Preston Guardian digest 1876-1890

The introduction and digest below were written by Henry Kirby. Errors may have crept in as the result of OCR processing from a poor quality photocopy of the original typescript.

INTRODUCTION

This list of articles and news items lays no claim to completeness. It simply records a collection of readings that have been of interest to the compiler. In the main, the readings concern the changing topographical scene in Preston, references to the town’s strong Free Church tradition, and its historic links with the Temperance and Teetotal Movement. It also includes items of interest that may not be conveniently found elsewhere.

The words ”(and subsequent)” following an item indicate that in the week, or weeks, following a certain date, other articles sometimes at length, on the same subject may be found. Occasionally, more than one reference may be found to a subject listed in any one week’s newspaper.

It must not be assumed that in every case proposed ventures (such as the Public Hall in 1844) necessarily came to fruition. It must also be noted that in a few cases (such as John Wesley’s connections with Bilsborrow, recorded in 1898) the information given may be inaccurate, or, at least, questionable. The reference given is that quoted in the newspaper and it may not always be correct.

The left hand column of dates are those of the newspaper and not the dates of the events described.

1876
January 1 State of progress at the new Railway Station; The condition of the Preston Fire Brigade
January 8 Article: “Preston Railway Station”
January 15 Proposed tramways in Preston
January 22 Proposed street improvements in Friargate and Marsh Lane; The Church of England Churches in Preston – the dates of their erections and costs contained in a House of Lords’ inquiry
January 26 Town Council approve the Parliamentary Bill authorising the construction of street tramways in Preston
February 9 Attempts being made to stage the Royal Agricultural Show in Preston in 1877 (and subsequent)
February 23 An “lndignation” meeting in connection with the building of the new Railway Station
February 26 Advert: Preston manufacturers propose to form a Carrying Association for the conveyance of cotton material and other goods to Manchester (it was hoped that the enterprise would “ultimately result in the formation of a system of tramways”); The work of the Preston Bible Women; A preposed Female Industrial Home for Preston – designed “to rescue women of ill fame in the town”; The Inaugural Meeting of the Preston Scientific Society on Thursday, 24th February, 1876
March 1 Depression in the cotton trade
March 11 Article: “Pollution of Rivers – The Ribble”
April 1 The new Railway Station
April 8 Erection in Charles Street of a temporary Station to be used during the railway alterations
April 12 Discovery of Roman sculpture at Ribchester
April 22 Advert: Opening of the Preston Skating Rink – described as “the largest covered rink in the north of England”, its entrance was from Charnley Street, opposite the Theatre Royal (and subsequent)
April 29 Advert: A proposed Preston Property Owners’ Association
May 6 The Royal Agricultural Society vote against Preston becoming the venue of its 1877 Show; First meeting of the newly formed Preston Property Owners’ and Agents’ Association on Thursday, 4th May, 1876 it was stated that a similar society, now lapsed, had been formed “some ten years ago”
May 10 Work commences on the new street between Cross Street and Fishergate; The first general meeting of the Preston Working Men’s Liberal Club, at the Shakespeare Inn, Strait Shambles, on Monday, 8th May, 1876; Advert: Opening of the Preston Naturalists’ Progressive Museum (of birds, birds’ eggs, animals, insects, etc.) in the late Liberal club rooms, Gin Bow Entry, on Friday, 19th May, 1876
May 13 The Customs Officials for the port of Preston vacate their offices in Charles Street (occupied for the previous 30 years or more) and move to new premises in Fishergate formerly known as the Albert Hotel
May 24 Depressing reports of the state of the cotton trade (and subsequent); Death, on Saturday, 20th May, 1876, and obituary of the Revd. Elias De la Roche Rendell, aged 72, since 1844 the minister of the New Jerusalem (“Swedenborgian”) Church, Avenham Road. He was a greatly respected lecturer on scientific, literary, and intellectual subjects. He was associated with the Mechanics’ Institution and for many years was a member of the Literary and Philosophical Institution
May 27 Proposed alterations in the plans for the new railway station Booking Office, etc., and other railway alterations on the Preston – Longridge line
May 31 Funeral sermons for the late Revd. E. D. Rendell
June 3 Formal Opening of the Charnley Street Skating Rink, on Friday, 2nd June, 1876
June 7 Death, on Thursday, 1st June, 1876, at the Mess Rooms, Starkie Street, and obituary of Sergeant John Brown, formerly of the 89th (Princess Victoria’s) Regiment. During the Crimean War, he was an orderly at Scutari Hospital, and in that capacity was frequently brought into immediate association with Florence Nightingale; The Lancashire Co-Operative Societies’ Conference held in Preston
June 24 Death, on Wednesday, 21st June, 1876, at the Avenue, Moor Park, and obituary of James Robinson, aged 69, Preston businessman, former Town Councillor, and a Circuit Steward of the Wesley Methodist Circuit; Proposed street improvements, particularly in Ribblesdale Place and East Cliff – utilising the land formerly used by the canal tramway; Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; Ice manufactory in Preston – at the premises of Mr. Hillidge, Fish Dealer, 72, Friargate; On the occasion of the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, there was no longer any surviving veterans of the battle residing in Preston. The last veteran named Farnworth, late of the 44th Regiment, had died on 1st November, 1875. Six surviving widows, however, received Mr. J. Cooper’s traditional annual allowance on production of their late husbands’ medals
July 5 Funeral sermon for the late Mr. James Robinson
July 19 In Preston on Sunday, 16th July, 1876, the thermometer registered 134 deg. F. in the sun, “the hottest day on record”; An impending crisis in the cotton trade (and subsequent); The formation of the Primitive Methodist Second Circuit in Preston
July 22 Proposed street improvements in Preston
August 5 Memorials of Richard Arkwright; Sketches in local history – Moses Holden, the Preston astronomer and Arthur Mainwaring, Esq., M.P. for Preston 1705-1710
August 16 Progress at the new Railway Station
August 19 Eminent Prestonians, including Joseph Livesey, attend the opening of Brierley’s Hydropathic Establishment, 27b, Church Street (opposite the Old Dog Inn) on Thursday, 17th August, 1876
August 23 Opening of Deepdale Mill Street Primitive Methodist Mission Room, on Sunday, 20th August, 1876; Collapse of old property in Bridge Street
August 26 Street and footpath improvements in Preston; The revival of Presbyterianism in Preston; The disappearance of a notable Preston building – Maxwell House, Fishergate, demolished in connection with the Railway Station works
August 30 The enlargement of Fulwood Barracks; The opening of a “Temperance Refuge”, connected with Bethesda Mission, in Cragg’s Row, on Monday, 28th August, 1876
September 13 A proposal to form a football club in connection with Preston North End Cricket Club; his Eminence Cardinal Manning, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, visits Preston and preaches in English Martyrs’ and St. Augustine’s Churches
September 16 The celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the consecration of St. Paul’s C. of E. Church
September 20 Proposed Preston-Blackpool, via Lytham, railway; A revival of the temperance cause amongst the Roman Catholics in Preston
September 23 Street improvements in Preston; Opening of Ellen Street Wesleyan Methodist Mission Room on Sunday, 17th September, 18&6; Proposed improvements in street gas lighting and the introduction of horse drinking troughs in Preston
September 27 The Health of Preston – a report by the Medical Officer of Health
September 30 Proposed new boardroom and offices for Fulwood (and subsequent)
September 30 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Preston Grammar School and its headmasters; Town Council consider street lighting improvements
October 7 The proposed tramway
October 21 Joseph Livesey presents horse drinking troughs to the town – the first was placed in Broadgate; Street and lighting improvements; Article: “The Crisis In The Cotton Trade”
October 25 A proposed school for the education of the deaf and dumb in Preston; The Borough Health Report indicates an improving pattern of health and cleanliness in Preston
October 28 The crisis in the cotton trade – this latest crisis was not connected with the actual state of trade, but was a bitter dispute between employers and operatives; The first Exhibition of Fancy Rabbits to be held in Preston (and subsequent); What may have been Preston North End’s first game of football – played under the Rugby code. They lost by 3 tries to 2
November 1 The crisis in the cotton trade
November 8 The celebration of the 160th Anniversary of Unitarianism in Preston
November 11 Sketches in local history Amateur Theatricals in Preston in 1773, and a Lancashire Armoury, being a catalogue of armorial bearings of main Lancashire families (and subsequent)
November 18 Death, on Tuesday, 14th November, 1876, and obituary of Robert Ashcroft, aged 71, Town Clerk of Preston 1852 – 1875; Smallpox in Preston
November 22 An editorial of tribute to the late Robert Ashcroft; A smallpox epidemic in Preston
November 25 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The old Hall, Bamber Bridge
November 25 The Railway works; The quality of gas in Preston; Queen Victoria passes through Preston-Railway Station; Street and bridge improvements in Preston; The proposed school for the deaf and dumb; A lecture by Charles Hardwick: “Ancient Battle Fields Of Lancashire”
November 29 Opening of the Harris Infectious Ward at the Royal Infirmary; Decrease of smallpox in Preston; The desirability of rendering the Preston Fire Brigade more efficient; Lecture in Preston: “Strikes And Lock-outs In The Cotton Trade”
December 2 A proposed “Town Hall” for Fulwood – to be erected on the site of the old toll house; The formation of the “Tithebarn Tavern Movement” – an association formed by working men in Preston in an endeavour to put a stop to bribery, personation, and corrupt practices in ward elections
December 6 Ribble Navigation – efforts to promote a new scheme
December 9 Details of a new Preston street – Guild Hall Street; The “Tithebarn Tavern Movement” becomes known as Trinity Ward Burgesses’ Association; Death on Saturday, 2nd December, 1876, and obituary of Sir Henry de Hoghton, Bart. aged 55, of Hoghton Tower and Walton Hall
December 13 The town’s Sanitary Committee recommends the appointment of a public analyst for Preston
December 16 A tour of Samlesbury Hall; Article: “The story of the Leyland Sand Formation – Relics of the ancient ice drift in Lancashire”
December 23 Steps being taken to rectify the impurity of the town’s gas; Improvements in the Preston Fire Brigade
December 23 (Second Sheet) Lecture at the Preston Scientific Society: “The Sediment of the Town’s Water, Microscopically Examined”

1877
January 3 Town Council confirm the appointment of an analyst for Preston and sell off land in Garstang Road for the proposed erection of an Orphan School
January 6 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Peter Newby, the Preston poet, and details of the Greaves family
January 10 Laying of the Foundation Stone at the Conservative Club, Guildhall Street, on Saturday, 6th January, 1877
January 13 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Preston New Theatre in 1801, and a review of John Porter’s “History Of The Fylde Of Lancashire”
January 24 The Opening of St. Paul’s “British Workman”, Pole Street, on Saturday, 20th January, 1877
January 27 Gentlemen connected with the Liberal Party in Preston purchase the salerooms of Watson & Son, Auctioneers, Fishergate, with a view to transforming the premises into a Liberal Club
January 27 (Second Sheet) Town Council appoint school attendance officers for Preston
February 3 Proposed new Reform Club in Preston; The first sale of American fresh meat in Preston; A tidal phenomenon in the Ribble – two rises and ebbs on the same tide
February 7 Rainfall in 1876 – local and national
February 10 Progress on the Preston – Southport Railway; The Liberal Party and the proposed Reform Club – a consolidation of effort
February 10 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The wife and daughter of General Sir John Burgoyne, a former M.P. for Preston
February 14 The agreed prospectus for the proposed Reform Club; Death at 51, Frenchwood Street, on Thursday, 8th February, 1877, and obituary of William Whitehead, aged 73, a prominent Wesleyan Methodist and Superintendent of Lune Street School for 29 years; Death, on Monday, 12th February, 1877, and obituary of the Revd. Canon John Owen Parr, M.A., aged 78, Vicar of Preston since 1840
February 17 Funeral of the late Vicar of Preston; Notes on the early Wesleyan Methodist Sunday Schools in Preston on the occasion of a fund raising effort to aid North Road Wesley Chapel’s new school
February 17 (Second Sheet) Memorials of an old Preston family, the Cranes, who had strong connections with early Presbyterianism in the town, and later with the introduction of Methodism (and subsequent)
February 21 Great demand for the supply of American beef in Preston; Funeral sermons for the late Vicar of Preston
March 3 The work of the Army Scripture Readers’ Society in Preston
March 3 Sketches in local history – William Sargent, an old Preston bookseller
March 7 A proposed Working Men’s Conservative Club in Preston
March 10 Death, on Wednesday, 7th March, 1877, and obituary and funeral of the Revd. Fr. William Cobb, S.J., aged 73, for many years the principal R.C. priest in Preston
March 17 Funeral sermons for the late Revd. Fr. Cobb
March 24 The Preston improved Silk-Loom – an important local invention; The Spa Baths; Ashton ratepayers seek the introduction of street lighting in their district
March 24 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Pew carvings in the old Preston Parish Church and more about William Sargent, the old Preston bookseller
March 28 Notices column – it was stated that Cockfighting in Preston was given up in 1830 when the Derby family left their residence in Church Street
April 4 Laying of the Foundation Stone at Bamber Bridge Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Saturday, 31st March, 1877
April 7 Enlargement of the Derby Memorial Schools and Chapel-of-Ease; Proposed enlarged accommodation at Freckleton Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
April 7 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Preston’s contribution to the National Defence Fund, 1798, Dr. William St. Clare, M.D., of Preston, and the Ridley family of Ribbleton; Article: “The Story of the Ribble” (and subsequent); A useful railway signalling device invented by a Preston man, Mr. Nathan Stocks of 14, Lord’s Walk
April 14 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Some verses of a Preston poet, c. 1790 – 1794; The chemical analysis of the waters of the district
April 18 A proposed new iron bridge across the Serpentine, Moor Park
April 18 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – An old Preston Inn – The Spread Eagle in Lune Street, and a Preston printed book, 1789, containing the history of the siege and destruction of the City of Jerusalem
April 28 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The ancient bell at Hoghton Tower, and the Kirkham monstrosity, 1654 (a macabre story of headless child with facial features in its chest); The Council consider the proposed widening of the North Union Bridge, the proposed new footbridge across the Serpentine, and the price and quality of Preston gas
May 5 Collapse of buildings in New Cock Yard; Street improvements in Old Vicarage, Bishopsgate, Tithebarn Street and Lancaster Road
May 5 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – William Walton,’ a Preston Mercer in 1388; Article: “Ribble Navigation – What Are Its Prospects?”; A description of the new Public Nursery and Pleasure Gardens, Farringdon Park
May 16 Appointment of the Revd. James Hamer Rawdon, M. A. as Vicar of Preston
May 19 Progress at the new Railway Station; Opening attractions connected with the Pleasure Gardens include a concert by the Regimental Band of The Grenadier Guards
May 23 Opening of the Public Nursery and Pleasure Gardens Farringdon Park, on Saturday, 19th May, 1877
May 30 Death on Sunday, 27th May, 1877, at Whinfield House, Ashton, and obituary of Edmund Robert Harris, aged 72
June 2 Funeral, at St, Andrew’s Church, Ashton, of-the late E. R. Harris
June 6 Speculation concerning the will of the late E R Harris, and funeral sermons preached in St. George’s and St Andrew’s Churches
June 9 The late E R Harris bequeaths the greater part of his enormous fortune to the town of Preston for the endowment of institutions of public utility; The celebration, in Preston, of the Episcopal Jubilee of Pope Pius IX
June 13 The Royal Horticultural Society announces that it proposes to hold a Great Provincial Show at Preston in 1878
June 23 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
June 27 Progress at the new Railway Station
June 30 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A biographical sketch of Roger Crane, 1758-1836, “the first Methodist possessing any social position in the town of Preston and regarded as a chief founder of Wesleyan Methodism in this .part of Lancashire”; Town Council discuss proposed alterations in Preston’s Parks
July 7 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history -.Memorials of Roger Crane’s sisters, and the marriage of Mary Crane to the Revd Michael Emmett of Preston. One of Michael Emmett’s nieces married John Toulmin, of Preston and became the mother of the proprietor of the “Preston Guardian”; A coach-journey through Lancashire 70 years ago
July 14 The lnduction of the Revd J. H Rawdon, M.A. as Vicar of Preston, on Thursday, 12th July, 1877
July 14 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A letter from Edward Baines, the historian, to Nicholas Grimshaw, Esq.
July 18 Heavy rains cause local flooding
July 28 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Ashtons and the Ashetons, and Joseph Livesey’s first temperance tract, c. 1828/29; Town Council discuss enlarged accommodation for the County Court and Offices
August 4 The United Free Gardeners make a presentation to Dr. Thomas Monk on his retirement after 7 years as Medical Officer to the Society
August 15 The depression in the cotton trade
August 18 Arrangements being made for the laying of the horse-drawn tramway in Preston; An impending wages dispute in the cotton trade
August 25 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
August 25 (Second Sheet) Public house and beerhouse licenses in Preston and petitions to the Magistrates against increases in their numbers (and subsequent)
August 29 (Notices Column) Pillar boxes in Preston – it was stated that they were erected in Preston in 1856, the first one being sited at the junction of Park Road and Church Street
September 1 Depressed conditions in the cotton trade
September 1 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Memorials of the Grimshaw family of Pendle Forest and Preston (and subsequent); Town Council discuss proposed changes in the administration of Dr. Shepherd’s Library
September 8 Ashton ratepayers press for street-lighting in their district; The health of the borough – a long report by the Medical Officer
September 12 A report of the sale, by auction, of the estates of the late E. R. Harris
September 15 The Registrarship of Births and Deaths in Preston
September 19 Henry Irving, the great Victorian tragedian and actor-manager, plays Hamlet at the Theatre Royal; Heavy rains cause local flooding
September 22 The reorganisation of Preston Choral Society; Collapse of old buildings in Holden Square and Carlisle Street; Details of the new buildings for the County Police being erected in Fishergate hill, close to the Railway Station
September 22 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A long biography of Nicholas Grimshaw, 1757 – 1838, eminent Prestonian and Mayor at the Guilds of 1802 and 1822
September 26 A lecture and demonstration in Preston on sound and the telephone
September 29 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The growth of Preston’s population, and details of a discourse on patriotism in Preston Parish Church in 1792; Article: “Preston Cattle Market”; Town Council raise the matter of a Free Library for Preston
October 6 The formation of a Ladies’ Committee to assist the cause of temperance in Preston; The Registrarship of Births and Deaths in Preston – new arrangements being made
October 6 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Members of Walton-le-Dale Mock Corporation, 1705 1796; Article: “The Free Library Movement In Preston”
October 10 (Notices column) “We believe that the last date on which a person was pilloried in Preston was 11th January, 1816”
October 13 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The death of Nicholas Grimshaw – it was stated that he collapsed and died at the top of Brockholes Brow, where the road descends to the Halfpenny Bridge over the Ribble, and the demise of a Burgage (lease) in Fishergate in 1701
October 20 The proposed Free Library; A long article containing details and statistics of the new Railway Station
October 20 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The ancient ballad of Thomas Hoghton; Crime in Preston – The annual report of the Chief Constable
October 27 Members of the 17th (Duke of Cambridge’s Own) Lancers, celebrate the anniversary of the Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaklava with a Ball at Fulwood Barracks; Proposed erection of a new church at St. Wilfrid’s
October 27 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Local controversial tracts, 1821-1824, and the Wall family of Preston; The Town Council and the Free Library Movement – the Corporation hold out hopes of obtaining a portion of the Harris Bequest
October 31 Details of the new Preston Reform Club, Fishergate – situated “exactly opposite the Post Office”; The Industrial Orphan Home and School advance their claims for a share of the Harris Bequest
November 3 Extracts from a lecture on the River Darwen
November 17 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The purchase deed of a building site in Churchgate, Preston, in l737
November 17 Proposed reduction of wages in the cotton trade
November 24 Improvements at the Grammar School
November 24 (Second Sheet) Lecture “What The Soils Of Preston Reveal”
November 28 The possibility of Dr. Thomas Monk’s connection with spiritualism
December 1 The Registrarships of Preston; Agitation in the cotton trade consequent upon the reduction of operatives’ wages
December 1 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Roger Dodworth, the 17th century local antiquary
December 5 (Notices Column) Notes on Richard Turner’s authorship of the word “teetotal”; The appointment of new Registrars for Preston
December 8 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; Gas lighting first introduced at Ashton and Walton-le-Dale
December 12 Celebration of the Jubilee of Croft Street Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School
December 15 The new County Police HQ and proposed new offices in Fishergate Hill for the County administrators
December 15 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Details of a tract printed in Preston in 1748 and described as “one of the earliest specimens of printing on a Preston press”
December 19 An exciting scene in Friargate witnesses declare that they had “seen a spirit” in one of the upper windows above the shop of Edward Foster, Druggist, 50, Friargate, and 1, Heatley Street; Corre5pondence from Edward Foster concerning the “Friargate spirit” and containing scriptural evidence supporting the existence of spirits; The first meeting of the Females’ Mission Band of Hope; The Parliamentary franchise in Preston
December 22 Details of the sale, by auction, of the collection of books of the late E. R Harris; The wages question in the cotton trade – an impending clash
December 22 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A Lancashire Armoury u Supplementary List
December 26 A report on offensive trades (chandling, grease making, tripe and trotter boiling, etc.) in Preston

1878
January 2 Town Council debate the Free Library question
January 5 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – An Index Of Subjects, 1874 – 1877 (and subsequent)
January 12 The proposed Free Library – the Corporation negotiate with the Harris Trustees
January 16 Death, on Tuesday, 15th January, 1878, and obituary of William Clemesha, aged 67, old established Preston tea merchant and a member of the Society of Friends
January 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Sale of a tenement in Churchgate, Preston, in 1768
January 26 Delay in progress at the Railway Station; Corporation proposes to purchase the library and museum from the Literary and Philosophical Institution; Collapse of old property in Marsh Lane
January 30 A Public Meeting in Preston agree to adopt the Free Library Act
February 2 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Revd. Christopher Sudell, Curate of Preston, c. 1696 – 1698; .A Public Meeting proposes the formation of a limited company to provide Coffee and Cocoa Taverns in Preston
February 9 Telephone experiments in Preston – at the Walker Street Gas Works, and between Walton-le-Dale and India Mill, New Hall Lane
February 13 Special services in Preston’s R.C. Churches on the occasion of the death of Pope Pius IX (and subsequent)
February 16 Progress at the Railway Station works; Death, on Wednesday, 13th February, 1878, at Avenham Road, and obituary of Thomas Duckett, aged 74, sculpture artist and architect
February 16 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Farewell Sermon by the Revd. E. M. Hall, Curate of Preston, 1826, and further notes concerning the Revd. Christopher Sudell
February 20 Proposed High School For Girls in Preston – property in Winckley Square purchased; The opening of the western portion of the West Lancashire (Preston – Southport) Railway on Tuesday, 19th February, 1878
February 23 The prospectus of the Preston Coffee Tavern Company Limited; The formation of the Preston Amateur Bicycle Club; The Free Library Committee consider proposals to lay before the Harris Trustees
February 23 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Local land-marks or extracts from “History Of The Roman Wall” by William Hulton, 1805
February 27 Proposed establishment of Day Nurseries in Preston
March 2 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the forthcoming visit of the Royal Horticultural Society to Preston, and the high rate of mortality in Preston; Preston Agricultural Society consider discontinuing their Annual Show, but decide in favour of holding it by a narrow majority
March 6 Preston Agricultural Society propose staging horse racing at their next Show
March 13 Progress at the new Railway Station
March 16 The progress towards the erection of a new Church (St. Matthew’s) in connection with St. Mary’s Church; Opening Services at the new Bamber Bridge Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Thursday, 14th March, 1878; The Preston Presbyterians purchase from Joseph Livesey, for £900, a site in St. Paul’s Square, for the erection of a new Church
March 20 Mr. Charles Fryer, Town Clerk of Preston, resigns his office; A proposed Free Reading-Room for Preston; Preston Agricultural Society reconsider their decision to hold a Show and now propose its postponement; The first celebration, in Preston, of St. Patrick’s Day
March 23 Impending labour troubles in the cotton trade; The introduction of ice-making machinery at Mr. Hillidge’s new premises in Friargate; A new armoury in course of erection at Fulwood Barracks; The Free Library movement in Preston
March 27 Street and gas lighting improvements in Preston; The prospectus of the Preston High School For Girls; The Preston Coffee Tavern Company; The Preston Working Men’s Conservative Club take up premises over Shorrock and Wood’s Shop, 152, Church Street, and in a nearby cottage formerly known as “Humphrey’s Clock”, Addison’s Yard
March 30 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Lancashire Jacobite rebels of 1715; Town Council agree to open a Public Reading Room and Library in the Town Hall, in the rooms previously occupied by the Exchange and Newsroom Committee
April 6 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Arms of Preston
April 10 The state of the shipbuilding trade in Preston; The crisis in the cotton trade
April 13 New ideas for the improvement of the Grammar School; Arrangements being made for the Royal Horticultural Society’s Show to be held in Preston
April 17 The crisis in the cotton trade – A public meeting of weavers
April 20 The bitter struggle in the cotton trade comes to a head with a strike by the Operatives (and subsequent)
April 27 Death of a “remarkable” Preston man in America, Mr. Peter Dobson, of Vernon, U.S.A., and formerly of Preston, where he was born in 1784. Mr. Dobson made an eminent name for himself in science and industry and will, according to the “Preston Guardian”, rank worthily in the lengthy list of Preston men who have made themselves famous
May 1 A description of the new Conservative Club, Guildhall Street
May 4 (also Second Sheet) Opening of the new Conservative Club
May 8 An impending “lock-out” in the cotton trade; Opening of the Conservative Working Men’s Club, on Saturday, 4th May, 1878
May 11 Commencement of the “lock-out” in the cotton trade
May 15 The Primitive Methodists obtain land in Fylde Road for the erection of a new chapel and school
May 18 Serious labour disturbances in Preston and the reading of the Riot Act in New Hall Lane; Proposed industrial refuge for women
May 18 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – An Old Jacobite song, written c.1689; The strike and “lock-out” – riotous outbreaks, and precautions being taken for public safety
May 22 The strike and “lock-out”; Relief for the distressed operatives; Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
May 25 A proposed new building for the Spa Bath, on a site fronting Strand Road, at the corner of Tweed Street; The cotton trade rioters face criminal proceedings (and subsequent)
June 8 Preparations being made for the Opening of Preston’s first Coffee Tavern, “The Queen’s”, 89, Friargate (Opposite Walker Street)
June 19 Death, at 72, Miles Street, of Thomas Bradley, aged 78, for over 60 years a lamplighter in Preston. He assisted in the lighting of the town’s old oil-lamps, and for a few years the Obelisk was in his charge. When he transferred to Fulwood he became the first to light the lamps in that suburb; Settlement Of the cotton trade dispute and the end Of the “lock-out”
June 22 Proposed widening of the Maudland Railway Bridge; Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; Town Council reconsider their policy in connection with the Spa Bath; Details Of the strike and “lock-out”
June 22 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Records Of the Royal Preston Volunteers, embodied in 1797 (and subsequent); Opening of Preston’s first Coffee Tavern, “The Queen’s”, 89, Friargate, on Wednesday, 19th June, 1878
June 26 Progress at the Railway Station works; Relief operations in Preston during the cotton trade dispute and “lock-out” (and subsequent)
July 3 The Opening of a school, in Glover Street, for the education of blind children in Preston; Progress at the new Railway Station
July 10 A summary of the cotton trade riots
July 13 Progress towards the erection of St. Matthew’s C. of E. Church
July 13 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Letter from the Hon. E. G. Stanley, M.P., to the Town Clerk of Preston, in 1828; The Royal Horticultural Society’s Provincial Show at Preston and details of its Opening on Wednesday, 10th July, 1878
July 17 Erection, in the Parish Church, of a marble tablet to the memory of Robert Ascroft,Town Clerk of Preston, 1852 – 1875
July 20 Details of some notable clock bells in Preston; Receipts at the Royal Horticultural Society’s Show below expectations
July 20 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The will of Dr. Richard Shepherd of Preston, in 1759, and the foundation of the Shepherd Library, and Prince Charles (“Bonnie Prince Charlie”) and the Scottish insurgents at Preston in 1745
July 24 Arrangements being made for work to commence on the new Preston Tramway; The establishment of a Free Library for Preston
July 27 Details of the ambitious church-building plans of the Presbyterian congregation
July 27 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Insurance of Preston Corporation property in 1795; The proposed purchase of a steam-roller for use in Preston’s streets; The butchers’ shops and slaughter houses in Preston
August 3 The proposed Day Nurseries in Preston – properties in Leeming Street secured
August 3 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Accounts of the Preston Churchwardens in 1683, and-John Taylor, the “Water Poet”, at Preston in 1618; The unhappy and insolvent closure of the Preston Exchange Newsroom
August 10 The Borough Parliamentary Register; New headquarters and offices for the County Police; The Preston Tramways Company issues its prospectus; The Industrial Home For Young Women
August 14 (Notices column) “The diameter of the dial of the Town Hall clock is 9ft 7 inch”
August 17 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history- An old Preston Play Bill, 1805
August 21 The discovery of animal skeletons in the Ribble, near the North Union Railway Bridge
August 24 Interesting experiments in Preston with the telephone; The application of the Working Men’s Fund towards the Free Library
August 24 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The progressive state of Preston in 1834, and prisoners in Preston House of Correction, in October, 1775; Controversy concerning the architectural design of St. James’s C. of E. Church
August 28 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
August 31 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Extracts from the “White Book” of Preston Corporation, 1608 – 1715; Editorial regarding the unsatisfactory health of Preston; Town Council discuss the delay in laying of the new tramway lines
September 7 Laying of the tramway lines commences in Lancaster Road; Completion of the Fishergate Bridge in connection with the new Railway Station; Opening of Preston’s first Day Nursery
September 11 Opening of the Preston High School For Girls on Tuesday, 10th September, 1878; Whitehead and Co., Preston steam pipe engineers, etc., win silver and bronze medals at the Paris Exhibition; Opening of the Presbyterian Church of England new Church, in St. Paul’s Square, on Sunday, 8th September, 1878
September 14 Horrockses Miller and Co., John Hawkins and Son, and Swainson Birley and C0,, all win prize medals at the Paris Exhibition
September 14 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Temperance orators in Preston in 1835, and Preston improvements in 1810
September 18 The Health of Preston – a report by the Medical Officer for Health
September 21 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Correspondence concerning the death of John Horrocks, M.P., in 1804
September 28 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Feud between the Corporation and the Grammar School, 1747 – 1764; Town Council discuss the widening of Maudland Railway Bridge and consider complaints regarding the laying of the new tramway; Article: “The Day Nursery Movement In Preston”
October 2 Plans being made for the new Free Library
October 9 The Ancient Order of Free Foresters propose to erect a new hall in Great Shaw Street, opposite Trinity Church
October 12 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Improvements on the Blackburn – Preston turnpike road in 1809; Preston North End play what could have been their first game of football “under the Association Rules”, and are beaten 1 – 0 by Eagley
October 16 Depressed conditions in the cotton trade
October 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The first fight at Preston during the Civil War
October 26 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A remarkable case of resuscitation at Preston in 1724, and the surrender, at Preston, of the Jacobite rebels in 1715; The Chief Constable’s report on the Criminal Statistics for Preston in 1877/78
October 30 A football match being played at Preston under electric flood lights
November 2 “Bleak and dreary” prospects for the cotton trade; A proposed new thoroughfare from Fleet Street to Fylde Road (and subsequent)
November 2 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – “The Quack Doctor”, an early Preston printed satire of 1750
November 6 Local businessmen petition the Town Council to consider the introduction of wood paving for Fishergate
November 9 The proposed Industrial Home For Fallen Women – Tulketh Cottage, Ashton, taken on lease
November 9 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Preston’s Parliamentary Elections, Addresses, Poll Books, Returns, Expenses and Accounts, etc. (and subsequent), and further notes concerning the “Quack Doctor” publication (and subsequent)
November 13 Death, on Monday, 11th November, 1878, at St. Paul’s Road, and obituary of Robert Arkwright (“Thirteen-lapped Bob”) aged 72, a well-known and colourful temperance advocate
November 20 Funeral of the late Robert Arkwright; The work of the Ladies Temperance Mission in Preston
November 23 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
November 23 (Second Sheet) The proposed extension of the Preston Tramways scheme
November 27 (Notices Column) “The first steam vessel launched on the Ribble was “The Enterprise”, 61 Tons, on 23rd May, 1834″
November 30 Lecture and experiments on the electric light
November 30 (Second Sheet) Details of the proposed Parliamentary Bill for the extension of the tramways; Opening of Preston’s second Coffee Tavern, “The Alexandra”, 81, Church Street, on Thursday, 28th November, 1878; Mr. H. M. Stanley, the explorer who discovered the African whereabouts of Dr. David Livingstone, lectures in Preston
December 4 An American temperance representative, lecturing in Preston, acknowledges Dicky Turner’s authorship of the word “teetotal”
December 14 Opening of the Industrial Home For Women on Wednesday, 11th December, 1878
December 21 Renovation of the Preston Theatre Royal 1879

1879
January 1 A bleak outlook for the cotton trade
January 4 Opening of the Preston Free Library and Reading Room in the Town Hall on Wednesday, 1st January, 1879
January 8 Details of Preston soldiers engaged in the Afghanistan War
January 11 Progress at the North Union Railway Bridge extension; Little encouragement for the cotton trade; Lecture and experiments on phonography and the telephone; Article: “The Distress In Preston”
January 15 A horse drawn tram-car, on test, first uses the lines on the Lancaster Road – Fulwood section of the tramway on Tuesday, 14th January, 1879
January 18 Distress in the town; Article: “The Cotton Trade In Preston”
January 18 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Useful biographical details of some old Preston families, including the Thompsons, the possible family of Martha Thompson Whitehead, the first Methodist in Preston (and subsequent)
January 25 (Second Sheet) A dispute concerning the Preston Grammar School and the use of the Guildhall Street area
February 1 The distress in the town – Opening of a soup dispensary
February 1 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The first election of councillors for Preston under the Municipal Corporation Act, and old folk in the Fylde in 1837; The proposed opening out of Hartington Road
February 5 Settlement of the Grammar School – Guildhall Street dispute
February 8 (Second Sheet) Rainfall in 1878 – local and national
February 12 Preston receives news of the disastrous British defeat at Isandhlwana (Zululand) and the subsequent heroic defence of Rorke’s Drift; Letters from Prestonians serving in the Afghan War
February 15 The Free Library Committee draw up an ambitious scheme for the building of a new Free Library, Museum and Art Gallery, on the eastern side of the Market Place, and present their proposals to the Harris Trustees; The alleviation of distress in Preston (and subsequent)
February 15 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Further notes about the Thompson family of Preston; A sanitary report on the condition of Fulwood
February 19 The Free Library and Museum scheme, together with proposals for major town centre improvements to the north and east of the Market Place
March 1 Formal opening of the Industrial Home For Women, on Thursday, 27th February, 1879; Town Council discuss the high mortality rate in Preston
March 5 Comparative statistics of the death rate in Preston and other Lancashire towns
March 8 Major street improvements in the region of Canal Street and Pottery Hill, and in the Strand Road area; Death, on Wednesday, 5th March, 1879, at Avenham Lane, and obituary of Henry Rigby, aged 69, an old corporate official, toll collector, and one of the town’s earliest police constables; Joseph Livesey celebrates his 85th birthday; Proposed wage cuts in the local cotton trade
March 8 (Second Sheet) The proposed development of the River Ribble
March 12 Details of the new Free Foresters’ Hall
March 19 The wages crisis in the cotton trade
March 22 Details of Cpl. N. Ball, 1/24th Regt., a Walton-le-Dale man who was killed in the disaster at Isandhlwana; Opening of the Preston Tramway on Thursday, 20th March, 1879; The strike of the cotton weavers in Preston (and subsequent); The first holding of the Fulwood Floral and Horticultural Show on Thursday, 20th March, 1879
March 26 Details of the Preston Tramways’ early success
March 29 Difficulties between the Tramway Company and Preston Corporation
March 29 (Second Sheet) Town Council consider the mortality rate and a possible extension of the tramway scheme
April 5 Details of Driver John Dale, 5th Brigade, R. A., another Prestonian who fell at Isandhlwana; A slight improvement in the cotton trade
April 5 (Second Sheet) The celebration of the Jubilee of the Institution For The Diffusion Of Knowledge
April 9 Preston Town Council and the tramways – a proposed transfer of ownership
April 12 The proposed new C. of E. Church (St. Matthew’s) Ribbleton
April 16 The health of Preston – criticism extracted from “The Lancet”
April 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Gornall family of Preston, and the origins and early activities of the Quakers in Preston
April 23 A proposed new Pavilion , at West Cliff, for Preston Cricket Club
April 26 More uncertainty in the cotton trade
April 26 (Second Sheet) Notes on the Free Library Movement in Preston, and details of Dr. Richard Shepherd’s endowment
April 30 An editorial considers the proposed site for the new Free Library building
May 3 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Details of sons old Preston families in 1690 (and subsequent); Town Council discuss formalities for the purchase of the site, east of the Market Place, to be used for the new Free Library building, and submit plans and proposals to the Harris Trustees
May 7 Details of the re-building of St. Wilfrid’s R. C. Church
May 10 (Notices column) “The first garden party in Preston was given by Miles Myers, Esq., then Mayor, on 15th August, 1872”
May 17 Letters from Preston soldiers engaged in the Afghan and Zulu wars
May 21 Opening of the Primitive Methodist “Iron Chapel”, Fylde Road, on Sunday, 18th May, 1879
May 24 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
May 31 Considerable progress at the new Railway Station
May 31 (Second Sheet) Town Council finally agree to sell off the land between East Cliff and Garden Street, formerly occupied by the old tramway lines
June 4 Opening of the Free Foresters’ Hall, Great Shaw Street, on Saturday, 31st May, 1879
June 7 The suggested purchase, by the Corporation of Preston Gas Company (and subsequent)
June 28 Depression remaining in the local cotton trade
June 28 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A description of Samlesbury Hall in 1830
July 5 Well-boring, to a depth of 251 feet, in Glovers’ Court
July 5 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Serjeant family of Walton-le-Dale and Preston (and subsequent)
July 9 Important alterations at Dr. Shepherd’s Library
July 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Compensation for houses in Preston burnt by the rebels in 1715
July 23 The winding-up of the Preston Nursery and Pleasure Gardens Company
July 26 Details of how Private R. Ambler, 2/21st (Royal Scots Fusiliers) Regt., of Preston, helped to carry the body of the Prince Imperial, son of Emperor Napoleon III and the Empress Eugenie, killed in the Zulu War
July 26 (Second Sheet) Lecture by Charles Hardwick: “The Site Of The Battle Of Brunanburh” – the lecture indicated some strong local connections
August 2 Town Council discuss the removal of Spa Brow
August 6 Escalating problems in the cotton trade; Opening of St. George’s Road U.M.F.C. School-Chapel, on Sunday, 3rd August, 1879
August 9 The resumption, after an interregnum of one year, of the Preston Agricultural Society’s Annual Show, on Friday, 8th, August, 1879
August 13 Death, on Monday, 11th August, 1879, at Cuerden Hall, of Robert Townley Parker, a former M.P. for Preston and Mayor at the Guild of 1862
August 16 Opening of the East Lancashire Railway Station Booking Office on Sunday, 10th August, 1879
August 20 Funeral of the late R. Townley Parker at St. Saviour’s Church, Bamber Bridge
August 30 A proposed gold mayoral chain for Preston’s chief officer
September 3 Lecture: “Sermons In Stones” or the geology of Preston
September 6 The closing, for burial purposes, of St. Andrew’s Churchyard, Ashton
September 10 The desirability of establishing a Roman Catholic Bishopric at Preston
September 17 Proposed opening of the Island Platform at the new Railway Station; Deteriorating prospects for the cotton trade
September 20 The proposed transfer of the local militia H.Q. from Stanley Street to Fulwood Barracks
September 24 Proposed grant from the Harris Trustees towards the new Free Library; Opening of several portions of the new Railway Station
September 27 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A Jacobite rhyme, with local reference, of 1715; Town Council discuss the Free Library scheme
October 1 An editorial considers the Free Library scheme and choice of the proposed site (and subsequent)
October 4 Details of the re-building of St. Wilfrid’s R.C. Churc
October 4 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Further details about the Jacobite rhyme of 1715 and its local associations; Town Council agree upon the compulsory purchase of the land required for the site of the new Free Library
October 11 The state of the cotton trade; Death, on Sunday, 5th October, 1879, and obituary of John Coward, hairdresser, of 140, Church Street, one of Preston’s oldest tradesmen. (Mr. Coward was tenant of a property, now occupied by part of the site of the Central Conservative Club, and which was later claimed to be the oldest barber’s shop in the country.)
October 15 Progress at the widening of the North Union Railway Bridge and other necessary improvements in Miller Park
October 18 A proposed emigration scheme for distressed Preston cotton trade operatives
October 22 Proposed extension of the borough boundaries; Death, on Tuesday, 2lst October, 1879, and obituary of Henry Sharples, a former Town Councillor and prominent Wesleyan Methodist; Proposed telephonic communication between the Union Office, Lancaster Road, and the Fulwood Workhouse. Reference was made to a demonstration wire having been fixed between the Town Hall and the Mechanics’ (Avenham) Institute. The transmitter (Crossley’s) was manufactured by Emmett of Halifax
November 1 A revised list of Parliamentary and Municipal voters in Preston; Town Council agree to approach the Harris Trustees regarding a proposed Orphan Industrial School, and consider the proposed extension, by the Corporation, of the tramway scheme
November 5 Fulwood opposes its incorporation into the new borough boundary; The local Board of Guardians vote against using the telephone between their office and the Workhouse
November 8 Re-opening, after considerable improvements, of Dr. Shepherd’s Library; Ashton and Ribbleton ratepayers hold Public Meetings to consider the proposed new boundary scheme
November 15 Favourable changes in the cotton trade; Proposed extension of the borough boundaries; Details of Preston’s application to Parliament for an Improvement Act
November 26 Mr. W. E. Gladstone pauses to make a speech whilst passing through Preston Railway Station on Monday, 24th November, 1879
November 29 Renewed optimism in the cotton trade
November 29 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the proposed Preston Improvement Bill
December 3 Increase of wages in the cotton trade
December 6 George Sharples, Electrician and Telegraph Engineer, of 7, Fishergate, advertises a telephonic communication service between warehouses, mills, mansions, stables, etc., in Preston; Death, on Thursday, 4th December, 1879, and obituary of Councillor William Sowerbutts, aged 72, cotton manufacturer, local philanthropist, and a Wesleyan Methodist
December 6 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The state of Preston in 1841
December 10 The Avenham Institution attempts to secure participation in the E. R. Harris benefaction; Funeral of the late William Sowerbutts; The proposed extension of Fulwood; W. E. Gladstone, returning south following his “Midlothian Campaign”, halts whilst passing through Preston Railway Station to receive an address from the local Liberal Party
December 13 Property owners and ratepayers discuss the Preston Improvement Bill
December 20 The proposed incorporation of Ribbleton into the borough boundary; The re-formation of the Preston Legulian (Junior Law Society) Association
December 27 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The growth of the Lancashire Cotton Trade in 1822
December 31 The Grammar School apply to the Harris Trustees for grant aid (and subsequent)

1880
January 7 The work of the Women’s Temperance Association in Preston
January 10 The extension of the borough; Proposed improvement in the navigation of the Ribble; Improvements in the state of the cotton trade
January 14 Ratepayers of Ribbleton decline to accept the Corporation’s incorporation terms
January 17 The “annexation” of Ashton to the borough of Preston
January 24 The Harris Trustees and the proposed new Industrial Orphan School
January 28 The Parliamentary progress of the Preston Improvement Bill; W. E. Gladstone pauses whilst passing through Preston Railway Station
January 31 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Local items in a Preston newspaper of 13th April, 1811; Rainfall in 1879 – local and national
February 7 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Assault and battery at Preston in 1340; Wages in the cotton trade
February 18 A doubtful future for the Preston Agricultural Society; Town Council discuss the proposed erection of a gymnasium in Moor Park
February 21 Cotton weavers agitate for increased wages (and subsequent); Completion of the first commercial telephone communication line in Preston from the Town Hall to the Borough Surveyor’s Office, Church Street, on Wednesday, 18th February, 1880; The proposed endowment of the Grammar School by the Harris Trustees
February 28 The scheme for an Industrial Orphan Home And School
February 28 (Second Sheet) The proposed improvement of the Ribble (and subsequent)
March 6 Progress at the new Railway Station and the widening of the North Union Bridge
March 17 Opening of the East Lancashire section of the new Railway Station on Sunday, 14th March, 1880
March 27 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Forrest family of Samlesbury, c. 1680
April 21 A report on the sanitary condition of Preston [Date out of order in original]
April 17 Preparations for the re-opening of St. Wilfrid’s R.C. Church; Death, on Tuesday, 13th April, 1880, and obituary of William Harding, aged 69, “one of the most successful livery stable proprietors of the north”
April 28 Opening on Saturday, 24th April, 1880, of a Circus and Hippodrome, capable of accommodating 3,000 patrons, in Butler Street; Re-opening, after extensive re-building, of St. Wilfrid’s R.C. Church, on Sunday, 25th April, 1880
May 1 Opening of a small, but interesting, Museum in rooms above Dr. Shepherd’s Library, Cross Street, on Saturday, 1st May, 1880
May 5 Dr. Thomas Monk, a former Mayor of Preston, convicted of forgery in 1858,and released from prison, on parole, in 1868, receives, by gracious pleasure of the Queen, a free pardon; A proposed station, on the London and North Western Railway, in the vicinity of Seymour Road, Fulwood (Seymour Road was that part of what is now Lytham Road between the railway bridge and Plungington Road
May 8 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Richard Whitehead, Esq., of Preston, d. 1794, details of early Lancashire histories, and an account of the plague at Preston, 1631
May 15 The proposed development of the Ribble; Preston North End Cricket And Football Club agree to join the Lancashire Association Football Union “and henceforth play their rules”
May 15 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Early inhabitants of Preston from the 13th to the 16th century
May 22 The North Western Railway Company reject the application for a station near to Seymour Road, Fulwood; Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
May 29 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Cases of local gibbet hangings
June 5 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Del-Birches family of Walton-le-Dale
June 12 Preston’s hopes of becoming at the head of a new R.C. Bishopric are ended by an official declaration of Church policy
June 12 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Lancashire Anti-Machinery riots in 1779
June 16 The Parliamentary “committee stage” of the Preston Improvement Bill
June 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A Preston soldier’s petition to the Duke of York in 1813
June 23 The celebration of the 25th Anniversary at Pole Street Baptist Chapel on Sunday, 20th June, 1880
June 26 The proposed alteration of the Preston Corn Exchange; Town Council hope to extend the scope of the new Cross Street Museum, and discuss the development of the Ribble
June 30 The Wesleyan Methodists celebrate the Robert Raikes Sunday Schools’ Centenary, in the Corn Exchange, on Sunday, 27th June, 1880. The report contains a long account of the development of Wesleyan Methodism in Preston
July 3 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Early Hoghton Charters (and subsequent)
July 3 Proposed railway extensions in the Preston area; Preston Cemetery: – A review of 25 years progress with details of burials over the period; A correspondent appeals for an Organ to be installed in the Town Hall
July 7 The Church of England Sunday Schools celebrate the Robert Raikes Centenary, in the Corn Exchange, on Sunday and Monday, 4th and 5th July, 1880. The report contains details of the development of the Church of England Sunday Schools in Preston
July 17 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – William Brownsword, Puritan minister at Preston, 1654-58; Details of the Railway Station extensions, now nearing completion (and subsequent)
July 21 The Preston Free Churches (excluding the Wesleyans) celebrate the Robert Raikes Centenary, in the Corn Exchange, on Sunday, 18th July, 1880. The account contains details of the development of Free Church Sunday Schools in Preston
July 31 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Local road accounts, 1787-1803; Article: “Walton Water Supply”; Progress on the building of the Preston – Southport Railway and details of the proposed station in Fishergate Hill
August 7 Town Council discuss the 1882 Guild Mayoralty and adopt Alderman Edmund Birley for the high office; Sale of the contents of the Preston Nursery and Pleasure Gardens
August 7 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Memories of Sir John Burgoyne, a former M.P. for Preston
August 25 The return of depressed conditions in the cotton trade
August 28 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The official returns of members of Parliament for Preston, 1295 – 1760; Town Council report the Royal Assent having been given to the Preston Improvement Bill and discuss the proposed alterations at the Corn Exchange; Town Council appoint a Committee to prepare arrangements for the celebration of the 1882 Guild Merchant
September 4 Proposed water supply for Fulwood
September 11 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The old “Saturday Night Club” in Preston
September 18 Proposed new Railway Hotel, overlooking Miller Park
September 25 Opening of a sick ward extension at St. Joseph’s R.C. Orphanage, Theatre Street, on Monday, 20th September, 1880
September 29 The extension of the Police Force, consequent upon the new borough boundaries
October 2 The proposed Railway Hotel and station works
October 2 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Prison economics at Preston in 1802-3; Town Council discuss the health of the town, and the possible alteration of the Guildhall floor to render it suitable for ballroom dancing (and subsequent)
October 13 The Penwortham water Supply; Advertised opening of Ashton-on-Ribble Baptist Wooden Chapel on Sunday, 17th October, 1880
October 16 A revision of the borough Voters’ List; Alteration of the Butler Street Circus and its transformation into the “Gaiety Temperance Theatre Of Varieties”
October 20 Laying of the Foundation Stone at St. Matthew’s Church of England Church, New Hall Lane, on Saturday, 16th October, 1880; The celebration of the Centenary (SIC) of Independency in Preston, on Sunday, 17th October, 1880. The report contains an account of the establishment, in 1772, and the subsequent progress of Independency in Preston. In connection with the centenary, the Revd. S.R. Antliff, minister at Cannon Street Congregational Church, publishes his “Independency In Preston”
October 23 Penwortham water supply (and subsequent)
October 23 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Lancashire Railroads in 1846, and an article: “Reminiscences Of The Old Railway System” including many local anecdotes; The-Chief Constable’s Annual Report of crime, etc., in Preston
October 30 Activities of the Preston Legulean Association
November 10 The re-appearance, in the locality, of Foot and Mouth disease
November 13 Preparations being made for the erection of the new Railway Hotel include the demolition of the house of the late Thomas German, Esq.
November 17 Heavy rains cause serious local flooding
November 20 Proposed alterations at the Corn Exchange and the Guildhall; New County Administration offices being erected in Fishergate Hill; Proposed new Railway Bridge, east of Penwortham Bridge, to carry the West Lancashire Railway
November 20 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Local township assessments in 1654 (and subsequent)
November 24 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
November 27 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Revd. William Seddon, Minister of Penwortham, 1650-60; Town Council discuss the proposed alteration of the Corn Exchange
December 1 Opening of a “British Workman Public House And Coffee Tavern”, associated with the Parish Church, in Syke Hill, on Saturday, 27th November, 1880
December 4 Correspondence concerning the necessity of a town organ
December 11 (Notices column) Historical notes concerning Preston Parish Church; Lecture in Preston: “The Storming Of Preston (during the Civil War) And The Blowing Up Of Hoghton Tower”
December 11 (Second Sheet) A Government Inquiry into infantile mortality at Preston
December 18 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Notes on the family of Sir John Otway, M.P. for Preston 1667-80
December 22 Proposals effecting the railway lines spanning the canal near Bridge Street, and alterations at Maudland Bridge to enable the Preston-Longridge Railway to extend into the Railway Station; The Corporation and Ribble navigation; Lord Randolph Churchill addresses a Conservative demonstration in Preston
December 24 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – An underground water supply for Walton-le-Dale (and subsequent); Article: “Lancashire In The Reign Of Queen Elizabeth”
December 29 An editorial considers the Corn Exchange alteration proposals

1881
January 1 Details of proposed alterations at the Corn Exchange
January 5 Town Council discuss the Corn Exchange proposals, and agree to the Corporation’s purchase of the Ribble Navigation Company
January 12 Possibilities of the Harris Bequest being used to assist the Avenham Institute and for the promotion of an Orphan House
January 19 The proposed new bridge for the West Lancashire Railway; A severe frost of “almost unexampled” proportions at Preston (and subsequent); A Public Meeting considers the re-formation of a Young Men’s Christian Association Branch in Preston
January 22 The proposed purchase by the Corporation of the Ribble Navigation Company
January 29 Death, on Thursday, 27th January, 1881, and obituary of Alderman J. J. Nyers, aged 69, Mayor of Preston in 1868 and 1873
January 29 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Town Council discuss the Ribble Navigation Company question; Rainfall – local and national, in 1880
February 2 Funeral of the late Alderman J. J. Myers
February 12 Extract from the “Textile Manufacturer”: “Weaving In Preston”; Re-formation of a Young Men’s Christian Association Branch in Preston
February 19 A Public Meeting debates the Ribble Navigation Scheme
February 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Civil War Major General Harris’s Despatch from Preston in 1651
February 23 Proposed alteration of the Guildhall floor
February 26 The Infirmary solicit grant aid from the Harris Bequest
February 26 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Town tolls of Preston and the abused privilege of exemption by Burgesses in 1726; Town Council and the Ribble question
March 2 The Corporation invite tenders for the construction of a major extension of the tramway system; H. C. Walton, auctioneers, advertise the sale of books, souvenirs and astronomical equipment formerly belonging to the late Moses Holden
March 5 A Government Inquiry into the Fulwood water scheme
March 12 Details of the sale of Moses Holden’s effects
March 16 The Sanitary condition of the Preston Union
March 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – “Ode To The Obelisk”
March 23 Proposed improvements on Moor, Avenham and Miller Parks, together with a proposal that the late Alderman Watson’s telescope and observatory be placed in the enclosure opposite Stephenson Terrace; Arrangements for the forthcoming Census (and subsequent)
March 26 Correspondence concerning the siting of the late Alderman Watson’s telescope
April 2 Extensions at the Post Office
April 6 Inaugural meeting of the re-formed Preston branch of the Young Men’s Christian Association on Monday, 4th April, 1881. It was stated that the branch would meet at 27, Guildhall Street
April 29 The financial difficulties of the Preston Agricultural Society; A Conference on the Fulwood water question (and subsequent); Preston Infirmary appeals again to the Harris Trustees; Article: “Weavers and Weaving In Preston”
April 16 George Sharples, Chemist, Electrician and local inventor, proposes to establish a Telephone Exchange at 7, Fishergate; The Harris Trustees negotiate with the Infirmary and the Free Library; The Preston Agricultural Society clears its indebtedness
April 16 (Second Sheet) The Fulwood water supply
April 20 Discovery of human bones at Fulwood; Census returns for the Preston Union and the Fylde
April 23 Details of the 1881 Census in Preston – the population was stated to be 96,525, an increase of 11,098 since the 1871 Census
April 27 The Lancashire Telephonic Exchange Ltd. take up premises at 200, Lancaster Road, and advertise the offer of telephone services in Preston; The Preston Conservative Club and the Working Men’s Conservative Club express their sorrow over the death of Benjamin Disraeli; Further details of the 1881 Census (and subsequent); The Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health
April 30 The scheme for the erection and endowment of the Harris Free Library and Museum
April 30 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the population and rate of mortality in Preston, the Free Library scheme, and the proposed telephone exchanges
May 4 Great competition commences between the rival telephone exchanges
May 7 Death, on Friday, 6th May, 1881, of Edward Hermon, M.P., one of the sitting members for Preston (and subsequent); A partnership history of the firm of Horrockses, Miller and Co.
May 14 The foundation of “Harris Scholarships” at the Grammar School; The Fulwood water scheme
May 14 (Second Sheet) Funeral of the late Edward Hermon, M.P.
May 21 The sewering of Ashton and Ribbleton
May 28 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A sketch of the Revd. T. Carter, a Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion Minister, who served at Preston in 1789 – 1795. Mr. Carter was the first minister to serve at the Fishergate Independent Chapel.
June 4 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Blackburn and Preston Markets in 1794
June 18 The Preston improvement scheme – compensation fixed for the value of Town Centre property requisitioned for the new Free Library
June 22 George Sharples offers his services in the supply of machinery and lamps for the production of electric lighting in factories, streets, shops, etc.; Completion of the water supply in Penwortham
June 25 The re-organisation of the Liberal Party in Preston; The alterations at the Corn Exchange; Demolition of the old property, east of the Market Place, in the preparation of the site for the new Free Library, in progress. It was stated that the demolition commenced on 10th May, 1881
June 25 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Carriage of goods from Preston in 1794; The Prince and Princess of Wales invited to attend the 1882 Guild Merchant Celebration and H.R.H. requested to lay the Foundation Stone of the new Free Library, Museum and Art Gallery
June 29 An account of the work and experience of Knowl Green Congregational Church, near Longridge
July 2 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A local legend of the Rebellion of 1715; Town Council discuss the alterations at the Corn Exchange (and subsequent)
July 6 Hospital wing extensions at the Workhouse (and subsequent)
July 9 The healthy state of the cotton trade in Preston
July 9 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Correspondence relating to the Preston Fight of 1715
July 13 Laying of the Foundation Stone at the new Hospital wing of the Workhouse on Tuesday, 12th July, 1881
July 16 (Second Sheet) Article: “The Telephone In Preston”
July 20 Article: “The Census”
July 23 The Corporation hire the Skating Rink, Charnley Street, for temporary use as a Corn and Dairy Produce Market during the alterations at the Corn Exchange
July 27 Ladies first admitted to Preston Swimming Baths
July 30 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The sale of Dr. Stapleton’s House, Friargate, in 1794
August 3 Heavy rains cause local flooding
August 6 Inauguration of the Preston Branch of the Anglo-Israel Association, at 21, Guildhall Street, on Tuesday, 2nd August, 1881; The Church of England Orphan Aid Society apply to the Harris Trustees for grant aid towards the building of a permanent institution in Preston
August 6 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Revd. Isaac Ambrose’s funeral sermon for Lady Margaret Hoghton, of Hoghton Tower, in 1657; Horrible tragedy in Preston: Ann Ratcliffe, aged 16, daughter of Alfred Ratcliffe, landlord of the Blue Bell Inn, Church Street, murdered by John Aspinall Simpson, of Meadow Street. The murder took place in the Sir Walter Scott Inn, North Road, on the morning of their intended marriage – Wednesday, 3rd August, 1881
August 20 A statement of the position of the cotton trade in Preston
August 20 (Second Sheet) Laying of the Foundation Stone at the new Walton-le-Dale Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Saturday, 13th August, 1881
August 24 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
August 27 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Celebrations over the coming of age of Lord Edward Smith Stanley (later the 13th Earl of Derby) at Preston, in April, 1796; Town Council receive the offer from Mr. John Dewhurst of a presentation organ for use in the new Public Hall
August 31 Heavy rains cause local flooding
September 3 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Dr. Kuerden’s account of the township and manor of Cuerden, written in 1690
September 7 Laying out and first lettings of the Frenchwood Amateur ‘Gardeners’ Allotments
September 10 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A Preston political “squib” of 1826
September 17 Formation of the Preston Harriers, a “Hare and Hounds” club, on Thursday, 15th September, 1881; Laying of the Foundation Stone at the new Much Hoole Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Thursday, 15th September, 1881
September 17 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Daniel Pulteney, a former M.P. for Preston, d. 1731, and the burning of John Horrocks’s factory in Preston in 1796
September 24 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – An interesting description of Preston written in 1787/8, and the account of the De Ribbleton family, Lords of Ribbleton; Early anecdotes of the-temperance movement in Preston contained in a lecture “Now And Then”, by Thomas Whittaker, one of the pioneers of English temperance
October 1 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the unacceptably high death rate in Preston, and debate the proposed purchase of the Ribble Navigation Company
October 5 The Avenham Institute hear of their promised participation in the Harris Bequest to the extent of £40,000
October 8 The Ribble Navigation Company decline the Corporation’s offer to purchase
October 12 Article: “The New County Offices”
October 15 A severe storm causes considerable local damage
October 15 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The house of the Grey Friars in Preston; Article: “A Night In The Preston Observatory”
October 22 Important mill extensions in the local cotton trade; The Fulwood water question
October 22 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Unlicensed ale-selling in Preston in the 17th century; The Chief Constable’s Annual Report on crime in Preston
October 26 Progress in the building of St. Matthew’s C. of E. Church, and the new Public Hall
October 29 Town Council discuss the Public Hall alterations, the quality of gas in Preston, the extension of the tramways, and agree to the abolishment of the Moor Park Skating Pond
November 2 The inauguration of an Agricultural Science Class in Preston on Saturday, 29th October, 1881
November 5 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Agreement between the public carriers of Preston, Lancaster and Manchester, in 1819; Proposed extension of St. Paul’s C. of E. Church with details of John Huntington’s benevolence towards
November 9 A local lecture: “The Civil War And Its Local Associations”; John Aspinal Simpson found guilty at Manchester Assizes of the murder of Anne Ratcliffe , is sentenced to death
November 12 Political speeches, delivered in the Charnley Street Skating Rink, are relayed by means of a transmitter, through the telephone system, to private subscribers of the Telephone Exchange; Proposed Debating Society for Preston
November 12 (Second Sheet) Alderman Edmund Birley formally elected as Guild Mayor of Preston
November 16 The sanitary condition of the town
November 19 Formation of the Preston Debating Society on Thursday, 17th November, 1881; A proposed new water scheme for Fulwood; Interviews with Simpson, the Preston murderer
November 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Sale of burgages, and of a hatter’s business, in Preston Market Place, in 1795, and “The Acts Of The Rebels” in 1745
November 23 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; The proposed scheme for the Fulwood water supply (and subsequent); The Guild Mayor’s state visit to the Parish Church
November 26 Details of the J.B. Hodgkinson presentation to the Cross Street Museum of a large and valuable collection of mounted and cased specimens of British birds; Proposed new Manchester and County Bank at 1/2, Fishergate, extending from the Old Legs of Man Inn to Main Sprit Weind; The approaching end of Simpson, the condemned Preston murderer; Proposed alterations at the Unitarian Chapel, Percy Street, “the oldest chapel in Preston”
November 26 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The rarest of the Stonyhurst manuscripts; Article: “The Old 47th Foot (Loyal North Lancashire Regiment) – Its History And Achievements”; The new Fulwood water scheme (and subsequent)
November 30 Execution of Simpson, the Preston murderer, on Monday, 28th November, 1881
December 3 A scheme for the improvement of Ribble navigation
December 3 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A threatening letter to a Preston clergyman, the Revd. Robert Oliver, vicar of St. George’s, in 1766; Article: “The Battle Of Preston in 1648”; Details of the alteration at the Unitarian Chapel
December 10 Electric lighting introduced at Horrockses, Miller and Company’s yard works; Opening of a library of standard temperance works, at the Temperance Hall, on Thursday, 8th December, 1881
December 14 Details of the “Prestonian”, a printing machine invented by Mr. Joseph Foster of Preston, and used in the production of the “Preston Guardian”
December 17 Progress at the new Public Hall
December 17 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Lines written on the occasion of the celebration of the 1722 Guild Merchant
December 24 Bye-laws for the regulation of omnibuses in Preston
December 31 A proposed grant of £90,000 from the Harris Trustees for the endowment of a new Orphanage. It was stated that an estate in Fulwood had been purchased for a new building
December 31 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the Public Hall alterations, and the extension of the tramway system

1882
January 7 Opening of a Cottage Temperance Mission at “the top end” of Brunswick Street; Death, at 8, Stephenson Terrace, on Thursday, 5th January, 1882, of Henry Bradley, aged 72, Mr. Bradley was an originator of the first Temperance Society in Preston, a former Registrar of Births, Marriages, and Deaths in Preston, and one of the founders of the local building society movement; Correspondence concerning the old houses in Preston Market Place, demolished in 1855
January 7 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – An Index Of Subjects 1878 – 1881 (and subsequent); Article extracted from “The Builder”: “Progress In Preston” containing useful descriptions of important building improvements in Preston; Death of Harrison Ainsworth, Lancashire novelist, and author of “Preston Fight; Or The Insurrection Of 1715”
January 11 Details of the proposed new Orphanage at Fulwood
January 14 Funeral of the late Henry Bradley
January 21 (Second Sheet) A Memorial Lecture to the late Henry Bradley, by Edward Grubb: “The Late Henry Bradley And The Old Temperance Pioneers”
February 4 (Second Sheet) Rainfall, local and national, in 1881
February 11 Lecture: “The Rise And Progress Of Oddfellowship In Preston And District” – It was stated that the Oddfellows first met in Preston in 1812 at the Windmill Inn, Moor Lane
March 4 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Preston Guild Merchant – Memorials of former Guilds; Opening of the new Walton-le-Dale Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Tuesday, 28th February, 1882; Lecture given in Whalley: “Early Methodism In And Around Whalley”
March 8 Notes on the local art works by C. E. Shaw
March 18 Details of the new Railway Hotel, overlooking Miller Park, now nearing completion; The late Charles Dickens and his associations with Preston
March 22 The draft scheme for the foundation and endowment of the Harris Institute
March 25 The Jubilee Tea Party of the Preston Temperance Society on Wednesday, 22nd March, 1882 – 50 years to the day since its-formation in 1832
March 29 The Avenham Institute adopt the Harris Trustees’ proposals and will henceforth be called “The Harris Institute”; The Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health For Preston
April 1 Progress on the construction of the West Lancashire (Preston-Southport) Railway; Details of the new Public Hall as work draws to a completion
April 1 (Second Sheet) Formal dissolution of the Avenham Institute; Town Council discuss the Public Hall alterations and the finances of the Deepdale Road Observatory
April 5 The Harris Trustees make grants to several local C. of E. Churches; The Parliamentary passage of the Fulwood Water Bill
April 8 Details of important alterations at St. Paul’s C. of E. Church; Progress on the West Lancashire Railway with details of its proposed link up with the East Lancashire Railway; Laying of the Foundation Stone at the extension schools of Moor Park Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Good Friday, 7th April, 1882; Opening of Much Hoole Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Good Friday, 7th April, 1882
April 15 Progress at the hospital extension to Fulwood Workhouse
April 19 James Hibbert instructed to submit plans for the Harris Free Library and Museum
April 22 Commencement of work on the tramways extension
April 22 (Second Sheet) Article: “New Public Buildings In Preston” – details of the new Manchester and County Bank and the County Offices
April 26 Telephonic communication established between Preston and Freckleton
April 29 School attendance in Preston
May 3 The resignation of Mr. Joseph Oglethorpe, the Chief Constable of Preston; The arrival, in Preston, of the Dewhurst presentation organ; Progress towards the completion of the West Lancs Railway
May 6 Progress on the tramways extension scheme; Horrockses, Miller and Co. propose an important extension of the cotton weaving power in Preston; The proposed restoration of St. George’s C. of E. Church, made possible by a grant of £3,000 from the Harris Trustees; Arrangements for the forthcoming Guild processions; The Parliamentary passage of the Fulwood Water Bill
May 6 (Second Sheet) Article: “Lancashire A Century Ago, A.D. 1782”
May 10 The Harris Trustees make a further grant of £10,000 for the endowment of the new Orphanage; Death, at Farington Lodge, on Saturday, 6th May, 1882,.of Councillor Edward Howarth, J.P., aged 38 [?], an eminent Wesleyan Methodist, and a former Steward of the Lune Street Circuit
May 13 Funeral of the late Councillor Edward Howarth
May 20 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; Progress at the new Public Hall; Progress of the arrangements for the forthcoming Guild; Railway extensions at Lostock Hall
May 24 An overhaul of the exterior of the Town Hall
May 27 Death, on Wednesday, 24th May, 1882, of Sir John Holker, a former M.P. for Preston
June 3 Article: “The Proposed Orphanage For Preston”
June 10 Captain F. L. G. Little appointed Chief Constable of Preston; Proposed mementoes of the 1882 Guild – the lithographed local sketches of Mr. C. E. Shaw
June 10 (Second Sheet) Pauperism in Lancashire
June 17 The formation of the Preston Association of Church Choirs on Friday, 9th June, 1882
June 21 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
June 24 The commencement of the Fulwood water scheme
June 28 The furnishing of the new Public Hall
July 1 The reprinting of the “Autobiography of Joseph Livesey”, first published in 1867/8; The Prince of Wales and Preston Guild – hopes held high that H.R.H. will visit Preston during the celebrations; Proposed local government for Longridge
July 1 (Second Sheet) Article: “Preston And The Temperance Reformation” – a long and interesting account of Preston’s contribution to temperance reform; Town Council discuss the finances of the Tramways
July 5 Cutting of the first sod at the new Fulwood Waterworks on Saturday, 1st July, 1882; Notices Col – It was stated that the first self-acting spinning mule in Preston was installed in Paley’s Heatley Street Mill in 1837, and that the man responsible for its fixing was stoned; Completion of the West Lancashire Railway Bridge across the Ribble; The 48th Annual Conference of the British Temperance League meets in Preston in honour of the local society’s Jubilee (and subsequent)
July 8 Discovery of an old well, in the Strait Shambles, close to where the Old Shakespeare Inn and The Swan With Two Necks stood; The draft programme for the 1882 Guild
July 8 (Second Sheet) Historical notes on the old Temperance Cockpit; Preston’s historic relationship with the national temperance movement related on the occasion of the local society’s Jubilee meeting, in the Skating Rink, Charnley Street, on Wednesday, 5th July, 1882
July 12 The Prince of Wales is unable to visit Preston during the Guild – instead, the Duke and Duchess of Albany indicate their willingness to attend; Queen Victoria invited to become a Patron of the Guild; Town Council agree to purchase a Mayoral Chain at a cost of £400
July 15 Advert: Sale, by auction, on 20th July, 1882, of the Storehouse, Militia Depot and Parade Ground, Stanley Street and New Hall Lane; Details of some of the medals being struck to commemorate the Guild; Progress towards the completion of the new Railway Hotel; Proposed new Railway Goods Warehouse, to be erected on the site of the Butler Street Circus; Wm. Dobson publishes “The Story Of Proud Preston”; Friendly Societies and tradesmen make their arrangements for the Guild
July 15 (Second Sheet) The dangerous state of Penwortham Bridge – a new structure proposed; Article: “Our Water Supply”
July 19 Progress with the Tramways’ extension; Article: “The Forthcoming Guild”; Town Council discuss the Guild arrangements and the purchase of a Mayoral Chain
July 22 The West Lancashire (Preston – Southport) Railway approaching ‘completion; The militia property and parade ground, Stanley Street and New hall Lane, offered for sale by auction, fails to reach its reserve price; St. Peter’s Temperance Society propose to raise subscriptions for the erection of a Marble Font, in St. Peter’s Church, in memory of Richard Turner, the author of the word “Teetotal”. It was stated that during the recent Temperance Jubilee, visitors to Preston had pilgrimaged to Turner’s grave in St. Peter’s Churchyard and it was thought that something in the nature of the proposed memorial was due to him. (Richard Turner died in 1846 ); The arrangements for the Guild
July 22 (Second Sheet) Article: “Thomas Swinburn” – Mr. Swinburn, a railway engineer, was responsible for many important innovations on the Preston – Walton Summit Canal Tramway during his management there in 1838/42; The Revd. Charles Garrett, a Wesleyan Methodist Minister who served at Preston in 1860/63, elected President of the Wesleyan Methodist Conference
July 26 Article: “The Guild Celebrations”, which includes a description of the Dewhurst Presentation Organ at the Public Hall
July 29 A trial running on the new Tramways’ extension on Friday, 28th July, 1882; Death, on Tuesday, 25th July, 1882, at St. Thomas’s Road, of Edward Brown, aged 54, a life teetotaller; Article: “The Guild Preparations”
August 2 Re-opening, after enlargement, of Moor Park Wesleyan Methodist School, on Sunday, 30th July, 1882
August 5 Arrangements for the Guild (This item of news now becomes a feature of every newspaper until the celebration of the Guild Merchant)
August 5 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Recorders of Preston, and the Town Clerks and Guild Clerks of Preston; A Bibliography of Preston Guild
August 12 Details of the recent enlargements at Moor Park Wesleyan Methodist School; Urgent repairs needed to St. Walburge’s Church Spire
August 16 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Longevity and Preston Guild (and subsequent), a song of the 1842 Guild, and a letter by an old Prestonian on the 1802 Guild
August 16 Details of Harding and Co’s new tram cars
August 19 The lithography of local views by C. E. Shaw
August 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Sketches and anecdotes of early Preston Guilds (and subsequent)
August 23 First public proclamation of the Guild on Saturday, 19th August, 1882; A description of the new Railway Hotel
August 26 Trial trips on the new tramway; Work commences at the new Wesleyan Methodist Chapel at Ashton; An exhibition of electric flood-lighting outside George Sharples’ Shop, Opposite the Town Hall
August 30 An editorial previews the forthcoming Guild; The reported abandonment of the visit of the Duke of Albany to Preston Guild; Second public proclamation of the Guild on Saturday, 26th August, 1882; Final arrangements for the Guild; Re-Opening of St. Paul’s C. of E. Church following major alterations, and first use of the John Huntington Baptismal Font, on Sunday, 27th August, 1882
September 2 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; H.R.H. The Duke of Cambridge expresses a willingness to visit Preston during the Guild; The Duke of Albany formally apologies for the fact that “a slight indisposition” prevents his attendance at the Guild; Final programme of the Guild events; A Congratulatory Address presented to Joseph Livesey on Friday, 1st,September, 1882, on the 50th Anniversary of the signing of the Total Abstinence Pledge by “The Seven Men of Preston”
September 6 Laying of the Corner Stones at Ashton Wesleyan Methodist. hapel on Saturday, 2nd September, 1885; A long editorial on the subject and history of the Preston Guild Merchant; The third and final proclamation of the Guild on Saturday, 2nd September, 1882; A description of the decorations and illuminations in Preston; Details of Guild events: The State Visit to the Parish Church, Special Services in the R. C. Churches, The Opening of the Guild Court, The Procession of the Protestant Sunday Schools, The Opening of the Dewhurst Presentation Organ in the Public Hall, The Balloon Ascent from Avenham Park, The “Demonstration of the Friendly Societies, The arrival of H. R. H. The Duke of Cambridge, The Freemasons’ Procession, The Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Harris Free Library, Art Gallery and Museum, – The Tree Planting Ceremony in Avenham Park, The Royal Lancashire Agricultural Show, The Guild Ball and The Firework Display
September 9 A description of the Harris Free Library, Art Gallery and Museum, extracted from “The Builder”; Details of Guild events: The Costume Ball, The Departure of H. R. H. The Duke of Cambridge, Procession of the R.C. Guilds, The Friendly Societies’ Banquet, The Procession of the Temperance Societies, The Reception by the Mayor and Mayoress, and The Athletic Festival
September 9 (Second Sheet) A complete resume of the Guild events including an account of the Allied Trades’ Processions, and details of a presentation made to Cardinal Manning, the R. C. Archbishop of Westminster
September 13 Article: “As Others See Us” – extracts from the provincial press on the subject of Preston Guild; The Closing, by adjournment for 20 years, of the Guild Court; The Guild Torchlight Procession, and a description of minor events
September 16 Opening of the West Lancs (Preston – Southport) Railway on Friday, 15th September, 1882
September 16 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Market regulations of Preston ninety years ago, the petition of contables at the 1842Guild, a letter by Samuel Horrocks, Esq., M.P. for Preston, written in 1812 to Nicholas Grimshaw, and Chantries in Preston, their incumbents, endowments, and tenants, in 1546; Article: “The Guild – Reminiscences And Old Inhabitants” – mention is made of Joseph Livesey and John King, two of the “Seven Men Of Preston”, and Mrs. Eliza Heaton, Mrs. Mary Ann Slater and Mr. William Smith, surviving grand-children of Martha (Thompson) Whitehead, the first Methodist in Preston (and subsequent); The staple trade of the town; Opening of the Lancashire County Hall, Fishergate, on Thursday, 14th September, 1882
September 20 Biographical details given of John Huntington, of Preston and Cleveland, U.S.A., on the occasion of him attending a celebrity dinner, in Preston, on Monday, 18th September, 1882
September 23 The Town Council thank Queen Victoria for her patronage of the Guild and present her with a Guild Medal; The Chief Constable gives his report of the police and Guild arrangements
September 23 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The economic statistics of Preston in 1794/5, and the Clitheroe branch of the Harris family; A presentation made to Mr. Joseph Oglethorpe, late Chief Constable of Preston
September 30 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Thurston De Holland, Rector of Preston in 1337, Preston poems, Friendly Societies in Preston in 1795, and the state of Preston prisons, the Old Friary in 1776 and The House of Correction in 1818; Town Council try again to purchase the Ribble Navigation Co.’s undertaking
October 11 (Notices Column) Details of the clock bells in the Town Hall Tower; Corn Merchants and farmers discuss their new situation at the Public Hall
October 14 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Dr. Edward Baynard, a Preston physician of the 17th century, and his daughter, Ann Baynard
October 21 Town Council discuss the re-lighting of the Fishergate Baptist Chapel Clock; New arrangements made for the market traders at the new Public Hall.
October 21 (Second Sheet) The Chief Constable’s Annual Report on crime in the Borough
October 28 (Second Sheet) The Gospel Temperance and Blue Ribbon Movement inaugurate a series of meetings in Preston on Wednesday, 25th October, 1882; Queen Victoria acknowledges receipt of the Guild Medal presented to her by the Preston Town Council; Town Council discuss, once more, the Corporation’s proposed purchase of the Ribble Navigation Co.’s undertaking
November 1 Dr. Barnardo, the founder of the Orphanages bearing his name, lectures in Preston on Friday, 27th October, 1882
November 4 Agreement almost reached regarding the Corporation’s proposed purchase of the Ribble Navigation Company (and subsequent)
November 4 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Correspondence concerning the Revd. Obadiah Holmes, born at Preston, in 1606; Biographical details of Mrs. Sinkinson, aged 83, “the oldest Wesleyan in the town”
November 15 Death, on Sunday, 12th November, 1882, at 46, Miles Street, of James Edwards, aged 52, a Methodist local preacher; Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; The success of the mission inaugurated by the Blue Ribbon Temperance Mission (and subsequent)
November 25 The Chief Constable’s Annual Report; Details of the John Huntington Presentation Baptistery at St. Paul’s Church
November 29 The state of the National Schools in Preston
December 2 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The official return of the Preston Election of 1640, and Royal Lancashire Volunteers at Preston in November, 1794; Presentation to the Free Library of a portrait of the Revd. Roger Carus Wilson, vicar of Preston 1817/39
December 13 Death, on Sunday, 10th December, 1882, and obituary of Peter Pomfrett, aged 70, of St. Thomas’s Read, an old Preston political personality; The Preston Gymnastic and Athletic Society take up new premises in the old Conservative Club, Lancaster Road; The Ribble Navigation scheme – the report of Sir John Goode (This ambitious scheme introduces proposals for diverting the course of the Ribble and the construction of a new Dock)
December 16 Local ratepayers discuss the Corporation’s proposed purchase of the Ribble Navigation Company
December 16 (Second Sheet) Town Council agree to apply to Parliament for the introduction of the Ribble Navigation Bill
December 20 Details of the new Manchester and County Bank (now National Westminster Bank, 1, Fishergate,) in course of completion; Details of a local lecture: “Henry Hunt, the Radical M.P. for Preston”
December 27 Details of improvements on the Tramways system and the running of the first tramcar to Ashton on Saturday, 23rd December, 1882
December 30 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the final cost of the new Public Hall

1883
January 3 Further reference to the old well discovered after demolishing the Strait Shambles
January 6 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Preston Quay in 1795
January 10 The use of the telephone on the East Lancashire Railway
January 13 The Brunswick Street Temperance Mission Opened by the British Women’s Temperance Association as a mission room for women
January 17 Progress in the building of St. Matthew’s C. of E. Church
January 24 A proposed re-organisation of the Conservative Party in Preston; Death, on Saturday, 20th January, 1883, at Tithebarn Street, and obituary of Henry Marriott, aged 62, the Superintendent of the Preston Fire Brigade
January 27 Sudden death, on Thursday, 25th January, 1883, at Red Scar House, Ribbleton, and obituary of Colonel William Assheton Cross, aged 65
January 27 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the management of the Deepdale Road Observatory, and an ambitious proposal to bridge the Ribble at, or near, Preston Marsh to facilitate the construction of a direct Blackpool – Southport Railway
January 31 A severe storm causes local loss to life and property
February 3 Opening of a new Gymnasium at the Rife Barracks on Thursday, 1st February, 1883; Funeral of the late Col. W. A. Cross; Extensions at Swainson, Birley’s “Big Factory”, Fishwick (and subsequent)
February 3 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A Preston printed book of Tables, 1779, and extracts from the Journal of Christopher Hopper, Methodist preacher in Lancashire, 1780- 1802; Rainfall, local and national, in 1882
February 7 The Conservative Party re-organisation in Preston (and subsequent)
February 10 Opening of a Branch Telegraph Office at Mr. Patterson’s, 49, Ribbleton Lane, on Wednesday, 7th February, 1883
February 10 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The local scarcity of English copper coins in 1795, and the use of provincial tokens
February 17 The Corporation re-purchase the land on the east of Garstang Road, sold by them some years ago for the proposed erection of an Orphan House
February 17 (Second Sheet) The introduction of a scheme for the foundation of scholarships at the Harris Institute
February 21 Concern over the lack of success of the Preston Coffee Tavern Company
February 24 The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) promote their cause in Preston at a Mission held in the Temperance Hall
February 24 (Second Sheet) Article: “The Ribble Valley – Its Trade And Resources”; Town Council discuss improvements at the entrances of Avenham and Miller Parks
February 28 The connection between the East Lancashire and West Lancashire Railways, south of Preston, almost complete
March 3 Sir John Coode, the engineer retained by the Corporation to advise on the Ribble navigation scheme, inspects the river; The Ribble Navigation Company formally agree to sell their interest to Preston Corporation for the sum of £72,500; An alternative scheme for the proposed new docks at Preston
March 3 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Preston electioneering 115 years ago – an account of the Parliamentary contest of 1768 (and subsequent); Article: “The Ribble Valley – Its Development, Trade and Resources” (and subsequent – a long and interesting article about the development and progress of the principal trades and manufacturing industries in Preston)
March 7 East Lancashire towns support the proposed new Ribble navigation scheme
March 10 Trial use of the new West Lancashire Railway branch line between Preston and Preston Junction
March 10 (Second Sheet) Statistics of the cotton trade in Preston
March 3 The fruitful results of the Blue Ribbon Gospel Temperance Mission in Preston
March 17 Death, on Wednesday, 14th March, 1883, and obituary of Peter Pilkington, aged 80, a popular Preston businessman and well-known local amateur theatrical; Proposed use of the Central Railway Station by the Preston – Longridge Railway
March 17 (Second Sheet) Article: “Preston And The Iron Industries” (and subsequent)
March 21 The renovation of the interior of the Harris Institute; The Ribble Bill in Parliament
March 24 A description of the new Ashton Wesleyan Methodist Chapel; A long report by the Medical Officer of Health for Preston regarding the death-rate, disease and sanitation, etc. in. the town
March 24 (Second Sheet) Interesting biographical sketches of well-known Preston iron founders and details of their foundries, with particular reference to the old Canal Foundry which formerly stood on the site of the old Monastery of the Grey Friars, off Marsh Lane (and subsequent)
March 31 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Local popular customs at Easter and Whitsuntide in 1785, and details of Lady Mary Bedingfield of the Benedictine Convent, Preston; Town Council discuss the proposed purchase of land, belonging to the old Workhouse, near to the Infirmary; Opening of Ashton Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Wednesday, 28th March, 1883
April 4 The Parliamentary Committee stage of the Ribble Bill, with details of the history of the development of the Ribble (and subsequent)
April 11 The serious indisposition of the Revd. John Guttridge, a popular former minister of Orchard Chapel
April 14 Proposed new C. of E. Church (St. Mary Magdalene’s), at Ribbleton
April 14 (Second Sheet) Details of temperance activities in Preston during the Jubilee year (1882/83) of the local society
April 18 Opening of the West Lancashire Railway’s direct line to Blackburn, on Monday, 16th April, 1883; Details of early nonconformity in Preston related on the occasion of Fishergate Baptist Church celebrating the Centenary, on Sunday, 15th April, 1883, of the opening of Leeming Street Chapel in 1783
April 21 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Revd. Randal Andrews, Vicar of Preston, 1743/82 and details of a search warrant for Preston under the Impress Act, 1795; Article: “Preston Shipbuilding” – details of shipbuilding and shipbuilders in Preston; Details of proposed Sunday School extensions at Pole Street Baptist Church; A Hippodrome, Circus and Menagerie advertises its Operation on the site of the new Free Library and Museum
April 25 Details of the “filling in” of the southern arches of the East Lancashire Railway viaduct to increase the stability of the structure
April 28 (Second Sheet) Article: “Preston – Coal And Corn” – details of local Operators and their undertakings; Town Council ‘discuss the Ribble Navigation Bill, now passing through Parliament
May 2 Death, on Saturday, 28th April, 1883, at Southport, and obituary of Thomas Powell, aged 68, an ex-Alderman of Preston and founder of the firm of “Powell’s Biscuits”; Article: “The Fulwood Waterworks” – it was stated that on Tuesday, 1st May, 1883, the Fulwood Local Board first commenced the supply of water to residents in the township
May 5 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Letters from Edward Baines, the Lancashire historian, to Peter Whittle, the Preston writer and newspaper proprietor, in 1820 and 1835; Interesting details concerning rateable values, populations, acreages, public works, etc.-in Preston
May 5 The Corn Trade in Preston – additional notes to supplement the article of 28th April, 1883; The erection of “a handsome” covered stand, capable of holding 600 spectators, at Preston North End’s Deepdale Football Ground; Funeral of the late Thomas Powell
May 9 Final approval of the plans prepared for the Harris Free Library and Museum
May 12 (Second Sheet) Article: “Trade And Resources Of Walton, Leyland, Chorley, Longridge and Kirkham”
May 16 Death, on Tuesday, 15th Hay, 1883, and obituary of Edmund Harrison, aged 83, “the oldest solicitor in Preston”. It was stated that Mr. Harrison was the owner of an old oak chair in which, it was said, King James I sat when he knighted the sirloin of beef, on his visit to Hoghton Tower in 1617; The proposed amalgamation of the Preston and Fulwood Floral and Horticultural Societies
May 19 Advert: The offer for sale, by auction, on Thursday, 2lst June, 1883, of Samlesbury Hall; Details of the gift to the Museum, made by Dr. Brown, of Winckley Square, of a handsome collection of ancient and modern coins, medals and tokens
May 19 (Second Sheet) Correspondence and full details with accompanying maps of the proposed alternative schemes for the new Docks, by John J. Myres; Sketches in local history – Preston patriotism in 1792
May 26 The extending reputation of Mr. T. Wade, the Preston artist and painter of several local views; The opening, on Thursday, 24th Hay, 1883, of a Home and Free Registry For The Care of Friendless Girls at 20, Cannon Street
May 26 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A Preston assault case at the election in 1796, and a satire on Preston Corporation by L. O. Shaw, a Burnley poet, in 1815
May 30 A proposed new bridge across the Ribble at Broadgate; The formal amalgamation of the Fulwood and Preston Floral and Horticultural Societies
June 2 The proposed extension of the Midland Railway to link up the Burnley district with Preston and, subsequently, to join the new Dock, via the West Lancashire Railway’s proposed schemes (and subsequent)
June 2 (Second Sheet) The restoration of Hoghton Tower
June 6 Interesting discovery of old human bones and interesting relics beneath the Red Lion Hotel, Church Street
June 8 Details of interior alterations at St. Augustine’s R.C. Church; Death and obituary of John Catterall, aged 66, a former mayor of Preston; Details of the sale, by auction, of the interesting effects of the late Mr. Edmund Harrison; Anticipation of the early erection of the new Harris Orphanage; Details of Dr.Brown’s presentation of coins, etc., to the Cross Street Museum
June 13 Parliamentary progress of the Ribble Bill
June 16 The Ribble Bill in the House of Lords
June 23 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; Death, on Thursday, 21st June, 1883, and obituary of Councillor John Gudgeon, aged 79, an eminent Prestonian, and Wesleyan Methodist; Samlesbury Hall, offered for sale by auction, fails to reach its reserve price
June 23 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A memoir of John Wood, Esq., M.P. for Preston 1826/32
June 30 Details of major alterations to the interior of St. Augustine’s R.C. Church
June 30 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the Ribble Bill
July 7 (Second Sheet) The Ribble Bill in its final stages of Parliamentary passage
July 14 Presentation to the Cross Street Museum, by the trustees of the late Edmund Harrison, of some interesting medals of local and national interest
July 18 Extensive structural alterations-at the Harris Institute
July 21 Efforts being made to-stage the-Royal Agricultural Show at Preston in 1885; Proposed new bridge over the Ribble at Broadgate; Death, on Tuesday, 17th July, 1883, and obituary of Joseph Cooper, a local coal merchant, and eminent Wesleyan Methodist
July 21 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The fate of the Scottish prisoners taken at the Battle of Preston in 1648
July 25 Sanitary precautions in Preston; Consecration and opening of St. Matthews’s C. of E. Church on Monday, 23rd July, 1885
August 1 Details of the new school to be erected at Pole Street Baptist Church
August 4 Extensive renovations proposed at St. Mary’s C. of E. Church; The Harris Institute seeks further grant aid from the E. R. Harris Trustees
August 4 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A letter to Peter Whittle, the Preston historian, respecting the visit of King James I to Hoghton Tower
August 8 Advert: Anti-cholera regulations issued at Preston
August 11 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Jesuits at Stonyhurst and Catholics at Preston in 1816/17, and Daniel Noble, M.D., a medical author and native of Preston
August 15 Laying of the Memorial Stones at Pole Street Baptist Chapel School extension on Saturday, 11th August, 1883
August 18 Demolition of Market Place property still in progress in preparation of the site for the erection of the Harris Free Library and Museum; Proposed alterations at the Parish Church, including the erection of a new vestry and organ chamber
August 18 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Preston lamplighters’ address, Christmas, 1823, and a footrace on Fulwood Moor in 1796; An account of the visit of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society to many of the historic sites in Preston and the immediate neighbourhood; Church leaders vigorously oppose the increase of liquor licences being applied for in Preston
August 25 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; Correspondence concerning the new Dock scheme at Preston
August 29 Barry Sullivan, the eminent tragedian, plays “Hamlet”, “Richelieu” and “Richard III” at the Theatre Royal (and subsequent); The proposed visit of the Royal Agricultural Society’s Show to Preston in 1885
September 1 Town Council discuss the proposed erection of the Harris Free Library and Museum (12 months after the laying of the Foundation Stone)
September 1 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The experiences of Robert Costerdine (1726-1812), an early Methodist preacher – the account contains details of his local associations; Details of the first Exhibition, on Wednesday, 29th August, 1883, of the newly formed Preston and Fulwood Horticultural Society
September 5 Brutal murder in Preston – Patrick McGinty killed in Lawson Street, on Monday 3rd September, 1883, by fellow Irishman, Anthony Henry, who subsequently evaded arrest
September 8 Police seek Anthony Henry, the Lawson Street murderer
September 12 A reward of £100 offered for information leading to the whereabouts and capture of Anthony Henry
September 15 Growing agitation in the cotton trade over a proposed reduction in operatives’ wages (and subsequent); Proposed new Wesleyan Methodist Chapel and School at Freckleton; The Lawson Street murder – discovery of the murder weapon and comments on the whereabouts of Anthony Henry; Support being canvassed for the holding of the Royal Agricultural Show in Preston in 1885; Re-opening of the Harris institute following considerable interior alterations
September 15 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – An old Ribble navigation scheme: The Preston and Lytham Ship Canal in 1834 – this was an ambitious proposal to construct a canal channel, north of the Ribble, to run from Preston Marsh to the mouth of the river at Lytham, and details of the Pearson family of Samlesbury and its affairs in 1724/49
September 19 The Ribble scheme – the Ribble Committee award the contract for the boring on the new Dock to Timmins of Runcorn; The Preston and Fulwood Horticultural Society report a heavy loss on their first exhibition
September 22 The serious outbreak of cattle plague restricts the movement of animals to and from Preston Market; Proposed new Primitive Methodist School Chapel in Deepdale Mill Street; The proposed new Preston – Blackpool Railway; Details of amended plans for the diversion of the course of the Ribble; Proposed annexe and machinery department to be erected in connection with the Harris Institute in nearby Regent Street
September 22 (Second Sheet) An editorial considers the epidemic of foot and mouth disease; Article: “Shipbuilding As A Preston Industry”
September 16 Work commences on the boring out of the new Dock
September 29 Suspected murder in Back Dock Street – Elizabeth Alston allegedly killed by John (also called Thomas) Riley on Thursday, 27th September, 1883 (and subsequent)
October 3 Formation of a Working Men’s Radical Association, in Preston, on Tuesday, 2nd October, 1883; Messrs Cooper and Tullis, of Preston, awarded the contract for the construction of the Harris Free Library and Museum; Laying of the Foundation Stone at the new Deepdale Mill Street Primitive Methodist School Chapel on Saturday, 29th September, 1883
October 6 Opening of the new Manchester and County Bank (now National Westminster) 1, Fishergate, on Wednesday, 3rd October, 1883
October 6 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The re-erection of the bridge across the Ribble at Penwortham in 1757; Article: “The Progress Of Roman Catholic Education In Preston”; Thomas Riley charged with the wilful murder of Elizabeth Alston
October 10 Proposed new Wesleyan Methodist Chapel in St. Mary’s Street
October 13 Success of the Harris Institute; The new station arrangements for the Preston-Longridge Railway almost complete; A “Complimentary Banquet” in honour of John Huntington, the benefactor of St. Paul’s C. of E. Church
October 17 Projected extensive improvements on the Preston And Wyre Railway; The proposed new Lancashire and Yorkshire Goods Warehouse in Butler Street; Proposed renovations at Penwortham Parish Church
October 20 Excavation work commences on the site of the Harris Free Library and Museum; Heavy rainfall causes the overflowing of the Ribble
October 20 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Ancient local families: the Brownes of Ribbleton
October 24 The proposed new Preston – Blackpool Railway, via Freckleton and Lytham St. Annes (and subsequent); New School and Chapel-of-Ease to St. Andrew’s, Ashton, at the junction of Tulketh Road and Hall Street, approaching completion
October 27 Proposed extension of the Harris Institute; Formation of a Lawn Tennis Club in Preston; The transfer of the Old Workhouse site, in Deepdale, to the Infirmary and thence to the Corporation; In spite of a great lack of potential support, Preston and Fulwood Floral and Horticultural Society propose to hold another Show in the Spring of 1884
October 27 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – William Pollard publishes two editions of his “Descriptive Narrative Of The Preston Guild Of 1882”; Town Council discuss the possible improvement of the ventilation of sewers in Preston and adopt proposals for the opening out of Corporation Street
October 31 Surveying Operations commence in connection with the proposed new Preston – Blackpool Railway; Extensive fraud at the Preston Bank, involving £10,000 defalcations, by the sub-manager, Gerald Thomas Tally, who subsequently absconded (and subsequent)
November 3 Death, on Thursday, 1st November, 1883, at “The Limes”, Victoria Road, Fulwood, and obituary of Robert Grime, J.P., cotton manufacturer and son-in-law of the late Alderman Samuel Smith
November 3 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – St. Andrew’s Parish Church, Leyland, before its re-erection in 1816; The Revd. William Lewis, the originator of the Preston Tract Society resigns his Pastorship of Grimshaw Street Congregational Church
November 7 Formation of a Fine Art Society in Preston, on Saturday, 5rd November, 1883; Funeral of the late Robert Grime, J.P.; (A proposed Art and Science Exhibition in Preston
November 10 Details of the proposed restoration of St. Mary’s C. of E. Church
November 10 (Second Sheet) At Manchester Assizes, Thomas Riley, found guilty of the murder of Elizabeth Alston, is sentenced to death
November 14 Completion of the boring out of the new Dock; Local Protestant Churches celebrate the 400th Anniversary of the birth of Martin Luther
November 17 Hopes entertained in Preston that Thomas Riley’s death sentence may be reprieved
November 21 New evidence regarding Elizabeth Alston’s murder comes to light, and a strong local petition is sent to the Home Secretary invoking a reprieve for Thomas Riley; The proposed Art and Science Exhibition in Preston is abandoned; Details of the necessary repairs proposed at Penwortham Parish Church
November 24 Rival railway companies present Parliamentary Bills in connection with rail transport between Preston and Blackpool – one company proposing a new direct line through Lytham-St-Annes, the other offering major improvements on the existing connection; The Annual Report of the Chief Constable; The Preston Association of Church Choirs holds its first Festival in the Parish Church, On Monday, 19th November, 1883
November 24 (Second Sheet) Proposed new C. of E., R.C., and Wesleyan Methodist Churches in Longridge
November 28 Thomas Riley, the Preston murderer, executed at Strangeways Prison, Manchester; Decision taken by manufacturers to reduce cotton operatives’ wages by 5% (and subsequent)
December 1 Laying of the North East Corner Stone of the Harris Free Library and Museum on Friday, 30th November, 1883; The Customs and Excise Department propose changes connected with the Port of Preston; Formation of a Ratepayers’ Association in Preston
December 1 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the unacceptably high death rate, particularly amongst children, in Preston, and confirm the appointment of Edward Garlick, C.E., as engineer-in-chief of the new Dock and Ribble Navigation scheme
December 5 Details of the route of the proposed new Preston – Blackpool Railway; An impending strike in the cotton trade consequent upon the manufacturers’ decision to reduce operatives’ wages
December 8 Swedenborgians in Preston celebrate the national centenary of the New Jerusalem Church with special services in their own Avenham Road Church; Reminiscences of an old Prestonian – Henry Crossthwaite, aged 87; Cotton operatives agree to accept reduced wages and avoid the possibility of having to strike
December 12 Details of necessary repairs, and their costs, at Penwortham Parish Church
December 15 Great uncertainty in the local cotton trade; Death, on Friday, 14th December, 1883, at 1, Winckley Square, and obituary of Richard Newsham, J. P.; Deputy Lieutenant of the County, aged 85, a bountiful patron of many local churches, schools,and beneficent institutions; A severe gale (“the worst for 40 years”) causes considerable local and national damage; Notice of the death, at Lytham, on Thursday, 13th December, 1883, of Thomas C. Hinksman, cotton manufacturer, and eminent Wesleyan Methodist
December 19 Unsettled conditions in the cotton trade; Enlarged biographical details of the late Richard Newsham, J.P., D.L.
December 22 Funeral of the late Richard Newsham, at Grimsargh; The late Richard Newsham’s art collection is bequeathed to the town of Preston, and details of his many other local charitable bequests; Outbreaks of strikes in the cotton trade as labour relations worsen (and subsequent)
December 22 (Second Sheet) Obituary and funeral of the late Thomas C. Hinksman
December 26 A public meeting supports the proposed staging of the Royal Agricultural Show in Preston in 1885 (and subsequent); Progress at the Brunswick Street Gospel Temperance Mission Room
December 29 Town Council accept the Newsham Art Collection, agree to invite the Royal Agricultural Society to stage its 1885 Show in Preston, and discuss the letting of a football ground, on advantageous terms, to Preston North End Football Club

1884
January 5 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Demonstration against the high price of butter at Preston in 1796; Biographical details of George Toulmin, J. P., proprietor of the “Preston Guardian”, on the occasion of him celebrating his 70th birthday which had, in fact, occurred on 11th October, 1883
January 12 The Maudland extension line on the Preston – Longridge Railway, enabling trains to enter the Central Station, almost complete; The worsening labour problems in the Lancashire cotton trade (and subsequent)
January 12 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Article: “Wesleyan Methodism In Blackpool”
January 19 Details of the Ribble Development Scheme incorporating the new Dock
January 23 Opening services at St. Michael And All Angels School Chapel (Chapel-of-Ease to St. Andrew’s) Ashton, on Sunday, 20th January, 1884
January 26 A severe storm causes considerable local damage (and subsequent); Completion of the new Maudland Road Bridge
January 26 (Second Sheet) Rainfall, local and national, in 1883 (and subsequent); Preston North End Football Club are disqualified from the Football Association Challenge Cup Competition for fielding a team which included “imported” Scottish professional players
February 6 Preston Gas Company propose the erection of another gasholder in the Ribbleton Lane area; Article: “The Cotton Trade”
February 9 Labour troubles still continue in the cotton trade
February 9 (Second Sheet) Details of the Newsham Art Collection bequest; Article: “The Insanitary Condition Of Preston”
February 13 Representatives of the Royal Agricultural Society visit Preston and inspect Moor Park – the proposed site for their 1885 Show (and subsequent); An interesting case of “Justifiable Homicide” in Preston; The staging, in Preston, of a Church Mission in connection with the Church of England (and subsequent)
February 16 Further details of the Richard Newsham Art Collection bequest
February 16 (Second Sheet) Oscar Wilde, poet and playwright, lectures in Preston, at the Public Hall, on Wednesday, 13th February, 1884
February 20 Article: “Football” – this interesting article is directed at professionalism in the game with particular reference to Preston North End’s disqualification from the F.A. Cup Competition; Opening services at Deepdale Mill Street Primitive Methodist Chapel, on Sunday, 17th February, 1884; End of the strike in the Lancashire cotton trade; A review of the success of the C. of E. Church Mission in Preston; A public meeting of ratepayers considers education in Fulwood
February 23 Proposed improvements at Deepdale Railway Station on the Preston – Longridge Railway; Recollections of the 1862 Guild photograph of the members of Preston Town Council and Corporate Officials (See April 2, 1864); Enlargement of the grandstand at Preston North End’s Football Ground
February 23 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Vital statistics of Preston and Blackburn ninety years ago, and voting irregularities in Preston at the election of 1768; Article: “An Investigation Of The Death-Rate Of Preston As Compared With Other Manufacturing Towns”; Lecture in Preston: “The Depression In The Cotton Trade”; Article: “Proposed Street Improvements In Preston”
March 1 Article: “The New Dock and Works – History Of Past Improvements”; The Theatre Royal damaged by fire
March 1 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – A record of the building of Hoghton Tower; Town Council discuss improvements on the Preston – Longridge Railway, the letting of Preston North End’s Football Ground, and adopt Mr. Garlick’s proposals for the Ribble scheme
March 5 A proposed Children’s Ward at the Infirmary; Proposed new Presbyterian Church in Preston; Article: “Preston And The Royal Agricultural Show For 1885”
March 8 Details of the Newsham Art Collection; The Royal Agricultural Society’s acceptance of Preston’s invitation to stage the 1885 Show on Moor Park; Joseph Livesey receives congratulations on his 90th birthday
March 12 The advertised opening on Monday, 17th March, 1884 of Ohmy’s Grand New Circus, Pitt Street, Preston – “a beautiful new building, the best ever erected in Preston” (and subsequent)
March 15 Particulars of the new St. Paul’s Parish Church to be erected at Warton; Death, on Wednesday, 12th March, 1884, and obituary of James Holden, aged 55, one of the founders, and president, of the Preston Power-Loom Overlookers’ Assistance Association
March 19 Funeral of the late James Holden
March 22 Resignation, after over 20 years of office, of Mr. James C. King, the Governor of Preston Prison
March 22 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Church affairs in Preston in 1574 (and subsequent); The Sanitary Condition of Preston – the Annual Report by the Medical Officer for Health
March 26 Improvements at Deepdale “Enclosure” Park; A Committee is appointed to make preparations for the 1885 Royal Show in Preston
April 2 The proposed winding-up of the Preston Coffee Tavern Company
April 5 Formation of the Preston and District Cottage Gardeners’ and Amateur Floral Society; An improved tramcar, provided with electric bells, to be brought into service on Preston’s tramway system; Considerable improvements at Preston Pleasure Gardens, Farringdon Park
April 5 (Second Sheet) Article: “Reminiscences Of Early Methodism In The Fylde”; The Temperance “Testimony” of George Toulmin, related on the occasion of Preston Temperance Society’s 52nd Annual Meeting; The scheme for the foundation and endowment of the Harris Orphanage
April 12 Opening Services at Pole Street Baptist, and Walton-le-Dale Wesleyan Methodist, New Schools on Good Friday, 11th April, 1884
April 16 Proposed new vestries and organ gallery in Preston Parish Church
April 19 A formal decision taken to wind-up the Preston Coffee Tavern Company
April 19 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss compensation for land requisitioned for the new Dock scheme
April 26 Cotton trade Operatives hope for an improvement in their wages
April 26 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Loyal addresses from Preston and Blackburn to King George III in 1795; The-Town Council once again consider the high death-rate in Preston
April 30 The proposed erection of a Cabman’s Shelter in Garstang Road; The fixing of the first blocks of the superstructure of the Harris Free Library and Museum
May 3 (Second Sheet) Article: “The Introduction Of Wesleyan Methodism To Fleetwood”
May 3 An antiquarian discovery of primitive implements and relics at Goosnargh; The proposed restoration of St. George’s C. of E. Church (and subsequent); The proposed new Preston – Blackpool Railway Bill receives Parliamentary consideration
May 7 Death, on Sunday, 4th May, 1884, of William M’Dougall (“The Children’s Friend), poet and author, and for 23 years a civil engineer at Preston Railway Station
May 10 Statistics of the local cotton trade; Mr. Haverfield is appointed as the new Governor of Preston Prison; Improvements at the Fishergate Post Office
May 10 (Second Sheet) Further details of the Newsham Art Collection; Details of the old, and proposed new, St. Paul’s C. of E. Church, Warton
May 14 Preston Reform Club obtain new premises in Chapel Street; Further outbreaks of strikes in the Lancashire cotton trade
May 17 Death of the oldest inhabitant of Preston – Mrs. Susannah Slater, aged 95; Expectations of an early completion of the Maudland extension line on the Preston – Longridge Railway; Proposed formation of a Corps of the St. John Ambulance Association in Preston
May 17 (Second Sheet) Article: “Wesleyan Methodism In Poulton And Thornton”
May 21 The sensational arrest, in New York, U.S.A., of Gerald Thomas Tully, the absconding Preston bank fraud. Mr. Tully was identified, walking along the streets of New York, by Councillor Joseph Toulmin, J.P., who was in America visiting members of his family
May 24 Town Council purchase land necessary for the opening out of Corporation Street; Details of the alterations at St. George’s C. of E. Church; Preparations being made for the Newsham Art Collection to be viewed by the public at the Guildhall (and subsequent); Extradition proceedings issued against Gerald Thomas Tully; More antiquarian discoveries at Goosnargh
May 24 (Second Sheet) The alleged insanitary condition of Preston
May 31 The arrest of Tully – further details from New York
May 31 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The stature of Lancashire cotton workers fifty years since; Laying of the Foundation Stone at the new Wesleyan Methodist School at Freckleton, on Saturday, 24th May (Wesley Day), 1884; Article: “Reminiscences of Fylde Methodism”
June 4 Further news from New York (and subsequent); Laying of the Memorial Stones at the new Longridge Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, on Saturday, 31st May, 1884; Death, on Thursday, 5th June, 1884, at 13, Great Shaw Street, and obituary of Robert Robinson, engineer and tool-maker, and a consistent Wesleyan Methodist
June 7 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Burton family of Preston; Opening of the new Children’s Ward at the Royal Infirmary on Thursday, 5th June, 1884
June 11 Reminiscences of the old Cock-Pit related on the occasion of its roof collapsing
June 14 Extradition proceedings commence against Tully; Further reminiscences concerning the Derby family and the old Preston Cockpit
June 14 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Hesketh family of Tulketh (and subsequent)
June 18 The extradition of Tully is granted, although an appeal is to be lodged; Cotton operatives’ wages are improved by the return of 5% recently lost; The history of Wesleyan Methodism in Bamber Bridge related on the occasion of the laying of the Memorial Stones of the new School on Saturday, 14th June, 1884
June 21 Tully succeeds in his appeal, and the application for his extradition is refused (The application failed on a minor point of law. The Extradition Treaty between Great Britain and the United States did not provide extradition for the offence concerned.)
June 21 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – Bayley Hall (near Longridge) and the old private chapel there
June 25 Full evidence in the Tully case
June 28 A relic of St. Peter’s C. of E. Church, the turret, is re-positioned outside the west side of the Church; Text of the New York Commissioner’s extradition decision; A Parliamentary Select Committee considers the proposed Preston – Blackpool direct railway
June 28 (Second Sheet) Town Council agree to make preparations for the 1885 Royal Show in Preston
July 2 Further news from New York – Following the failure of the extradition application, Tully is re-arrested as the Preston Bank commence civil action against him for the recovery of their funds, estimated at $72,000
July 5 Details of the proposed alterations at the Parish Church
July 9 Laying of the Foundation Stone at the new St. Mary’s Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel, on Saturday, 5th July, 1884
July 19 A proposed boarding school for the blind in Preston
July 19 (Second Sheet) Sketches in local history – The Gradwell family of Preston and Clifton (and subsequent)
July 26 Proposed raising of the education standard in Preston
July 26 (Second Sheet) Further details of the Newsham Art Collection; Article: “Reminiscences Of Fylde Methodism”
July 30 Details of the new Lancs and Yorks Railway Goods Warehouse, Butler Street, in course of erection; Preston North End Football Club separate themselves from the English Football Association
August 2 (Second Sheet) Town Council discuss the Ribble Scheme
August 9 Biographical details of John Richardson (1816 – 1879) of Preston, organist, musician, and composer of the hymn tune “Tichfield”
August 13 (Notices Column) Reference to Joseph Livesey and Dr. Thomas Monk being the last surviving members of the first Town Council of Preston to be elected after the Municipal Reform Act of 1835; General William Booth, head of the Salvation Army, visits Preston; Death on Friday, 8th August, 1884, of William Dobson, aged 64, antiquary, local author, and former proprietor of “The Preston Chronicle”; Considerable improvements at Deepdale Football Ground
August 20 Gerald Thomas Tully applies to the U.S. Courts for his release from arrest
August 23 The “critical illness” of Joseph Livesey; Formation of the Preston Amateur Swimming Club; The condition of slaughter-houses in Preston
August 27 Tully’s application for release from arrest is refused
August 30 The Preston Bank is successful in obtaining judgment against Tully in a civil action and he is released from custody; Town Council award the new Dock and Ribble Scheme contract to Thomas A. Walker, of Westminster; Sketches in local history – Mr. Abbott, the Preston inventor of a ship’s pump in 1760
August 30 (Second Sheet) Town Council consider the inconvenience being caused in Fishergate by the construction of the railway goods tunnel between Butler Street and Charnley Street
September 3 Death, at Bank Parade, on Tuesday, 2nd September, 1884, and long obituary of Joseph Livesey, “The Father of English Teetotalism”, aged 90
September 6 Formation of the Preston Butchers’ Association on Friday, 5th September, 1884; Funeral of the late Joseph Livesey
September 6 (Second Sheet) Laying of the Foundation Stone of the new Wesleyan Methodist Chapel at Freckleton, and the opening of the new School on Saturday and Sunday, 30th and 31st August, 1884; Letting of the minor contracts for the new Dock and Ribble Scheme
September 10 Memorial services in Preston churches and public references to the life of Joseph Livesey; Death, on Friday, 5th September, 1884, and obituary of John Walker, aged 85, the last surviving member of an old family of Preston printers
September 13 The proposed boarding-school for the blind in Preston
September 17 Preston North End F.C. are inviting to re-join the Football Association (and subsequent); Infant mortality in Preston
September 20 Notices Column – Reference to the Lawson Street murder and disappearance of the assailant; The abandonment of the proposed Preston – Blackpool direct railway
September 20 (Second Sheet) An editorial considers the seriousness of infant mortality and illness in Preston
September 27 Sketches in local history – Two Preston printed (by Thomas Walker) political tracts of 1796, together with biographical information about Thomas Walker; Town Council consider the high mortality rate in Preston
October 4 W. E. and Mrs. Gladstone pause whilst passing through Preston Railway Station; Arrangements in hand for the commencement of work on the new Dock and Ribble Scheme; Erection of the Cabmen’s Shelter, Garstang Road, to be commenced; Sketches in local history – John Nook, Merchant and Postmaster of Preston, 1704 – l748 (and subsequent) and further notes concerning the Preston printer, Thomas Walker; Publication of the Newsham Art Collection catalogue
October 8 Improvements at the Magistrates’ Court; Preston North End are formally re-admitted to the Football Association; Lecture in Preston, by Edward Grubb: “The Life And Labours Of Joseph Livesey”; Article: “The Commencement Of The Ribble Works”
October 11 The imposition of tolls on cattle arriving at the Cattle Market by rail, via Oxhey’s Cattle Station; Article: “The Ribble Works”
October 15 Death, at Longton, on Saturday, 11th October, 1884, and obituary of Richard Wilkins, a consistent Wesleyan Methodist; Cutting of the First Sod at the Ribble Works on Saturday, 11th October, 1884; Compensation claims against Preston Corporation in connection with the Ribble Works (and subsequent)
October 18 Funeral of the late Richard Wilkins; Improvements on the Preston – Wyre Railway; Sketches in local history – Sale of the first cotton factories built in Preston, in 1808
October 22 Immediate progress at the Ribble Works; Death, at 3, Christ Church Street, on Monday, 13th October, 1884, and obituary of Thomas Mayor, aged 68, former Methodist school teacher and local preacher; Death, on Tuesday, 21 October, 1884, and obituary of John Brown, aged 64, “one of the pillars of Wesleyan Methodism in Bamber Bridge”; Revd. Silas K. Hocking, the Methodist novelist, addresses the Preston Band of Hope Union Festival
October 25 Funeral of the late John Brown; Proposed formation of a society in Preston for the Promotion of Sanitary Knowledge in the Borough; Sketches in local history – Properties relating to the Hodkinson family of Preston
October 29 Electric lighting being experimented with in a Preston cotton mill; Barry Sullivan appears at the Theatre Royal
November 1 Proposed improvements at Deepdale Railway Station; Preston cotton trade – a forty years’ review; Opening Services at the new Longridge Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Thursday, 30th October, 1884; Sketches in local history – Death, in 1813, of John Watson, founder of the first cotton mill in Preston; Town Council propose the erection of a new bridge at Penwortham
November 5 Meeting of Tully’s creditors at a bankruptcy hearing
November 8 Publication by the Chetham Society of “The Rolls of Burgesses at the Guilds Merchant of the Borough of Preston, 1379 – 1682, from the Original Rolls in the Archives of the Preston Corporation”, edited by W. A. Abram; Formation of a Sanitary Association in Preston, on Thursday 6th November, 1884; Sketches in local history – Deeds of properties relating to the Hodgkinson family of Preston
November 12 Progress at the Ribble Works (and subsequent); Arbitration concerning compensation for some of the land requisitioned for the Ribble Works (and subsequent)
November 15 Preparations being made at Moor Park for the staging of the 1885 Royal Show; Proposals for the new Penwortham Bridge; The Chief Constable’s Annual Report
November 22 The proposed formation of a Card and Blowing Room Operatives’ Association in Preston; Adjournment “sine die” of the Bankruptcy proceedings taken against Tully – it was stated that Tully’s frauds, first estimated at £10,000, now amount to £29,000; A proposed new Corporation store yard, east of St. Paul’s Road; Sketches in local history – The Bolton family of Preston (and subsequent)
November 26 Proposed improvements at the Fulwood Waterworks and Sewerage undertakings
November 29 Formation, in Preston, of a Card and Blowing Room Operatives’ Association on Thursday, 27th November, 1884; A proposed Dog Show in connection with the 1885 Royal Show
December 3 The increasing reputation of Mr. C. E. Shaw, the local artist; Proposed new Parliamentary boundaries (and subsequent)
December 6 Opening of the new Wesleyan Methodist Schools at Bamber Bridge on Thursday, 4th December, 1884; The 93rd, and final, report of the Ribble Navigation Company; article: “The New Parliamentary Boundary” (with map); Sketches in local history – The Celtic foundation of Christianity in West Lancashire
December 10 Death, at 66, Fishergate, on Sunday, 7th December, 1884, and obituary of the Revd. Dr. William Antliff, D.D., aged 71, Primitive Methodist theologian and President of the Conference in 1865 and l865; Final meeting of the Ribble Navigation Company; Town Council discuss compensation to be paid for the land requisitioned for the Ribble Works
December 13 Article:”Lathom house In 1644 – The Two Sieges”
December 17 Construction of the railway goods tunnel beneath Fishergate
December 20 The Fulwood Water Supply (and subsequent); Reminiscences of Christmas-keeping in Lancashire – Preston Players at Gawthorpe Hall in 1588 and Christmas in the Fylde country, 1760 – 1770
December 27 Sketches in local history – Further details concerning the family of John Neck, postmaster of Preston
December 31 Erection of the North Road Co-Operative Society Store

1885
January 3 A life sketch of Michael Emmett, one of the earliest Methodists in Preston, extracted from John Taylor’s “Apostles of Fylde Methodism”; Town Council discuss the health of the town, and the proposed new Penwortham Bridge
January 7 Discovery of antlers and stag’s bones during the Ribble excavation
January 10 Article: “Professionalism In Football” – with particular reference to Preston North End (and subsequent)
January 17 Sketches in local history – Traces of the Roman road at Claughton-on-Brock
January 24 Completion and Inauguration of the new Co-Operative Society Store in North Road (and subsequent); Sir Roger Tichborne, “The Tichborne Claimant”, lectures in Preston at the Gaiety Theatre; Sketches in local history – Peter Carter, M.A., schoolmaster, of Preston, died 1590
January 31 W. E. Gladstone passes through Preston Railway Station; Death, at Southport, on Thursday, 29th January, 1885, and long obituary of John King, one of “The Seven Men of Preston”; Details of the restoration of St. Mary’s C. of E. Church; the Ribble Scheme to embrace the widening and deepening of the navigable channel; Rainfall, local and national ,in 1884
February 4 Funeral of the late John King
February 7 The Preston Fine Art Society stages its first Exhibition in the Cross Street Gallery (and subsequent); Sketches in local history – The right of a Freeman’s widow to trade in Preston – a legal precedent set in 1758; Opening of further Wesleyan Methodist new Schools at Bamber Bridge on Sunday, 1st February, 1885
February 11 The Preston Sanitary Association propose that “an exhaustive official inquiry into the whole subject of the excessive death rate in Preston should be instituted”
February 14 The commencement of direct shipping of raw cotton from Liverpool to Preston
February 18 Details of the new St. Mary’s Street Wesleyan Methodist Chapel
February 21 Proposed improvement and extension of St. Ignatius’s R. C. Church; Sketches in local history – Details of the family of Michael Emmett, of Preston
February 28 Important alterations at the Parish Church – the article contains a brief history of Preston Parish Church; “Short time” working introduced in the cotton trade; Sketches in local history – The scarcity of copper coinage in Lancashire in 1795, Thomas Towneley, Esq., an In-Burgess of Preston in 1710, and the family of Sir Charles Hoghton, of Hoghton Tower, AD 1678 – 1710
March 4 The Roman road between Walton-le-Dale and Lancaster; Details of the restoration progress at St. George’s C. of E. Church
March 7 The invention, in Preston, by Joseph Clayton, of a new tramcar, motivated by compressed air power; Sketches in “local history – An inquiry concerning the local associations of Lady Emma Hamilton’s family; Doctor R. C. Brown lectures to the Preston Sanitary Association; Article: “Longridge – Recent And Future Improvements”
March 14 Sketches in local history – Monuments to the family of the Revd. R. H. Shuttleworth, vicar of Preston, 1782 – 1809; Lecture by Thomas Banks: “The Town And Trade Of Preston For The Last 40 Years”; Arrangements for the Royal Show; Opening of St. Mary’s Street new Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Wednesday, 11th March, 1885
March 18 Local opposition to the intended closure of Maudland passenger Railway Station
March 21 Proposed restoration of Hoghton Parish Church and improvements at the Tower
March 25 An editorial considers the unacceptably high death-rate in Preston; Proposed new sewerage works in connection with the Ribble Scheme; The sanitary condition of Preston – an important report by the Medical Officer for Health (and subsequent)
March 28 A proposed new Presbyterian Church and School in St. Paul’s Square; The extension of Horrockses, Miller and Co.’s local cotton interests, together with a resume of their development in Preston since 1791; The proposed renovation of Wesley Methodist Chapel, North Road; Statistics of births, deaths, and population growth in Preston, 1838 – 1884
April 4 The mortality of Preston
April 11 A description of the plans of the Harris Orphanage; an editorial endorses the value of Dr. Shepherd’s Library; Sanitary conditions in the Fylde
April 15 Preparations in hand for the Royal Show
April 18 Sketches in local history – High tides in the Ribble in 1881, the Hodgkinson family pews in Preston Parish Church in 1691; The forthcoming Royal Show – the fervour of local arrangements
April 22 Death, at 25, Maudland Bank, on Saturday, 18th April, 1885, and obituary of Giles Howarth, aged 78, an old teetotaller
April 25 Improvements at Deepdale Railway Station; Progress in the restoration of St. Mary’s C. of E. Church
April 29 The alterations at the Parish Church commence; Progress in the restoration of St. George’s C. of E. Church; Further discovery of antlers during the Ribble excavations; The Prince of Wales passes through Preston Railway Station
May 2 Proposed enlargement of Wesley Chapel, North Road; The national success of Mr. C. E. Shaw, the local artist; The Penwortham Bridge Bill comes before the House of Lords (and subsequent); Discovery of an ancient quern, or hand mill, in Harrington Street, and a human skull at the Ribble works
May 9 Preston and the forthcoming Royal Show
May 16 Completion of the Maudland extension line, enabling trains on the Preston – Longridge Railway to enter the Central Station
May 20 Two new Co-Operative Society Stores to be erected in Ribbleton
May 23 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; The Prince of Wales indicates his willingness to visit Preston for two days during the Royal Agricultural Show, together with details of previous Royal Visits to Preston, 1306 – 1882; Proposed decoration of the town for the Royal Visit
June 3 Opening of the Maudland extension line on the Preston – Longridge Railway on Monday, 1st June, 1885; Preston Corporation propose the building of a new refuse destructor; Article: “The Coming Royal Visit”
June 6 Completion of the new Railway Goods Tunnel beneath Fishergate; Preparations for the forthcoming Royal Visit; Interesting discoveries of animal and human remains during the Ribble excavations (and subsequent); Details of the restoration of St. Mary’s C. of E. Church
June 13 Alterations at Deepdale Railway Station; Preparations for the Royal Visit; Re-opening of St. Mary’s C. of E. Church, following redecoration, on Wednesday, 10th June, 1885
June 17 Mr Clayton’s new tramcar, motivated by compressed air power, is displayed at the Inventions Exhibition
June 20 Death, on Thursday, 18th June, 1885, and obituary of Richard Cornthwaite, a consistent Wesleyan Methodist
June 24 Details of proposed town decorations for the Royal Visit (and subsequent)
June 27 Consecration, by the Primitive Methodists, of land subsequently used as the site of their proposed Eldon Street Chapel; Mr. Beattie, photographer, presents the Corporation with photographs of members of the Town Council at the 1882 Guild (and subsequent)
July 4 Programme for the Royal Visit; Article: “Horrockses, Miller and Co” – details of the origin, in Preston, of its largest cotton firm
July 5 The Royal Visit – the official programme; Article: “The Royal Show”
July 11 Long editorial on the Royal Show and Royal Visit; Details of the Showground on Moor Park; Sketches in local history – Preston as it appeared in 1780 – 1790 – the changes of a century
(It is worthy of note that illustrated advertisements first appear in “The Preston Guardian” at this time)
July 15 Opening of the Royal Agricultural Society’s Show, on Moor Park, on Tuesday, 14th July, 1885; Full details of the Royal Show (and subsequent), and arrangements for the Prince of Wales’ Visit; Decorations in the town; The Mayor of Preston – a life sketch of Alderman John Forshaw
July 18 Article: “The Ribble Scheme – A Sketch”; Details of the visit of the Prince of Wales to Preston; Laying of the Foundation Stone at the new Albert Edward Dock, on Friday, 17th July, 1885; Details of illuminations, fireworks, and celebrations in Preston; Sketches in local history – The visit of H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester, and H.R.H. Prince William Frederick, to Preston, in September, 1804, and the Earl of Derby’s House in Preston, as it stood in 1820
July 22 Final details of the Royal Show; Aftermath of the Royal Visit; The Parliamentary progress of the Penwortham Bridge Bill (and subsequent)
July 25 Article: “Education In 1884 – The Position Of Preston”
August 8 Death, at Hammond Street, on Thursday, 6th August, 1885, and long obituary of Samuel Norris, aged 86, an old Preston policeman having long and interesting associations with the Borough Force; Sketches in local history – Ribble Navigation in 1822; Details of Hibbert’s designs for the pediment of the Harris Free Library, Art Gallery and Museum
August 12 Re-opening, after restoration, of St. George’s C. of E. Church, on Saturday, 8th August, 1885
August 22 Sketches in local history – Deed of agreement by the creditors of George Hudson, Chapman, of Preston, dated 1760
August 29 Town Council agree to the construction of a refuse destructor, off St. Paul’s Road
September 9 W. E. Gladstone passes through Preston Railway Station
September 12 Opening services at the new Freckleton Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Wednesday, 9th September, 1885; Death, at Senior Street, on Tuesday, 8th September, 1885, and obituary of James Unsworth, aged 73, an old temperance worker; Sketches in local history – The population of Preston in 1790, and details of its growth; Laying of the Foundation Stone of the Harris Orphanage on Wednesday, 9th September, 1885
September 16 Proposed sanitary reforms in Preston
September 19 Sketches in local history – Lines written on the death of Robert Law, printer and bookseller, of Preston, in 1797
September 23 members of the Independent Order of Rechabites celebrate the Jubilee of their movement
September 26 Cotton statistics of north Lancashire; Article: “Technical Education At The Harris Institute”; Town Council discuss the purchase of Ribble dredgers
September 30 The Annual Festival and Autumn Conference of the Lancashire and Cheshire Band of Hope Union is staged in Preston
October 3 (Notices Column) Details of the Horrocks family; The sad death, in Fulwood Workhouse, on Tuesday, 29th September, 1885, of Nicholas Arrowsmith, aged 67, a member of the old Preston banking family; The Weavers’ Association vacate their premises, off Church Street, to take new rooms in the Old Catholic Schools, Walker Street
October 21 Progress at the Dock works
October 31 The proposed formation of a Sunday School Union in Preston
November 7 A public presentation is made to the Mayor, Alderman John Forshaw, to recognise a distinguished term of office
November 11 W. E. Gladstone pauses to make a speech at Preston Railway Station; Formation of the Preston Sunday School Union on Monday, 9th November, 1885
December 5 Death, at Broughton, on Monday, 30th November, 1885, and long obituary of Joseph Clayton, aged 83, the well-known Preston engineer and boiler maker, formerly of The Soho Foundry. (Mr. Clayton was the first engineer to attempt the-construction of the ill-fated Covered Market.)
December 16 The British Women’s Temperance Association stage a nine day mission in Preston (and subsequent); Town Council discuss the difficulties connected with the proposed new Penwortham Bridge; General William Booth, head of the Salvation Army, preaches in Preston
December 19 Proposed new premises for the Preston Conservative Working Men’s Club
December 26 The discovery of an old spear head of the bronze age during the Ribble excavations; Further proposals concerning the new Penwortham Bridge
December 30 Details of a proposed C. of E. Church (St. Stephens), Broadgate

1886
January 2 Article: “Proud Preston, Poor People – The Seamy Side Of The Christmas Picture”
January 16 Article: “Preston Gasworks” – a long and interesting article outlining the development of the gas supply in Preston (and subsequent)
January 23 Progress at the Harris Free Library, Art Gallery and Museum; Rainfall, local and national, in 1885
January 27 Article: “A Visit To The Royal Infirmary”
January 30 Dedication of St. Paul’s C. of E. new Church, Warton, on Monday, 25th January, 1886; Lecture in Preston: “Healthy Cottages” – an effort by the Sanitation Association to draw attention to much needed improvements
February 10 Preston North End Football Club appear to adopt the nickname “The Invincible Eleven” at about this time
February 13 Sketches in local history – Details of the Revd. Abraham Francke and his family
February 20 Article: “Early Methodism In Garstang And Neighbourhood”
February 24 The pediment sculpture for the Harris Free Library
February 27 Proposed boarding house for the blind in Preston; Railway Station improvements on the Lancashire and Yorkshire line
March 3 Laying of the Foundation Stone at the extension of St. Ignatius’ R.C. Church, on Sunday, 28th February, 1886
March 6 Details of Preston Reform Club’s new premises in Chapel Street; Brief history of Oddfellowship in Preston
March 13 Progress in the restoration of Wesley Chapel, North Road; Enlargement of Charles Street Railway Goods Warehouse
March 20 Death, on Sunday, 14th March, 1886, funeral, and long obituary of Peter Edelston, aged 77, ex-Town Councillor, teetotaller, and local public servant; Article: “Preston Corporation Refuse Destructor”
March 24 The Preston Tramways Company offer to sell their undertaking to Preston Corporation for £5,000; Death, at Manchester, on Monday, 22nd March, 1886, and obituary of the Revd. John Guttridge, aged 66, the popular Methodist minister who served at Orchard U.M.F.C. Chapel, 1855-59, and 1866-68; The Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Preston
April 3 Proposed Technical School for Preston
April 21 Completion of the new vestries at the Parish Church; Death, at West Cliff, on Sunday, 18th April, 1886, of Alderman William Gilbertson, aged 58, County Coroner, and Preston District Registrar
April 24 The funeral of Alderman William Gilbertson
April 28 Laying of the Foundation Stone of Eldon Street Primitive Methodist Chapel on Saturday, 24th April, 1886
May 1 Town Council consider a proposal to construct a new direct railway from Preston to Leeds; The re-union of old Preston Volunteers – interesting reminiscences
May 5 Progress at the Dock Works
May 8 Dr. Joseph Bray Gilbertson, M.D., replaces his brother as County Coroner for the Preston District
May 15 The establishment of a private Nurses’ Home in connection with the Royal Infirmary, at 4, Stephenson Terrace, Deepdale Road; Death, on Thursday, 13th May, 1886, at Frenchwood Street, and long obituary of the Revd. Joseph Williamson, aged 72, Congregational Church minister, Preston Temperance Society committee member, and a regular contributor to the “Preston Guardian”. Mr. Williamson’s son, Joshua, was the founder of Shepherd Street Mission; Death, on Tuesday, 11th May, 1886, at Fulwood, and long obituary of James Toulmin, aged 70, Preston merchant and, until 1883, joint proprietor of the “Preston Guardian”; Sketches in local history – The petition (to the House of Commons) of local linen manufacturers for protection in 1713; Article: “The Proposed Technical School For Preston”
May 22 The-proposed widening of Wellfield Road bridge; Sketches in local history – Sale of certain properties in Preston in 1785
May 26 Mr. Alexander Pearce is appointed Registrar of Preston in place of the late Alderman William Gilbertson
May 29 A brief notice of “Memorials Of Thomas Crouch Hincksman” by the Revd. William Kirkham; Town Council agree to purchase the Preston Tramways Company; a review of Preston North End Football Club after completing their first full season as a professional side
June 9 Dedication of the T. C. Hincksman Memorial Tablet in Lytham Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on Saturday, 5th June, 1886
June 12 Death, on Thursday, 10th June, 1886, at 7, Wellington Terrace, and long obituary, with interesting Preston associations, of Robert Summersgill, aged 90, well-known numismatist and watchmaker
June 19 Sketches in local history – Celebration of the peace of 1801 at Preston
June 26 Consecration of St. Paul’s new C. of E. Church, Warton, on Wednesday, 23rd June, 1886
July 7 Extracts from “The Lancet” concerning the health and mortality of Preston; Collapse of the cornice of Cannon Street Congregational Church; Opening of St. Wilfrid’s R. C. Church, Longridge, on Sunday, 4th July, 1886
July 10 Sketches in local history – Racing and cock-fighting at Preston in 1778
July 17 Preston to have a new ambulance carriage
July 21 Provision being made for the construction of a mortuary at Preston Cemetery; Progress at the Ribble Works
July 24 A Government Inspector’s recommendations concerning the health and sanitation of Preston; Sketches in local history – Proclamation of King William IV at Preston in 1830, and the Accounts of the Bailiffs of Preston Corporation, 1758 – 1763 (and subsequent)
July 28 (Notices Column) “The glass roof of the old area of the Corn Exchange was completed on 26th April, 1853”; A retrospect of St. James’s C. of E. Church
July 31 Death, on Friday, 30th July, 1886, at 8, Bushell Place, and long obituary of Daniel Arkwright, J.P, aged 67, cotton spinner and manufacturer, and an ex-Alderman of Preston; Laying of the Foundation Stone of St. Paul’s C. of E. Chapel-of-Ease, Longridge, on Wednesday, 28th July, 1886; Town Council discuss the health of Preston
August 4 Funeral of the late Daniel Arkwright; Opening services at Eldon Street Primitive Methodist School Chapel on Sunday, 1st August, 1886
August 25 A Technical School in connection with the Harris Institute to be opened in the old Conservative Club premises, Lancaster Road
August 28 Uncertainty in the local cotton trade (and subsequent)
September 4 The opening of a Reading and Recreation Room for the Dock workmen, on Monday, 30th August, 1886; Article: “Preston And The House Of Stanley”
September 8 Progress in the construction of the Corporation refuse destructor
September 15 Article: “The Health Of Preston”
September 18 Progress in the construction of the Harris Orphanage; The problems of the local cotton trade (and subsequent); Details of the new Corporation refuse destructor
September 29 Proposed extension of Preston Railway Station
October 2 Details of important alterations at St. Ignatius’ R.C. Church
October 9 Completion and first use of Preston’s new Horse Ambulance Carriage: Sketches in local history – The sale of Walton Lodge in 1810
October 13 Laying of the Foundation Stone of St. Stephen’s C. of E. Church, Broadgate, on Monday, 11th October, 1886 (The Foundation Stone was laid on the 50th Anniversary of the consecration of the mother church, Christ Church, in 1838)
October 16 Sketches in local history – A stranger’s impression of Preston, fifty years since
October 20 Celebration of the Golden Jubilee of St. Ignatius’ R.C. Church, on Sunday, 17th October, 1886
October 23 Proposed enlargement of English Martyrs’ R.C. Church; Sketches in local history – The discovery of human bones, in 1835, during the demolition of Lord Derby’s Preston house, and details of freehold properties in Preston, Ribbleton and Goosnargh, sold in 1789 (and subsequent)
October 30 Details of the monument erected in Preston Cemetery above the tomb of Joseph Livesey; Continuing difficulties in the cotton trade
November 6 A proposed boarding house for the blind in Preston
November 10 Revd. Silas K. Hocking lectures in Preston
November 13 Opposition to the Ribble Scheme
November 20 Sketches in local history – Sale of old cotton mills in Preston in 1808; The Annual Report of the Chief Constable
November 24 Death, at Ashton Park, on Tuesday, 23rd November, 1886, and long obituary of Col. William Henry Goodair, J.P., aged 48, cotton manufacturer, a leader of the local Volunteer movement, and an ex-Mayor of Preston
November 27 Subscriptions being raised for the purchase of a Mayoral chain and badge of office for Preston’s chief officer; Sale of Clayton’s Soho Foundry
December 1 George Sharples’ Telephonic Exchange, 7, Fishergate, is transferred to the Lancashire and Cheshire Telephonic Company; Funeral of the late Col. W. H. Goodair
December 4 Optimism in the local cotton trade; Article: “Mayoral Chains end Civic Insignia”; Opposition to the Ribble Scheme
December 8 Agreement reached for Preston to have a Mayoral chain and badge of office
December 11 Lecture: “The High Death-Rate Of Preston”
December 24 Completion of the new Reform Club, Chapel Street

1887
January 1 An editorial reviews the local scene in 1886
January 8 Stability returns to the cotton trade; Sketches in local history – Foreign competition with the Lancashire cotton manufacturers in 1774
January 15 Sketches in local history – Documents relating to the property of Mrs. Helen French, in Preston, in 1683
February 5 Proposed “Victoria Jubilee” Home For Blind Children in Preston; The work amongst friendless girls in Preston
February 9 A local libel trial – Alfred Beattie (Photographer) v. John Toulmin (One of the proprietors of the “Preston Guardian”) (Beattie won and was awarded £150 damages); Alfred Gilbert, A.R.A., instructed to design Preston’s Mayoral chain
February 12 Re-Opening of the Soho Foundry, Greenbank Street, by Joseph Foster and Sons; Proposed alteration of Cannon Street Congregational Church, incorporating a new entrance from Guildhall 5treet
February 19 Details of the proposed enlargement of English Martyrs’ R.C. Church
February 23 Laying of the Foundation Stone of the enlargement of English Martyrs’ R.C. Church on Sunday, 20th February, 1887; Barry Sullivan appears at the Theatre Royal
February 26 Miss Mary Dickens (granddaughter of Charles Dickens) appears with Barry Sullivan in “Hamlet” at the Theatre Royal
March 5 The formation of a Chess Club in Preston (See entry for 17th July, 1852, which refers to a Chess Club being in existence at that time); A proposed new club room for the Preston Conservative Working Men’s Association
March 12 Notices Column -“Preston is about 10 mins. 50 secs. later than at Greenwich Observatory”
March 23 A proposed recreation ground for children on Moor Park , An article extracted from the “Provincial Medical Journal” – “The High Death-Rate Of Preston”; The Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Preston; Celebration of the Jubilee of Christ Church C. of E. on Sunday, 20th March, 1887; Opening of the new Preston Reform Club, Chapel Street, on Thursday, 24th March, 1887
March 30 Dr. Barnardo lectures in Preston
April 2 Town Council consider the unsatisfactory death-rate in Preston, and agree to the transfer of Dr. Shepherd’s Library and the exhibits within the Cross Street Museum to the Harris Free Public Library and Museum Trustees; Death, on Thursday, 31st March, 1887, of Joseph Goulding, aged 47, Corporation Beadle and the Keeper of Preston Town Hall; Proposed improvements at St. Mark’s C. of E. Church
April 9 Arrangements being made in Preston to celebrate the Jubilee of Queen Victoria
April 16 Preston butchers consider the Corporation’s plans to construct a new slaughter house and to abolish the slaughter of animals in private premises (This was a move to promote greater hygiene within the town centre where animals were often slaughtered in unhygienic and inhumane conditions.)
April 20 Details of the renovation of St. Mark’s C. of E. Church
April 23 A proposed public abattoir at Preston Cattle Market; Death, on Tuesday, 19th April, 1887,and obituary of James Whittle, aged 69, an old Friargate tradesman, and an active worker in the Cause of local Primitive Methodism; Discussions concerning the Jubilee commemoration
April 27 Article: “Technical Education In Preston” – the article calls for a new Technical Institute to be established, utilising £30,000 provided by the Harris Trustees; Re-opening of St. Mark’s C. of E. Church, following renovation, on Monday, 25th April (St. Mark’s Day), 1887
April 30 Town Council discuss the erection of a public abattoir and agree to provide a site for the erection of the proposed new Technical Institute
May 4 An outline of the Primitive Methodist cause in Preston
May 7 Preston’s oldest inhabitant – a conversation with Mrs. Shackleton, aged 99 (and subsequent); The proposed Jubilee celebrations (and subsequent)
May 21 Progress in the alteration of Cannon Street Congregational Chapel; Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; Preston and the Jubilee – The Official Programme; Murder of a sweetheart in Preston – Alfred Sowrey is charged with the wilful murder of Annie Kelly, in the. Clarendon Temperance Hotel, Fishergate Hill, on Wednesday, 18th May, 1887
May 25 Death, on Thursday, 19th May, 1887, and obituary of the Revd. Fitzherbert Bugby, aged 63, the popular minister of Fishergate Baptist Church, 1854-63; The Preston murder – the funeral of the victim, together with biographical details of those involved
June 1 General William Booth, head of the Salvation Army, visits Preston and preaches in the Army’s Cato Street “Barracks”
June 11 Arrangements being made for the distribution of the Preston Jubilee Medals
June 18 Details of the Preston Jubilee Medals; Programme of the Jubilee Celebrations
June 22 Commencement of the Jubilee Celebrations in Preston
June 25 Death, at 7, Starkie Street, on Wednesday, 22nd June, 1887, and obituary of the Revd. George Beardsell, aged 54, Vicar of All Saints’ C. of E. Church, 1863-84; Details of the Jubilee Celebrations, including Church Services, processions, demonstrations, entertainments, balloon ascents, etc.; Sketches in local history – Local celebrations at the Jubilee of King George III, and the Proclamation and Coronation of Queen Victoria
June 29 The Ribble Navigation Scheme and its cost; Funeral of the late Revd. George Beardsell; Details of further Jubilee Celebrations
July 2 Fixing of the pediment sculpture at the Harris Free Library and Museum; Details of the proposed Victoria Jubilee Technical School for Preston; Article: “The Discoveries In The Dock Excavations”
July 6 Death, at Bushell Place, on Saturday, 2nd July, 1887, and long obituary of Robert Benson, J.P., aged 81, Alderman of Preston, eminent teetotaller, and a member of the Society of Friends
July 9 Funeral of the late Alderman Robert Benson
July 16 Alfred Sowrey is found guilty at Lancaster Assizes of the murder of Annie Kelly and is sentenced to death
July 23 Edward Garlick resigns as Chief Engineer of the Dock works and is replaced by Benjamin Sykes; A further valuable series of animal remains discovered during the Dock excavations
July 27 A proposed Sewage Farm for Preston on Freckleton Marsh
July 30 Anticipation of an early start being made in the construction of the proposed Preston – Blackpool direct railway; The prospectus of the Victoria Jubilee Technical School for Preston; Article: “The Disposal Of The Sewage Of Preston”
August 3 The execution of Alfred Sowrey, on Monday, 1st August, 1887
August 10 Labour troubles in the local cotton trade
August 13 Strikes break out in the local cotton trade; The opening out of Corporation Street; A Public Inquiry considers the future constitution of the Preston Port Sanitary Authority
August 20 The Preston weavers’ strike (and subsequent)
August 27 The new Jubilee coins are displayed at the Cross Street Museum; Article: “Soho Ironworks, Preston”
September 10 Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Laying of the Foundation Stone of St. Thomas’s C. of E. Church on 3rd August, 1837
September 14 The inscriptions on the Harris Free Library and Museum
September 17 Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The opening out of the line for the Preston – Lancaster Railway, a prospectus for the improvement of Ribble Navigation, and proposed new barracks for Preston
September 21 Celebration of the Jubilee of Saul Street Primitive Methodist Chapel on Sunday, 18th September, 1887
September 24 Death, at 126, Fishergate, on Wednesday, 2lst September, 1887, and obituary of John Kay, aged 78, “the oldest tradesman in Preston”; Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The Ribble Navigation Company, and the commutation of tithes in Preston(and subsequent)
September 28 Death, at Bushell Place, on Monday, 26th September, 1887, and obituary of Arthur Wilson Birchall, aged 48, “a pioneer of literary and scientific education in Preston”
October 1 The Town Council, discussing the proposed new Technical School, decide against providing a site in Lancaster Road, north of the Harris Free Library and Museum, and which was later used for the County Sessions House; Article: “The ‘Engineer’ and The Ribble Scheme”; Details of the alterations at Cannon Street Congregational Church; Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The Preston cotton trade
October 8 Notes and Queries – Preston in fiction: extracts from “Dorothy Forster” by Walter Besant (and subsequent)
October 12 The interesting discovery of an old canoe, at least 1,000 years old, during the Dock excavations
October 15 The inaugural meeting of the Preston Grammar School Old Boys’ Association on Wednesday, 12th October, 1887; Article: “The Past, Present, And Future Of The Preston Band Of Hope Union” (and subsequent); Notes and Queries – Sir Richard Arkwright’s connection with Preston
October 19 Preston North End, competing in the F. A. Challenge Cup Competition, beat Hyde United 26- 0, establishing a goal scoring record still current at the time of the compilation of this chronology
October 22 Settlement of the Preston weavers’ strike; Notes and Queries – Preston in fiction: Extracts from “The Strange Adventures of a Phaeton”, by William Black
October 26 Death, at Ashton, on Tuesday, 25th October, 1887, and obituary of the Revd. Canon A. T. Armstrong, M.A., aged 82, Vicar of St. Andrew’s C. of E. Church, Ashton, 1854-87
October 29 Funeral of the late Revd. Canon Armstrong; Death, at Lancaster Road, on Thursday, 27th October, 1887, and obituary of Edward Ambler, aged 67, printer, and one of the earliest employees of “The Preston Guardian”; Reference to the Preston Church of England Society having been formed on 17th January, 1887; Notes and Queries – The geology of Preston and district (and subsequent); The growing strength of opposition to the cost of the Dock scheme (and subsequent)
November 5 A proposed R.C. Home, or Orphanage, for destitute boys in Preston; Notes and Queries – Old tradesmen in Preston in 1806
November 9 Article: “The ‘Engineer’ And The Preston Dock Scheme”
November 12 Details of the important extension of English Martyrs’ R.C. Church
November 16 Re-opening, after considerable renovation and alteration, of Cannon Street Congregational Chapel on Sunday, 13th November, 1887
November 19 Opening of the new Wesleyan Methodist School-Chapel, Station Road, Kirkham, on Thursday, 17th November, 1887; Notes and Queries – Recent discoveries in the Ribble valley
November 23 Lecture: “The Storming (in 1643) of Preston”
November 26 Town Council decide upon the appointment of an independent river engineer to advise on the growing problems and cost of the new Dock and Ribble Scheme; Completion of the re-building of Charles Street railway goods station and warehouse
December 10 Notes and Queries – Roman roads of the Preston district
December 17 “The Black Dog of Preston, or, The Boggart of Gallows Hill” – a tale of 1715 by James Borlase (and subsequent)
December 21 Notices Column -Details of the Obelisk and the Fish Stones which formerly stood in Preston Market Place
December 24 Formation of a Skating Association in Preston, on Tuesday, 20th December, 1887; Death, at Ribble Place, on Friday, 23rd December, 1887, and obituary of John Gratrix, aged 78, the last survivor of “The Seven Men of Preston”
December 28 John L. Sullivan, world boxing champion, visits Preston and gives a demonstration in the Gaiety Theatre
December 31 A letter to “The Preston Guardian” criticises the contribution made to the temperance cause by “The Seven Men of Preston” and complains about the exaggeration of Preston’s contribution to the national movement

1888
January 4 Article: “Preston – A Review Of The Year 1887”
January 7 Consequent upon last week’s letter, a correspondence controversy breaks out in “The Preston Guardian” concerning Preston’s contribution to temperance reform, and the significance of the total abstinence pledge signed by “The Seven Men of Preston”; Preston ratepayers form themselves into an Association “to check reckless spending” on the Dock and Ribble Works
January 11 Roman Catholics in Preston celebrate the Sacerdotal Jubilee of Pope Leo XIII (and subsequent)
January 14 Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Ribble Navigation, the inefficiency of the Preston Police Force, and the death of Nicholas Grimshaw, seven times Mayor of Preston
January 18 Death, at Walton’s Parade, on Sunday, 15th January, 1888, and obituary of John Charles Ambler, aged 56, an Alderman of Preston
January 21 Funeral of the late Alderman J.C. Ambler
February 4 Article: “The Origin And Early Progress Of The Temperance Reformation In Preston”
February 8 Formation of the Preston Non-Conformist Association with the first aim of providing a local Higher Grade School for Free Church children
February 11 Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The Ribble Navigation Bill of 1838; Re-opening of English Martyrs’ R.C. Church, after being considerably extended, on Thursday, 9th February, 1888; Death, at “The Oaks”, Penwortham, on Thursday, 9th February, 1888, and obituary of John Cooper, J.P., aged 80, “the soldiers’ friend”. For many years Mr. Cooper was in the habit of giving annual dinners to the Peninsular and Waterloo veterans on the anniversary of Waterloo; Death, at 8, Ribblesdale Place, on Tuesday, 7th February, 1888, and long obituary and funeral of Councillor George Toulmin, J.P., aged 74, eminent Liberal politician, Free Church leader, one of the country’s best known teetotallers, principal proprietor of “The Preston Guardian” and founder of “The Lancashire Evening Post”
February 15 Funeral of the late Mr. John Cooper
February 18 Article: “Preston In 1728”, accompanied by an illustration of S. and N. Buck’s engraving of the South Prospect of Preston in 1728; Mr. James Abernethy, M.Inst.C.E., is appointed independent Civil Engineer to advise on the Dock and Ribble Works
March 7 The Preston Non-Conformist Association propose the establishment of a local Higher Grade School
March 14 Formation of the Preston Yacht and Fishing Boat Society on Monday, 12th March, 1888
March 17 Considerable local agitation over the Corporation’s application to Parliament for the passage of The Ribble Bill of 1888, enabling increased borrowings to be negotiated (and subsequent); Article: “Church Progress In Preston” – the reminiscences of the Revd. Dawson F. Chapman, Vicar of St. Peter’s C. of E. Church since 1862; Notes and Queries – The old Preston Parish Church, accompanied by an illustration of the old (pre 1853) building
March 21 Death, at Darwen Street, on Friday, 16th March, 1888, and obituary of William Miller, aged 64, late Superintendent of the Preston lamplighters; The Revd. Silas K. Hocking lectures at a Preston temperance meeting
March 24 The Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Preston; The proposed development of the Frenchwood Estate, with illustrated map – the report contains an account of Frenchwood’s historic associations with the Roman Station at Walton-le-Dale; Discovery of another ancient boat during the Dock excavations; Notes and Queries – The present Parish Church of Preston, accompanied by an illustration
March 28 Dedication of a Memorial Tablet to the late Revd. John Guttridge, in Orchard U.M.F.C. Chapel, where he laboured during 1856-59 and 1866-68 (N.B. This Tablet is at present situated in Guttridge Memorial Methodist Chapel, Deepdale Road.); The Official Opening of the Ribble Diversion on Saturday, 24th March, 1888
March 31 Town Council learn of a slight improvement in the high death rate of Preston; An account of the progress of the Salvation Army in N.W. Lancashire
April 11 Completion of the Harris Orphanage; Details of Preston’s new Mayoral Chain and badge of Office
April 14 Death, at Barton Terrace, on Tuesday, 10th April, 1888, and obituary of John Brown, aged 70, well-known Wesleyan Methodist Sunday School official; Death, at Chicago, U.S.A., and burial there, of Gerald T. Tully, the fraudulent Preston Bank sub-manager (see above)
April 18 At a meeting of the newly formed Football League, Preston North End become one of the original twelve teams to compete in the first English League Competition; The tragic suicide, at his home in Liverpool, of Alfred Livesey, cheese exporter, the youngest son of Joseph Livesey, the temperance founder
April 21 Notes and Queries – Longton Parish Church, accompanied by an illustration; Details of the Acroteria surmounting the pediment of the Harris Free Library and Museum; Proposed new C. of E. Church (St. Jude’s) in St. Paul’s Road
April 28 Important discussions between the Town Council and the Preston Friendly Societies concerning the town’s high death-rate; The Ribble Bill comes before the House of Lords
May 2 The House of Lords’ decision on the Ribble Bill (and subsequent)
May 5 Notes and Queries – Preston and the Jacobite Rebellion; Article: “The Antiquities 0f The Ribble Valley” – with illustrations
May 9 Mrs. Shackleton, the oldest inhabitant in Preston, celebrates her 100th birthday
May 12 Notes and Queries – Elswick Congregational Church – historical notes by the Revd. B. Nightingale, and the proposed exploration of the Roman Station at Ribchester; The Preston Friendly Societies petition the Town Council on health and sanitation matters (and subsequent); Article: “The Cotton Trade Of Preston” – a retrospect by Thomas Banks, the veteran secretary of the Preston Operative Cotton Spinners’ Association
May 19 A private promoter suggests the practicability of a direct canal, south of the Ribble, between Preston and Southport; Agitation continues on the subject of the high cost of the new Dock and Ribble Works; Lord Randolph Churchill addresses a Preston Conservative gathering
May 26 Notes and Queries – Sea monsters (weighing between 6 and 7 cwt. each) seen in the Ribble, near Preston, in 1759
May 30 Formation of the Preston Roman Catholic Teachers’ Association on Tuesday, 29th May, 1888; Death, at Dawson Street, on Saturday, 26th May, 1888, of Mrs. Shackleton, aged 100 years and 3 weeks, Preston’s oldest inhabitant
June 2 Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – A riot of Irish labourers at Penwortham, preparations being made for the local celebration of Queen Victoria’s Coronation, and the Laying of the Foundation Stone of North Road Wesley Methodist Chapel, on 24th May (Wesley Day), 1838
June 6 An outbreak of smallpox in Preston (and subsequent)
June 9 Mr. Abernethy’s recommendations concerning the new Dock and Ribble Works
June 16 Death, at 39, Chaddock Street, on Thursday, 14th June, 1888, and long obituary of Mrs. Sarah Halliday, aged 73, a lady well-known in Preston for her benevolence towards various charities; Formation Of the Preston Branch of the Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Children, on Friday, 15th June, 1888
June 20 Preston’s smallpox epidemic is under control
June 30 Death, at 36, Brackenbury Road, on Friday, 29th June, 1888, and obituary of Septimus Ambler, aged 60, an old Preston newspaper compositor; Statistics of the cotton trade in Preston and north Lancashire
July 7 The Ribble Bill comes before the House of Commons Committee (and subsequent); A new tombstone to be placed in St. George’s Churchyard, over the grave of Dr. Richard Shepherd, Preston’s library benefactor
July 11 The Revd. B. Nightingale, an historical contributor to “The Preston Guardian” accepts the pastorate of Cannon Street Congregational Church (and subsequent)
July 14 Notes and Queries – Details of an 18th century proposal to construct a direct canal from Preston to central Yorkshire, terminating at Leeds
July 18 Decline of the smallpox epidemic in Preston; The Parliamentary progress of the Ribble Bill
July 21 Notes and Queries – The discovery of an interesting collection of Roman coins at Ulnes Walton (and subsequent); A criticism of Preston’s new Mayoral chain from “The Jeweller and Metalworker”; Further proposals concerning a direct ship canal from Preston to Southport
July 25 Proposed restoration of St. Wilfrid’s R. C. Church – the account contains a resume of Roman Catholic Church history in Preston
July 28 The proposed Preston – Southport ship canal, with illustrated map
August 1 Labour troubles in the local cotton trade (and subsequent)
August 8 Death, at 75, Church Street, on Monday, 6th August, 1888, of Albert Brown, aged 27, well-known Preston singer, and one of the founders of the Preston Amateur Operatic Society
August 18 The problems of the new Dock and Ribble Works become more acute and are subject to a weekly agitation; Notes and Queries – It was stated that St. Walburge’s Church Spire (314ft. 6in. high) is the highest non-cathedral church spire in England and Wales; Article: “Ribble Schemes, 1883 and 1888. Blunders And Misstatements Exposed”
August 22 Improvements at Preston Railway Station
August 25 Notes and Queries – Hoole Church and Jeremiah Horrocks, Part 1, with illustration; Laying of the Foundation Stone of St. Mary Magdalene’s C. of E. Church, Ribbleton, on Wednesday, 22nd August, 1888
August 29 A Details of Preston’s new sewerage schemes
September 5 “The Engineer” and the Ribble Scheme
September 8 Notes and Queries – Hoole Church and Jeremiah Horrocks, Part 2, accompanied by an illustration of Carr House, the house from which Horrocks observed the Transit of Venus in 1639; Penwortham Bridge in 1757
September 12 Preston North End play their first Football League game, beating Burnley, on Saturday, 8th September, 1888; Difficulties over the supply of American cotton causes anxiety and “short time” working in local mills (and subsequent)
September 15 [No break between September 12 and 15 items in typescript, but a page break makes it clear that the Notes and Queries item is in the September 15 issue] Arrangements in hand for the construction of the new coast railway from Preston to Blackpool; The sewerage of Fulwood; A projected new railway, via Ribblesdale, between Preston and central Yorkshire; Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago -The Consecration of St. Mary’s C. of E. Church on 13th June, 1838, and the local celebration of Queen Victoria’s Coronation
September 19 A proposed new sewerage scheme for Fulwood
September 22 The Ribble Scheme – A conference with Mr. Abernethy, the independent river engineer; Formation of the Preston Physical Recreation Society, and the opening of its new Gymnasium, in Syke Street, on Wednesday, 19th September, 1888; Notes and Queries: 50 years ago – The Preston Town Council and the comfort of imprisoned debtors, the proposed dredging of the Ribble, and Joseph Livesey’s appeal to the Licensing Sessions against-an increase in the number of licensed houses in Preston
September 26 Preston inundated by a plague of insects
October 3 The celebration of the Jubilee of the Preston District of The Independent Order of Rechabites on Monday, 1st October, 1888, and throughout the week, (and subsequent)
October 6 Notes and Queries – Necromancy, in 1560, at Walton-le-Dale Churchyard, extracted from Whittle’s “History of Preston”
October 20 Articles: “The Harris Orphanage” and “Roman Ribchester – Interesting Discoveries”; Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Formation of the Preston Church Pastoral Aid Society, and the Opening of the North Union Railway from Preston to Wigan on 31st October, 1838
October 24 Advert: The Gaiety Theatre, which stood at the corner of Crooked Lane and Tithebarn Street, changes its name to the Prince’s Theatre and Opera House
October 27 Notes and Queries – Article: “The Revd. Isaac Ambrose and early Preston Nonconformity” by the Revd. B. Nightingale; Town Council agree, in principal, with the proposed construction of a new direct railway from Preston to Central Yorkshire; A map and more details of the proposed railway, to be called The North West Central Railway
November 3 Notes and Queries – An old Fylde industry – procuring salt; Article: “The Mayor of Preston’s Chain”
November 7 Article: “A Memorial For The Centuries. The Craftman’s Ideal In The Mayoral Chain”; Presentation of the Mayoral Insignia
November 10 Notes and Queries – “Old Unitarian Chapels in Preston and Walton- le-Dale” by the Revd. B Nightingale; Articles: “The Mayor’s Day (in Preston)” and “Preston And The Revd. Isaac Ambrose”
November 17 A Prestonian, William Stuart, Sgt. 34th Foot, and his associations with the sieges of Lucknow and Cawnpore during the Indian Mutiny; The Progress of the Post Office Savings Bank in Preston
November 21 A minor mutiny amongst men of the Gloucester Regiment stationed at Fulwood Barracks
November 24 Notes and Queries – Article: “Cannon Street Congregational Church” by the Revd. B. Nightingale – the article contains a long and interesting account of the early development of’ Independency in Preston; Woodacre Wood, Scorton, and its association with the Revd. Isaac Ambrose; Old punishments in Preston
November 28 Commencement of the celebration of the Jubilee of North Road Wesley Methodist Chapel on Saturday, 24th November, 1888 (and subsequent)
December 1 The state of the National Schools in Preston; Notes and Queries – The old Cockpits of Preston, and the old Fishergate Independent Chapel; Fifty years ago – Laying of the Foundation Stone of St. Augustine’s R. C. Church on 19th November, 1838, and details of some memorable Preston murders in the district known as “Irish Rookery”, off Marsh Lane
December 8 Consecration of St. Stephen’s C. of E. Church, Broadgate, on Friday. 7th December, 1888; Notes and Queries – Article “Cannon Street Congregational Church” Continued, by the Revd. B. Nightingale (and subsequent), and further details concerning old Preston Cockpits (and subsequent)
December 12 Placing of the new stone over the grave of Dr. Richard Shepherd in St. George’s Churchyard
December 15 Details of the restoration of Moor Park Wesleyan Methodist Chapel on the occasion of its re-opening on Friday, 14th December, 1888
December 22 Notes and Queries – Article: “Reminiscences of Half a Century Ago” by Graylocks (Thomas Walmsley) and subsequent; Important changes in the production of “The Preston Guardian” – the Wednesday edition to be merged with “The Lancashire Evening Post”
December 29 Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The second anniversary of the Preston Athenaeum Club

1889
January 5 Death, at 1, St. Thomas’s Road, on Monday, 31st December, 1888, and obituary of Thomas Grundy, aged 70, past Provincial Grand Master of the Preston District of the Independent Order of Oddfellows
January 5 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – “Reminiscences of Half a Century Ago”, by Graylocks (and subsequent), and a reminiscence of the Revd. Andrew Carnson, an early Preston Independent minister; Article: “Penwortham”, with an illustration of St. Mary’s C. of E. Church; The rights of a Preston Freeman in 1836 (and subsequent)
January 12 (Supplement) Article: “James Huffman, The Preston Radical”, by Graylocks; “Early Preston Methodism: Its Struggles And Triumphs” – the text of a lecture by William Pilkington, given during the Jubilee Celebrations of North Road Wesley Chapel (and subsequent)
January 19 Consequent upon the opening of the Harris Orphanage on 1st December, 1888, the Preston Orphan Home and School, conducted in the Temperance Hall, North Road, since 1863, closes down, with final services on Sunday, 13th January, 1889; A description of those completed portions of the interior of the Harris Free Library and Museum (and subsequent)
January 19 (Supplement) More reminiscences of early Preston, by Graylocks and “Blue Nose” (and subsequent)
January 26 (Supplement) Correspondence between Henry ‘Orator’ Hunt and James Huffman, the Preston Radical (and subsequent)
February 2 The Chief Constable’s Annual Report on crime in Preston
February 2 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – a Preston murder of 1839; “Early Preston Methodists: Fifty Years Progress at Wesley Chapel” – the text of a lecture given by W. E. Thompson during the Jubilee Celebrations of North Road Wesley Chapel
February 9 Telephonic improvements at Preston
February 9 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – A review of Tom C. Smith’s recently published “History of Longridge”, and details of the sale of pews in St. George’s C. of E. Church in 1799
February 16 Preston North End, “the most famous exponents of association football”, win the first Football League Championship without being defeated during the 1888/89 Season
March 2 Progress in the erection of the Harris Free Library and Museum
March 2 (Supplement) Article: “The Excavations at Ribchester”
March 9 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Formation of the Preston Branch of the Anti-Corn Law Association, and the opening of Wesley Methodist Chapel, North Road, on 22nd February, 1839
March 16 “Old Preston – Its Local Manners And Customs” – a lecture by T. Harrison Myers (and subsequent)
March 16 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – An old Preston inn, The Shakespeare, in the Strait Shambles, and its possible associations with Bonnie Prince Charlie
March 23 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – “Reminiscences of the Old Cockpit”(off Stoneygate), by Graylocks (and subsequent). This is a long and interesting article, extending over many months, containing a treasure of information concerning the temperance movement in Preston, with a great deal of biographical information of the old teetotallers; Memories of John Wood, one of the Members for Preston in 1826 and 1830-31 (and subsequent)
March 30 (Supplement) Article: “Stonyhurst In The 1715 Rebellion”
April 6 Another Ribble Bill comes before the House of Lords (and subsequent)
April 6 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – George Hutchinson, an old eccentric Preston cat fancier, and the launch of the Ribble Navigation Company’s steam dredger; Preston North End, after winning the first English League Championship, complete a memorable “double” by winning the F.A. Challenge Cup Competition without conceding a goal. It was stated that 30,000 people gave the North End an enthusiastic reception when they returned to Preston with the cup.
May 4 Proposed erection of the Co-Operative Society store in Ormskirk Road; Anxieties concerning the insanitary condition of the old river bed (and subsequent)
May 11 The resumption of the hearing of the Ribble Bill before the House of Lords (and subsequent); Death, at 7, Ribblesdale Place, on Thursday, 9th May, 1889, and obituary of John Dewhurst, aged 62, coal merchant, and donor of the Dewhurst Presentation Organ installed at the Public Hall during the 1882 Guild
May 18 The funeral of the late John Dewhurst
May 25 John Dewhurst bequeaths his valuable collection of art paintings to Preston
May 25 (Supplement) Article: “The Harris Orphanage”, with an illustration (and subsequent)
June 1 Town Council discuss the insanitary state of the old river bed, and the disposal of the town’s sewage; Statistics of the Preston C. of E. Sunday Schools; Death, at Leyland, on Friday, 31st May, 1889, and obituary of William Swann, aged 50, eminent Wesleyan Methodist, and a life teetotaller
June 1 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The Incorporation of the Preston Gas Company; Death, at Albyn Bank, on Wednesday, 29th May, 1889, and obituary of the Revd. William Dent Thompson, aged 58, Vicar of St. Saviour’s C. of E. Parish since 1864
June 8 Presentation by Miss Cross, of Myerscough, of two drinking troughs for dumb animals, sited at the junction of Moor Lane and North Road, and at the junction of Stanley Street, Church Street and Ribbleton Lane; Funerals of the late Revd. W.D. Thompson and the late William Swann
June 8 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Interesting temperance reminiscences of Myles Pennington, of Toronto, Canada, an old Preston teetotaller who formerly worked on the Preston – Walton Summit tramway
June 15 Death, at Barton Terrace, on Monday, 10th June, 1889, and obituary of John Clitheroe, aged 68, Wesleyan Sunday School official, and an old respected temperance worker and Friendly Society collector
June 29 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
June 29 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – The Corporate Body of Preston prior to the Corporation Reform Act of 1835 (and subsequent)
July 6 A Local Government Board inquire into the Preston Sewage Scheme
July 6 (Supplement) Article: “Grimshaw Street Congregational Church”, by the Revd. B. Nightingale (and subsequent); Notes and Queries – The old Corporation of Preston, prior to 1835
July 13 (Supplement) Death, at Manchester, on Monday, 8th July, 1889, and long obituary of Charles Hardwick, aged 72, Lancashire historian, a former journalist with “The Preston Chronicle”, a regular contributor to “The Preston Guardian”, and author of “History of the Borough of Preston and its Environs” (1857)
July 20 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Consecration on 26th June, and Opening, on 3rd July, 1839, of St. Thomas’s C. of E. Church, Chartist agitation in Preston, and the demolition of the old Monastery of the Grey Friars which had latterly been used as a prison
July 27 (Supplement) Consecration of St. Mary Magdalene’s C. of-E. Church, Ribbleton, on Monday, 22nd July, 1889
August 3 A Board of Trade Commission is appointed to look into the problems of the Ribble Scheme (and subsequent); A sketch of E. Roscoe Mullins, the sculptor of the Pediment of the Harris Free Library and Museum
August 17 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Graylocks’ reminiscences of Richard (“Dicky”) Turner – the author of the word “teetotal”
August 24 The proposed extension of Horrockses, Crewsdon and Co’s Mill, off Church Street; A high rise in the price of raw cotton creates difficulties and “short time” working in local mills (and subsequent)
August 24 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “The Old Franchise Men of Preston”, the river Ribble standing still for 5 hours, in 1774, and a report of the death, at Cromford, Derbyshire, of Sir Richard Arkwright, in 1792; The first Bath Carriage in Preston. It was stated that the first bath carriage was introduced into Preston on 27th November, 1821, and was operated by J. Croft, from the Legs of Man, opposite the Town Hall; A portrait of Dr. Dee, the Walton-le-Dale necromantic; The discovery of an ancient paveway, 7ft. below the surface of Friargate, between Orchard Street and the Market Place
August 31 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – The cost of the Preston Election of 1818; An important discussion by the Town Council concerning Preston’s unacceptably high death-rate
September 7 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “The Old Franchise Men of Preston” – a sketch of the last eight survivors (and subsequent); Details of the Bailiffs and Mayors of Preston, 1769-1818
September 14 (Supplement) Article: “Unhealthy Preston”
September 21 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The Brown Street murder of 1839; Article: “Leaders of Labour in Lancashire – Thomas Banks of Preston”. Thomas Banks was the Secretary of the Preston Spinners and Minders’ Association
September 28 The Board of Trade opens its inquiry into the Ribble Scheme; A resume of the history of Mill Hill Ragged School on the occasion of its re-opening, after extensive enlargement, on Sunday, 29th September, 1889 (and subsequent); The American “cotton corner” brings about a proposed close down of all the local mills; The Water Supply of Preston – proposed expenditure of £60,000
September 28 (Supplement) Town Council discuss the closing of Swillbrook Lane
October 5 The formation of the Preston (Amateur) Association Football Club
October 5 (Supplement) The placing of a Boulder Stone, a relic of antiquity, in Miller Park
October 12 Optimism for an improvement in the cotton trade
October 19 The Preston Amateur Football Club open their new ground, on the Penwortham side of the river, between the East Lancashire and North Union railway bridges; The Board of Trade’s interim report on the problems of the Ribble Scheme
October 5 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Notes regarding the proposed Ship Canal between Preston and Lytham in 1834
November 2 Opening of extension lines on the Preston – Wyre Railway on Tuesday, 29th October, 1889
November 2 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “Lancaster Road Congregational Church”, by the Revd. B. Nightingale
November 16 Advert – The National Electric Company apply to the Board of Trade for powers to produce, store, and supply electricity in Preston town centre; Miss Bertha Taylor, formerly a pupil at Preston High School For Girls, becomes the first Preston lady to obtain a London University Degree of B.A.
November 16 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Proposals towards the erection of an Institute For The Diffusion 0f Useful Knowledge in Preston
November 23 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
November 23 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – The poetry of the river Ribble, published in 1815, and an old Preston Auction Bill of 1776
November 30 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Graylocks’ reminiscences of Joseph Livesey (and subsequent); Death, at Chepstow, on Monday, 25th November, 1889, and long obituary of Thomas A. Walker, aged 62, contractor for the new Dock
December 7 (Supplement) Article: “The New Church of St. Jude, Preston”, – with an illustration; Article: “The proposed North-West Central Railway”, accompanied by a map
December 14 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “Nonconformity At Hoghton Tower”, by the Revd. B. Nightingale, with an illustration (and subsequent)
December 14 Formation of the Preston Protestant Churchmen’s Alliance, on Monday, 9th December, 1889
December 21 The proposed North-West Central Railway
December 28 A review of the year – local and national
December 28 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Death of the Revd. Roger Carus Wilson, vicar of Preston Parish Church 1817 – 1839

1890
January 11 Article: “The Health Of Preston – A Review Of Sanitary Work” (and subsequent)
January 11 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – The Royal Preston Volunteers in 1798
January 18 Advert: “Gipsy” Smith, the evangelist, announced to preach at North Road Wesley Methodist Chapel
January 18 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Preston Races in 1676 and 1705, and details of the “Four and twenty Sworn Men” at Goosnargh
January 25 Laying of the Foundation Stone at Edward Street Wesleyan Methodist Mission School on Saturday, 18th January, 1890
January 25 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Old Church customs in Preston and the neighbourhood, and notes about Samuel Peploe, Bishop of Chester, vicar of Preston and loyalist at the time of the Jacobite Rebellion of 1715
February 1 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: 50 years ago – The Preston Exhibition of 1840
February 8 Thomas Banks, the respected secretary of the Preston Spinners’ And Minders’ Association, resigns after being associated with the union for 55 years
February 8 (Supplement) “The Story of Lancashire Congregationalism In The Preston District” – the text of a lecture given by the Revd. B. Nightingale
February 15 Thomas Dodd, Magistrates’ Clerk for Preston, resigns after holding the office for 58 years; Death, at Ribblesdale Place, on Friday, 14th February, 1890, and long obituary of Joseph Toulmin, J.P., aged 57, cheese merchant, life-teetotaller, and eminent local public servant
February 22 Funeral of the late Joseph Toulmin, and public references in Preston to his life and service
February 22 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Preston Races and Cockfighting in 1817
March 1 Death, on Friday, 25th February, 1890, and obituary of Thomas Yates, aged 78, watchmaker and jeweller, of Friargate, a life-teetotaller, an eminent Wesleyan Methodist, and the “oldest tradesman in Preston”
March 8 Funeral of the late Thomas Yates; Death, at Freckleton, on Thursday, 6th March, 1890, and obituary of Joseph Jesper, aged 84, retired clothier, and a much respected Quaker who did much in Preston to promote the interests of the poor
March 8 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The local celebration of Queen Victoria’s marriage; Sale of property in Friargate in 1745; “Preston’s High Death-Rate” – the text of a lecture given to the Preston Friendly Societies by James Miller
March 15 The discovery of interesting antiquarian relics in the Fylde (and subsequent)
March 22 A proposed Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Preston
March 22 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Biographical notes concerning the late Thomas Yates; The Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Preston
March 29 Town Council discuss the unsatisfactory sanitary condition of Preston; The collapse of property in the Old Shambles; Statistics of the Preston C. of E. Sunday Schools
April 5 Notices Column – Details of the 1830 Hunt “Elected” Medal; Property in the Old Shambles rendered unsafe and scheduled for demolition; Recognition of the Jubilee of the North Union Railway on Friday, 4th April, 1890
April 5 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty Years Ago – Trade on the Ribble, the Revd. J. Owen Parr becomes vicar of Preston Parish Church, and the Opening of the Preston – Longridge Railway on 1st May, 1840
April 12 The development of the Co-Operative Society in Preston with particular reference to the erection of its new Abattoir, and Bakery, Moor Lane; Reminiscences of early Wesleyan Methodism at Bilsborrow, with reference to John Wesley’s visits there
April 12 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Coronership of Preston and District in 1816
April 19 The proposed Deaf and Dumb Home in Preston, possibly incorporating the Blind Industrial Institute
April 19 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Interesting temperance reminiscences of Myles Pennington, of Toronto, Canada, an old Preston teetotaller
April 26 The commencement of the erection of Pyke’s grain elevator in Arthur Street; The Ribble Bill of 1890 comes before the House of Commons against a background of strong local agitation
May 3 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The fall, during construction, of one of the arches of the Railway Viaduct, Tulketh Brow, the discovery of the Cuerdale hoard of early British coins, and improvements in Ribble navigation; A team representing Preston is invited to join the National Baseball League of Great Britain
May 10 Formation of the Preston and West Coast Steamship Company
May 24 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station; The proposed Deaf and Dumb School, and a new Industrial Home for the Blind in Preston
May 31 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “No Coal Under Preston”
June 7 Advert: The Preston and West Coast Steamship Company announce its new passenger service between Preston and Douglas, Isle of Man, and subsequently to North Wales (and subsequent)
June 14 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The Opening of the Preston – Lancaster Railway on 25th June, 1840
June 21 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “Memorials Of The Civil War In Lancashire And Cheshire”
June 28 Baseball first introduced to Preston on Saturday, 21st June, 1890, Preston North End lost to Derby County in their first game of the English Baseball Championship (and subsequent)
June 28 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “The Unicorn Inn, Walton-le-Dale, And The Cowpe Family”; John Addison, Q.C., M.P., retires as Recorder of Preston and William Houseman Higgin, Q.C., is appointed to succeed him
July 5 Improvements at Preston Railway Station; A provisional Electric Lighting Order made for Preston (and subsequent)
July 5 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Opening of the Preston – Wyre Railway on 15th July, and Opening of St. Augustine’s R. C. Church on 30th July, 1840; Article: “Reminiscences Of A Hand-Loom weaver”, by a Bamber Bridge octogenarian
July 12 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “An Old Preston Newspaper” (“The Preston Journal”)
July 19 (Supplement) A House of Commons’ Select Committee considers the proposed North-West Central Railway
July 26 (Supplement) Article: “A Preston Lady (Madame Helen Lemmens Sherrington) Who Became A Great Singer”
August 2 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “The Black Death In Amounderness In The 14th Century”
August 9 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The formation of the Preston Branch of the British and Foreign Anti Slavery Society on 20th August, 1840, and details of the early success of the local railway services
August 23 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “Memories Of Old Preston” – the article contains interesting reminiscences of old footpaths and causeways in Ribbleton
August 30 Queen Victoria passes through Preston Railway Station
August 30 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Sale of pews in St. George’s C. of E. Church in 1799, and inquiries concerning the debtor’s cage in the old Preston Cockpit
September 27 A proposed Home For Friendless Catholic Girls in Preston
September 27 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – A review of Tom C. Smith’s “History of Ribchester”; Article: “History of The Congregational Churches in the Longridge District”, by the Revd. B. Nightingale; Sanitary improvements and the erection of a second waste destructor at the Corporation’s refuse disposal premises, off St. Paul’s Road
October 4 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “Leyland Congregational Church”, by the Revd. B. Nightingale
October 4 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Progress towards the establishment of the Institution For The Diffusion of Knowledge, and details of trade on the Ribble
October 11 Madame Adeline Patti, “The Queen of Song”, appears at Preston Public Hall on Friday, 10th October, 1890
October 11 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Historical Article: “Walton-le-Dale” – with illustrations (and subsequent)
November 1 (Supplement) Laying of the Foundation Stone of St. Jude’s C. of E. Church on Saturday, 25th October, 1890
November 8 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – The discovery of a huge jaw-bone, possibly of a whale, during the Dock excavations, and the tradition of Fernyhalgh R.C. Chapel and Our Lady’s Well; W. E. Gladstone greets Preston Liberals whilst passing through Preston Railway Station
November 15 Steps being taken towards the formation of a Fabian Society in Preston; First official use of Preston’s new Mayoral Chain on the occasion of the Mayor’s visit to the Parish Church on Sunday, 9th November, 1890; Opening of the enlargement of the Preston Home For Friendless Girls, Cross Street, on Friday, 14th November, 1890
November 15 (Supplement) Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – The disposal of the coins discovered in the Cuerdale Hoard of 1840
November 22 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “The Battle Of Brunanburh” (and Subsequent)
November 29 The collapse of old property in Bolton’s Court (and subsequent)
November 29 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – Article: “The Endowed Charities Of Walton-le-Dale”; Heavy rainfall causes serious local flooding
December 6 Opening of a Reading Room in connection with St. Mary’s Street Wesleyan Methodist School on Saturday, 29th November, 1890; The Chief Constable’s Annual Report on crime in Preston; Notices Column – Details of the Preston – Walton Summit Canal Tramway; Death, at Sussex Street, on Wednesday, 26th November, 1890, and obituary of Mrs. Ellen Sinkinson, aged 91, “the oldest Wesleyan in Lancashire”. Contained in Mrs. Sinkinson’s obituary is a reference to the contribution made by her father, William Cronshaw, of North Street, towards the establishment of Primitive Methodism in Preston
December 6 (Supplement) Notes and Queries – The Preston connections of Thomas Edmondson, the inventor of the railway ticket; Interesting reminiscences concerning Sumner’s Prince Albert Hotel, Fulwood, erected in 1842 against the background of the Chartist Riots
December 13 (Supplement) Historical notes concerning Avenham and the development of Avenham Park; Notes and Queries: Fifty years ago – Samuel Phelps plays Macbeth and Hamlet at the Theatre Royal, and improvements in Ribble navigation
December 27 A severe frost causes the freezing up of the Ribble between the Tram Bridge and Walton-le-Dale. In places there were 20 degrees of frost; H. C. Walton, the successful Preston auctioneer, retires after over 40 years of honourable service to his profession; Article: “Elementary Education In Preston” (and subsequent)

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