Barrow-in-Furness, a seaport and manufacturing town of North Lancashire, situated on the south-western coast of the peninsula of Furness. By rail it is 36 miles WNW. of Lancaster, and 268 NNW. of London. In 1847 it was a fishing-village of 325 inhabitants; in 1864 the population had risen to 10,608, in 1871 to 18,245, in 1891 to 51,712, and in 1901 to 57,584. This rapid increase, matched in Great Britain by only Birkenhead and Middlesbrough, is owing to the discovery in 1840 of extensive deposits of rich haematite ore at Park, near Barrow; to the establishment both of mines and smelting-works; and to the opening of railway communication throughout the district. Smelting-works established in 1859 were in 1866 amalgamated with the Bessemer Steel Company, founded three years before. Copper also is obtained in considerable quantity in the neighbourhood; whilst some 20,000 tons of slate are annually quarried. The Dukes of Devonshire and Buccleuch are the principal landowners, and gave name to the first two docks, which, together covering 66 acres, were opened by Mr Gladstone in 1867. The Ramsden and the Cavendish Dock (1877) cover a respective area of 78 and 200 acres, and, like their predecessors, are 24 feet deep. Barrow Island has since 1871 become the seat of great iron shipbuilding yards; and huge flax and jute-works were erected in 1872 to provide employment for women and girls. There are besides engineering works, a great steam-mill, furnace-building works, and iron-founding, brewing, boiler-making, etc. There are statues of the first mayor, Sir James Ramsden (1872), and Lord Frederick Cavendish (1885); but the great ornament of the place is the town-hall, built in 1887 at a cost of £80,000. The interesting ruins of Furness Abbey lie within 2 miles of the town; while on Piel Island there are the ruins of a castle built by the Abbot of Furness. Made a municipal borough in 1867, Barrow since 1885 has returned one member. See J. Richardson's Furness Past and Present (Barrow, 1880).