Macclesfield

Macclesfield, a manufacturing town and formerly a parliamentary borough (returning two members), of the county of Cheshire, on the river Bolton, 16 miles S.E. of Manchester. The principal manufacture used to be silk, but its trade and population have dwindled since 1850. The church of St. Michael and the guildhall are fine buildings.

M'Clure, Sir Robert John Le Mesurier, born in 1807, entered the navy in 1824. In 1850, as a commander, he took charge of the Investigator in the search for Sir John Franklin. During four years of absence he discovered and completed the North-West Passage. Captain M'Clure was rescued by an expedition under Captain Belcher, and, returning to England, was posted, knighted, and rewarded with £5,000. In 1859 he was made a C.B., subsequently commanded the Esk, 21, in China, and, becoming a rear-admiral in 1867, died a vice-admiral in 1873.