Some history on the county of Lancashire

Lancashire

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"Lancashire, a county palatine and maritime shire, in the north-western part of England, extending between the rivers Mersey and Duddon. It is bounded on the N. by Cumberland and Westmoreland, N.E. and E. by Yorkshire, S. by Cheshire, and W. by the Irish Sea. It is divided into two parts by Morecambe Bay, of which the northern contains the district of Furness. Its total length is 87 miles, and breadth nearly 46. It comprises an area of 1,219,221 acres, or 1,905 square miles; of which 80,000 acres are shore.

Lancashire is in size the sixth county in England, and is now the most populous shire in the empire, its population being only exceeded by London. According to the census of 1861 it contains a population of 2,429,440, being a considerable increase to the population of 2,031,236 in 1851. Since the commencement of the present century it has more than trebled. This county was, at the dawn of English history, inhabited by a people called the Brigantes, the most powerful of all the tribes possessing the island. These people were subsequently subdued by Agricola, and Lancashire included in the province of Maxima Cæsariensis. For some time after the invasion of the Saxons this county retained its independence as a portion of the British state of Cumbria. In the 7th century part was reduced by the Angles under Egfrid, the son of Oswis, and added to the kingdom of Northumbria, but the whole county was not permanently brought into subjection before the reign of Edward the Elder, in 921. It was invaded by the Scots under Robert Bruce in 1323, who proceeded as far as Preston. It was here that the Earl of Lincoln landed with numerous German and Irish adherents to support the cause of Lambert Simnel, in the reign of Henry VII. When the "Pilgrimage of Graa" occurred in the reign of Henry VIII. the people of Lancashire revolted, but were subdued by the earls of Shrewsbury and Derby.

In the Civil War it played a prominent part; Preston and Lancaster were alternately occupied by the royalists and parliamentarians. In 1644 Lathom House was besieged; and in 1648 the royalists under the Duke of Hamilton were defeated by Cromwell on Ribbleton Moor. In the rebellion of 1715 the followers of the Pretender were forced to surrender at Preston. In 1745 this county was occupied by the forces of the Young Pretender. Lancashire forms two electoral divisions, viz: North Lancashire and South Lancashire, each returning two members to parliament. North Lancashire contains the hundreds of Lonsdale, Amounderness, Leyland, and Blackburn; and South Lancashire the hundreds of Salford and West Derby. It is in the northern circuit, and assizes are held at Lancaster for North Lancashire, and at Liverpool for South Lancashire. The county palatine of Lancaster is attached to the Duchy of Lancaster, which, by Act of Parliament in the first year of Edward IV., was vested in the said king and his heirs, to hold as a separate inheritance, but annexed to the crown, in which it is still vested.

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"Thomas Sherratt, of Bamfurlong, a leading Lancashire cyclist, winner of the Muratti Vase, has been killed by a fall of roof at Bryn Hall Collieries, Wigan."
"Cyclist Killed"
Western Daily Press : April 9th 1920 Page 2