ESSEXSHIRE is bounded on the south by the River Thames, on the east by the German Ocean, on the north by the counties of Suffolk and Cam bridgeshire, and on the west by Hertfordshire and Middlesex. Its surface contains 1478 square miles, aecording to the recent measurement of the Board of Ordnance. The population, which, by the cen sus of 1801, amounted to 226,487 inhabitants, had increased in the succeeding ten years to 252,473; which, on 942,720 acres of land, gives nearly one human being to three acres and three quarters; but as the rivers and estuaries form a portion of the coun ty, the inhabitants may be calculated at one to three acres and a-half.
Essex may be considered as a mere agricultural county; for. though;frorn the near approach of one part of it to the metropolis of the kingdom, there are some manufactories established, which find both their raw materials and their consumption in London, and though in one district of the county there are re mains of the once extensive manufactories which were brought from Flanders to this island, the num ber of persons occupied in them bears but a very small proportion to that part of the population which depends on agriculture.
Although half the county is bounded by the sea, or by navigable rivers, it carries on no fo reign commerce, and what vessels belong to it are employed, either in conveying to London the pro duce of its agriculture, or in the oyster fishery, which occupies a considerable tonnage and many seafaring persons. The oysters are bred in both the rivers Coln and Crouch; in the former they are pro tected by the seniorial rights of the corporation of Colchester, and in the latter 'by the proprietor of that river, Sir Henry Mildmay. The spawn is de posited in the months of April and May; and it is said the shell about it begins to form within twenty four hours. The fishermen are forbidden to dredge for them at this season. In the month of July the dredgers separate the small oysters from the stones on which the spawn was deposited, and on which they have grown, and lay them down in the chan nels of the river till they grow of a fit size for con sumption, which is determined by a gage, kept for that purpose by the water-bailiff of Colchester. The stones or other substances to which the young oys ters had adhered, are again thrown into the water from whence they were taken; as they apprehend the accumulation of the ouse at the bottom of the river would otherwise generate such an increase of mus cles and cockles as would destroy the breed of oys ters. The number of vessels of different sizes em
ployed in this branch of industry, from ten to forty tons burdens, amounts to near three hundred, and the quantity of oysters, varying in different years, which are caught, are from 18,000 to 24,000 bush els. The larger description of vessels are employed, part of the year, on the shores of Hampshire and Dorsetshire in dredging for the native oysters, which are afterwards deposited in the beds of Essex and Kent, to fatten for the London market. The un certain produce of the breeding grounds in Essex makes it necessary to have recourse to the more dis tant coasts to obtain the requisite supply.
From being almost wholly an agricultural county, the far greater part of the mhabitants of Essex are found in villages. The principal places with their population, according to the late census, is as follow : The towns of Thaxted, Harlow, Epping, Dedham, Billericay, Brentwood, Rochford, Manningtree, Burn ham, and Greys, contain each from 1000 to 2000 in habitants.
The woollen manufactures are confined to Col chester, Bocking, Halsted, and Coggeshall. The Flemings originally introduced the art of making woollen cloths into this country, and it soon spread from hence, first to the districts nearer to parts pro ducing the wool, and more recently to those where fuel is most abundant. What remains now is prin cipally the manufacture of baizes, some of which are sent to Devonshire, where they are spotted, finished, and exported; but the greater portion is a kind made of the long wool of Lincolnshire, very stout, shaggy, and broad, known by the name of South Sea baize. These are sent to London white, and are there dyed to some of the most expensive colours, so that the cost of dyeing and finishing frequently amounts to more than the price of the baize. They are gener. 'ally exported to Spanish America, formerly through the peninsula, but recently direct, and they form the clothing of the inhabitants of the cold regions of the Andes. A kind of stuff called Says is likewise made here, which, like the baize, is commonly dyed and finished in London, and is exported to Spain and Italy, where it is adopted for the dress of the clergy.