periods in the Guild Hall, where the business of the other courts is also transacted. The places of public amusement in Hull are the Theatre Royal and the Olympic Circus, both in Humber street. The theatre is quite a new building, having been only completed as recently as 1809; it is decidedly one of the handsomest, and since the improvements made by Mr. Mansel, in 1821, one of the most convenient provincial theatres in the kingdom. It is erected upon what was formerly designated the Fore-shore, over which the tide washed twice in twentyfour hours; the industry and skill of man having rescued a large portion of this ground from the visitation of the river Humber. The house is calculated to accommodate an audience to the amount of nearly three hundred pounds, at the usual rate of admission: namely, boxes, 4s.; pit, 2s.; first gallery, 1s. 6d.: upper gallery, 1s. The Assembly Rooms, in Dagger lane, having been disused for three or four years, a house has been purchased in North street, by a party of gentlemen, who intend converting it into an assembly room, with apartments attached for billiards, a club room, &c. The inhabitants of Hull enjoy the inestimable advantage of a good public Subscription Library, which was first instituted on the 6th of Dec. 1775, but the foundation stone of the present building, in Parliament street, was not laid till the 21st of June, 1800. The library possesses a spacious reading room, which is open to the subscribers, amounting to four hundred and seventy-five in number, every day; and the collection of books, which comprises above fifteen thousand volumes, is said to be the most extensive between the Humber and the Tweed. Great facilities have been afforded to the consultation of books in this library, by an excellently classified catalogue recently published. The subscription is 25s. per annum, yielding a gross revenue, with other contingencies, of about 7007. a year. The concerns of the institution are managed by a committee of twenty-one, chosen yearly, and John Broadley, Esq. F. S. A. is the president; John Crosse, Esq. F. S. A. the treasurer; and Mr. Thomas English, the librarian. There is also a Subscription Library, at No. 5, in the Market place, established in 1807, on a similar plan to the above, consisting of nearly 200 members, whose annual subscription is 12s. 6d. each; of this library Mr. James Henwood is the president; Mr. Wm. Baron the treasurer; and Mr. George Turner the librarian. The most ancient library in Hull is that held in a room on the south side of the choir of the Holy Trinity church, which was formerly used as a chapel, but has since the year 1669 being appropriated to its present purpose; and which, in addition to many ancient theological works, contains a number of modern publications in divinity. A Literary and Philosophical Society is in the course of formation, with a museum attached to it, for which several articles have already been collected together. There are three weekly newspapers here: the Hull Packet, established June 5, 1787, printed by Mr. Richard Allanson, 36, Scalelane, and published on Monday in the afternoon; the Hull Advertiser, established July 5, 1794, printed by Mr. Isaac Wilson, 49, Lowgate, and published on Friday in the afternoon; and the Hull Rockingham, estab lished January, 2, 1808, printed and publish. ed by Mr. Wm, Ross, 9, Bowlalley lane, on Saturday in the afternoon. The two former of these publications support the Tory, and the latter the Whig principles of government. The first state of civilized society is indicated by an attention to agriculture, the second to horticulture, and the last to botany. The two former are decidedly the most important, and the last is the more re fined and scientific. A few, and only a few, of the cities and towns of England, can boast of their botanicgarden, and Hull isone of that number. This elegant institution was commenced in July 1811, and opened to the subscribers on the 3d of June following. The garden is situated about a mile from the centre of the town, on the Anlaby road, at the bottom of an intended new street, appropriately named Linnæus street, and compre hends about five statute acres of land. At the entrance are two lodges-one for the dwelling of the curator, and the other, (in which a Botanic library is forming,) for the use of the committee. The ground is laid out with great skill, and ample room has been left for one specimen at least of every tree, shrub, and hardy plant in the kingdom, as well as for a vast number of exotics. There is here a bog compartment in the highest perfection, another for alpine plants, and an aquarium thirty yards in length. The garden is the property of three hundred subscribers, holders of five hundred and fifty transferable five guinea shares, bearing interest, and subject to a subscription of a guinea and a half per annum. The merit of originating this establishment, and of bringing it to its present state of advancement, is, in a considerable degree, due to Dr. John Alderson, the president, and to the other officers of the insti tion. The garden has, from its commence ment, been under the superintendence of Mr. William Donn, who still discharges the duties of curator much to the satisfaction of its patrons and friends. Freemasonry, like Botanie science, thrives amazingly in Hull, but all that it is permitted us to say of the former is that there are here two numerous lodges, the Minerva and the Phenix. The Rodney Lodge, which possessed an elegant and commodious room, has been dissolved; and concerts and other public meetings are held in the premises, till an assembly room is provided. from the list subjoined to this history, which by way of contrast is introduced by an enumeration of those which existed at the period just referred to. In the ancient buildings in the town little regard appears to have been paid to elegance or regularity; convenience alone was the object of the proprietor, and to that point principally the skill of the architect was directed. A flourishing and extended commerce, with gradually increasing wealth, at length introduced a taste, if not for magnificence, at least for elegance and publie accommodation. The town as it now stands is well built, principally of brick, most of the streets are well paved, and in the new parts, to the north and to the west, they are spacious and commodious. From the year 1322, when it was first surrounded with fortifications, the town of Kingston The Hull Medical and Chirurgical Society, is a recent establishment instituted on the 1st of February, 1821, of which John Alderson, M. D. is president; Alexander Turnbull, M.D. vice-president; and Thomas Buchanan, C. M. secretary and treasurer. This society consists of about thirty members, and meets regularly every fortnight on Thursday at 8 o'clock in the evening, to read essays and discuss medical news. Their museum already contains nearly one hun-upon-Hull, was from its strength and situa dred preparations, and is kept in the Hall No. 52, High street. The Public Baths here are kept by Mr. Peter Hemsley, at the Bath Tavern, on the Humber bank; and by Mr. George Malcolm, also on the Humber bank. By an improved mode of filtration the water is raised without sediment from the bed of the river, and visitors are accommodated with the use of the water in either a hot, cold or tepid state. There are also vapour and shower baths. Mendicity has been considerably checked in almost all the great towns in the kingdom, and imposition and crime diminished, by the institution of Vagrant Offices. The Vagrant Office of Hull was established by a meeting of the inhabitants, held at the Guildhall, on the Ist of February, 1819, this office is situated at No. 9, Quay street, and Mr. Andrew Daniel is the officer under whose superintendence it is placed. Having thus sketched with a rapid, but it is hoped with a faithful hand, the History of Hull from its earliest foundation to the present time; having enumerated and deseribed its public edifices and multitudinous institutions; having dwelt without prolixity, but not without precision, upon its trade, its commerce, and its manufactures, we come in conclusion to describe the town as it was in times past, and as it exists at the present day. The vicissitudes to which this town and port have been subjected have been already pretty fully detailed. For many ages, indeed for several centuries, the town of Hull was confined between the Humber to the south, the Hull to the east, and the town's wall to the north and west, Beyond these limits all is new; and so late as the year 1640, the number of streets in this place amounted only to from thirty to forty. What is their present number will be seen tion considered as an impregnable fortress; and the wide ditches with the frowning walls and embattled towers overlooking the adjacent country presented a formidable aspect, exciting ideas of hostility and danger. These symbols of war have happily disappeared within the last forty years. Towards the close of the last century the ditches were filled up; and the ramparts and walls which had long been useless and ruinous, were finally levelled to promote the convenience of the inhabitants. Hull therefore is now an open town, and instead of those formidable bulwarks which displayed the menacing apparatus of war, it presents, on every side, docks filled with merchant ships, the vehicles of commerce and the emblems of peace. From an accurate admeasurement taken be. fore the military works were demolished, it appears that the walls of Hull were two thou sand six hundred and ten yards in circuit, being thirty yards less than a mile and a half, Of the whole of these works of defence two of the three fortresses built by Henry VIII, alone remain. They are guarded by several batteries and modern erections, on the east bank of the river, intended for the defence of the town and harbour, and form maga zines capable of containing twenty thousand stand of arms, and ordnance stores for twelve or fifteen sail of the line, defended by a regular garrison. The post of governor of this town is generally bestowed on some officer of high rank, and Lord Hill, the present gover. nor, succeeded the Duke of Richmond, The intervention of the docks which occupy the greater part of the space where the walls formerly stood, separates Hull into three principal divisions, and nearly insus lates the old town, which forms the first division. On the north side of the old dock is the purish of Seulcoates; all its buildings having been erected within the last thirty years, and they now constitute several spacious and handsome streets; a neat hall has been built here for the administration of justice and other public purposes, this part of the town being in the county of York, and not under the jurisdiction of the magistrates of Hull. The third and last division has arisen still more recently, and lies to the west of the Humber dock, occupying the situation of the ancient hamlet of Myton, by which name it is now distinguished, and is included in the county of the town of Hull. A suburb has also lately sprung up on the Holderness side of the river, in the parishes of Drypool and Sutton, encompassing the garrison, and connected with the town by a bridge of four arches, with a draw bridge in the centre wide enough to admit the largest vessel that has to pass through it. The population of Hull has increased at the rate of about 15 per cent. during the last twenty years. In 1801, the aggregate number of inhabitants was 27,502, in 1811, that number was swelled to 32,944; and by the last returns to 39,073. The following is the Population return of 1821, including the suburbs: POPULATION OF HULL IN 1821. Total......20344 24580 44924 The mortality of the place is rather below than above the usual average, which may be taken at one in thirty, Here the average is one in thirty-three, while in London it is one in twenty. The eminent men born in, or elosely connected with Hull, are quite as numerous as in most other places. Passing over the De la Poles and coming nearer to our own times, we find Admiral Sir John Lawson, who fought and died for his country on the 3d of June 1665, and to whom Hull and Scar borough make joint pretensions. Andrew Marvel, the friend and colleague of Milton: at the time of his birth his father was the rector of Winestead near Patrington in the East Riding, and the baptism of his son is entered in the parish register of that place, on the last day of March 1621, in his father's hand writing. Having received the rudiments of his classical education in the Free Grammar School at Hull, of which his father was then master, he was sent to Cambridge, and pursued his studies at Trinity College. He afterwards made the tour of Europe, and was secretary to the embassy at Constantinople in the time of the Commonwealth. His first appearance in public business at home was to assist John Milton, Latin secretary to the Protector. In 1658, two years before the Restoration, he was elected member for Hull, and during the twenty years that he represented this borough in parliament, he maintained the character of an honest man, a true patriot, and an incorruptible senator. He is recorded as the last member of parliament who received the wages anciently paid to members by their constituents. His integrity rendered him obnoxious to a corrupt court, which spared no pains to seduce him from his fidelity and to obtain the powerful influence of his name and character for their measures. Many instances are adduced of his heroic firmness in resisting the alluring offers made to win him over to the court party, one of which may suffice as an example: The King, Charles II. sought by the fascination of his own com. pany to attach to him the patriot, and one morning after having on the preceding evening given Marvel an entertainment, he dispatched the Lord Treasurer, Danby, to his lodgings which were on a second floor in a court in the Strand. The courtier owing to the narrowness of the stairs fell into the room where he found the patriot at his desk. After apologizing for the abruptness of his entry, his lordship said that he came on a message from the King, who wished to do Mr. Marvel some signal service to testify his high opinion of his merits. Mr. Marvel expressed himself highly sensible of this mark of his sovereign's affec tion, but declined to accept any place in his Majesty's service; alleging, that if after having done so he should vote against the wishes of his ministers, he might be deemed guilty of ingratitude, and if he voted with them, he might do injustice to his country and to his conscience; he therefore begged that his Majesty would allow him to enjoy a state of liberty, and to esteem him his * It has been generally but erroneously supposed that Mr. Marvel was born at Hulle faithful and dutiful subject. The Royal and the inscription was never placed there which recorded that "he was a man so endowed by nature, so improved by education, study, and travel, so consummate by experience, that joining the most peculiar grace of wit and learning, with a singular penetration and strength of judgment, and exercising all these with unalterable steadiness in the ways of virtue, he became the ornament and the example of his age; beloved by good men, feared by bad, and admired by all; though imitated, alas! by few, and scarcely paralleled by any." Thomas Watson, D. D. the unfortunate Bishop of St. David's, was born at North Ferriby, near Hull, in the year 1637. He founded the hospital at Hull, which is still called by his name, and entertained the inten. tion of liberally endowing it, but his misfortunes overtook him before that intention could be fulfilled, and he fell, partly the victim of his own violence, and partly of the violence of the times in which he lived. Hull has also given birth to several other persons of distinction, amongst these may be mentioned Dr. Thomas Johnson, the physician, &c.; the Rev. Wm. Mason, the poet, precenter of York, who was born at the vicarage; William Wilberforce, Esq. the senator and philanthropist; and William Porden, Esq. the architect. We may also mention several living gentlemen of literary talent: Charles Frost, Esq. F.S.A. author of some tracts on legal subjects; John Crosse, Esq. F.S.A. and John Broadley, Esq. F.S.A. the unostentatious but efficient promoters of every object of literature and science connected with their native town and county: and A. H. Haworth, Esq. F.L.S. author of Lepidoptera Britannica, &c. Wm Spence, Esq. F.L.S. author of tracts on Political Economy, and an introduction to Entomo logy; Thomas Thompson. Esq. F.S.A. author of tracts on the Poor Laws, and on the antiquities of this district; and P. W. Watson, Esq. the author of Dendrologia Britannica, are all natives of the neighbourhood and residents in Hull. Nor ought the venerable name of the late vicar, the Rev. Joseph Milner, M. A. the author of "The History of the Church," to be passed over in an aecount of that town with which his memory is so nearly associated, Hull does not at present give title to any noble family. Robert de Pierrepont,, who was created by Charles I. Baron Pierrepont and Viscount Newark, was made Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull in 1628; and Evelyn, 4th Earl, was advanced to be Duke of Kingston, in 1715; on the death of whose grandson, William, the second Duke, in 1773, all the titles became extinct. Adelphi court, George yard, 17, Lowgate Boulton's square, Whitefriargate Bourne street, 9, North street Bowlalley lane, 46, Lowgate Bowlby's place, 2, Aldbro' street Bowling green court, 8, Milk street Brazil gardens, Patrick ground lane Bricklebank's square, Hodgson's street Bridge street, N. E. end of Old Dock Broad entry, 36, Scale lane Broadley's entry, 39, Humber street Broadley's square, 8, Manor alley Broadley street, Manor alley Brook street, 19, Prospect street Brook street square, 22, Brook street Brown's square, 27, Scott street Bryant's entry, High street Builder's court, 28, Scale lane Burden street, 77, West street Burke's entry, Market place Burnham's yard, 33, West street Burton's street, 16, Great Passage street Caley's court, 6, Trippet street Cannon place, Gibson street Cannon place, 1, Cannon street Cannon street, 3, Foundry Capes lane, Great Union street Carr lane, 39, Waterhouse lane Carr street, 44, Scott street Cartwright place, 1, Spring bank Castle row, 2, Myton place Castle street, New Dock bridge Carlisle street, 19, Chariot street Caroline street, Worship street Catharine square, Mason street Catterson's entry, 34, Lowgate Cent per cent street, Pottery Chafer's alley. Witham Chapel court, 79, West street Chapel court, George yard Chapel court, 15, Salthouse lane Chapel lane, 36, Blanket row Chapel lane, 25, Lowgate Chapel lane, Castle street Chapel place, 21, Scott street Chapel street, 1, Paragon street Chariot street, 10, Waterworks street Charles court, 15, Wincolmlee Charles square, 7, Mason street Charles street, 14, Jarratt street Charlotte street, North side Old Dock Charlotte street, Mews, back of Charlotte street Charter house lane, 29, Trippet Church lane, 17, Market place Church street, 36, Wincolmlee Heighley's court, 3, Prospect street |