of July, and partook of the mayor's hospitality, after which he proceeded on his journey to Scotland, having first displaced the royal arms, and CHAP. substituted those of the existing government. V. A.D. 1650 Between these two dates an ordinance of parliament was issued to prohibit the exportation of wool and fuller's earth, on pain of to forfeiture of the wool, and a penalty of 3s. per lb. on every pound 1660 of fullers' earth. On the 1st October died Peter Saxton, M.A., vicar of Leeds, to which benefice he was preferred in 1646, on his return from America, whither he went in 1640, and was amongst the first of those who enlightened the dark regions of that extensive continent. being at that time dissatisfied with the ceremonies of the Church of England, and the troubles of the realm. He was a learned man, and a great Hebraist. Christopher Saxton, the great chrorographer, was probably one of the vicar's ancestors, for Camden supposes him to have been a native of Leeds parish, where he frequently resided amongst his relations. Thoresby, in allusion to Camden's Christopher Saxton, says, as long as that celebrated author is owned the prince of our English antiquaries, and his Britannica the common sun whereat our modern writers lighted their little torches, the fame of Saxton will survive; for he stiles him the most excellent chrorographer." Saxton's maps were highly esteemed little more than a century ago. 66 The first coffee house was opened in London, in St. Michael's Alley, Cornhill, during the present year. 1651 The taxes in England during the Commonwealth consisted 1652 chiefly of the monthly assessments, the customs, and the excise, the latter of which was levied on bread, flesh-meat, beer, spirits, &c. Richard Thompson, D.D., a native of Wakefield, was born about 1653 this time, and educated at the grammar school there. He was a very zealous churchman, and died in 1685, at Bristol. The Register Office at Wakefield for the West-Riding of Yorkshire was instituted this year, 1653. On the 9th of August in this year, William Farrer, Esq., of 1654 Ewood, near Halifax, purchased a share of the lands of Saddleworth, (the whole of which, tradition says, were anciently sold for a saddle, hence Saddleworth,) from William Ramsden, Esq., of Longley-hall, for £2,950. These lands, in 1775, brought in an annual rent of £1,500, to James Farrer, Esq., of Bamborough Grange. In 1780 he sold off land to the amount of £10,000, and, by advancing the remainder, still kept up the rent of £1,500 a year. At his death, in 1791, it had increased to £2,000 a year, much of it in leases for lives, and the estate being sold in small parcels to the occupiers and others, it produced nearly £70,000, making an actual profit in the sales, exclusive of rents of upwards of £77,000, upon less than a £3,000 purchase. In 1654, Jeremy Bentley, Esq., was returned member of parliament for Halifax. CHAP. V. A.D. 1654 1655 1656 1657 At this period Leeds, though not a parliamentary borough, had one representative during the Civil Wars of Charles I., in the person of Adam Baynes, Esquire, of Knostrop. John Walker, in a letter to the Mayor of Leeds, dated July 14th, 1654, requests to be allowed, without personal attendance, to vote at the Leeds election for Captain Baynes, and says, We all know Lieutenantgeneral Lambert is his great patron, and he strikes with great hammer." On December 6th, in this year, died Joshua Hoyle, D.D. He was born at Sowerby, and received his first academical education in Magdalen hall, Oxford, being afterwards invited to Ireland, was made fellow of Trinity College, Dublin; there he took the degree of D.D., and was elected divinity professor in that university. On the breaking out of the rebellion in Ireland, in 1641, he came into England, and soon afterwards was made master of university college, Oxford, and the king's professor of divinity. Lady Clifford, countess dowager of Pembroke, repaired the steeple of the church at Skipton, which had been nearly beaten down by random balls, in battering the castle during the long siege in 1645. The old prison of Leeds, which stood near the market cross, was taken down, as a blemish to the principal street. Air guns were invented this year. February 6th, Queen Anne was born; subsequently married to the prince of Denmark, 1683; succeeded her brother-in-law, William III., on the British throne, March 8th, 1702; crowned, and settled the first fruits and tenths on the poor clergy, in 1704, and died August 1st, 1714, aged 58 years. John Harrison, Esq., the great benefactor of Leeds, died at his house, (now the "Leeds Mercury Office,") Briggate, aged 77 years, leaving in various charities an imperishable memorial. It has been said that "The Benefactor" died in indigence, but this statement is successfully combated by existing relatives of Mr. Harrison, who instance the distribution of money periodically to his needy successors at the present day, and argue that this unfounded report was subsequently circulated to conceal peculation. Skipton castle was this year re-built by lady Anne Clifford, countess dowager of Pembroke, having laid in ruins from December, 1648, when it was demolished by order of parliament. Sarah Gledhill, (niece to the benefactor) by will dated 13th Oct., bequeathed £200 to purchase lands to endow a free school in Barkisland, for twelve poor children. The produce of the estate, purchased by the trustees, is £31 10s. per annum. George Savile was created by King Charles II. baron Savile of Elland, and viscount Halifax; and in 1682 he was created marquis of Halifax, a title which became extinct with his son, August 31st, 1700. On the 4th of December, 1700, Charles Montague, of V. Horton, in Northamptonshire, was created baron Halifax, in the CHAP. county of York, and in 1714 earl of Halifax and viscount Sunbury, with limitation to his nephew, Edward Montague, Esq. A.D. About this period, a gentleman newly converted to the tenets of 1657 George Fox, gave a piece of ground at Monk Bretton, near Barnsley, for the use of the Friends. Charles X., of Sweden, crossed the Little Belt over the ice from 1658 Holstein to Denmark with his whole army, horse and foot, followed by the train of baggage and artillery. On the 16th of August, was born in Kirkgate, Ralph Thoresby, the learned antiquary and historian of Leeds, who died Oct. 15th, 1725, and lies interred (without a monument) in the parish church at Leeds. Sir Henry Slingsby was beheaded on Tower-hill, for conspiring against Oliver Cromwell, June 8th. Joseph Bingham, whose works have obtained for him the name of "the learned Bingham," was born at Wakefield in this year. He was collated to the rectory of Havant, near Portsmouth, in 1712; and died August 17th, 1723. He wrote the " Antiquities of the Christian Church." Died, at Whitehall, Sept. 3rd, Oliver Cromwell, who was born at Huntingdon, April 25th, 1599. The Commonwealth of England, under Oliver Cromwell and his 1660 son Richard, lasted from January 30th, 1649, the day on which the unfortunate Charles I. was beheaded, till the 29th of May, 1660, the day on which the merry monarch, Charles II., was restored to the throne of his predecessor and father, which was eleven years, three months, and twenty-nine days. Wool was prohibited from being exported at the instance of the manufacturers, though the Lincolnshire graziers cried out against the restriction for more than a century afterwards. The county of York was now well disposed to promote the restoration of the Stuarts, and general Monk, on his arrival in York, in 1659, found the public disposition so favourable to the royal cause, that he formed a secret correspondence with lord Fairfax, and on the 11th of May, 1661, Charles II. was proclaimed with great solemnity in that city. On the 29th of the same month, being his majesty's birth-day, on which he made his public entry into London, the citizens of York displayed their loyalty in a most striking manner. They took out of the Guildhall the effigies of Cromwell and the miscreant Bradshaw, who signed the death warrant of Charles I., and after suspending them on a gallows in the Pavement, they put them, with the Scotch Covenant and the arms of the republic, into three tar barrels, and burnt them in the presence of a multitude of spectators, 1000 of whom were citizens in arms. CHAPTER VI. CHAP. A.D. 1660 RESTORATION OF THE STUART DYNASTY. When Charles II. ascended the throne of this country he was thirty years of age; he possessed a vigorous constitution, a fine shape, a manly figure, and a graceful air. Tenderness was excited in the nation by the memory of his recent adversities. And as the sudden and surprising revolution, which restored him to his legal Restoration rights, had also restored the country to peace, law, order, and Charles II. liberty; no prince ever obtained a crown in more favourable circumstances, or was more blest with the cordial affection and attachment of his subjects. 1660 1660 Prelacy restored in England.-At the Restoration, in 1660, nine bishops still remained alive, and were restored to their sees; all the ejected clergy recovered their livings; and the liturgy was again admitted into the churches. Venner, a desperate fanatic, at the head of the fifth-monarchymen, issued forth into the streets of London. They were, to the number of sixty, completely armed. Every one at first fled before them. One man, being questioned by them, said, "He was for God and King Charles," was instantly murdered. They went from street to street, every where proclaiming king Jesus, who, they said, was their invisible leader. At length the magistrates, having assembled the train-bands, made an attack upon them. They defended themselves with valour; and, after killing several of their assailants, retreated to Cane-Wood, near Hampstead. Next morning, however, they again entered the city, and traversing almost every street, they retired into a house, which they were resolute to defend to the last extremity. Being surrounded, and the house untiled, they were fired upon from every side. They refused quarter. The people rushed in upon them, and seized the few who were alive. These were tried, condemned, and executed; and to the last they persisted in affirming, that if they were deceived, it was the Lord that had deceived them. John Lake, D.D., afterwards bishop of Chichester, was presented to the vicarage of Leeds, but was obliged to employ a party of soldiers to secure his induction, the church doors having been barred against him by a furious mob, composed of the friends of his competitor, Mr. Bowles, of York. |