Hartlepool is situated about four miles to the eastward of the last-mentioned place, is an ancient corporation sea-port town, situated on a promontory nearly encompassed by the German Ocean. It consists chiefly of one principal street, a back street, and several cross streets. On the Moor, near the town, are two batteries, mounted with cannon, beside an entrenchment. Within the walls was formerly a fine bason of water, used as a harbour, and defended by two strong round towers; but they are now decayed, and the harbour choaked up. The present harbour lies to the south of the town, and is of easy entrance, but only admits vessels of light burden. It is chiefly used by the fishermen, but occasionally a collier from Shields or Sunderland takes shelter here during a storm, and for the better protection of vessels of this kind, the harbour has been lately very much improved, by the extension of the stone pier, to defray the expence of which ample funds were subscribed by the gentlemen and merchants of the county. An excellent life-boat has been established, which is manned by the pilots stationed here. In the centre of the town stands a good Hall, where the mayor is chosen, and all public business transacted. The other public buildings are a Free School and Custom House. In the reign of Edward III. this place furnished fire large ships to the navy, and was next in rank to the city of Durham. The Church, or rather chapel (this town being united with the parish of Hart, from whence it takes its name), is an irregular structure, of different ages and styles of architecture.

During the summer months this place, of late years, has been much frequented for sea-bathing; the lodgings are good, and there are several pleasant walks on the town-wall, the moor, and the sands; as well as some striking views from the rugged and arched rocks, with which this coast abounds. Within a few yards of the Water Gate, is a chalybeate spring, which is covered every tide by the sea; and below the South Battery is another spring, which in the properties of its waters resembles those at Harrogate. At a small distance from the town are several extensive coal works, and a large flour manufactory. It is governed by a mayor, alderman, recorder, and common council, under a charter from king John. It has a market on Saturday. It is situated 20 miles from Durham, 21 from Sunderland, and 258 from London; and contains 259 houses, and 1249 inhabitants.

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HARTLEPOOL is a seaport, a municipal and parliamentary borough, market and union town, head of a county court district, with a station on the North Eastern railway, one branch of which, passing through West Hartlepool, communicates with York and London, and the other with Sunderland and the north, 12 miles north-north-east from Stockton, 21 east-south-east from Durham and 250 ¾ from London. The town is in the South Eastern division of the county, in the north-eastern division of Stockton ward, petty sessional division, rural deanery of Hartlepool (formed by an Order in Council 29 Dec. 1887), archdeaconry of Auckland and diocese of Durham.

The town is situated on a peninsula washed on the north and east by the German Ocean, and is bounded on the west by what was formerly a salt marsh called “The Slake,” part of which is now converted into docks and basins. The Hartlepools were constituted a parliamentary borough, returning one member, by the “Representation of the People Act, 1867,” and comprise the municipal borough, and the townships of Throston, Stranton (including West Hartlepool) and Seaton Carew, and were not altered by the Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885.

The town was first incorporated by Royal Charter from King John in the year 1200, and this charter granted to the men of Hartlepool the position of free burgesses, and the enjoyment of the same laws and liberties as the burgesses of Newcastle; the next charter was granted in 1230 by Richard Poore, bishop of Durham, and gave to the Corporation the right to elect a mayor, to establish a gild merchant, and to hold a fair, with other privileges; the charter of Bishop Poore was confirmed by the Prior and Convent of Durham, and there were also charters (now lost) in the 13th century from William and Robert de Brus, the immediate lords of this place; in 1593, at the request of Lord Lumley, a new charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth, appointing a mayor and 12 capital burgesses, with various officers; and enjoining the carrying of gilt and silver maces adorned with the royal arms before the mayor and his successors: the charter of Elizabeth remained in force until superseded by the provisions of the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835 (5th and 6th William IV. cap. 76), by which the Corporation was reconstituted under a new charter, dated 5th December, 1850, and now consists of a mayor, four aldermen and twelve councillors, who also act as the Urban Sanitary Authority, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Health Act 1848 (11th and 12th Viet. cap. 63): the town has a commission of the peace and a separate court of quarter sessions.

The police arrangements are under the control of the Watch Committee of the Corporation.

The town is paved and lighted with gas, and well supplied with water of excellent quality from the works of the Hartlepool Gas and Water Company.

The town of Hartlepool is a place of great antiquity, the earliest mention of which is in the writings of the Venerable Bede, who relates that Aidan, first Bishop of Lindisfarne (A.D. 635-52), sanctioned, in A.D.640, the foundation of a nunnery at Heortha, or the “Isle of Harts,” by a religious Irishwoman, named Hien, or St. Bega, who is stated to have been the first lady among the northern tribes who assumed the monastic veil. On St. Bega leaving Hartlepool, a few years subsequently, she was succeeded by St. Hilda, a relative of Oswy, king of Bernicia (South Northumbria, who in 658 afterwards removed with her nuns to the vale of Whitby.

Although twice attacked and plundered by the Danes, and as many times by the Scots, Hartlepool continued to be what Camden terms it, a famous emporium (emporium celebre). In 1141 on the death of Robert de Brus, the manor of Hert and the territory of Hertness came to his second son, Robert, from whom descended the Bruces of Annandale, eventually kings of Scotland. Hartlepool is first mentioned in the account of the invasion of England in 1173 by William the Lion, king of Scotland in support of the pretensions of Prince Henry of England; the king, however, was surprised and taken prisoner at Alnwick 13 July, 1174, and on the same day the Count of Bar, with a force of 540 knights and soldiers from Flanders, landed at Hartlepool, but on hearing of the king’s capture were chiefly re-embarked; Robert Bruce, the sixth of his name, between the years 1245-95, fortified the town with walls, and formed a haven capable of holding 100 vessels, and defended on either side by ten towers. On the defection of the 8th Robert Bruce, who was crowned king of Scotland at Scone 27 March, 1306, by Isabel Countess of Buchan, the manor of Hert, and the borough of Hertrepol were granted by Edward I. to Robert de Clifford, and though once forfeited, the property was restored, and remained with that family till George (Clifford) 3rd Earl of Cumberland in 1586 sold the estatees to John, Lord Lumley, for £5,350. During the reign of Edward III. and in subsequent years, the port was constantly requisitioned for ships and men for the royal service, and the vessels furnished appear to have been of a larger size and batter equipped that most others in the fleet.

In 1614 Hartlepool was described as being the only port town in the county of Durham; and at the commencement of the great civil war it was still the principal harbour and shipping place of the bishopric; and being, like Newcastle, Tynemouth and Stockton, a royal garrison, it was besieged and taken in Jan. 1644 by General Sir Alexander Lesley, Earl of Leven, and the Scots army, and having been held by them for some time as a garrison and magazine, it was in 1647 delivered up to the Parliament, who ordered its fortifications to be destroyed: from that time its trade declined till it became little more than a fishing village; still, however, retaining its charter, with the shadow of a municipal Corporation.

In 1681, the chief offices of the customs were removed to Stockton, leaving the town with nothing but a coast office for the clearance of ships.

In the year 1818, an Act of Parliament (53 Geo. 3) was obtained for the appointment of Improvement Commissioners (the Pier and Port Commission) for the repair of the old pier, town and walls, with power to exact tolls from every vessel using the port, and a fortieth part of the rental of every house in the township of the annual value of £5 or upwards. In 1831, coal of first-rate quality having been discovered north-west of Hartlepool, under the magnesian limestone, a railway and docks were projected to connect this coal field with the sea. The Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company was accordingly formed, and in the following year an Act of Parliament was obtained, authorizing the construction of a dock, to include, with the inner harbour, 60 acres, the estimated expense being £209,000: on the same day another Pier and Port Act was passed, sanctioning additional harbour works, abolishing some of the former tolls, and substituting additional ones.

The Hartlepool railway was opened for traffic July 6th, 1835; the “Hartlepool” packet was the first vessel loaded with coals in the harbour; and the New, or Victoria Dock, having been opened 7th of November, 1840, this previously obscure and languishing fishing village was in 110 long time transformed into a thriving and important place of trade. In June, 1837, a new Pier and Port Act was obtained, authorizing the Commissioners to borrow further sums of money, and defining the boundaries of the Harbour Commissioners’ and the Dock Company’s jurisdiction.

The particulars of the trade of the port are included with West Hartlepool.

The rail way terminus here was erected by the Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company, but is now the property of the North Eastern Railway Company.

The Victoria Dock, within the harbour, is also the property of the North Eastern Railway Company, and is chiefly used for the shipment of coal and the importation of timber &c.: it has a water area of 20 acres; the depth of water at the entrance is-at spring tides, 21 feet; neaps, 17 feet: the depth at the entrance to the New Dock being at spring tides 25 feet; neaps, 21 feet.

The port and harbour of Hartlepool is under the jurisdiction of thirteen Commissioners, five of whom are appointed by the North Eastern Railway Company as proprietors of the East and West Docks; one by the Board of Trade; one elected by the West Hartlepool Improvement Commissioners; one by the Corporation of Hartlepool; three by the shipowners of the port of Hartlepool; and two by the exporters and importers of the port. The Commissioners have jurisdiction over the bay and part of the old harbour.

The breakwater, erected from the design of Messrs. Walker and Robinson, for the protection of the entrances to the East and West harbours, starts from the east corner of the Headland, and extends in a south-easterly direction, and is 1,320 feet in length. Since 1870, the approach to the old harbour has been deepened, so that the depth of water over the bar, which, at the end of 1869, was only 4 ¼ feet at low water of spring tides, was increased to 12 ½ feet at the end of 1877.

Besides the sea works above mentioned, the Commissioners have under their jurisdiction the large lighthouse, situated on the Heugh, a headland east of the town, the light from which was first exhibited 1st October, 1847: the tower is an elegant shaft of white sandstone, tapering to a height, from the ground to the top of the gallery, of 48 feet, and of 58 feet to the centre of the light, which is 84 feet above high water mark: the cost of the tower, lantern and lighting apparatus, including a tide light on the same principle, at an elevation of 61 ½ feet above high water, was £3,200; for the security of the lighthouse it was found necessary to defend the face of the cliff on which it stands with masonry. The higher and larger light is a stationary white light of the first order; the lower, or tidal one, being a stationary red light of the fifth order: the larger light is exhibited during the whole night from sunset to sunrise, but the red light is only shown at night between half-flood and half-ebb tide, as a signal when ships may enter the harbour; and as a corresponding day signal, a large red ball is hoisted to the head of a mast attached to the lantern: both lights are produced from coal gas, and so directed by optical apparatus as to send forth the light in a plane nearly parallel to the horizon. The Commissioners have also the working of a ferry for the conveyance of passengers from Hartlepool to Middleton and West Hartlepool.

In 1889, a pier, three-quarters of a mile long and varying from 5 to 40 yards in width, was completed, extending from the Heugh lighthouse to Throston, at a total cost of £30,000. The whole has been asphalted, and is approached from the town moor by four gentle slopes: there are several recesses in the rocks and numerous seats, and the pier forms a pleasant promenade and adds considerably to the attractions of the town as a residential and holiday resort.

The parish church of St. Hilda, supposed to occupy the site of the convent founded by St. Bega, and occupying an elevated situation at the east end of the town, forms a conspicuous object on the coast, and is an ancient structure in the Norman and Early English styles, consisting of a portion of the ancient chancel (originally 70 feet long) with aisles, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and a massive western tower 78 feet in height, supported on three sides by huge gabled buttresses of great strength and thickness, projecting to a considerable distance, those on the west side being pierced with moulded doorways; the tower is relieved in three stages by pointed arches, which in the upper stage form an arcading; it is finished with an embattled parapet and low pyramidal crocketed pinnacles at three of the angles, the south-west angle being occupied by a hexagonal stair-turret with battlement and spired crocketed capping; the belfry contains a clock and 3 bells; the projecting buttresses originally inclosed three small chapels, one of which, on the south side, still exists: the doorway on the south side is a fine specimen of the late Norman period, much enriched with zigzag work, and the porch is a memorial: the principal entrance through the tower, which was long closed up, has been reopened: the interior of the church is well proportioned, the nave being 85 feet in length by 44 in breadth: each of the aisle arcades has five piers, composed of clustered shafts, the caps of which spread out into a single moulded band surmounting the whole; these support Pointed arches, above which rises a lofty clerestory, containing on each side five Early English windows set in exterior arcades; the transverse arches of the aisles are semi-circular: the nave and chancel are separated by a lofty arch of fine proportions: in 1838, the tower buttresses were rebuilt, and in that year and in 1851 the interior of the fabric was renovated: in 1867 the nave was restored, the floor lowered, so as to show the bases of the piers, a new roof erected, and the whole re-seated: in 1869 the chancel was rebuilt at a cost of £1,600 to nearly its original dimensions; Mr. J. P. Pritchett, of Darlington, being the architect; it is now 45 feet in length, with aisles corresponding to those of the nave, and has a richly and deeply arcaded clerestory, lighted by three windows on each side: the entire length of the church is 130 feet, and in the nave and chancel are several stained windows: there is a curious brass with effigy to Jane (Thornell), wife of Parsavel Bell, ob. January 6, 1593; and in the north aisle two male and female effigies in stone, much mutilated: in March, 1872, a fine organ was placed in the north chancel aisle: the font, presented to the church at the beginning of the last century, has an elegant basin of Yorkshire marble: there were formerly several chantries belonging to this church, which affords 600 sittings. In the churchyard, near the east end of the church, is a large altar tomb, formerly in the chancel, with an upper slab, 9 feet long and 6 wide: the sides are panelled, and display the arms of the Bruces of Skelton. The register dates from the year 1560. The living is a rectory, tithe rent-charge £14, net yearly value £350, including 130 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the vicar of Hart, and held since 1874 by the Rev. Edwin Robert Ormsby M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin, surrogate and rural dean.

Holy Trinity is an ecclesiastical parish, formed February 8th, 1853, partly out of the parish of Hart and partly from St. Hilda parish: the church, situated at the junction of Dock street and Millbank crescent, on land given by the trustees of the late Duke of Cleveland, was built in 1850-1, at a cost, including fittings, of £3,500, and is a building of stone in the Early Decorated style, from designs by Mr. John Middleton, architect, of Darlington, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, north and south porches, vestry and organ chamber, and an open bellcote over the western gable containing 2 bells: the chancel is fitted with oak stalls, relieved in front with panelling and ornamented at the ends with poppy heads, and the organ chamber is inclosed by traceried oak screens; the pulpit is of Caen stone, and the font was presented by Archdeacon Thorp: in 1889 a stained memorial window was erected to Christopher Walker esq.: there are 875 sittings. The register dates from the year 1852. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £300, with Gothic residence, built in 1855 by J. P. Pritchett, architect, in the gift of the vicar of Hart, and held since 1868 by the Rev. Edwin Shaw, of St. Bees. In 1889 large and small rooms for Sunday school and parish purposes were built.

St. Andrew’s, a chapel of ease to St. Hilda’s, situated in Croft terrace, and erected in 1886, is a building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel with organ chamber, nave of three bays, north aisle, south porch, and a tower on the south side: it is intended to carry up the tower considerably higher as soon as funds are available for the purpose: this chapel is specially intended for the fishermen and pilots of the Croft, and is under the charge of the Rev. Edwin Robert Ormsby M.A. rector of St. Hilda’s.

The Catholic church, dedicated to St. Mary, situated in Brougham street, was erected in 1850-1, at a cost, including site and priest’s residence, of nearly £4,000, and is a building in the Early English style, from designs by Mr. J. A. Hansom, architect, of Preston, consisting of apsidal chancel, nave with clerestory, aisles and an eastern tower with broach spire containing 3 bells: under the chancel is a crypt, fitted up as a chapel by the Dowager Lady Stourton, and containing three stained windows: the entire length of the church is 121 feet, with a breadth of 43 feet: the altar, placed at the west end, is of stone, richly carved and ornamented the five windows in the chancel and those of the aisles are stained, and were the gifts of various benefactors: at the west end of the north aisle is a chapel erected as a memorial to the Very Rev. William Knight, for upwards of 30 years rector here: the Rev. G. Van Hooff is the priest.

The Baptist chapel, situated in Baptist street, is a plain building of stone in the Italian style, erected in 1851, at a cost of about £700, and will seat 550 persons.

The Congregational church, situated in Brougham street, and erected in 1842, at a cost of £1,200, exclusive of site, is a building in the Italian style, with a pedimented front supported by plain pilasters, and has over 400 sittings; beneath the church is a keeper’s residence and school rooms.

The Wesleyan chapel, situated in Northgate street, and erected in 1839, was enlarged in 1868, at a cost of £1,100, and is a plain building in the Italian style, and will seat 800 persons.

The Primitive Methodist chapel, situated in Brougham street, is an edifice of stone in the Italian style, erected in 1851, at a total cost, including residence for the superintendent minister of the circuit and Sunday schools and other additions, of £2,700: there are sittings for goo persons. There is also a Primitive Methodist chapel at Middleton.

The United Presbyterian church, situated in Brougham street, and erected in 1882-3, at a cost, including site, of nearly, £7,000, is a fine building of red brick with stone dressings, in the Early English style, and will seat 700 persons: in the basement there are large school and class rooms.

St. Mark’s Methodist New Connexion Chapel, situated in Church close, and erected in 1859, is a structure of brick in the Italian style, and will seat 800 persons: below the chapel is a school room with class rooms: the entire cost of the building, including the site and organ, was nearly £3,000.

The Free Methodist chapel, in Frederick street, has sittings for 400 persons. The original chapel, in Lumley street, erected in 1852, is now used as a day school.

The Cemetery, situated at Hart Warren, was formed in 1856, and is under the control of the Town Council acting as a Burial Board; there are two mortuary chapels.

The Borough Hall and Market Buildings, situated in Middlegate street, and opened in October, 1866, are of red brick with dressings of Durham stone, in the Italian style: the principal facade is 120 feet in length, 34 feet in height, and has a central turret spire 100 feet in height; the turret surmounts a lofty arched entrance leading to the market, in the Tear of the building, which, with second entrance and market keeper’s lodge, extends to Union street. The block of buildings comprising the Borough hall is divided by the south avenue to the market into east and west wings; the former contains, on the ground floor, the offices of the Clerk to the Justices, Town Clerk, Borough Surveyor, superintendent registrar and relieving officer, besides a waiting room for applicants for relief, and offices for the Clerk to the Urban Sanitary Authority, and on the floor immediately above is the council chamber, a lofty and well-proportioned board room, the Town Surveyor’s office, and the office of the Overseers for the parish of Hartlepool; the County Court offices are also in this block, the entrance being in the south avenue to the market. The western wing contains, on the first floor, the county and justice room, magistrates’ anteroom, magistrates’ clerks’ room, and witnesses’ and solicitors’ retiring room; below, in the front, is the residence for the chief constable, and at the back the police office, with six cells, and airing grounds; the space of ground occupied by these buildings and the market is 21,100 square feet.

The Corporation insignia comprise two maces, a mayor’s chain and badge and corporate and mayoral seals, and there is also a loving cup. The maces, presented in 1818, by Henry, Earl of Darlington, then mayor, are 3 feet in length, and have urn-shaped heads of gilt brass affixed to gilded wooden staves; the heads bear the royal arms, and each mace is furnished with a flat circular wooden stand, into which it may be fixed in an upright position; the chain, presented in 1879 by Alderman Grooves, is of gold, and consists of sixteen shield-shaped links, bearing devices adopted from the ancient town seals and surmounted with mural crowns, and other intermediate links formed liked the letter H; from the central link, which displays the arms of the donor, hangs the badge, enriched with the borough arms wrought in enamel and otherwise ornamented; the ancient corporate seal, an unusually fine example of the late 13th century, is a double one of latten, about two inches in diameter; the obverse bears the device of a hart crossing a pool and regardant of a dog which has sprung on to its haunches, and around is the inscription, “s’ Commvnitatis: de: herterpol ;” on the reverse is a figure of St. Hilda, holding a pastoral staff and standing between two priests, each ministering at an altar, and above each a bird with the Host in his beak; over all is a triple canopy, and round the margin the legend :-“svbveniat famvlis nobilis hilda svis ;” the mayor’s seal, dating from about 1330, is also of latten, but smaller, and exhibits, under a triple arched canopy, with crocketing and pinnacles, figures of St. Hilda and two bishops, all standing on the back of a hart, crouching down at the foot; the marginal inscription runs :-“s’ officii: maioris de hertilpol ;” the loving cup, also given in 1818 by the Earl of Darlington, is of massive silver, ornamented with vine leaves and grapes in high relief, and has inscriptions on opposite sides; the mayor wears a robe of dark bluish purple; the robes of the aldermen are similar, but of a lighter tint.

The chief trade of the town arises from the shipping resorting to it for coal; iron ship building is carried on, and there are also extensive boiler, engineering, brass and iron castings, and malleable iron works; steam sawing, planing, moulding and corn mills; a rope manufactory, and glass bottle and cement works and breweries.

Hartlepool Engine works (T. Richardson and Sons), consists of engine building shops, iron and brass foundries, forges and all the usual departments necessary for the construction of marine engines. The iron foundry buildings consists of three spans of 53 feet and 33 feet, the total length being 350 feet. The boiler department consists of two shops with a length of 270 feet. The principal hydraulic machines are a 140-ton riveter, and a large flanging press. The machine shops occupy a large portion of the works, and contain machinery for the manufacture of the largest class of marine engines. The erecting shop is 170 feet long. In addition to the above there are repairing shops at the central 80-ton sheers, the Union dock 80-ton sheers and the Victoria dock 60-ton sheers.

The extensive shipbuilding and repairing yard (dry dock available, 570 feet long) of Messrs. Edward Withy & Co. is conveniently situated on the south bank of the entrance to Hartlepool harbour, and is replete with every appliance for carrying on work expeditiously and economically. Portable tramways or permanent rails are laid all over the yard to facilitate the transit of heavy weights, and in the building berths keels may be laid up to 500 feet in length; the majority of the steamers built are on the “Cellular” bottom and Webb frame principle.

The Central marine engine works (W. Gray & Co. Limited) were built during 1883 and 1884, and are situated on the north side of the north basin which lies between the deep-water entrance from the harbour and the great central dock. The works have an area of about 8 acres, and a frontage of 830 feet, facing the dock, and there is a set of 80-ton sheers on the quay. The works comprise iron and brass foundries, engine, erecting and boiler shops, constructed on the most approved system, and are replete with modern machinery.

The Public Baths, situated at the south end of the town moor, and commanding an extensive land and sea view, were first open to the public in 1850: the building is a gabled structure of considerable size, from designs by Mr. William Watt, architect, of Hartlepool, and contains, besides vapour, shower, hot and cold and plunge baths, a spacious waiting room, and suites of apartments for lodgers.

There is a newspaper branch office here; the “Northern Daily Mail” and the “South Durham Herald and Stockton Journal” are published at West Hartlepool; the former daily and the latter weekly, and have branch offices in High street.

Here are two branch banks-those of Messrs. Backhouse and Co. and the National Provincial Bank of England.

The market day is on Saturday.

The Temperance Hall, situated in Lumley street, and erected in 1862, at a cost of £2,200, comprises a hall, 68 feet by 44 feet, with a platform 30 feet by 15 feet, and seated for 1,000; a lecture room and a club room.

Cleveland Hall, a plain red brick building, originally built in 1865, as a Mechanics’ Institute, is now in private hands; the large hall is used for Evangelistic services.

The Northern Division Militia Artillery Depot, situated in Baltic street, and erected in 1861, is a building of stone, and has a drill ground attached.

The Conservative Club, situated in Middlegate street, was formed in 1879. The reading room is well supplied with daily and weekly newspapers and periodicals; the club has now over 100 members, and is supported by subscriptions. James Rawlings esq. president.

The Liberal Club, situated at 104 High street, was founded in 1877. The premises are especially adapted for the purposes of a club, and the reading room is well supplied with daily newspapers and other periodicals. The library contains 300 volumes. The club is supported by subscriptions, and has 320 members. Thomas Richardson esq. M.P. president.

The Hartlepools Steam Tramways Company, Limited, was promoted in the year 1884, for the purpose of laying down and working a system of steam tramways in the district of the Hartlepools, so as to form a connecting link between. East and West Hartlepool, and to give direct facilities for approaching the piers, harbours, and docks with which the neighbourhood abounds.

Hartlepools Hospital occupies the extensive building called the Friarage, from the circumstance of its having been built on a site of a monastery belonging to the Franciscan or Grey friars, established here previous to the year 1258: at the dissolution of which 37 Hen. VIII. (1545-6), the community consisted of Richard Threlkeld, keeper, and 18 brothers, the revenues amounting only to £4 5s. 8d.; there were also 2 bells, and plate and jewels valued at 28s. 7d.; it was for some time used as a workhouse for the Hartlepool district of the Stockton union, but, in 1867, with the consent of the trustees of Smith’s charity, it was converted into an hospital, to which a new wing was erected in 1871 by Rowland Burdon esq. for accidents and surgical cases; and it was further enlarged in 1889. The building includes board room, consulting and operating rooms, as well as rooms for the resident medical officer, the matron and domestics: there are 6 wards, containing 50 beds for inpatients. The total number of patients treated during the year 1888 was 1,178 as compared with 1,266 in 1885. The hospital is supported by voluntary contributions, and a levy on all vessels (according to tonnage) using the ports of the Hartlepools, and is governed by 33 managers.

Smith’s charity, given in 1620 by Henry Smith, alderman of London, and expended in 1634 by the trustees in the purchase of land in Hartlepool, was much improved by a scheme passed by the Court of Chancery in the year 1855, and has now an income of about £400 a year, of which £100 is distributed annually amongst the poor of Hartlepool and in apprenticing poor children; £100 towards the support of the hospital, and £100 for educational purposes in the district of Holy Trinity: a sum of 10 per cent. of the net income of the charity is also annually set aside for the purpose of protecting the headland of Hartlepool: in 1889, the trustees erected a high class school for 100 boys: the building, situated close to the hospital, is of red brick, in the Queen Anne style, and comprises a large lecture hall, 25 by 50 feet, with hammer beam roof, a council chamber, four class rooms and a covered playground. The trustees of this charity are the Mayor and the chairman of the School Board (ex-officio); two elected by the Town Council; two by the vestry of St. Hilda, and one by the vestry of Holy Trinity.

The ancient walls of Hartlepool, commencing at a point near the cliffs to the north-east of the town, ran in a south-westerly direction to the north gate, a distance of somewhat over 360 yards; this portion was defended by four circular towers and a gateway tower, 34 feet wide, with a portcullis at the entrance: starting again from this point, the wall was continued across the inner harbour until it nearly reached the extreme end of the promontory on the other side, where it terminated in a lofty drum tower, protecting that side of the entrance; the total length of this portion was about 220 yards, with three bastions at irregular distances, and a water gate at the north-eastern extremity, formed by a low pointed arch about 24 feet span: the third and existing portion, about 600 yards in extreme length, rounding the end of the headland, runs south-east till it reaches the old pier, where it abuts upon the rock; this wall, almost the only portion now remaining, faces the outer harbour, it also has bastions at intervals, in the widest of which was a sallyport, and the whole length now forms a substantial embankment, from 6 to 9 feet thick, and about 18 feet in height from the beach to the top, which forms a pleasant promenade. Sandwell gate, which opens from Southgate street to the beach, is still intact and in good preservation, and has a somewhat sharply pointed archway, with bold mouldings, flanked on either side by an angular bastion.

The population of the municipal borough in 1881 was 12,361, showing a decrease of 805 from census of 1871; estimated population in 1889,18,536: parliamentary borough in 1881, 46,324; rateable value, £54,509 10s.

Middleton in Stranton is situated between East and West Hartlepool; it is in the civil parish of Stranton and in the ecclesiastical parish of Christ Church, West Hartlepool, and now forms part of the borough of Hartlepool: the extensive iron works of Thos. Richardson and Sons are here, also the shipbuilding yard belonging to Edward Withy and Co.; besides which there are boat builders, packing makers, coppersmiths, and other branches of the shipbuilding trade.

The magistrates’ sittings are held daily at the Borough buildings at 9.30 a.m. for ordinary business The petty sessional courts, under the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879 (42 & 43 Viet. cap. 49, & 25 & 26 Vict. cap. 114), are held on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays at 10 a.m.

Places of Worship, with times of Services

St. Hilda parish church, Rev. Edwin Robert Ormsby M.A. rector; Rev. Arthur McCullagh B.A. curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 8.30 a.m.; Wed. & Fri. 11.30 a.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Holy Trinity Church, Vane st. Rev. Edwin Shaw, vicar; residence, Holy Trinity vicarage, Vane street, Throston; Rev. B. Clarke M.A. curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. Andrew’s (chapel of ease to St. Hilda), near the Old Pier, served from St. Hilda; 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Brougham st.; Rev. G. van Hooff, priest; 8.30 & 10.30 a.m.& 6.30 p.m.; Thur.7.30 p.m.

St. John’s Presbyterian Church of England, Brougham st.; Rev. Jn. Bryce Whyte, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Baptist, Baptist street, corner of Ghurch walk, Rev. Harry Dunington, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.,; Mon. & Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Congregational, Brougham street; Rev. Edward Steels Forster, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Mon. Wed. & sat. 7 p.m.

Methodist New Connexion (St. Mark’s), Church close, Rev. James Shiphardson, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Brougham street; Rev. Charles T. Coulbeck, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Commercial street, Middleton; Rev. Charles T. Coulbeck, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

United Methodist Free Church, Frederick street; ministers various; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Tues. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan Chapel, Northgate street; Rev. Agur Beardsell Gardiner, minister; 10 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Wesleyan Chapel (Throston), Corporation road; ministers various; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Mon. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan Methodist, Elwick; ministers various; 6 p.m.

Salvation Army Hall, Northgate street.

Hartlepool School Board.

A School Board was formed December, 1883, & consists of 9 members; office, 15 Town street; clerk, Robert Edger; attendance officers, Clayton Ramsay, 34 Hart street & Robert Briggs, 18 ½ Alliance street.

Church Close (mixed & infants), built in 1875, for 260 boys, 268 girls & 327 infants; average attendance, 223 boys, 200 girls & 261 infants.

Throston (mixed & infants), built in 1875, for 920 children; average attendance, 280 boys, 190 girls & 300 infants .

St. John’s, Commercial street, Middleton (mixed & infants), built in 1875, for 152 boys & girls & 102 infants; average attendance, 142 boys & girls & 54 infants.

Crook’s Endowed, Moor street, was founded by deed 21 November, 1755, by Ann Crook, who, in pursuance of the will of her brother, Mr. John Crook, of this town, dated 1 September, 1742, gave certain lands in the township of Stranton for the endowment of the same; the clear rents of the estate are to be applied by the trustees for the instruction of such a number of poor boys, & providing them with books & writing materials, as the rents will afford: there are at present 100 boys on the foundation, all of whom receive their education free. In 1871, new buildings were erected by the trustees at the junction of Brougham & Moor streets: these include a residence for the master, school room, 56 feet in length & 20 feet wide, a class room, cloak room & lavatory: attached to the school is a recreation ground: the premises are adapted to receive 185 boys.

St. Bega’s (Catholic), Hart street (mixed & infants), built in 1884, for 415 children; average attendance, 160 boys, 98 girls & 70 infants.

St. Hilda’s (Catholic) (mixed), for 211 children; average attendance, 180.

The Prissick Schools, Lumley st. were founded in 1835, under a deed executed by Elizabeth Prissick, who died in December, 1826; they will hold 700 children, & have an endowment of £150 yearly. These schools, although connected with the Church of England, have been constituted public elementary schools under the Elementary Education Act of 1870.

Wesleyan, Hart street (mixed), for 287 children; average attendance, 80 boys, 60 girls & 45 infants.

West Habtlepool is a seaport town and municipal borough, with a station on the North Eastern railway, within the civil parish of Stranton, 250 miles from London,, 72 from Leeds, 10 north-north-east from Stockton and 21 east-south-east from Durham; it is situated in the South Eastern division of the county, north-east division of Stockton ward, Hartlepool petty sessional division, union and county court district, rural deanery of Stockton, archdeaconry of Auckland and diocese of Durham. The town was incorporated in 1887, and is governed by a mayor, six aldermen and eighteen councillors, and is divided into six wards. The Corporation also act as the Urban Sanitary Authority. The borough is paved, lighted with gas and well supplied with good water; the Gas and Water works being in Cleveland road.

West Hartlepool is within the township of Stranton, which comprises the hamlets of East and West Stradnton (or Stranton), and in 1845 contained only about 300 inhabitants, but in 1858 the population, by the rapid growth of the town, had risen to 12,000, in 1871 to 22,250, in 1881 to 28,472, and is now estimated at 40,000, the rateable value, which in 1850 was £13,000, having increased in 1870 to £62,236, and in 1888 to £143,048. In 1841 the Port Clarence and the Stockton and Hartlepool railway companies opened a branch line, affording direct access from the interior to the coast at this point, and subsequently finding it inconvenient to ship their coals as they had done for some time in the Victoria dock, Hartlepool (the property at that time of the Hartlepool Dock and Railway Company) they obtained an Act, in the year 1845, for the construction of a harbour and dock to the south-west of the old dock at Hartlepool. These were opened on the 1st of June, 1847, and the harbour is protected by north, south and middle piers, the first of these having a lighthouse at the seaward end; during the period from June, 1847, to June, 1850, the quantity of coal &c. shipped from this dock was 886,271 tons; in the year ending June, 1851, 110 less than 580,876 tons, of which about one-fourth was sent to foreign countries and to our colonies, and in 1884 coal and coke to the amount of 768,026 tons, of which 47,637 tons were sent to Hamburg, and of coal sent coastwise 483,181 tons; while in 1888 it had reached a total of 1,241,064 tons.

In May, 1852, the Leeds, Northallerton and Stockton section of the North Eastern railway was connected with this place by a branch line from Billingham junction, which is continued to Hartlepool. On the 1st of June following, a second dock of 14 acres, named the “Jackson Dock,” after Ralph Ward Jackson esq. chairman of the West Hartlepool Harbour and Railway Company, was opened; on the 3rd June, 1856, the third, or Swainson Dock, of 12 ½ acres, and in 1880 a large system of docks were completed, connecting Hartlepool and West Hartlepool, and making a total dock area of 200 acres. There now exist appliances for loading 4.000 tons of coal per hour, warehouse room for storing 160.000 quarters of grain, as well as storage room for general food.

The harbour, docks, shipbuilding yards &c. at East and West Hartlepool, belonging to the North Eastern Railway Company, cover an area of upwards of 350 acres-including two tidal harbours of 63 acres, six docks of 80 acres, four timber ponds of 56 acres, and deal yards and railway sidings upwards of 150 acres.

On the quays are warehouses, covering 45 acres of ground, for the storage of general goods on the ground floors, and for 160,000 quarters of grain on the upper floors.

There are facilities at the port for constructing, repairing, and cleaning vessels of all kinds. The graving docks, four in number, will accommodate ships up to 550 feet long; two are leased to Messrs. Gray and Co. and one to Messrs. Irvine and Co. (shipbuilders and repairers), and the other is worked by the company for general use.

There are sheers worked by hydraulic and manual power, the former being; capable of lifting 80 tons.

The above items include East Hartlepool from 1884.

The total number of vessels visiting the port in 1888 was 6,500, the receipt for dock dues being £38,000. The principal exports are coals and coke from the neighbouring collieries, but large quantities of machinery and general goods consigned from inland manufacturing centres are shipped to continental and other ports. In 1888 1 ¼ millions of tons of coal &c. was exported, in addition to 100,000 tons of general merchandise. The chief imports are timber, iron ore, grain, eggs and produce. The timber trade is a speciality of the port; the total quantity imported in 1858 was 31,000 loads, which had increased in 1888 to 338,000 loads. Ore is brought here from Bilbao and other places and is smelted and rolled into iron and steel plates for use in the ship-building yards. Extensive facilities exist for the importation of foreign cattle. West Hartlepool has also become one of the leading ship owning ports in the north. The tonnage registered in 1865 was 23,000 tons, and in 1888, 220,000 tons. The ss. George Pyman, the first locally owned steamer, was built for the coal trade in 1865.

In December, 1887, the Hartlepools occupied the seventh position, and in 1889 the fifth among the ports of the United Kingdom. There are now on the stocks and in hand at the various ship building yards about 53,000 tons of shipping, the number of hands employed being about 10,500. The fishing trade is also rapidly increasing. The fish are landed from the steam trawlers and fishing smacks on to a quay having a railway alongside, giving facilities for quick transmission to various populous centres. In the height of the herring season 100 truck loads of fish are despatched per day. The interests of the port are watched by a Port and Harbour Commission empowered by Act of Parliament and elected by the various merchants, shipowners &c. The health of West Hartlepool has been always remarkably good, its death-rate for the past six years being 18'6 per 1,000.

The town is divided into five ecclesiastical parishes. All Saints, Stranton (the original parish out of which the others have all been formed), Christ Church, St. James’s, St. Paul’s and St. Aidan’s.

Stranton parish church, All Saints, is an ancient structure chiefly in the Decorated and Perpendicular styles, with some portions of Norman work, and consists of chancel, with chapel on the north side, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with crocketed pinnacles, and containing a clock and 3 bells, two of which are dated respectively 1664 and 1669; the third has simply the inscription “Sancta Maria, ora pro nobis.” The church is supposed to occupy the site of that given by Robert de Brus to Guisboro' priory about 1154: the greater portion of the present building dates from about 1350, but a small portion appears to be earlier work, circ. 1250: a small portion of the east window is filled with stained glass, and there is a stained memorial window to Ralph Walker, d. 1864: in the chancel is a piscina and there is a portion of another in the south aisle, discovered during the recent renovation: the church plate includes a silver chalice dating from 1639: the interior of the church is now (1889) being carefully restored at a cost of £800, and an organ chamber built and new organ erected at a further cost of £1,000: towards this outlay the Bishop of Durham and Col. Cameron each give £100, the corporation are responsible for £300 and the remainder is given by Thomas Robinson esq. the patron: there are sittings for 450 persons. The register dates from 1580. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value from tithe rent-charge £288 and house, in the gift of Thomas Robinson esq. of West Hartlepool, and held since 1885 by the Rev. Joseph Bennett M.A. of Durham University.

Christ Church is an ecclesiastical parish formed January 18th, 1859; the church, erected by public subscription at a cost of £12,000 from a design by Mr. E. B. Lamb, architect, of London, was consecrated April 24th, 1854, and is an edifice of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of apsidal chancel, nave, aisles, transepts, gallery, south porch and a lofty tower (originally intended for a beacon) containing 6 bells; the windows are all stained, and there is a fine organ: the church was opened April 24th, 1854: the altar rail was made from a piece of bog oak found when sinking the first dock in West Hartlepool: the octagonal font, near the porch, is supported by nine columns on a base forming three steps, and was presented by the late Mr. Thos. Casebourne C.E. The register dates from the year 1854. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £380, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Durham, and held since 1884 by the Rev. Henry Edwin Savage M.A. formerly fellow of Corpus Christi college, Cambridge, and chaplain to the Bishop of Durham.

The proposed new parish of St. Aidan’s includes the districts of Belle Vue and Longhill, containing a population of 4,000. The church of St. Aidan, situated at the junction of Stockport road and Oxford street, now (1889) in course of erection from designs by Mr. J. H. Morton, architect, at an estimated cost of £4,650, is a structure of red brick with freestone dressings in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave, five bays, aisles and a tower with spire: the site, valued at £400, was presented by the West Stranton Estate Company, and the Bishop of Durham gave £1,000 towards the building fund: the church will afford 615 sittings. The living is a vicarage, in the gift of the Bishop of Durham, and held since 1889 by the Rev. Acheson Archibald McMasters M.A. of Pembroke College, Cambridge.

St. James’s is an ecclesiastical parish, formed April 12, 1870, out of Christ Church parish. The church, situated in Musgrave street, and erected in 1868 from designs by J. P. Pritchett, architect, of Darlington, at a cost of about £4,000 is an edifice of stone in the Early Decorated style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, north porch and a bell turret: most of the windows are filled with stained glass; there are 600 sittings. The register dates from the year 1868. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value £229, in the gift of the Bishop of Durham, and held since 1886 by the Rev. Frederick Nugent Eden M.A. of Pembroke College, Cambridge.

St. Paul’s is an ecclesistical parish, formed in 1886. The church, situated in Grange road, and erected in 1886 at a cost of about £5,500, is an edifice of red brick with stone dressings, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, clerestoried nave of five bays, aisles, and a lofty tower at the north-west angle, with four pinnacles and small-slated spire, and containing one bell: the organ cost £550: the nave is divided from the chancel by a beautiful arch: there are 750 sittings. The register dates from 1885. The living is a vicarage, gross yearly value from offertories £150, in the gift of the Bishop of Durham, and held since 1887 by the Rev. Frederick Lorance Cope M.A. of Pembroke College, Cambridge.

The Catholic chapel, dedicated to St. Joseph, in Ouston street, was formerly the skating rink. In connection with the church is St. Joseph’s convent, occupied by a body of nuns known as “the Faithful Companions of Jesus.’’

The Swedish church, situated in Clarence road, was built in 1884 by subscription, at a cost, including site, of £2,400; and is now the property of the Swedish Government: it is a structure of brick with stone dressings, in the Early English style.

The Wesleyan chapel, situated at the junction of Clarence road and Upper Church street, and erected in 1871-2, at a cost of £5,000, is an edifice of brick with stone dressings, in the Italian style: the front is entirely of stone, and has a portico supported on four columns of the Corinthian order: there are sittings for 1,250 persons: beneath the chapel, on the basement, is a large schoolroom for 600 children, in connection with which are four vestries and a large meeting-room, seating 150 persons.

The old Wesleyan chapel is now used as a Temperance hall.

The Presbyterian church, situated in Park road, and erected in 1880, at a cost of £5,500, is a building in the Gothic style, seating 650 persons: in the basement is a school holding 400 scholars.

The Congregational church, in Tower street, was erected in 1857, at a cost of £4,000, and will seat 700 persons.

The Primitive Methodist chapel, situated in Reed and Whitby streets, is a large building of stone, erected in 1861, at a cost of £1,500, and seating 700 persons: the school has been enlarged, and extensive alterations made in the interior of the chapel, at an additional cost of £1,650; and a new organ has been added at a cost of £350.

The Baptist chapel in Tower street was erected in 1867, at a cost of £350, and has sittings for 160 persons.

The Providence (Particular Baptist) chapel, situated in Thornton street, was opened in August, 1879, at a cost of £500, and will seat 150 persons.

The Jews’ Synagogue, situated in Whitby street, is a small and plain building, erected in 1872, at a cost of £1,100, including site, and will seat 170 persons: in the rear is a schoolroom, holding 80 children.

The Catholic Apostolic church is in Stockton street.

There are several Free Methodist chapels and mission rooms: Lynn street chapel is a building of stone, erected in 1851, and was enlarged in 1861; it has now sittings for 800 persons: Old Burbank street chapel is a large edifice of brick, erected in 1868, and is now used as a school; the new chapel, built in 1875, immediately adjoining, cost £10,000, and will seat 1,100 persons: South parade (Bellevue) chapel, erected in 1870 by Mr. Isaac Robinson, and presented by him to the denomination, will seat 250 persons; a site adjoining this chapel has been secured for the erection of a larger chapel when required: Lister street chapel, erected in 1885, is a building of red brick with stone dressings, and has 200 sittings: there is also a mission room in Lister street, built in 1866, at a cost of £400, with sittings for about 200 persons. Dyke street mission room, Middleton road, will seat 200 persons: and there is a mission room at Throston with 200 sittings.

West Hartlepool Cemetery, situated in Hart road, and covering 35 acres of land, was formed in 1856, and consecrated June 3rd, in that year: there are two mortuary chapels: the cemetery is under the control of the West Hartlepool Corporation Property and Lighting Committee.

The Police Station, situated at the junction of Church street and Clarence road, is a large structure of brick with stone dressings, erected in 1872, at a cost of about £4,500: petty sessions are held in the court room every Monday: there are retiring rooms for the justices and witnesses, six cells for prisoners, and residences for the superintendent and some constables: the force consists of 1 superintendent, 2 inspectors, 6 sergeants and 28 constables, all under the control of the chief of the county constabulary.

The Hartlepool Exchange, in Surtees street, erected in 1875 at a cost of £10,000, is a structure of red brick with stone dressings, in the Gothic style, and contains a large hall (now used for offices); the rest of the building is divided into suites of offices, the north-eastern portion being occupied by the Post Office.

The Athenaeum and Mechanics’ and Literary Institution, situated in Church street and erected in 1851-2, at a cost of about £1,100, is a large building of freestone, two storeys in height, in the Italian style, from designs by Mr. H. B. Robson, land agent to the Dock Company 1 the structure is relieved by pilasters on high bases, rising nearly to the roof, and contains a reading room, a library containing upwards of 4,000 volumes, a museum, and a large concert hall, 70 ft by 34 ft. holding 600 persons, besides a lecture room, 38 ft. by 20 ft. and a large room let for public purposes: the Government School of Science, established here in 1883, occupies a portion of the building, and another portion is occupied by the collector of taxes, &c.

The municipal buildings, situated in Upper Church street, and opened by H.R.H. Prince Albert Victor of Wales on May 1, 1889, were erected at a cost, exclusive of land and furniture, of about £7,000: they are of red Normanby brick and terra-cotta, in what is generally known as the Queen Anne style: the chief entrances are in Upper Church street and Church square, and a third is in a private road near the police station: the principal front faces the church of All Saints, and comprises, on the ground floor, offices for the Board of Guardians, including a large board room and clerks offices, and offices for the district registrar, borough collector, with other offices: the main staircase, in the centre of the building, is of stone, with ornamental terra-cotta balustrade and oak hand-rail, and opens on to a large central landing leading to the council chamber, 48 ft. by 25 ft. extending along the principal front: on the same floor are the mayor’s parlour and other retiring rooms, town clerk’s and borough accountant’s offices with waiting rooms; and on the upper storey are caretaker’s premises and store rooms.

The municipal insignia comprise a mace, a mayor’s chain and badge, and a corporate seal. The mace, of silver gilt designed by Mr. H. Lamb, of West Hartlepool, was presented to the Corporation in 1887 by Major Roper, of Preston Hall, Stockton-on-Tees; the shaft, which bears the national emblems, richly chased, and an inscription, has at the upper end three hart’s head corbels supporting the macs head, the surface of which is ornamented with the royal arms and those of the donor; around the top is a circlet of crosses and fleurs-de-lis, from which spring six ogee arches, forming the crown, and supporting a studded globe, on which stands a crowned lion passant gardant; at the base of the shaft are the donor’s arms and monogram: the mayor’s gold chain consists of shield-shaped links, united by others, inclosing the letters W.H. with a trident between them; from an enamelled medallion in the centre, bearing a portrait of H.M. the Queen, hangs the badge, which displays the borough arms affixed to an anchor, and in base a mace and trident in saltire; both the chain and badge were presented by William Gray esq. first mayor of the borough. The seal is simply an embossing stamp with the borough arms, the motto, “e.mare.ex.indvstria,” and a marginal legend; the seal, chain and badge were also designed by Mr. Lamb.

The Liberal Club, situated in Charles street, is a large structure of red brick; the interior is handsomely fitted, and includes large committee rooms, public rooms, steward’s offices and reading room, the latter being well supplied with papers and magazines: there are about 400 members.

The Conservative Club, situated in Jersey street, comprises the usual public, reading and committee rooms and offices.

Hartlepool West has also several private clubs.

The Gaiety Theatre, situated in Mainsforth terrace, erected in 1868, at a cost of £6,000, is a building in the Classic style, and will hold 1,800 people: there is a plentiful supply of water in case of fire, and the place can be cleared in two minutes, by 5 doors.

The Theatre Royal, occupying a very central position in Whitby street, is a plain edifice of brick, enlarged and renovated throughout in 1886, and will now hold about 2,000 people; the stage is 24 ft. by 28 ft.

The 4th Durham Artillery Volunteers’ drill ground and buildings are situated at the end of Ward street, and occupy about 3 acres of land, rented by the corps from the North Eastern Railway Co.; the drill shed, erected in 1881, from designs by Mr. J. Clayton, architect, at a cost of about £2,000, defrayed by the officers of the corps, and by public subscription, is a structure of brick and wood, 40 yards long by 20 yards wide, and has an attached armoury: 1,000 men can be drilled on the ground and 450 in the shed; the corps is up to its maximum strength of 8 batteries which includes 640 officers and men: the armament consists of four 32-pound guns, one 64-pound rifled gun, and two 40-pound breech-loading Armstrong guns, and the battery is situated on Seaton banks; Lieut.-Co. J. W. Cameron, Greenbank, West Hartlepool, is commanding officer.

The Public Slaughter Houses are situated in Howbeck terrace, off Hart road, and consist of 12 houses, subject to the bye-laws of the Town Commissioners. Plans were passed in 1889 for the erection of new slaughter houses off Burn road.

The Ward-Jackson Memorial Park, situated on the Elwick road, west of the town, and laid out as a memorial to the late Ralph Ward-Jackson esq. was opened for the use of the public on July 11, 1883: the land, formerly a portion of Tunstall estate, is 17 acres in extent, and was purchased (with the exception of 2 acres presented by the owner) from Mr. W. A. Wooler, of Sadberge Hall, for the sum of £1,300: the park is fenced with iron railings, and almost forms a square: a sum of about £4,000 has been expended in laying out the park, the repayment of which will be spread over a period of 50 years, at a very small cost to the ratepayers.

A portion of the sea-beach here consists of an anciently submerged forest, and perfect acorns and hazel nuts, probably grown twenty centuries since, may still be frequently picked up.

The town maintains extensive iron and steel manufactories, iron ship building yards, steam sawing and planing mills, a steam corn mill, and brick, lime, cement, grease, creosote, paint works and soap works; the general trade also includes the exportation of coal and coke, and the importation of timber and general produce; there are also graving docks for the repairs of ships of a large class. Borings at Greatham have resulted in the discovery of salt of good quality. Here are three banks, those of Messrs. Backhouse and Co., a branch of the National Provincial Bank of England, and a branch of the North Eastern Banking Company.

The West Hartlepool Steel and Iron Co. are manufacturers of steel and iron plates, and have 48 puddling furnaces, with 2 shingling hammers and a forge train; six 20-ton Siemens-Martin steel furnaces, with 16 Ingham gas producers, and three mills for rolling the plates, and producing 1,500 tons weekly. The works are equipped in the most liberal manner, having a full complement of locomotives, wagons, steam cranes, and other labour saving appliances, and, with the various fitting and repairing shops, stores, offices and sidings, cover about 14 acres.

The Seaton Carew Iron Works, owned by the Seaton Carew Iron Co. Limited, consists of 3 blast furnaces, fitted with 10 regenerative hot blast fire-brick stoves of the newest type. The company produces annually upwards of 100,000 tons of pig iron of various classes. It is the largest exporter in the kingdom of basic iron for the Thomas Gilchrist process, and also makes a speciality of haematite iron made from imported ores for the Siemens-Martin open hearth process. Special kinds of iron to guaranteed analysis are also supplied by this firm. Extensive works are now (1889) in course of erection for the manufacture of soft and hard soap at Belle View.

William Gray and Co. Limited have two ship building yards; one, covering about 7 acres of land, adjoining the North Eastern Railway Company’s public graving dock, was formed in 1888, and Contains machinery for building the largest description of vessels, and has three berths each, affording room for vessels 500 to 600 feet long. In the old yard, situated at West Hartlepool, vessels from 260 to 400 feet long are built; connected with it are two graving docks, about 350 feet long. For the year ending 1888, Messrs. Gray and Co. turned out 50,300 tons of steam shipping; this being the highest on record for this year.

The Market Hall, situated in Lynn street, has a stone frontage, and comprises lock-up shops, besides ten rows of stalls for various trades: the market day is on Saturday, but the hall is open for business every day: Market Hall keeper, Benjamin Parkinson: the fire engine and house are situated at the east end of the Market Hall.

The Young Men’s Christian Association, established in 1869, occupies large premises in Whitby street, erected in 1886, from designs by Mr. Macara, architect, of Darlington, at a cost (including furnishing) of about £1,800: it is an edifice of brick with stone dressings, comprising, on the ground floor, two lock-up shops, reading-room and library, class-room, secretary’s office, lavatory &c.; and on the first floor, a large hall, seating about 300 persons, gymnasium, two large class-rooms and one smaller class-room, with lavatory attached: there are also cellars, connected by a lift with the floor above.

The market day is on Saturday.

The “Northern Daily Mail” and the South Durham Herald and Stockton Journal” are published here; the former daily and the latter weekly: the “South Durham and Cleveland Mercury,” the “Northern Echo,” the “Auckland Chronicle,” the “North Eastern Daily Gazette” and “North Eastern Weekly Gazette,” the “North Star” and the “Northern Weekly Standard” have branch offices here.

Rateable value, £147,491, which includes the whole of the township of Stranton, with the exception of that portion included in the borough of Hartlepool: in January, 1858 its population was 12,200; in 1871 was 22,250; and in 1881 was 28,472, including Stranton.

The Petty Sessional Court for hearing indictable offences under the Summary Jurisdiction Act, 1879, & for hearing offences under the Act 25 & 26 Vic. cap. 114 (The Poaching Prevention Act), will be held every Monday, Wednesday & Friday, at 11 a.m. at the Justice room in the Police station, Clarence road The following townships are included in the division :-Brierton, Claxton, Dalton Piercy, Elwick, Elwick Hall, Greatham, Hart, Seaton Carew, Stranton, Thorpe Bulmer, Throston.

Hartlepool Union

Hartlepool union comprises the following places, viz. Brierton, Claxton, Dalton Piercy, Elwick, Elwick hall, Greatham, Hart, Hartlepool, Seaton Carew, Stranton. Thorpe Bulmer, Throston; rateable value, £224,675, Municipal buildings.

Board day, alternate Fridays at the Board room, Municipal buildings, at 2.30 p.m.

School Attendance Committee.

Meets at the Municipal buildings every alternate Friday at 3.30 p.m.

Places of Worship, with Times of Services

All Saints’ Church (Church Parish, Stranton), Rev. Joseph Bennett M.A. vicar; Rev. William Terry, curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7 p.m.

Christ Church, Church square, Rev. Henry Edwin Savage M.A. vicar; Rev. William Theodore Jupp M.A. Rev. Francis Denny Curtoys M.A. Rev. George Pybus M.A. & James Fell B.A. curates; 8 & 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 8.30 a.m. & 7 p.m.

St. Aidans, Rev. A. A. McMasters M.A. vicar; Rev. H. R. Huband M.A. curate.

St. James’ Church, Musgrave street, Rev. Frederick Nugent Eden M.A. vicar; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. Paul’s Church, Grange road, Rev. F. L. Cope M.A. vicar; Rev. E. F. Every B.A. curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 9 a.m. &, 7 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

St. Joseph’s Catholic, Ouston street, Rev. William Wickwar & Rev. Henry Cadogan, priests; 7.30, 9, 10.30a.m. &6.30 p.m.; week days, 8.30 a.m.

Catholic Apostolic Church, Stockton street, ministers various; 10 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Jews’ Synagogue, Whitby street, Rev. Hyman Caplan, rabbi.

Presbyterian Church of England, Park road, Rev. Thomas Campbell, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Baptist, Tower street, Rev. A. W. Curwood, minister; 10.30a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Baptist (Providence Particular), Thornton street, ministers various; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.

Congregational, Tower street, Rev. Thomas Lawson, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Congregational, Sydenham road, Rev. John Illingworth; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Gospel Meeting Room, 22 Surtees street, ministers various; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. 7 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, corner of Reed & Whitby street, Rev. D. McKindly, minister; 10.30 a.m. & 6p.m.; Tues. 7 p.m.

Swedish Church, Clarence road, Rev. John A. Dalen, minister; 11 a.m.; Thur. 7.15 p.m. (in summer only); services in Danish, Tues. 7.15 p.m.; in German, irregular Seaman’s Bethel, The Docks, ministers various; 2.30 p.m.; Fri. 7.15 p.m.

United Methodist Free Church

South parade, Belle vue; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Thur. 7 p.m.

Burbank street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Tues. 7 p.m.

Lynn street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.; Mon. & sat. 7 p.m.; class meetings, Sun. 3 p.m.; Tues. 7.15 p.m. & Thur. 7 p.m.

Throston; 6 p.m.; Tues. 7p.m.

Dyke street; 6 p m.

Lister street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m. Circuit ministers, Rev. Silas Walmsley & Rev. J. Longden.

Wesleyan, Cambridge road, Rev. Richard Middleton; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, Musgrave street, ministers various; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Thur. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan (Westbourne), Stockton street, ministers various; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.

Mission Rooms

All Saints’, Lynn st. Rev. J. Bennett; 6.30p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Christ Church, Robinson street; 6.30 p.m.

Deutsche Seemans Mission Lesezimmer, George street; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.

Gospel Room, 65 Reed street; 11 a.m. 2.45 & 6.15 p.m.; Thur. 7.30 p.m.

Gospel Temperance, 8 Charles street; 2.30 & 6.30 p.m.

Methodist Free Church, Dyke street; 6 p.m.

St. James’ Whitby street, served from St. James’ Church; 6 p.m.; Thur. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, Lowthian road; 2.30 & 6 p.m.

Schools

Government School of Science, Athenaeum, Church street; Arthur Barrett, headmaster.

Government School of Art, Victoria buildings, Tower street; Edwin E. Denyer, headmaster.

West Hartlepool School Board.

Formed March 22, 1875, & consists of 9 members; offices, Tower chambers, Tower street; board day, 1st Tuesday.

Clerk, Robert Young, 2 Church street.

Assistant Clerk, E. C. Sisson.

Wardens, Henry Bell, Northumberland street & Lewis Hopps, Thornton street.

Board Schools.

Exchange, Mainsforth terrace (boys & girls), for 337 boys & 238 girls; average attendance, 455.Stolen from Fore bears

St. Paul’s, Mainsforth terrace (infants), for 246 children; average attendance, 231.

Ward Jackson, Musgrove street (boys, girls & infants), for 362 boys, 354 girls & 395 infants; average attendance, 1,045.

All Saints’, Stranton (mixed), for 522 children; average attendance, 484.

Upper Grade, Commercial street (boys, girls & infants), for 323 boys, 322 girls & 205 infants; average attendance, 630.

New Board Schools are now (1889) in course of erection in Oxford street, Belle vue & at the junction of Young & Murray streets; both are of brick & will hold 630 & 1,029 children respectively.

Other Schools.

Longhill National (mixed), for 320 children; average attendance, full.

Methodists’ Day, Dyke street; average attendance, 60.

Wesleyan Higher, Avenue road (mixed), built in 1885, for 664 children; average attendance, full.

West Hartlepool Public (Elementary), Church square, erected in 1857 (mixed &. infants), for 288 boys, 252 girls Sc 196 infants; average attendance, full.

St. Joseph’s Catholic, Whitby street (mixed & infants), for 214 boys, 165 girls & 121 infants; average attendance, full.

Water Conveyance

Hamburg & Gothenburg.-The West Hartlepool Steam Navigation Company’s iron screw vessels leave every Wed.

& sat. night for the former, returning from Hamburg every Tues. & Fri. nights.

Tramway.

The Hartlepool Steam Tramway Co. Limited, run trams between Hartlepool & West Hartlepool. The trams leave each end at intervals of about every 20 minutes, between the hours of 8.30 a.m. & 11 p.m. daily, & on Sun. every half hour from 12 noon to 10 p.m.,; fare twopence.