Irene Preston's Historical Writing
EARLY MANCHESTER - Part Two
In Anglo-Saxon times there was a thegn called Ernard who lived in the
small hamlet of Moseley outside Wolverhampton. After 1066 he called
himself Ernard de Moseley in the style of the Normans. In 1465 Jenkyn
Moseley went to live in Manchester at Hough End near Chorlton. Hof means
a dwelling and ende means a boundary. During the 16th century Edward
Moseley had a large family and two of his sons went into the cloth
trade. Anthony looked after the enterprise in the rural countryside
around their home and Nicholas went to London to export their cloth to
the continent. He was already 50 years old but was very successful and
became Alderman for Aldersgate ward and in 1590 he was county sheriff.
In 1599 he became Lord Mayor of London and was knighted by Queen
Elizabeth I at the age of 72 for his dedication and enthusiasm in
raising 6,000 soldiers and 16 ships to fight against the Spanish Armada.
He later raised 500 men with provisions and ships for Lord Essex during
his war in Ireland. Nicholas bought the manorial rights of Manchester
from his friend John Lacye in 1596 for £3000. Lacye had bought it from
Thomas West, Lord de la Warre. Thomas was made Governor of Virginia and
his name is perpetuated in the naming of Delaware. Nicholas retired to
his estate in Manchester and rebuilt his farmhouse into an Elizabethan
mansion for which the Queen gave him some pieces of furniture. Nicholas
took over his manor and made his brother Anthony his Borough Reeve. He
took office as Sheriff of Lancashire in 1604. Sir Nicholas Moseley died
in 1612 aged 85 and was buried in Didsbury Church. He was the first in a
long line of Moseleys to hold the manor but the town had grown by the
19th century and the old Court Leet was outdated. The rights of the
manor were sold to the Manchester Corporation in 1848 for £200,000. The
family is remembered with the naming of Mosely Street in the town
centre.
In 1573 there were 30 inns often with 10 or 13 rooms and they did not
all brew their own ale as brewing was becoming a profitable business.
Wool was carded and spun, the yarn was woven and the cloth was fulled,
dressed and dyed. It was then marketed and sold at distant towns such as
Stourbridge Fair, Bristol, Southampton, Liverpool and London. There was
an annual fair and a market two days a week around the Market Place
which later became known as the Shambles. In 1596 there was a complaint
against foreigners from Rochdale setting up their stalls in front of the
native's shops, the local people were called natives of the town.
Everyone was allotted their places and the Court Leet appointed officers
to uphold the laws and rules of trade. Piccadilly Gardens, in the town
centre, was originally called Daub Holes as the area consisted of large
quantities of clay which the locals used to cover their walls known as
wattle and daub. This left large holes gradually filling with water and
rubbish. In 1798 Sir John Parker Mosley left money and the land called
Daub Holes to the people of the Town to be turned into a town garden. It
was named Piccadilly Gardens. In the 17th century there was a large
house called Lever Hall close to the clay pit and later several more
houses were built and it became Levers Row. In the 19th century Lever
Hall was sold and turned into a hotel called The White Bear. About the
same time a small group of select Georgian houses were built in front of
the Gardens called Portland Place. When the plans for London Road
Railway Station were made the row of houses were turned into a large
hotel called The Queens and Portland Place was renamed Portland Street
when it was widened and lengthened to join Oxford Street.