Place:


Inverness  Inverness Shire

 

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Inverness like this:

Inverness, parl. and royal burgh, seaport and market town, par., co. town of Inverness-shire, and cap. of the Northern Highlands, at NE. end of Caledonian Canal, on river Ness, near its confluence with the Inner Moray Firth, 108 miles from Aberdeen, 144 from Perth, 190½ from Edinburgh, and 581 from London by rail - par., 23,600 ac., pop. ...


21,725; parl. and royal burgh, pop. 17,365; town, pop. 17,385; 9 Banks, 3 newspapers. Market-days, Tuesday and Friday. Large vessels can unload at the quays, and a considerable trade in sheep, wool, and agricultural produce is carried on with Aberdeen, Leith, and London by way of the Moray Firth, and with Glasgow, Liverpool, and Ireland by way of the Caledonian Canal. (For shipping statistics, see Appendix.) The industries are varied, though not extensive; they include shipbuilding, iron-founding, and the mfr. of woollen cloth. At Millburn, outside the burgh, is a distillery. Inverness has several good schools and handsome public buildings; among the former is the academy, incorporated by royal charter in 1792, and liberally endowed; among the latter is the episcopal cathedral of St Andrew (Decorated Gothic), erected in 1866. The site of the old castle is now occupied by the county buildings, a fine castellated structure containing the court-house and jail. On the N. side of the town are some remains of the fort erected by Cromwell. Inverness is a place of great antiquity. It was one of the Pictish capitals; was made a royal burgh by William the Lion; was sacked by Donald of the Isles in 1411; was visited by James I. (who is said to have held a Parliament at Inverness) in 1427, and by Queen Mary in 1562; was taken by Cromwell in 1649; and was destroyed by Prince Charles Edward Stuart in 1746. The Inverness District of Parliamentary Burghs (consisting of Inverness in Inverness-shire, Nairn in Nairnshire, Forres in Elginshire, and Fortrose in Ross and Cromarty) returns 1 member.

Inverness through time

Inverness is now part of Highland district. Click here for graphs and data of how Highland has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Inverness itself, go to Units and Statistics.

How to reference this page:

GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Inverness, in Highland and Inverness Shire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.

URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/17006

Date accessed: 28th March 2024


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