Jasper County Democrat, Volume 10, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 13 July 1907 — When Umbrellas Were First Used. [ARTICLE]

When Umbrellas Were First Used.

The introduction of the umbrella In some places has been regarded of sufficient importance to be included in the local annals. About 1780 a red leghorn umbrella was introduced into Bristol and it created quite a sensation in the city. It was about the same period that an umbrella was first carried in the streets of Stamford, Lincolnshire. It was of Chinese manufacture and was brought to Stamford from Glasgow. Mrs. Stockdale in 1776 is recorded to have brought from the island of Grenada, in the West Indies, the first umbrella seen in Cartmel, Lancashire. In 1779 Dr. Spens, a popular physician, carried an umbrella in the streets of Edinburgh, and he is credited with introducing it into the Scottish capital. John Jameson, a Glasgow surgeon, visited Paris about 1781 or 1782 and brought back with him an umbrella, which was the first seen in Glasgow, where it attracted unusual attention. William Symington was the first person to carry an umbrella in Paisley. It is related by Horace Walpole In bis account of the punishment of Dr. Shebberere for libel, Dec. 5, 1758, that when he was in the pillory a footman held over him an umbrella to keep off the rain. This has been described as an aristocratic style of beaning punishment. The undersheriff got into trouble for permitting the indulgence. —London Chronicle.