Bristol in Gloucester County England History and Geography

BRISTOL, a city and county of itself, and a considerable port, situated near the mouth of the Bristol channel, and between the counties of Gloucester and Somerset, 34 miles (S.W. by S.) from Gloucester, 12 (N.W.) from Bath, and 118 (W.) from London, containing 52,889 inhabitants. This place, called by the Britons ';Caer Brito,' and supposed to have been the Abona or Trajectus of Antonine, notwithstanding the various conjectures of antiquaries, probably derives its name from the Saxon Brito-stow. In 1063, Harold set sail from this port for the subjugation of Wales; and soon after the Conquest, his sons attempting to overthrow the government of William, made an assault upon Bristol, but were defeated by the inhabitants. At that time an extensive traffic in English slaves was carried on here, which was abolished by William, at the intercession of Archbishop Lanfranc. In 1089, Geoffrey, Bishop of Coutance, taking part in a confederacy against William Rufus, for the purpose of raising his elder brother Robert to the throne, assembled his forces here, and fortified the town with walls, portions of which still remain; and in the struggle between Stephen and Matilda, the Earl of Gloucester having taken possession of the city for the Empress, built a castle, into which she retired on her escape from Arundel, at that time besieged by her opponent. Stephen having been soon after taken prisoner, was confined in this castle, and, by Matilda's order, loaded with chains, till he was released by the capture of the earl, for whom he was exchanged. In 1142, Prince Henry, afterwards Henry II., being brought from Normandy on a visit to his mother, was placed at Bristol, under the protection of the Earl of Gloucester, where he remained for four years, and received part of his education. Edward I. kept the festival of Christmas, and held a council here in 1285; and during the war between Edward II. and the barons, Henry de Willington and Harry de Mumford, who had been taken prisoners, were executed here in 1322. Edward III., in 1353, removed the staple for wool from the several towns in Flanders to England, and, among other places, to this city, which, in consequence, rapidly grew into importance as a place of trade; and, in 1373, he erected it into a separate county, under the designation of the ';City and County of the City of Bristol,' the limits of which extend by water from Tower Haritz to Kingroad, thence along the South side of the Bristol channel, to the Holmes (the scene of the retirement of Gildas, the early historian of Britain), and eastward to Denney Island, and back to Kingsroad: by land, about five miles on the side next the county of Gloucester, and nearly three on that next the county of Somerset. In 1399, the Duke of Lancaster, afterwards Henry IV., besieged the city with a powerful army, and on its surrender, sentenced the governor, Scroop, Earl of Wiltshire, Sir Henry Green, and Sir John Bushy, to be beheaded; and in the same year, by an act of parliament, he exempted the city, by ';land and water,' from the jurisdiction of the Lord High Admiral. In 1471, the Duke of Somerset, the Earl of Devonshire, and other nobles in the interest of the House of Lancaster, entering into a confederacy against Edward IV., assembled their forces here, and were greatly assisted by the inhabitants, who were attached to the Lancastrian cause, in their attempts to replace Henry VI. upon the throne. Henry VII. visited Bristol in 1485, on which occasion the citizens, to evince the greater respect, appeared in their best apparel; but the king thinking their wives too richly dressed for their station, imposed a fine of twenty shillings upon every citizen who was worth £20. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., the city was garrisoned by the parliamentarians, who appointed Nathaniel Fiennes governor. The king, sensible of the importance of the place, endeavoured to gain possession of it by means of his partizans within the town; but their proceedings having been discovered, Alderman Yeomans and Mr. Bourchier were hanged as traitors, by order of the governor. In 1643, Prince Rupert closely invested the city, which surrendered on the third day; and the king arriving soon after, remained for some days, and attended divine service in the cathedral on the following Sunday. Bristol continued in the possession of the royalists for nearly two years; but after sustaining a vigorous assault with incredible valour, the garrison capitulated to Fairfax, and Cromwell soon after ordered the castle and the fortifications to be demolished.

The city is pleasantly situated in a valley surrounded by hills, near the confluence of the rivers Avon and Frome, and from the circumstance of many of the houses being built on the acclivities of the hills, and from its circular form, has been thought to bear a striking resemblance to ancient Rome. The old town, which forms the nucleus of the present city, consists of four principal streets, diverging at right angles from the centre, and intersected by several smaller streets. The houses in the interior of the town are mostly ancient, being built of timber and plaister, with the upper stories projecting; but in the exterior parts are spacious streets and squares, containing houses uniformly built of stone and brick, and possessing a high degree of elegance. The town is well paved, lighted with gas, and amply supplied with excellent water from springs, and from public conduits in convenient situations, of which, the conduit in Temple-street is ornamented with a fine figure of Neptune, and enclosed by an iron palisade. A handsome stone bridge of three wide arches over the Avon, that flows through the town, was completed in 1768, on the site of a former one, connecting the northern with the southern part; and over the river Frome is a draw-bridge of two arches of stone, the platform being turned by machinery, to admit the passage of ships. The theatre, said to have been admired by Garrick for its just proportions and arrangement, was built by Mr. Powell, in 1766, and is opened during the winter season by the Bath company of performers. Assemblies are occasionally held in a fine suite of rooms in Princes-street, composing a handsome edifice with pillars of the Corinthian order; and equestrian performances formerly took place in the circus, a commodious building in Limekiln-lane. The city library, a handsome stone edifice ornamented with sculptured literary emblems, contains an extensive collection of books, besides a valuable assortment of fossils given to it by the Rev. Mr. Calcott. The Philosophical Institution, a neat building with a Grecian portico, contains two reading-rooms, a theatre in which lectures on the various branches of science are periodically delivered, a laboratory, a philosophical apparatus, a museum, a room wherein casts from the Elgin marbles are deposited, and a room for the exhibition of paintings. There is also a Mechanies' Institution. The Exchange, in Corn-street, erected about the year 1760, by the corporation, at an expense of more than £50,000, is a spacious and elegant structure, one hundred and ten feet in length, and of proportionate breadth, with a rustic basement, in the centre of which are handsome columns of the Corinthian order, forming the principal entrance, and supporting a pediment, bearing in the tympanum the king's arms, finely sculptured: this edifice is not used as an exchange, but principally for the corn-market, the merchants, notwithstanding the ample accommodation it affords, having invariably transacted their business in the open street, till the year 1811, when the Commercial Rooms were erected. These buildings, to which the entrance from the street is by a portico of four pillars of the Ionic order, contain several apartments for the dispatch of business, and a reading-room: the principal hall, sixty feet in length forty feet wide, and twenty-five feet high, is lighted by a circular lantern, twenty-one feet in diameter, and crowned with a handsome dome supported by twelve caryatides. The post-office is a neat building of freestone, to the west of the Exchange.

This port carries on an extensive trade with the West Indies, North and South America, and the countries bordering on the Baltic and Mediterranean seas. The principal articles of importation are sugar, rum, coffee, tobacco, wine, German wool, timber, and turpentine; those exported consist chiefly of the produce of the manufactories within the town and neighbourhood: it has also a very extensive coasting trade, besides considerable intercourse with Ireland. The number of ships belonging to the port, according to the return in 1828, was two hundred and eighty-two, averaging one hundred and forty-eight tons' burden: in the year 1826, the number of vessels entered inwards from foreign ports was four hundred, and the number cleared outwards three hundred and twelve; and the amount of duties paid at the custom-house exceeded a million sterling: in the following year, the number of coasting vessels entered inwards was five thousand one hundred and eighty-six, of which seven hundred and thirty-one were from Ireland. The port was materially enlarged and improved in 1247, by diverting the course of the river Frome into another channel, but was still subject to great inconvenience, from vessels being obliged to wait for spring tides, before they could sail out of the harbour. It was further improved in 1803, by changing the course of the Avon, and damming up its former channel, to form an extensive floating-dock, communicating, by means of reservoirs, with the river and the quay, to which vessels have access at any time, and from which, at every high tide, they may sail directly into the channel. Over this new course of the Avon, two handsome iron bridges, have been erected: the entire work was completed in 1809, at an expense of more than £600,000. The quay, extending for more than a mile along the banks of the Avon and Frome, and secured by a strong brick wall coped with stone, is accessible to ships of any burden, and is conveniently adapted to the despatch of business. Immediately behind it, in a spacious square, in the centre of which is an equestrian statue of William III., in the Roman costume, are the mansion-house, the custom-house, and the excise-office, neither of them entitled to architectural notice. On the banks of the river Avon, a little below the town, are several dock-yards, where ship-building is carried on to a considerable extent. The principal articles of manufacture are brass, copper, zine, spelter, patent shot, lead, leather, floorcloth, china, glass, glass bottles and glass ware of every kind, (for which there are fifteen furnaces,) and the celebrated stone ware: the brass and copper works here are the most extensive in England, and the zinc is considered superior to that made in any other place. There is an extensive pin manufactory, wherein, exclusively of several hundred adults, two hundred children are employed; and there are several sugar refineries, breweries, distilleries, and iron foundries, for the supply of all which, abundance of coal is brought into the town, from the collieries in the neighbourhood. An act has lately been obtained for the construction of a rail-road from Coal Pit Heath, in the county of Gloucester, to Bristol. The market days are Monday, for fish; Tuesday, for corn, hay, and straw; Wednesday, for general provisions, fish, cheese, and hides; Thursday, for corn, cattle, and hides; Friday, for hay and straw; Saturday, for general provisions and hides. The principal market-place is a spacious quadrangle; one side is occupied by the back of the exchange, forming a rustic arcade, over which is a pediment ornamented with the city arms and surmounted by a handsome turret. St. James' market-house, and the Welsh market-house, are neat and convenient buildings. Fairs, each continuing eight days, on the first two of which there is a considerable show of cattle, are held, March 1st and September 1st. A spacious market-place for cattle has recently been opened without the town, at an expense of £10,000: it occupies an area four hundred feet square, along the sides of which are pent-houses for fat cattle, sheep, pigs, &c. The area is formed into divisions for lean cattle, store sheep, and pigs, and showing ground for horses: in the centre of the principal entrance is a commodious freestone residence for the clerk of the market, containing also apartments for drovers, farmers, &c.

The government, by charter of incorporation granted by Henry III., and confirmed and extended by Edward III., Queen Elizabeth, Charles II., and finally by Queen Anne, who made the election of the officers independent of royal control, is vested in a mayor, a high steward (who is usually a nobleman), a recorder (who must be a barrister of five years' standing), two sheriffs, (who are also bailiffs of the ancient hundred,) twelve aldermen, one for each of the twelve wards into which the city is divided, and twenty-eight common council-men, assisted by a town clerk (who must be a barrister of three years' standing), a chamberlain, vice-chamberlain, two coroners, a sword bearer, a water bailiff, a clerk of the markets, eight serjeants at mace, and subordinate officers. The mayor is chosen annually on the 4th of September, from among those who have served the office of sheriff; the sheriffs are chosen annually from the common council-men, and the aldermen from those who have served the office of mayor. The freedom of the city is inherited by the sons of freemen, obtained by marriage with the daughter of a freeman, by servitude, by purchase, or by presentation. The mayor, recorder, and aldermen are justices of the peace for the city and county of the city. The corporation hold a court of session quarterly, a court of assize in April, and a court of Nisi Prius, in which one of the judges on the western circuit presides. A court, called the Tolzey court, (from having been anciently held at the place where the king's tolls, or dues, were collected), is held by prescription every Monday, under the sheriffs (in their character of bailiffs of the hundred), aided by a steward, who must be a barrister of three years' standing; its jurisdiction extends over the whole of the county of the city and on the river, down to the Flat and Steep Holmes, below Kingsroad, thirty miles from the city; and it takes cognizance of all actions for debt, and other civil actions, to an unlimited amount, arising within the city: it also holds pleas of ejectment, and issues processes of attachment on the goods of foreigners sued for debt. A branch of this, and similar in all its proceedings and jurisdiction, is the court of Pie-powder, which is held for fourteen days in the open air, in the Old Market, commencing on the 30th of September, and during this period the proceedings in the Tolzey court are suspended. A court of conscience is held under commissioners, every Monday, pursuant to an act passed in the 1st of William and Mary, for the recovery of debts under 40s. A court of requests, under an act obtained in the 56th of George III., is also held every Monday under commissioners, for the recovery of debts above 40s., and under any amount for which an arrest on mesne process may by law take place: its jurisdiction extends over ';the city and county of the city of Bristol, and the liberties thereof, and the several parishes and out-parishes of Clifton, St. James, and St. Paul, and St. Philip and Jacob, and the tything of Stoke Bishop in the parish of Westbury upon Trym, in the county of Gloucester, and the parish of Bedminster, in the county of Somerset.' The guildhall is a very ancient building, recently fronted with stone; it is decorated with the arms of Edward VI., those of his present majesty, and a statue of Charles II. In the north wing is a small chapel, dedicated to St. George, founded in the reign of Richard II., by William Spicer, a former mayor. The new council-house, for the transaction of civic affairs, is an elegant edifice of freestone, of the Ionie order, with a handsome portico and balustrade, and ornamented with a figure of Justice over the pediment, on one side of which are the royal arms, and on the other those of the city. Merchants' hall, Coopers' hall, and others, formerly belonging to the different trading companies, and many of them handsome buildings, are now appropriated to private uses. The gaol, erected in 1820, is a spacious and well arranged quadrangular edifice of stone; at the entrance is a lodge for the turnkey, and in the centre of the court yard is the governor's house, communicating, by means of cast-iron bridges, with the four wings of the prison, one containing rooms for forty-three male and forty-three female debtors of the first and second classes, and others for fifty of the lower class, with an infirmary for females, two cells and a day room for female conviets under sentence of death: the other wings are for felons, and are arranged with a due regard to classification, and to cleanliness, exercise, and health: the buildings are warmed by pneumatic stoves, and are amply supplied with water raised from a spring, by a tread-wheel worked by the prisoners. The house of correction, which is also well arranged and under good regulation, is situated on the bank of the river Frome, in the parish of St. John. Lawford's gate prison, without the city, is appropriated to that part of the suburbs lying in the county of Gloucester. The elective franchise has been exercised since the 23rd of Edward I.: the city returns two members to parliament. The right of election is vested in the freemen at large, in number about six thousand: the mayor is the returning officer.

Bristol is the seat of a diocese, the jurisdiction of which extends over the city and county of the city, the greater part of the county of Dorset, and a few parishes in the county of Gloucester: it was separated from the diocese of Salisbury, and raised into a see in 1542. The establishment consists of a bishop, dean, six prebendaries, six minor canons, a deacon, subdeacon, and other officers. The cathedral, dedicated to the Holy Trinity, was formerly the Collegiate Church belonging to a priory of Black canons, founded by Robert Fitzharding, in 1148, and raised into an abbey in the reign of Henry II., the revenue being, at the dissolution, £767. 15. 3. It is a venerable and highly finished cruciform structure, with a lofty square embattled tower rising from the centre, strengthened with buttresses, and crowned with pinnacles; it contains portions in the early, decorated, and later styles of English architecture, in all of them exhibiting specimens of the purest design, and most elaborate execution. The nave was destroyed during the parliamentary war: the roofs of the choir and transepts, all of equal height and finely groined, are supported on clustered columns, richly moulded; and the remaining parts, from the striking beauty of their details, afford evidence of the grandeur of the interior when entire. At the entrance into the choir is an empannelled screen, ornamented with carvings of the minor prophets; and in several small chapels of exquisite beauty, are many interesting monuments, among which may be noticed those of Robert Fitzharding, and of several of the abbots and bishops; of Mrs. Draper, the eulogized Eliza of Sterne; Lady Hesketh, celebrated by Cowper; and the wife of the Rev. William Mason, with the beautiful epitaph written by that poet. The chapter-house, a spacious edifice highly enriched in the latest style of Norman architecture; part of the cloisters, in the later English style; and the episcopal palace, in repairing which in 1740, a dungeon was discovered, containing human bones and several instruments of torture, are still remaining: the entrance gateway, in the lower part of the Norman style, and in the upper part of the later style of English architecture, is in a state of excellent preservation.

The city comprises the parishes of All Saints, St. Augustine, Christ Church, St. Ewin or Owen, St. John the Baptist, St. Leonard, St. Mary le Port, St. Mary Redcliffe, St. Michael, St. Nicholas, St. Peter, St. Stephen, St. Thomas, and St. Werburgh, besides Temple parish, and part of the parishes of St. James, St. Paul, St. Philip and St. Jacob, all, with the exception of the parishes of St. Augustine and St. Thomas, being within the peculiar jurisdiction of the bishop: there is also the extra-parochial ward of Castle Precincts, which has no church, and is exempted from all ecclesiastical assessments. The living of All Saints' is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at £4. 3. 4., endowed with £400 private benefaction, and £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter of Bristol. The church, to which a tower was added in 1716, is a very ancient structure; the interior is a fine specimen of the early style of English architecture, and contains a magnificent monument by Rysbrack, to the memory of Edward Colston, Esq., an eminent philanthropist, and a great benefactor to the city. The living of St. Augustine's is a discharged vicarage, in the archdeaconry of Gloucester, and diocese of Bristol, rated in the king's books at £6, endowed with £800 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter. The church, which was built about the year 1480, combines various portions in the early, with several in the later, style of English architecture. The living of Christ Church parish is a discharged rectory united with that of St. Ewin's, rated in the king's books at £11. 10., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. The church is a handsome modern edifice in the Grecian style, with a lofty tower of two stages, decorated with light columns and pilasters, and surmounted by an octangular turret and spire. The living of St. John the Baptist's is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £7. 4. 7., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Corporation. The church is a handsome edifice, chiefly in the later style of English architecture. The living of St. Leonard's is a discharged vicarage united with that of St. Nicholas', rated in the king's books at £34. 1. 1., endowed with £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Dean and Chapter. The living of the parish of St. Mary le Port is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £7, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Duke of Buckingham. The church is a very ancient structure in the early style of English architecture, with a square embattled tower crowned with pinnacles. The living of St. Mary's Redcliffe is a vicarage, annexed to Bedminster, rated in the king's books at £12. 6. 3. The church was founded in 1376, by Simon de Burton, mayor, and, after the damage it sustained from a violent storm, in 1445, that blew down two-thirds of the spire, it was extensively repaired by William Cannyngs, Esq. It is a spacious and magnificent cruciform structure, with a lofty and finely proportioned tower at the west end, surmounted by the remaining part of the spire, which has not been rebuilt. The interior exhibits a continued series of the richest specimens, in every variety, from the early to the later style of English architecture; the roof is elaborately groined, and supported on finely clustered columns of singular delicacy, and deeply moulded arches of graceful elevation; all the proportions are lofty, and all the details rich and exquisitely finished: the beautiful east window has been blocked up with paintings, which, though from the pencil of Hogarth, cannot atone for the destruction of a feature so essential to the unity of effect, that this splendid structure is calculated to produce; and the organ, which has been removed to the west end of the nave, is supported by a heavy mass of modern masonry, by no means harmonising with the character of the building. At the intersection is a fine brass eagle, formed of the refuse from the pin manufactory, and presented by the proprietor of that establishment. The north porch, which is entirely in the decorated style, is exquisitely beautiful; and the Lady chapel, now used as a school-room, is a fine specimen of the later style. In this church are two monuments to the memory of Mr. Cannyngs, who is considered as its second founder; one bearing his effigies in magisterial robes, surmounted by a rich canopy; the other representing him as Dean of Westbury, having been promoted to that dignity on entering into holy orders towards the close of his life. The remains of Sir William Penn, father of William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, are deposited here. The living of St. Michael's is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £6, endowed with £800 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. The church is a neat structure in the ancient style of English architecture, with a very old tower. The living of St. Nicholas' is a discharged vicarage, united with that of St. Leonard, endowed with £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. The church is a neat plain modern edifice in the ancient style of English architecture; the interior is a spacious area undivided by pillars: in the crypt is a handsome monument to the memory of Alderman John Whiston, who represented the city in four successive parliaments. The living of St. Peter's is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £6. 7. 6., endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. The church is a very ancient and venerable structure, and though so frequently repaired as to leave little of the original building, it still retains much of its character and interest. Richard Savage, whose talents and sufferings have equally excited the admiration and the sympathy of the public, was interred in this church. The living of St. Stephen's is a discharged recory, rated in the king's books at £16, endowed with £1200 royal bounty, and in the gift of the Crown. The church, founded in 1470, by John Shipward, Esq., mayor, is a very handsome structure in the later style of English architecture, with a lofty and beautiful tower, crowned with light pierced battlements and turrets, and a porch, the details of which are exquisitely rich. The living of Temple parish is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at £3. 4. 2., and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. The church, founded by the Knights Templars, in 1145, is a spacious edifice, partaking of the late Norman and early English styles of architecture, with a fine tower, declining considerably from the perpendicular, and disunited from the body of the church by the vibration caused by ringing the bells. The living of St. Thomas' is a perpetual curacy annexed to Bedminster, in the archdeaconry of Bath, and diocese of Bath and Wells. The church, founded in the twelfth century, was rebuilt in 1793; it is a handsome structure in the later style of English architecture. The living of St. Werburgh's is a discharged rectory, rated in the king's books at £10, and in the gift of the Crown. The church, founded in 1190, and, with the exception of the tower, which was added to it in 1385, rebuilt in 1761, is of the later style of English architecture: it is highly ornamented within, and contains a handsome monument to the memory of Robert Thorne, founder of the grammar school. In this church, the litany was first sung in English, in 1543. The living of St. James' is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £600 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. The church, anciently collegiate, was made parochial in 1347, when the tower was added: the interior contains some fine portions in the Norman style of architecture, particularly a curious circular window. Robert, Earl of Gloucester, founder of the ancient priory of St. James, to which the church belonged, and Eleonora, niece of King John, who is said to have been forty years confined in Bristol castle, are supposed to lie interred in this church. The living of St. Paul's is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £400 private benefaction, and £400 royal bounty, and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. The living of the parish of St. Philip and St. Jacob is a discharged vicarage, rated in the king's books at £15, and in the patronage of the Mayor and Corporation. The church, founded in the twelfth century, is a spacious and handsome structure, in the early style of English architecture, with a lofty square embattled tower. St. Mark's, commonly called the mayor's chapel, in College-green, formerly collegiate, is a small edifice containing elegant specimens of the early, decorated, and later styles of English architecture, with a beautiful tower: the altar-piece which has been recently restored, contains some handsome niches in the later style, and fine tabernacle work; and to the east of the tower, is a small chapel, now used for a vestry-room, with a cieling of fan tracery of exquisite workmanship: divine service is performed every Sunday morning, by the mayor's chaplain. A new church is being built in the parish of St. Philip, by grant from the parliamentary commissioners. There are several episcopal chapels, the principal of which are Foster's chapel, in Steep-street; Colston's chapel, on St. Michael's hill; Trinity chapel, a neat building in the later English style; and Great George-street chapel, a handsome structure in the Grecian style of architecture, with a portico of the Doric order; besides a chapel for French Protestants. There are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, Moravians, Scotch Seceders, Swedenborgians, and Unitarians, and a chapel belonging to the Trustees of the late Countess of Huntingdon, a Roman Catholic chapel, and two Synagogues.

The free grammar school was founded in 1352, by Robert Thorne, who bequeathed £1000 for that purpose, which sum, together with several houses and some land belonging to the dissolved hospital of St. Bartholomew, was appropriated to its erection and endowment, and various benefactions having since been made, it now possesses five hundred and ninety acres of land and some houses: it is open to the sons of all freemen, within a mile of the liberties of the city, and is under the management of the corporation, who appoint a headmaster, and a second master, each with a salary of £80 per annum, the head master having also a good house, with the privilege of taking boarders: it has several exhibitions and two small fellowships at St. John's College, Oxford. The grammar school in College green is attached to the cathedral, for the instruction of the choristers, by one of the minor canons of that establishment. The free grammar and writing school, in the parish of Redcliffe, was founded by letters patent granted in the 13th of Elizabeth, and endowed by Alderman Whiston and others, with annuities amounting to £21: it is under the management of twelve incorporated governors. Queen Elizabeth's hospital, founded in 1586, by John Carr, an opulent citizen, whose endowment of it, increased by subsequent benefactions, produces about £2400 per annum, is under the management of the corporation, and is appropriated to the clothing, maintenance, and education of forty boys. The free school in St. Augustine's parish was founded in 1708, by Mr. Edward Colston, who endowed it for the clothing, maintenance, and education of one hundred boys; it is under the inspection of trustees, agreeably to the directions of the founder. In this school Chatterton was maintained for seven years, and within that period is thought to have composed several of his poems. The free school in Temple parish, originally supported by subscription, was endowed with £80 per annum by Mr. Edward Colston, who erected the school-house in 1711, for clothing and instructing forty boys, but the number has been reduced to thirty. The Merchants' Hall school was founded in 1738, by Dame Susannah Holworthy, and endowed by her and other benefactors, for the instruction of forty boys in grammar, arithmetic, and geography, ten of whom are also taught navigation. The merchants' society, in part of whose hall the school is held, provide mathematical instruments, charts, and books, and pay a master £80 per annum. The school in Pile-street, for clothing and teaching forty boys of the parishes of Redcliffe and St. Thomas, is supported partly by an endowment of £20 per annum, by Mr. Edward Colston, and partly by subscription: the income is about £170 per annum, part of it being appropriated in apprenticing a small number of the boys. The Red Maids' school was founded in 1627, and endowed by Alderman Whiston, for the clothing, maintenance, and instruction of forty girls. A school in Temple parish is endowed with a permanent fund sufficient for the clothing and instruction of forty girls: there is also a school for thirty boys, children of protestant dissenters, who are educated and partly clothed; the buildings occupy three sides of a quadrangle in Stoke's Croft, the centre containing the school and house for the master, the wings being used as almshouses for twelve aged persons; there is also a school supported by the Wesleyan Methodists, and endowed by an unknown benefactor with £700, for the clothing and instruction of thirty girls.

Trinity hospital, or almshouses, for ten aged men and thirty-six poor women, is of very ancient foundation: the original endowment, increased by successive benefactions, produces at present £790 per annum. The premises consist of two separate ranges of buildings, on opposite sides of Old Market-street, to one of which is attached a neat chapel for the use of the alms-people. Foster's almshouses, in Steep-street, were founded and endowed in 1492, by John Foster, merchant, for fourteen aged persons; the annual revenue is at present £333. 16. 4.: they are firmly built of stone, and have a small chapel annexed. Temple hospital was founded and endowed in 1613, by the Rev. Dr. White; its revenue, which has since been progressively improving, amounts at present to £609. 18., per annum, and the number of the inmates has been increased to twenty-four: the premises consist of two parallel ranges of buildings, connected at one end by a wall, the area forming a garden for the use of the alms-people. Two almshouses, both stone structures, one in Temple-street, containing twelve tenements, and the other in the old market-place, containing sixteen apartments, were founded and endowed in 1679, by Alderman Stevens: the endowment, consisting of three hundred and fifty-four acres of land, produces at present £750 per annum. The merchants' almshouses, in Kingstreet, were founded by John Welch and other mariners, in the 4th of Queen Elizabeth, and comprise thirty-one tenements, at present occupied by nineteen seamen and twelve women. Colston's almshouses, on St. Michael's hill, were founded and endowed in 1696, by Mr. Edward Colston, for twelve aged men and twelve aged women: the present income is about £300 per annum; the premises contain twenty-four apartments: Mrs. Sarah Ridley founded an almshouse in 1716, which she endowed with £2200, for five decayed bachelors and five decayed maids; the endowment was augmented by Mr. John Jocham with £1000, and with subsequent benefactions, produces at present an income of £155 per annum. The almshouses, situated in Milk-street, were founded by Mrs. Elizabeth Blanchard in 1722, who endowed them for five aged persons, the income is £95 per annum: there are also several others of minor importance. The revenue arising from these various charitable endowments amounts to nearly £17,000 per annum. The infirmary, the great medical and surgical school for the western counties, is conducted on a plan of truly beneficent liberality, and embraces, without exception, every possible case of calamity or disease; it was opened for the reception of patients in 1786, and is nobly supported by donations and voluntary subscription. The building, to which a new wing has been recently added, at an expense of £10,000, is spacious and well arranged, and in an open and healthy situation. The asylum for the indigent blind of both sexes, from all parts of the kingdom, who are instructed in basket-making, and in other trades suited to their situation, is a valuable institution supported by subscription. The dispensary, the hospital for diseases of the eye, the asylum for female orphans, the refuge society, the penitentiary, and numerous other charitable and benevolent institutions, are extensively patronised and liberally supported. At Clifton, about a mile from the city, are the celebrated hot wells noticed in the account of that place.

Of the ancient fortifications, the tower gateway, a plain arch at the end of John-street, and St. John's gate, under the tower of St. John's church, decorated with statues and much ornamented, are all that remain. There are partial remains of some of the numerous religious houses anciently existing in the city and its immediate vicinity, comprised in the buildings of the schools and charitable institutions that have been established by the corporation and other individuals, into whose possession they were transferred at the dissolution. Of these the principal were a priory of Benedictine monks, to the north-east of the city, founded by Robert, Earl of Gloucester, in the latter part of the reign of Henry I., or the beginning of that of Stephen; a nunnery to the north of the city, founded in the reign of Henry II., by Eva, widow of Robert Fitzharding, of which she was prioress, and the revenue of which, at the dissolution, was £21. 11. 3.; St. John's hospital, on the road to Bath, founded in the reign of King John, the revenue of which was £51. 10. 4.; St. Catherine's hospital, founded in the reign of Henry III., by Robert de Berkele, the revenue of which was £21. 15. 8.; St. Lawrence's hospital, for lepers, founded in the reign of Henry III.; an hospital dedicated to the Blessed Virgin and St. Mark, founded in 1229, by Maurice de Gaunt, the revenue of which was £140; a house of black friars, by the same founder, who also erected a college of calendaries; a house of grey friars, founded in 1234; a house of white friars, founded in 1267, by Edward I., when Prince of Wales; an establishment for Augustine friars, founded in the reign of Edward II., by Simon and William Montacute; and Trinity hospital, near Lawford-gate, founded by John Barstaple, in the reign of Henry V.

This city is distinguished as the birth-place of many eminent characters, among whom may be noticed Sebastian Cabot, who first discovered the continent of North America, in 1498; Hugh Elliot, who discovered Newfoundland, in 1527; William Grocyn, Greek professor at Oxford in the beginning of the sixteenth century; Tobias Matthew, Archbishop of York; Rev. Mr. Calcott, author of a treatise on the deluge; Sir William Draper, who wrote in support of the administration of the Marquis of Granby against the attacks of Junius; Admiral Sir William Penn; the Rev. John Lewis, author of the Life of Wickliffe, the History of the Translations of the Bible, and other learned works; the poet Chatterton; Mrs. Mary Robinson, from the sweetness of her poetry called the British Sappho; Edward Colston, merchant, who died in 1721; and Richard Reynolds, one of the Society of Friends, and a proprietor of the iron-works at Colebrook-dale, both distinguished for their munificent charities; and Thomas Edward Bowditch, the African traveller. Bristol gives the titles of earl and marquis to the family of Hervey.

From Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England 1831, courtesy of Databases 4 Sale