LEICESTER, the chief town of the county of that name, 97 miles from London by road, and 103 by railway. It is pleasantly situated in a gentle hollow, on the bank of the River Soar. It is a very ancient town, founded, it is said, by a British king,—the King Lear of Shakespeare,—and was a Roman station, known by the name of Ratae. Afterwards it formed one of the five Danish burghs, or commonwealths. It was a populous city at the time of the Norman conquest. A parliament was held here in the reign of Henry V.; and Richard III., defeated and killed at Bosworth, was buried in a Franciscan convent, which then stood near St Martin's church. The town was at one time fortified, and had a strong castle; but nothing remains of the latter except the mound or earthwork of the keep. The principal streets intersect each other, and contain some good houses: indeed Leicester, as a whole, is a handsome town. The public buildings are,—the Theatre, the Assembly Rooms, the Temperance Hall, the County Lunatic Asylum, the Infirmary, the Railway Station, the Collegiate School, and the Banks, and some of them are very fine edifices. The county jail, situate at a little distance from the town, resembles a baronial castle, having portcullis and flanking towers, and turrets on the boundary walls, which inclose three acres of ground. There are nine churches, chief amongst which are St Martin and St Mary, and twenty-six dissenting chapels. Leicester is the principal manufacturing town in the county; more stockings are made here than in any other English town, with the exception of Nottingham. Yet, when stocking-knitting was first introduced, at the time of the Revolution, it was so unpopular, that it became necessary to carry it on by stealth. The other branches of industry are wool-combing and dye-
ing, and the manufacture of all kinds of fancy hosiery. Steam power is largely used in the town, coal being easily obtained by railway and canals communicating with the neighbouring coal-fields. Leicester contains ten parishes, and some extra-parochial places. It is divided into seven wards, and governed by a town-council, consisting of a mayor, 14 aldermen, and 42 councillors. It returns 2 members to parliament. The population was, in 1821, 31,036; 1831, 40,639; 1841, 50,853; 1851, 60,642.