552
DURHAM
The town hall contains a collection of antiquities. There ure also a synagogue, technical school, library, and hospital. Population (1885), 19,802; (1901), 27,171. Durham, a north-eastern county of England, bounded S.E. and S. by Yorkshire, W. by Westmoreland and Cumberland, N.W. and K by Northumberland, and E. by the North Sea. Area and Population.—The area of the ancient and administrative county, as given in the census tables of 1891, was 647,281 acres or 1011 square miles, with a population in 1881 of 867,576 and in 1891 of 1,016,559, of whom 517,942 were males and 498,617 females, the number of persons per square mile being 1005, and. of acres to a person 0’64. In 1895 the area of the administrative county was slightly enlarged, by the transference from the North Riding of Yorkshire of the area which, prior to the passing of the Local Government Act, 1894, constituted the part of the township of Linthorpe in the borough of Stockton. The area of the registration county is 764,788 acres, with a population in 1891 of 1,024,369, of whom 668,782 were urban and 355,587 rural. Within the registration area the population between 1881 and 1891 increased 26'28 per cent. The excess of births over deaths between 1881 and 1891 was 169,257, and the actual increase of the resident population was 148,885. In 1901 the population was 1,187,324.. The following table gives the number of marriages, births, and deaths, with the number of illegitimate births, for 1880, 1890, and 1898 :— Illegitimate Births. Year. Marriages. Births. Deaths. Males. Females. 704 681 6419 33,197 19,796 1880 663 668 36,955 20,767 1890 8534 723 718 40,240 22,169 1898 9977
attendance at board schools in 1899 was 93,095, and at voluntary schools 91,713. The total school board receipts for the year ended 29th September 1899 were over £356,360. The income under the Technical Instruction Act was over £1289 ; that under the Agricultural Rates Act was over £2343. Agriculture.—Nearly two-thirds of the total area of the county are under cultivation, but nearly two-thirds of this are in permanent pasture. There are also about 49,000 acres of hillpasture, and 29,000 acres under woods. Of the area under corn crops, which has greatly diminished, oats occupy about one-half, and wheat and barley each about a fourth. Nearly two-thirds of the acreage under green crops are occupied by turnips, many cattle being raised. The following table gives the acreages of the larger main divisions of the cultivated area at intervals of five years from 1880 :— Total Area Corn Permanent Green Year. under Cul- Crops. Crops. Clover. Pasture. tivation. 1880 415,626 90,771 34,835 44,582 226,867 19,155 1885 423,421 81,645 35,267 48,265 241.900 16,332 1890 435,084 73,065 32,285 56,518 260,064 12,886 1895 439,144 65,038 33,023 53,907 277,355 9,425 1900 438,713 65,726 33,488 51,780 280,190 7,186
The number of marriages in 1899 was 10,101 ; of births, 40,991 ; and of deaths, 22,530. The following table shows the marriage-, birth-, and death-rates per 1000 of the population, with the percentage of illegitimate births, for a series of years :— 1870-79. 1880. 1889. 1888-97. 1898. 17-3 14-9 16-9 15-7 17-5 Marriage-rate 44-3 38-5 36-5 36-0 35-2 Birth-rate . 24-0 22-9 20-5 19-3 19-4 Death-rate . Percentage of ille3-8 3-6 3-6 4-2 4'2 gitimate births
Industries and Trade. — According to the annual report for 1898 of the chief inspector of factories (1900), the total number of persons employed in factories and workshops in 1897 was 99,219, as compared with 95,115 in 1896. Only 1760 were employed in textile factories. As many as 90,039 were employed in non-textile factories, there being an increase between 1895 and 1896 of 7'3 per cent., and between 1896 and 1897 of 4'l per cent. More than half (46,376) were employed in the manufacture ofmachines, appliances, conveyances, tools, &c. This includes those employed in the iron and steel shipbuilding yards of the Tyne, Stockton-on-Tees, and the Hartlepools. The Tyne shipbuilding industry is second only to that of the Clyde, and the greater portion of it is carried on within the Durham boundaries. The total number of ships built in the Tyne ports and at the Hartlepools, Stockton, and Sunderland in 1895 was 174, with a tonnage of 229,868 ; in 1898 it was 224, with a tonnage of 319,705. Next to shipbuilding the most important industry is the founding and conversion of metal, which in 1897 employed 17,980 persons, the extraction of metal employing 3148. Other industries are the manufacture of paper, &c., employing 3211 persons; of chemicals (chiefly on the Tyne), employing 3289 ; and of glass (at Gateshead and Sunderland), employing 3264 ; and of clay, stone, &c. (chiefly earthenware at Gateshead and. Sunderland), 3195. In workshops, 7240 persons were employed—4403 in clothing industries. The total number of persons employed in mines and quarries in 1899 was 111,720. Of limestone 1,944,207 tons were raised in 1899, the largest amount of any county in the United Kingdom, of clays 744,453 tons, of which 498,011 were mainly fireclay, of sandstone 82,048 tons, of igneous rocks 73,644 tons, and of gravel and sand 20,471 tons. But the most important mineral is coal. The coalfield of Durham is at present by far the most productive of England; and although the county’s output of iron is inconsiderable, its proximity to the great Cleveland iron region of North Yorkshire enables it now to produce over 1,000,000 tons of pig iron annually. There is also a very large production of salt from brine. The following table gives particulars regarding the more valuable minerals in 1890 and 1899 :— Salt. Lead. Coal. Ironstone. Year. Value. Tons. Value, Tons. Value. Tons. Value, Tons. 1890 30,265,241 £11,034,202 11,488 £3591 9781 £81,422 119,971 £64,990 1899 34,870,675 12,065,153 16,960 6360 3361 32,958 197,610 93,868
The following table gives particulars regarding the live stock for the same years :— Cows or Heifers in Sheep. Horses. Total Cattle. Milk or in Calf. 7,732 21,124 62,395 214,427 1880 16,839 25,202 11,913 198,471 16,586 69,427 1885 224,504 14,758 26,004 17,925 69,037 1890 225,041 12,894 71,968 26,190 20,425 1895 28,822 258,257 10,024 78,183 1900 20,167
The birth-rate is much above the average, and the death-rate is also above it, but the percentage of illegitimate births is considerably below it. In 1891 the number of Scots in the county was 26,857, of Irish 27,663, and of foreigners 5366. Constitution and Government.—The county is divided into eight parliamentary divisions, and it also includes the parliamentary borough of Sunderland, returning two members ; and the boroughs of Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, South Shields, and Stockton-on-Tees, each returning one member. There are nine municipal boroughs : Darlington (44,496 in 1901), Durham (14,641), Gateshead (109,887), Hartlepool (22,737), Jarrow (34,294), South Shields (97,267), Stockton-on-Tees (51,476), Sunderland (146,565), and West Hartlepool (62,614); Gateshead, South Shields, and Sunderland are county boroughs. The following are urban districts: Hebburn (20,901), Hetton (13,673), Houghton-le-Spring (7858), Leadgate (4658), Ryton (8448), Seaham Harbour (10,163), Shildon and East Thickley (11,759), Southwick (12,643), Spennymoor (16,661), Stanhope (1964), Stanley (13,553), Tanfield (8178), Tow Law (4371), Whickham (12,851), and Willington (7887). Durham is in the north-eastern circuit, and assizes are held at Durham. The boroughs of Darlington, Durham, Gateshead, Hartlepool, Jarrow, South Shields, Stockton-on-Tees, and Sunderland have separate commissions of the peace. The ancient county, which is in the diocese of Durham, contains 238 ecclesiastical parishes, and parts of two others. Education.—The city of Durham {q.v.) is the seat of a university, and it has also a residential training college (diocesan) for schoolmasters and schoolmistresses. At Ushaw, near Durham, there is a Roman Catholic college. The number of elementary schools The only fishing stations mentioned in the annual return on 3.1st August 1899 was 519, of which 187 were board and 332 relating the sea fisheries of the United Kingdom are Sunderland voluntary ; the latter including 218 National Church of England and EasttoHartlepool, total quantity of fish landed in 1898 being schools, 19 Wesleyan, 54 Roman Catholic, and 51 “ British and 118,884 cwt., valued the at £95,826. other.”’ At South Shields there is a board school for blind chilAuthorities.—Hutchinson. History and Antiquities of dren ; there is another at Sunderland ; Darlington and Stocktonon-Tees have each a board school for deaf children. The average the County Palatine of Durham, 3 vols. Newcastle, 1785-94.
