Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for BOSTON

BOSTON, a town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a district in Lincoln. The town stands on the river Witham, 5 miles from the Wash, and 31 SE by E of Lincoln. The Witham is navigable up to it, making it a seaport; canals, communicating with the Trent, give it inland navigation to almost every part of England; and rail ways diverging from a central station, go north-eastward, north-westward, westward, and southward. The Rom ns are supposed to have had a ferry a short distance below it, and a fort at the mouth of the Witham; and are eve thought, from some relics discovered in 1716, to have had buildings on the spot. A monastery as built at it, in 654, by the Saxon, St. Botolplh, and destroyed by the Danes in 870; and this is believed to have given rise to the name Boston, written first Botolph'stow, afterwards Bostonstow. The monastery was rebuilt soon after 870. four priories, Augustinian, Dominican, Franciscan, and Carmelite, together with three colleges or hospitals, also were built; a castle of Ranulph, Earl of Richmond, likewise was erected; and, though these dated from only the 13th and following centuries, they indicate a large amount of early prosperity. A tax levied in 1204 produced £780 from Boston and £836 from London. The town suffered greatly from a fire in the time of Edward I., and from an inundation in 1285; it was made a staple port for tin, lead, wool, leather, and other commodities in the time of Edward III.; and it sent sixteen ships to the siege of Calais in the time of Edward III. It afterwards suffered mi l decline from the silting up of its harbour; and it continued, till recently, to suffer embarrassment from the same cause, in spite of modern improvements; but it has experienced revival from the enclosure of the neighbouring fens, and from the influence of the railways.- portion of its inhabitants were leaders in the great Purrtan emigration, about 1630, to America; and they gave its name to what is now the capital of New England.

The town is cut into two parts, east and west, by the Witham; and is well built. A long street, called Bar gate, and a spacious market-place, are on the E side of the river; and another long street, called High-street, nearly parallel with the river, is on the W side. An elegant iron bridge of one arch, of 86 feet, after a design by Rennie, spans the river; and was erected in 1804-7, at a cost of £22,000. Waterworks were formed in 1850. There are a guildhall, a market house and assembly-rooms, a corn exchange, a theatre, and a freemasons-hall,-the last in the Egyptian style, built in 1863. The ancient monasteries and castle have disappeared; but Hussey-tower, built by William Lord Hussey, who was beheaded at Lincoln in the time of Henry VIII., is near St. John's-row. The parish church is decorated English, with grand interior; and, had it been cruciform, would have rivalled most of the lesser cathedrals. It measures 282½ feet by 99; has a south porch and a south-west chapel; contains an altar-piece after Rubens, an ancient font, and monuments of the Tilneys; and has recently undergone complete restoration. The steeple of it is 262¾ feet high; was built after the model of the northwest steeple of Antwerp cathedral; is a master-piece of skill; and terminates in an octagonal lantern, which formerly was lighted up at night to guide seamen to the port. A white marble statue of the late Herbert Ingram is in the churchyard, and was set up in 1862. The chapel of ease, in High-street, was built in 1822. The Independent chapel in Red Lion street was rebuilt in 1869. The Wesleyan Centenary chapel is a spacious structure, and has an organ with 2,490 pipes and 49 stops. There are two chapels for Independents, three for Baptists, and one each for Unitarians, P. Methodists, NewMethodists, Free Methodists, and Roman Catholics; a free grammar school, founded in 1554; two other endowed schools, with £130 and £65 a year; a mechanics' institute, two subscription libraries and news rooms, a dispensary, a drinking-fountain, and a workhouse.

The navigation up to the town has been improved by deepening the river, forming a canal, and enlarging the harbour; and it brings hither vessels of 300 tons. The craft belonging to the port at the beginning of 1868, were 83 sailing-vessels under 50 tons, 57 sailing-vessels above 50 tons, and 2 steam-vessels of 106 tons. The various vessels which entered during 1867 were, coastwise, 563 of aggregately 27,070 tons, and from foreign countries, 30 of aggregately 4,074 tons. The chief export is corn; and the chief imports coals, timber, hemp, iron, and tar. Ship-building, iron-founding, rope-making, sail-making, and the making of agricultural implements are carried on. Weekly markets are held on Wednesday and Saturday; and fairs on 4 and 5 May, 5 Aug., 15 Sept., 18 Nov., and 11 Dec. The town has a head post office,‡ a telegraph-station, 4 banking offices, and three chief inns; and publishes two newspapers. It is a seat of quarter sessions, and a polling-place; was made a borough by Edward IV.; is governed by a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors; and sends two members to parliament. Its municipal boundaries are conterminate with Boston parish, excepting the fen allotments; and its parliamentary boundaries comprise Boston and Skirbeck parishes, excepting Skirbeck fen allotment. Direct taxes in 1857, £10,306. Electors in 1868, 1,093. Pop. of the m. borough in 1851, 14,733; in 1861, 14,712. Houses, 3,210. Pop. of the p. borough in 1851, 17,518; in 1861, 17,893. Houses, 3,901. Boston the bibliographer, Fox the martyrologist, and Diamond the blind calculator, were natives. The town gives the title of Baron to the lrby family.

The parish includes two allotments in respectively the East and West Fen. Acres, 5,2.20. Real property, £59,622. Pop., 15,078. Houses, 3,273. The property is much subdivided. The living is a vicarage, united with the p. curacy of St. James, in the diocese of Lincoln. Value, £360.* Patrons, the trustees of H. Ingram, Esq. The chapel of ease is a separate charge, with income of £100, in the patronage of the Trustees of the Rev. P. Alpe.-The subdistrict comprises the parishes of Boston and Skirbeck, excepting the fen allotments of both. Acres, 7,850. Pop., 17,527. Houses, 3,838.—The district comprehends also the subdistrict of Kirton-in-Holland, containing the parishes of Frampton and Wyberton, and parts of the parishes of Kirton, Sutterton, Algarkirk, and Fosdyke; the subdistrict of Bennington, containing the parishes of Bennington, Butterwick, Wrangle, and Leake, parts of the parishes of Fishtoft, Frieston, and Leverton, and the East fen allotment of Boston; the subdistrict of Sibsey, containing the parish of Sibsey, the parochial townships of Carrington, West Ville, Thornton-le-Fen, Langrick Ville, and Frith Ville, the extra-parochial tracts of Silt Pits and Rowland's Marsh. and the West and Wildmore fen allotments of Boston, Skirbeck, Fishtoft, Frieston, and Leverton; and the subdistricts of Swineshead, containing the parishes of Swineshead, Bicker, and Wigtoft, parts of the parishes of Kirton and Billinghay, the extra-parochial tracts of North-Forty-Foot-Bank, Drainage Marsh, Forty-FootBridge, Gibbet-Hills, Rakes-Farm, Ferry-Corner, Pelhams-Lands, and Harts-Grounds, and the fen allotments of Sutterton, Algarkirk, and Fosdyke. Acres, 125,547. Poor-rates in 1866, £21,334. Pop. in 1861, 37,969. Houses, 8,006. Marriages in 1866, 295: births, 1,118, -of which 96 were illegitimate; deaths, 608,-of which 170 were at ages under 5 years, and 24 at ages above 85 years. Marriages in the ten years 1851-60, 2,954; births, 12,042; deaths, 7,446. The places of worship in 1851 were 29 of the Church of England, with 12,691 sittings; 3 of Independents, with 1,385 s.; 7 of Baptists, with 2,044 s.; 1 of Unitarians, with 230 s.; 29 of Wesleyan Methodists, with 5,684 s.; 1 of New Connexion Methodists, with 729 s.; 11 of Primitive Methodists, with 1,285 s.; 1 of Wesleyan Reformers, with 50 attendants; 1 of Latter-day Saints, with 103 at.; and 1 of Roman Catholics, with 340 sittings. The schools were 33 public day schools, with 3,111 scholars: 63 private day schools, with 1,423 s.; 53 Sunday schools, with 4,606 s.; and 2 evening schools for adults, with 20 s.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a town, a parish, a subdistrict, and a district"   (ADL Feature Type: "cities")
Administrative units: Boston AP/CP       Boston SubD       Boston RegD/PLU       Lincolnshire AncC
Place: Boston

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