Auckland; Messrs. Young, Harrison, and Young, Solicitors, Bishopwearmouth; William Snowball, Esq., Town Clerk of Sunderland; Mr. John Moore, Cambridge Terrace, Bishopwearmouth; Mr. George Lord, Parish Clerk of Sunderland; Thomas William Panton, Esq.; Thomas Thompson, Esq.; Robert Brown, Esq., Solicitor; Mr. William Robson, Portobello Lane, Monkwearmouth; John Maude Ogden, Esq.; Mr. George Garbutt, the first historian of Sunderland, and many other gentlemen, who have kindly lent me their assistance in compiling this work.

Apart, then, from any personal consideration, and to enable me to bring the History and Antiquities of Sunderland, &c., down to the present time, that it may not be found unworthy the perusal and research of posterity, I would earnestly and respectfully solicit the further co-operation of those who have hitherto most generously contributed towards the progress of so arduous an undertaking.

6, Pemberton Street, Bishopwearmouth,

November 1st, 1858.

J. W. S.

HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES

OF

SUNDERLAND,

AND THE PARISHES OF

BISHOPWEARMOUTH AND MONKWEARMOUTH.

DEEM not devoid of elegance the wight,
Who wastes o'er toils like these his taper's light,
And, distant from the noisy haunts of mirth,
Now dries his musty folios on the hearth;
Now turns with trembling touch his tatter'd store,
And sifts the sand, to gain the golden ore:
Not small the skill to fine away the dross,
The unwrought mass to polish and emboss;
Retrace each touch, and all the work refine,
Till the rich metal yield to the design.
Nor small the joy with eager eye to catch
Some clinching date,-

Sharp's Chronicon Mirabile :—Prologue.

UNDERLAND and Bishopwearmouth, on the south

side of the river Wear, with Monkwearmouth on the opposite shore, are connected by a handsome iron bridge, and form one wealthy, populous, commercia! borough and sea-port, pleasantly situated near the confluence of the Wear with the German Ocean: 13 miles N.E. from Durham, 12 miles S.E. from Newcastle, 135 miles S.E. from Edinburgh, and 272 miles N. by W. from London.

They each constitute a separate parish, and the following are the returns of the number of inhabitants in 1801, 1811, 1821, 1831, 1841, and 1851 :

A