the changing role of fairs in the long eighteenth century: evidence from the north midlands

Economic History Review

, 60, 3 (2007), pp. 545–573

© Economic History Society 2007. Published by Blackwell Publishing, 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 MainStreet, Malden, MA 02148, USA.

Blackwell Publishing Ltd.Oxford, UK and Malden, USAEHRThe Economic History Review0013-0117Economic History Society 20062007

60

3545573Original Articles

THE CHANGING ROLE OF FAIRSIAN

MITCHELL

The changing role of fairs in the long eighteenth century: evidence from the

north midlands

1

By IAN MITCHELL

Despite the recent interest of historians in retailing and distribution, little atten-tion has been paid to fairs. It has often been assumed that by 1800 they weremainly occasions for entertainment. Using a range of sources and focusingmainly on the north midlands, this article argues that many fairs remained sig-nificant during the eighteenth century for agricultural marketing, some busi-ness and financial transactions, and retailing. By the early nineteenth century,rapidly changing economic conditions, coupled with changed attitudes, threat-ened these traditional roles and fairs had to adapt or face inevitable decline.

n 1697 Celia Fiennes, on one of her journeys, glimpsed a small fair inSussex. She wrote that it was, ‘rightly called Beggar-Hill Faire being the

saddest faire I ever saw, ragged tatter’d booths and people but the musickand dancing could not be omitted’.

2

A few years later, Daniel Defoe wroteof Stourbridge fair as, ‘not only the greatest in the whole nation, but in theworld’.

3

He continued, ‘The shops are placed in rows like streets . . . andhere . . . are all sorts of trades, who sell by retale, and who come principallyfrom London with their goods; scarce any trades are omitted . . .’.

4

Stour-bridge was no doubt exceptional even in the early eighteenth century.Moreover, within 50 or so years of Defoe’s description, it was no longerwhat it had been—the rows of shops were increasingly deserted and whole-sale traders used the fair more as a place to take orders and settle accountsrather than to display their goods.

5

Yet if individual fairs were in decline, thetotal number of fairs in England and Wales was increasing in the eighteenthcentury.

6

In 1756 there were nearly 3,200 fairs in around 1,500 differentplaces.

7

Few of these would be like Stourbridge. But how many were likeBeggar Hill? And how many continued to have a significant role in themarketing of agricultural produce, in providing a convenient location for

1

This is a substantially revised version of a paper presented at the 2003 Conference of the Centrefor the History of Retailing and Distribution. I am grateful to those who commented on that paper, andparticularly for the comments of two anonymous referees.

2

Fiennes,

Journeys

, pp. 137–8.

3

Defoe,

Tour

, vol. 1, p. 80.

4

Ibid., pp. 80–1.

5

McIntosh,

Decline of Stourbridge fair

, pp. 7–9.

6

Chartres,

Internal trade

, p. 48.

7

Chartres, ‘Marketing of agricultural produce’, p. 171.

I

546

IAN MITCHELL

© Economic History Society 2007


, 60, 3 (2007)

wholesale and financial transactions, and in bringing exotic goods andraucous entertainment to the town?

8

This article focuses on fairs in thenorth midlands in the long eighteenth century. It offers some evidence ofthe continued economic importance of many fairs for much of the eigh-teenth century, and of the way in which rapidly changing economic circum-stances threatened this by the early nineteenth century.

The period under scrutiny here is of course well after what might beregarded as the great age of fairs when they were key drivers of the inter-national economy,

9

and after they were a primary means of distributinggoods from London to the provinces.

10

But it is before they can be regardedas being in terminal decline, despite Westerfield’s rather gloomy view thatfairs declined before markets and represented a relatively primitive form ofexchange;

11

or indeed the view of Mui and Mui in their pioneering work oneighteenth century shops, where they claim that by the end of the centurythe wholesaling functions of fairs had long since fallen into desuetude.

12

Bycontrast, Cox argues that, ‘The fair was one arena where much of thenetworking between various sectors of inland trade took place’.

13

Coxbelieves that fairs were remarkably resilient to the pressures of new methodsof distribution, and implies that they remained of some—though diminish-ing—significance in retailing and wholesaling throughout the eighteenthcentury. But, as she says, the evidence is elusive.

14

Probably because theevidence is so limited and patchy, little has been written about the role offairs in the rapidly developing distributive systems of eighteenth-centuryEngland. With the exception of toll books recording the trade in horses—and these diminish in quantity and usefulness after the end of the seven-teenth century—there are few records of trading at individual fairs. Yetindirect evidence, for example from household accounts, business accounts,newspapers, and published lists of fairs, suggests that Cox is right in herassessment. This article presents some of that evidence from fairs in sixnorth-midland counties—Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshirein the east, and Cheshire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire in the west. Admit-tedly this is not a natural regional grouping, but it offers a quite large andvaried area. Given that fairs attracted trade from well beyond their imme-diate locality, it is useful to look across conventional regions. Many differenttypes of fairs took place in these counties, including local livestock fairs,specialist fairs such as that for horses at Penkridge, major commercialgatherings such as the Chester fairs, and fairs with a reputation for good(or bad) entertainment—like the Nottingham goose fair. The success of a

8

General works on fairs include Addison,

English fairs and markets

; Cameron,

English fair

; Moore,

Fairs of medieval England

; and Walford,

Fairs, past and present

.

9

Braudel,

Civilization and capitalism

, p. 135.

10

As described, for example, in Willan,

Inland trade

, pp. 123–6.

11

Westerfield,

Middlemen in English business

, pp. 338–9.

12

Mui and Mui,

Shops and shopkeeping

, p. 27.

13

Cox,

Complete tradesman

, p. 194.

14

Ibid., p. 195.

THE CHANGING ROLE OF FAIRS

547



, 60, 3 (2007)

fair was not necessarily linked to that of its local economy—though it mightbe. Some specialist fairs were held in relatively small places yet had nationalsignificance. Some large towns did not have particularly important fairs. Inaddition, it is helpful to look at an area with a variety of types of industryand agriculture. Moreover, the north midlands includes some areas thatexperienced rapid industrialization, as well as established urban centresrelatively unaffected by such change.

The first section of this article offers an overview of the north midlandsarea, sets out some of the quantitative evidence about fairs there, andindicates their main roles. The second section considers in some detail theextent to which fairs continued to perform their agricultural functionsduring the eighteenth century, while the third section looks at some of theirancillary functions. The fourth section recognizes that many fairs were indecline or had changed their character by the early nineteenth century, anddiscusses some of the wider economic and social changes that influencedthis. The final section offers some concluding thoughts on the resilience andadaptability of fairs in this period.

I

A brief overview of the region reveals a variety of farming types. Oversim-plifying considerably, the west (Cheshire, Shropshire, and Staffordshire)was essentially a pastoral area with a mixture of stock rearing and fattening,some dairying, and some horse breeding (in Shropshire and Staffordshire).In the centre of the region, there was some open pasture on the highmoorlands of the Peak, while in the east, farming was more of a mixture ofcorn and stock, again with some dairying in south Derbyshire.

15

Populationgrowth was faster than that for England and Wales as a whole, and especiallyso in the west, apart from Shropshire.

16

There was a mix of established urbancentres such as Chester, Shrewsbury, and Nottingham, and some townsthat grew rapidly with industrialization. Of the established centres, bothChester and Shrewsbury were important because of their trading links withmid and north Wales and as leisure towns. Chester, in particular, was a cityof provincial significance at the beginning of the period. However, bothexperienced relative decline by the early nineteenth century, overtaken insize by such rapidly growing towns as Leicester, Stockport, and Wolver-hampton. Nottingham remained important throughout, and Derby, whichshared some of Chester’s characteristics in the eighteenth century, thoughon a smaller scale, became an important industrial centre in the nineteenthcentury. By the end of the period the largest town in the region (and in thetop 10 English towns) was Wolverhampton, while Stockport had also grownfrom a small market town in the late seventeenth-century to a major textile

15

Thirsk,

Agricultural regions

, ch. 3.

16

Deane and Cole,

British economic growth

, p. 103.

548

IAN MITCHELL



, 60, 3 (2007)

and engineering town.

17

With regard to industry, textiles, including hat, silk,framework knitting, and cotton making were important in east Cheshire, inthe Derwent Valley in Derbyshire, and around Nottingham and Leicester.Pottery was of course important in north and central Staffordshire, andmetal working in the south. There was coal mining across much of theregion. Some of these activities had a very direct effect on urban growth,others—like mining—less so.

The number and distribution of fairs in the region essentially reflectedagricultural activity rather than industrial change or urban growth. Table 1shows changes in the number of places having fairs and in the number offairs, between 1756 and 1824. These figures are derived from Owen’s

Booksof fairs

.

18

There are sufficient changes between each edition of Owen—andeditions came out quite frequently—to suggest that the compilers wereattempting to keep up-to-date with changes in fairs, including dates onwhich they were held, and changes in goods sold. Even so, Owen must havemissed some newly established fairs.

19

Neither is it possible, simply fromOwen, to distinguish a minor fair from a thriving one; only occasionallydoes Owen note that a fair is ‘considerable’ or ‘inconsiderable’. Also, Owenrarely gives information about the number of days a fair lasted, and so aone-day fair is counted as the equivalent of one lasting a week or more. Thefigures need therefore to be interpreted with care. However, it seems rea-sonable to assume that after a reduction in numbers in the early modernperiod from the medieval peak, the post-1660 increase continued in theeighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. This is the case both for thenumber of fairs and the number of places having fairs. Although the overalltrend is clearly upwards, no other obvious pattern emerges. The tendencyis for each place to have more fairs—which is particularly noticeable in

17

Town populations are given in Chalklin,

Rise of the English town

, pp. 77–80; and Langton, ‘Towngrowth and urbanisation’, pp. 16–17.

18

Owen,

Book of fairs

, editions for 1756, 1799, and 1824.

19

For example, in the 1799 edition of Owen in Manchester Central Library there is a manuscriptnote recording two fairs at Wilmslow. These are recorded in the 1824 edition.

Table 1.

Fairs 1756–1824

County

Number of places Number of fairs

1756 1799 1824 1756 1799 1824

Cheshire 15 16 21 41 46 62Derbyshire 18 24 24 60 74 77Leicestershire 14 15 17 31 55 71Nottinghamshire 15 16 16 33 39 37Shropshire 25 27 27 70 80 82Staffordshire 20 31 30 62 98 104

Total 107 129 135 297 392 433

Source:

Owen,

Books of fairs

THE CHANGING ROLE OF FAIRS

549



, 60, 3 (2007)

Leicestershire. But the two western counties (and Derbyshire, which wasone of the slower-growing counties) also experienced a significant increasein the number of places holding fairs.

Table 2 sets this increase in the number of fairs in the context of popu-lation growth.

20

The general and steady decrease in the number of fairs per10,000 people takes no account, of course, of fairs simply getting busier—though there is little evidence for this—or of their being extended over moredays. That may have happened in some places. But even if the actual figuresneed to be read with great caution, there can be little doubt about the overalltrend. Apart from a blip in Leicestershire in the second half of the eighteenthcentury, caused by a sharp increase in the number of fairs held at placessuch as Hinckley, Leicester, Loughborough, and Market Harborough, thenumber of fairs was consistently failing to keep pace with populationgrowth. Moreover, new fairs were just as likely to be established in smallcountry towns as in the growing urban centres.

Some of these new fairs may simply have happened because a locallandowner saw the opportunity for profit but many were established throughthe proper procedure of a royal charter, granted following a local enquiryinto whether the new fairs (and associated market) would harm existingfairs and markets. Examples of this include Frodsham (Cheshire) in thereign of Charles II,

21

Tarporley (Cheshire) in 1705,

22

Winster (Derbyshire)in 1711,

23

Hope (Derbyshire) in 1713,

24

Newcastle-under-Lyme (Stafford-shire) in 1714,

25

Great Neston (Cheshire) in 1728,

26

and Derby in 1733.

27

The procedure for obtaining a grant of a market and fairs could be lengthyand costly. Correspondence between Sir John Crewe and his agent aboutthe new market and three fairs at Tarporley began early in 1704 and was

20

The number of fairs is derived from Owen,

Books of fairs

, and population figures from Deane andCole,


.

21

BL, Sloane MS 856, fo. 26.

22

Cheshire and Chester Archives and Local Studies Service (hereafter CCA), Arderne Papers,DAR/A/9.

23

National Archives, State Papers (hereafter SP), 34/30/52B.

24

PRO, SP, 34/37/101.

25

PRO, SP, 34/37/149 and 151.

26

BL, Hardwicke Papers, Add MS 36128 f.157.

27

PRO, SP, 36/29.

Table 2.

Fairs per 10,000 people

County 1751/56 1799/1801 1824/31

Cheshire 3.8 2.3 1.8Derbyshire 6.0 4.5 3.2Leicestershire 3.4 4.1 3.6Nottinghamshire 3.9 2.6 1.6Shropshire 5.6 4.6 3.6Staffordshire 4.4 4.0 2.5

Source:

Owen,

Books of fairs

; Deane and Cole,


550

IAN MITCHELL



, 60, 3 (2007)

still going on a year later, with a warning that Crewe might lose one of thefairs he was seeking. The cost of obtaining the grant was almost £80.

28

Nordid such grants cease in the mid-eighteenth century. As late as 1822 anenquiry into a request for a grant of a Saturday market and two fairs atRiddings in the industrializing districts of east Derbyshire found that sucha grant could be prejudicial to existing local markets.

29

Thus the quantitative material, such as it is, implies that fairs were stillsignificant in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, even if many ofthem were in gradual decline by about 1800. Traditionally fairs had a rangeof roles in local and regional, and indeed sometimes national, economies.First, fairs were important for the disposal of agricultural surpluses. Thiswas especially so where livestock or agricultural products were moving oversignificant distances—for example the movement of livestock from breedingto rearing areas, or of commodities such as cheese from areas of productionto areas of distribution and final consumption. Second, because fairsinvolved the coming together of people from a wider area than did a weeklymarket, they were convenient occasions for a range of business transactions.These might include the taking of orders, the collecting-in of trade debts,the collection of rents, and the hiring of labour. Some fairs, often thoselocated on or near major transport routes, were, particularly in the pre-modern period, of great national or international significance for wholesal-ing and financial transactions. Third, fairs offered ordinary consumers thechance to buy a range of goods and services that were not available on aday-to-day or week-to-week basis. Such consumers might be those who hadcome to the fair to sell their produce, or they might be the townspeopletaking advantage of the appearance in their town of retailers selling exoticgoods and entertainers offering novel thrills.

30

One implication of thesetraditional roles was that the timing of fairs was likely to be such as to permittraders, whether in farming products or manufactured goods, to plan ajourney from fair to fair in a given locality.

Some of these general points can be illustrated from Owen’s material forthese counties. There is, for example, information about the type of goodssold at fairs. Figures 1 and 2 indicate the main types of goods sold, andshow some differences between the east and west midlands. While livestockpredominated—and indeed was the staple of almost all fairs—cattle andother livestock (mainly sheep and pigs) were relatively more important inthe west than in the east. By contrast, horses were slightly more importantin east midlands fairs.31 Pedlars’ ware features very slightly more promi-nently in east midlands fairs (mainly because Owen hardly records this

28 CCA, Arderne Papers, DAR/A/9, DAR/E/3.29 National Archives, Chancery, Petty Bag Office, Writ Files C 202/210/18 and C202/212/20.30 Fairs are treated in this way in, for example, Braudel, Civilization and capitalism, pp. 82–95 and

Spufford, Power and profit, pp. 95–9. Alexander, Retailing in England, pp. 31–5, applies a similar analysisto fairs in late eighteenth- and early nineteenth-century England.

31 Horses were particularly important in Shropshire fairs—if Shropshire is excluded, the contrastbetween east and west is much more obvious.

THE CHANGING ROLE OF FAIRS 551

© Economic History Society 2007Economic History Review, 60, 3 (2007)

Figure 1. Percentage of fairs at which item sold, by dateSource: Owen, Books of fairs

0

10

20

30

40

Perc

enta

ge o

f fa

irs

Type of item

50

60

70

80

90

Cattle

1756 1824

Other

Textil

es

Pedlar

s' ware

s

Other l

ivesto

ck

Horse

s

Figure 2. Percentage of fairs in 1756 at which item sold, by areaSource: Owen, Books of fairs

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

East Midlands West Midlands

Cattle

Other

Textil

es

Pedlar

s' ware

s

Other l

ivesto

ck

Horse

s

Perc

enta

ge o

f fa

irs

Type of item

552 IAN MITCHELL


category for Shropshire), while textiles were more significant in the west,particularly in Cheshire and Shropshire. Some of these differences mayreflect the way in which the compilers of the Books of fairs obtained theirinformation. But others were no doubt real: the frequent references towoollen and linen cloth at Shropshire fairs clearly reflects local tradingpatterns, as do references to Manchester goods and draperies at Cheshirefairs. Yet significant as local differences could be, the general impression isthat there was a substantial degree of similarity and continuity. What wassold changed little over time, and the overall health of most fairs dependedon a relatively narrow range of products.

Similarly, it looks as though there were local groupings of fairs at certaintimes of the year that, in theory at least, would permit a trader to movefrom one to the next. For example, in the east midlands, fairs in the majorcentres such as Nottingham, Leicester, Derby, Loughborough, and Newarkdid not conflict with each other and sometimes followed on from oneanother. This was the case from the end of April to mid-May, when eachof these centres, except Nottingham, had a fair. In the autumn, Derby’slate-September fair was followed by the early-October Nottingham goosefair and then by a fair at Leicester on 10 October. Something of a similarpattern can be seen in the moorland area around Macclesfield, Leek,Newcastle-under-Lyme, and Ashbourne, with perhaps an extension toDerby. Newcastle, Leek, and Derby had fairs, in that order, in Easter weekand Whitsun week. In addition, it would have been possible to visit Leek,Ashbourne, Newcastle, and Macclesfield in the first half of July; whileNewcastle, Macclesfield, and Leek each had fairs in early November.

II

This section and the next look at how far the theoretical approach suggestedabove assists in an understanding of what was happening in and to the fairsof the north midlands in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.First, were they still significant in the distribution of agricultural surpluses?In addition to what Owen tells us about the goods sold at fairs, the annualpattern of fairs reinforces the view that they were still closely linked to theagricultural economy of particular parts of the region. Figure 3 shows themonthly periodicity of fairs in 1756 and 1824.32 The overall pattern, bothin 1756 and 1824, reflects that described by Chartres in his survey of mid-eighteenth century fairs.33 There is a very obvious peak in May, caused bythe sale of stores, dairy cattle, and young beasts. The peak is even moremarked in 1824 than 1756, perhaps a reflection of the continued impor-tance of fairs for the cattle trade, but their diminishing importance for othergoods. The secondary peak around October is also as found by Chartres,

32 The date of many fairs was linked to moveable Christian festivals. In allocating these to a particularmonth I have assumed that Easter fell at the mid point (6 April) of its possible dates.

33 Chartres, ‘Marketing of agricultural produce’, pp. 185–7.



and is likely to reflect the purchase of winter stores and fat stock. Mostcheese fairs also happened in the autumn. Figure 4 shows monthly period-icity for the eastern and western counties in 1799. Again the spring peak isvery apparent, reflecting the importance of May fairs in the breeding coun-ties of Shropshire and Staffordshire. The autumn pattern is more confused.There is a clear October peak in the eastern counties, reflecting a largenumber of September and October fairs in Derbyshire (mainly for livestock,but some for cheese). But in the west, where manufactured goods andmiscellaneous items may have been more important, the line is relativelyflat from July to November.

Other evidence supports the view that fairs continued to be importantfor the trade in livestock throughout the eighteenth century and well intothe nineteenth century. For example, at the time of the 1749 cattle distem-per, the sale of cattle was banned in fairs in Cheshire as elsewhere. But itwas soon reported that the absence of such fairs was a great inconvenienceto the inhabitants of the county and the restrictions were quickly modified—cattle could be sold in fairs (but not markets), provided the fair was a mileor more away from an infected place and the person bringing the cattlecertified that they were disease free.34 A year later it was said that a similarban in Derbyshire was being flouted by the sale of cattle in ‘passages, lanesand grounds’ near where fairs or markets used to be held.35 Some fairs were

34 CCA, Quarter Sessions Book 1741–49, QJB/20a.35 Derby Mercury, 5–12 Oct. 1750.

Figure 3. The periodicity of fairs, 1756 and 1824Source: Owen, Books of fairs

0

10

20

Month

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Janu

ary

1756

Num

ber

of f

airs

hel

d

1824

Decem

ber

Novem

ber

Octobe

r

Septem

ber

Augus

tJu

lyJu

neM

ayApr

il

Marc

h

Febru

ary

554 IAN MITCHELL


particularly noted for the sale of cattle. These included Leicester, of whichthe Universal British directory said, ‘Smithfield market, on its greatest days,bears no sort of proportion to the beasts shown in Leicester at two or threefairs in the year’.36 Alfreton,37 Belton,38 and Asbourne fairs were similarlyimportant for cattle. Around three-quarters of the income of the fair atStockport in the 1730s came from livestock sales.39

Individual farmers and landowners would trade at several fairs, not alwaysin the immediate locality of their farm. For example, the accounts ofRufford farm in Nottinghamshire in the 1830s record sales and purchasesof cattle at Lincoln, Bawtry, Brough Hill, and Newark fairs.40 A particularlywell-documented example of a small landowner making use of several fairsis that of James Longsdon, who farmed in the Longstone area of Derbyshirefrom the 1770s until the early nineteenth century.41 Longsdon bought leancattle in the spring at several fairs and in private transactions, and sold fatstock in the autumn, occasionally at fairs, but mainly in private transactions.As well as buying at Derbyshire fairs such as Bakewell, Chesterfield, Ash-bourne, Tideswell, Chapel-en-le-Frith, and Hope, and occasionally out of

36 Barfoot and Wilkes, Universal British directory, vol. 3, p. 589.37 Spencer, Complete English traveller, p. 498.38 Ibid., p. 473.39 Thorp, ‘History of local government’, p. 159.40 Nottinghamshire Archives (hereafter NA), Rufford Accounts, DD/SR/235/1.41 On Longsdon, see Chapman, ‘James Longsdon’.

Figure 4. Fairs by month, 1799, by areaSource: Owen, Book of fairs, 1799

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

Janu

ary

East Midlands West Midlands

Month

Num

ber

of f

airs

Decem

ber

Novem

ber

Octobe

r

Septem

ber

Augus

tJu

lyJu

neM

ayApr

il

Marc

h

Febru

ary



the county at Stockport, Macclesfield, and Leek, Longsdon made substan-tial use of the May fair at Lancaster. This was his main source for cattle inmost years from 1788 onwards (see table 3).42 His correspondence oftenrefers to fairs and the state of business at them. For example, he wrote tohis son James at Lancaster on 29 April 1814:

I think this intelligence [the suspension of hostilities with France] at the criticaltime it comes for Lancaster Fair, will have considerable effect, of which I hopeyou will take all the advantages circumstances have left you. I sent you by MrNeedham £260 which I think likely to be enough, but if you should have anopportunity of laying out something further to apparent advantage in the courseof the Fair, take it and agree with Salthouse to send him a Bill which I can easilydo on your arrival at home. Be sure to write by Monday Mail, on accountChesterfield Fair.43

James Longsdon was a shrewd businessman, and there was nothing hap-hazard about his dealings at fairs. His profits from cattle, sheep, and wool

42 Derbyshire Record Office (hereafter DRO), James Longsdon ledger 1786–1811, D3580/EF78.43 DRO, Correspondence of Longsdon family of Little Longstone, D3580/C375.

Table 3. James Longsdon cattle purchases at selected fairs 1787–1811

£ sterling

Year Lancaster Ashbourne Bakewell Chesterfield Hope

1787 Nil 65.9 Nil 17.98 Nil1788 290.35 86.35 9.97 20.3 Nil1789 288.4 Nil Nil 15.25 33.351790 381.67 Nil 28.87 Nil Nil1791 210.57 45.97 Nil 51.67 26.91792 242.15 59.92 18.75 Nil Nil1793 143.82 90.1 34.35 Nil 6.11794 249.27 17.7 11.95 17.57 26.021795 233.67 Nil 23.0 127.6 21.171796 401.32 Nil 10.6 Nil Nil1797 416.0 39.27 Nil 55.87 Nil1798 319.07 Nil Nil Nil Nil1799 210.42 142.85 49.0 Nil Nil1800 392.0 Nil Nil 21.7 Nil1801 393.2 Nil Nil Nil Nil1802 Nil 171.9 36.0 147.6 40.851803 336.37 81.6 26.25 170.36 Nil1804 353.62 Nil Nil Nil 7.61805 507.0 Nil 19.4 43.75 Nil1806 355.4 Nil 51.75 Nil Nil1807 382.7 Nil 20.25 35.0 Nil1808 289.55 Nil 57.2 9.25 Nil1809 Nil 26.35 60.25 144.7 45.951810 Nil Nil 49.9 105.27 58.21811 284.27 Nil 14.6 54.35 51.5Total 6,680.82 827.91 522.09 1,038.22 317.64

Source: DRO, James Longsdon Ledger D3580/EF78

556 IAN MITCHELL


were steadily rising in the period 1786–1811.44 He was prepared to gatherand pass on market intelligence and, if necessary, to decline doing businessat a particular fair, as in 1802 when he attended Lancaster fair as usual butbought no cattle. As a result his local purchases that year were much largerthan usual.

Fairs also remained important for the trade in horses.45 Some of this hadsimilar features to that in cattle, facilitating the longer distance movementof horses between breeding and rearing areas, and often involving specialisthorse dealers. East midlands fairs had a pivotal role in this trade, withmares, fillies, and foals moving westwards towards the breeding areas of thewest midlands while horses, geldings, and colts moved by stages towardsthe south and south east.46 In addition, horses were sold within a localityfor use on farms or in the carrying trades while some fairs also handledprestigious and high-value horses, purchased as status symbols as well asfor use. In the west midlands, Penkridge fair had a national reputation forits horses. Defoe was, ‘supriz’d to see the prodigious number of horsesbrought hither . . . incredible numbers of the finest and most beautifulhorses that can any where be seen’.47 This was where the gentry bought andsold, and where London dealers could be found. Prices of £30 or more ahorse could be recorded.48

The horse trade is of course well documented from the sixteenth centuryonwards because of the requirement for all sales to be recorded. A substan-tial number of toll books survive, particularly for the seventeenth century.These record the name and place of residence of the buyer and seller, aswell as details of the horse sold. It is generally accepted that toll booksbecome less comprehensive in the eighteenth century, with many moretransactions taking place outside fairs. But the overall pattern of trade wasprobably not very different from that described by Edwards for the seven-teenth century, albeit on a reduced scale. For example, at Pleasley fair onthe Derbyshire–Nottinghamshire border, there were up to 40 transactionsat the spring fair in the early eighteenth century, but only 20 or fewer bythe 1730s and 1740s. Again buyers and sellers generally came from Derby-shire, Nottinghamshire, and Yorkshire, with an occasional purchaser fromLincolnshire and Northamptonshire. Some dealers seem to have attendedthe fair, such as William White from Rutland and William Andbury fromWarwickshire in 1730. Prices for a horse could start at £1.10 s. to £2, andvery rarely exceeded £10.49 Staffordshire had quite a reputation for itshorses and its fairs, though again in most cases sellers only travelled shortdistances and many transactions would have been between local farmers.50

44 Chapman, ‘James Longsdon’, p. 268.45 Edwards, Horse trade, is the classic study of the horse trade and horse fairs.46 Ibid., p. 38.47 Defoe, Tour, vol. ii, p. 78.48 Edwards, ‘Horse trade in Staffordshire’, p. 45.49 John Goodchild Collection, Wakefield, Pleasley Fair, Toll Book, 1661–1743.50 Edwards, ‘Horse trade in Staffordshire’.



Rugeley fair, for which a late-eighteenth century toll book survives, mayhave been typical. In the 1760s and 1770s, up to 20 transactions would berecorded at the June fair, with buyers and sellers mainly from Staffordshire,but with some from Cheshire, Derbyshire, Shropshire, and Warwickshire.51

A similar register for the 1810s records seven transactions in 1812, one in1813, and three in 1815.52 As with buying and selling cattle, landedfamilies might use a range of fairs to deal in horses—for example, BenjaminSmith was acting as agent for the Portlands at Nottingham, Horncastle,Lincoln, and Mansfield fairs in the 1820s.53

The region included some important dairying areas in Cheshire, northStaffordshire, and south Derbyshire. Cheshire cheese, in particular, had asignificant national market. The marketing of cheese had become quitesophisticated by the mid-eighteenth century, with cheese factors having amajor role in the trade. Cheese fairs, however, were also important. Owenrefers to the sale of cheese at a number of fairs scattered throughout theregion, though particularly in the east midlands and Shropshire, and occur-ring mainly between August and October. Among these were Derby’s Sep-tember cheese fair held from 1733 onwards in the Market Place and tollfree.54 Cheese was also sold at the Chesterfield September fair—a ‘goodshow’ was reported in 1772.55 On the other hand, in spring 1826 it wasreported that, ‘The Ashbourne cheese fair was so unfavourable that mostof the Farmers determined to take the chance of the Derby fair in thefollowing week, unfortunately that proved to be the worst of the two’.56 TheDerbyshire cheese factors, Kettle and Francis, were attending the autumnfairs at Derby, Loughborough, Nottingham, and Leicester in the 1790s and1800s.57 Clearly much cheese was sold in private transactions betweenfarmers and factors, with the factors often believed to have the upper handin these transactions. Thus it was said that in the early nineteenth centuryhalf the cheese produced in Derbyshire was delivered to cheese factors inSeptember, with the price not being fixed until two or three months later,depending on what happened at the fairs.58 The prevailing view remainedthat trading in open market or fair tended to protect the interests of thedairy farmers, and even as late as 1818 there was a move in Uttoxeter toestablish three annual cheese fairs in March, September, and November.59

By contrast with the east midlands and Staffordshire, the Cheshire cheesetrade seems largely to have by-passed fairs from an early date. While someof the cheese for local consumption would undoubtedly have been sold at

51 Staffordshire RO (hereafter SRO), Paget Family Papers Miscellaneous, Rugeley Fair Book,1767–1787, D603/X/1/8A.

52 SRO, D603/X/1/9.53 NA, Portland Papers, Benjamin Smith Accounts, DD/P/6/9/66/2-4.54 Derby Mercury, 19 July 1733.55 Creswell’s Nottingham Journal, 26 Sept. 1772.56 DRO, Fitzherbert of Tissington, Letter from J. Beresford, D239 M/E 4252.57 DRO, Wilkes and Kettle Cheese Factors, Account Book, 1790–99, D2444/1.58 Farey, General view, vol. 3, p. 63.59 SRO, Sneyd-Kynnersley of Loxley, Uttoxeter Market, D 1733/C1/28.

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fairs, that destined for London was bought directly from dairy farmers byfactors acting either on their own account or as agent for a London cheese-monger.60 One example of a Cheshire-based cheese factor was GeorgeSalmon of Nantwich. In 1731 Salmon was asked by the London cheese-mongers Abraham Daking and Hector Mandsley to buy 200 tons ofCheshire cheese for them. He agreed in March that year to purchase fivetons at 30 s. a hundredweight from a Cheshire dairy farmer, Hugh Eyresof Wistaston, but as was the usual custom, did not reveal whether he wasacting on his own account or for someone else. Eyres claimed that nodefinite agreement was made about the delivery of the cheese, but that heusually delivered cheese at his own expense to Frodsham or Chester. WhenSalmon had not returned by the beginning of May, Eyres assumed that thecontract was void and sold the cheese, at 31 s. a hundredweight. Eyresargued that because cheese lost weight over time, the delay between theinitial contact and the final weighing usually worked in favour of the pur-chaser.61 It was frequently alleged in the eighteenth century that cheese-mongers and factors, because of their control over the trade, were able todrive hard bargains with dairy farmers, and that more open and fair mar-keting arrangements were desirable.62

One further example of an agricultural product that was important atsome of the fairs in the region was hops. Hop growing tended to be quitelocalized, while brewing remained a seasonal industry. Thus hop marketingwas often able to fit into the pattern required by an annual fair. Worcesterand Chester were particularly important fairs for the north and west ofEngland, with the Chester fair significant for the fixing, and often lowering,of prices.63 In 1705 the latter city’s Assembly decreed that the fair for hopswas to be kept under the Common Hall.64 But trading also took place ininn yards—and could be a profitable business for the owner. In 1744 PeterLeadbeater agreed to lease the Blossoms Inn to one William Adgett. Adgettwould pay £34 for the first year and have the benefit of the hop yard, and£14 for subsequent years with Leadbeater having the benefit of the hopyard.65 The Chester Chronicle recorded a substantial quantity of hops offeredfor sale in October 1775, though there were said to be few hops in 1812.66

Toll records from Ludlow similarly imply a falling off of the trade at the fairin the last third of the eighteenth century.67 But trading did not disappearaltogether, and in the east midlands, Retford in Nottinghamshire had a hop

60 On the Cheshire cheese trade, see Foster, Cheshire cheese and farming.61 PRO, Palatinate of Chester, Exchequer Paper Pleadings, Chester 16/125.62 H. of C. Journals, XXIII (1738), pp. 69, 96, 140; Wimpey, Thoughts upon several interesting subjects,

pp. 39–40.63 Mathias, Brewing industry, pp. 496–9.64 CCA, Chester Assembly Minutes, 16 Aug. 1705, A/B/3, fo. 136.65 PRO, Palatinate of Chester, Chester 16/132.66 Chester Chronicle, 16 Oct. 1775; Macclesfield Courier, 11 July 1812.67 Shropshire Archives (henceforth SA), Ludlow Borough, Toll books of fairs, 1733–1804,

LB/7/1053–56.



fair, at which Peter Stubs of Warrington was buying in the 1790s,68 and atwhich hops from Rufford were being sold in the 1830s.69

III

If fairs remained important into the nineteenth century for the distributionof livestock and some agricultural products, what about their more generalrole in facilitating financial transactions and wholesaling? Some of thesefunctions, such as the collection of rents or the hiring of labour, were likelyto be directly related to the agricultural cycle. Periodic activities such asthese were well suited to fairs, and it is hardly surprising if some of themcontinued into the nineteenth century. In other instances, however, the fairseems to have been essentially a convenient large gathering where manu-facturers and their customers could meet on a periodic basis to settleaccounts and give or receive orders. Although examples of this are welldocumented in the early eighteenth century, and in some cases much later,transactions of this type were increasingly anachronistic as more regularcommercial contacts became the norm. The large wholesale fairs, of whichStourbridge was the classic example, were also at risk from newer forms oftrade. Indeed, it is perhaps surprising that some of them survived as longas they did. However, a good location on an important communicationsroute, coupled with a continuing sense of the fair as a major civic occasion,meant that some such fairs continued into the nineteenth century. TheChester linen fairs were a prime example of this.

The north midlands region provides a range of examples of the role offairs in commercial and financial transactions and wholesaling. Rents werefrequently collected at fairs. For example, in the early eighteenth centurySir Philip Gell used the October Tideswell fair in the high peak of Derby-shire to collect rents from tenants scattered across that area, no doubt takingadvantage of some of them having just sold livestock at the fair.70 Rents dueto Pembroke College, Oxford, for properties in Derbyshire were collectedat the September Chesterfield fair in the 1750s.71 Hiring fairs are notmentioned all that frequently in this region, though an annual statute fairfor hiring men and women servants in husbandry was advertised at Alfretonin Derbyshire in October 1784. Young people were promised suitableencouragement and some entertainment.72 The role of midlands fairs asvenues for settling accounts is particularly well illustrated for the earlyeighteenth century by the activities of the Darbys of Coalbrookedale. In the1730s Richard Ford and Abraham Darby made regular business journeysto contact customers and collect money owing. Chester, Wrexham,

68 Ashton, Peter Stubs of Warrington, p. 75.69 NA, DD/SR/235/1, fo. 128.70 DRO, Gell Family of Hopton, D258/5/1/6-7.71 DRO, Pashley Collection, D267/37/4/1-6.72 Derby Mercury, 21–8 Oct. 1784.

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Bridgnorth, and Stourbridge (Worcestershire) fairs were regular ports ofcall, and money collected at these was vital for company cash flow.73 Fordoccasionally reported on trading conditions in his letters to Thomas Gold-ney. For example, he wrote on 30 June 1733, ‘I am now arrived fromChester fair, where was great complaint for want of money, & Tradeinggenerally dull, though in our way of Business we had our Share, both ofCash & orders’. In March the following year he wrote that the cash receivedat Wrexham, Chester, and Stourbridge fell well short of his expectations.Shortage of cash at the fairs was a regular complaint, as in July 1734 whenFord wrote, ‘On my journey to Chester I found a general complaint forwant of cash amongst Tradesmen. I believe there was not near half thenumber of people in the fair as I have seen. I collected about £280 whichwill not discharge the quarterly payment’. Fairs could also be an opportu-nity for obtaining business intelligence, as was the case in September 1736,when Ford wrote that while at Chester he discovered that a competitorcompany at Prescot in Lancashire was planning to cut prices substantially.74

Even at the end of the century, some industrialists still found fairs usefulfor settling accounts, as well as providing an outlet for goods. Peter Stubs,the Lancashire file maker, was using fairs in these ways in the 1790s.75 TheCheshire entrepreneur Samuel Oldknow, who included lime kilns at Marpleamong his business interests, expected in the 1790s that his customerswould settle their accounts and place orders at the Navigation Inn duringthe April and November Marple fairs.76

The Chester fairs, and particular the linen fair, offer the prime examplein this region of a major wholesale fair that continued into the nineteenthcentury. As Holland wrote in 1808, ‘On the whole it may be presumed thatthere are few fairs in the kingdom more considerable, or more generallyfrequented, than those held in Chester; though I understand that they arenot so well attended now as formerly’.77 The July and October Chester fairseach lasted 14 days and their main business was the sale of Irish linen;muslins and other Lancashire goods; Yorkshire woollen cloth; flannel fromWales and Lancashire; hardware from Sheffield and Birmingham; and hopsfrom Kent, Sussex, and Worcestershire.78 Trading took place in purpose-built halls, the last of which, the Commercial Hall in Union Street, wasopened at the July 1815 fair.79

The Chester linen fairs were the meeting point for the Irish linen mer-chants and English buyers.80 Transactions took place in a specially builtlinen hall. In 1743 William Smith of Chester leased shops in the newly built

73 SA, Coalbrookdale Company, Cash Book, 1732–1749, 6001/331.74 Ironbridge Gorge Museum and Library, Ford/Goldney Letter Book, 1732–1776, Lab/ASSOC/10.75 Ashton, Peter Stubs of Warrington, pp. 55, 100.76 Manchester Central Library, Miscellaneous Oldknow Papers, MISC 94/4.77 Holland, General view, p. 313.78 Lysons and Lysons, Magna Britannia, vol. ii, pt. 2, pp. 603–5.79 Hemingway, History of the city of Chester, vol. 1, pp. 418–19.80 Gill, Irish linen industry, pp. 176–86.



linen hall to 13 traders from Dublin and one from Liverpool. The shopswere to have counters, benches, and window lights—the lessees wereresponsible for maintaining the glass windows. More shops were leased in1746 and again in 1749.81 It was claimed in 1760 that up to £75,000 ofIrish linen was sold at a single Chester fair.82 A new linen hall with over 100shops was built in the mid-1770s. Again these shops were leased to Irishlinen merchants. The trade probably reached its peak in the 1770s and1780s, but then declined steadily as Liverpool became a more importantport of entry, and fewer transactions were channelled through fairs. Thisdecline had an impact on the new linen hall. Between one-quarter and one-third of the shops were unoccupied in the 1790s and 1800s, and the amounttaken in rents fell slowly until around 1810 and then dropped sharply (seefigure 5).83 Nevertheless, the Chester fairs retained some importance forcloth in the early nineteenth century. The Macclesfield Courier reported ofthe July 1812 fair:

Irish linens were, if any thing, cheaper than at the last October fair. Lancashireand other calicoes run from 8d to 1s 6d per yard—the latter of a very superiorquality; printed from 10d to 2s and 2s 6d. Scotch goods, calicoes, ginghams arein abundance. Welsh flannels are but a scanty supply.84

81 CCA, Lee, Bygott, and Eccleston Collection, Leases 1743–1776, DLB/1548/Chester.82 Publicola, Reasons for and against lowering the gold and silver, p. 10.83 CCA, Account Book of the Proprietors of the New Linen Hall, G/Mc/11.84 Macclesfield Courier, 11 July 1812.

Figure 5. Chester linen hall rents, 1783–1814Source: CRO, Account book of the proprietors of the new linen hall, G/Mc/11

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Moreover the fairs continued to matter to the Irish linen merchants. InOctober 1815, 12 of them petitioned for an extension to the fair at whichthey had arrived late because of bad weather.85

Large fairs such as those at Chester were also those where retail tradingwas likely to remain important. If fairs traditionally led to a flow of moneyinto the countryside and agricultural sector of the economy as produce andlivestock were sold, so they also offered the opportunity for that money toflow quickly back to urban traders and entertainers as those with cash intheir pockets spent it on specialist or luxury goods, or just on having a goodtime.86 It was still possible in the early to mid-seventeenth century for thefair to dominate a town’s retail trading during the period it was held. Thusit was claimed in the mid-seventeenth century that it had previously beenthe custom of many Nottingham shopkeepers to close their shops duringthe eight days of the fair at Lenton. Some disputed this, arguing that it wasonly those who were actually trading at the fair who shut their shops in thetown.87 In any case, by the 1650s this sort of subservience by shopkeepersseemed anachronistic. More common was the appearance of iterant tradersat fair time, ranging from the man with a pack to substantial retailers whoused fairs as a way of extending their range of customers. One of the former,who was apprehended at Chesterfield fair in 1661 on suspicion of felony,had a variety of cloths in his hawking bag, as well as buttons, needles,children’s rattles, combs, and thimbles in his trunk.88 Even though perma-nent retail shops were becoming more widespread and better stocked bythe late seventeenth century, fairs remained useful occasions for buyingmore unusual goods. Nicholas Blundell of Little Crosby in Lancashirerecorded in his diary that in 1710 various items including starch, corks,pins, a drinking horn, capers, and anchovies were bought for him at Chesterfair.89 Elsewhere in Cheshire, a list of tolls for fairs and markets inMacclesfield in the 1750s includes references to clothiers, linen drapers,ginger bread standings, pewterers, brasiers, breeches makers, glovers, hat-ters, coopers, cloggers, puppet shows, comedians, ballad singers, and quackdoctors, among many others.90 The toll paid on a fair day was generallyslightly more than on market day. There seems to have been a similar rangeof stalls at Stockport in the mid-eighteenth century, again with higher tollson fair days.91

London and provincial retailers frequently opened shops at fair time inChester and elsewhere. For example, in Derby an upholsterer, John Walker,announced in 1740 that he would be at the Wheat Sheaf as usual during

85 CCA, Chester Assembly Files 1811–1818, AF/60.86 Spufford, Power and profit, pp. 96–8 describes this circular flow of money in the context of medieval

fairs.87 PRO, Exchequer Depositions by Commission, E134/1653/Easter6.88 NA, Portland Papers, Inventory of William Johnson, DD/4P/68/9.89 Blundell, Great diurnal of Nicholas Blundell, p. 260.90 CCA, Earwaker Collection, Macclesfield Papers, CR63/2/341.91 Thorp, ‘History of local government’, pp. 160–1.



the Cheese Fair with a wide range of upholstery goods. In Chester in 1751traders from London included William Lloyd, linen draper, and ThomasMinshull, a pottery and china seller, who advertised that he would be atMr Maddox’s cork cutters shop.92 A shop lease of 1748 referred to theManchester Row in Eastgate Street ‘where Manchester tradesmen usuallytake shops for exposing their wares and merchandizes to sale at the time ofthe Fair’.93 In 1766 one Zephaniah Kinsey of Bristol, a linen draper, kepta shop in the Eastgate Street (the heart of Chester’s shopping district)during the July fair. He hired a 13-year-old boy, James Lunnard, to takecare of the shop. Lunnard witnessed the theft of muslin from the shop bya Mrs Ann Wilson, the wife of a chapman from Whitehaven—presumablyalso attending the fair.94 In the same year, but this time in October, a MrsElizabeth Neal from Liverpool reported a theft of a parcel of spectacles,buttons, and combs from her stall.95 Robert Preston, a goldsmith andjeweller from Liverpool, traded in Eastgate Street during the 1785 Julyfair.96 The number of such visiting retailers was probably falling as thecentury progressed; an advertisement in October 1803 for an EastgateStreet shop available for letting during the forthcoming fair perhaps indi-cates an excess of premises over visiting traders.97 For the native Chesterretailers, the fairs could be an opportunity for increased business, both retailand wholesale. For example, in 1775 Edmund Bushell of Eastgate Streetadvertised that he had added to his stock of fancy and plain silks for theJuly fair.98 In 1785 John Cook, cabinetmaker, advertised a large quantity ofready-made household furniture for sale during the October fair.99 Somecountry shopkeepers must still have been buying at the fairs in the earlynineteenth century—though this may have been increasingly for very spe-cialized goods. Richard Taylor, a music and musical instrument seller ofBridge Street, advertised in October 1804 that, ‘Tradesmen from Wales,who attend the Fair, will meet with fresh Violin and Harp strings, uponadvantageous terms’.100

Retail trading was not just a feature of the largest fairs such as that atChester. A new fair (described as a ‘meeting’) was advertised in March 1738at the Cheshire village of Prestbury. Goods to be sold there would includebrass, pewter, and bedding.101 Many small town and village fairs must havehad similar goods on their standings. Growing towns in the industrializingparts of the region offered other opportunities. When a meeting for the sale

92 Adam’s Chester Courant, 24 Sept. 1751.93 PRO, Palatinate of Chester, Chester 16/133.94 CCA, Chester Quarter Sessions Examinations, 1766, QSF/15/62 and 106–107.95 CCA, Chester Quarter Sessions Examinations, 1766, QSE/15/110.96 Adam’s Weekly Courant, 5 July 1785.97 Cowdroy’s Manchester Gazette, 8 Oct. 1803.98 Chester Chronicle, 3 July 1775.99 Adam’s Weekly Courant, 4 Oct. 1785.

100 Chester Courant, 9 Oct. 1804.101 Adam’s Chester Courant, 29 March 1738.

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of horses was advertised at Burslem in June 1785, it was said that Burslemwas a very populous place and that a great number of buyers would attend,thus providing good selling opportunities for dealers in woollen cloth andsimilar goods.102 In Cheshire, Northwich fair was still noted in the 1820sfor the range of Manchester, Yorkshire, Birmingham, and Sheffield goodson sale. These were displayed in the Yorkshire buildings, comprising 100 ormore shops.103 Just over the Mersey at Warrington, two enterprising indi-viduals developed new facilities for those attending the fairs in the 1810sand 1820s. The ‘New Yorkshire Cloth Hall and Commercial Bazaar’ hadover 30 small shops, which were let at fair times to those attending the fair,but occupied by others for the rest of the year.104 This, and perhaps theUnion Hall at Chester, built in 1809 and containing 60 single and 10 doubleshops, as well as an upper storey occupied by the stalls of the Yorkshireclothiers, seem to represent something of a link between the traditional fairand the more modern bazaar.105

Those who came to enjoy the fair expected to be entertained as well asto purchase goods. Such entertainment could be quite sophisticated, suchas the plays at Preston fair in 1688 or the performances by the travellingtheatre at Salisbury in 1744.106 On the other hand it might be, ‘A living cowwith 6 legs and a Bunch upon her Back somewhat like that of a Cammel’that Dr Richard Wilkes of Willenhall went to see at Wolverhampton fair in1736.107 Nottingham goose fair had long had a reputation for entertainmentas well as for the sale of cheese, livestock, and all sorts of other goods.108 Aseventeenth-century broadside ballad tells the story of some Derby girlstaken there and duped into paying for cakes, ale, and cider, after the menthey were with had vanished from the scene!109 The Derby Mercury recordedthat the ringing of bells ushered in the day of the statute fair at Alfreton in1784. There was a sheep roast, plenty of ale, and an (unsuccessful) attemptto launch a balloon.110 At the fair the following year there was wrestling,and, this time, a successful balloon launch.111 Also in Derbyshire, a newspring fair for cattle at Weston-on–Trent in 1814 was advertised as providinga range of amusements, including climbing the pole, pudding eating, bearand badger baiting, prize fighting—and the seemingly inevitable balloon.112

Fairs remained important in the cultural life of the poor in the eighteenth

102 Derby Mercury, 26 May–2 June 1786.103 Pigot & Co., Directory, p. 47.104 CCA, Greenall Papers, DGR/A/33/4.105 Hemingway, History of the city of Chester, vol. i, p. 419.106 Borsay, English urban renaissance, p. 143.107 SRO, Journal of Dr Richard Wilkes, 1736–1738, D5350, p. 26.108 For a history of the goose fair, see Wilkes, Great Nottingham goose fair.109 BL, Roxburghe Ballads, 2.554.110 Derby Mercury, 18–25 Nov. 1784.111 Derby Mercury, 24 Nov.–1 Dec. 1785.112 Derby Local Studies Library, Broadsheets, box 19.



and early nineteenth centuries, despite the attack on many forms of popularentertainment.113

IV

Fairs in this region continued to perform their traditional functions at leastinto the early nineteenth century. They were, of course, doing this alongsideother institutions and means of trading, and were of diminishing impor-tance. But they were still too important to be neglected, and were often ableto adapt to changing circumstances. However, it is clear that by the earlynineteenth century (and in some cases earlier) many were struggling andwould either change significantly to survive, or would fade away. It isrelatively rare to find good records of tolls taken at fairs, but where theyexist they tend to confirm this picture. For example, at Stockport, incomefrom the fairs fell from over £10 a year in the 1730s to £3 or so in the1780s, even though Stockport was a rapidly growing town.114 At Ludlow(see figure 6) tolls, particularly for standings, declined steadily during theeighteenth century. Although all types of business were probably driftingaway from the fair, general retail trade was most vulnerable.115 A morebroken sequence for Tamworth (see figure 7) shows relative stability formuch of the first half of the nineteenth century, though at a fairly low levelof income, and then a sudden drop until expenses exceeded income.116 Thealmost total absence after the end of the eighteenth century of toll booksrecording horse sales is likely to be a further indication of the diminishedimportance of fairs in this trade, except where a specialist fair continued toflourish. Moreover, once a fair began to falter it could easily go into rapiddecline as traders saw less and less point in attending. This may havehappened at Norton St Philip in Somerset, where over-zealous insistenceon tolls also probably contributed to the rapid decline of the cloth fair the1740s and 1750s.117

There are a number of likely reasons for the decline of fairs. These arepartly to do with changed economic circumstances, and partly to do withattitudes. Because fairs were by their very nature infrequent, they were likelyto be squeezed out by other ways of trading once production, distribution,and consumption became essentially regular rather than periodic activities.All fairs were affected by the shift to more frequent and perhaps smallerindividual transactions, with greater use of specialist intermediaries and thewider availability of financial institutions. Even the most famous fairs could

113 See Thompson, English working class, p. 444; and Cunningham, Leisure, pp. 25–35 on leisureaspects of fairs.

114 Thorp, ‘History of local government’, p. 159.115 SA, Ludlow Borough, Toll books of fairs, 1733–1804, LB/7/1053–56.116 SRO, Tamworth Parish Records, Miscellaneous, Toll Book for Tamworth Fair, 1805–52,

D3773/9/1.117 Brett, ‘Fairs and markets of Norton St Philip’, p. 175.

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Figure 6. Tolls at Ludlow Fair, £sSource: Shropshire Archives, Ludlow Borough, toll books of fairs, LB/7/1053–56

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face rapid decline. In the late eighteenth century it was reported thatStourbridge fair had been declining for the past 20 years, and the reasonsgiven included the increased ease of communication, the greater use ofcommercial travellers, and the tendency of smaller shopkeepers to buydirect rather than at third or fourth hand.118 It was also said that visitingretailers took shops in the town at fair time, rather than booths at the fair.119

Livestock fairs, where there would always be a link to the natural rhythmof the farming year, were least affected by these changes. Even so, they werenot exempt. Pigot & Co.’s 1828 Directory, in recording fairs at Ashbourne,commented that ‘some of these may be more properly designated largemarkets for horned cattle, sheep, horses, pigs etc’.120 Indeed where therewas a solid foundation of local trading in livestock, fairs could develop intoregular but infrequent livestock markets. This happened, for example, atBakewell, Ashbourne, and Chapel-en-le-Frith in Derbyshire. In Chester,new fairs, again essentially infrequent markets, were established in thenineteenth century for the sale of livestock and provisions such as cheese,bacon, and butter.121 By 1850 the linen hall was being used as a cheesemarket on the first day of the now six annual fairs taking place in Chester.122

The decline of the Chester wholesale fairs was commonly attributed tomajor changes in the way that business was conducted. Hemingway, writingin the early 1830s, noted that trade in the linen hall had recently declined,and that few shops were now let there.123 He commented that at one timewholesale dealers had done much business in the first two or three days ofthe fairs, supplying shopkeepers. But by the time he was writing, retailerswere buying direct from manufacturers, or via travelling salesmen. This washardly new. As early as 1746, just after the completion of the old linen hall,the following notice appeared in the Manchester Magazine: ‘Chester, in thenarrow passage, beside the wool hall from the Northgate Street to StWerburgh’s Church, is just open’d a wholesale warehouse of Irish linen;where all persons may depend on being every way as well used, all the yearround, as they can in the Linen Hall at the time of the fair’.124 Manchestercotton and linen manufacturers made some use of eighteenth-century fairssuch as those at Chester, but their concern in the 1780s was to protecthawkers and pedlars from the threat to their livelihood. The manufacturersargued that hawkers sold great quantities of British manufacturers directlyto customers in country districts.125 The role of Manchester men and ridersout in the distribution of cotton goods directly to retailers is well known,even if fairs retained some importance for taking orders and settling

118 Anonymous, Historical account of Sturbridge, pp. 38–9.119 McIntosh, Decline of Stourbridge fair, p. 9.120 Pigot & Co., Directory, p. 107.121 Ibid., pp. 336–7.122 Bagshaw, County Palatine of Chester, p. 76.123 Hemingway, History of the city of Chester, vol. ii, p. 336–7.124 Manchester Magazine, 23 Sept. 1746.125 H. of C. Journals, XL (1785), p. 1001.

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accounts.126 As well as being affected by the use of commercial travellersand direct marketing to wholesalers and retailers, fairs were likely to sufferfrom the growth of financial institutions in the provinces, permitting moreregular financial transactions rather than the collecting of cash owed atperiodic fairs. A comparison of the Universal British Directory for the 1790swith Pigot & Co.’s 1828 Directory suggests that most of the larger markettowns in the region had one or two banks at the earlier date, but that thenumbers had increased significantly by the late 1820s.

Retail trading at fairs was inevitably affected by developments in fixedshop retailing. Shops had long been a feature of market towns, but theeighteenth century saw growth both in numbers and sophistication.127 JonStobart suggests that nowhere in Lancashire and Cheshire at this time wasmore than about 12 miles from a middle-ranking centre with a range ofshops, and that luxury trades such as booksellers and goldsmiths could befound in quite small towns such as Knutsford, Rochdale, and Altrincham.128

It was increasingly possible to buy most goods at a shop in the local markettown as and when needed, rather than wait for a periodic fair. Moreover,the more fashionable shops, particularly in the larger towns, kept up-to-datewith changing fashion. A furniture retailer such as Abner Scholes in Chesterin the 1730s had a large and elaborate display of furnishings set out invarious rooms.129 Clothes retailers in places such as Chester, Derby, andsimilar towns, regularly visited London to stock up on the latest springfashions, and used newspaper advertisements to ensure that potential cus-tomers knew that they were doing so. One among many examples is that ofGeorge Cay, a tailor and habit-maker in Derby who in 1785 wished ‘toinform his friends and the public that he has received all the newest fashionsfor this season from London; particularly for ladies habits and great coats;also for gentlemen’s clothes of all sorts’.130 It is therefore hardly surprisingthat individual consumers were increasingly unconvinced of the need ordesirability of buying from those who came to the fairs. Thus a letter of1775 to a Miss Kitty Bolland about the choice of a dress advised her notto be in a great hurry because, ‘there is always great variety of choice in theshops and full as cheap as what the people bring to the [Chester] fair’.131

In October 1785 Richard Bowers, goldsmith and jeweller, announced thathe had, ‘Laid in an elegant and extensive assortment of the under mentionedgoods, which he is determined to sell on as full as low terms, as in the powerof any stranger’.132 Almost three-quarters of a century later Thomas Hugheswrote, in connection with the decay of the halls built for use at the fairs,

126 Wadsworth and Mann, Cotton trade, pp. 238–9.127 On shops in this region see, in particular, Stobart, ‘Leisure and shopping’; idem., ‘Shopping streets

as social space’; and Stobart and Hann, ‘Retailing revolution’.128 Stobart, ‘Leisure and shopping’, pp. 489, 494.129 Stobart, ‘Retailing revolution’, p. 176.130 Derby Mercury, 29 April–5 May 1785.131 Flintshire Record Office, Nercwys Hall Rentals, Letters of Bagot Read 1766–1775, D/NH/1070.132 Adam’s Weekly Courant, 11 Oct. 1785.



that, ‘even the Cestrians have discovered that one of the worst things theycan buy is a ‘pig in a poke’, and that their own tradesmen sell articles everywhit as cheap and as good as did those itinerant pedlars’.133

Improved communications also affected trading at fairs. It was not onlythat the development of the canal network and the improvements to roadsmade the transport of goods easier and cheaper, but the growth of regularcarrying services, linking market towns and their neighbouring villages witheach other and with larger centres, again promoted regular rather thanperiodic distribution of goods. Thus customers could increasingly chooseto purchase at a time that suited them, rather than waiting for the fair toarrive. The northwest of England had a comprehensive coach and carriernetwork by the late eighteenth century, which fostered greater integrationwithin its own regional economy as well providing links to other regions.134

These networks became more comprehensive in the early nineteenthcentury. For example, by 1828 the Derbyshire town of Bakewell, with apopulation of perhaps 2,000 and five annual fairs, had daily carrier linksManchester and Nottingham, three times weekly to Chesterfield, and twiceweekly to Cromford, Longnor, and Sheffield.135 Across the Pennines inLeicestershire, Ashby-de-la-Zouche, with a population of perhaps 4,000 andfive annual fairs, had carriers five times a week to Birmingham, three timesa week to Nottingham, twice a week to Burton, and weekly to Appleby,Atherstone, Derby, Leicester, and Loughborough.136 The infrastructure forregular distribution of all sorts of goods was clearly very much in place. Thecoming of the railways made communications even easier and faster. Theyalso had implications for the trade in livestock. For example, when theborough authorities in Shrewsbury were considering the removal of the fairsfrom the streets in 1847, they received a letter from the London and NorthWest Railway Company arguing the merits of a horse and cattle marketadjacent to the railway station.137 But better communications, and railwaysin particular, could also help some of the larger fairs by making it easierand more attractive for people to travel to them. Nottingham’s goose fairseems to have benefited from the rail link with Derby, which cut the journeytime to 45 minutes. It was reported in 1839 that not less than 700 peoplecame to the fair by rail from Derby.138 The Derby Mercury’s report inOctober 1850 read:

From 8,000 to 10,000 persons came into the town by railway alone; and onThursday the number was much larger. From half-past ten to eleven, one mighthave thought that the fair, minus the shows, stalls and bazaars, had transported

133 Hughes, Stranger’s handbook to Chester, p. 107.134 See Stobart, First industrial region, ch. 7 for a comprehensive account of transport links in northwest

England and their impact on the urban system.135 Pigot & Co., Directory, pp. 111–12.136 Ibid., p. 475.137 SA, Borough of Shrewsbury, Correspondence re Fairs, DA5/909/3/4/1-2.138 Derby Mercury, 9 Oct. 1839.

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itself bodily into Station street. Four huge trains from Lincoln, Grantham,Derby, and Mansfield, were in the yard at once.139

But even the goose fair could suffer from competition; the attendance ofshows and other novelties was reported as unusually scarce in 1840, prob-ably because of the large fair at Birmingham on the same day.140

As well as facing an economic squeeze, early nineteenth-century fairs alsosuffered from a hardening of attitudes towards them. Fairs had always beenslightly suspect. Defoe knew of the notoriety of Charlton Horn Fair in Kenton the edge of London.141 In 1709 the May fair held in the parish ofWestminster was said to be, ‘One of the most pestilential nuisances ofimpiety and vice’.142 It was finally dissolved in the 1760s. Thefts of horseswere not uncommon, and neither was pickpocketing. In 1790 one WilliamMackay of Bristol, who bought and sold stockings at Nottingham, was triedfor stealing a purse from John Thorpe’s breeches pocket at the 19 October1789 Market Harborough fair. The assize judge commented that theoffence, ‘prevailed much at Fairs and Markets on that Circuit’.143 There wasa concerted attack on London fairs in the early nineteenth century, eventhough some of them were showing signs of revival thanks to improvedtransport links by water and railway.144 Greenwich fair was under threat inthe 1820s but survived.145 Later in the century, in the 1870s, there waspressure to abolish Nottingham’s goose fair and its length was cut to threedays in 1880.146 As well as being seen as potential locations of trouble, fairswere also perceived by some as out of keeping with a pleasant and respect-able environment. By the mid-eighteenth century public spaces in the centreof towns were increasingly being closed to plebeian sports and publicrecreations.147 In many towns there was pressure on dirtier trades, such asbutchery, to move away from the more prestigious central areas and to clearmarket and fair stalls from carriageways. Against this background com-plaints such as those of the inconvenience caused by Newark fair in 1816were to be expected.148 Similarly there were various attempts in late eigh-teenth- and early nineteenth-century Chester to move the fairs off theprincipal streets of the city.149 There were complaints in the 1820s aboutthe Easter and Whitsun fairs being held in Friar Gate in Derby. A cor-respondent to the Derby Mercury wrote, ‘It is absolutely intolerable, that thefinest street in Derby should be so very unnecessarily converted into a

139 Derby Mercury, 9 Oct. 1850.140 Derby Mercury, 7 Oct. 1840.141 Defoe, Tour, vol. I, p. 97.142 BL, Fillinham Collection of Newspaper Cuttings, vol. 4, Fairs.143 National Archives, Home Office, HO 47/11/63, fo. 301–2.144 Cunningham, Leisure, p. 25.145 National Archives, Home Office Domestic Correspondence, HO 44/20, fo. 191–92.146 Wilkes, Great Nottingham goose fair, p. 26.147 Griffin, ‘Sports and celebrations’, p. 207.148 Smith, ‘Urban improvement’, p. 108.149 Stobart, ‘Shopping streets as social space’, p. 16.



nuisance, ten times greater than the filthiest cow-yard in the neighbourhoodof the Metropolis’.150 In Stockport in 1843, some shopkeepers were com-plaining about the obstruction caused in the marketplace and other streetsby the shows and exhibitions at the May fair.151 Although fairs did have theirdefenders—not all the burgesses of Stockport agreed that the interests ofshopkeepers should prevail over the amusements of the people—as therevenue from them decreased, there was less reason to hold out against theprevailing opinion. Although there was something of a revival of the largerfairs after the middle of the nineteenth century, many smaller ones witheredaway or were abolished.152

V

Far from being relics of a barbarous age, fairs were resilient and adaptable.For much of the eighteenth century many of them continued to functionin quite traditional ways. They were important to the agricultural economyof the region; they provided an occasion for a range of business transactionsincluding, in the case of Chester at least, large-scale wholesale trade; andthey had significant retail functions. Much of this was changing by the earlynineteenth century as different economic circumstances made seasonallybased trading seem increasingly anachronistic. But there were still thosewho found fairs useful. Smaller traders, such as some of the Irish linenmerchants attending the Chester fairs, no doubt found it helpful to have anopportunity to meet a wider range of customers. Cheese fairs were reckonedto put dairy farmers in a stronger bargaining position, helping them tocircumvent factors buying-up cheese without quoting a firm price. Countryshopkeepers could use fairs to buy stock. Town shopkeepers might still seefair days as an opportunity for increased business. Increasingly, more regularforms of doing business took over from the fair, and so the wholesale fairsdeclined. Consumers began to realize that they could buy just as cheaplyand as well from fixed shop retailers—and perhaps that it was worthbuilding-up a relationship with a shopkeeper rather than buying from some-one who might never be seen again. So some fairs simply faded away. Forexample, the surviving accounts of Billesdon fair (Leicestershire) in the1850s reveal receipts that barely covered expenditure and imply a graduallydying institution.153 And public authorities increasingly saw fairs as a nui-sance, rather than an asset. Entertainment, which had always been impor-tant at fairs, increasingly came to dominate many of them. Where this didnot happen—for example, Chester or Derby—the fairs declined rapidly inthe nineteenth century.

150 Derby Mercury, 13 June 1827.151 CCA, Vernon Collection, Manor of Stockport, DVE 9/30.152 Cunningham, Leisure, p. 174.153 Leicestershire Record Office, Billesdon Parish Records, Billesdon Fair, DE 351/258–259.

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There was no simple progression from fair to market to shop. Variousforms of trading coexisted, sometimes complementing each other, some-times in competition. Shops were widespread much earlier than historiansonce thought. Fairs may have continued to play a role in the economy ofthe places where they were held for longer than some have believed. Thatmay have been partly a result of inertia. But it also reflects the variety oftypes of fair and the ability of fairs to adapt to changing circumstances.During the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries some fairs failed, butthe new ones that were established outnumbered these. Retailing was prob-ably becoming more marginal, but even in a city such as Chester, those whocame to trade at the fair continued to coexist with the high-class shops ofthe central area right through the eighteenth century. What had vanishedby 1750 or soon after was the sort of sight that excited Defoe atStourbridge—a fair that was itself a town peopled by merchants from allover the kingdom. But visitors to, for example, Nottingham Goose Fair inthe latter part of the nineteenth century could reflect that they were partic-ipating in a vibrant, adaptable, and hugely enjoyable institution.

Independent scholar, Kirk Langley

Date submitted 17 December 2003Revised version submitted 6 December 2005Accepted 17 February 2006

DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-0289.2006.00372.x

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