Whilst the greatest effort has been made to ensure the quality of this text, due to the historical nature of this content, in some rare cases there may be minor issues with legibility. There are so many of them who have aided me in various ways, and the sources from which information has been derived are so numerous, that to enumerate all would occupy more Space than can be given to an introduction which is already too long; and without further remark, the following pages are respectfully submitted to the charitable and discriminating consideration of my former towns-people.