| Description | The plans in this collection of Sheffield and district were mainly drawn by the second William Fairbank (c. 1730 - 1801). These being the finished products, not (as in the Fairbank Collection - Sheffield Archives ref. FC), the drafts, are technically superior to the latter. They are more limited in scope, covering a shorter period, and being (in the main) confined to the Duke's estates. These did not include the Manor of Ecclesall on the south (which was the property of Earl Fitzwilliam), or the considerable property in the town itself belonging to the Capital Burgesses (Sheffield Archives ref. CB), the Town Trustees (Sheffield Archives ref. TT), and the Shrewsbury Hospital. Though the picture the plans give is thus a partial one, they do, nonetheless, pin-point in a remarkable way a particularly important phase of Sheffield's growth, which in some instances amounted to planning, from about the year 1771, and particularly at the time Vincent Eyre was agent to the 11th Duke of Norfolk.
Charles Howard (1746 - 1815), Earl of Surrey and subsequently 11th Duke of Norfolk, succeeded (as Earl of Surrey) to the Sheffield estates of his cousin the 9th Duke in 1777, during the life-time of his own father, the 10th Duke. In the 1780s he took a particular interest in Sheffield. The new Market, the Tontine Inn, the new streets constructed on Alsop Fields (partially laid out before his succession), the opening of the Nursery Gardens to the public, were all connected with him. Before the end of the century Bailey Fields, Park Hill, the Allen Street area, to name but a few districts, had been divided up for building.
The pressure of population and industrial development of itself forced the town to expand. This expansion was not, however, so unplanned as urban development during the Industrial Revolution is usually thought to be. Parliamentary powers were obtained for planning the new Market. For the Alsop Fields layout reputable architects were engaged, and the architecture of buildings in the town proper, while not distinguished, was neat and pleasant in appearance.
It is noteworthy that when the Duke let any "piece or parcel of ground lying and being in a certain new street", it was usual to specify that for every building to be erected fronting on the street "a plan or elevation on paper" should be delivered to the steward and signed by him, prior to erection. That the Capital Burgesses also made certain stipulations in their building leases, is shown by the terms of a ninety-nine year lease to Joseph Badger, in 1785, of building land on Allen street. He was to erect a house or houses of well burnt brick or stone, well worth £200 and undertook "that the front of the said intended Buildings shall be in all respects conformable to the dimensions and form of the Elevations drawn by William Fairbank of Sheffield, surveyor, in his plan or design for buildings to be fronted to the said intended streets" (Sheffield Archives ref. FC/CP/37/15). That the terms of the leases were not always kept also seems clear (Sheffield Archives ref. FC/CP/37/44, 86, 88, 98).
Outside Sheffield township, this was the period of the enclosure acts by which large areas, mainly moorland, were divided among the proprietors. Volumes of enclosure surveys and plans are included here, but among the collection of estate maps enclosure does not occupy a very large place. Far less development was taking place in the rural than in the urban areas. The properties mapped are scattered. In some districts, notably Crookes and Heeley, the plans show clear remains of the old open fields. For the most part, however, the land was divided up in enclosed fields among scattered farms, except along the rivers where there were industrial settlements. The Duke's woods, lying particularly in Ecclesfield and Brightside, were well mapped during the 18th century. They, together with a few farms, are the subjects of the earliest plans among the Norfolk collection. Some of these date from before the Fairbank era, the earliest being dated 1699. The work of the first William Fairbank (c. 1688 - 1759) was finished before 1760 and includes a number of woods. Brief biographical notes on the Fairbanks and some of their predecessors and contemporaries are given below.
Notes on the Fairbanks and other surveyors
The three William Fairbanks have been numbered, for the purposes of this catalogue I, II and III.
William FAIRBANK I (c. 1688-1759). Nothing is positively known of his immediate ancestry. He belonged to the Society of Friends, and married Emma Broadhead, widow, at the Sheffield Meeting in 1725. He kept a school in Sheffield. There are about thirty maps of his in this collection, in date between 1733 and 1759.
William FAIRBANK II (c.1730-1801), son of William I. He assisted in the school, which he carried on after his father's death and was a member of the Society of Friends. He married Mary, daughter of Josiah Forster of Tottenham, a surveyor and Quaker. His surveying activities covered South Yorkshire, and North Derbyshire and extended into Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire and Staffordshire; he was a Commissioner or surveyor for a number of local inclosures. The great majority of the maps in this collection are his work. His best work has great delicacy of line and colour.
William FAIRBANK III (c. 1771-1846) and Josiah FAIRBANK (1777-1844) were the second William's two sons. Josiah in particular was responsible for an immense amount of work relating to inclosure, turnpike and railway surveys in the first half of the 19th century. Only a few of the maps in this collection are the work of these two.
John EADON (1730-1810). Born at Ecclesfield, being the son of Matthew Eadon "a woodman of renown". He was Master of the Sheffield Free Writing School and teacher of bookkeeping and mathematics at the Grammar School. Not many of his maps are known and there is only one in the ACM collection.
John GELLEY (or JELLEY). No biographical details of him are known, though the name Gelley (in various spellings) occurs in the Sheffield Parish Register and the Cutlers' Company records. Three maps, 1719 - 1721, in this collection, are his work. In the Norfolk estate account book there are several payments to him for surveying. Among other places, he surveyed, in 1720, Truswell Wood in Lincolnshire and Worksop Park; of the latter he also made a plan. He is called in the account book: "Mr John Jelley, the surveyor'·.
Ralph GOSLING (1693-1758). Born at Stubley, near Dronfield in Derbyshire. He is described in 1720 as a writing master and schoolmaster in Sheffield. His will describes him as "of Heeley, schoolmaster", and mentions his surveying instruments. He produced the first surviving map of the town of Sheffield, published in 1736. Only one small plan in this collection is his work.
Immanuel HALTON (1628-1699). Born in Cumberland at Graystoke, a possession of the Howard family. He entered the service of the Earl of Arundel and was for twenty years auditor of his household. From 1666, he resided at Wingfield Manor, the property of the Duke of Norfolk, and died in 1699. He was a distinguished mathematician and astronomer. It seems most probable that the two maps here, dated 1699, are the work of his son, another Immanuel, though some earlier surveys, not included in this catalogue, may be his own work.
William KITCHIN. A William Kitchin had several children baptised in Sheffield parish church, 1712-1718; he is sometimes called "gardner" in the registers. Several small payments to him are recorded in the Norfolk estate account books for surveying, about 1728. He is never called 'surveyor', and was probably an estate employee of the Duke's. There are seven plans by him, all very crude work.
John SMILTER. Philip and John Smilter were the Duke's woodwards in the later 1730s, at salaries of £30 and £15 respectively. In the later 1740s John Smilter received both salaries. There are seven plans of woods by him, dated 1732-1743, all rather crude work. The name of Smilter is found in Derbyshire recusant returns in the 17th century and a later John Smilter was one of the Trustees of the site of st. Marie's Roman Catholic Church, Sheffield, in 1814.
Thomas SMITH of Worksop. It was either Thomas Smith or his father of the same name who took a lease of Worksop Park in 1673. In the lease he is called 'ironmonger' and (later) 'grocer'. In the 1690s Thomas Smith appears to have held some official position under Lady Mary Howard. There are two maps by Thomas Smith, dated 1710 and 1722.
Robert WILSON (c. 1663-1733). Buried in Sheffield churchyard. On his gravestone he is called 'surveyor', and in the parish register 'mathematician'. A number of his maps have survived; there are eleven in the Norfolk muniments the earliest dated 1704.
Explanatory Notes:
The main entries are made in chronological order within each section. Copies, even if later in date, are noted in brief entries following the main entry. Plans or groups of plans of small plots or insignificant buildings are grouped together and listed in small type under street names at the end of each section.
Street names used in the notes are those given in Fairbank's 1808 plan of Sheffield. This has been chosen as it covers a wider area than the map of 1771, but as the latter is reproduced here as a guide, if street names differ on the two maps those of 1771 are given in brackets thus: "Haymarket (1771, Bull Stake)". If necessary, the modern, i.e. 1960, street name is given in brackets thus: "Haymarket Lane (modern Commercial Street)". In some cases, there was no street name in 1771 or 1808; in such cases, if the modern street is referred to, it is given thus: "… situated in (modern Effingham Street)". |