Libraries, Museums and Societies.—Manchester is well provided with libraries. The Chetham library, already named, contains some rare manuscripts, the gem of the collection being a copy of the historical compilation of Matthew Paris, with corrections in the author’s handwriting. There is a large collection of matter relating to the history and archaeology of Lancashire and Cheshire, including the transcripts of Lancashire MSS. bequeathed by Canon F. R. Raines. The collections of broadsides formed by Mr J. O. Halliwell-Phillipps, and the library of John Byrom, rich in mystics and shorthand writers, should also be named. The Manchester Free Libraries were founded by Sir John Potter in 1852. There is now a reference library containing about 170,000 volumes, including an extensive series of English historical works, a remarkable collection of books of political economy and trade, and special collections relating to local history, Dr Thomas Fuller, shorthand and the gipsies. The Henry Watson Music Library, and the Thomas Greenwood Library for librarians were presented to the reference library, and the Foreign Library was purchased. Affiliated to the reference library there are nineteen libraries, each of which includes a lending department and reading rooms. The municipal libraries contain in the aggregate over 366,000 vols. There are also libraries in connexion with the Athenaeum, the School of Technology, the Portico, and many other institutions. The most remarkable of the Manchester libraries is that founded by Mrs Enriqueta Rylands, and named the John Rylands Library in memory of her husband. The beautiful building was designed by Basil Champneys; the library includes the famous Althorp collection, which was bought from Earl Spencer. Mrs Rylands died in 1908, and by her will increased the endowment of the library so that it has an income of £13,000 yearly. She also bequeathed her own library.
Manchester possesses numerous literary and scientific associations. The oldest of these, the Literary and Philosophical Society, founded in 1781, has a high reputation, and has numbered among its working members John Dalton, Eaton Hodgkinson, William Fairbairn, J. P. Joule, H. E. Roscoe and many other famous men of science. It has published a series of memoirs and proceedings. The Manchester Statistical Society was the first society of the kind established in the kingdom, and has issued Transactions containing many important papers. The Field Naturalists’ and Archaeologists’ Society, the Microscopical Society, the Botanists’ Association, and the Geological Society may also be named. Manchester is the headquarters of the Lancashire and Cheshire Antiquarian Society and of several printing clubs, the Chetham, the Record, the Lancashire Parish Registers societies. Seven daily papers are published, and various weekly and other periodicals. The journalism of Manchester takes high rank, the Manchester Guardian (Liberal) being one of the best newspapers in the country, while the Manchester Courier (Unionist) has an important local influence. The Manchester Quarterly is issued by the Manchester Literary Club, which was founded in 1862. The success of the Art Treasures Exhibition in 1857 was repeated in the Jubilee Exhibition of 1887. The Manchester Academy of Fine Arts is a society of artists, and holds an annual exhibition in the city art gallery.
Parks and Open Spaces.—There are fifty-three parks and open spaces. The Queen’s Park, at Harpurhey, is pleasantly situated, though surrounded by cottages and manufactories. Philips Park is also attractive, in spite of its close proximity to some of the most densely populated portions of the town. The Alexandra Park has very good ornamental grounds and a fine cactus house with a remarkable collection presented by Charles Darrah. Some of the open spaces are small; Boggart Hole Clough, where great efforts have been made to preserve the natural features, is 76 acres in extent, and was the largest until 1902, when Heaton Park, containing 692 acres, was purchased. It was formerly the seat of the earls of Wilton, and includes Heaton House, one of Wyatt’s structures. In the Queen’s Park there is a museum, and periodical exhibitions of works of art are held. The total area of the city parks is 1146 acres. The corporation are also responsible for four cemeteries, having a total area of 228 acres.
Recreation.—There are nine theatres, mostly large, and eight music halls. The Theatre Royal was established as a patent theatre. When the bill for it was before the House of Lords in 1775 it was advocated as an antidote to Methodism. The Bellevue Zoological Gardens is a favourite holiday place for working people. The Ancoats Recreation Committee have since 1882 had Sunday lectures, and occasional exhibitions of pictures, window gardening, &c. The Ancoats Art Museum was founded to carry out the educational influences of art and culture generally. In addition to works of art, there are concerts, lectures, reading circles, &c. The museum is worked in connexion with a university settlement. The German element in the population has largely influenced the taste for music by which Manchester is distinguished, and the orchestral concerts (notably under Charles Hallé) are famous.
Population.—From a census taken in 1773 it appears that there were then in the township of Manchester and its out-townships 36,267 persons. The first decennial census, 1801, showed the population to be 75,275; in 1851 it was 303,382; in 1901, 606,824. It is not easy to make an exact comparison between different periods, because there have been successive enlargements of the boundaries. The population has overflowed into the surrounding districts, and if all that belongs to the urban area, of which it is the centre, were included, greater Manchester would probably rival London in the number of its inhabitants.
Manufactures and Commerce.—Manchester is the centre of the English cotton industry (for details see [Cotton] and [Cotton Manufacture]), but owing to the enhanced value of land many mills and workshops have been removed to the outskirts and to neighbouring villages and towns, so that the centre of Manchester and an ever-widening circle around are now chiefly devoted not so much to production as to the various offices of distribution. It would be a mistake, however, to regard Manchester as solely dependent upon the industries connected with cotton. There are other important manufactures which in another community would be described as gigantic. Wool and silk are manufactured on a considerable scale, though the latter industry has for some years been on the decline. The miscellaneous articles grouped under the designation of small-wares occupy many hands. Machinery and tools are made in vast quantities; the chemical industries of the city are also on a large scale. In short, there are but few important manufactures that are wholly unrepresented. The proximity of Manchester to the rich coal-fields of Lancashire has had a marked influence upon its prosperity; but for this, indeed, the rapid expansion of its industries would have been impossible.
The Manchester Bankers’ Clearing House returns show an almost unbroken yearly increase. The amount in 1872 was £72,805,510; in 1907 it was £320,296,332; by the severe depression of 1908 it was reduced to £288,555,307. Another test of prosperity is the increase in rateable value. In 1839 it was £669,994; in 1871, £1,703,627; in 1881, £2,301,225; in 1891, £2,798,005; in 1901, £3,394,879; in 1907, £4,191,039; in 1909, £4,234,129.
The commercial institutions of Manchester are too numerous for detailed description; its chamber of commerce has for more than sixty years exercised much influence on the trade of the district and of the nation. Manchester is the headquarters of the Co-operative Wholesale Society, and indeed of the cooperative movement generally.
The most important event in the modern history of the district is the creation of the Manchester Ship Canal (q.v.), by which Manchester and Salford have a direct communication with the sea at Eastham, near Liverpool. The canal was opened for traffic in January 1894. The official opening ceremony was on the 21st of May 1894, when Queen Victoria visited Manchester. The total expenditure on capital account has been £16,567,881. The original share capital of £8,000,000 and £1,812,000, raised by debentures, having been exhausted, the corporation of Manchester advanced on loan a further sum of £5,000,000.
Municipality.—Manchester received a municipal charter in 1838, received the title of city in 1853, and became a county borough in 1889. The city is divided into 30 wards, and the corporation consists of 31 aldermen and 93 councillors. The mayor received the title of lord mayor in 1893. Unlike some of the municipalities, that of Manchester makes no pecuniary allowance to its lord mayor, and the office is a costly one.