Rotherham The Unofficial Website An unofficial website about the Town and Borough of Rotherham

19th Century Rotherham

During 19th Century Rotherham became a town that knew where it was going and moreover had the money to get there. There was a rapid growth in the population. The Census of 1801, which was the first British census, records the total population of the Parish of Rotherham (the Borough did not come into existence until much later) as 8,418, most of whom lived in Rotherham (3070) and Kimberworth (3326). By 1841 the population had risen to 13,539, of whom 5505 lived in Rotherham and 5066 in Kimberworth. By 1901 it had increased to 54349. Ah the reliability of modern statistics!

As the 19th Century progressed Rotherham began to acquire all the advantages of progress. Street lighting, hospitals, railways, improvements to the water supply and the health of the citizens, better education and public parks, even those dens of iniquity called theatres, all helped to improve the lot of the ordinary Rotherhamite. Depending on how you look at it the new Workhouse and the Incorporation of Rotherham as a borough could have been good or bad things.

In 1801 an Act of Parliament was passed enabling the improvement of the market-place. The old Shambles were demolished and a new stone Shambles was erected with 28 shops around the inner courtyard for butchers and fishmongers. Proper slaughterhouses were erected to the west of the market, on the riverbank. After that there was a wave, a tsunami even, of new building in the reign of Queen Victoria. The old Medieval centre of Rotherham disappeared under the wrecking balls of progress. A new jail and courthouse were built in 1826. In 1841 a Corn Exchange and Buttermarket were opened in the centre of the market-place. Industrialisation continued apace together with building of housing for the managers and workers both in the town and close to the town itself and areas like Masbrough and Parkgate. Workers needed to live within walking distance of their employment as there were no cars, buses or trams. Only the wealthy could afford a carriage and you still needed a bit of brass to buy a bicycle or a horse.

The Market Act of 1801 also enacted that every owner of property worth £20pa was appointed a commissioner for cleansing, lighting and regulating the streets. Rudimentary street lighting was introduced with oil lamps on columns lit only in winter and moonless nights. The Rotherham Gas Light and Coke Company was formed in 1833 and gas works was erected on the banks of the Don near Rotherham Bridge. This lasted until the 1970s when works and gas holders were demolished. There were still gas lamps about in the 1950s but I think they might have been converted to electricity by then.

The Rotherham Dispensary was founded in 1806 to treat accident victims within one mile of the parish church. It originally had premises on Wellgate but in 1828 moved into a building in College Street which was erected on the site of the Town Hall. Casualties were treated in situ but patients requiring hospitalisation had to be sent to Sheffield. However the increasing number of industrial accidents led to a demands for a hospital. In 1867 a fund-raising committee was established and the sum of £1000 was received from Miss Elizabeth Nightingale, towards the projected costs of £6000. Doncaster Gate Hospital was opened in 1872.

The railways came early to Rotherham and took away much of the trade from the canals. Pits and Iron and Steel works often had branch lines that ran from the storage yards to the main lines and thus all over Britain.

The People's Park, or Boston Park as it is now known, was formerly the grounds of Boston Castle, which was named after the Boston Tea Party by the owner, the Earl of Effingham. It became a public park in 1876. Clifton Park and House were purchased from the estate of Mr William Owen by the Corporation. The park was opened to the public in 1891 by the Prince of Wales. In 1893 the house became a museum and was opened up to the public. The opening ceremony was marred by an unfortunate incident when Councillor Charles managed to get his legs entangled in the ropes of a hot air balloon, and would have been carried upside down to Huddersfield had not his predicament been noticed by a bystander. Clifton House, the former 18th century home of the Walker family, was opened as the town's museum in 1893.

The Theatre Royal was built on Effingham Street in 1873 to replace the Alexandra. It closed in December 1892. A new Theatre Royal on the corner of Howard Street and Nottingham Street opened on New Year's Day 1894.

Political life in the town had a tendency to be stormy. The first time I read this I howled with laughter for my mother had stressed what a quiet law-abiding town Rotherham had always been. Quiet! Law-abiding! Not in 1833 when they were riots when the Reform Bill was being debated in Parliament. Or in 1865 when there were riots during the General Election. Property was destroyed and the military had to be called out. Or again in 1880 when the Riot Act had to be read out. The Hussars charged and the police joined in, presumably on the side of law and order but one cannot be sure. Anyhow a fine old riot, 'A grand melee' ensued and the police lost control of the situation. Hey ho those were the days! Rotherham had no police force of its own in then and was policed from the West Riding who had a station in the town. There had however been men known as Constables of the Township of Rotherham with various responsibilities for keeping the peace. Only the French do things this way these days – Vive La France! And it looks as if the Iranians have learned a thing or two; Vive L'Iran!

Women burgesses in towns had traditionally been able to vote in or influence local matters. They were finally disenfranchised by the 1835 Municipal Corporation Act which specified the word 'male'. In 1870 the word 'male' was amended to 'person' and unmarried women were allowed to vote locally and became involved in the administration of the Poor Law and sanitation and public health bodies and in 1871 gained the right to sit on school boards. The 1894 Local Government Act extended the franchise to allow married women the right to vote for and sit on local councils. I have not closely examined Rotherham records from this time but those I have looked at seem to have an absence of women until the 20th Century.

Top of Page