Gilbert, seventh Earl of Shrewsbury, the last of the male line of the house of Talbot, who inherited the Hallamshire estates, died on the 8th May 1616, leaving three daughters, co-heiresses.  The Lady Alethea Talbot, the youngest, married the Earl of Arundel, and the other two, dying without issue in 1654, the whole estates descended to her grandson, Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, who was restored to the title of Duke of Norfolk by Charles II., on his restoration, and in that family a considerable property in Sheffield remains to this day—­not without narrow escapes of extinction.  Charles James Fox’s friend, Jockey of Norfolk, was one of a family which seems to afford every contrast of character in possession of the title.

In the great civil wars, Sheffield was the scene of more than one contest.  In 1644, on the 1st August, after the battle of Marston Moor, the castle was besieged by twelve thousand infantry dispatched by the Earl of Manchester, compelled to surrender in a few days, and demolished by order of parliament.

The manor was dismantled in 1706 by order of Thomas Duke of Norfolk, and the splendid park, shaven of its great trees, was converted into building land, or accommodation land, part of which is still known by the name of the Park.

During the eighteenth century the Sheffield trade was entirely confined to the home market, and chiefly conducted by pack horses.  In 1751 a step toward extension was made by the completion of works, which rendered the Don navigable up to Tinsley.  In 1819 the Sheffield and Tinsley Canal was completed; and now Manchester, Leeds, Hull, and Liverpool, are all within a morning’s ride.

The art of silver-plating was invented at Sheffield by Thomas Bolsover, an ingenious mechanic, in the latter half of the eighteenth century, and extensively applied by Mr. Joseph Hancock.  This trade has been seriously affected by the invention of electro-plating, which has transferred much of the Sheffield trade to Birmingham.  The invention of Britannia metal speedily followed that of plating.

In 1750 a direct trade to the continent was opened by Mr. Thomas Broadbent.  The example was soon followed.  The first stage-coach to London, started in 1760, and the first bank was opened in 1762.

At present the population can be little short of 120,000.  The passing of the Reform Bill gave to Sheffield two representatives.  The constituency is one of the most independent in the kingdom.  No “Man in the Moon” has any room for the exercise of his seductive faculties in Sheffield.

What is still more strange, until after the enactment of the Municipal Corporation Bill, Sheffield had no local authorities.  The Petty Sessions business was discharged by county magistrates, and the Master Cutler acted as a sort of master of the ceremonies on occasions of festivity, without any real power.  That honorary office is still retained, although Sheffield has now its aldermen and common councillors.