I'M delighted to note that the Bolton Evening News is giving such extensive coverage to events to mark Bolton's 750th Birthday in 2003. However, may I correct a factual inaccuracy which I have now noted in two separate reports.
The Charter of Incorporation of 1253 did NOT give Bolton the right to hold a market and annual fair. It was a previous Charter of 1251 which gave our town permission to hold a market every Monday, and to hold a fair every July "on the eve, and on the day, and on the morrow of the feast of St Margaret the Virgin". (The 750th anniversary of THIS Charter was sadly overlooked in 2001, much to the disappointment of the many primary schoolchildren I regularly visit on behalf of Bolton & District Civic Trust).
The Charter of Incorporation signed by Henry II on January 14, 1253, was a Seigniorial Charter, and it begins thus:
"To all who shall see or hear the present writing, William de Ferrers, Earl of Derby, greeting in the Lord.
"Know that we have granted, and by our present Charter confirmed for us, and our heirs, that the town of Bolton shall be a FREE BOROUGH, and that all the burgesses dwelling there shall have and hold all these liberties written below."
The 1253 Charter certainly confirmed Bolton's status as a market town, but it went much further than that. It fully enfranchised the town, and gave it official, legal and constitutional recognition. 2003 will mark a great milestone in our town's fine history. Let's not spoil our celebrations with ignorance about what it is we're actually commemorating!
Dilys Taylor
Belmont Road, Sharples
Bolton
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