Dewsbury

The Domesday Book of 1086 records the name as Deusberie, Deusberia, Deusbereia, or Deubire, literally "Dewi's fort", Dewi being an old Welsh name (equivalent to David) and "bury" coming from the old English word "burh", meaning fort.[3]

Other, less supported, theories exist as to the name's origin. For example, that it means "dew hill", from Old English dēaw (genitive dēawes), "dew", and beorg, "hill" (because Dewsbury is built on a hill). It has been suggested that dēaw refers to the town's proximity to the water of the River Calder.[4]

In the past other origins were proposed, such as "God's fort", from Welsh Duw, "God". "Antiquarians supposed the name, Dewsbury, to be derived from the original planter of the village, Dui or Dew, who … had fixed his abode and fortified his "Bury". Another conjecture holds, that the original name is Dewsborough, or God's Town" (1837)[5]

In Anglo-Saxon times, Dewsbury was a centre of considerable importance. The ecclesiastical parish of Dewsbury encompassed Huddersfield, Mirfield and Bradford. Ancient legend records that in 627 Paulinus, the Bishop of York, preached here on the banks of the River Calder. Numerous Anglian graves have been found in Dewsbury and Thornhill.[6]

Dewsbury Minster

Dewsbury Minster lies near the River Calder, traditionally on the site where Paulinus preached. Some of the visible stonework in the nave is Saxon, and parts of the church also date to the 13th century. The tower houses "Black Tom", a bell which is rung each Christmas Eve, one toll for each year since Christ's birth, known as the "Devil's Knell", a tradition dating from the 15th century. The bell was given by Sir Thomas de Soothill, in penance for murdering a servant boy in a fit of rage. The tradition was commemorated on a Royal Mail postage stamp in 1986.[7]

In the Domesday Book of 1086, Dewsbury was in Morley wapentake, but with a recorded population of only nine households it was a relatively small settlement at that time.[8] The Agbrigg and Morley wapentakes were administratively combined into the Agbrigg and Morley wapentake in the 13th century. When they were separated for administrative purposes in the mid-19th century, Dewsbury parish had grown to straddle the border between both wapentakes, hence being mainly in the Lower Division of the Wapentake of Agbrigg.[9]

Dewsbury market was established in the 14th century for local clothiers. Occurrences of the plague in 1593 and 1603 closed the market and it reopened in 1741.[10]

Throughout the Middle Ages, Dewsbury retained a measure of importance in ecclesiastical terms, collecting tithes from as far away as Halifax in the mid-14th century. John Wesley visited the area five times in the mid-18th century, and the first Methodist Society was established in 1746. Centenary Chapel on Daisy Hill commemorates the centenary of this event, and the Methodist tradition remained strong in the town.[11]

Dewsbury County Court

In 1770, a short branch of the Calder and Hebble Navigation was completed, linking Dewsbury to the canal system giving access to Manchester and Hull.[12] By the time of the Industrial Revolution, Dewsbury was a centre for the shoddy and mungo industries which recycled woollen items by mixing them with new wool and making heavy blankets and uniforms. The town benefited economically from the canal, its location at the heart of the Heavy Woollen District, and its proximity to coal mines. The railway arrived in 1848 when Dewsbury Wellington Road railway station on the London and North Western Railway opened; this is the only station which remains open. Other stations were Dewsbury Central on the Great Northern Railway which closed in 1964 and Dewsbury Market Place on the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway which closed in 1930; a fourth goods-only railway station was built in the early 20th century at Savile Town by the Midland Railway. In 1985 a bypass road was built on the site of Central Station and its adjacent viaduct, and nothing remains of Market Place railway station. The 19th century saw a great increase in population, rising from 4,566 in 1801 to around 30,000 by 1890.

Steam engine, Providence Mills, Dewsbury

Machell's Shoddy and Mungo Mill in Dewsbury town centre

The town's rapid expansion and commitment to industrialisation resulted in social instability. In the early 19th century, Dewsbury was a centre of Luddite opposition to mechanisation in which workers retaliated against the mill owners who installed textile machinery and smashed the machines which threatened their way of life. In the 1830s, Dewsbury was a centre of Chartist agitation. In August 1838, after a speech by Chartist leader Feargus O'Connor, a mob of between five and seven thousand people besieged the Dewsbury Poor Law Guardians in the town's Royal Hotel. The mob was dispersed by troops. Trouble flared in 1840 when radical agitators seized control of the town, and troops were stationed to maintain order. This radical tradition left a legacy in the town's political life: its first elected Member of Parliament (MP) in 1867 was John Simon, a Jewish lawyer from Jamaica and a Liberal. The tradition of firing the "Ten o'Clock" gun dates from 1815 and was a hangover from the Luddite problems. It was fired from Wormald and Walker's Mill to reassure that all was well, and could be heard all over the area. Eventually the actual gun was replaced with a specially made firework, but the tradition was discontinued in 1983 with the closure of the mill.[13] The mills were family businesses and continued manufacturing after the wool crisis in 1950–51, which saw Australian sheep farmers begin to charge higher prices. However, the recovery of the late 1960s was reversed by the 1973 oil crisis, and the textile industry in Dewsbury declined, with only bed manufacturing remaining a large scale employer.

Massive immigration after the 1960s left a huge demographic impact on the town, which continues today. Asian British and Muslims now make up a third of the population, and the percentage is expected to grow in the coming years.

After 2005, following negative press reports, Dewsbury was labelled a troubled town[14] and became "the town that dare not speak its name"[15] after high-profile crimes brought it into the media spotlight. In June, a girl of 12 was charged with grievous bodily harm after attempting to hang a five-year-old boy from Chickenley.[16] Mohammad Sidique Khan, ringleader of the group responsible for the 7 July 2005 London bombings, lived in Lees Holm, Dewsbury.

On 19 February 2008, Shannon Matthews, a nine-year-old girl from the Moorside Estate, was reported missing. After a 24-day hunt which attracted huge media and public attention nationally, she was found hidden in a flat in the Batley Carr area on 14 March 2008. Her mother Karen Matthews, along with Michael Donovan, the uncle of her stepfather Craig Meehan, were later found guilty of abduction and false imprisonment, as part of a plot to claim the reward money for her safe return by pretending to have solved her disappearance; both were jailed for eight years.

In October 2010, the Dewsbury Revival Centre opened, in the refurbished former St Mark's Church on Halifax Road, the church attended by Wallace Hartley, bandmaster of the Titanic.[17]

In July 2014, Kirklees Council enforced a media ban covering the visit of Princess Anne, who was due to deliver a speech on the importance of restorative justice. Kirklees Council later responded that the highly unusual media ban had been insisted upon by the Royal Household. Buckingham Palace, however, was mystified over the ban, with a Royal spokesman stating: "This visit has been openly listed in the future engagements section on the Royal website for the last eight weeks. There are no restrictions on reporting on the event from the Royal Household."[18]

Dewsbury has a number of districts with different geographical and socio-economic patterns, they are, Chickenley, Crackenedge, Dewsbury Moor, Earlsheaton, Eastborough, Eightlands, Flatts, Ravensthorpe, Savile Town, Shaw Cross, Scout Hill, Thornhill Lees, Westborough, Westtown. Batley Carr, Hanging Heaton and Staincliffe have areas which lie in both Dewsbury and neighbouring Batley. Thornhill, Briestfield and Whitley Lower are part of Dewsbury unparished area. Thornhill was annexed in 1910.

According to the 2011 census, White British people comprised 61.6% of Dewsbury's population.

Asian British were 35.9% of the population, and the majority of them are of Pakistani and Indian origin or descent. Others (Black, Arab and other ethnic groups) constitute 2.5% of population.[27]

The 2011 census showed that Christians were largest religion in Dewsbury, with 45%. Muslims were second, at 36.5%, and unaffiliated at third place, with 17.6% of the population.[28]

• Caitlin Beevers (born 2001), rugby league footballer for Leeds Rhinos Women.
• Leigh Bromby (born 1980), footballer for Leeds United.
• Alistair Brownlee (born 1988), triathlete, having won the gold medal at the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
• George Burgess (born 1992), professional rugby league player for South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League and for England
• Luke Burgess (born 1987), former professional rugby league footballer
• Sam Burgess (born 1988), professional rugby league player for South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League and for England, he is a dual-code rugby international.
• Tom Burgess (born 1992), professional rugby league player for South Sydney Rabbitohs of the National Rugby League and for England
• Francis Cummins (born 1976), professional rugby league coach and former player. He played for Leeds Rhinos and represented Great Britain, England and Ireland at international level.
• Matt Diskin (born 1982), rugby league footballer for Bradford; his career began at the amateur Dewsbury Moor ARLFC.
• Andrew Gale (born 1983), cricketer and captain for Yorkshire.
• Keith Mason (born 1982), actor and former rugby league footballer. He represented England (Under-21) and Wales at international level.
• John Pitt (born 1939), first-class cricketer
• Mike "Stevo" Stephenson (born 1947), Sky Sports commentator and former rugby league footballer.
• Tymal Mills (born 1992), cricketer for Sussex.
• Gary Sykes (born 1984), former super featherweight boxing champion.
• Richard Tracey (born 1979), footballer.
• Eddie Waring (1910–1986), rugby league coach, commentator and television presenter.
• Tommy Weston (1902–1981), jockey who rode eleven English Classic winners and was Champion Jockey in 1926.