DEVIZES—DEVONSHIRE Arnold’s fine lecture on “ Celtic Literature,” nothing perhaps has had more influence upon the return to Celtic interests than Aubrey de Yere’s tender insight into the Irish character, and his stirring reproductions of the early Irish epic poetry. (a. Wa.) Devizes, a municipal borough and market town in the Devizes parliamentary division (since 1885) of Wiltshire, England, 23 miles north-north-west of Salisbury by rail. A cottage hospital has been erected. The scanty remains of the ancient castle are mostly incorporated in a modern residence. There are large engineering works and manufactures of agricultural implements; also a large tobacco and snuff factory. Area, 907 acres; population (1881), 6649; (1901), 6532. The Devizes Union District, •excluding the borough of Devizes, had a population of (1891) 13,318; (1901), 13,070. Devon port, a municipal (extended 1898), county (1888), and parliamentary borough, naval arsenal, royal •dockyard, and garrison town of England, on the Hamoaze or •estuary of the Tamar, 1 mile west-north-west of Plymouth, 248 miles by rail west-south-west of London. The borough is divided into 15 wards under a council of 60 members. Among recent institutions are a free library (1882); the Naval Engineering College (1880), enlarged in 1896 by the addition of a new wing costing ,£30,000, the only •establishment of the kind in the United Kingdom (Portsmouth College having been abolished), with 200 students resident in the college; the municipal technical schools, •opened in 1899, 80 per cent, of the students being connected with the dockyard; and the new naval barracks (1885). There is a public park (35 acres). No. 3 dock •of Devonport dockyard (72 acres) has been recently enlarged to accommodate the biggest ships, and the adjoining •dock southwards now admits all but the largest cruisers. One of the building slips, still roofed, measures over 6000 square yards. In a “ shed,” converted into an open slip, was built the “Ocean,” launched in 1898—Devonport’s first battle-ship. A new slip suitable for battle-ships or ■cruisers of the largest type was begun in 1900. Over 7000 workmen are employed in the dockyard. A ropery, producing half the hempen ropes used in the navy, employs 100 women. Keyham steamyard (72 acres), to the north of Devonport, opened in 1853, comprises 3 large docks and 2 basins, the Queen’s Dock being 418 feet long. To the north of the docks, the factory, quadrangular in shape, includes an engineer students’ shop, a torpedo shop, machinery shops, engine smithery, erecting shop and turnery, iron and brass foundries, pattern and millwrights’shops, flanging works, &c. The Keyham extension works, begun in 1896, includes the reclamation of nearly 100 acres of land to the north of Keyham and of the Naval Engineering College. The scheme provides a closed basin 1550 feet long, 1000 feet wide, and 55 feet deep, communicating with the Hamoaze by a spacious lock as well as a caisson entrance; another tidal basin (10 acres) ; and 3 graving docks. On the completion, some six or seven years hence, of the extension, the port will command 5 basins and 10 docks, and rank as by far the most capacious arsenal of the world, disposing of a continuous sea frontage, extending nearly three miles, of docks and arsenal. Area of municipal and county borough before extension, 1760 acres; population (1881), 48,939; (1891), 54,803. The extended area is 3160 acres; population (1891), 55,981 ; (1901), 69,674. Devonshire, a south-western maritime county of England, bounded N.W. by the Bristol Channel, N.E. and E. by Somerset and Dorset, S. by the English Channel, and W. by Cornwall. Area and Population.—The area of the ancient county, as given in the census returns, is 1,667,097 acres, or 2605 square miles. The
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population in 1881 was 603,654, and in 1891 was 631,808, of whom 297,898 were males and 333,910 females, the number of persons per square mile being 243, and of acres to a person 2‘64. In 1901 the population was 660,444. The area of the administrative county, exclusive of the county boroughs, was 1,661,914 acres, with a population of 455,353, and including the county boroughs its area was identical with that of the ancient county, but since 1891 certain changes have been made. In 1896 the parishes of Chardstock and Hawkchurch were transferred from Dorset to Devon; in the same year the boundaries of the county borough of Plymouth were extended ; and in 1898 the county borough of Plymouth was again extended. The area of the registration county is 1,650,705 acres, with a population in 1891 of 636,225, of which 336,936 were urban and 299,289 rural. Within this area the increase of population between 1881 and 1891 was 4'60 per cent. The excess of births over deaths between 1881 and 1891 was 63,001, and the increase of resident population was 27,969. The following table gives the number of marriages, births, and deaths, with the number of illegitimate births, for 1880, 1890, and 1898:— Illegitimate Births. Year. Marriages. Births. Deaths. Males. Females. 380 436 18,218 12,167 1880 | 4521 388 351 16,893 11,903 1890 | 4851 350 305 16,222 10,844 1898 5038 The number of marriages in 1899 was 5245, of births 16,294, and of deaths 11,562. The following table shows the marriage, birth, and death rates per 1000 of the population, with the'percentage of illegitimate births, for a series of years :— 1870-79. 1880. 1880-89. 1890. !lS88-97. 1898. 15-3 14-8 14-9 15-3 15-1 15-4 Marriage-rate Birth-rate . 29-9 29-8 28*8 26-6 26-4 24-8 19-8 19-9 18-4 18-8 17-5 15-7 Death-rate . Percentage of ille4-2 4-4 4-0 4-6 5-2 4-5 gitimate births The number of Scots in the county in 1891 was 3316, of Irish 6537, and of foreigners 1789. Constitution and Government.—The ancient county is divided into eight parliamentary divisions, and it also includes the parliamentary boroughs of Devonport and Plymouth returning two members, and the borough of Exeter returning one. The administrative county includes thirteen municipal boroughs : Barnstaple (14,137), Bideford (8754), Dartmouth (6579), Devonport (69,674), Exeter (46,940), Honiton (3271), Okehampton (2568), Plymouth(107,509), South Molton(2848), Tiverton(10,382), Torquay (33,625), Great Torrington (3241), and Totnes (4034). Of these, Devonport, Exeter, and Plymouth are county boroughs. The following are urban districts: Ashburton (2628), Bampton (1657), Brixham (8090), Buckfastleigh (2520), Budleigh Salterton (1883), Crediton (3974), Dawlish (4003), East Stonehouse (15,111), Exmouth (10,487), Heavitree (7529), Ilfracombe (8557), Ivybridge (1575), Kingsbridge (3025), Lynton (1641), Newton Abbot (12,518), Northam (5357), Ottery St Mary (3495), Paignton (8385), St Mary Church (6849), St Thomas the Apostle (8245), Salcombe (1710), Seaton (1325), Sidmouth (4201), Tavistock (4728), and Teignmouth (8636). Devonshire is in the western circuit, and assizes are held at Exeter. The boroughs of Barnstaple, Bideford, Dartmouth, Devonport, Exeter, Plymouth, South Molton, and Tiverton have separate courts of quarter sessions. The ancient county, which is almost entirely in the diocese of Exeter, contains 506 entire ecclesiastical parishes, and parts of five others. Education.—There is a residential training college (diocesan) for schoolmasters at Exeter. At Exeter are also the West of England Institution for the deaf and the West of England Institution for the blind, while at Plymouth are the South Devon and Cornwall Institution for the blind and a school board deaf school. The number of elementary schools on 31st August 1899 was 643, of which 239 were board and 404 voluntary schools, the latter including 349 National Church of England schools, 6 Wesleyan, 13 Roman Catholic, and 36 “British and other.” The average attendance at board schools was 43,261, and at voluntary schools 50,162. The total school board receipts for the year ended 29th September 1898 were over £144,335. The income under the Technical Instruction Act was over £602, and that under the Agricultural Rates Act over £6114. Agriculture.—About three-fourths of the total area of thecounty is under cultivation, and of this more than a half is in permanent pasture, a large number of cattle and sheep being raised. The Devon breed of cattle are well adapted both for fattening and dairy purposes. For sheep there are, in addition to the permanent s. III.-55
