stately palace, wherein royalty sojourned awhile; and embattled fortifications complete enough to resist the entrance of Charles I. during the civil war. But all are gone the monks, the palace, the walls. Of the early history of the town, records are more than usually scarce; so that we know less of its annals in feudal times, than of most of the large towns in the north. Leland, indeed, tells us that "the toune was in the tyme of Edward 3 but a meane fischer toune. The first great encreasing of the toune was by passing for fisch into Iseland, from whence they had the whole trade of stoke fisch into England, and partly other fisch. In Richard the 2nd's days the toune waxed very rich; and Michael de la Pole, marchaunt of Hull, and prentice as some say to one Rotenhering, of the same toune, came into so high favor for wit, actyvite, and riches, that he was made Count of Suffolk; whereon he got of King Richard 2 many grants and privileges to the toune; and in his time the toune was wonderfully augmented in building, and was enclosed with ditches, and the wall begun, and in continuance ended, and made all of brick, as most part of the houses of the toune at that time was." This town, as has been said, is situated at the point where the river Hull empties itself into the river Humber. It is a singular circumstance, that the Hull, which is now at the eastern side of the town, is believed to have been once on the western: the course of the river having been turned. At what time, and under what circumstances this diversion occurred is not now known; but there are records of many violent floods which burst over the whole district, from the sea to Hull; and it is deemed not improbable that some such occurrence may have affected the course of the river. The Charter House, or Carthusian Priory, was founded about the year 1350, by William de la Pole. The enclosure of the town with walls took place during the reign of Edward III. In 1322, a royal licence was granted for encompassing the town with ditches and a wall. In aid of the expenses of carrying on the work, a grant was made of certain tolls for five years; but as this aid was insufficient, another grant was made in 1325, of a penny in the pound in the value of all goods and merchandize coming to the town. For some centuries after the building of the wall, the town was confined between the Humber on the south, the Hull on the east, and the town-wall on the west and north. Even so late as the year 1640, the number of streets was less than forty: there are now about thirty times that number, so enormously has the town increased on all sides except the south. Of the internal or social condition of Hull in those times we know very little. Taylor, the water-poet, whose 'Very Merry Wherry Ferry Voyage,' from London to Hull, in 1622, formed the subject of a quaint poem, speaks in flattering terms of the merits of the townsmen. He was, it appears, hospitably entertained by some of them after his voyage; and his gratitude may have warmed the colours of the picture which he drew of Hull and her inhabitants. He says: "It is the only bulwark of the north : All other towns for strength to it must strike, And all the northern parts have not the like; The people from the sea much wealth have won, Each man doth live as he were Neptune's son." He also records the enormous sum (in his eyes) spent in maintaining the harbour: "It yearly costs five hundred pounds besides, To fence the town from Hull and Humber tides, THE RISE AND GROWTH OF THE PORT. So far as matters meet the eye of a modern observer, the history of the Hull docks furnishes the history of the town; for to those docks are owing nearly all the wealth which Hull possesses. The vast treasures of the east and west meet here as at a point. Russia and Sweden, Denmark and Norway, Holland and Germany, send to Hull their timber, their iron, their hemp, their tar, their tallow, their bones for manure, and their corn for food, their flax and linseed, and their hides and skins; while Hull is made the point of export for the cottons of Lancashire, the woollens of Yorkshire, the pottery of Staffordshire, the cutlery of Sheffield, the hosiery of Leicester, the bobbin-net of Nottingham, the metal wares of Birmingham, the steam-engines and machinery from our great manufacturing towns,-to all the ports which line the eastern side of the German Ocean. Hull claims a pretty fair antiquity for her commerce and shipping. It is believed, that as early as A.D. 1200, Hull was one of the appointed places for the export of wool. In all that relates to the port of Hull in early times, the river Hull was the part alluded to, rather than the Humber in front of the town. Every successive century brought forward a steady increase in the trade of Hull; until at length some measures were imperatively called for, having for their object the enlargement of the harbour, and the better accommodation of shipping. It has been a fortunate circumstance for Liverpool, and is (or has been) an unfortunate one for Hull, that in the former case the docks belong to the Corporation, whereby the arrangement in respect to docks, dock dues, new works, repairs, dredging, and the numerous matters which bear on the practical management of a port, are free from any clashing of interests between the town authorities and the dock authorities; whereas at Hull, the docks belong to a private company, between whom and the Corporation there has not been that cordiality and unanimity which would lead to wellarranged plans. Before the construction of any of the docks, the shipping business used to be conducted along the northern shore of the Humber, within the limits of the town, and for a short distance up the river Hull; but by about the year 1770 the trade of the port had so far increased as to render further accommodation necessary, It was first proposed that the Corporation | forty-three sail of vessels, in two hours and twenty should make new docks, but this was declined; it was then suggested that the Trinity House should take up the matter; but this body likewise shrunk from the responsibility. Matters grew so bad, that the Government were about to remove the bonding of the port from Hull to Gainsborough, the latter being situated some distance up the river Trent. Hereupon a company of "adventurers," or shareholders, determined to construct new docks; they formed a stock of 120 shares, to which 60 have since been added, on each of which a sum of £250 has been ultimately paid; and so well has the matter answered as a commercial speculation, that these shares are worth £1600 or £1800 each in the market. The Company obtained an Act in 1774, which gave them various powers in respect to the Humber and Hull rivers; and in 1788 the Old Dock was opened, bounding the town on the north, and opening into the river Hull, which in this part constitutes the Old Harbour. The Corporation took shares in the Company; and the Corporation and the Trinity Board also supplied a portion of the capital as separate bodies: receiving certain advantages therefrom, but not touching the dock dues. Some years afterwards, in 1809, an addition was made to the accommodation of the port, by the construction of the Humber Dock, connected with the Humber by a tidal basin, and bounding the town on the west. This left a gap between the north and the west, between the Old and the Humber Docks; and this gap was not filled up till 1829, when the Junction Dock, which establishes a communication between the two older docks, and which bounds the town on the north-west, was opened. It was then that Hull became for the first time an island-for such it effectually is a large merchant ship can sail completely round the town. A small additional dock may be noticed, called the Ferry Dock, which was constructed in the early part of the present century. It is merely a small recess, with a wharf and pier, on the Humber frontage of the town. These three docks, presenting a united area of only about twenty-six acres, have accommodated more traffic perhaps than any other docks in the kingdom: that is, the area in proportion with the shipping is smaller than in any other port. A merchant of Hull said, a few years ago, when Commissioners were inquiring into the commerce of Hull :— minutes, require to pass through the harbour, which is the highway to the Old Dock; and in 1844, forty-six sea-going vessels and steamers, twenty-eight river craft, and one large raft of timber, passed through the Humber Dock lock in one tide." This was corroborated by a merchant who had "known one hundred sail of vessels come out of the Old Dock in one tide." What is called the Harbour, or the Old Harbour, is, as we before remarked, merely the lower portion of the river Hull, near its junction with the Humber; it bounds the town on the east, and is lined on both sides with wharfs and warehouses. This portion of the river is about two-thirds of a mile in length, and from fifty to eighty yards wide. It is used by vessels of various tonnage for taking in and discharging their cargoes along the quays of the warehouses on the banks; as a passage or channel for vessels going into or coming out of the Old Dock; and also as a channel for smaller vessels proceeding to the various wharfs and warehouses lying higher up the Hull, beyond the verge of the town. It is also used by river craft, and other small vessels, as a place of shelter in stormy and tempestuous weather, when it is frequently filled for many days together. It will therefore be seen how unavoidably must such a place be crowded; and we can imagine how a foreigner would be struck by such a spectacle of intense activity as this bit of river presents. The four purposes above enumerated give to this portion of the river Hull an amount of business which is perhaps not paralleled in an equal space in any country; because, in most other commercial ports, the docks can be reached without vessels having to pass through such a busily-occupied portion of river. All improvements in this port are difficult, on account of the diversity of interests and privileges involved: these are, happily, not insurmountable, as the recent works have shown; but they require an unusual amount of discussion and struggle. The public bodies who have control over the port, are, the Municipal Corporation, the Corporation of the Trinity House, the Dock Company, the Dock Commissioners, the Pilot Commissioners, the Commissioners of the Holderness Drainage, and the Railway Company. It requires no small exercise of sagacity to determine the exact limits of each of these bodies' powers and privileges, and no small energy to induce them to work well together in the same direction: to these also are "Within my knowledge the traffic of Hull has to be added the rights of those who hold property increased very considerably: so much so, that the along the margin of the harbour, and the rights of the harbour, which formerly was, with the then existing merchants and ship-owners. The main privileges of dock accommodation, sufficient for the port, became so all these bodies are the following: The Corporation crowded with shipping, that I have heard of one vessel receive dues from all vessels using the port, for jettage leaving South End (a particular point in the harbour), and anchorage; they also own the Ferry-boat Dock, for and arriving at Elsinore before another just behind her market vessels; they are proprietors of the soil of that could get out of the harbour." Another merchant portion of the river Hull facing the harbour; and "knew a vessel make the passage from Hull to Peters- lastly, the Mayor is admiral of the harbour. The burgh, while a second vessel, ready for sea at the same Corporation of the Trinity House supply the Humber moment, was proceeding down the harbour from the Old with buoys and lights, and license pilots; all vessels Dock to the Humber." A third said, "I have known | pay buoyage, and a primage is paid on the cargoes from foreign vessels; and this Corporation also appoint | that the Docks are henceforward to be managed by the dock- and harbour-masters. The Dock Com- Commissioners, so chosen as to represent the varied pany are owners of all the wet-docks, and receive interests of the town. One important object of this dues from all vessels using the port, whether going Act is to prevent the unloading of timber ships in the into the docks or not, with certain specified exceptions. already crowded docks. The Commissioners deemed it The Dock Commissioners have the control and manage- necessary to apply for another Act, in 1845, to enable ment of the docks and quays. The Pilot Commis- them to enlarge the dimensions of the new Railway sioners have the superintendence of the pilots and Dock, to erect new warehouses, and to lay down all ballast-lighters; and to this body all vessels above six requisite railways along the quays. The Dock Comfeet draught of water must pay pilotage. The Holder- pany had to apply for another Act, in 1849, to raise ness Drainage Commissioners (Holderness being the more capital for finishing the Victoria Dock. The low tongue of land which intervenes between Hull and Admiralty, on that occasion, insisted on certain prothe sea) have the right to require the Dock Commis- visions respecting the dredging and draining of the sioners to remove banks, hills, earth, soil, or rubbish Harbour-a work which all parties had hitherto shifted in the harbour within low-water mark. Lastly, the from one to another. Railway Company are owners of considerable quay and wharf-works on the western margin of the town. By the year 1844 the Dock Company had matured its plans for an extension of the harbour accommodation, by the construction of a new dock; and an Act of Parliament was obtained for developing the scheme. By virtue of these plans, there was to be a new dock situated eastward of the triangular island on which the citadel is placed. There was also to be an enlargement of the point of junction where the Old Dock opens into the Old Harbour, as a means of facilitating the ingress and egress of shipping. And lastly, there was to be a new railway-dock constructed, connected with the railway-station, and also connected by a cut with the western side of the Humber Dock. The Company were authorized to raise £400,000 for these works. One of the important clauses of this Act is, Thus, then, when all the works are completed, Hull and its port will present the following features. There will in effect be two islands-the citadel island and the town island, and a triangular belt of dry land around the citadel island. The moat bounds the citadel on two sides; while the Humber bounds it on the third. The new eastern or Victoria Dock, of twelve or thirteen acres, spreads away eastward of the citadel moat; while its two basins give ingress the one to the Humber, and the other to the Hull. Then comes the town island, with the Hull or Old Harbour on the east, the Old Dock on the north, the Junction Dock on the north-west, the Humber Dock and the new Railway Dock on the west, and the little Ferryboat Dock on the south-one of the most curious interlacings of dock accommodation presented by any of our seaport towns. A TOUR AROUND THE DOCKS. Supposing that we land at the ferries from the Lincolnshire shore, (as most travellers from the south now do,) we find ourselves at the Ferry-boat Dock. This is a small open dock on the Humber front of Hull, with a pier stretching out from the shore in the form of a T. The pier is a neat and convenient timber structure, with sufficient accommodation for the small steamers which go down the river to Grimsby, across the river to Barton and New Holland, and up the ver to Selby, Goole, and York. It is from this Pier, looking northward, that the scene represented in the Cut presents itself. This pier lies pretty close to the western margin of the mouth of the river Hull: a river marvellously narrow for the multiplicity of business transacted on it. No bridge crosses it for a distance of half a mile above its mouth; so we will imagine ourselves to be ferried across. We land at a long wooden wharf, or series of wharfs, called Garrison Side; and a bridge from thence over the garrison moat takes us into the citadel. (Engraving.) This citadel is rather a peculiar adjunct to the town; but certainly well placed for defence, since it commands the entrances to the docks and harbours. Being surrounded by a moat, it constitutes a triangular island; within which are officers' quarters, soldiers' barracks, magazines, guard-houses, ramparts bristling with cannon, and all the paraphernalia and parade of a garrison. Entering this citadel at the south-west corner, and emerging from it at the centre of the north-east side, we find ourselves at once among the stones and scaffolding and excavations of the new Victoria Dock. This dock, when completed, will be very conveniently and judiciously arranged. There will be first an open basin in the Humber, bounded on the east and west by substantial piers; then from this a closed basin, lying eastward of the citadel, and opening from the open basin by two channels and two locks; then the Victoria Dock, stretching nearly parallel to the north-east side of the citadel; and lastly a basin, with locks at both ends, establishing a connection between the Victoria Dock and the River Hull. The consequence of this arrangement will be, two triangular islands, one within another: the Humber, the Hull, and the Victoria Dock will enclose one such island; and within this will be the citadel island, surrounded by its moat. 1 On returning to the Garrison Side, and walking up the eastern shore of the Hull river to the North Bridge (the only bridge over the Hull within the limits of the town), we cannot but be struck with the amazing activity of the river. Every foot of ground on both sides is occupied as wharf and warehouse, and the vessels lie packed so closely that there is only a mere rivulet of clear space in the middle for the passage of vessels up and down. The timber vessels and barges, especially, cannot escape notice. The eastern wharfs of the Hull, for some distance, are mostly belonging to timber yards; and here, from morning till night, at certain seasons of the year, may Entering the Old Dock, which branches out pretty nearly westward from the river Hull, we come to a scene of interminable excitement and activity. The length of the dock is about a third of a mile, besides the basin and lock. There are quays entirely around it; the warehouses occupy upwards of two thousand square yards; the sheds are nearly seven hundred feet in length; and the dock will accommodate a hundred square rigged ships. The sides of the sheds are ingeniously managed: they rest upon wheels which work on a railway, so that they can be drawn aside or closed in at pleasure. In watching the operations which are constantly going on around or within this dock, an intelligent observer may pick up many scraps of information. He will see at one point a range of huge corn-warehouses; these warehouses have been filled with the produce of foreign countries, and he will see how this corn is sent up the country, to York or elsewhere. A shoot or trunk, at an upper window, is filled (say with oats) by men who shovel the grain into it; a man, standing on a stage below, receives the oats into the mouth of an open sack through a canvas hose or trunk; another man takes the sack on his back, and runs along a plank to a weighing-machine, where a third man ascertains whether the proper weight is contained in the sack; the oats are then emptied into the hold of a barge, lying alongside the wharf; and this barge, when laden, proceeds up the Ouse to Selby or York. Advancing along the quay, we come next to the Swedish iron depôt. This introduces us to a remarkable feature in our commerce and manufactures. Good and plentiful as English iron is, it is not good enough for the Sheffield folks; their cutlery requires some peculiar quality of steel, which is furnished by Swedish iron better than by English. A small district called Dannemora, lying about thirty miles from Upsala, in Sweden, supplies us with our best cutlery iron: the produce of the district is said to amount to about four thousand tons annually, the whole of which is consigned to one house at Hull. Here we may see the long narrow bars of Swedish iron, borne by men from the warehouses to the quay side, and transferred to the barges which are to convey them inland to Sheffield or other places. Proceeding round the dock, we find such scenes as these constantly occurring. The ships (probably for some convenience of loading and unloading) lie longitudinally near the south quay, and transversely near the north quay. The buildings around the dock are either wharfs and warehouses, or such shops as supply the wants of a seagoing population. Advanced to the western end of the Old Dock, we come to one of the busiest spots in Hull. (Engraving.) It is the point where a narrow channel connects the Old Dock with the Junction Dock; and over this channel is a swivel bridge which establishes a communication between the centre and the north-western portion of the town-now very extensive. Near this point is a statue of Wilberforce, surmounting a lofty column; it is almost exactly in the centre of Hull, and forms a conspicuous landmark as seen from different directions. Hull had never much to do with slave-grown commerce; but it is nevertheless pleasant to see the abolition of slavery celebrated by the erection of such a column. The Junction Dock is much shorter but a little wider than the Old Dock. It will hold sixty square rigged ships: and it is often difficult to see where an additional vessel could squeeze room for itself. Many of these vessels are larger than those which moor in the Old Dock. Sometimes we may see a fine large merchantman, laden with guano from Callao; or some other vessel which has crossed the Atlantic. But it may be remarked, by any one who ferrets out the names of the vessels as they lie in the docks, that while Liverpool is visited by ships which have crossed all the broad oceans from every direction, Hull is the depôt rather of vessels which have simply crossed the German Ocean, after having, perhaps, traversed a portion of the Baltic: this is, indeed, the kind of traffic which distinguishes Hull above all other British ports. The 'Koning Willem,' steamer; the 'Lovise, fra Fanöe;' the Margaretha, von Emden;' the Kirstine, af Dragüe ;'-such names, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian, meet the eye at every few yards in perambulating the Hull docks. The southern end of the Junction Dock brings us to another narrow channel, which, like the former, is crossed by a swivel bridge for establishing connection between different parts of the town. This channel opens into the Humber Dock, and extends nearly in a north and south direction. This Dock is intermediate in size between the two former: it will accommodate about seventy square-rigged vessels. It is the dock for the large steamers, in the establishment of which Hull has taken a more active part than any of the eastern ports, except London. Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburgh, Copenhagen, St. Petersburg, as well as numerous English ports-all are placed in steam-ship connection with Hull. Sailing vessels, too, of large tonnage, lie in the Humber Dock, receiving their cargoes of merchandize in countless variety, or bringing their supplies of foreign produce to this country. About half the western side of the Humber Dock is lined by the quays, sheds, and warehouses of the railway company, whose goodsstation is at this spot, admirably arranged for the transfer of merchandize from ship to rail, or from rail to ship. To aid in the transfer just alluded to, a new dock has been built, called the Railway Dock, branching out westward of the Humber Dock. It is of small dimensions; but the rails are brought quite close up to the southern quay, so that vessels can be laden and unladen with great quickness. The railway goods-station is well placed for the accommodation of the traffic of the Old, the Junction, and the Humber Docks; though the same cannot be said in respect to the Hull Harbour or the new Victoria Dock. Southward, the Humber Dock ends in a narrow channel or lock, which is crossed by a swivel bridge, and which opens into the Humber Basin. This latter is a convenient receptacle for shipping, open to the Humber, and lined with well-built stone quays and piers, a portion of which is occupied by sheds. We have now made a tour of the docks; and a busy tour it is. That the Docks should be large and wellmanaged; that maritime affairs should occupy a larger share of the attention of the Hull inhabitants than any other industrial pursuit; and that the wealth of the upper class of its inhabitants should be mainly derived from this source-will appear reasonable enough when we know the amount of shipping which enters and leaves the port. From returns made by order of the House of Commons, it appears that the ships which have entered the port of Hull during the last thirty years, have varied from 600 to 2,600 annually the average of the last ten years having been considerably over 2,000. These vessels seem to have, on an average, a tonnage of about 160 tons; so that the amount of produce (unless any considerable number of the ships enter in ballast, which is hardly probable) brought into the port must be very large. It is a curious circumstance, and one which must be owing to the spontaneous course of commerce rather than to planned arrangements, that the British and foreign vessels engaged in the Hull trade are almost exactly equal in number. From 1833 to 1845, the British vessels which left the port amounted to 13,089; while the foreign were 13,114 in number. Until 1838, the British vessels almost invariably outnumbered the foreign; but in that year the balance began to turn in the other direction, and has so continued ever since, with a few exceptions. The British vessels have, however, a much larger average tonnage than the foreign; so that there has never been a year when the aggregate tonnage of foreign vessels at Hull has equalled that of British. The British average is over 200 tons; the foreign is but little more than 100. In the first half of 1849 there were 28,000 bales of cotton twist, and 14,000 of cotton goods, exported from Hull: fully one-half of these quantities went to Hamburgh. |