Leck

LECK, a township and chapelry, in the parish of Tunstall, union of Lancaster, hundred of Lonsdale south of the Sands, N. division of the county of Lancaster, 2½ miles (S. E. by E.) from Kirkby-Lonsdale; containing 288 inhabitants. This township belonged to the Gernets, of Halton, in the reign of John; the abbot of Croxton had lands here, and in the reign of Edward I. claimed to exercise various feudal privileges in Leck. The Girlington family were early proprietors, and the family of Welch succeeded, by purchase: Hipping Hall, here, has long been a seat of the family of Tatham. The township is seated on the east side of the river Lune, and comprises 4636a. 2r. 26p. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £80; patron, the Vicar of Tunstall. A tithe rent-charge of £73 is paid to the vicar of Tunstall, and one of £66 to the impropriators.

Leckby, with Cundall.—See Cundall.

LECKBY, with Cundall.—See Cundall.

Leckford (St. Nicholas)

LECKFORD (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Stockbridge, hundred of King's-Sombourn, Andover and N. divisions of the county of Southampton, 1¾ mile (N. N. E.) from Stockbridge; containing 231 inhabitants. The parish comprises 2200 acres, chiefly arable, with some excellent pasturage for sheep; the surface is varied, and the scenery in some parts picturesque. The village is situated near the Andover canal, which passes through the parish, affording facility of conveyance for the produce of the chalk-pits here. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 16. 10½., and in the patronage of the Sinecure Rector: the rectory, valued in the king's books at £9, is in the gift of St. John's College, Oxford. The rectorial tithes have been commuted for £400, and the vicarial for £142. 10.; there are 30 acres of rectorial, and one of vicarial, glebe. The church is an ancient edifice.

Leckhampstead

LECKHAMPSTEAD, a chapelry, in the parish of Chieveley, union of Newbury, hundred of Faircross, county of Berks, 5¼ miles (S. W.) from East Ilsley; containing 372 inhabitants. It comprises 1742a. 1r. 29p., of which 22 acres are common or waste. The impropriate tithes have been commuted for £118. 10., and the vicarial for £100; there is a glebe of nearly 13 acres. A school is endowed with £14 per annum.

Leckhampstead (St. Mary)

LECKHAMPSTEAD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union, hundred, and county of Buckingham, 3½ miles (N. E. by N.) from Buckingham; containing 505 inhabitants. It comprises 2522a. 2r. 16p., of which 1921 acres are meadow and pasture, 334 arable, and 266 woodland. The surface is finely undulated, and the scenery enriched with wood; the low lands are watered by a brook that issues from Whittlebury forest. The substratum abounds with limestone, which is quarried for building. A branch canal from Buckingham passes through the parish, and communicates with the Grand Junction line at Cosgrove. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £15. 13. 4., and in the gift of H. W. Beauclerk, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £517, and the glebe comprises 79 acres. The church contains an octagonal font, ornamented with representations of the Crucifixion, St. Catherine, &c., rudely executed in basso-relievo. Wycliffe is said to have held this living with that of Lutterworth. A school for boys was endowed by John Smith, Esq., with £15 per annum, in 1801. There is a chalybeate spring.

Leckhampton (St. Peter)

LECKHAMPTON (St. Peter), a parish, in the union and hundred of Cheltenham, E. division of the county of Gloucester, 2 miles (S. by W.) from Cheltenham; containing 1770 inhabitants, and consisting by survey of 1560 acres. There are quarries of stone of good quality both for building and for burning into lime, for the conveyance of which facilities are afforded by a branch of the Gloucester and Cheltenham railway. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £18. 13. 4.; net income, £356; patron, H. N. Trye, Esq. The tithes were commuted for land in 1778; the glebe altogether comprises 170 acres. An additional church, dedicated to St. Philip, was consecrated in May, 1840; it is a neat structure, and contains 800 sittings, half of which are free: the living is in the gift of Trustees.

Leckonfield (St. Catherine)

LECKONFIELD (St. Catherine), a parish, in the union of Beverley, Hunsley-Beacon division of the wapentake of Harthill, E. riding of York, 3 miles (N. N. W.) from Beverley; containing, with the hamlet of Arram, 347 inhabitants. This place was the residence of the Percy family, earls of Northumberland, whose stately castle, falling into decay, was taken down in 1600, to furnish materials for the repair of their castle of Wressel; the site, comprising an area of about 4 acres, is now a rich pasture, but parts of the moat by which the building was surrounded may still be distinctly traced. The manor, on the death of the 11th earl without issue male, passed to his daughter's son, Algernon Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and from him to Sir Chas. Wyndham, Earl of Egremont, and is now the property of Col. Wyndham. The parish comprises about 4000 acres, and a considerable portion is let to cottagers, in allotments of 3 or 4 acres, by the lord of the manor, at a moderate rent; the surface is pleasingly varied. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £48; patron and impropriator, Col. Wyndham. The Rev. Robert Machell, the present incumbent, is a descendant of the family of Machell, one of whom accompanied Earl Percy from the north to the castle of Leckonfield, in which, in the reign of Henry VII., he had a chamber always appointed for his use.

Ledburn

LEDBURN, a hamlet, in the parish of Mentmore, union of Leighton-Buzzard, hundred of Cottesloe, county of Buckingham, 3 miles (S. W. by S.) from the market-town of Leighton-Buzzard; containing 169 inhabitants.

Ledbury (St. Michael)

LEDBURY (St. Michael), a market-town and parish, and the head of a union, in the hundred of Radlow, county of Hereford; containing, with the township of Parkhold, 4591 inhabitants, of whom 4549 are in the town, 15 miles (E. by S.) from Hereford, and 120 (W. N. W.) from London. This place derives its name from the river Leden, which intersects the parish from north to south. The manor at the time of the Conquest belonged to the bishops of Hereford, to whom it had been given by Edwin the Saxon, and who had a park called Dingwood and a palace, of which there are now no remains. Queen Elizabeth gave other lands to the bishops in exchange for the manor, which was bestowed by James I. upon his son Charles I., who sold it to the citizens of London, from whom it was purchased by the predecessors of the present proprietors. Edward II., when made prisoner by the Earl of Leicester in the castle of Lanstephen, was conveyed to this town, and lodged for some time in the bishop's palace previously to his confinement in Berkeley Castle. During the civil war in the reign of Charles I., the Earl of Leven besieged and took a small garrison of royalists at Canon-Froome, in the neighbourhood; and on the 22nd of April, 1646, the parliamentary forces, under Col. Massey, were attacked and routed at Ledbury by Prince Rupert, who had fixed his head-quarters here: on this occasion 100 of the enemy were killed, and 27 officers and 400 others made prisoners.

The Town, which stands at the eastern angle of the county, and at the southern extremity of the Malvern hills, is situated on a declivity, and consists of three continuous streets; the central of these is the principal, and is detached at each end from the northern and southern portions of the line by smaller streets crossing at right angles. The streets are macadamized; the footway in the high-street is paved with flags, and the inhabitants are indifferently supplied with water brought from reservoirs in Coninger wood. In the more ancient parts, the houses are composed of timber and brick, with projecting stories; but those of more modern erection are handsomely built of brick. A subscription reading and news room is supported; there is also a circulating library with an extensive collection of volumes, and assemblies are held during the season in the ball-room of the Feathers' inn. Races take place in August; and a temporary theatre is opened by an itinerant company. The manufacture of silk and broadcloth was carried on to a considerable extent during the reigns of Elizabeth and James I., but it has declined. There are some malting establishments, and some tanneries: the chief trade, however, is in cider, of which very great quantities are made in the parish and vicinity; and in cheese, for which the town is the best mart in the county. The canal from Gloucester to Hereford materially benefits the district. The market is on Tuesday, for poultry, butter, and pedlery; and fairs are held on the Monday after Feb. 1st, Monday before Easter, May 12th, June 22nd, Oct. 2nd, and the Monday before Dec. 21st, for cattle, pigs, &c. The market-house is an ancient edifice of timber and brick, supported on 16 strong oak pillars; the lower part is used as a butter and poultry market, and the upper part as a store-room, and also as a national school. The parish is divided into five parts, the Borough, Wall Hills, Ledon and Haffield, Wellington, and Mitchell and Netherton: the four last form the Foreign of the manor, for which courts leet and baron are held annually, when the constables for the town are chosen; the borough is called the Denizen, and has likewise a court leet and baron. Petty-sessions for the hundred are held every Wednesday. The powers of the county debt-court of Ledbury, established in 1847, extend over the registration-district of Ledbury. The town sent members to two parliaments in the reign of Edward I., but surrendered the elective franchise subsequently, on the plea of poverty.

The parish comprises, according to survey, 8324 acres, in the highest state of cultivation; much of the land is laid out in orchards and market-gardens, and great quantities of fruit and vegetables are raised. There are some quarries of excellent limestone, which is used for building, and also for burning into lime; and a grey marble is quarried extensively. The Living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £14. 12. 6.; the rectory is divided into the two portions of Overhall and Netherhall: the Bishop of Hereford appoints to the vicarage. The tithes have been commuted for £250 each to the portions of Netherhall and Overhall, £52. 10. to the Dean and Chapter of Hereford, and £400 to the vicar. The church is a spacious and handsome structure, exhibiting some fine specimens of Norman architecture, particularly the door in the centre of the west front, and the chancel, on the north side of which is a chapel dedicated to St. Catherine, of decorated character; the north porch is in the early English style, as is also the tower, which is detached from the church, and surmounted by a well-proportioned spire about 60 feet in height. Over the altar is a painting of the Lord's Supper, copied from an original by Leonardo da Vinci, by T. Ballard, Esq., a native of the town, and student of the Royal Academy; and at the east end of the south aisle, is a new window ornamented with the figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity, in stained glass. There are also numerous ancient and highly interesting monuments, some antique sculptures, and much carving in good preservation. A district church has been erected at Wellington Heath, by private munificence: the living is a perpetual curacy in the gift of the Bishop, with an income of £100. Here are places of worship for Baptists, Independents, Plymouth Brethren, and Wesleyans.

The hospital of St. Catherine was established in the thirteenth century, by Hugh Foliot, Bishop of Hereford, and endowed originally for six widowers and four widows: the revenue of it was valued at the Dissolution at £32. 7. 11. It was refounded by Elizabeth, in 1580, for a master, seven widowers, and three widows. The increase of funds enabled the trustees to erect a new hospital in 1822, from a design by Mr. Smirke, intended to comprise twenty-four dwellings for as many brethren, twelve of which have been completed, at an expense of £5888; the building is of handsome design, and erected with grey marble raised in the parish. Morning service is performed in a chapel adjoining the hospital, twice in the week, by a chaplain. There are several almshouses for poor persons; and a dispensary established in 1824. The union of Ledbury comprises 22 parishes or places, of which 21 are in the county of Hereford, and one in that of Worcester; the whole containing a population of 12,899. At Wall Hills, about a mile from the town, is a camp, supposed to have been originally British and subsequently occupied as a Roman station, containing an area of about 30 acres; a smaller camp at Haffield was probably used as a temporary position. Within the parish is also part of the famous Beacon camp, considered by some antiquaries as one of the fortresses constructed by Caractacus, when this part of Britain was invaded by the Romans under Ostorius Scapula. At Ledbury died Jacob Tonson, the eminent bookseller, whose epitaph was closely copied by Dr. Franklin for his own tombstone, and has been often recorded in print.

Ledsham

LEDSHAM, a township, in the parish of Neston, union, and Higher division of the hundred, of Wirrall, S. division of the county of Chester, 6¼ miles (N. W. by N.) from Chester: containing 81 inhabitants. In Domesday book the name is written Levetsham, and the lands are therein stated to have been held by Walter de Vernon. In the reign of Richard II., the Gerards were connected with the place; and in that of Elizabeth, a portion of the estate came by purchase to the Masseys, from whom it passed in 1715, by will, to Sir Thomas Stanley, of Hooton. The township comprises 790 acres, of which 26 are common or waste; the soil is clay. The tithes have been commuted for £1. 5. payable to an impropriator, £1. 10. to the vicar, and £70 to the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.

Ledsham (All Saints)

LEDSHAM (All Saints), a parish, in the Upper division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash, W. riding of York; containing, with the township of Fairburn and part of Ledstone, 1061 inhabitants, of whom 340 are in the township of Ledsham, 4½ miles (N. W. by N.) from Ferry-Bridge. This parish, which is near the great north road, comprises by computation 5150 acres. The soil is in some parts fertile, in others luxuriantly rich, but in more very indifferent land; the substratum abounds with coal and limestone of excellent quality, of which several mines and quarries are in operation. The village is pleasantly situated in a vale, near the source of a rivulet. Facility of conveyance is afforded by the Aire and Calder rivers, which bound the parish; and the Leeds and Selby, and York and North-Midland railways both pass in the immediate vicinity. The living is a discharged vicarage, valued in the king's books at £7. 4. 2.; net income, £397, with a glebehouse; patron, the Rev. Charles Medhurst. The vicarial tithes of Ledsham township have been commuted for £46, and the glebe consists of 52 acres. The church contains a splendid monument to Lady Elizabeth Hastings and her two sisters; she is represented seated on a sarcophagus, reading a book of devotion, and the statues of her sisters Frances and Ann are on pedestals by her side: opposite is a monument of Sir John and Lady Lewis, her grandfather and grandmother. Schools for 20 boys and 20 orphan girls, the latter of whom are also fed and clothed, were liberally endowed by Lady Elizabeth. An hospital for five aged bachelors and six unmarried women was founded in 1670, by Sir John Lewis, who endowed it with £60 per annum; the endowment was augmented by Lady E. Hastings, with a rent-charge, which has been increased by her trustees, and by benefactions, and the present income exceeds £152 per annum: the building was repaired in the year 1816.

Ledstone

LEDSTONE, a township, partly in the parish of Ledsham, Upper division of the wapentake of Barkstone-Ash, and partly in the parish of Kippax, Lower division of the wapentake of Skyrack, W. riding of York, 5 miles (N. W.) from Ferry-Bridge; containing 259 inhabitants. The township comprises nearly 2000 acres: the soil is extremely fertile, and the surface beautifully varied, and embellished with wood. Ledstone Hall is a handsome mansion, anciently the seat of the Witham family, and subsequently of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford. After the attainder of the earl, the property was purchased by Sir John Lewis, Bart., and from him descended, through Granville H. Wheler, Esq., to the present possessor, the Rev. Charles Medhurst. The Hall is situated on an eminence, and surrounded by an extensive park inclosed with a stone wall; it was honoured on the 29th Sept., 1806, with the presence of the Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence, who paid a visit to Michael Angelo Taylor, then resident here.

Ledwell

LEDWELL, a hamlet, in the parish of Sandford, union of Woodstock, hundred of Wootton, county of Oxford, 4½ miles (N. E.) from Neat-Enstone; containing 205 inhabitants. A fine sand, used in the manufacture of glass, is found in the vicinity. Here was formerly a chapel, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene.

Lee (St. John the Baptist)

LEE (St. John the Baptist), a parish, in the union of Amersham, hundred of Aylesbury, county of Buckingham, 2½ miles (N.) from Great Missenden; containing 142 inhabitants. It comprises 461 acres, of which about 281 are arable, 125 meadow, 5 woodland, and 50 uninclosed waste; the soil is a wet cold clay, and the surface is level, but considerably elevated. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £50; patrons, the family of Deering. The church was formerly a chapel of ease to the rectory of Weston-Turville.

Lee (St. Margaret)

LEE (St. Margaret), a parish, in the union of Lewisham, hundred of Blackheath, lathe of Suttonat-Hone, W. division of Kent, 7 miles (S. E. by E.) from London; containing 2360 inhabitants. This parish, which within the last few years has much increased in population, formerly consisted only of a few detached houses. A very handsome range of buildings, called Lee Park, has been erected, consisting of villas on both sides of the road, with grounds tastefully laid out, and forming one continuous line with Blackheath Park. Great additions have also been made to the village, and in various parts of the vicinity are elegant mansions. The parish comprises 1210 acres, of which 70 are in wood. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £3. 11. 8., and in the patronage of the Crown: the tithes have been commuted for £407, and the glebe comprises 39 acres. The ancient church, with the exception of the tower, was taken down, and the present edifice erected on the site in 1814; it is built of flint and stone, and has a neat cemetery containing several handsome monuments, the most conspicuous of which are those of the great astronomer, Edmund Halley; the comedian, William Parsons; the amiable Lady Dacre; and Sir Samuel Fludyer, Bart., who, as lord mayor of London in 1761, gave a sumptuous banquet to George III. and his royal consort. Some indications of insecurity in the structure having appeared, it was deemed advisable to prepare for the probable result; and on the 17th of July, 1839, the foundation stone of a new church was laid. This building, which is an elegant specimen in the early English style, with a lofty and graceful spire, was completed at an expense of £8000, and consecrated on the 11th March, 1841. The interior is beautifully arranged; the windows are embellished with stained glass, and the central east window, the design of which is taken from the "Five Sisters" in York Minster, is finely executed. There is also a chapel of ease in the parish. Lee Park proprietary grammar school is a good edifice, after the Propyleum of Athens. Christopher Boone, in 1683, founded and endowed an almshouse for six persons, with a chapel attached, and a school for twelve children; the endowment produces about £71 per annum. Behind Boone's almshouses are others endowed by the Merchant Tailors' Company for 29 widows of freemen; the houses are built of white brick, ornamented with stone.

Lee

LEE, a tything, in the parish and poor-law union of Romsey, hundred of King's-Sombourn, Romsey and S. divisions of the county of Southampton; containing 156 inhabitants.

Lee-Botwood (St. Mary)

LEE-BOTWOOD (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Church-Stretton, hundred of Condover, S. division of Salop, 4 miles (N. N. E.) from Church-Stretton; containing 233 inhabitants. The parish is situated in a flat valley between the Caer-Caradoc, Lawley, and Longmynd hills, which form the south-western boundary of the hundred; and comprises 1286a. 2p. A considerable portion of the land is rough pasture. There are quarries of limestone of very good quality, both for building and for burning into lime; coal is found, and some mines are in operation. The surface is varied, and the lower grounds are intersected by a brook called the Rae, which is increased by numerous smaller streams from the hills. The village is on the road from Shrewsbury to Ludlow. The living is a perpetual curacy, with that of Longnor united; net income, £135; patron, Archdeacon Corbett: the tithes have been commuted for £105. The church belonged to the abbey of Haughmond.

Lee-Brockhurst (St. Peter)

LEE-BROCKHURST (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Wem, Whitchurch division of the hundred of North Bradford, N. division of Salop, 2¾ miles (S. E. by E.) from Wem; containing 165 inhabitants. It comprises 579a. 1r. 33p. Sandstone of suitable quality for building and other purposes is found, and for its conveyance facilities are afforded by the river Roden, on which the village is situated. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £72; patron and impropriator, John Walford, Esq.

Lee, Chapel

LEE, CHAPEL, an extra-parochial liberty, in the parish of East Tilbury, union of Orsett, hundred of Barstable, S. division of Essex; containing 11 inhabitants, and comprising about 300 acres of land.

Lee, St. John

LEE, ST. JOHN, a parish, in the union of Hexham, S. division of Tindale ward and of Northumberland, 1½ mile (N. N. E.) from Hexham; containing 1947 inhabitants. This is an extensive parish, consisting of the townships of West Acomb, Anick, AnickGrange, Bingfield, Cocklaw, Fallowfield, Hallington, Portgate, Sandhoe, and Wall, and comprising by computation 15,000 acres. The soil is in general good, and the surface varied and picturesque; it is rich in mines of coal and lead, and well watered by the Tyne and the northern branch of that river. The parish contains several villages and hamlets, but no village of its own name. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £280; patron, T. W. Beaumont, Esq.: the impropriation belongs to the Misses Smith and the family of Errington. The church, dedicated to St. John of Beverley, and situated on a fine eminence on the northern side of the Tyne, was noted for an annual procession made to it by the monks of Hexham; the east end was rebuilt in 1819, and the west end, with the spire, in 1842. There are chapels of ease at Bingfield and Wall.

Lee-Ward

LEE-WARD, a township, in the parish and union of Rothbury, W. division of Coquetdale ward, N. division of Northumberland, 3½ miles (S. S. E.) from Rothbury; containing 91 inhabitants. It is the property of the Duke of Northumberland.

Leeds (St. Nicholas)

LEEDS (St. Nicholas), a parish, in the union of Hollingbourne, hundred of Eyhorne, lathe of Aylesford, W. division of Kent, 5 miles (E. by S.) from Maidstone; containing 675 inhabitants. The parish is said to have derived its name from Ledian, councillor to Ethelbert II., who built a fortress here in 978. In 1119, a priory of Black canons, in honour of St. Mary and St. Nicholas, was founded by Robert de Crepito Corde, alias Crevecœur, or Crouchheart, Knt.; the revenue of which, at the Dissolution, was £362. 7. 7. The abbey church was equal in beauty to a cathedral; and the monastic buildings, remains of which still exist, were of correspondent size and grandeur. Leeds Castle, one of the most stately castles in the kingdom, is seated in a beautiful park, and surrounded by a moat: the buildings, which are entirely of stone, are ranged round a spacious quadrangle, and though they exhibit the architecture of different periods, produce, as a whole, a most striking effect. The structure has two ancient gateways, a grand hall, and a magnificent suite of apartments: there are also the remains of the inner vallum, of the keep, and various other detached parts, said to have been erected by the Crevecœurs, by William of Wykeham, and by Henry VIII. George III. and his royal consort were entertained here in their excursion to Coxheath Camp, in 1779. The castle has lately been very extensively repaired, and the style prevailing in the time of Henry VII. has been adhered to, being that which was most prominent in the remains of the ancient edifice. The parish comprises 1602 acres. The living is a perpetual curacy, to which that of Broomfield is united; net income, £163; patron and appropriator, the Archbishop of Canterbury. The church has a remarkably low square tower, and contains some good monuments to the Meredith family.

Leeds (St. Peter)

LEEDS (St. Peter), a parish, and liberty, in the W. riding of York, comprising the market-town and borough of Leeds, which has a separate jurisdiction, but is locally in the wapentake of Skyrack; and containing 152,054 inhabitants, of whom 88,741 are in the town, 24 miles (S. W. by W.) from York, and 194 (N. N. W.) from London. This place is supposed to have been the site of a Roman station connected with that of Cambodunum, an opinion in some degree corroborated, by the discovery of traces of a Roman road, and other ancient remains in the vicinity. After the destruction of Cambodunum by Cadwallo, a British prince, and Penda, King of Mercia, the place was made a royal vill, and obtained the Saxon appellation of Loidis, though on what account does not clearly appear. During the heptarchy a memorable battle occurred here, between Oswy, King of Northumbria, and Penda, the pagan King of Mercia, who in 655 had invaded Oswy's territories; Penda, with many of his vassals, was slain, and numbers of his forces, in their attempt to escape from the field of carnage, perished in the waters of the river Aire, which had at the time overflowed its banks. At the Conquest, the manor of Leeds was given to Ilbert de Lacy, who erected a baronial castle here, which was besieged by Stephen, King of England, on his route to Scotland, and in which Richard II., after his deposition, was for some time confined, previously to his removal to the Castle of Pontefract, where he was inhumanly murdered. During the war in the reign of Charles I., numerous skirmishes between the contending parties took place in the immediate neighbourhood, and that monarch resided for a short time at Red Hall, a brick mansion so called from the colour of its material, situated in the part of the borough now called Guildford-street. In 1643, the town was taken by the parliamentary forces under General Fairfax, who had marched from Bradford to besiege it, and to whom, after an assault of two hours, it surrendered. After the battle of Marston-Moor, in 1643, the Scottish troops halted here; on which occasion Charles, who was then a captive at Red Hall, refused the opportunity offered to him by a female servant of the house to effect his escape in disguise: her fidelity, however, was amply acknowledged and rewarded after the Restoration, on the production of a token given to her for that purpose by the unfortunate monarch. In the reign of William III., Thomas, Marquess of Carmarthen, was created Duke of Leeds, and the title is still inherited by his descendants.

Present Seal and Arms.

This flourishing Town, which is more celebrated as the chief seat of the woollen manufacture, than for its antiquity or historical importance, is pleasantly situated on the acclivities and summit of a gentle eminence rising from the north bank of the river Aire, over which are six bridges. Leeds bridge, consisting of five arches, forms the principal avenue to the south entrance of the town, but is inadequate to its purpose, the nature of the ground and the surrounding property presenting great obstacles to improvement. Wellington bridge, a handsome structure of one noble arch, 100 feet in span, was erected in 1818, at an expense of £7000, from a design by Rennie, and affords communication with the townships of Wortley and Armley. Victoria bridge, connecting Sandfordstreet with the Holbeck road, was completed in 1838, at a cost of £8000, and is a substantial structure of one arch, 80 feet in span, and 45 feet in breadth between the battlements; during its erection it withstood the shock of an overwhelming flood without injury. Two of the other bridges are Suspension bridges; one constructed in 1829, at an expense of £3950, by Messrs. Hartop and Co., of the Milton iron-works, and forming a direct communication between Hunslet and the road to York on the east; and the other communicating with Holbeck and the western part of the town. A sixth bridge, of stone, and very commodious, called Crown-Point bridge, has been completed under an act of parliament, about 500 yards below Leeds bridge, opening a communication between Hunslet-lane (the London entrance of the town) and the eastern precincts; it cost, with approaches, at least £20,000.

The streets in the more ancient parts are inconveniently narrow, but in other parts spacious and well built; Briggate, the principal street, is more than 600 yards in length, gradually ascending in a direct line from the old bridge to St. John's street, and forming one of the widest and handsomest thoroughfares in the north of England. From St. John's church, the town extends towards the west by a gentle slope, on which are many good streets, squares, and public buildings; and eastward extends towards the Sheepscar beck, which receives the Gipton stream, flows southward through a populous district, and falls into the river Aire about a quarter of a mile below the parochial church. Considerable improvements were made under acts of parliament obtained in 1809 and 1815. The town is amply supplied with water, formerly conveyed from Addle into three capacious reservoirs, from which it was distributed to the houses of the inhabitants; but now brought from Eccup, near Harewood, about six miles north of the town, by a company incorporated by parliament, in 1840, and by whom works at Headingley and on Woodhouse Moor were constructed in 1841. In 1842 an act was obtained, very ample in its provisions, relating to lighting, paving, improvement, and police; its administration is in the hands of the town-council, and a board of works has been constituted. In the same year an act was passed for providing additional parochial burialground, which was much wanted. The houses are in general neatly built of brick, and roofed with grey slate; and in various parts are elegant mansions, and handsome ranges in the modern style, of which Park-place has some ground in front, tastefully laid out in parterres and shrubberies. Park-square, Hanover-square, and Woodhouse-square are similarly inclosed and planted. The town is rapidly increasing in the west and northwest, particularly in the district of Little Woodhouse, which affords excellent sites for building.

The Leeds Subscription Library, in Commercial-street, was instituted in 1768, at the recommendation of Dr. Priestley, and has now one of the most extensive collections, literary and scientific, in the north. The New Subscription Library in Park-row, the New Library, and the Young Man's Library, have all valuable collections; and there are also a Parochial Library, a Church of England Library containing chiefly books on divinity, and libraries connected with some of the dissenting places of worship. The Literary and Philosophical Society was established in 1820; and a building of stone, erected by Mr. Chantrell, in the Grecian style, at a cost of £6500, and containing a library, lecture-room, and museum, is appropriated to the use of the members. The Mechanics' Institution and Literary Society, which possesses no fewer than 800 members, is composed of two societies formerly distinct, namely, the Mechanics' Institute founded in the year 1825, and the Literary Institution established in 1834, which were combined in one under the above title in 1842. It has a library of more than 5000 volumes, arranged in a handsome saloon, used for lectures and as a reading-room for the members, and which contains also a valuable philosophical apparatus: there are likewise several class-rooms. The building was purchased a few years since, principally with the proceeds of a successful exhibition. Part of it is occupied by a school of design, established in 1845 by the government. The Theatre, a plain edifice of brick, erected in 1771, is opened occasionally by the York company. The Assembly Rooms over the White-Cloth Hall were built in 1775, and the Music Hall in Albionstreet, in 1792; they are both neat buildings of brick, and the latter is often appropriated to various other uses. The Public Baths in Wellington-street, a handsome range in the Grecian style, erected in 1820, under the superintendence of Mr. Chantrell, at an expense of £6000, are conveniently arranged, and comprise hot, cold, shower, and vapour baths, with others artificially prepared, and possessing the properties and temperature of the Matlock and Buxton waters. The Commercial Buildings, a spacious structure of stone, also in the Grecian style, were erected in 1826, at an expense of £34,000, under the superintendence of Mr. Clark, architect, and are used as an exchange for the merchants and manufacturers of the town; the buildings contain numerous apartments, among which are a newsroom, well supplied with journals and periodicals, and an elegant room for public meetings and exhibitions. A Museum of natural curiosities, established in 1827 by Mr. Calvert, contains more than 15,000 specimens. A School of Medicine for the benefit of practitioners and their pupils, has been instituted, of which the sessions commence in October, and close in April. There is also a Floral and Horticultural Society.

The suburbs comprise several villages and hamlets connected with the town by long ranges of factories in some parts, and in others by series of detached villas of pleasing and picturesque appearance. The environs abound with handsome mansions, the seats of merchants and families of distinction; and the country is rich in interesting features. On the northern acclivity of Airedale, between Headingley and Burley, are the Botanic Gardens, comprising an area of 20 acres, embellished with appropriate buildings, interspersed with several sheets of water, and richly planted with every variety of foreign and indigenous specimens, tending to illustrate science. Nearly adjoining Woodhouse Moor, is the General Cemetery, for the interment of persons of all religious denominations, which was opened in 1835, and occupies an area of 10 acres of land, purchased for £4000, by a company of £50 shareholders, who expended more than £11,000 in the requisite buildings and arrangements. It is situated on a gentle acclivity, commanding a fine view of the town and of the vale of the Aire. The grounds are beautifully laid out, and adapted for 14,000 graves, in addition to the vaults and catacombs; in the centre is a chaste and elegant chapel in the Grecian style, and on one side of the principal entrance through a portal of good design, are the residences of the chaplain and registrar, and on the other the house for the sexton and keeper. At Burmantofts and Woodhouse-Hill are other cemeteries, both formed in 1845, by the town-council, and each comprising about ten acres; they are tastefully laid out, and the charges for interments are moderate. The Cavalry Barracks, at the north approach to the town, were erected in 1820, at an expense of £28,000, and occupy an area of 11 acres; the buildings are of brick, and form a very complete establishment, including grounds for exercise and parade, with stabling for several troops of horse.

To the great extent and variety of the manufactures carried on in the town and neighbourhood, and particularly to the manufacture of woollen-cloth, which has been brought to a high state of perfection, may be attributed the present prosperity of the West riding of the county. The pre-eminence obtained by the town over its once successful competitors, Halifax and Bradford, is not of more ancient date than the middle of the seventeenth century, since which period the rapidity of its progress, more especially during the last thirty years, has been altogether unprecedented. Formerly, only the coarser kinds of woollen-cloth, distinguished from those of the west of England by the appellation of Yorkshire cloths, were manufactured here; but since the introduction of machinery, and particularly since the great improvements made by Mr. William Hirst, a native of this place, cloths have been produced equalling, and in some instances surpassing, those of the western counties, in fineness of texture, and brilliancy and permanence of colour; and superfine black and blue cloths, made from wool carefully selected, have been sold for £5 per yard. In some of the many factories the whole process, from the first breaking of the wool to the finishing of the cloth for the consumer, is performed by machinery propelled by steam. The chief branches of the manufacture are, superfine broad and coarse narrow cloths, ladies' pelisse cloth and shawls, and carpets, with Scotch camlets. The worsted manufacture is also carried on here and in the vicinity to a considerable extent; but the chief quantities of stuffs are purchased in the rough state at Bradford and Halifax by the Leeds merchants, to be dyed and finished here, and afterwards sent to all parts of the kingdom. In the town are likewise several spacious factories for spinning flax, and the making of canvas, sacking, linen, thread, and other articles; with numerous fulling-mills, dyehouses, and other establishments connected with the woollen, worsted, and linen manufactures. In the immediate vicinity are large manufactories for crown and flint glass, and glass bottles, and an extensive pottery, the reputation of which procures for its wares a demand in every part of the kingdom; fire-bricks and tobaccopipes, also, are made in great quantities, for which clay of excellent quality is obtained in the parish. There are several large iron-foundries, and works for the manufacture of steam-engines, and machinery of all kinds; and on the banks of the Aire are numerous mills for grinding corn, crushing rapeseed and dye-woods, with mills for the manufacture of tobacco and snuffs, in which a good trade is carried on. The business of the cloth manufacture is chiefly transacted in the Cloth Halls. That for the sale of coloured or mixed cloths, was built in 1758, and is a spacious, neat, quadrangular structure, 127½ yards long and 66 yards wide; the area is divided into six compartments, called streets, each containing two rows of stands for the exposure of the goods: in 1810 an additional story was built on the north side, principally for the sale of ladies' cloth in an undyed state. The White Cloth Hall, of nearly the same dimensions as the former, was built in 1775. The halls are open for business every Tuesday and Saturday morning, the Mixed Hall at half-past eight in the summer, at nine in the spring and antumn, and at half-past nine in the winter; and the White Hall immediately after the former is closed. The time allotted does not exceed one hour and a quarter, in which short interval business to a large amount is frequently transacted; but the progress of the factory system has of late years materially diminished the business done in the cloth halls.

The River Aire, which passes through the southern part of the town, is navigable to the Humber. The Leeds and Liverpool Canal joins the Aire, and is part of a direct line of navigation between Hull and Liverpool. This canal, for which the first act was obtained in 1770, was not completed to Liverpool till 1816: the whole length is 128 miles, the average breadth 72 feet, and the depth 5 feet; the number of locks from Leeds to the summit is 44, and the rise 411 feet 4½ inches, and the number of locks from the summit to Liverpool 47, and the fall 433 feet 3 inches. It communicates with the Ribble by the Douglas navigation, and a branch from Wigan to Leigh connects it with the Bridgewater canal. The Aire and Calder Navigation Company have extensive ranges of warehouses and a commodious wharf, from which fly-boats pass daily to Goole. The Leeds and Derby Railway, belonging to the Midland Company, completes the communication between the manufacturing districts of Yorkshire, and the Midland ccunties and London; its station is in Hunslet-lane, and is an appropriate range of building, comprising offices also for the companies of the Manchester and Leeds, and the York and North-Midland, railways, with carriage-sheds 300 yards in length, &c. In the front is a handsome arcade having two gateways from Hunslet-lane, with a central gateway for waggons proceeding to the docks, at the northern extremity, and on the opposite side two other gateways for passengers arriving by the trains. The erection of the buildings cost £14,000, and contiguous to them is a depôt for goods, built at an expense of £7000; the whole occupying an area of 14 acres. The Leeds and Selby Railway, which forms a portion of the great transverse line from Liverpool to Hull, has a station in Marsh-lane, which includes an extensive depôt; near its commencement at Leeds, it passes along a tunnel 700 yards long, 22 feet wide, and 17 feet high, cut through strata of shale and coal measures, with some portions of rock. The line was opened to the public in 1840, and was subsequently sold to the York and NorthMidland Company; the principal station for passengers being removed to Hunslet-lane, though the original station is still partially used for heavy goods and coal. The York and North Midland Railway, opened in June 1840, quits the Derby line at Methley, near Normanton, and, proceeding towards York, intersects the Selby line at right angles near Sherburn: the Manchester Railway, completed in October, 1840, quits the Derby line also near Normanton, not very far from the Methley junction. The Leeds and Bradford Railway, opened June 1846, commences near the river Aire, at Wellington-street, on the west side of Leeds, and, crossing over a weir on the river at a considerable altitude, follows the course of the Aire: a branch quits the line on the south side, to join the Hunslet station, on the south of Leeds. An act was passed in 1845 for the construction of a railway from Leeds to Dewsbury and Kirk-Heaton, there to join the Huddersfield and Manchester railway: a direct communication between Leeds and Manchester will thus be obtained. Another act was passed in 1845, for a railway to Harrogate, Ripon, and Thirsk; and in 1846, an act for a direct railway between Leeds and York.

The market days are Tuesday and Saturday, the former principally for corn, and the latter for provisions. The corn-market is held in the Corn Exchange, a handsome building in the Grecian style, completed in 1828, at an expense of £12,500, raised in shares of £50 each; the front in Briggate is ornamented with Ionic columns supporting an entablature and a cornice, with a pediment, surmounted by an elegant campanile turret. In a niche between the columns is a marble statue of Queen Anne, originally presented to the corporation by Alderman Milner, and placed in front of the ancient moot hall, which once stood conveniently in the centre of Briggate. Part of the exchange is appropriated as an hotel, in the rear of which is a court surrounded by a piazza, where the corn is sold by sample. The Central Market is a spacious edifice at the corner of Duncan-street, commenced by a proprietary, and completed in 1827 at an expense of £35,000, from a design by Mr. Goodwin, of London. The principal front is divided into three compartments by fluted columns of the Ionic order and antæ of corresponding character, supporting an entablature on which are inscribed the words "Central Market," and surmounted by a pediment. The interior is divided into three ranges of stalls, and a gallery extends round three sides of the area, of which the fourth side is occupied by a bazaar. The South Market, extending from Hunslet-lane to Meadow-lane, was erected in 1824, after a design by Mr. Chantrell, at an expense of £14,500; the interior comprises a spacious area laid out in streets, with regular shops for the sale of leather, and a semicircular range of building for general wares, in the centre of which is a circular market-house, crowned with a dome resting on pillars of the Doric order. The Wholesale Carcase Market, called "Leadenhall," in Vicar-lane, is a well-arranged area, with slaughter-houses under ground, sufficiently capacious for the slaughter of 150 beasts, exclusively of calves and sheep; it is amply supplied with water, and kept perfectly clean. The New Shambles and Fish Market were erected in 1826, on ground purchased at a cost of £6000, and form two streets, Cheapside and Fleet-street; above the central row of shops is a bazaar 80 yards in length, formerly let in shops to dealers in various kinds of fancy articles. The Free Market for the sale of vegetables, fruit, hay, cattle, and pigs, occupies an area of nearly 10,000 square yards, purchased in 1823 by the commissioners, under a special act of parliament; though originally intended to be free, as its name implies, the parties frequenting it pay moderate tolls, producing from £1200 to £1400 a year, now, by the new improvement bill, under the control of the town-council. Fairs are held on July 10th and 11th for horses, and on November 8th and 9th for cattle; and eight fairs are held annually for leather in the South market.

The town received its first charter of incorporation in the second year of the reign of Charles I.: this having been forfeited, a new charter was granted by Charles II., in the 13th of his reign, under which the inhabitants were governed by a mayor, 12 aldermen, and 24 assistants, a recorder, deputy recorder, town-clerk, coroner, clerk of the market, and other officers. Since the passing of the general Municipal act, the borough has been divided into 12 wards, and the corporation has consisted of a mayor, 16 aldermen, and 48 councillors; the total number of magistrates is 30, but a few have not qualified. The recorder holds quarterly courts of session for the borough; and the Michaelmas sessions for the West riding take place here. Petty-sessions for the borough are held every Tuesday and Friday, and for the several parishes in the wapentake of Skyrack by the magistrates of the riding weekly. The borough justices sit daily for the examination of offenders, and the regulation of police affairs, two attending in rotation. The powers of the county debtcourt of Leeds, established in 1847, extend over the registration-districts of Leeds and Hunslet: the court of bankruptcy, established in 1842, embraces the county of York, and part of the counties of Nottingham and Lincoln. The police force consists of a chief constable and about 100 men. An act was obtained in 1839, exempting the inhabitants of the manor from the obligation of grinding their corn and malt at the king's mills, upon paying an adequate compensation to the lessee; for which purpose £13,000, and a sum for attendant expenses, were raised by rates on the owners and occupiers. The Court-house is an elegant building in the Grecian style, consisting of a centre and two wings, erected in 1813, from a design by Mr. Taylor: the central front is decorated with a lofty portico of four Corinthian pillars, supporting an entablature and cornice surmounted by a pediment, enriched with appropriate designs sculptured in bas-relief. The Prison, a massive edifice of stone, about a mile west of the town, was completed in July 1847, at a cost of about £40,000, and is constructed according to the most improved system of discipline: when viewed at a distance, it has a noble castellated appearance. The town, during the usurpation of Cromwell, sent a member to the house of commons, but the privilege was afterwards discontinued till the 2nd of William IV., when the inhabitants were empowered to return two representatives to the imperial parliament; the right of election being vested in the £10 householders.

Former Seal and Arms.

The parish comprises by computation 21,760 acres; the soil is generally fertile, and much of the land is in a very high state of cultivation. The substratum is rich in mineral produce; and the abundance of excellent coal found in various parts, has contributed greatly to the establishment of the extensive works and factories to which the place is indebted for its distinguished prosperity. Within the limits of the parish are the chapelries of Armley, Beeston, Bramley, Farnley, Chapel-Allerton, Headingley with Burley, Holbeck, Wortley, and Hunslet; also the township of Potter-Newton, and part of the townships of Seacroft and Temple-Newsom.

The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £38. 0. 2½.; net income, £1257, with a good glebehouse; patrons, twenty-five Trustees; appropriators, the Dean and Canons of Christ-Church, Oxford. The Parochial church, dedicated to St. Peter, supposed to have been built on the site of a more ancient structure, in the reign of Edward III., and enlarged in the reigns of Henry VII. and VIII., was entirely rebuilt by subscription in 1838-40, at an expense of £28,000, after a design by Mr. Chantrell. It is a spacious and handsome cruciform edifice, in the transitional style from the decorated into the later English, with a lofty square embattled tower rising from the north transept. The interior is finely arranged, and contains some ancient monuments preserved from the old church, and several of modern date, among which is one by Flaxman, in statuary marble, to the memory of Captains S. Walker and R. Beckett, who fell in the battle of Talavera. There is also a fine full-length monumental statue by Parke, raised by subscription, of Michael Thomas Sadler, Esq., M.P., an eminent linen merchant of this town, who introduced into parliament a bill for limiting the labour of children in factories to ten hours per day, and to whose exertions and example is owing the turn which legislation has taken in behalf of the industrious classes.

At the close of the year 1843, a plan was proposed by the Rev. Dr. Hook, vicar of Leeds, for the division of the parish and vicarage into numerous distinct parishes and vicarages, under the authority of an act of parliament to be obtained by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners; and at a meeting of the commissioners, held on the 9th of January, 1844, they assented to the principle of the intended arrangements. The plan, as settled by the act (7 & 8 Vict., c. 108), includes within its scope, the formation of new parishes for ecclesiastical purposes, the incumbent of each to be a vicar, and to receive all tithes, moduses, and similar payments, now received by the vicar of Leeds. Churchwardens, with the usual full powers, will be chosen in each new parish; marriages and all other offices will be performed in every church, as in ancient parish churches; parsonage-houses and schools will be provided; and the nave or body of each church will become free and unappropriated. Nearly all the patronage, also, now vested in the vicar, will be placed in the hands of the bishop of the diocese.

The church dedicated to St. John the Evangelist was built in 1634, at the expense of John Harrison, Esq., who endowed it with a house and eighty-four acres of land, now producing £322. 10. per annum, of which he appropriated one-ninth part for the repair of the church, and the residue for the minister. It is in the later English style, with an embattled tower crowned by crocketed pinnacles; the walls, originally of perishable stone, have been rebuilt at an expense of £1500, with stone of more durable quality. The founder was buried in the church, under a monument of black marble. The living was made a vicarage under the new act in 1845, and is in the joint patronage of the Vicar of Leeds, the Mayor, and the three senior Aldermen; net income in 1843, £375. The church dedicated to the Holy Trinity was erected in 1721, at a cost of £4563, of which £1000 were given by Lady Elizabeth Hastings, and the remainder raised by subscription; it was endowed with £80 per annum, by the Rev. Henry Robinson, nephew of the founder of St. John's. The building is in the Grecian style, with a tower of two stages, of which one is of the Corinthian and the other of the Ionic order; there is a monument to Mr. Robinson, recording his benefactions. The living is at present a perpetual curacy; net income, £300; patrons, the Vicar, the Recorder of the borough, and the Minister of St. John's. The church dedicated to St. Paul was erected in 1793, chiefly through the exertions of the Rev. Miles Atkinson, vicar of Kippax, who, with the assistance of numerous friends, raised the structure at an expense of £10,000, on a site given by Dr. Wilson, Bishop of Bristol, who laid the first stone; it is a neat edifice of stone, with a handsome Ionic portico supporting an entablature and pediment. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £133; patron, the Vicar of Leeds. The church dedicated to St. James was formerly a place of worship belonging to the Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion, but was purchased by two clergymen of the Established Church, and afterwards by a recent incumbent, and was consecrated by Archbishop Markham; it is a plain octagonal building. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Leeds.

The church on Quarry Hill, dedicated to St. Mary, was erected in 1824, at an expense of £10,456, by the Parliamentary Commissioners; it is a handsome structure in the later English style, with a square embattled tower, and contains 2000 sittings. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £45; patron, the Vicar of Leeds. Christ-Church, in Meadow-lane, was erected in the same year as St. Mary's, at an expense of £10,951, from the same fund; it is an elegant structure in the decorated English style, with a lofty embattled tower, strengthened by buttresses, and crowned with crocketed pinnacles, and contains about 2000 sittings. The living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £65; patron, the Vicar of Leeds. The church dedicated to St. Mark, in the populous suburb of Woodhouse, was erected in 1825, at an expense of £9000, parliamentary grant, and is in the later English style, with a square embattled tower: a district has been assigned, and the living is a perpetual curacy; net income, £140; patrons, the Trustees of Leeds vicarage. The church at Mount Pleasant, dedicated to St. George, was erected for the accommodation of the inhabitants of the north-western suburbs, in 1837, at an expense, including its endowment, of more than £12,000; it is a commodious structure in the early English style, with a tower surmounted by a lofty spire. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the gift of five Trustees. The church dedicated to St. Luke, in Northstreet, was erected in 1841, at a cost of £1300, raised by subscription; it is a neat structure in the early English style, and contains 450 sittings: underneath is a schoolroom. The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Vicar of Leeds. A benevolent individual having resolved to build a church at Leeds through the instrumentality of the Rev. Dr. Pusey, St. Saviour's church was completed at a cost of £20,000 in 1845, and the living made an independent vicarage under the act 7 & 8 Vict. in 1846; patrons, Trustees. St. Andrew's church, the first stone of which was laid Nov. 1843, was completed at an expense of £4090, and consecrated March 26th, 1845: the living is a district perpetual curacy in the gift of John Gott, Esq., with a net income of £150. Other churches are situated at Armley, Beeston, Bramley, Chapel-Allerton, Farnley, Hunslet, Headingley, Holbeck, Kirkstall, and Wortley, all of which are described in the articles on those townships; and under the act 6 & 7 Vict., c. 37, "to make better provision for populous parishes," two districts have been endowed by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, named St. Philip's, and St. Matthew's Little London: both of the livings are in the gift of the Crown and the Bishop, alternately. A church for the former district or ecclesiastical parish was completed in 1847, at a cost of nearly £5000, half of which was defrayed by John Gott, Esq. There are also places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Wesleyans, Primitive Methodists, Methodists of the New Connexion, members of the Scottish Church, Unitarians, and Roman Catholics; many of the buildings are spacious and elegant, and several of them possess organs of unusual tone and power.

The Free Grammar School was founded in 1552, by Sir William Sheafield, who endowed it with land on the condition that the inhabitants should erect a schoolhouse, which was fulfilled by John Harrison, in 1624, at his own expense; the school-house was enlarged in 1692, by Godfrey Lawson, mayor, and a dwelling was erected for the master by the trustees in 1780, since which other additions have been made. The endowment, augmented by subsequent benefactions, now produces above £2000 per annum; and the school is conducted by a head master and second master, with assistants, and is open to all boys of the parish for instruction in the classics and mathematics, and writing. It has the privilege of sending a candidate for one of Lady Elizabeth Hastings' exhibitions to Queen's College, Oxford, and is entitled, with the schools of Haversham and Halifax, to one of the four scholarships of £80 per annum founded by the Rev. T. Milner, in Magdalen College, Cambridge, tenable till the holder takes the degree of M.A.; and also, in failure of a candidate from Normanton school, to one of the two scholarships founded by Mrs. Frieston, in Emmanuel College, Cambridge.

The General Infirmary, founded in 1771, is a neat edifice, forming three sides of a quadrangle, and contains accommodation for more than 150 patients: it is furnished with cold, warm, and medicated baths; the wards are well ventilated, and a piece of contiguous ground, comprising 4000 square yards, purchased at a cost of £1500, and presented to the institution in 1817, by Richard F. Wilson, Esq., has been appropriated as a garden. The charity is supported by subscription and collections, averaging £2500 per annum, and by the dividends on £3000 three per cent. consols. bought with the amount of various bequests; the usual number of in-patients is about 1600, and of out-patients 3000, annually. The House of Recovery, for the reception of patients in contagious fever, is maintained by voluntary subscriptions and donations; the present building, at Burmantofts, was completed in 1846, at a cost of £6000, exclusively of the purchase of the ground. The Dispensary in North-street was established in 1824, and is supported by subscriptions and benefactions, averaging about £600 per annum. The General Eye and Ear Infirmary, in Kirkgate, was commenced in 1821. The Stranger's Friend Society, established in 1790, dispenses about £350 annually in visiting and relieving the sick poor; and the Church of England District-Visiting Society, established in 1834, distributes upwards of £500 among the poor, without distinction of country or creed. The Tradesmen's Benevolent Institution was established in 1843, and has a fund of £4000, and an annual income from subscriptions of £1000. Eight houses were bequeathed in 1643, by Josias Jenkinson, for the reception of aged persons, but without any funds for keeping them in repair: they have been rebuilt, partly by a bequest of £500 by John Blayds, Esq.; and the rent of a farm left to the poor by the founder, has been appropriated to their endowment. Harrison's Hospital, comprising originally 30 almshouses, to which 12 have since been added, were founded in 1653, by John Harrison, who endowed them with lands producing £80 per annum: the endowment has been augmented by benefactions from Mrs. Catherine Parker, Mr. Joseph Midgley, Arthur Iken, Esq., and others; and the buildings, which occupy a large quadrangular area, afford an asylum to 64 aged women. Houses for ten aged widows were founded in 1729, by Mrs. Mary Potter, who endowed them with £2000, to which £400 were added by Mrs. Barbara Chantrell; these sums, with subsequent benefactions, produce an income from which each of the inmates receives £12. 12. per annum. There are also considerable bequests for the poor generally, a large savings' bank, and innumerable schools. The township of Leeds was placed under 18 guardians, by the Poor-Law Commission, in 1844: the workhouse is at the top of Ladylane; and at Burmantofts is a large industrial school, erected by the guardians, at an expense of £12,000.

Among the distinguished Natives or Residents of the town and neighbourhood have been, Hartley, author of the Observations on Man; Smeaton, the celebrated engineer, and builder of the Eddystone lighthouse; Thoresby, the antiquary; Dr. Priestley; Joseph and Isaac Milner, theologians; Dr. James Scott, author of three Seatonian prize poems, and a writer in the Public Advertiser under the signature of Anti-Sejanus; and Benjamin Wilson, F.R.S., an eminent painter. The place gives the title of Duke to the family of Osborne.