WHITEHAVEN  , a municipal and

parliamentary borough, seaport and market town of Cumberland, England, 41 M . S.W. of Carlisle . Pop . (1901) 19,324 . It lies mainly in a valley opening upon the Irish Sea, with high ground to north and south, and is served by the London & North-Western, the Cockermouth, Keswick & Penrith and the Furness railways . The harbour is protected by two main piers, of which the western is a fine structure by Sir John Rennie, and divided into four parts by others; it has a wet dock and extensive quayage . Regular passenger communications are maintained with the Isle of Man . The exports are principally coal, pig iron and ore, steel and stone . The port was made subordinate to that of Maryport in 1892 . There are collieries near the town, the workings extending beneath the sea; there are also iron mines and works, engineering works, shipbuilding yards, breweries, tanneries, stone quarries, brick and earthenware works, and other industrial establishments in and near the town . The parliamentary borough returns one member . The municipal borough is under a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors .

Area 1810 acres . Whitehaven (Witofthaven) was an insignificant possession of the priory of St Bee which became crown property at the dissolution of the religious houses . It was acquired before 1644 by relatives of the earl of Lonsdale, who secured the prosperity of the town by working the coal-mines . From 1708 the harbour was governed by twenty-one trustees, whose power was extended and municipalized by frequent legislation, until, in 1885, they were incorporated . In 1894 this government by incorporated trustees gave place to that of a municipal corporation created by charter in that year . The harbour was entrusted to fifteen commissioners . Since the Reform Act of 1832 Whitehaven has returned one representative to parliament . A weekly market and yearly fairs were granted to Sir John Lowther in 1660; two fairs were held in 1888; and the market days are now Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday . Whitehaven coal was sent chiefly to Ireland in the 18th century . In the first half of the 19th century other exports were lime, freestone, and grain; West Indian, American and Baltic produce, Irish flax and Welsh pig iron were imported, and shipbuilding was a growing industry . Paul Jones, the notorious buccaneer, served his apprenticeship at the port, which in 1778 he successfully raided, burning three vessels .