Stroud, market town and par. with ry. sta., Gloucestershire, on the Thames and Severn Canal, adjacent to the Frome and the Slade, 9 miles S. of Gloucester - par., 3731 ac., pop. 11,112; town, 999 ac., pop. 7848; P.O., T.O., 2 Banks, 2 newspapers. Market-day, Friday. Stroud is mainly built on the side of a steep declivity in a valley sheltered by the Cotswolds, and has a picturesque aspect. The chief interest of the place, however, centres in its cloth factories, which have associated with them dyeworks, the water being peculiarly suited for such operations. Stroud was a parliamentary borough and sent 2 members to Parliament from 1832 until 1885; the parliamentary limits included all Stroud parish, 12 other parishes, and a part.

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