STAMFORD, a municipal borough and market-town, chiefly in Lincolnshire but partly in Northamptonshire, is situated on the river Welland, and on branches of the Midland, the London and North Western, and the Great Northern railway lines, 89 miles north of London and 55 south of Lincoln. The ancient bridge over the Welland was in 1849 superseded by a new structure of stone, erected at a cost of £8500. The town formerly possessed fourteen parish churches, but now has only six, viz., St Mary’s, erected at the end of the 13th century, possessing an Early English tower, with Decorated spire, the principal other parts of the building being Perpendicular; All Saints, also of the 13th century, the steeple being built at the expense of John Brown, merchant of the staple at Calais, in the beginning of the 15th century; St Michael’s, rebuilt in 1836 on the site of one erected in 1269; St George’s, Early English, Decorated, and Perpendicular, for the most part rebuilt in 1450 at the expense of William Bruges, first garter king-at-arms; St John Baptist’s, Perpendicular, erected about 1452; and St Martin’s, Perpendicular, in which Lord Treasurer Burghley is buried. Formerly there were several religious houses :—the Benedictine monastery of St Leonard’s, founded in the 7th century, of which there are still some remains; the Carmelite monastery (1291), of which the west gate still stands; and houses for grey friars (time of Henry IIL), Dominicans (1240), Gilbertines (1291), and Augustinians (1316). The principal secular buildings are the town-hall (rebuilt 1776), the corn exchange (1859), and the literary and scientific institute (1842), with a library of 6000 volumes. There are a large number of charitable institutions, including the Stamford and Rutland infirmary ...(1828), Browne’s hospital, founded in the time of Richard III., Snowden’s almshouses (1604), Truesdale’s almshouses (1700), and Burghley hospital, founded by Lord Treasurer Burghley (1597). Ratcliffe’s and Browne’s high school for boys was lately erected at a cost of £7000 on the site of Ratcliffe’s free school; and Brown’s school for girls in St Martin’s was erected in 1876 at a cost of £5000. The prosperity of the town depends chiefly on its connexion with agriculture. It possesses iron foundries, agricultural implement works, waggon factories, and breweries. There is also some trade in coal, timber, stones, and slates. The population of the municipal borough (area 1766 acres) in 1871 was 7846 and in 1881 it was 8773; that of the parliamentary borough (area 1894 acres) in the same years was 8086 and 8993. The latter was merged in the counties in 1885, giving its name to a parliamentary division of Lincolnshire.
The town is of very remote antiquity, and is supposed to have grown into importance after the decay of the Roman village of Bridge Casterton two miles distant. Its name, an early form of which was Staenford, was derived from a passage at the town across the Welland by stone. It was the scene of the first battle of the Picts and Scots against the Britons and Saxons in 449, and subsequently became one of the five great Danish boroughs. A castle was built early in the 10th century on the south bank of the river opposite the town, but has long disappeared; and of another on the north-west of the town, fortified by Stephen, only the foundations now remain. The town was at one time enclosed by walls, and there are still traces of gateways on the east and west sides. In the reign of Henry III. the lectures of the Carmelites on divinity and the liberal arts led to the erection of colleges, and Stamford became celebrated as a place of education. When dissensions arose among the students of Oxford in the reign of Edward III. many removed thither, and ultimately the universities both of Oxford and Cambridge thought it necessary to pass statutes prohibiting their students from proceeding to other places for any part of their education, Stamford being specially mentioned in the Oxford statute. At the time of the Conquest Stamford was governed by aldermen. It was incorporated by charter in the reign of Edward IV. In 1663 it received a charter from Charles II., constituting its chief magistrate a mayor. It returned two members to parliament from the reign of Edward I. till 1867, and one from 1867 to 1885. The deanery of Stamford is an ancient peculiar, the appointment being vested in the bishop of Lincoln.
STAMFORD, a borough of the United States, in Fairfield county, Connecticut, is situated on Long Island Sound, 35 miles north-east of New York city, on the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad. It has a small harbour accessible to steamboats by means of a canal; and among its public buildings are the town-hall and several handsome churches. Locks, carriages, stoves, fire-bricks, edge-tools, cranes, hardware, hosiery, and especially logwood extract and liquorice are manufactured in the borough. The population was 9714 in 1870 and 11,297 in 1880.
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