The principal public buildings are the town-hall in Lowgate, completed in 1866 in the Italian Renaissance style, having a very richly adorned façade, with a central dome 135 feet in height resting on eight arches, and containing a clock and bell; the exchange in the same street, completed also in 1866, in a less ornate form of the Italian style, containing a hall 70 feet long by 40 feet wide, and the offices of the Hull chamber of commerce and the Hull guardian society for the protection of trade; the corn exchange in High Street, a plain building with a great hall 157 feet long by 36 feet wide; the custom-house in Whitefriargate; Trinity House, a handsome brick building in the Tuscan style, erected in 1753 by the guild of Trinity House, originally established in 1369; Charterhouse, rebuilt in 1645, belonging to a foundation for the support “of the feeble and old,” which was established by Sir Michael de la Pole in 1384; the dock offices, an elaborate building in the Italian style; the royal institution, a large and beautiful edifice in the Roman Corinthian style, opened by Prince Albert in 1854, possessing a museum, a library of 40,000 volumes, and accommodation for the meetings of the literary and philosophical society; the new general post office, in the modern Italian style, opened in 1877; the prison, constructed on the new model principle, opened in 1869; the music-hall, in the Renaissance style; the theatre royal, opened in 1873, a stuccoed structure with a handsome Corinthian front; the public baths and washhouses, in the Tudor style, completed in 1850 at a cost of'£12,000. The only church of special interest or architectural merit is that of Holy Trinity, on the west side of the market-place, a cruciform edifice in the floral Gothic style, originally founded at the end of the 13th century, but of various dates, and lately completely restored at a cost of over £30,000, having an extreme length of 272 feet, the breadth of the nave being 72 feet and that of the chancel 70 feet. It possesses a very fine west window, filled with stained glass in 1862 at a cost of £1000, and is surmounted at the intersection of the nave and transept by a noble tower, with finely decorated pinnacles, rising from the point of intersection to the height of 140 feet. St Mary’s church in Lowgate, in the Perpendicular style, was originally founded in the beginning of the 14th century, but has been nearly all rebuilt since that period, the tower being erected in 1696, and the whole building restored in 1863-65 at a cost of £10,000. The principal educational establishments are the grammar school, founded in 1486; the Hull and East Riding college, a proprietary school for sons of gentlemen; the Trinity House marine school, founded in 1716; Cogan’s charity school for girls, founded in 1763; national, British, Catholic, Wesleyan, and school board schools; a ragged and industrial school; and the Humber industrial school ship “Southampton.” Among the other institutions for ministering to the intellectual wants of the community are the school of science and art, the literary and philosophical society, the royal institution, the mechanics’ institution, the Hull church institute and library, the young people’s Christian and literary institute, the Catholic institute, the Lyceum library and reading-room, and the literary club. The charities and benevolent foundations are numerous, and, in addition to Charterhouse and Trinity House, already mentioned, include the infirmary, founded in 1782, and extended by the addition of two wings in 1840, and of detached fever wards in 1874; the Hull and Sculcoates dispensary, founded in 1814; the hospital for sick children, opened in 1873; the homoeopathic dispensary; the blind institute; the borough lunatic asylum, erected in 1849, with accommodation for 160 patients; the Hull workhouse, the Sculcoates union woιkhouse , the seamen’s and general orphan asylum; the sailors’ home, opened in 1860; the sailors’ orphan home and school, erected in 1863; Gregg's hospital, founded in 1416, Lister’s in 1641, and Crowle’s in 1661.

Hull ranks as the third port of the United Kingdom, being surpassed in the value of its exports and imports by London and Liverpool only. The original harbour occupied that part of the river Hull which faced the old town, but in 1774 an Act was passed for forming a dock on the site of the old fortifications, having its entrance at the upper end of the old harbour. This dock, known for some time as the Old dock, is 1703 feet long and 254 feet broad, and its area is 10 acres. In 1809 the Humber dock at the south end of the town was opened; it is 914 feet long and 342 feet broad, and its area is 7 acres. These two docks were connected by a third, opened in 1829, at first named the Junction dock, its length being 645 feet and a breadth of 238 feet; its area is 6 acres. After a visit paid to Hull by the Queen and Prince Albert in 1854, the name of the Old dock was changed to the Queen’s dock, and that of the Junction dock to the Prince’s dock. The Railway dock, opened in 1846, extends to 3 acres. In 1850 the Victoria dock was opened, on the east side of the river Hull, with entrances from it and the

Humber, and occupied an area of about 12 J acres. In 1863 this dock was extended 7∣ acres eastward. In connexion with this dock was a timber pond of 9∣ acres, subsequently enlarged to 14 acres, and a new one of 11 acres was about the same date constructed near it. The Albert dock, opened by the prince of Wales in July 1869, occupies an area of 24∣ acres, and has a length of 3370 feet, with a breadth at the eastern end of 480 feet, and at the western end of 200 feet. To the west of it an additional dock of 6 acres was opened in May 1880. A capacious graving dock, 460 feet long, which is entered from the last-mentioned dock is now (1880) in course of construction. Another dock of 24 acres, to the west of the new West dock, has been commenced. Rails in connexion with the North-Eastern Rail way are laid along the quays of the docks. In 1880 an Act was obtained for a railway from Hull to Barnsley, and a dock in connexion with it. The shipping trade of Hull is chiefly with the Baltic ports, Denmark, Norway, Germany, and Holland; but it has also regular steam communication with the other principal ports of Europe, as well as with the United States, the Black Sea, Egypt, &c. In 1878 the number of ships that entered was 4996, with a tonnage of 1,750,977, and the number that cleared 4802, with a tonnage of 1,788,214. For the five years ending 1878 the average number of ships that entered was 4987, with a tonnage of 1,742,120, while 4857 cleared, with a tonnage of 1,726,151.

The value of imports of foreign and colonial merchandise in 1878 was <£17,849,197, and the average value for the five years 1874-78 was £18,038,263. The value of exports of produce of the United Kingdom in 1878 was £19,109,797, and the average value for the five years was £21,267,391. Hull is one of the principal shipping ports for the manufactures of Yorkshire and Lancashire, and imports large quantities of grain from Russia, Prussia, America, and the British colonies, and of timber from Norway and Sweden. The import of cattle is very large, and a commodious cattle depot has been constructed. The deep-sea fishing is extensively prosecuted, and, in addition to several small steamers, employs about 450 boats, with 2500 hands. Whale-fishing, once an important industry, is now discontinued.

The staple industry of Hull is seed-crushing for oil and cake making. It possesses extensive engineering works and foundries, large iron shipbuilding yards, rope-yards, sail-lofts, tanneries, breweries, flax and cotton mills, chemical works, and manufactures of blue and black lead, paints, colours, and varnishes, Portland and Roman cement, phosphate of lime, tobacco, starch, paper, soap, furniture, and organs.

The population of the parliamentary borough, which was 84,690 in 1851, had in 1871 reached 123,408. The population of the municipal borough in 1861 was 97,661, and in 1871 it had increased to 121,892. The area of the municipal borough is 3635 acres, and of the parliamentary 4447 acres.

History.— Hull originated in the two nearly contiguous villages of Myton and Wyke, the latter of which was a considerable port not long after the Norman Conquest. For some period the united village was known as Myt.on-Wyke, but even before the reign of Edward I. it is also occasionally mentioned as Hull. In 1298 Edward I., on returning from the battle of Dunbar, happened to pay it a visit, when, struck with its advantages as a commercial port, he purchased it from the abbot of Meaux, with the purpose of fortifying it. He created the town a manor of itself, bestowed upon it the name of Kingston-upon-Hull, and issued a proclamation offering to all who settled in it special advantages. In 1299 it received a royal charter constituting it a free borough. About the same time the improvements on its harbour were completed, and from this period its increase in prosperity was rapid and uninterrupted. In 1316 a regular ferry was established between Hull and Barton in Lincolnshire, and a few years later the town was fortified with walls and ditches. Much of the early prosperity of the town was due to the enterprise of the famous merchants, the De la Poles, who were high in favour with successive monarchs, and the head of which house was in 1385 created earl of Suffolk. Such was the importance of the town in the reign of Edward III. that in 1359 it supplied for the armament against France 16 ships and 466 seamen, the quota of London being 25 ships and 662 seamen, and that of Newcastle 17 ships and 314 seamen. In the reign of Richard II. the fortresses were repaired and a strong castle was erected on the east side of the river Hull. By Henry VI. additional charters were granted, erecting the town and liberties into a county in itself, under the designation of “The Town and County of the Town of Kingston-upon-Hull,” constituting it a corporate town, and appointing, instead of a mayor and bailiffs, for its government a mayor, sheriff, and aidermen. In the Wars of the Roses it strenuously maintained the cause of Lancaster; and so zealous was it in its loyalty that after the borough funds were exhausted additional money was raised by the sale of the materials of the market cross. In the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries it suffered greatly from the plague, and in 1527 and 1549 much damage was caused by inundations. During the insurrection in 1536 called the Pilgrimage of Grace, originated by the dissolution of the monasteries, Hull was seized by the insurgents, but, after the dispersion of the main body at Doncaster, the ringleaders in the town were seized by the magistrates and executed. During the second rebellion in Yorkshire in 1537 the town was taken possession of by the insurgents headed by Sir Robert Constable, and held for a month, but the loyal inhabitants, surprising them in the middle of the night, compelled them to surrender; many of them were executed, and the body of Sir Robert Constable was hung in chains over the Beverley gate. In 1540 Hull was visited by Henry VII I., who, after a careful survey of the town and neighbourhood, gave directions for the erection of a castle and other fortifications, for the cutting of a canal from Newland to Hull in order to provide “additions of fresh water,” and for the improvement of Suffolk palace, originally erected by the De la Poles, but since then acquired by the crown. During the parliamentary war the possession of Hull was an object of ambition to both parties on account of its importance as a dépôt for armsand military stores. In 1642 the governor, Sir John Hotham, refused to admit Charles I. into the town. In 1643 and 1644 it sustained two long sieges and many vigorous attacks by the royalists.

In 1534 Hull was made the see of a suffragan bishop, but the office was abolished on the death of Edward VI. By the 33d of Edward I. the town returned burgesses to parliament. The privilege was afterwards for some time in abeyance till the 12th of Edward II., since which period it has returned two members.

Among the eminent natives of Hull, besides the De la Poles, are Andrew Marvell, William Mason the friend of Gray the poet, William Wilberforce, and Major-General Perronet Thompson.

The principal histories of Hull are those of Gent, 1735, reprinted 1869 Hadley, 1788; Tickell, 1798; Frost, 1827; and Sheahan, 1864. See also Symons’s High-Street, Hull, some years since, and Biographical Sketches interspersed with Historical Accounts of the Town, Ancient and Modern, <fcc., 1862; Wooley’s Statutes relating to Kingston-upon-Hull, 1830; Symons's Hui lima, or Selections from Local History, 1872, and Sketches of Hull Authors, 1879.