BOOK I. Population of Sussex. 198 HISTORY OF SURREY AND SUSSEX. The county of Sussex lies in the home circuit, the lent assizes being held at Horsham, and the summer and winter assizes at Lewes. This county returns twenty-eight members to parliament, viz: two for the county, two for the city of Chichester, and two for each of the boroughs of Arundel, Bramber, Horsham, East Grinstead, Lewes, Midhurst, Shoreham, and Steyning; and two for each of the cinque ports of Hastings, Rye, and Winchelsea. In the year 1700 the population of Sussex was estimated at 91,400 persons; in 1750, at 107,400; in 1801, at 159,311, and in 1811, it had increased to 190,083. The latest census of the population is exhibited in the annexed table. BOOK II. TOPOGRAPHICAL SURVEY OF THE BOROUGH OF CHAPTER I. HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK. THE borough of Southwark forms a considerable por- CHAP. I. tion of the suburbs of London, with which it is con- Situation. nected by the bridge so well known by the name of London bridge. It is one of the wards of the city of London, under the title of Bridge-ward without, but through the inattention of the corporation, the magistrates of the county of Surrey exercise a joint jurisdiction therein. The Borough formerly consisted of the parishes of Extent. St. George, St. Margaret, St. Mary Magdalen, St. Thomas, and St. Olave. St. Margaret and St. Mary Magdalen were consolidated, and had the name of St. Saviour given them, on their inhabitants purchasing the fine conventual church of St. Mary Overie, soon after the dissolution of religious houses. Out of this parish has been taken that of Christ Church; and out of that of St. Olave, a parish has been created by the name of St. John. BOOK II. Population of Surrey. It is considerably the largest town in the county of Surrey, as appears by the following returns of the population taken in 1811, and 1821. Earl God win's rebellion. When a subsidy was granted to the kings of England, the Borough was rated at one thousand marks, which is more than any city in England, except London. In the reign of Charles II. when £70,000 per month was to be raised for the militia, Southwark paid £184. 14s.; the rest of the county £1,565. 15s. 6d. One of the earliest notices of Southwark occurs in the following historical circumstance. In the reign of Edward the Confessor, Earl Godwin, irritated at the manner in which the king received the Normans at his court, and jealous of their increasing power, secretly resolved to attempt to drive them out of the kingdom. It happened in 1051, that Eustace, earl of Boulogne, who had married the king's sister, paid a visit to his brother-in-law.* It appears that at Dover (a town under the influence of Godwin) his attendants quarrelled with the burghers: twenty English, and about the same number of Frenchmen were slain, the earl The name of the king's sister was Goda; she had been married to Walter, earl of Mante, and had borne him a son, Radulf, to whom Edward gave the earldom of Hereford. After the death of Walter she married Eustace. Malms. 45. escaping through the swiftness of his horse. This sanguinary fray has been differently attributed, to accident, to the insolence of the strangers, or to the inhospitality of the townsmen: but as Godwin and Eustace were enemies, there is reason to believe that, if the quarrel were not deliberately begun, it was at least prosecuted by both parties with more fury, on account of the hostility of their respective lords. Eustace hastened to the king, to complain of the injury; and Godwin was ordered to chastise the insolence of his men. The earl disdained to obey; his two sons applauded the spirit of their father; and it was resolved to seize the present opportunity, and direct the national animosity against the foreign favourites. Three armies, from the three earldoms of Godwin, Sweyn, and Harold, directed their march towards Longtree in Gloucestershire, to punish as it was pretended, the depredations committed on the lands of Harold, by the French garrison in the castle of Hereford. But Edward, who lay at Gloucester, was not to be deceived by this flimsy pretext; he summoned to his aid Radulfh, Leofric, and Siward, and was soon in a condition to intimidate his opponents. The troops demanded to be led against the insurgent earls, and the best blood in England, says the chronicle, would have been shed, had not more temperate measures been suggested by the wisdom of Leofric, and adopted by the moderation of Edward. It was proposed to summon the wittenagemot, and to refer every subject of dispute to the decision of that assembly. To so equitable an offer, Godwin dared not object; and hostages, as if the two parties were on a footing of equality, were mutually exchanged. At the appointed day, the autumnal equinox, Edward entered London at the head of the most powerful army that had been seen CHAP. I. BOOK II. for many years; Godwin at the same time, Enters Southwark. "with his power came to Southwarke, on the other side of the river Thames, into his owne house," with a considerable number of followers. But the influence of the earl shrunk before the awe that was created by the majesty of the king, and the terror that was inspired by the superiority of his force. The insurgent army daily melted away; and Sweyn, on the night before the day appointed for an inquiry into inquiry into the affray, thought it prudent to flee. He was solemnly pronounced an outlaw; the thanes, who held of Godwin and Harold, were compelled to swear fealty to the king; and the two earls were ordered to clear themselves of the accusations against them, by the oaths of twelve compurgators, in the presence of the assembly. As a previous condition, they demanded hostages for their safety; but this demand was contumeliously refused; and they were allowed five days either to establish their Escapes to innocence, or to quit the kingdom. Godwin, with his wife and three sons, fled for protection to the earl of Flanders; Harold and his brother Leofwin hastened to Bristol, embarked on board a vessel belonging to Sweyn, and with difficulty reached Ireland.* Flanders. During the residence of Godwin at the court of the earl of Flanders, he spent his time in arranging the means of revenge. A few days before Midsummer, he put to sea with a small squadron; while a powerful armament at Sandwich, under the earls Radulfh and Odda, watched all his motions. The outlaw was unconscious of his danger; but he escaped in a storm, and precipitately returned to his former retreat. The royal Chron. Sax. 163, 164. Chron. Lamb. ad ann. 1052. Lingard's England, vol. i. p. 305. |