WIDNES is a municipal borough and manufacturing town on the banks of the Mersey, and was formed into a parish May 17, 1859, from the civil parish of Prescot; it is 6 miles south-west from Warrington, 5 south from Prescot, 13 south-east from Liverpool and 184 from London, in the Widnes division of the county, hundred of West Derby, Prescot petty sessional division and union, county court district of St. Helens, rural deanery of Childwall, archdeaconry of Warrington and diocese of Liverpool: there are stations here on the London and North Western and Cheshire Lines railways, the last of which, opened in 1891, is on the loop line between Sankey and Hough. Green; these afford a ready means of access to the Lancashire coal fields, the salt works of Cheshire and the port of Liverpool. The town adopted the “Local Government Act, 1858,” August 1, 1865, but on May 9th, 1892, it was incorporated by Royal Charter, the borough, which includes Farnworth. Being divided into six wards, the council consisting of a mayor, six aldermen and eighteen councillors. The Corporation, own the gas and water works: the water, of which there is an abundant supply, is pumped from deep wells at Ditton and Little Woolton. The church of St. Mary, erected in 1856, is a plain building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave, two western porches, and an eastern turret containing one bell: there are 450 sittings, 200 being free. The register dates from the year 1856. The living is ft vicarage, net yearly value £300, including glebe, with residence, in the gift, of the Bishop of Liverpool, and held since 1901 by the Rev. George Stephen Jones B.A. of Pembroke College, Oxford. St. Ambrose's is an ecclesiastical parish, formed November 7, 1884, from the parish of Farnworth; the church, erected in 1883, at a cost of £5,788, is of brick and terra cotta in the Early English style, and consists, of chancel, nave and aisles, and there is one bell, presented by George J. Neil esq.: the church affords 520 sittings. The register dates from the year 1884. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £226, with residence, in the gift of trustees, and held since 1904 by the Rev. Herbert Payne Hiscoke B.A. of Durham University. St. Paul’s ecclesiastical parish was formed in Jan. 1901: the church in Victoria road, erected in 1884, at a cost of £8,000, is an edifice of brick and terra cotta in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and south porch, and has sittings for 876 persons, The register dates from the year 1884. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £306 and fees, in the gift of the Bishop of Liverpool, and held since 1901 by the Rev. Douglas Edward Morton, who is a surrogate, The Catholic church of St. Mary, in Lugsdale road, opened in 1865, is a brick building in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, north porch and a turret containing one bell, and will seat 650. St. Patrick’s Catholic church, West Bank street, built in 1888, is of brick in the Gothic style, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, north porch and a turret containing one bell: it will seat 600. The Congregational church, at Simms’ cross, is a building in the Gothic style, and will seat about 500 persons: there are also Primitive Methodist and Welsh Congregational chapels, and a Wesleyan chapel, erected in 1863. A Primitive Methodist chapel is now (1904) being erected in Frederick street, at a cost of £2,500; it is to supersede the chapel in Princes street, which will be enlarged and joined with the new chapel. In connection with Hartland Street Wesleyan chapel, Sunday schools, costing £1,400, were opened in November, 1902. The Cemetery, in Birchfield road, and comprising 15 acres, was opened 27 September, 1898, and contains three mortuary chapels, for the Church of England, Catholic, and Nonconformists respectively; it is under the control of a committee of the Town Council. The Widnes Municipal Technical School and Free Public Library, Victoria road, opened July 30th, 1896, was erected at a cost of over £14,000, and is a structure of red brick and terra cotta with a tower. The Free Library has reference and lending departments, containing 10,500 volumes, and reading rooms supplied with newspapers and periodicals. The Technical and Art School comprises class and lecture rooms, and has two laboratories, for 60 students, and a manual workshop for 20 students. The Drill Hall of the H Company of the 2nd Volunteer Battalion, The Prince of Wales’s Volunteers (South Lancashire Regiment), built in 1873, is of brick, with a central tower flanked by two smaller; it is 100 feet long by 50 feet wide, and attached to it are an armoury, an entertaining room and drill sergeants quarters. The Fire Station and cottages for the firemen are in Lacey street. Widnes is the principal seat of the manufacture of alkalies and soap; copper smelting is also carried on here and there are iron works, foundries, limestone mills, oil and pain and locomotive and waggon grease works. A pleasure fair is held yearly in the last week of April and Sept. The Fever Hospital, Crow Wood, erected in 1887 at a cost of £4,500, was considerably enlarged in 1900, at a cost of about £10,000, and is now available for 50 patients. “Tueller’s Girder,” a wrought-iron bridge over the river Mersey, connecting Lancashire with Cheshire, was completed in 1868, and is 1,000 feet long and 95 feet in height above high-water mark, being supported over the river by two stone piers, each 80 feet in depth by 30 feet in width, placed 300 feet apart in mid-channel, thus forming three openings of 300 feet, exclusive of piers and abutments: there are two lines of railway and one footway for passengers. The Victoria public park and recreation ground, formed out of the Appleton House estate, and situate at Appleton, and the Victoria promenade, on the banks of the Mersey, were opened 31st May, 1900, to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria. The park contains about 34 acres, and the total cost of the park and promenade was about £14,000. The trustees of the late John Hutchinson, who are lords of the manor, W. Wright, J. Shaw Leigh and J. Belhouse esqrs. are the chief landowners. The soil is clayey and the subsoil is of a sandy nature. The acreage is 3,074 of land, 36 of inland water, 85 of tidal water and 223 of foreshore; rateable value, £159,030; the population in 1871 was 14,359, in 1891, 30,011, and in 1901, 28,580.

The population of the ecclesiastical parishes in 1901 was:-St. Mary, 8,627; St. Paul, 7,028; St. Ambrose, 6,209.

The population of the municipal wards in 1901 was:-Farnworth, 3,747; Halton, 4,673; Simms’ Cross, 5,735; Victoria, 5,798; Waterloo, 4,831; West Bank, 3,796.

St. Bede’s Catholic School (boys), built in 1884, at a cost of £1,600, from the designs of Mr. Krolow, architect, of Liverpool, & since enlarged for 706 children; average attendance, 193 boys, 142 girls & 145 infants.

SCHOOLS

The Grammar school, now a Secondary school, founded & endowed in, the reign of Henry VII, by Dr. William Smythe, Bishop of Lichfield & Coventry, 1492—5, & of Lincoln, 14951514. has an endowment of about £70 yearly. New school buildings were erected & opened in 1883 at a cost of £2,000; there are now (1904) about 31 boys.

National Non-Provided, for 420 children; average attendance, 400.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of Services

St. Mary’s, Waterloo road, Rev. George Stephen Jones B.A. vicar; Rev. Louis Henry Marner-Smythe B.A. & Rev. Christopher Westwell B.A. curates; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. Ambrose Church, Halton View road, Rev. Herbert Payne Hiscoke B.A. vicar; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. Paul’s, Victoria road, Rev. Douglas Edward Morton, vicar & surrogate; Rev. William Robert Johnson B.A. curate; 10.30 a.m. & 2.15 & 6.30 p.m.; H.C. 1st & 4th suns. 10.30 a.m.; 2nd Sun. 8 a.m. & 3rd & 5th suns. 6.30 p.m.; Wed. & saints’ days, 7.30 p.m.

St. Luke’s, Farnworth, Rev. John Wright-Williams, vicar; Rev. W. Thatcher B.A. curate; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.; holy days, 10 a.m.

St. Mary’s, Catholic, Lugsdale road, Rev. James Clarke; Rev. Patrick O’Brien & Rev. James Heaney, priests; 8, 9, 10 & 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; daily, 7.30, 8 & 8.30 a.m.; fri 7.30 p.m.

St. Patrick’s, Catholic, West Bank street, Rev. Richard James Barry & Rev. James Hall, priests; 8, 10 & 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

St. Bede, Appleton, Very Rev. Thomas Finegan V.F. & Rev. Timothy Morrissey; 8.30, 10 & 11 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.; holidays of obligation, 8 & 10 a.m. & 7.30 p.m.

Congregational, Simms’ Cross, Rev. Joshua Pedlar; 10.30 a.m. & 6.30 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Congregational (Welsh), Moor lane; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. 7 p.m.

Baptist, Deacon road; Rev. Alexander Harvey; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Tues. 7.30 p.m.

Methodist Free Church (Zion), Oakland street, Rev. Walter Gay, Runcorn; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Primitive Methodist, Waterloo road; & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m. fortnightly.

Primitive Methodist, Princes street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m. fortnightly.

Unitarian, Victoria road; 6.30 p.m.: Thur. 7.45 p.m.

Welsh Presbyterian, Milton street, Rev. John Henry Hughes; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Mon. & Wed. 7 p.m.

Welsh Wesleyan, Lacey street (Liverpool (Mount Zion) Circuit), Rev. Daniel Marriott; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Mon. & Tues. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan, Derby road, Farnworth; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Tues. 7.30 p.m.

Wesleyan, Victoria road; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Tues. 7.30 p.m.

Wesleyan (Hartland, Irwell street; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Mon. 7 p.m.

Wesleyan (Iron), Albert road; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m. Alternate Mon. 7.30 p.m.

Wesleyan, Moss bank; 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

Salvation Army Barracks, Hibbert street.

SCHOOLS

Widnes Higher Grade Science & Art & Technical School, Victoria road, founded in 1897, is now a secondary school; William Walton B.A. principal, with 10 assistants; H. W. Deacon, chairman of governors; G. H. Danby, sec.; there are now (1904) about 220 boys & girls.

PUBLIC ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS

A School Board of 11 members was formed in 1874, & was succeeded in 1903 by the Borough Education Committee, under the “Education Act, 1903,” which came into operation in the borough 1st June, 1903; George Hammond Danby, secretary & director to the committee; Oliver Davies, J. Asprey & E. Forster, attendance officers.

St. Mary’s, Waterloo road, for 653 children; average attendance, boys 247, girls 194 & infants 140.

Simms’ Cross, built in 1878, for 1,334 children, & enlarged for 1,700; average attendance, senior boys, 337; senior girls, 263; junior boys, 229; junior girls, 220; infants, 397.

Warrington Road (mixed &infants), built in 1876, for 809 children; average attendance, senior boys, 173; senior girls, 139; junior mixed, 175; infants, 244.

West Bank, built in 1877, for 964 children; average attendance, senior boys, 170; senior girls, 193; junior boys, 119; junior girls, 158; infants, 345.

Catholic Schools

St. Mary’s, George street, erected in 1861, on a site given by the late John Hutchinson esq. at a cost of £1,100, & since enlarged for 900 children; average attendance, 800.

St. Patrick’s, West Bank street, erected in 1872, & new school erected in 1892, for 800 children; average attendance, 450.