113-579: Whitehaven is a town on the coast of Cumbria, England. Whitehaven or White Haven may also refer to: Whitehaven Whitehaven is a town and port on the English north west coast and near to the Lake District National Park in Cumberland , Cumbria , England. It lies by road 38 miles (61 km) south-west of Carlisle and 45 miles (72 km) to the north of Barrow-in-Furness . It
226-592: A 50% grant from the European Union . On Monday 8 December 2007, Saltom Pit was reopened as an historic monument. The pit buildings have been conserved and are now part of the 'Whitehaven Coast' project, a scheme to regenerate the coastal area of Whitehaven. Whitehaven is within the Whitehaven and Workington constituency . As of 2024 , its Member of Parliament (MP) is Josh MacAlister of the Labour Party , who has held
339-550: A Parcel of Rogues in a Nation." As historian Christopher Whatley points out, this was actually a 17th-century Scots folk song; but he agrees money was paid, though suggests the economic benefits were supported by most Scots MPs, with the promises made for benefits to peers and MPs, even if it was reluctantly. Professor Sir Tom Devine agreed that promises of "favours, sinecures, pensions, offices and straightforward cash bribes became indispensable to secure government majorities". As for representation going forwards, Scotland was, in
452-657: A Presbyterian kirk. Under the 1643 Solemn League and Covenant , the Scots agreed to provide Parliament military support in return for a united Presbyterian church, but did not explicitly commit to political union. As the war progressed, Scots and English Presbyterians increasingly viewed the Independents, and associated radical groups like the Levellers , as a bigger threat than the Royalists. Both Royalists and Presbyterians agreed monarchy
565-540: A Union. To encourage a Union, "honours, appointments, pensions and even arrears of pay and other expenses were distributed to clinch support from Scottish peers and MPs". The Scottish economy was severely impacted by privateers during the 1688–1697 Nine Years' War and the 1701 War of the Spanish Succession , with the Royal Navy focusing on protecting English ships. This compounded the economic pressure caused by
678-522: A civil war". The issue reappeared during the 1688 Glorious Revolution . The English Parliament generally supported replacing James with his Protestant daughter Mary , but resisted making her Dutch husband William of Orange joint ruler. They gave way only when he threatened to return to the Netherlands, and Mary refused to rule without him. In Scotland, conflict over control of the kirk between Presbyterians and Episcopalians and William's position as
791-709: A fellow Calvinist put him in a much stronger position. He originally insisted on retaining Episcopacy, and the Committee of the Articles , an unelected body that controlled what legislation Parliament could debate. Both would have given the Crown far greater control than in England but he withdrew his demands due to the 1689–1692 Jacobite Rising . The English succession was provided for by the English Act of Settlement 1701 , which ensured that
904-517: A forerunner to the Davy Lamp , known as the Spedding Wheel or Steel Mill. This used the sparks generated by a flint against a rotating steel wheel to provide light, on the basis the sparks were not quite hot enough to ignite the gas. On occasions it caused explosions or fires but it was a major improvement over the naked flame. Lowther also supported experimental work on firedamp by William Brownrigg ,
1017-510: A formal apology for Whitehaven's role in the slave trade. Scottish-American naval officer John Paul Jones raided the town in 1778 during the American Revolutionary War , burning some merchant ships in the harbour. During the 19th century the port of Whitehaven was overtaken by Bristol, Liverpool and Glasgow, as they had deep-water dock facilities and were closer to large centres of population and industry. The huge development of
1130-403: A goods-only station and served as the main goods depot for the town. As in other colliery areas, horse-drawn tramways and then locomotive-powered railways were used extensively to move coal. The first steam locomotive made an early appearance in 1816, to a design similar to the noted Steam Elephant built by William Chapman of Newcastle. However this pioneering engine was not too successful and
1243-617: A guarantee that the Hanoverian dynasty would succeed Queen Anne to the Scottish crown, and Scotland received a guarantee of access to colonial markets, in the hope that they would be placed on an equal footing in terms of trade. After negotiations ended in July 1706, the acts had to be ratified by both Parliaments. In Scotland, about 100 of the 227 members of the Parliament of Scotland were supportive of
SECTION 10
#17328451852651356-501: A harbour or landing place at Whitehaven can be traced back to 1517, when quay-dues, otherwise known as wharfage, were recorded. The purchase of the manor of St Bees in 1630 by the Lowther family started the development of Whitehaven harbour primarily to export coal. Sir Christopher Lowther built a stone pier in 1631–1634, and it survives, albeit very modified, as the Old Quay. By the 1660s
1469-438: A large marina and fishing harbour, and refocus the town on a renovated harbour. The harbour has seen much other renovation due to millennium developments, and the rejuvenation project cost an estimated £11.3 million. This has provided 100 more moorings within the marina. Another £5.5 million has been spent on developing a 40 m (130 ft) high crow's nest and a wave light feature that changes colour depending on
1582-513: A large number of Whigs who supported union. Tories were not in favour of union and only one was represented among the commissioners. Negotiations between the English and Scottish commissioners took place between 16 April and 22 July 1706 at the Cockpit in London. Each side had its own particular concerns. Within a few days, and with only one face to face meeting of all 62 commissioners, England had gained
1695-521: A local doctor and scientist, and he presented papers by Brownrigg at the Royal Society . Brownrigg had gas piped from a nearby pit to his workshop, which provided light and heat, and bladders of the gas were taken to London to be demonstrated at the Royal Society. Brownrigg was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) for this work. After Sir James, there was a succession of Lowthers who inherited
1808-417: A national railway network had also reduced Whitehaven's 18th century competitive advantage of having coal extracted very close to a harbour for shipment by sea. An 1888 legal case , Bush v Whitehaven Port and Town Trustees , was one of a series of legal cases involved in the development of the doctrine of frustration of contract in English law . Bush, the contractor in this case, had contracted to construct
1921-617: A number of key amendments. News of the ratification and of the amendments was received in Westminster, where the Act was passed quickly through both Houses and received the royal assent on 6 March. Though the English Act was later in date, it bore the year '1706' while Scotland's was '1707', as the legal year in England began only on 25 March . In Scotland, the Duke of Queensberry was largely responsible for
2034-657: A period now known as the Seven ill years which led to strained relations with England. In 1698, the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies received a charter to raise capital through public subscription. The Company invested in the Darién scheme , an ambitious plan funded almost entirely by Scottish investors to build a colony on the Isthmus of Panama for trade with East Asia. The scheme
2147-606: A pit had been sunk in any part of Europe) to a three-yard thick coal seam (the Main Band) in twenty-three months, using thirty barrels of gunpowder, and without any loss of life or limb by the workforce'. Saltom Pit ceased working coal in 1848, and is now a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SM 27801) and is the best known surviving example of an 18th-century colliery layout. Evidence of the shaft, horse gin, stable, winding engine house, boiler house and chimney, cottages, cart roads and retaining walls, all survives. Coal excavated from Saltom Pit
2260-424: A predominantly agrarian society, and the lack of manpower caused by previous conflicts contributed to an underwhelming agricultural output, which intermittently escalated into local food shortages or famines. In turn, the overreliance of Scottish landowners on foreign goods led to a deficit of financial capital, as gold and silver were exported overseas and deflation occurred. The Scottish Parliament attempted to combat
2373-582: A similar Act, 6 Ann. c. 8. Soon after the Union, the Act 6 Ann. c. 40—later named the Union with Scotland (Amendment) Act 1707 —united the Privy Council of England and Privy Council of Scotland and decentralised Scottish administration by appointing justices of the peace in each shire to carry out administration. In effect it took the day-to-day government of Scotland out of the hands of politicians and into those of
SECTION 20
#17328451852652486-501: A unified Church of Scotland and England, as the first step towards a centralised, Unionist state. However, despite both being nominally Episcopal in structure, the two were very different in doctrine; the Church of Scotland , or kirk, was Calvinist in doctrine, and viewed many Church of England practices as little better than Catholicism. As a result, attempts to impose religious policy by James and his son Charles I ultimately led to
2599-487: A water-main for a "slump sum" [ sic ]. His tender was submitted in June, and he was "given to understand" that he could begin the work at once, but part of the land was not available until October. This meant the work took place during the winter, when operations are more difficult and more costly. The jury in this case decided that the timing issue substantially affected the contract, and awarded damages to be paid to
2712-497: Is served by the Cumbrian coast railway line and the A595 road . Although there was a Roman fort at Parton , around 1.2 miles (1.9 km) to the north, there is no evidence of a Roman settlement on the site of the present town of Whitehaven. The area was settled by Irish-Norse Vikings in the 10th century. The area name of Copeland , which includes Whitehaven, indicates that the land
2825-461: The American Colonies , with which there were strong trade links. Although Sir Christopher Lowther initially purchased Whitehaven it was his son, Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, who was responsible for its growth and development. Sir John acquired a market charter in 1660 for the town, but the urban expansion did not start until the 1680s when he laid out a spacious rectangular grid of streets to
2938-520: The American colonies , and was, after London, the second busiest port of England by tonnage from 1750 to 1772. This prosperity led to the creation of a Georgian planned town in the 18th century which has left an architectural legacy of over 170 listed buildings . Whitehaven has been designated a "gem town" by the Council for British Archaeology due to the historic quality of the town environment. Whitehaven
3051-701: The College of Justice . On 18 December 1707 the Act for better Securing the Duties of East India Goods was passed which extended the monopoly of the East India Company to Scotland. In the year following the Union, the Treason Act 1708 abolished the Scottish law of treason and extended the corresponding English law across Great Britain. Scotland benefited, says historian G.N. Clark , gaining "freedom of trade with England and
3164-751: The Court Party . For extra votes the pro-court side could rely on about 25 members of the Squadrone Volante , led by the James Graham, 4th Marquess of Montrose and John Ker, 1st Duke of Roxburghe . Opponents of the court were generally known as the Country party , and included various factions and individuals such as the James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton , John Hamilton, Lord Belhaven and Andrew Fletcher of Saltoun , who spoke forcefully and passionately against
3277-502: The Darien scheme , and the seven ill years of the 1690s, when 5–15% of the population died of starvation. The Scottish Parliament was promised financial assistance, protection for its maritime trade, and an end to economic restrictions on trade with England. The votes of the Court party, influenced by Queen Anne's favourite, James Douglas, 2nd Duke of Queensberry , combined with the majority of
3390-524: The Declaration of Arbroath of 1320." Ferguson highlights the well-timed payments of salary arrears to members of Parliament as proof of bribery and argues that the Scottish people had been betrayed by their Parliament. Ireland , though a kingdom under the same crown, was not included in the union. It remained a separate kingdom, unrepresented in Parliament, and was legally subordinate to Great Britain until
3503-829: The Kirk Party . In December 1648, Pride's Purge paved the way for the Trial of Charles I in England by excluding MPs who opposed it. Following the execution of Charles I in January 1649, and establishment of the Commonwealth of England , the Kirk Party proclaimed Charles II King of Scotland and England, and in 1650 agreed to restore him to the English throne. In 1653, defeat in the Anglo-Scottish War resulted in Scotland's incorporation into
Whitehaven (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3616-673: The Palace of Westminster . The two countries had shared a monarch since the Union of the Crowns in 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English throne from his cousin Elizabeth I . Attempts had been made in 1606, 1667, and 1689 to unite the two countries, but it was not until the early 18th century that both political establishments came to support the idea, albeit for different reasons. Prior to 1603, England and Scotland had different monarchs, but when Elizabeth I died without children, she
3729-432: The Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland in 1706, consisted of 25 articles, 15 of which were economic in nature. In Scotland, each article was voted on separately and several clauses in articles were delegated to specialised subcommittees. Article 1 of the treaty was based on the political principle of an incorporating union and this was secured by a majority of 116 votes to 83 on 4 November 1706. To minimise
3842-453: The Parliament of England in 1706, the other by the Parliament of Scotland in 1707. They put into effect the Treaty of Union agreed on 22 July 1706, which merged the previously separate Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Scotland into a single Kingdom of Great Britain , with Queen Anne as its sovereign. The Acts took effect on 1 May 1707, creating the Parliament of Great Britain , based in
3955-513: The Parliament of Scotland , the three Estates , the right to choose a successor and explicitly required a choice different from the English monarch unless the English were to grant free trade and navigation. Then the Alien Act 1705 was passed in the English parliament, designating Scots in England as "foreign nationals" and blocking about half of all Scottish trade by boycotting exports to England or its colonies, unless Scotland came back to negotiate
4068-605: The Peerage of Scotland to sit in the House of Lords . It guaranteed that the Church of Scotland would remain the established church in Scotland, that the Court of Session would "remain in all time coming within Scotland", and that Scots law would "remain in the same force as before". Other provisions included the restatement of the Act of Settlement 1701 and the ban on Roman Catholics from taking
4181-473: The Renunciation Act of 1783 . In July 1707 each House of the Parliament of Ireland passed a congratulatory address to Queen Anne, praying that "May God put it in your royal heart to add greater strength and lustre to your crown, by a still more comprehensive Union". The British government did not respond to the invitation and an equal union between Great Britain and Ireland was out of consideration until
4294-451: The Squadrone Volante , were sufficient to ensure passage of the treaty. Article 15 granted £398,085 and ten shillings sterling to Scotland, a sum known as The Equivalent , to offset future liability towards the English national debt, which at the time was £18 million, but as Scotland had no national debt, most of the sum was used to compensate the investors in the Darien scheme, with 58.6% of
4407-456: The alliance with France gave Scotland privileges that further encouraged developing cultural and economic ties with the continent rather than England. The union of 1603 only served the political and dynastic ambitions of King James and was detrimental to Scotland economically – exports that Scotland offered were largely irrelevant to English economy, and while the Privy Council of Scotland did keep its ability to manage internal economic policy,
4520-513: The miners' strike in 1984–85 , contributed to problems at the colliery. The workforce attempted to open a new face, but a decision had been taken to close, and after two years of recovery work, Haig finally ceased mining on 31 March 1986. Today there is no mining carried out in Whitehaven though there is a proposal to sink a new mine out under the sea for coking coal. In November 2019 the UK government gave
4633-559: The 1639–1651 Wars of the Three Kingdoms . The 1639–1640 Bishops' Wars confirmed the primacy of the kirk, and established a Covenanter government in Scotland. The Scots remained neutral when the First English Civil War began in 1642, before becoming concerned at the impact on Scotland of a Royalist victory. Presbyterian leaders like Argyll viewed union as a way to ensure free trade between England and Scotland, and preserve
Whitehaven (disambiguation) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4746-562: The 1790s. The union with Ireland finally came about on 1 January 1801. Deeper political integration had been a key policy of Queen Anne from the time she acceded to the throne in 1702. Under the aegis of the Queen and her ministers in both kingdoms, the parliaments of England and Scotland (the Act for a Treaty with England 1705 ) agreed to participate in fresh negotiations for a union treaty in 1705. Both countries appointed 31 commissioners to conduct
4859-646: The Commonwealth, largely driven by Cromwell's determination to break the power of the kirk. The 1652 Tender of Union was followed on 12 April 1654 by An Ordinance by the Protector for the Union of England and Scotland, creating the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland. It was ratified by the Second Protectorate Parliament on 26 June 1657, creating a single Parliament in Westminster, with 30 representatives each from Scotland and Ireland added to
4972-520: The Customs Collector did not mention tobacco in his report on Whitehaven. Whitehaven Town Hall , which started life as a private house built for a merchant, was completed in 1710. Daniel Defoe visited Whitehaven in the 1720s and wrote that the town had grown up from a small place to be very considerable by the coal trade, that it is now the most eminent port in England for shipping off of coals, except Newcastle and Sunderland and even beyond
5085-650: The Dutch, still seen as an enemy and complete the work of his grandfather James I. On the Scottish side, the proposed union received parliamentary support, boosted by the desire to ensure free trade. Continued opposition meant these negotiations were abandoned by the end of 1669. Following the Glorious Revolution of 1688, a Scottish Convention met in Edinburgh in April 1689 to agree a new constitutional settlement; during which
5198-469: The Lowther holdings in the area, and considerably improved the drainage of his pits; thus allowing mining at greater depths. Sir James Lowther, 4th Baronet FRS (1673–1755) continued the work of his father and reputedly became the richest commoner in England. Between 1709 and 1754, over £46,000 was spent to extend the Lowther holdings of land and coal royalties in West Cumberland. By the 1740s Lowther
5311-568: The Scotland's main trade partners before the union, and the English Navigation Acts severely limited Scottish ability to trade by sea, and made the Scottish ambitions to expand the trade beyond Europe unachievable. Opinion in Scotland at the time was that England was sabotaging Scottish economic expansion. In the years leading to 1707, Scottish economy was lagging behind not only from the impact of wars, but also because of chronic deflation and industrial underdevelopment. Scotland remained
5424-518: The Scottish Bishops backed a proposed union in an attempt to preserve Episcopalian control of the kirk. The parliament ("Convention of the Estates") issued an address to William and Mary "as both kingdomes are united in one head and soveraigne so they may become one body pollitick, one nation to be represented in one parliament", reserving "our church government, as it shall be established at the tyme of
5537-558: The Scottish historian Christopher Smout , prior to the Union of the Crowns the Scottish economy had been flourishing completely independently of the English one, with little to no interaction between each other. Developing a closer economic partnership with England was unsustainable, and Scotland's main trade partner was continental Europe, especially the Netherlands , where Scotland could trade its wool and fish for luxurious imports such as iron, spices or wine. Scotland and England were generally hostile to each other and were often at war, and
5650-420: The Succession Act, confirming the divine right of kings, the rights of the natural heir "regardless of religion", the duty of all to swear allegiance to that king, and the independence of the Scottish Crown. It then went beyond ensuring James's succession to the Scottish throne by explicitly stating the aim was to make his exclusion from the English throne impossible without "the fatall and dreadfull consequences of
5763-425: The Union of the Crowns and asserted the need to renegotiate this union. During this period, the Darien failure, the succession issue and the Worcester seizure all provided opportunities for Scottish writers to attack the Court Party as unpatriotic and reaffirm the need to fight for true interests of Scotland. According to Scottish historian William Ferguson , the Acts of Union were a "political job" by England that
SECTION 50
#17328451852655876-417: The area was in 1910 at Wellington Pit, where 136 miners died. In another disaster in 1947 at William Pit, 104 men were killed. Four separate explosions over the period 1922–1931 at Haig Pit together killed 83. Haig was the last pit to operate in Whitehaven. In 1983, a major geological fault was encountered at Haig pit which increased the difficulty of operation. This, combined with the political situation, and
5989-401: The bells in the tune "Why should I be so sad on my wedding day?" Threats of widespread civil unrest resulted in Parliament imposing martial law . Virtually all of the print discourses of 1699–1706 spoke against incorporating union, creating the conditions for wide spread rejection of the treaty in 1706 and 1707. Country party tracts condemned English influence within the existing framework of
6102-427: The coal interests but did not emulate his close interest. The Lowthers' direct involvement in coal diminished, and in 1888 the mines were leased to the Whitehaven Colliery Company. By 1893 nearly all the coal was being extracted from under the sea, and William pit extended 4 miles out under the Solway. In 1900 the output of the collieries was 536,000 tons. However they became less economic; the company failed in 1933, and
6215-514: The colonies" as well as "a great expansion of markets". The agreement guaranteed the permanent status of the Presbyterian church in Scotland, and the separate system of laws and courts in Scotland. Clark argued that in exchange for the financial benefits and bribes that England bestowed, what it gained was of inestimable value. Scotland accepted the Hanoverian succession and gave up her power of threatening England's military security and complicating her commercial relations ... The sweeping successes of
6328-569: The contractor. James Pit is a pit in Whitehaven. The school "St James' Juniors" is on the site of the old pit. The earliest reference to coal mining in the Whitehaven area is in the time of Prior Langton (1256–1282) of St Bees Priory, concerning the coal mines at Arrowthwaite. St Bees Priory was dissolved in 1539, and the lands and mineral rights passed to secular owners. The first of these, Sir Thomas Chaloner , granted leases of land in 1560 for digging coal, and in 1586 he granted St Bees School liberty "to take 40 loads of coal at his coal pits in
6441-423: The cost of being increasingly dependent on trade with England. A power struggle developed between Scotland and England in the 1680s, as Scotland recovered from the political turmoil and set on its own economic ambitions, which London considered a threat to its dominant and well-established position. English wars with continental powers undermined Scottish trade with France and the Netherlands, countries that used to be
6554-474: The earliest customers for the newly invented Newcomen engine . Spedding concluded that such an engine would drain a flooded pit in two-thirds the time that horse gins would take, and would do so at a quarter of the cost. Consequently, a small (17-inch diameter cylinder) Engine No. 5 , built by Thomas Newcomen and John Calley , was erected. It was so successful that in 1727 Lowther bought an additional pumping engine. With this proven method of pumping Lowther
6667-423: The eighteenth-century wars owed much to the new unity of the two nations. By the time Samuel Johnson and James Boswell made their tour in 1773, recorded in A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland , Johnson noted that Scotland was "a nation of which the commerce is hourly extending, and the wealth increasing" and in particular that Glasgow had become one of the greatest cities of Britain. According to
6780-417: The existing English members. While integration into the Commonwealth established free trade between Scotland and England, the economic benefits were diminished by the costs of military occupation. Both Scotland and England associated union with heavy taxes and military rule; it had little popular support in either country, and was dissolved after the Restoration of Charles II in 1660. The Scottish economy
6893-421: The first Crampton locomotives , which became the fastest locomotives of the day; one was reported to have reached 62 mph. Over the life of the works, some 260 locomotives were produced – mainly for industrial lines. The works entered shipbuilding in 1842–3, producing Lowca , the first iron ship launched in Cumberland. Acts of Union 1707 The Acts of Union refer to two Acts of Parliament , one by
SECTION 60
#17328451852657006-448: The foreign policy of Scotland was now in English hands. This limited Scotland's hitherto expansive trade with continental Europe, and forced it into English wars. While the Scottish economy already suffered because of English wars with France and Spain in the 1620s, the civil wars in England had a particularly disastrous effect on Scotland and left it relatively impoverished as a result. The economy would slowly recover afterwards, but at
7119-472: The fund allocated to its shareholders and creditors. The role played by bribery has long been debated. £20,000 was distributed by David Boyle, 1st Earl of Glasgow , of which 60% went to the Duke of Queensberry, the Queen's Commissioner in Parliament . Another negotiator, John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll was given an English dukedom . Robert Burns is commonly quoted in support of the argument of corruption: "We're bought and sold for English Gold, Such
7232-419: The green light for this mine to go ahead. In 2007, Copeland Council declared that it could no longer afford to maintain the remaining Saltom Pit buildings, and preserve them from damage by the sea. But after an online campaign by myWhitehaven.net, the council changed their mind. They teamed up with the National Trust to try to save Saltom Pit, and obtained the necessary funding from various sources, including
7345-408: The last. They have of late fallen into some merchandising also, occasioned by the strange great number of their shipping, and there are now some considerable merchants; but the town is yet but young in trade. To replace the tobacco trade, Whitehaven turned to importing sugar from Barbados , cotton from Antigua and coffee and cocoa from St Lucia . Due to the coal trade Whitehaven was, after London,
7458-483: The manor of St. Bees was inherited by Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet, of Whitehaven (1642–1706), who developed the town of Whitehaven, its coal industry and the trade with Ireland. He oversaw the rise of Whitehaven from a small fishing village (at his birth consisting of some fifty houses and a population of about 250) to a planned town three times the size of Carlisle. At his death the 'port of Whitehaven' had 77 registered vessels, totalling about four thousand tons, and
7571-565: The monarch of England would be a Protestant member of the House of Hanover . Until the Union of Parliaments, the Scottish throne might be inherited by a different successor after Queen Anne , who had said in her first speech to the English parliament that a Union was "very necessary". The Scottish Act of Security 1704 , however, was passed after the English parliament, without consultation with Scotland, had designated Electoress Sophia of Hanover (granddaughter of James I and VI) as Anne's successor, if Anne died childless. The Act of Security granted
7684-425: The negotiations. Most of the Scottish commissioners favoured union, and about half were government ministers and other officials. At the head of the list was the Duke of Queensberry, and the Lord Chancellor of Scotland , the Earl of Seafield . The English commissioners included the Lord High Treasurer , Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin , the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal , William Cowper, Baron Cowper , and
7797-405: The new united parliament, only to get 45 MPs, one more than Cornwall, and only 16 (unelected) peers in the House of Lords. The Union was carried by members of the Scottish elite against the wishes of the great majority. Sir George Lockhart of Carnwath , the only Scottish negotiator to oppose Union, noted "the whole nation appears against (it)". Another negotiator, Sir John Clerk of Penicuik , who
7910-421: The north east of the existing tiny hamlet. Sir John specified that the houses were "to be three storeys high, not less than 28 feet from the street level to the square of the side walls, the windows of the first and second storeys to be transomed and the same, together with the doors to be of hewn stone." Ample provision was made for gardens. One block was left vacant for a new church and in 1694 another site
8023-420: The opposition of the Church of Scotland , an Act was also passed to secure the Presbyterian establishment of the Church, after which the Church stopped its open opposition, although hostility remained at lower levels of the clergy. The treaty as a whole was finally ratified on 16 January 1707 by a majority of 110 votes to 69. The two Acts incorporated provisions for Scotland to send representative peers from
8136-421: The parish of St Bees for the use of the school". Such workings were small-scale and near the surface, using adits and bell pits . But the Lowther family later developed and dominated the coal industry in Whitehaven from the mid 17th century to the early 20th century. Sir John Lowther, 2nd Baronet (1642–1706) significantly developed the coal industry and the trade with Ireland. He spent over £11,000 in expanding
8249-409: The pier was suffering from storm damage and by the 1670s it was considered too small for the growing number of vessels wanting to use it. In 1677 a description refers to "a little pier, in shallow water, built with some wooden piles and stones". The prospect of a rival pier being built at Parton to the north of Whitehaven galvanised Sir John Lowther into developing the harbour, and by 1679 further work
8362-638: The pits were sold to Priestman collieries. They in turn failed in 1935, and the pits were closed for 18 months. Work resumed with help from a Nuffield foundation, and the Cumberland Coal Company was formed, re-opening the pits in 1937. In 1947 the pits came under the nationalised body, the National Coal Board . In 300 years over seventy pits were sunk in the Whitehaven area. During this period some five hundred or more people were killed in pit disasters and mining accidents . The largest disaster in
8475-484: The priory in 1539, ownership of this estate passed through a number of secular landlords until it passed into the hands of the Lowther family in the 17th century. Whitehaven was a township within the "Preston Quarter" of the parish of St Bees , and the town's churches were chapels-of-ease of St Bees until 1835 when three ecclesiastical districts were created in Whitehaven. The modern growth of Whitehaven started with
8588-468: The purchase by Sir Christopher Lowther of the Whitehaven estate in 1630 and the subsequent development of the port and the mines. In 1634 he built a stone pier providing shelter and access for shipping, enabling the export of coal from the Cumberland Coalfield , particularly to Ireland. This was a key event in the rapid growth of the town from a small fishing village to an industrial port. In 1642
8701-458: The refurbished Beacon museum at the harbour; 10,000 people attended the event. Whitehaven was, with Falmouth , the first post-medieval new planned town in England. It is the most complete example of planned Georgian architecture in Europe and there are over 170 listed buildings . Whitehaven's planned layout was with streets in a right-angled grid which it is thought was imitated by the new towns of
8814-512: The route was lined with crowds of cheering people, and once he reached London a huge crowd had formed. On 17 April, the Duke was gratefully received by the Queen at Kensington Palace and the Acts came into effect on 1 May 1707. A day of thanksgiving was declared in England and Ireland but not in Scotland, where the bells of St Giles rang out the tune of "why should I be so sad on my wedding day" . The Treaty of Union , agreed between representatives of
8927-662: The seat since the 2024 United Kingdom general election . Before Brexit , it was in the North West England European Parliamentary Constituency. Prior to the introduction of Cumberland (district) , for Local Government purposes it had the following wards in the Borough of Copeland : The following divisions were included in Cumbria County Council : Whitehaven has its own Parish Council , Whitehaven Town Council . The existence of
9040-513: The second port of England in terms of tonnage of shipping from 1750 to 1772. In 1835 Whitehaven was still the fifth placed port, with 443 ships registered, but by the end of the 19th century only 68 vessels were registered. Whitehaven was involved with the transatlantic slave trade , and records show slave ships leaving Whitehaven for voyages to Africa between 1711 and 1767. In 2006, the Copeland Council (Whitehaven's local authority) issued
9153-724: The south of the town the Corkickle incline, known locally as "The Brake", was built in 1881 from the Furness Railway main line to Croft Pit. This closed in 1931 but was reopened in May 1955 to serve Marchon Products' chemical factory. The Brake closed for good on 31 October 1986, when it was the last commercial roped incline in Britain. It was 525 yards (480 m) in length with gradients of between 1 in 5.2 and 1 in 6.6. The nearby Lowca engineering works began to produce locomotives in 1843, including
9266-605: The southern side of the town, the first section of the Whitehaven and Furness Junction Railway (W&FJR) opened on 1 June 1849 from a terminus at Whitehaven (Preston Street) to Ravenglass , and thereafter gradually in stages until Barrow in Furness and ultimately Carnforth were reached. This gave access to the south onto the main West Coast line, and later became the main line of the Furness Railway . The two lines were separated by
9379-486: The successful passage of the Union act by the Parliament of Scotland. In Scotland, he was greeted by stones and eggs but in England he was cheered for his action. He had personally received around half of the funding awarded by the Westminster Treasury. In April 1707, he travelled to London to attend celebrations at the royal court, and was greeted by groups of noblemen and gentry lined along the road. From Barnet ,
9492-526: The throne. It also created a customs union and monetary union . The Act provided that any "laws and statutes" that were "contrary to or inconsistent with the terms" of the Act would "cease and become void". The Scottish Parliament also passed the Protestant Religion and Presbyterian Church Act 1707 guaranteeing the status of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland. The English Parliament passed
9605-484: The tide, together with The Rum Story on Lowther Street, voted Cumbria Tourism's small visitor attraction of the year 2007. A picture of the harbour was used on the front page of the Tate Modern 's promotional material for an exhibition of Millennium Projects in 2003. In June 2008, Queen Elizabeth II visited Whitehaven as part of the 300th Anniversary Celebrations. The Queen and Prince Philip then officially re-opened
9718-514: The town centre, and a tramway was constructed through the market place allowing goods wagons to be horse-drawn from Preston Street to the harbour, but there was still no through route for passenger trains. In 1852, a tunnel 1,333 yards (1,219 m) long was built under the town, and in 1854 the W&;FJR passenger trains ran through to the Bransty station from a new station at Corkickle. Preston Street became
9831-583: The trend was clear. The dangers of the monarch using one parliament against the other first became apparent in 1647 and 1651. It resurfaced during the 1679 to 1681 Exclusion Crisis , caused by English resistance to the Catholic James II (of England, VII of Scotland) succeeding his brother Charles. James was sent to Edinburgh in 1681 as Lord High Commissioner ; in August, the Scottish Parliament passed
9944-540: The union". William and Mary were supportive of the idea but it was opposed both by the Presbyterian majority in Scotland and the English Parliament. Episcopacy in Scotland was abolished in 1690, alienating a significant part of the political class; it was this element that later formed the bedrock of opposition to Union. The 1690s were a time of economic hardship in Europe as a whole and Scotland in particular,
10057-566: The union, when the Scottish Parliament began its debate on the act on 3 October 1706, but the deal had already been done. The Court party enjoyed significant funding from England and the Treasury and included many who had accumulated debts following the Darien Disaster . The Act ratifying the Treaty of Union was finally carried in the Parliament of Scotland by 110 votes to 69 on 16 January 1707, with
10170-511: Was a disaster; the losses of over £150,000 severely impacted the Scottish commercial system. The Acts of Union may be seen within a wider European context of increasing state centralisation during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, including the monarchies of France , Sweden , Denmark-Norway and Spain . While there were exceptions, such as the Dutch Republic or the Republic of Venice ,
10283-493: Was able to exploit the coal measures under the sea by sinking a pit at Saltom on land below the cliffs south of the harbour, to a depth of 456 ft (138m). Work began early in 1730, and the pit was officially opened in May 1732 with great celebration. Carlisle Spedding had charge of the design and construction, and successfully sank only the second sub-sea pit in Britain. It was reported that "A shaft twelve foot by ten had been sunk seventy-seven fathoms" (141 metres) "(the deepest
10396-451: Was achieved by economic incentives, patronage and bribery to secure the passage of the Union treaty in the Scottish Parliament in order satisfy English political imperatives, with the union being unacceptable to the Scottish people, including both the Jacobites and Covenanters . The differences between Scottish were "subsumed by the same sort of patriotism or nationalism that first appeared in
10509-451: Was an ardent Unionist, observed it was "contrary to the inclinations of at least three-fourths of the Kingdom". As the seat of the Scottish Parliament, demonstrators in Edinburgh feared the impact of its loss on the local economy. Elsewhere, there was widespread concern about the independence of the kirk, and possible tax rises. As the treaty passed through the Scottish Parliament, opposition
10622-498: Was badly damaged by the English Navigation Acts of 1660 and 1663 and England's wars with the Dutch Republic , Scotland's major export market. An Anglo-Scots Trade Commission was set up in January 1668 but the English had no interest in making concessions, as the Scots had little to offer in return. In 1669, Charles II revived talks on political union; his motives may have been to weaken Scotland's commercial and political links with
10735-471: Was built in 1769 for Sir John Lowther as his private residence at the end of Lowther Street, replacing an earlier building destroyed by fire. In 1924, the Earl of Lonsdale sold Whitehaven Castle to Herbert Wilson Walker, a local industrialist. Walker donated the building to the people of West Cumberland , along with £20,000 to convert it into a hospital to replace the old Whitehaven Infirmary at Howgill Street, which
10848-411: Was converted to a pumping and winding engine. Nonetheless, the harbour and collieries eventually developed an extensive network of industrial railways within the constraints of the steep valley sides and the coast. The system had two roped inclines . The Howgill incline connected Ladysmith pit on the steep north-western side of the valley to Wellington pit at the harbour, and operated to the 1970s, and on
10961-486: Was divinely ordered, but disagreed on the nature and extent of Royal authority over the church. When Charles I surrendered in 1646, a pro-Royalist faction known as the Engagers allied with their former enemies to restore him to the English throne. After defeat in the 1647–1648 Second English Civil War , Scotland was occupied by English troops, which were withdrawn once those whom Cromwell held responsible had been replaced by
11074-642: Was established in 1830. Whitehaven is on the Cumbrian Coast Line which runs from Carlisle to Barrow-in-Furness . The town has two railway stations: Whitehaven (Bransty) and Corkickle , joined by a tunnel underneath the town. The first railway to reach Whitehaven was the Whitehaven Junction Railway (WJR) in 1847 from Maryport , which terminated at the Bransty Row station and allowed rail access to Carlisle and Newcastle upon Tyne . On
11187-553: Was eventually quashed in 1827, with compensation of over £13,000 paid to the school. Sir John, and after him Sir James, had concerns that there were few reserves of economically retrievable coal under dry land. They felt that exploration under the sea was necessary, but this carried the risk of flooding. However, Sir James had two very able managers, the brothers Carlisle and John Spedding, who were willing to explore new technology and techniques. In 1712 John Spedding urged Lowther to consider pumping by steam, and in 1715 he became one of
11300-548: Was exporting more than 35,000 tons of coal a year. Whitehaven's growing prosperity was also based on tobacco. By 1685 there were ships regularly bringing tobacco from the British colonies of Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania in America, and by the early 18th century about 10% of England's tobacco imports passed through Whitehaven. By the middle of the 18th century it was the second or third port in England for tobacco imports. The tobacco
11413-532: Was forced to withdraw his proposals, but used the royal prerogative to take the title "King of Great Britain". Attempts to revive the project of union in 1610 were met with hostility. English opponents such as Sir Edwin Sandys argued that changing the name of England "were as yf [ sic ] to make a conquest of our name, which was more than ever the Dane or Norman could do". Instead, James set about creating
11526-401: Was given for a Presbyterian chapel. Most of the streets were relatively narrow, about ten yards, but the principal thoroughfare, Lowther Street, which ran through the town centre from the Lowther family residence to the waterfront, was 16 yards wide. The old St Nicholas chapel was demolished in 1693 to make way for Lowther Street, and its materials used to build a new school. Whitehaven Castle
11639-449: Was in the 19th century when West Cumberland experienced a brief boom because haematite found locally was one of the few iron ores that could be used to produce steel by the original Bessemer process . Improvements to the Bessemer process and the development of the open hearth process removed this advantage. In the 20th century, as in most mining communities, the inter-war Great Depression
11752-575: Was purchased from the Kingdom of Strathclyde , possibly with loot from Ireland. Following the arrival of the Normans , in about 1120 St Bees Priory was founded by William de Meschin, which was granted a large tract of land from the coast at Whitehaven to the river Keekle, and then south down the River Ehen to the sea. This included the small fishing village of Whitehaven. Following Henry VIII 's dissolution of
11865-405: Was raised by horse gin to the surface, then transported by tramway through a tunnel to Ravenhill Pit for lifting to the cliff top. Saltom Pit was used as a central pumping station, draining many of the other local mines via a drift driven in the 1790s, and continued in use long after it had ceased to work coal. To counter the considerable danger of methane gas explosion, Carlisle Spedding invented
11978-420: Was severe; this was exacerbated for West Cumbria by Irish independence which suddenly placed tariff barriers on its principal export market. The harbour lost its last commercial cargo handling operation in 1992 when Marchon ceased their phosphate rock import operations. Drivers Jonas and marine consulting engineers Beckett Rankine drew up a new master plan to impound the inner basins of the harbour to create
12091-435: Was succeeded by her distant relative, James VI of Scotland . After her death, the two Crowns were held in personal union by James (reigning as James VI and I ), who announced his intention to unite the two realms. The 1603 Union of England and Scotland Act established a joint Commission to agree terms, but Parliament of England was concerned this would lead to an absolutist structure similar to that of Scotland. James
12204-416: Was the administrative seat of the former Borough of Copeland , and has a town council for the parish of Whitehaven. The population of the town was 23,986 at the 2011 census . The town's growth was largely due to the exploitation of the extensive coal measures by the Lowther family , driving a growing export of coal through the harbour from the 17th century onwards. It was also a major port for trading with
12317-594: Was the dominant exporter at every harbour in the Cumberland coalfield and from the late 17th to the mid-19th centuries this coal represented 6%-7% of all English exports to Ireland; most of the coal burnt in Dublin came from here. However, Lowther was noted for his unscrupulous business practices, and a lease of the coal royalties owned by St Bees School was obtained in 1742 on manifestly unfair terms: an annual rent of £3.50, with no payment per ton raised, for 867 years. The lease
12430-423: Was the site of a major chemical industry after World War II, but both that and the coal industry have disappeared, and today the major industry is the nearby Sellafield nuclear complex, which is the largest local employer of labour and has a significant administrative base in the town. Whitehaven includes a number of former villages, estates and suburbs, such as Mirehouse , Woodhouse, Kells and Hensingham , and
12543-509: Was then sold on the domestic market or re-exported, e.g. to Ireland, France and the Netherlands. However, after the Acts of Union 1707 united England with Scotland, thereby abolishing excise duties between them, the port of Glasgow began to take over Whitehaven's tobacco trade, leading to the later creation of Glasgow's Tobacco Lords . By the second half of the 18th century there was a marked decline in shipping of tobacco via Whitehaven, and by 1820
12656-584: Was under way. In the late 17th and 18th century the harbour was extended by ballast walls, moles and piers to become one of the most complex pier harbours in Britain. April 1778 saw the harbour as the first site of an American attack on the British Isles during the American War of Independence . The port's trade waned rapidly when ports with much larger shipping capacity, such as Bristol and Liverpool , began to take over its main trade. Its peak of prosperity
12769-502: Was voiced by petitions from shires, burghs, presbyteries and parishes. The Convention of Royal Burghs claimed: we are not against an honourable and safe union with England, [... but] the condition of the people of Scotland, (cannot be) improved without a Scots Parliament. Not one petition in favour of Union was received by Parliament. On the day the treaty was signed, the carillonneur in St Giles Cathedral , Edinburgh, rang
#264735