Gainsborough, market town, river port, par., and township, N. Lincolnshire, on river Trent, 17 miles NW. of Lincoln by rail and 145 miles NW. of London -- par., 7210 ac., pop. 12,307; township, pop. 10,979; town, pop. 10,873; 2 Banks, 1 newspaper. Market-day, Tuesday. The town is situated 20 miles above the mouth of the Trent at the Humber, and owes much of its importance to the canals connected with the Trent, which maintain a large traffic between the inland cos. and the coast. It is a sub-port of Grimsby. The mfrs. are linseed oil and linseed cake, malt, and cordage.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))