The Manchester Book of Days E-Book

Ben McGarr

• Herausgeber: The History Press
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

Taking you through the year day by day, The Manchester Book of Days contains quirky, eccentric, shocking, amusing and important events and facts from different periods in the history of the city. Ideal for dipping into, this addictive little book will keep you entertained and informed. Featuring hundreds of snippets of information gleaned from the vaults of Manchester's archives and covering the social, criminal, political, religious, agricultural, industrial and military history of the city, it will delight residents and visitors alike.

Leseprobe

THE

MANCHESTER

BOOK

OF

DAYS

BEN MCGARR

First published in 2013

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire, GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2013

All rights reserved

© Ben McGarr, 2013

The right of Ben McGarr to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

EPUB ISBN 978 0 7524 9865 2

Original typesetting by The History Press

Ebook compilation by FirstyGroup

CONTENTS

January

January 1st

January 2nd

January 3rd

January 4th

January 5th

January 6th

January 7th

January 8th

January 9th

January 10th

January 11th

January 12th

January 13th

January 14th

January 15th

January 16th

January 17th

January 18th

January 19th

January 20th

January 21st

January 22nd

January 23rd

January 24th

January 25th

January 26th

January 27th

January 28th

January 29th

January 30th

January 31st

February

February 1st

February 2nd

February 3rd

February 4th

February 5th

February 6th

February 7th

February 8th

February 9th

February 10th

February 11th

February 12th

February 13th

February 14th

February 15th

February 16th

February 17th

February 18th

February 19th

February 20th

February 21st

February 22nd

February 23rd

February 24th

February 25th

February 26th

February 27th

February 28th

February 29th

March

March 1st

March 2nd

March 3rd

March 4th

March 5th

March 6th

March 7th

March 8th

March 9th

March 10th

March 11th

March 12th

March 13th

March 14th

March 15th

March 16th

March 17th

March 18th

March 19th

March 20th

March 21st

March 22nd

March 23rd

March 24th

March 25th

March 26th

March 27th

March 28th

March 29th

March 30th

March 31st

April

April 1st

April 2nd

April 3rd

April 4th

April 5th

April 6th

April 7th

April 8th

April 9th

April 10th

April 11th

April 12th

April 13th

April 14th

April 15th

April 16th

April 17th

April 18th

April 19th

April 20th

April 21st

April 22nd

April 23rd

April 24th

April 25th

April 26th

April 27th

April 28th

April 29th

April 30th

May

May 1st

May 2nd

May 3rd

May 4th

May 5th

May 6th

May 7th

May 8th

May 9th

May 10th

May 11th

May 12th

May 13th

May 14th

May 15th

May 16th

May 17th

May 18th

May 19th

May 20th

May 21st

May 22nd

May 23rd

May 24th

May 25th

May 26th

May 27th

May 28th

May 29th

May 30th

May 31st

June

June 1st

June 2nd

June 3rd

June 4th

June 5th

June 6th

June 7th

June 8th

June 9th

June 10th

June 11th

June 12th

June 13th

June 14th

June 15th

June 16th

June 17th

June 18th

June 19th

June 20th

June 21st

June 22nd

June 23rd

June 24th

June 25th

June 26th

June 27th

June 28th

June 29th

June 30th

July

July 1st

July 2nd

July 3rd

July 4th

July 5th

July 6th

July 7th

July 8th

July 9th

July 10th

July 11th

July 12th

July 13th

July 14th

July 15th

July 16th

July 17th

July 18th

July 19th

July 20th

July 21st

July 22nd

July 23rd

July 24th

July 25th

July 26th

July 27th

July 28th

July 29th

July 30th

July 31st

August

August 1st

August 2nd

August 3rd

August 4th

August 5th

August 6th

August 7th

August 8th

August 9th

August 10th

August 11th

August 12th

August 13th

August 14th

August 15th

August 16th

August 17th

August 18th

August 19th

August 20th

August 21st

August 22nd

August 23rd

August 24th

August 25th

August 26th

August 27th

August 28th

August 29th

August 30th

August 31st

September

September 1st

September 2nd

September 3rd

September 4th

September 5th

September 6th

September 7th

September 8th

September 9th

September 10th

September 11th

September 12th

September 13th

September 14th

September 15th

September 16th

September 17th

September 18th

September 19th

September 20th

September 21st

September 22nd

September 23rd

September 24th

September 25th

September 26th

September 27th

September 28th

September 29th

September 30th

October

October 1st

October 2nd

October 3rd

October 4th

October 5th

October 6th

October 7th

October 8th

October 9th

October 10th

October 11th

October 12th

October 13th

October 14th

October 15th

October 16th

October 17th

October 18th

October 19th

October 20th

October 21st

October 22nd

October 23rd

October 24th

October 25th

October 26th

October 27th

October 28th

October 29th

October 30th

October 31st

November

November 1st

November 2nd

November 3rd

November 4th

November 5th

November 6th

November 7th

November 8th

November 9th

November 10th

November 11th

November 12th

November 13th

November 14th

November 15th

November 16th

November 17th

November 18th

November 19th

November 20th

November 21st

November 22nd

November 23rd

November 24th

November 25th

November 26th

November 27th

November 28th

November 29th

November 30th

December

December 1st

December 2nd

December 3rd

December 4th

December 5th

December 6th

December 7th

December 8th

December 9th

December 10th

December 11th

December 12th

December 13th

December 14th

December 15th

December 16th

December 17th

December 18th

December 19th

December 20th

December 21st

December 22nd

December 23rd

December 24th

December 25th

December 26th

December 27th

December 28th

December 29th

December 30th

December 31st

JANUARY 1ST

1828: On this day, the first omnibus was launched – the forerunner of our present Metrolink. Passengers were taken to Pendleton for a fare of sixpence, or fourpence if they were willing to brave the elements and take their perch beside the driver. Locomotive power was provided by two sturdy horses. Others followed in the wake of the entrepreneur John Greenwood, so that ‘commuting’ was already in evidence by 1834.

1831: Temperance reformer, Joseph Livesey, noted on this day the great numbers of people ‘crowded in every main street’ who had turned out to greet both the New Year and a visit from Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt (see January 18th). He counted 162 people enter one dram-shop at New Cross in one half hour that evening – two thirds of which were women and girls. (W.H. Thomson, History of Manchester to 1852, John Sherratt & Son Ltd, Altrincham, 1967)

1894: Today saw the opening of the Manchester Ship Canal. The Manchester Guardian stated that, ‘However far we may go back we shall not find a more epoch-making event in the history of Manchester.’ Despite the 1884 construction estimates of £5,634,000, the final figure rose to £15,000,000. The Guardian then goes on to say, ‘It is probable that never before have all classes of the population of a great industrial and commercial district so loyally and ungrudgingly supported a financial and commercial enterprise.’ Four cotton ships from Galveston and New Orleans were the first to be unloaded.

JANUARY 2ND

1865: Richard Buxton, one of the greatest of Manchester’s local self-taught artisan-botanists, died on this day aged seventy-nine. His chief monument is his A Botanical Guide to the Flowering Plants, Ferns, Mosses, and Algæ, Found Indigenous Within Sixteen Miles of Manchester, published in 1849, with a second edition published in 1859. Son of an Ancoats labourer, his official education amounted to three months of dameschool and two years of occasional attendance at Sunday school. Apprenticed to a shoemaker, he joined his master collecting herbs for medical purposes. He died at Limekiln Lane in Ardwick and was buried at St Mary’s Church in Prestwich.

1883: This day saw an unusual embassy arrive in the city. The Malagasy envoy from Madagascar was treated to a public soiree held by the mayor.

1953: Seventy-eight-year-old Corporal Harry George Crandon died on this day. He had been awarded the Victoria Cross on the July 4th 1901, serving with Queen Mary’s Own 18th Hussars at Springbok Laagte in the Second Boer War. His remains were laid to rest in Swinton Cemetery.

JANUARY 3RD

1942: Actor John Edward Thaw, best known for his portrayal of ‘Inspector Morse’, was born on this day in Longsight. His family moved to Gorton and then Burnage, where he attended the Ducie Technical High School for Boys. He left for London at the age of sixteen and gained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

2011: On this evening, Manchester resident Craig Jones witnessed a UFO from his bedroom window. ‘I saw a large orange light moving slowly towards the south for around ten to twenty seconds, then it extinguished itself and I saw what looked like a firework that didn’t explode being fired from the ground towards where the light was.’ In the words of ‘Mike’, posting on uk-ufo.co.uk, ‘These orange glowing lights are being reported more and more and more. There has to be something going on!’

2012: On this day, in the small hours of the morning, a ‘mole gang’ finally reached their target after digging a 100ft-long tunnel under a car park in Fallowfield to rob a cash machine. The tunnel had been made with laser guidance technology and was fully provided with lighting and buttressing. Once the gang were beneath the ATM, heavy machinery was used to cut through over 15in of solid concrete. According to police estimates the operation could well have taken six months to complete. Unfortunately for the ne’er-do-wells the machine’s contents barely covered their expenses.

JANUARY 4TH

1609: Manchester was entering the modern age, and the seeds of its later wealth were already sprouting. On this day, according to a business contract signed by a local merchant, George Chetham, Manchester sent large batches of ‘Stopport clothe, cotton yarne, or cotton wool, frizes, whites, ruggs, and bayes’ to London. (William E.A. Axon, Annals of Manchester, John Heywood, Manchester, 1886)

1872: Today saw St Mary’s Church in Crumpsall hit by lightning and burn to the ground. The thunder storm was of unusual intensity, beginning with gale-force winds and heavy hail, followed by thunder and lightning – ‘The flashes succeeded each other with great rapidity and were very vivid.’ The church had been standing for thirty-three years, and its replacement was consecrated three years after this date by Dr Fraser, Manchester’s first Bishop, becoming ‘One of the finest ecclesiastical structures of the diocese’. (William E.A. Axon, Annals of Manchester, John Heywood, Manchester, 1886; William Arthur Shaw, Manchester Old and New, Cassell and Company, London, 1894)

1956: Bernard Sumner, co-founder of the bands Joy Division and New Order, was born on this day. These two bands in particular did much to give Manchester’s music scene its unique and successful distinctiveness through several decades.

JANUARY 5TH

1428: Today saw Reginald West become the first Baron of Manchester. His first act was to appoint three attorneys ‘To receive seisin for him of and in the Manor of Manchester, with all and singular appurtenances’. His father, Thomas West, had married a woman named Joan. She was the sister of Baron Thomas la Warre who had established the Ecclesiastical College whose buildings are now occupied by Chetham’s Library. (W. H. Thomson, History of Manchester to 1852, John Sherratt & Son Ltd, Altrincham, 1967)

1719: The first ever Manchester newspaper, the Manchester Weekly Journal, containing ‘the freshest advices, both foreign and domestic’, was sold today for one pence. Over 300 issues were printed, until it was discontinued in 1726 (see January 7th). It was printed and sold by its proprietor, Roger Adams of Smithy Door, whose son, Orion, was to follow in his footsteps. Adams also printed Manchester’s first book – Mathematical Lectures by John Jackson.

2010: The unaccustomedly cold winter resulted in business losses of £24 million in Manchester for this January day. A foot of snow fell overnight, and the weather became so bad that Coronation Street was forced to cancel filming for the first time in fifteen years.

JANUARY 6TH

1708: Urmston-born dialect writer John Collier, better known as ‘Tim Bobbin’, was baptised at Flixton on this day. Moving around the wider Manchester area in his youth, he picked up the colloquial expressions of several districts before writing his most famous work, A View of the Lancashire Dialect. He has been described as, ‘Coarse and sadly wanting in refinement’, but his humour and love of caricature were well suited to the character of his subject. He was a schoolmaster for many years in Milnrow, where he died on July 14th 1786. (William E.A. Axon, Annals of Manchester, John Heywood, Manchester, 1886)

1847: On this day, James Crowther, one of Manchester’s noted artisan naturalists, died. Born on June 24th 1768, this impoverished warehouse porter became a noted botanist, discovering the Lady’s Slipper orchid and mudwort. It has been said that an eminent academic once went to Manchester in search of a particularly rare plant. He was quite surprised when he was referred to a porter working at a warehouse who knew exactly what he was looking for and told him exactly where to find it – a tale that was fictionalised in Elizabeth Gaskell’s Mary Barton. (Percy, Scientists in Humble Life)

1854: Today saw all railway lines in Manchester shut down due to heavy blizzards, which resulted in the town being cut off to others.

JANUARY 7TH

1752: The first edition of the reincarnated Manchester Weekly Journal (see January 5th), published by Orion Adams, son of Roger Adams, was released today. The paper’s existence was short, and Orion later died penniless in Chester in 1797, aged eighty. He had been reduced to posting playbills for a troupe of actors. At the age of seventy he ‘Walked from London to Chester … with a heart as light as his pocket.’ (William E.A. Axon, Annals of Manchester, John Heywood, Manchester, 1886)

1837: This day saw the grand opening of the Corn Exchange (now known as The Triangle) at Hanging Ditch. The names of Shudehill and Long Millgate indicate a long involvement in agricultural matters and a specially built edifice in which the trade of grain and other goods could take place was built here. The main chamber is 600 square yards and the building cost £4,000 to construct.

JANUARY 8TH

1835: Today saw the re-election of Manchester’s first MPs of the modern age; Charles Paulett Thomson and Mark Philips. Joseph Brotherton was also re-elected as MP for Salford for a second term. All MPs stated here were Liberals.

1840: Manchester’s Police Commissioners relinquished their hold on civic power to the newly formed Borough Council on this day. It had been the organ of local government, which had presided over the town’s growth as a world centre of industry since its formation in 1792. They were granted the ‘use of such room or rooms in the Town Hall as may be necessary for holding the meetings of the Council or any Committee thereof.’ The remaining administrative structures of the old Police Commission were then absorbed into the machinery of the new Municipal Corporation. (W.H. Thomson, History of Manchester to 1852, John Sherratt & Son Ltd, Altrincham, 1967)

1868: An application was posted on this day from Manchester City Council to Parliament, which marked the amalgamation of the Manchester and Salford Courts of Records.

JANUARY 9TH

1782: On this day, philanthropist Dr Thomas Barnes proposed the founding of a scientific institute. In a paper he read to the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society, Dr Barnes recommended attaching a museum to a textile factory in order to demonstrate the workings and benefits of the various machines and processes involved in manufacture. Aside from the clear benefit such a body would provide the town, one of the more practical motives behind the plan was an attempt to highlight to the workers the advantages of mechanisation – a vital matter in the times of Ludditism, when many old-style weavers, discontented with the changes happening in their industry, were intent on destroying the machines that threatened their livelihoods.

1846: Manchester’s captains of industry, trade and finance gathered today to discuss the furtherance of the Anti-Corn Law League (see January 10th). As a result, a committee of gentlemen intent on increasing the fund of the League to £250,000 by gathering contributions in person was formed.

JANUARY 10TH

1839: Manchester businessmen met today to lay the foundations of the Anti-Corn Law League, which would impress upon the nation the newfound political will of the town; it would also go down in history as the first true ancestor of the organised modern single-issue lobbying group. Motivated by a healthy mixture of philanthropy and self-interest, they sought to influence Parliament against the crushing tax on corn importation, which impoverished their workers and indirectly damaged their trade. Mr J.B. Smith, who would later become Secretary of the League, promised to donate £100 to the movement, a start that would soon see its funds grow to tens of thousands of pounds.

1844: Today’s Manchester Guardian printed the obituary of J.E. Taylor, its founder, owner and principal editor since it was established in 1821 (see May 5th). A dissenting clergyman’s son, he rose to prominence in the political pamphleteering of the early 1810s, decrying the Peterloo Massacre and successfully defending himself against the libel charges of his reactionary enemies. His many innovative editorials for the old Manchester Gazette are said to have quadrupled the newspaper’s circulation. These unpaid services to liberal politics ended in 1821, when the Guardian ushered in a new era of provincial reporting, characterising previous local papers as being ‘little better than compilations from the London journals’.

JANUARY 11TH

1749: On this day, the remainder of the rebels who had formed Bonnie Prince Charlie’s Manchester Regiment were removed from Southwark Gaol and transported to the Americas after three years’ imprisonment.

1845: The German-born Manchester-silk manufacturer Louis Schwabe was poisoned to death today. He had produced Queen Victoria’s wedding dress and items for the French King, Louis Phillippe. He had been married to the cousin of author W.M. Thackeray, and sat on the Council of Art which was promoting the Royal Manchester Institution. However, the news of his father’s death at his birthplace of Dessau is thought to have driven him temporarily insane from grief. As a result, he took his own life at the age of forty-seven.

1859: Mr Owen’s toyshop on Oldham Street burnt down today, which saw £4,000 worth of playthings go up in smoke! (see November 19th.)

JANUARY 12TH

1643: It was on this day that Civil War General Sir Thomas Fairfax set up his Roundhead headquarters in Manchester. Fairfax left to relieve Northwich in Cheshire on the 21st, accompanied by 2,500 infantry and 28 cavalry. He was succeeded by Sir John Seaton, who took part of the local garrison to retake the town of Preston for the Parliamentarians (see February 10th).

1878: Local hero Mark Addy was summoned to Salford Town Hall today. MP W.T. Charley presented him with an illumined address and a bag of 200 guineas, which were the result of a subscription, started in his honour among the public, grateful for his many rescues of people who had fallen into the River Irwell.

2003: Bee Gee superstar Maurice Gibb died today in Florida. Born on the Isle of Man, he and his brothers grew up in Manchester, the native city of their mother Barbara. Maurice had suffered from a serious alcohol addiction, partly initiated by his early years as a drinking buddy of Ringo Starr, though he managed to pull himself together after a stint in rehab. He was awarded a CBE alongside his brothers in 2002, but passed away before the ceremony. His son, Adam, collected the honour on his behalf. (BBC News, May 27th 2004)

JANUARY 13TH

1840: On this day, 4,000 supporters of the Anti-Corn Law League attended a banquet – the first event to be held in the new Free Trade Hall on Peter Street. Irish MP Daniel O’Connell was among the attendees.

1890: Metal engineer and boiler manufacturer Daniel Adamson, of Daniel Adamson & Co., died on this day. Born in Durham in 1820, he was the thirteenth child of fifteen. He was employed as an apprentice to the engineers of the Stockton and Darlington Railway and was the manager of Heaton Foundry in Stockport by 1850. He established the Newton Moor Iron Works near Hyde and made his fortune by manufacturing Manchester Boilers. Exporting these all over the world, he found himself with the means to engage in successful experimentation to improve the understanding of engineering with steam and metal, and to promote the Manchester Ship Canal project (see June 27th).

1906: The Manchester Guardian reported the following on today’s General Election: ‘The outstanding features of Saturday’s polls are: the magnificent victories of Liberalism and Labour; the defeat of the ex-Premier [Balfour]; the triumph of Mr Winston Churchill; the utter rout of the Unionist party in the great constituencies of Manchester, Salford, Bradford and Plymouth; Manchester, Liberal, labour and free-trade triumph.’ Four Liberal MPs (including Churchill) and two Labour MPs (Clynes and Kelley) replaced four Conservative (including Balfour) and two Liberal MPs. Salford elected three Liberals, including the writer Hilaire Belloc, replacing three Conservatives.

JANUARY 14TH

1832: On this day, violinist Niccolo Paganini played a concert in Manchester. The Manchester Guardian reported: ‘Reader, you have seen some of the portraits of Paganini … caricatures of his person and his countenance. You have probably thought that, even for caricatures, his peculiarities were grossly exaggerated. Reader, you were under a mistake … His smile on receiving the applauses of the audience is the most extraordinary, the most unearthly expression that ever marked the countenance of a human being; but to form the most remote conception of it, he must be seen. We shall certainly not attempt to describe it. Then his performance! It is almost as little amenable to the powers of description as his countenance … his tones were the most extraordinary that we ever heard from any musical instrument … susceptible of all the varied intonation of the human voice; to be capable of expressing all the varieties of human passions; in short, they wanted nothing but articulation to form a complete language.’

1881: Today, a bomb exploded at the Salford Barracks, injuring a boy named Richard Clark; he died two day later. The bomb was believed to have been the work of Fenian terrorists, and a £500 reward was offered by the government for the capture of the perpetrators by the 22nd. On the 26th, the coroners returned a verdict of ‘wilful murder’ but nobody was ever charged.

JANUARY 15TH

1581: On this day, it was recorded that ‘Margret Wilson, a Kendall woman, was slain with a tree in the churchyard.’ As to the precise nature of this accident, the reader’s guess is as good as anyone’s. (Richard Wright Procter, Memorials of Manchester Streets, T. Sutcliffe, Manchester, 1874)

1601: It was on this day that Alice Hodghead, the daughter of Richard, was ‘borne in the dungion’ – another laconic communication from the old town records. Mrs Hodghead remains unnamed, and there is no information to suggest why a heavily pregnant woman was incarcerated in the town dungeon. It is most likely that when mentioning the dungeon, it is referring to the unpleasant small chamber built into the base of the old stone bridge across the Irwell (which was demolished in 1776).

1867: Thirteen-year-old Richard Hughes was killed at Bradford Colliery today. His head was ‘crushed between the roof and an empty coal tub when it started moving up the jig brow’, as recorded on his death certificate. (pittdixon.go-plus.net)

1884: Today, the Japanese Ambassador Jushi-i-Mori and his wife visited Manchester. They were shown around the Sir Elkanah Armitage and Sons Mills and the Hoyle and Sons Printworks, before being entertained by the mayor at a luncheon in the Town Hall.

JANUARY 16TH

1807: Julius Leuchte, leader of the band at the Manchester Gentleman’s Concert, died at the age of twenty-five following a short illness. An early member of Manchester’s German community, Leuchte was the the chief source of the local forays into classical music.

1844: Colonel John Drinkwater-Bethune, almost the last survivor of the heroic 72nd Regiment of Manchester Volunteers, died on this day at the age of eighty-one. Born in Salford, he studied at Manchester Grammar before entering the army at fifteen, just as the 72nd was being raised in the town. As captain of the regiment, he kept a detailed journal of the bold defence of the Rock of Gibraltar, which, at almost four years, was the longest siege withstood by the British Army. From these notes he later went on to write the military classic, A History of the Siege of Gibraltar.

1939: Today saw the IRA let off three bombs in Manchester; one at Mosley Street, one a Princess Street and a third on Hilton Street. The Hilton Street bomb fatally injured a market trader who was on his way to Smithfield Market. Over the next twenty-four hours the police carried out major raids, in which ten members of the IRA were captured, along with six barrels of explosives and forty sticks of gelignite. One of the captured men was later sentenced to seven years in prison.

JANUARY 17TH

1833: Robert Stephenson of Worsley died at the age of seventy-nine on this day. He had defended Gibraltar as part of the 72nd Manchester Volunteers Regiment, and had been the first man to begin mining into the Rock of Gibraltar, which is now riddled with tunnels.

1863: On this day in Chorlton-on-Medlock, a baby boy was born to William George and his wife Elizabeth; they named him David. Two months later, William returned to his native Pembrokeshire to die and Elizabeth (née Lloyd) took the children to her native village of Llanystumdwy in Gwynedd. This is how the great Liberal Prime Minister, war leader and founder of old-age pensions, David Lloyd George, is known to be from Gwynedd and not Manchester.

1948: Today saw Manchester United chalk up their top ‘home attendance’ figure, with a crowd of 83,260 watching the 1–1 draw against Arsenal – the second highest turnout of all time in English football (for the first, see March 3rd). Oddly enough, damage suffered at the hands of the Luftwaffe at Old Trafford meant that this match took place at the ground of their rivals, Manchester City, at Maine Road. Adding injury to insult, United were paying City £5,000 a year for the privilege and were £15,000 in debt by the time Old Trafford finally reopened in 1949. Old Trafford’s own record attendance figure didn’t involve Manchester United either; the record figure of 76,962 in 1939 was for an FA Cup semi-final between Wolverhampton and Grimsby.

JANUARY 18TH

1819: Hero of the Radical movement, Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt, arrived in town on this day. His provocative speeches would strike fear into the hearts of the local Reactionary party and Magistrates, and set in motion the chain of events that was to culminate in the bloody tragedy of the Peterloo Massacre in August that year (see August 16th).

1846: Today saw the King Street’s York Hotel buildings host the first annual meeting of the Manchester Commercial Association, chaired by the president of the association, James Aspinall Turner.

1960: Manchester-born Henry Kelly died today in Prestwich. Kelly served as a major in the 10th battalion the Duke of Wellington’s (West Riding) Regiment, and his feats of bravery in the Somme on October 25th 1916 won him this most prestigious of all military medals, the Victoria Cross. His grave is at the Southern Cemetery in Manchester.

JANUARY 19TH

1863: On this day, Manchester cotton workers showed their support for Abraham Lincoln. The workers were suffering from the Cotton Famine caused by the American Civil War, nevertheless they supported the Union against the cotton-growing Confederacy (see December 31st), for which Abraham Lincoln was particularly thankful today: ‘I know and deeply deplore the sufferings which the working people of Manchester and in all Europe are called to endure in this crisis … I cannot but regard your decisive utterances … as an instance of sublime Christian heroism which has not been surpassed in any age or in any country. It is indeed an energetic and re-inspiring assurance of the inherent truth and of the ultimate and universal triumph of justice, humanity and freedom.’

1951: Today, the Manchester Guardian reported an unlikely notice in a shop window: ‘Gentlemen’s hair permanently waved, from 21s.’ Perms for men were apparently becoming a lucrative business and this same article stated that many erstwhile barber shops were becoming ‘ladies’ and gents’ hairdressers’. It is also stated that the average ‘masculine perm’ would take one and a half hours, with the more elaborate requiring two or three hours and costing three guineas.

JANUARY 20TH

1806: The Portico Library opened its doors for the first time today. Located in Mosley Street, this combined newsroom and library was built at a cost of £7,000. Its archived newspaper collection was later regarded as the most complete of any outside the capital.

1845: Evan Price was arrested today for stealing £3,500 from his employer, Mr Percival, a woollen draper on King Street. Price was later found guilty and transported to Australia.

1887: John Prettyjohn died in Manchester on this day. He was a colour-sergeant of the Royal Marines, and was awarded the Victoria Cross for his involvement in the Battle of Inkerman on November 5th 1854, during the Crimean War.

JANUARY 21ST

1526: Thomas West, the eighth Lord la Warre and fifteenth Lord of Mamcestre, died today. Thomas had been a great favourite of Henry VII, who had amply rewarded him for his support of the Lancastrian side in the Wars of the Roses. Thomas’ exploits took him far from his manor, seeing him serve in arms in Flanders in 1491 and against Cornish rebels in 1496. He was made a Knight of the Garter in 1510 and a Knight Banneret for his valour at the 1513 Battle of the Spurs. Lord Mamcestre had escorted Holy Roman Emperor Charles V from the Channel port of Gravelines over the sea to Dover.

1802: A terrible hurricane struck Manchester on this day, and a whole cotton mill was blown down at Pendleton, while one of the clock faces of St Ann’s clock tower was blown out.

1867: Today saw Manchester prohibitionists celebrate being one step closer to their goal of making the town a ‘dry borough’, as Mayor Neill presided over a town meeting which introduced a ban on Sunday trading in intoxicating liquors.

JANUARY 22ND

1554: The trial of Mancunian Protestant proselytiser John Bradford, charged with heresy and sedition, took place on this day. Occurring during the reign of ‘Bloody’ Queen Mary, champion of the Roman Catholic cause, the guilty verdict would have come as little surprise. Bradford would mount the scaffold and suffer martyrdom for the reformed faith over a year later, on June 30th 1555.

1875: The Marquis of Salisbury, on a visit to Manchester with his wife the marchioness, had a hectic day of formal visits and receptions. Beginning at the Town Hall to receive the address of the Corporation, the marquis and marchioness – along with the Lord Chief Justice, Sir A.E. Cockburn, and several local MPs – then went on to the Athenaeum to inspect the artworks on display, as well as celebrate the institution’s refurbishment after a devastating fire (see September 24th). Both Salisbury and Cockburn gave speeches to members at the Free Trade Hall, before they rounded off the day’s programme with a visit to the Exchange to see the financial heart of the city. The party took luncheon at the Queen’s Hotel as guests of the Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

JANUARY 23RD

1749: The heads of Manchester Jacobite heroes Deacon, Syddall, and Chadwick were stolen from the top of the Exchange today. Their heads had been placed there several years earlier by the victorious Hanoverian forces, who decreed that the heads be displayed. Rumour has it that they were secretly buried by loyal followers of the Stuarts in the gardens of a nearby house.

1819: On this day, Radical politician Henry Hunt and his party were involved in a political scuffle against Earl of Uxbridge and several officers of the 7th Light Dragoons at Manchester’s Theatre Royal.

1848: On this day, the first ever Bishop of Manchester, James Prince Lee, was consecrated at Whitehall by the Archbishop of York, and the Bishops of Chester and Worcester.

JANUARY 24TH