WAKEFIELD, a parliamentary borough in the West Riding of Yorkshire, sending one member to Parliament, and containing, according to the last census, 22,065 inhabitants. The town is well built, and excellently situated on a gentle slope rising from the river Calder, which is navigable. Wakefield was in the days of the Saxons a very important place, and during the middle ages ranked as the most populous and thriving town in the West Riding. Many scenes of stirring events in English history occurred
here; for instance, the battle of Wakefield in 1460. The soil around is rich and very productive, and, no doubt, entitled it to the name of "Merry Wakefield," which it bore in former days. From the time of Henry VII. to the middle of last century, the town was much engaged in the manufacture of woollen cloths, but about the latter period, that of worsted stuffs began to flourish, and towards the end of the last century, and in the early part of the present, it became a great emporium for them. For the last thirty years the worsted stuff-trade has declined here, and has for some years been nearly supplanted by the spinning of hosiery yarns for the Nottingham and Leicester trades, for which purpose numerous factories are employed. There is a most extensive trade in corn transacted at Wakefield, and a large portion of that consumed in the West Riding is purchased at the weekly market on Friday. Numerous very spacious corn warehouses are ranged on the banks of the Calder, and by means of its navigation corn is brought by water from the south of England and abroad. A very handsome and commodious Corn Exchange was a few years since erected in the town. Wool also is an article of considerable trade at Wakefield, but not so much so as in years past, when it was the wool-market for the whole of the Riding. Vast numbers of cattle from the middle and northern parts of the kingdom are brought here for sale at the fortnightly fairs held on the Wednesday. In the year 1847, the town was incorporated by charter. The various public buildings connected with the business of the Riding are located at Wakefield, and give considerable importance to the place, viz: the clerk of the peace's office, the office for the registration of deeds, and the House of Correction for the Riding,—the last is a very extensive building formed upon an excellent plan: also the West Riding Pauper Asylum, and a court of quarter sessions. Anciently the grammar school of Wakefield, founded in the reign of Elizabeth, enjoyed a great reputation, and among other famous men educated within its walls, may be particularly mentioned Dr Richard Bentley, Dr Radcliffe, and Archbishop Potter. The parish church of Wakefield is a noble structure, and its conspicuous spire a great ornament to the town. The living is a vicarage. There are also several district churches, besides Roman Catholic and dissenters' chapels. Of late years Wakefield has again begun to prosper, many improvements have taken place, and owing to its corn and cattle market, to which great numbers resort, is now a thriving, and on market-days a bustling town.