Dahlgren, Stockholm, Sveriges hufvustad skildrad (Stockholm, 1897, issued by the municipal council on the occasion of the Stockholm Exhibition, 1897).
STOCKING (a diminutive of “stock,” post, stump, properly that which is stuck or fixed), a close-fitting covering for the foot and lower part of the leg, formerly made of cloth but now of wool, silk or cotton thread knitted by hand or woven on a frame (see Hosiery). “Stock” being the stump, i.e. the part left when the body is cut off, the word was applied to the whole covering of the lower limbs, which was formerly in one piece, the “upper stocks” and “nether-stocks” forming the two pieces into which it was subsequently divided, when the upper part became the trunk hose and later knee-breeches, the lower the “stockings.” A parallel is found in French; the hose are chausses, the upper part haut de chausses, the stockings bas de chausses, or simply bas. The German Strumpf, stocking, means also a stump, pointing to the original use of the word. Half-stockings, reaching to the lower part of the calf of the leg, and worn by men since the use of the long trousers has superseded knee-breeches, and also by children, are usually styled “socks.” This word is an adaptation of Latin soccus, a slipper or light shoe. It was the shoe worn by the actors in Roman comedy—and so was used symbolically of comedy, as “buskin,” the high boot or cothurnus, was of tragedy.
STOCKMAR, CHRISTIAN FRIEDRICH, Baron von (1787-1863), Anglo-Belgian statesman, who came of a Swedish family, was born at Coburg on the 22nd of August 1787. He was educated as a physician, and in that capacity became attached in 1816 to Prince Leopold of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha on his marriage to Princess Charlotte of England. When she died next year he remained Leopold's private secretary, controller of the household and political agent, until the prince became in 1831 king of the Belgians. He was thus brought into contact with the leading statesmen of Europe, and his disinterestedness and profound acquaintance with English and European social and political questions impressed themselves on all who were associated with him. In 1831 he retired to his home at Coburg, in order not to excite Belgian jealousies by residing at his master's court in the capacity of confidential adviser, but he continued to be Leopold's right-hand man. In 1837 Leopold sent him to England as adviser to the young Queen Victoria, and in the next year he accompanied Prince Albert (afterwards Prince Consort) on his tour in Italy, partly as tutor but also with the direct object of satisfying King Leopold and the queen as to the fitness of the prince for the position already marked out for him in England. He won the complete confidence of the prince as well as of the queen, and on their marriage in 1840 he became their trusted though unofficial counsellor, dividing his time more or less between England and the Continent. In 1848 he was the ambassador of Coburg to the German parliament. He had at heart the unity of Germany under Prussia and close relations between Germany and England, and for these he steadfastly worked; but his political activity was a good deal resented in English circles, which were jealous of Prince Albert's—and generally of German—influence. He died at Coburg on the 9th of July 1863.
See the articles on Victoria, Queen; and Albert, Prince Consort. Selections from Stockmar's papers were published by his son Ernest in 1872, and a biography by Justi appeared at Brussels in 1873; see also The Letters of Queen Victoria (1907).
STOCKPORT, a municipal, county and parliamentary borough of England, mainly in Cheshire, but partly in Lancashire, 6 m. S.E. of Manchester. Pop. (1901), 92,832. It occupies a hilly site at the junction of the rivers Tame and Mersey; the larger part of the town lying on the south (left) bank, while the suburb of Heaton Norris is on the Lancashire bank. Several bridges cross the stream, and a lofty railway viaduct bestrides the valley. Stockport is served by the London & North Western, Midland, Great Central, Cheshire lines, and Sheffield Sr Midland railways, and has tramway connexion with Manchester. It is a town of varied industries, but the most important are the cotton and hat manufactures. The church of St Mary was built mainly c. 1817, but the chancel belonged to a former church, and retains a Decorated east window and other good details. The town hall was designed by Sir Brumwell Thomas, and opened in 1908, and St George's church (1897). On the acquisition of the market rights by the town from Lord Vernon in 1847 the corporation secured the site of Vernon Park, in which stands a museum presented in 1858 by James Kershaw and John Benjamin Smith. The grammar school was founded in 1487 by Sir Edmund Shaa or Shaw, lord mayor of London. The Stockport Sunday school, founded in 1784, is one of the largest in England. Stockport was enfranchised in 1832, and returns two members. Its most distinguished representative was Richard Cobden (1841-1847), who is commemorated by a statue in St Peter's Square. The town was incorporated in 1835, and is under a mayor, 16 aldermen and 48 councillors. The county borough was created in 1888. Area, 5492 acres.
During the Roman occupation of Britain there was a small military station on the site of Stockport, acting as an outpost to the Roman camp at Manchester. The convergence of Roman roads at this point would make the place a particularly convenient centre. The etymology of the name may be Saxon, but there is no evidence of a Saxon settlement, and the place is not mentioned in Domesday. A castle was in existence in the 12th century, but is not mentioned after 1327. Stockport (Stokeporte, Stopport, Stopford) was made a free borough by a charter of Robert de Stokeport about the year 1220. It was then granted that the burgesses might elect from among themselves a chief officer, who was first called a mayor in 1296. The right of the burgesses to his election was, however, lost, and the mayor was always nominated by the lord of the manor. This arrangement lasted until 1565, when the burgesses put in a claim to their right of election, and it was decided that out of four burgesses nominated by the lord of the manor the jury of the court leet should select the mayor. Thus Stockport was not a true municipal borough until formally incorporated under the Municipal Corporations Act of 1835. The manufacture of hemp began in Stockport in the 16th century, and that of silk-covered buttons in the 17th. In 1732 a silk mill was erected, but the silk trade was superseded by the cotton trade early in the 19th century. The hat trade developed at least as early as the end of the 18th century.
See Henry Heginbotham, Stockport Ancient and Modern (1882); J. P. Earwaker, East Cheshire (1877); John Watson, Memoirs of the Earls of Warren and Surrey (1782).
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STOCKS, a wooden structure formerly in use both on the continent of Europe and in Great Britain as a method of punishment for petty offences. The culprit sat on a wooden bench with his ankles, and sometimes his wrists or even neck, thrust through holes in movable boards, generally for at least several hours. That stocks were used by the Anglo-Saxons is proved by their often figuring in drawings of the time (see Harleian MSS. No. 65). The second Statute of Labourers (1350) ordered the punishment for unruly artisans. It further enjoined that stocks (ceppes) should be made in every town between the passing of the act and the following Pentecost. The act appears to have been ill observed, for in 1376 the Commons prayed Edward III. that stocks should be set up in every village. Though never expressly abolished, the punishment of the stocks began to die out in England during the early part of the 19th century, though there is a recorded case of its use so late as 1865 at Rugby. In many of the villages in the country may still be seen well-preserved examples of stocks, in some cases with whipping posts attached. In the United States stocks were of frequent use in the 18th century, more particularly in the New England States; while in the Southern States they were employed for punishing slaves.
STOCKS and SHARES. A “share,” in the financial sense, is simply the right to participate in the profits of a particular joint stock undertaking. In the United Kingdom, in the case of a company constituted under the Companies Acts 1862-1907 as a company limited by shares, the memorandum of association is required to state—among other matters—the amount of capital
