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by a company, who kept the concern, in full work
till 1826, when it became the property of one of the
partners, who now retains it: the other, in which Col.
Ward held a share, and of which, on the dissolution
of the partnership by the death of Mr. Hannay, he be-
came sole proprietor, was built in 1804. The number
of persons of both sexes constantly employed in these
two factories varies from 260 to 280: those engaged
in the weaving and sewing branches of the trade being
dispersed over the parish, as well as resident in and
immediately around the town, cannot so easily be
enumerated. Many operatives from Belfast find em-
ployment; and agents have been commissioned by the
Glasgow merchants to get goods manufactured here,
from the superior manner in which the weaving and
sewing are executed. The linen trade is also carried on
to a limited extent, chiefly for home consumption. The
trade of the port is inconsiderable: black cattle, horses,
grain, and flax are exported: the only imports are coal
and timber. The bay is well sheltered, and affords
good anchorage in deep water for vessels detained by
an unfavourable wind and the harbour is capable of
great improvement, although attempts made at the ex-
pense of individuals have failed. A small pier was built
about the year 1760, by means of a parliamentary grant
of £500 to the corporation for promoting and carrying
on the inland navigation of Ireland. The market is on
Tuesday, but is not well attended: the market-house
was built of late years by the lords of the manor. Fairs
for black cattle, horses, and pedlery are held on Jan.
12th, May 1st, Aug. 1st, and Nov. 22nd. The only
toll or custom which appears to have been ever paid
was that of the “tongues” of cattle slaughtered in the
market, which was claimed by the provost, but has been
relinquished. The mail coach runs daily to and from
Belfast. A constabulary police force, and an establish-
ment of the coast-guard in connection with the Donag-
hadee district, are stationed here.
The inhabitants were incorporated by charter of the
10th of Jas. I. (1613), under the style of “The Provost,
Free Burgesses, and Commonalty of the Borough of
Bangor:” the corporation under the charter consists
of a provost, 12 other free burgesses, and an unlimited
number of freemen, with two serjeants-at-mace, but of
whom only one town-serjeant is now appointed. The
provost is elected from and by the free burgesses an-
nually on the Feast of St. John (June 24th), and is sworn
into office at Michaelmas; and the free burgesses are
appointed during good behaviour, as vacancies occur,
by a majority of the provost and remaining free bur-
gesses: there is no separate class of freemen distinct
from the free burgesses. The borough returned two
members to the Irish parliament until the Union, when
the £15,000 granted in compensation for the abolition
of its franchise was awarded in moieties to Henry
Thomas, Earl of Carrick, and the trustees of the estate
of Nicholas, Viscount Bangor: the right of election was
confined to the provost and free burgesses, and the
provost was the returning officer. The charter consti-
tuted the provost clerk of the market and judge of a
borough court of record, to be held every Saturday,
with jurisdiction in personal actions to the amount of
five marks; but it does not appear that this court has
ever been held. Petty sessions are held once a fortnight,
and a manorial court every third Thursday before the
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seneschal, with jurisdiction to the amount of £20, late
currency: the proceedings are by attachment or civil
bill. A court leet is held by the seneschal once a year,
at which constables for the several townlands in the
manor are appointed. The manor is held in moieties
by Viscount Bangor and a member of the same family,
Mr. Ward, a minor, who is the representative of the
Earl of Carrick, a former proprietor. The property of
the corporation consists of several plots of ground lying
in various directions around the town, and containing
altogether 59a. Ir. and 18p., now occupied in very small
lots and at low rents by 43 tenants, and producing a
gross rental of £52. 13. 2. per annum, which is gene-
rally applied to public and useful objects. The limits
of the borough include the town and a small surround-
ing district, locally termed “the corporation,” the
exact boundaries of which are uncertain.
The parish is bounded on the north by the bay of
Belfast, on the east by the Northern channel, on the south
by the parishes of Donaghadee and Newtownardes, and
on the west by that of Hollywood. It contains the
Copeland islands, including which it comprises, accord-
ing to the Ordnance survey, 17,027 statute acres, of
which 12,597¼ are in the barony of Ardes; the greater
part is good arable and pasture land, mostly in excellent
cultivation, especially the extensive estate of Portavo,
and there are several others in the parish little inferior
to it in point of husbandry; the farm-buildings are
neat and comfortable, and the peasantry are of moral
and very industrious habits. The first Parochial Plough-
ing Society in Ireland was established here in 1816, by
the exertions and under the patronage of j. Rose Clea-
land, Esq., from which may be dated the origin of the
North-east Farming Society and the commencement of
agricultural improvement in the North of Ireland. Ban-
gor moss is now nearly exhausted, and is gradually
being brought into cultivation; but there is a large
extent of bog called Cotton, and in the townland of Bal-
low is a small bog, in which were found the skeletons of
several elks, the head of one of which, with the antlers,
measuring nine feet from tip to tip, is preserved in the
Royal Institution at Belfast. Several streams on which
are corn and flax-mills intersect the parish, and there
are three windmills for corn. The neighbouring bays
produce a variety of fish; oysters of large size are taken
in abundance. The surrounding scenery is pleasingly
diversified, and enriched in some parts with stately
timber, chiefly fir and oak; and in the vicinity of the
several gentlemen’s seats are thriving plantations of
beech, sycamore, ash and poplar, of comparatively mo-
dern growth. The principal seats are Ballyleidy, that
of Lord Dufferin, a handsome and spacious mansion
pleasantly situated in a rich and extensive demesne;
Bangor Castle, late the seat of the Rt. Hon. Col. Ward,
surrounded with extensive grounds tastefully laid out;
Crawfordsburn, of W. Sharman Crawford, Esq., M.P.,
pleasantly situated on the shore; Portavo, of D. Kerr,
Esq., in a well-planted and richly cultivated demesne;
and Ballow, of W. Steele Nicholson, Esq., and Rath-Gael
House, of J. Rose Cleland, Esq., both embellished with
thriving plantations. Slate is found in several parts,
but has been only procured in one quarry, which has
not been worked sufficiently deep to produce a quality
capable of resisting the action of the atmosphere. There
are also mines of coal, especially on the estate of Lord