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diff --git a/44040-0.txt b/44040-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b04f2c --- /dev/null +++ b/44040-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14564 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Worcestershire in the Nineteenth Century, by +T. C. Turberville + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Worcestershire in the Nineteenth Century + A Complete Digest of Facts Occuring in the County since the Commencement of the year 1800 + + +Author: T. C. Turberville + + + +Release Date: October 26, 2013 [eBook #44040] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORCESTERSHIRE IN THE NINETEENTH +CENTURY*** + + +Transcribed from the 1852 Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans edition by +David Price, email ccx074@pglaf.org + + + + + + WORCESTERSHIRE + IN THE + NINETEENTH CENTURY. + + + * * * * * + + A COMPLETE DIGEST OF FACTS OCCURRING IN THE + COUNTY SINCE THE COMMENCEMENT OF + THE YEAR 1800. + + * * * * * + + BY + T. C. TURBERVILLE. + + * * * * * + + LONDON: + LONGMAN, BROWN, GREEN, AND LONGMANS, + AND SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. + 1852. + + * * * * * + + BIRMINGHAM: + PRINTED BY JOSIAH ALLEN AND SON, + 3, COLMORE ROW. + + * * * * * + + THIS VOLUME + + IS, BY KIND PERMISSION, + + DEDICATED TO + + THE RIGHT HON. SIR JOHN SOMERSET PAKINGTON, + + OF WESTWOOD PARK, BART., M.P., + + PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES. + + + + +ADVERTISEMENT. + + +IN this day the man who writes a useless book, commits a great sin +against society. The aim of this volume is utility; although the word, +as applied to it, must be interpreted in a very limited sense. Beyond a +circuit of a few miles it will have no interest; and even in respect to +its legitimate sphere it only assumes to be a record of facts by which +the man in public life may refresh his memory as to the particulars of +past events, or by which those who have lived and moved amongst the +occurrences here set down may call up pleasant associations of things and +times gone by. By its means all persons resident in or connected with +Worcestershire may possess themselves of a knowledge of the history of +the County during the century, besides having at their command a +repertory of all the principal events of the locality. It would in many +instances have been more gratifying to the writer to have exchanged the +chronicle for the narrative—the annal for something more pretentious as a +history, but the “utility” of the book would thereby have been impaired, +and he refrained. To have attempted a continuation of _Nash_ would have +been mere pedantry, and the mode would have been wholly unsuitable for a +record of modern Worcestershire. As for the opinions which may be found +scattered here and there on the following pages, the writer is no further +anxious about them than as being naturally desirous that what he believes +to be truth should be accepted and acted upon by others. But as to the +facts professed to be narrated, he hopes that they will be found +scrupulously accurate and undistorted by anything like party bias; of the +faults of omission, no one can be so conscious as the writer himself, but +the book, even now, is larger than he had at first intended. If errors +should be found, those whose censure would be the weightiest will readily +be able to suggest abundance of excuses, and to their forbearance he +unhesitatingly trusts the following pages. + +WORCESTER, OCTOBER, 1852. + + + + +INDEX. + + PAGE +INTRODUCTORY REVIEW 1 +PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS 20 + COUNTY OF WORCESTER 21 + CITY OF WORCESTER 28 + EVESHAM 39 + DROITWICH 45 + BEWDLEY 47 + KIDDERMINSTER 50 + DUDLEY 53 +ELECTIONS OF COUNTY CORONERS 55 +PUBLIC MEETINGS 59 +THE COUNTY MAGISTRACY 88 +REMARKABLE TRIALS 110 + THE ODDINGLEY MURDER 123 + EXECUTIONS 144 +RAILWAYS 150 + BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER 150 + GRAND CONNEXION PROJECT 154 + THE SCHEMES OF 1845 156 + OXFORD, WORCESTER, AND WOLVERHAMPTON 158 +IMPROVEMENT OF THE RIVER SEVERN 165 +WORCESTER TOWN COUNCIL 177 +WORCESTER INFIRMARY 197 +WORCESTER MUSICAL FESTIVALS 204 +NATURAL PHENOMENA 209 +MISCELLANEOUS OCCURRENCES 216 +THE COUNTY ARISTOCRACY 312 +THE CHURCH 318 +THE EXECUTIVE 321 +APPENDIX 328 + + + + +WORCESTERSHIRE IN THIS NINETEENTH CENTURY. + + +BEFORE entering on a detail of occurrences which possess, comparatively +speaking, only an isolated interest, I shall occupy a few pages in the +consideration of some general facts and statistics, which may enable the +reader to judge of the advance which the County of Worcester has made +during a truly remarkable half-century. No former period in the world’s +history ever witnessed such mental activity and progress. + +The INCREASE OF POPULATION, though not a perfect test of general +prosperity, yet indicates that the employments which engage the attention +of the inhabitants of any given district are flourishing, that there is +no such apprehended deficiency of the articles of wealth as seriously to +check marriage, and that there is an absence of some of those evils which +are constantly at work to retard the replenishment of the earth by the +human family. For the statistics of population in this county I refer +the reader to Table 1, in the Appendix, from which he will perceive that +a continuous, and in some instances a rapid increase has taken place in +the manufacturing districts. Until the last ten years, however, the +increase of population in this county, though exceeding that of many +counties, did not quite come up to the average increase of the entire +kingdom. The rate of increase from 1801 to 1811, was— + +Worcestershire, 15 per cent. England, 14½ per cent. +1811 to 1821 „ 15 „ „ 17½ „ +1821 to 1831 ,, 15 „ „ 16 „ +1831 to 1841 „ 10.4 „ „ 14.5 „ + +From 1841 to 1851, the rate of increase for Worcestershire was slightly +above the average, being as nearly as possible 13 per cent., while that +of England, as a whole, had declined, and was only about 12.7. This is a +fact upon which no interpretation can be put, except such as is +flattering to the condition and prospects of our county. EMIGRATION has +been slowly going on from our manufacturing districts during the last +fifteen years, but there has been no remarkable exodus at any particular +period. Many farm labourers and small occupants of land have also been +seduced by the Mormons to seek an imaginary paradise in the Far West. +Even this desultory emigration cannot but be beneficial. Great Britain +has yet, however, to acquire the practical wisdom of the ancients in +carrying out a systematic colonization, and it still remains for her +people to perform the noble mission which their national advantages and +insular position seem to assign them—that of peopling the solitudes of +the earth with a race which has hitherto proved equal to all +difficulties, and who would carry with them the laws of an Alfred, the +language of a Shakspere, and, above all, the ennobling influences of the +Christian religion. + +A tabular statement of CRIMINALS convicted, and of the nature of the +sentences inflicted upon them, will also be found in the Appendix. When +the improvement in the machinery for detecting crimes and bringing +offenders to justice is taken into account, there would not seem to be +any serious increase in the amount of crime committed; but there +certainly is no room for believing that the intelligence of the age, or +the activity of the police, have been successful in diminishing it. +Neither does the comparative leniency of the punishments inflicted afford +any proof that the crimes committed are less heinous than formerly. The +decrease in severity of punishments is to be attributed solely to the +amelioration of our criminal code, and the humane desire to reclaim +rather than to punish, which now distinguishes our legislature and even +pervades the judiciary. Worcestershire, it must be admitted, holds a bad +preëminence both in respect to the number and character of the offences +committed within its boundaries: a recent return, made by order of the +Privy Council, assigns it the very lowest place amongst the English +counties as to the proportion of criminals to the population, and within +three of the bottom of the list in degree of crime. + +EDUCATION is regarded by many as the panacea which is to empty our +prisons and render the judge’s office a sinecure; and, without being +inclined to attribute to it any such efficacy, it cannot be doubted that +it does act as a check to the commission of many of the grosser offences +against society. A private individual has not at his command the means +necessary to compile complete statistics on a subject like this; it is a +matter of congratulation, however, that Government caused inquiries to be +made, at the last census, which will by and by put us in possession of +much important information on this head. Without pretending to accuracy, +I believe it will be found that there are in Worcestershire about 550 +private and public day and boarding schools, having accommodation for the +instruction of 20,000 scholars. It is not, indeed, want of accommodation +that is now so much to be complained of—for few of the school-rooms are +filled—as inferiority in the quality of the instruction imparted. +Earnest efforts are, however, being made by all educational societies and +the supporters of public schools to remedy the admitted deficiency. +Nearly all the schools now existing in the county, with the exception of +the Grammar and Free Schools of which there are some seventy-six, have +been founded during the present century, and owe their existence, and in +greatest part their continuance, to the voluntary benevolence of persons +residing on the spot. Within the last three or four years, public +attention has been much directed to the lax administration of the funds +of the various charity schools in the county, and should the gentlemen +who have taken the matter so zealously in hand be successful in bringing +about the reforms which these institutions so imperatively need, the poor +of many future generations will have reason to thank them for their +labours. I must not omit to notice here the means which have been taken +in the latter part of this half-century to induce a love and pursuit of +knowledge amongst the working classes, by the establishment of Mechanics’ +Institutions, one of which is now to be found in almost every town in the +county. The elder born of these societies are, unfortunately, already +passing to decay, and, as at present conducted, they do not seem to +possess any inherent vitality. They have undoubtedly been useful in +displaying the more attractive results of study and science—the flowers +by the wayside, which may tempt triflers to venture a short distance on +Learning’s easier paths—but they offer little or no assistance to those +who would resolutely dare its difficult ascents. The efforts of the +friends of education should be directed to making these institutions what +their projector, Lord Brougham, intended they should be—People’s +Colleges. + +An estimate of the provision made for RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION in this +county will be found in the Appendix—Table No. 3. The Established +Church, by new buildings or enlargements, has increased the accommodation +for attendants on its forms of worship, since the year 1800, by one fifth +to one fourth. Upon looking at the large numbers provided for by +Wesleyanism, in its various forms, the thought cannot but occur that if +the Church of England could have retained John Wesley and his followers, +as Rome did St. Francis D’Assissi, to be its evangelists among the masses +of the population, it must have received a vast accession of strength. +The Wesleyans in forsaking their first simple object of evangelism for +that of building up a permanent ecclesiastical polity, seem to have +mistaken the source of their own power, and during the last two years +their numbers have considerably decreased from disaffection in the body. +The Independents and Baptists have been deficient in proselytism, +conceiving their special mission to be to keep in purity the faith +committed to them from their Puritan forefathers. The Unitarians and +Friends are stationary sects. The Roman Catholics have built ten small +chapels in this county during the present century, and as to numbers, +they have barely kept pace with the increase of population. The annual +value of church livings in this county is about £62,000; the income of +the See of Worcester is fixed at £5,000; and the net revenue of the Dean +and Chapter of Worcester is returned at £8,698. The various bodies of +Protestant Dissenters raise at least £20,000 annually for the support of +their ministers, Sabbath schools, missions, and other religious +institutions. + +This county yields at once the richest fruits of the soil and the most +practically valuable mineral productions. The total acreage of the +county, exclusive of roads and rivers, is 431,616; and by far the larger +portion of this surface is devoted to AGRICULTURE. According to Mr. +Fowler’s valuation, made in the year 1842, the total value of property +assessable to the county rate is £912,863; of which £263,000 may be taken +as representing the rental of buildings and land in the towns and +manufacturing districts, leaving £650,000 as the annual value of +agricultural property. In this statement the city of Worcester, the +rateable rental of which is about £75,000, is, of course, not included. +If it is assumed that 380,000 acres are arable and grass land, that will +probably be an approximation to the truth. In the total absence of +agricultural statistics any attempt to compute the present produce of the +county would be quite out of the question, but that it has greatly +increased of late years cannot be doubted. A gentleman, upon whose +practical knowledge and information the most entire reliance may be +placed, informs me that the average yield per acre throughout the Vale of +Evesham is now about 27 bushels in wheat, 32 in barley, 40 in oats, 27 in +beans; and that there has been an increase of fully 15 per cent. in the +wheat and barley crops, and of 10 per cent. in the bean crop, within the +last 20 or 25 years. Hops, however, for which this county has been and +still is so famous, have to a great extent gone out of cultivation; and +while at the beginning of the century some 6,000 acres were devoted to +their growth, there are now not more than 1,625 acres of hop plantation. +With regard to the general progress of agriculture, the half-century may +be divided into three periods. During the war the high prices of +provisions stimulated improvement, and much drainage was then done, +though in so rude and unscientific a way that it has since been found +necessary to replace a great deal of it. The Earl of Plymouth, the Earl +of Coventry, and A. Lechmere, Esq., in this county, very early bestowed +great pains on the drainage of their estates. From 1814 to 1830 +agriculture, comparatively speaking, was at a stand still; {6} but during +the last twenty years many and signal improvements have been made in its +science. Many persons still living can recollect whole hamlets and +villages in this county in which there was scarce an enclosure; and +nearly the whole of the land was cultivated in common by the resident +farmers, to each one of whom would be assigned a certain quantity in +wheat, barley, vetches, and fallow. Between each ploughed land was left +a strip of mere, into which the surface water from the adjoining ridges +all sank and rendered it little better than a constant bog, which +diseased the few poor sheep grazing upon it and made the ague a common +and hereditary ill to farmer and labourer alike. The amount of +unenclosed land now to be found in the county is quite unimportant; +thorough drainage is regarded as essential to all cultivation; burnt soil +has been much used to lighten the heavy clays; manures of all kinds are +extensively employed; and implements of a very improved and economic +description are used in almost every farming operation. The increased +cultivation of the turnip, and better management of the clay fallows, are +marked features in Worcestershire agricultural improvements. Clay lands, +that formerly were allowed to lie fallow every fourth or fifth year, are +now planted with vetches, and sheep-folded. A remarkable advance, too, +has been made in the character of the stock reared, especially in the +size and quality of the sheep. The better drainage of the land has +prevented much of the disease which used formerly to thin out the flocks +year by year, and there has been no serious rot in the county since 1831. +The local agricultural societies, which have been established during the +last fifteen years, have done much by their premiums and annual +exhibitions to stimulate improvement, but our chief confidence for +progress in the future lies in our being able to number amongst our +landowners and occupiers men of intelligence and enterprise, who, in all +quarters of the county, are seriously engaged in adjusting the relations +of landlord and tenant to the circumstances of the times, and by improved +modes of farm management and cultivation seeking to meet successfully +unrestricted foreign competition. + +Our mineral productions are COAL and IRON, both of which are found in +large quantities at the northern extremity of the county, and coal is +also raised in the neighbourhood of Bewdley. The Dudley division of the +South Staffordshire coal field is celebrated for producing what is known +as the ten yard or thick coal—so named because the bed is thirty feet in +thickness. It is, indeed, the largest and most important bed of coal in +the kingdom, and its good qualities are too well known to every +housekeeper in this district to need that I should expatiate upon them +here. With the associated thin coals and ironstone this bed is worth at +least £1,000 per acre. The number of tons of coal raised in the Dudley +district (Worcestershire only) during 1851 may be approximately reckoned +at 700,000, worth perhaps £25,000. It was in this district that coal was +first used for the purpose of smelting iron, in the year 1619. The +duties on the introduction of foreign iron were cither removed or +rendered merely nominal in 1826, and the production has since nearly +quadrupled, and now amounts to 2,250,000 tons annually. The South +Staffordshire and Worcestershire iron district ranks second in +importance, far surpassing Scotland in the manufacture of wrought iron, +and the quality is superior to that of South Wales. The number of +furnaces now in blast in this county is twenty-eight, and eighteen out of +blast. Nearly 150,000 tons of iron were made here in 1851, and prices +ranged from 50s. to 57s. 6d. hot blast; cold blast, 60s. to 67s. 6d.; +best makes, 120s., and second ditto, 110s. per ton. The make of iron has +not greatly increased in Worcestershire during the last few years, but no +branch of our productive industry rests on surer foundations, or has more +prospect of continuous extension, than the iron trade. + +The GLASS manufacture, of which Stourbridge is a principal seat, affords +a most striking instance of the tendency of excessive duties, collected +under regulations which interfere with and cramp industrial processes. +In 1811 the home consumption of glass amounted to 417,911 cwt.: in 1812 +the excise duties on this article were doubled; the average consumption +of the next three years was but 264,931 cwt.; and up to the time of the +reduction of the duties by two-thirds, in 1835, there had been no +increase whatever in the consumption of British glass since the +commencement of the present century. Since the entire abolition of the +duties, in 1845, the consumption has increased to a surprising extent, +and glass has been applied to uses previously undreamt of. The +manufacture was introduced into Stourbridge, about 1556, by refugees from +Lorraine, and has continued to flourish there ever since. The +descriptions principally made here are flint, bottle, and chemical +utensil glass. There are now twelve glass manufactories in the town and +neighbourhood, employing about 1,050 pairs of hands, and the trade +generally is in a prosperous state. The manufacture of FIRE BRICKS, and +the sale of clay for glass works, is a trade at Stourbridge, now almost +as important as the manufacture of glass itself; and as it is one with +the details of which the public are not generally conversant, I shall +enter somewhat into particulars. Beneath all coal strata is found a +clay, which, from the peculiarity of its ingredients, is remarkably well +adapted to stand the action of intense heat. An analysis of the best +clay raised at Stourbridge, gives + +Silica 72.516 +Alumina 20.264 +Lime 0.891 +Peroxide of Iron 3.308 +Protoxide of Manganese 1.488 +Phosphate of Lime 1.533 + 100.000 + +The presence of lime or iron in any considerable quantities would render +the clay fusible, but when the silica and alumina so greatly +preponderate, it will stand any amount of heat that can be raised in +ordinary furnaces. The best clay fetches about 55s. per ton, and is used +for glass-house pots and the bricks used in making glass furnaces, not +only in England but other countries; it is exported to North America in +large quantities, and to South America, France, Holland, and Germany. +Besides the best clay, inferior descriptions called “seconds,” “black,” +and “offal” clay are raised to a considerable extent. The first (black), +mixed in certain proportions with “seconds,” potsherds, &c., is chiefly +used for making crucibles, in which metals are melted; and of these +Birmingham alone takes about 100 dozen weekly from this district. The +“offal clay,” or that which is raised from the mine in the mixed or +broken state, is not “picked” (or selected), but ground and sold at 10s. +per ton: with this the great bulk of fire bricks are made. The trade is +one of ancient date; Rufford’s clay works have been carried on during the +whole of this century under the same name, but its principal development +has taken place within the last forty years. Formerly the owners did not +get half the best or other clays, and forty years ago there was no better +speculation than taking to what was then considered a broken, or +worked-out mine. Nor did they attempt any but square or roughly-made +bricks, whereas the trade now can model and finish neatly. Even now the +capabilities of Stourbridge fire clay are not generally understood. It +has had a steady unfluctuating demand, and notwithstanding the discovery +of fire clay in various parts of the island, Stourbridge never did a +larger business than at present. The Stourbridge clays and bricks are +sold freely both in the north and in Wales. About 15,000 tons of best +clay are raised annually in the Stourbridge district. There are four +proprietors of clay mines in Stourbridge, and two firms renting mines; +five out of the six being also manufacturers of fire bricks and other +articles in which the clay is used. The fire bricks are made of all +sizes; the largest kept in regular stock weighs 635lbs. The glass-house +bricks are sold “green” (dry) and but seldom burnt. The common +description for gas works, iron works, and all other purposes, are burnt. +About 14,000,000 of bricks of all descriptions are made annually in the +Stourbridge district, consuming about 46,000 tons of clay, and may be +valued at £50,000. An important branch of the trade, and one which has +been gradually increasing for the last seven years, is the manufacture of +clay retorts for gas works, and they are now generally preferred to +metal. The most striking purpose to which the fire clay has been turned +is the manufacture of large baths in one piece. At the suggestion of +Prince Albert, the Society of Arts in 1846 offered a premium for the +production of such an article, and in 1850 one was made at the works of +F. T. Rufford, Esq., which gained the Gold Isis Medal. It had been +thought impossible to manufacture such an article in one piece because of +the great contraction which all pottery undergoes in burning, but after +much patient experiment, the ingenuity and skill of the practical men in +Mr. Rufford’s works produced a perfect and beautiful vessel which may be +said to be imperishable, will never discolour, is cleansed without +labour, and is incapable of retaining the poison of any contagious +disease in an active form. The clearness of the colour (white or +marbled) is effected by veneering china on the inner surface of the fire +clay, and the contractile effect of burning is overcome by assimilating +the two clays. Many public baths are now supplied with this useful +article, which bids fair altogether to supersede the metallic baths. The +number of hands employed at Stourbridge in the manufacture of bricks and +other articles from fire clay is about 900. The town has been +considerably improved since 1820: the bridge over the Stour was widened +in 1840; a new market hall has recently been erected, and the inhabitants +generally seem to have somewhat of the spirit and enterprise expected in +a flourishing manufacturing place. + +The manufactures of KIDDERMINSTER are of many years standing. In 1536 it +was enacted that “No person of what degree or quality soever they be, +shall make within the shire of Worcester any manner of woollen cloths, +except only within the city of Worcester, the borough and towns of +Kidderminster, Evesham, Droitwich, and Bromsgrove, under pain of +forfeiting, for every broad cloth elsewhere made, the sum of ten pounds;” +and in the time of Charles II an act was passed “for regulating the +manufacture of Kidderminster stuffs.” Arras, frieze, cheneys and +ratteens, poplin, prunellas, rich brocades and quilted stuffs were all +made here in their turn, but the CARPET MANUFACTURE, to which the town +has entirely owed its prosperity and fame in later years, was not +introduced till the middle of last century. At first the Scotch carpets +only were made, but afterwards Wilton and Brussels, and the Kidderminster +goods at once acquired celebrity for substantial workmanship and +brilliancy of colouring. At the beginning of the present century there +were probably about 400 looms at work here, but there are now at least +3,000. The trade has of course been subject to many fluctuations, and +there have been several seasons of severe distress amongst the weavers, +which have been for the most part coincident with stagnation in other +departments of manufacture, and are traceable to the same general causes. +During the last ten years the business has been comparatively prosperous, +there has been a great increase of production, and the tapestry carpeting +is largely exported to the Continent, where its cheapness secures sale in +the teeth of the elegant, but costly, “velvets” of France. The many +improvements which have been introduced into the method of manufacture +during the present century, have principally had reference to the +construction of the looms, and economy in the amount of wool used; in +design there is still something to be accomplished. The principal +varieties now made are the ordinary Venetian carpeting, the Scotch or +Kidderminster, Brussels, Wilton, Genoa velvets, Axminster, Saxony, and +the patent tapestry carpetings, which last are among the most recent and +important introductions. Some of the yarns employed in the fabrication +of these were printed and arranged in Halifax, under a patent from +Messrs. Crossley, which however expired in September last. Steam looms +for tapestry under patents from the same firm are already at work in the +town, and steam looms for the manufacture of Brussels carpeting are about +to be introduced, the effect of which, upon the general character of the +trade, must needs be exceedingly important; but though the change can +scarcely fail to occasion temporary distress, it may fairly be hoped +that, like all other improvements, it will result in a large increase of +the manufacture, and add to the demand for labour and its remuneration. +The other manufactures carried on here, principally relate to the +preparation of leather; damask silks are made by one manufacturer; and +there are one or two spinning mills. There are various tin forges in the +neighbourhood, and iron, tin, and screw works at Cookley employing many +hands. + +REDDITCH and its neighbourhood is the principal seat of the needle and +fish hook manufactures in this kingdom, and has been so for upwards of a +century. In 1800 perhaps 500 persons found employment in this business +at Redditch, while the present number, including children, is at least +2,300, and the quantity of needles made has increased from 150 to 1,000 +millions per annum. A very large population is also engaged in the +manufacture, at Astwood Bank, Feckenham, Crab’s Cross, &c., but all the +needles so made are known as Redditch needles. The superiority of the +article manufactured here ensures it a sale all over the world, and it is +only in the common and inferior descriptions that the German makers come +into competition with those of this county; in fact, the Germans +themselves send to Redditch for their best goods. Some very important +improvements have been lately introduced into the manufactories, and +especially a contrivance for carrying off the fine steel dust created in +the operation of grinding the needles, which was formerly very +destructive of the lives of the persons employed. The fish hook trade is +carried on to a considerable extent in this neighbourhood, and large +quantities of barbs, from the fly fisher’s delicate tackle to the +whaler’s harpoon, are annually exported to all quarters of the globe. +There is also one pin manufactory in the town. The operative needle +makers are amongst the most intelligent of our artizans, and the future +prospects of the trade are in most respects encouraging. + +NAIL MAKING employs a large number of people both at Bromsgrove and in +the neighbourhood of Stourbridge. In the former town and district there +were, some sixty years ago, only five or six nail masters or factors, and +not more than 400 or 500 persons engaged in the business, but it now +furnishes occupation for ten times that number. Twenty-five years since +the trade was in a prosperous state, but about this time, owing to the +demand being good, an inferior article was made, with which the customers +were dissatisfied; and the result of this state of things was the +invention of a machine which, by singular ingenuity and application of +mechanical skill, cuts every part of the nail at once out of a solid +sheet of iron. The rapidity, ease, and cheapness with which nails were +thus multiplied, of course caused a great change in the condition and +prospects of the nail-making districts. The demand, however, still +continues for many descriptions of the article which cannot be made, or +so well made, by machine, and supplies a tolerable amount of employment. +The French and Germans now successfully compete with us in the +manufacture, and the export trade to America is decreasing in consequence +of the prohibitory duty imposed by the government of that country. The +nailors, as a class, are almost as destitute as the colliers of +everything like intelligence, and this is chiefly owing to the early age +at which the children work at the trade and are able to earn a livelihood +for themselves. The truck system—by which the employer pays the wages of +his workpeople, not in money, but in goods of his own providing, and at +prices of his own fixing—is an evil of monstrous growth, which has +greatly assisted in the degradation of the workpeople. Recently, +however, many benevolent efforts have been made to provide them with +education and to remedy the social evils which exist amongst them. +Thirty or forty years ago there was a considerable linen trade carried on +at Bromsgrove. A good deal of flax was once grown in this neighbourhood, +and the manufacture by the hand loom was considerable, but the +introduction of machinery superseded this mode of making, and enterprise +and capital, necessary to the establishment of factories with the latest +improvements in machinery, were wanting. Moreover Bromsgrove linens got +into disrepute, because those of inferior make were sent here for +bleaching and sold as of Bromsgrove manufacture. Bromsgrove itself has +been much improved within the last twenty years. In the year 1846 an Act +of Parliament was passed for paving, cleansing, draining, and improving +the town, and for the better assessing and collecting the parochial +rates. + +The SALT MANUFACTURE of Droitwich is one of the most ancient businesses +in the kingdom, having been carried on for upwards of 1,000 years, and +the salt made here has always been celebrated for its strength and +purity. From the year 1805 until 1823 salt was subject to a duty of 15s. +a bushel or £30 a ton, and this impost was collected by the excise every +six weeks. A large capital was therefore required to carry on the trade, +and the price of fine salt was at least £32 per ton. In that year, +however, the duty was reduced to 2s. a bushel, and in 1825 it was removed +altogether; and the highest price of fine salt, since its repeal, has +been £1. 2s. 6d. per ton. That such a reduction in price must have led +to a greatly increased consumption is self-evident, but there was no very +immediate or considerable increase in the make. The proprietors of the +original salt works in this borough sought to protect themselves against +competition, by buying up most of the land that would be available for +the erection of new works, and for a time they kept up their profits. +Rival companies, however, did at length find means of establishing +themselves, and about twelve or fourteen years ago a large increase of +production took place, but the price of the article has been so reduced +by this competition that the business has become very unremunerative. +Repeated failures have taken place amongst the more recent firms; and +half a million of capital, invested in the manufacture within the last +twenty-five years, has been entirely lost. Within the last fifty years +the primitive method of simply boring for the brine has been improved +upon by casing the pit with wood, and more recently shafts have been sunk +quite through the fresh water springs, the bottom and sides of which are +secured with iron cylinders before boring down to the brine springs. By +this means the brine (which lies 173 feet from the surface) is obtained +at its full saturation of 42 parts of salt to 100, while formerly it +varied between 28 and 37 percent. The present annual make at Droitwich +of all kinds of salt is about 80,000 tons, and at the works at Stoke, +from 25,000 to 30,000 tons; the average price per ton is scarcely more +than 10s. The Droitwich trade labours under considerable disadvantage in +the heavy tonnage which the manufacturers have to pay for the carriage of +the article to the outports, and the iniquitous tax imposed upon the +article in the East Indies, where it is almost a necessary of life, is a +great hindrance to an extension of sale. + +The manufactures with which WORCESTER itself is associated, during the +half-century just closed, have reached their meridian and have seriously +declined. Our porcelain factories were once almost as famous as those of +Sévres, and notices will be found in the following pages of continual +visits from Royal and distinguished personages to witness the art of the +potter, and to give large orders for splendid services of China; but this +is one of those articles the demand for which has been greatly affected +by a change of fashion, and plate has now almost wholly superseded China +for dinner services amongst people of wealth. Truth requires it to be +said also that our manufacturers have allowed themselves to be +outstripped, in spirit and improvement, by those of other places. At the +beginning of this century there were forty or fifty master glovers in +Worcester. The trade received a serious check by the suspension of our +intercourse with America in 1812, nevertheless, the number had increased +in 1826 to 120; but the repeal of the import duty in that year, together +with the more general use of Berlin and silk gloves, has had such a +damaging effect upon the trade, that there are at present only twenty +master glovers in the city. One firm, however (known as the Messrs. +Dent’s), has a world-wide celebrity, and manufactures on a very large +scale. It was not so much in price as in quality that the Worcester +makers had to dread foreign competition; the article sent out from their +workshops before the repeal of the duty was clumsily and badly made. +Worcester gloves are now equal in every respect to those imported from +France, and are often sold as French to accommodate the prejudice of the +customer. It seems hard to say why Worcester, a city so centrally +situated, and, before the railway era, so advantageously situated as +regards the means of communication with other parts of the kingdom, has +not become a manufacturing emporium and a place of much greater +importance. In my belief, one principal reason has been the hindrance to +speculative or _bonâ fide_ building, which exists in the bad tenure of +land everywhere around the city; there can be no doubt that this has +driven enterprising men to settle in places which in other respects were +less suitable for their undertakings. There has, moreover, been a lack +of unity and coöperation amongst the inhabitants in the promotion of the +general good which has been “the worm i’ the bud” to many schemes which +would in all probability have greatly advanced the prosperity of the +city. Considerations of the common weal have been postponed to the +interests of partizanship. To make an application of our civic +motto—Worcester, if faithful to herself, may flourish ever. Worcester is +rich in charitable institutions and revenues for alleviating the +distresses of poverty. It may be a question, indeed, whether these have +not reached the point at which eleemosynary aid ceases to be +advantageous, begins to foster dependence, and eats out the energy of a +community; but their abundance has at any rate not had the effect of +drying up the streams of private benevolence. At least £40,000 have been +raised in Worcester at different periods of distress and necessity which +have occurred since 1800, for the relief and aid of its own poor. + +There are many minor manufactures carried on in the county, especially +the preparation of leather at Bewdley, Stourport, and Worcester, which +need not be further particularised, and for the remaining towns and +boroughs—these—like an honoured aristocracy—repose on their historical +associations; the fame which the touches of a master hand, such as +Fielding’s, may have cast around their name; or the remembrances of +former activity and bustle. But I must not omit a passing notice of +MALVERN, that gem of nature’s setting, on whose hills the purest air is +breathed, the purest water drank, and the richest and most unique inland +landscape to be seen in all England. Formerly what is called Malvern +Wells was the only part of the hills at which visitors stopped, but for +the last twenty years Great Malvern has been gradually growing as a place +of resort, and is now a “town” by Act of Parliament. And whether for +pleasure or for health it must continue to be resorted to, and to +increase in fame and importance; for it abounds in nature’s simplest but +most efficacious restoratives, and its beauties will bear repeated +inspection, and will be appreciated just in proportion to the cultivation +of the mind that dwells on them. + +Even from this hasty and cursory glance at the progress of the county +during the first half of the nineteenth century, it will be apparent that +Worcestershire has not been deficient in contributing her quota to the +general prosperity. The age is remorseless in its demands; we cannot +stand still. The years that are past press with all their accelerated +momentum on the heels of those that follow and hurry them to a yet +greater speed. But our resources are not exhausted, nor need we fear +that they shall ever be. We do not trace the decay of nations to any +failure in the material of greatness, but in the enervation of the mind +that should develop it. It only remains for us, then, to be found in the +practice of intelligence and industry—which make a people great—and of +the virtues which make a people happy. + + + + +PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS. + + +THE great change in constituencies and elections which divides with so +marked a line the period over which the records of this volume extend has +long been accepted by all parties as _un fait accompli_, and few, if any, +would revert to the system of former days, even if it were possible. All +now see that by its means we have been enabled to take Reform as our +watchword, instead of Revolution, and to escape anarchy and despotism—the +Scylla and Charybdis into which the continental nations have been +continually falling. Elections in Worcestershire have of course been +much the same as elections elsewhere; often scenes of riot and +corruption, now and then the occasions of an irresistible burst of +popular feeling, but very far from being at any time exercises of calm, +deliberative, and patriotic judgment. As to the changes which should be +made in the constituencies with a view to remedy existing evils, and to +add strength to our constitutional edifice, everybody now-a-days has his +own crotchet, and the writer’s is an educational franchise. He believes +that it would be perfectly feasible to make a register of all parties who +could read and write, in the presence of the revising officer, some +declaration of the privileges and responsibilities of a vote, and who +could satisfy him that they understood the functions of a representative. +No one that had not so far qualified himself for the exercise of the +franchise could in these days reasonably complain of being denied it, and +it would give a greater impulse to elementary education than all the +grants of public money that ever have or ever will be made for the +establishment of schools. + + + +COUNTY OF WORCESTER. + + +BEFORE the passing of the Reform Bill the number of electors on the +county register was not much more than 3,500. At the last revision there +were in the eastern division, 6,515; western, 4,135. + +1802—JULY 12—(General Election, the old Parliament having run out its +legal term.)—The Hon. Edward Foley, of Stoke Edith, and Wm. Lygon, Esq., +reëlected without opposition. + +1803—JULY 19—(Vacancy occasioned by the death of the Hon. E. Foley.)—The +Hon. W. Ward elected without opposition. + +1806—MARCH 3—(Vacancy occasioned by the elevation of Wm. Lygon, Esq., to +the Peerage.)—The nomination takes place in the Castle Yard, Worcester. +The Hon. W. B. Lygon, son of the peer recently created, was proposed by +the Rev. Mr. Pyndar, and seconded by Thomas Hornyold, Esq. The Hon. W. +H. Lyttelton, undeterred by the Beauchamp influence, then thought to be +overwhelming, came forward “to assert the independence of the county,” +and was proposed by John Amphlett, Esq., of Clent, and seconded by the +Rev. Mr. Onslow, Vicar of Kidderminster. The show of hands was in favour +of Mr. Lygon, and a poll demanded by his opponent. After five days’ +polling Mr. Lyttelton resigned, the numbers then being—Lygon, 1,502; +Lyttelton, 1,145—majority for Lygon, 357. A sharp correspondence, +imputing artifices, fraud, &c., afterwards took place between the +candidates. The representation of the county had not been contested +previously since the general election of 1741 (64 years before), when the +numbers were Lechmere, 2,309; Pitt, 2,120; Deerhurst, 1,930; Lyttelton, +1,412. + +1806—NOVEMBER 7—(General Election on the accession of the short-lived Fox +ministry.)—The Hon. Mr. Lygon, and the Hon. Mr. Lyttelton, returned +together without opposition; the Hon. Mr. Ward having retired from the +representation in consequence of ill health. + +1807—MAY—(General Election—Change of Ministry, and Appeal by the King to +the country on the Catholic Question.)—Hon. W. B. Lygon, and Hon. W. H. +Lyttelton, reëlected without opposition. A storm came on while the +election was proceeding, and the Sheriff was obliged to retire into the +Castle to finish the proceedings. It is noticed that the accommodation +in the Castle Yard was of the worst possible description. + +1812—OCTOBER—(General Election.)—The Hon. W. B. Lygon, and Hon. W. H. +Lyttelton, returned again without opposition. + +1816—NOVEMBER—(On the elevation of Lord Elmley, the Hon. W. B. Lygon, to +the peerage by the death of his father, Earl Beauchamp.)—Col. H. B. +Lygon, younger brother of the former member, elected without opposition. + +1818—JUNE—(General Election.)—Col. Lygon, and the Hon. W. H. Lyttelton, +reëlected without opposition. + +1820—MARCH—(General Election on the demise of George III)—The Hon. W. H. +Lyttelton retired from the representation from family considerations, and +Sir Thomas Winnington, Bart., offered himself as a candidate in his +stead. At the nomination, Col. Lygon was proposed by Sir A. Lechmere, +and seconded by Sir William Smith, Bart.; and Sir Thomas Winnington was +proposed by T. S. Vernon, Esq., and seconded by E. M. Wigley, Esq. There +was no opposition. + +1826—JUNE—(General Election. Parliament dissolved by George IV, its +possible sands having almost run out.)—Col. Lygon and Sir Thomas +Winnington, Bart., reëlected without the shadow of an opposition. + +1830—AUGUST—(General Election on the accession of William IV.)—Sir Thomas +Winnington retired from the representation, and the Hon. Thomas Henry +Foley, son of Lord Foley, was elected in his stead, with Colonel Lygon, +who thus for the fifth time was returned without opposition. + +1831—MAY—(General Election to take the sense of the country on the Reform +Bill.)—The Reformers from the first moment that this election became +imminent, looked about for a candidate to oppose Col. Lygon. First, Mr. +Sergeant Russell was mentioned, and then John Richards, Esq., of +Stourbridge. The last named gentleman actually did one week issue an +address to the freeholders, but, frightened at hearing that the Dowager +Lady Beauchamp had subscribed £50,000 to fight the country, he hastily +withdrew on the next. However, a few days before the election, Captain +Spencer, brother to Lord Althorp, allowed himself to be named as a +candidate, and a tremendous struggle ensued. Col. Lygon, while +canvassing in the Corn Market, Worcester, was attacked by a town’s +rabble, and compelled to take refuge in a neighbouring tavern. On the +morning of the nomination, Col. Lygon assembled his friends at +Madresfield; Mr. Foley at the New Inn, Ombersley Road; and Captain +Spencer, at the Talbot, Tything. The nomination took place in the Castle +Yard, Osman Ricardo, Esq., High Sheriff, being returning officer. John +S. Pakington, Esq., proposed Col. Lygon, who was seconded by John +Phillips, Esq.; T. T. Vernon, Esq., proposed, and T. C. Hornyold, Esq., +seconded, the Hon. Mr. Foley; and Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., and Robert +Berkeley, Esq., were Captain Spencer’s proposer and seconder. Before the +show of hands was taken, Dr. Beale Cooper demanded proof of Captain +Spencer’s qualification, whereupon the Captain said he had expected such +a demand, and handed to the under sheriff a deed _bearing date April_ 30, +purporting to be a grant from Earl Spencer to Captain Spencer, of a rent +charge to the amount of £600 upon manors and estates in the county of +Herts. The show of hands was declared to be in favour of Foley and +Spencer, whereupon Col. Lygon demanded a poll, which immediately +commenced. Col. Lygon headed the poll the first day, but never +afterwards; and on the morning of the seventh day he resigned all further +contest, the numbers then being—Foley, 2,034; Spencer, 1,765; Lygon, +1,335. At the close of each day speeches were made by the candidates and +their friends, from the booths at the back of the Talbot Inn, Tything; +and the coalition formed between Foley and Spencer, on finding that +Colonel Lygon’s friends were plumping for him, formed a most fertile +topic for talk. A riot took place in Broad Street one evening, in +consequence of one of Col. Lygon’s friends having imprudently irritated +the mob by throwing a decanter amongst them from the committee-room. The +windows of the room were immediately broken, and other disturbances took +place. There can be no doubt that the result of this election had great +effect upon the country generally. + +A dinner was given in the next week to the Hon. Mr. Foley and Captain +Spencer, at the Bell Inn, with Sir Thomas Winnington, Bart., in the +chair. Sir C. S. Smith was in the vice-chair, and Lord Lyttelton and +about 100 other gentlemen were present. Dinners were also given to the +successful candidates at Hagley, Kidderminster, Evesham, Stourbridge, +Dudley, and Birmingham. The Birmingham dinner was held at Dee’s Hotel, +with Dr. Edward Johnstone in the chair. + +Immediately after the election a meeting of Col. Lygon’s friends was held +at the Hoppole, Worcester, “to take into consideration the best mode of +testifying their approbation of his manly, spirited, and patriotic +conduct upon the late election; and for his faithful services during the +fifteen years he represented this county in Parliament.” J. S. +Pakington, Esq., was called to the chair, and there was a very +respectable attendance. Mr. Pakington asserted that the minority who had +voted for the Colonel, comprised the majority of the education and +respectability of the county. The “discreditable coalition” proved the +theme of much lamentation. Resolutions approving of Col. Lygon’s +Parliamentary career and general conduct were agreed to, and a +subscription entered into for the purchase of plate. This was presented +at a dinner at the Hoppole, in February, 1832. It was a superb vase, 57 +inches in circumference, supported on a massive column and plinth, +decorated with embossed Acanthus leaves, and weighing in the whole 600 +oz. It was designed by the inscription to be “a testimony of the +gratitude of his political friends for his long and faithful attention to +their interest in Parliament, and especially for his support of our +glorious and long cherished constitution.” John S. Pakington, Esq., was +the president of the evening, and presented the testimonial. + +1832—DECEMBER—(Election rendered necessary by the passing of the Reform +Bill.)—The county now divided into two divisions.—_West +Worcestershire_.—The Hon. T. H. Foley (Whig), and Col. Lygon +(Conservative), returned without opposition. The nomination took place +in the space fronting the County Gaol, and the candidates were not +proposed or seconded, the cries of “Foley and Lygon” by the crowd, +without any other person being named, being taken by the Sheriff as +sufficient. + +_East Worcestershire_.—The nomination of candidates took place at +Droitwich, Mr. Pakington (Conservative), being proposed by James Taylor, +Esq., and John Phillips, Esq., of Hanbury Hall; Thomas Henry Cookes, +Esq., (Whig) by Sir Thomas Winnington, Bart., and C. E. Hanford, Esq.; +and Wm. Congreve Russell, Esq., (Whig) by T. T. Vernon, Esq., and W. +Acton, Esq. The High Sheriff declared the show of hands to be in favour +of Mr. Pakington and Mr. Cookes, whereupon a poll was demanded for Mr. +Russell. After the two days’ poll the numbers were declared to +be—Russell, 2,576; Cookes, 2,516; Pakington, 1,916. The whole +proceedings were conducted in a peaceable and gentlemanly manner, and Mr. +Pakington, who addressed the electors at the “Declaration,” as well as +the successful candidates, was very well received. He complained of +broken promises, and the coalition of his opponents as fettering the +“independence” of the county, but declared himself neither disheartened +nor offended. + +1833—MAY—_West Worcestershire_.—(Vacancy occasioned by the elevation of +the Hon. T. H. Foley to the House of Peers, on the death of his +father.)—The nomination took place in the field at the back of the Talbot +Inn, Tything. Sir Christopher Smith, Bart., proposed Captain H. J. +Winnington, who was seconded by Robert Berkeley, Esq. John Williams, +Esq., and T. C. Brock, Esq., proposed and seconded John S. Pakington, +Esq., who, to the great detriment of his cause, was not present during +any part of the proceedings—having just previously sailed to America. +Major Bund spoke at the hustings on his behalf. A Mr. Crowther also made +many attempts to be heard, but was hissed down, and he afterwards +explained in a letter to the newspapers that instead of being Mr. +Pakington’s opponent, as formerly, he intended to be his supporter, +because Captain Winnington and the Whigs had voted for the erection of +the New County Courts, while Mr. Pakington, on the contrary, “had always +opposed that unnecessary and shameful expenditure of the freeholders’ +money.” The show of hands was very decidedly in favour of Captain +Winnington, and the Court was declared adjourned (from the Wednesday) to +the following Monday. At the end of the first day’s poll Captain +Winnington was 79 a-head, and the utmost excitement prevailed. Lord +Eastnor addressed the multitude on Mr. Pakington’s behalf, and the Rev. +Thomas Pearson spoke for Captain Winnington. The second day only +increased Captain Winnington’s majority, but the result was not certainly +known till the declaration of the numbers by the High Sheriff, on +Thursday morning, when they were announced to be—for Captain Winnington, +1,369; for Pakington, 1,278: majority for Winnington, 91. Mr. Pakington +had a majority in the Worcester and Upton divisions, but was beaten in +those of Stourport and Tenbury. Out of 3,122 voters, 2,647 were polled, +and though there had never been so close a contest in the county before, +it was carried on with very good humour. Captain Winnington’s return was +celebrated by a dinner at the Star and Garter Hotel, with Sir C. S. Smith +in the chair. + +1835—JANUARY—_East Worcestershire_.—(General Election on the breaking up +of the Grey and Spencer cabinet, and the accession of the Duke of +Wellington and Sir R. Peel to power.)—Mr. Russell retired from the +representation at this election, on the score of ill-health, and his +place was taken on the Reform interest by Edward Holland, Esq., of +Dumbleton. Mr. Horace St. Paul was brought forward late in the day by +the Conservatives. Sir Thomas Winnington, M.P., and C. E. Hanford, Esq., +proposed Mr. Cookes, the former member. James Taylor, Esq., of Moseley +Hall, and Mr. Whitmore Jones, proposed Mr. St. Paul; and Mr. Bate, of +Stourbridge, and Mr. Acton, Mr. Edward Holland. The choice of the people +at the nomination was declared to have fallen on Messrs. Cookes and +Holland, and a poll was demanded for Mr. St. Paul. At the end of the two +days’ poll the numbers were—Holland, 2,254; Cookes, 2,192; St. Paul, +2,145. Majority of Cookes over St. Paul, 47. 4,125 persons voted out of +5,226 on the register. There was some rioting at Stourbridge, which +necessitated the sending for two troops of lancers from Birmingham, and +Mr. St. Paul, declaring that some of his voters had been prevented from +coming to the poll by violence, presented a protest against the election. +A petition was talked of on this ground, but it came to nothing. A +dinner was given to the successful candidates, at the Golden Cross Hotel, +Bromsgrove, at which Colonel Davies presided. A similar dinner at +Stourbridge, with J. H. H. Foley, Esq., in the chair, gave rise to a +correspondence between Messrs. Robins, Hickman, Hodgetts, and Trow, and +Mr. Robert Scott and Lord Lyttelton. The first named gentlemen chose to +believe that some remarks made by Mr. Scott on the partiality and +incompetency of the county magistracy generally, were intended for +themselves, and they appealed to Lord Lyttelton to institute an inquiry. +The Lord Lieutenant not only refused to accede to their request, but +rebuked them for the language they had used. + +_West Worcestershire_.—The candidates were as before, Colonel Lygon and +Mr. Pakington, who professed to coalesce on the Conservative interest, +and Captain Winnington, Whig. Sir A. Lechmere and the Hon. W. Coventry +proposed Col. Lygon; Mr. Osman Ricardo and Mr. Berkeley, Captain +Winnington; and Lord Eastnor and Mr. T. C. Brock, Mr. Pakington. The +show of hands was declared to be in favour of Captain Winnington and Mr. +Pakington. At the close of the poll the numbers were—Lygon, 1,945; +Winnington, 1,938; Pakington, 1,773: majority for Winnington, 165. 3,619 +persons voted out of 4,126 upon the register. + +1837—JULY—(General Election on the death of William IV.)—_West +Worcestershire_.—General Lygon and Captain Winnington reëlected without +opposition. + +_East Worcestershire_.—Here there was a fierce contest, ending in the +return, for the first time, of two Conservatives. Before the election +took place the Conservatives offered a compromise, and suggested that one +of each party should be allowed to walk over, but the Liberals were so +sanguine of winning that they would not listen to the proposal. Mr. +Cookes had retired from the representation from ill-health, but his place +was supplied by Mr. J. H. H. Foley, who, with Mr. Holland, came forward +in the Liberal interest, while the Conservative candidates were Mr. H. +St. Paul and Mr. Barneby. On the hustings Colonel Davies and Sir William +Rouse Boughton, Bart., proposed Mr. Holland; T. H. Cookes, Esq., (the +late member) and James Foster, Esq., Mr. Foley; James Taylor, Esq., and +Thomas Hawkes, Esq., M.P., Mr. H. St. Paul; and Lord Eastnor and Edward +Dixon, Esq., Mr. Barneby. The show of hands was in favour of Messrs. +Barneby and St. Paul; and after the two days’ poll they were declared +duly elected; the numbers being—St. Paul, 2,595; Barneby, 2,528; Holland, +2,175; Foley, 2,168. In the Stourbridge, Bromsgrove, and Evesham +districts only, had the Liberal candidates a slight majority. Mr. Horace +St. Paul’s expenses at this election are said to have been £16,000. + +1841—JUNE—(General Election. The Parliament having declared their want +of confidence in the ministers, the Whigs appeal to the people on the +Corn Law, Sugar, and Irish Registration questions. Sir Robert Peel’s “no +confidence” motion had been carried by a majority of one against +ministers.)—_West Worcestershire_.—General Lygon and F. Winn Knight, +Esq., nephew of the late John Knight, Esq., of Downton Castle, were +elected without opposition. Captain Winnington had retired from the +field in consequence of the division amongst his supporters on the Corn +Law question. He had constantly voted against any alteration of the Corn +Laws, and therefore did not please the constituencies of the towns. With +this state of things, added to the loss of the Foley interest in the +county, he could have had no chance, and therefore refused to disturb the +division by a contest. + +_East Worcestershire_.—John Barneby, Esq., and James Arthur Taylor, Esq., +returned. Mr. Horace St. Paul retired from the representation because of +ill-health, and for the same reason Mr. Holland declined to offer on the +Liberal interest. The Hon. Captain St. George Foley, brother of Lord +Foley, offered himself to the electors as an advocate of Liberal +measures, and of a moderate fixed duty upon corn. At the nomination at +Droitwich, Mr. Barneby was proposed by J. S. Pakington, Esq., M.P., and +W. Hemming, Esq.; Captain Foley, by James Foster, Esq., and Robert Scott, +Esq. M.P., in long and able speeches; and Mr. Taylor, by C. Noel, Esq., +and Whitmore Jones, Esq. The show of hands was in favour of Barneby and +Taylor, and Captain Foley’s friends demanded a poll. At a meeting, +however, which was held at Mr. Galton’s, shortly after nomination, it was +decided, much to Captain Foley’s own mortification, not to proceed to a +poll, and that determination was communicated the same evening to the +opposite party. The Sheriff at first thought that he should be obliged +to take a poll, under the circumstances, notwithstanding, and the +Attorney General’s opinion was taken upon the point, but this being in +favour of the propriety of dispensing with the poll, Messrs. Barneby and +Taylor were declared duly elected without further trouble. + +1847—JANUARY—_East Worcestershire_.—(Election to supply the vacancy +caused by the decease of John Barneby, Esq.)—Captain Rushout was the +first candidate announced, but J. H. H. Foley, Esq., having intimated his +intention of contesting the division, a meeting of the Conservative party +was called at Droitwich, at which an arrangement was entered into, by +which Mr. Foley retired from the field at present, and was to be +permitted to come in unopposed at the next election, when it was expected +that a vacancy would be caused by the retirement of Mr. James Arthur +Taylor. This created a great deal of dissatisfaction amongst the +Conservative electors, but the contracting parties were too influential +to admit of their decision being contravened. Captain Rushout was, +therefore, on this occasion elected without opposition. + +1847—AUGUST—(General Election on the retirement of Sir Robert Peel from +office, after carrying his free trade measures.)—_East +Worcestershire_.—In consequence of the arrangement noticed above, Mr. J. +H. H. Foley was allowed to come in in the place of Mr. J. A. Taylor, who +retired from Parliament, and with Captain Rushout was returned unopposed. + +_West Worcestershire_.—General Lygon and Mr. Knight were returned without +opposition. + + + +CITY OF WORCESTER. + + +THE constituency of the city is no larger now than it was in days of +yore, when freemen were made in any quantity at the pleasure of the +corporation; often while the election was proceeding. The number of +voters now on the register is about 2,200; of these, 1,099 still qualify +as freemen, and nearly 700 have no other qualification. + +1802—(General Election)—The electors having been convened together in the +Guildhall for the nomination in the usual manner, the Mayor (Mr. +Rowlands) proposed the reëlection of Edward Wigley and Abraham Robarts, +Esqs., the previous members. This proposition was seconded, and the +business of the day went on most smoothly until within seven minutes of +the hour at which the writ was made returnable, when the hall became +suddenly and most violently agitated by the arrival of Joseph Scott, +Esq., of Great Barr, a relative of Lord Dudley and Ward, who came forward +and declared himself a candidate, as he said, in compliance with the +wishes of a number of the inhabitants. A poll was demanded on his +behalf, which immediately commenced, and continued for four days; at the +end of which, the numbers were—Robarts, 2,163; Scott, 1,197; Wigley, +1,180. On the fifth morning Mr. Wigley retired, and Robarts and Scott +were declared duly elected. There was no disturbance. Politics seem to +have entered very little into consideration, and the matter to have been +decided by person and purse. Mr. Wigley, in his retiring address to the +“Worthy Freemen of the City of Worcester,” intimated that he had come +forward thirteen years before, at their own request, to rescue their city +from becoming a Government nomination borough, and he did not see why he +should now have been rejected. To those “who promised him their support, +but voted for his opponent, he had nothing to say, because he could say +nothing that would be pleasing to himself.” A meeting of his friends and +supporters was afterwards held at the Crown Inn, Henry Wakeman, Esq., +presiding, at which resolutions were passed thanking Mr. Wigley for his +conduct in Parliament, and his great attention to the interests of this +city, where he and others of his family had resided for more than thirty +years, and “been an example, rarely exceeded, of piety, benevolence, and +charity.” + +1806—OCTOBER—(General Election.)—Candidates, Abrm. Robarts, Esq., the +former member; Colonel Bromley, of Abberley Lodge; and William Gordon, +Esq., who rested his claims to support on the fact of his being a +mercantile man, and, as such, better fitted to represent the city of +Worcester than Colonel Bromley, a country gentleman. He was supported by +gentlemen who were disgusted by the unblushing bribery of previous +elections. After three days’ polling, Mr. Gordon retired, the numbers +being—Robarts, 856; Bromley, 563; Gordon, 348: total number of freemen +polled, 902. Mr. Gordon was afterwards _fêted_ at the Crown Hotel, on +which occasion he attributed his defeat to his being so late in the +field. Mr. Gordon, however, afterwards presented a petition against +Colonel Bromley’s return, which that gentleman declined to defend, and +accepted the Chiltern Hundreds, so that the seat again became vacant. + +1807—FEBRUARY 13—At the election thus rendered necessary, Alderman +Squires proposed William Gordon, Esq., and Alderman Carden, John +Attersoll, Esq., both gentlemen being London merchants. Mr. Gordon +declared himself to be a staunch Church and King man, and utterly opposed +to the continuance of the Slave Trade. Mr. Attersoll talked a little +more about civil and religious freedom. There seems to have been no show +of hands taken, and both parties required a poll, which was commenced +amidst a great deal of fighting and outrage. After three days’ polling +Mr. Attersoll retired, the numbers being—Gordon, 766; Attersoll, 414: +majority for Gordon, 352. A petition was next presented against Mr. +Gordon’s return, on the score of bribery, by several inhabitants of the +city. A meeting was held at the Crown, to take steps to counteract this +petition, Mr. J. Palmer in the chair. Mr. Hebb moved the resolutions, in +a speech which the reporter of the time says “displayed great +constitutional knowledge and erudition.” The petition was dismissed in +consequence of the necessary recognizances not being entered into. + +1807—MAY 6—(General Election.)—Mr. Robarts and Mr. Gordon returned +without opposition. Mr. Attersoll having canvassed the electors, and +found that he had no chance, retired on the eve of the contest. + +This election was chiefly remarkable for the quantity of pens and ink +wasted upon it. Mr. Gordon, after being returned as an “independent” +member, followed the example of most of his contemporary M.P.’s, in +turning his position to account, and obtained from the Government a +license to trade with Spain. He was warned of the consequences of +becoming a tool of Government by Mr. Hebb, in a series of letters bearing +the signature of Cato Uticensis. Then followed various blasts and +counter-blasts, especially a sheet of rhyme called the _Doctoriad_, to +which there was a smart replication under the title of the _Gordonian_; +and these were for some time the _poemes celébres_ of Worcester +elections. + +1812—OCTOBER 5—(General Election.)—Mr. Robarts and Mr. Gordon again +candidates, though, as the latter was out of the country, he was +represented by his father-in-law, Sir George Cornewall. A day or two +before the election, a number of freemen presented a requisition to Lord +Deerhurst, pressing him to offer himself, which he did. At the +nomination, Mr. Robarts and Lord Deerhurst obtained the show of hands, +and a poll was demanded on behalf of Mr. Gordon. After eight days’ +contest—severer than any which had taken place in the city since the +celebrated one in 1761, between Sir William Watkin Lewes and Mr. +Rouse—the numbers were found to be—Robarts, 1,248; Gordon, 939; +Deerhurst, 855. Lord Deerhurst then retired, having won golden opinions +from all sorts of men, by the eloquence of his speeches, the courtesy of +his manner, and the good humour he had maintained. He polled a majority +of the resident freemen, but was beaten by the out-voters. The number of +freemen polled at this election was 1,765. No particular political +principle seems to have been at all involved in the contest. A gold cup +was afterwards purchased by Lord Deerhurst’s supporters, and presented to +him at a dinner at the Crown; Thomas Farley, Esq., in the chair. + +1816—DECEMBER—(Vacancy on the death of A. Robarts, Esq.)—Lord Deerhurst +again offered himself as a candidate, and Colonel Davies made his first +appearance in Worcester. He continued an active canvass for some time, +but at last finding that Lord Deerhurst had indubitably secured a +majority of votes, he withdrew. Lord Deerhurst was proposed at the +hustings by the Mayor (R. Chamberlain, Esq.), and seconded by E. M. +Wigley, Esq. The chairing took place immediately afterwards, and the +chair itself was very prematurely demolished by the mob in High Street. +On the following day a grand dinner was given to the new member at the +Hoppole. + +1818—JUNE 15—(General Election.)—This was one of the severest contested +elections which had been known in the city of Worcester, and it +terminated in the return of Colonel Davies to Parliament for the first +time. The city had been kept in great excitement for some months before +the election, by the continued canvassing of all the candidates. All +parties were enthusiastic in their support of Lord Deerhurst, whose +return was safe from the first, and the contest lay between Sir William +Duff Gordon and Colonel Davies. Sir William Gordon had forfeited some of +his popularity by the course he had taken in voting with Government, for +the orders in council altering the import duties, and which were supposed +to have had a great effect upon the glove trade. Colonel Davies, shortly +before the election, gave up his commission in the Guards, that he might +make the better Member of Parliament, by having his time entirely +unfettered. Though not much was said about political principles in the +addresses of the different candidates, it was understood that Colonel +Davies was more Whiggish in his views than either of the other men. +Tumults took place both at Kidderminster and in London amongst the +out-voters, who were canvassed there by the different parties, and at the +polling places the riot and disturbance was worse than ever before +recollected. At the nomination, Lord Deerhurst was proposed by the Mayor +(S. Wall, Esq.), and seconded by Mr. John Dent. Sir William Gordon was +proposed by Major Bund and Mr. Thomas Dent; and Colonel Davies by +Alderman Nash and Mr. Richards. After seven days’ polling, Sir William +Gordon withdrew from the contest; the numbers then being—Deerhurst, +1,422; Davies, 1,024; Gordon, 874. Colonel Davies had a majority both in +the city and out-votes; but he was principally the gainer among the +London freemen. The total number polled was 1,963. The two members were +chaired as usual the day after the election had concluded, and the chairs +demolished by the populace, according to their ancient prerogative and +right. + +Petitions were presented against both Colonel Davies’s and Lord +Deerhurst’s return. The latter, however, was withdrawn. On the 16th +March, 1819, the committee to investigate Colonel Davies’s return was +ballotted for, and Mr. Alexander Baring, M.P. for Taunton, chosen +chairman. The petition alleged bribery and treating, but the necessary +witnesses were kept out of the way. Colonel Davies was declared duly +elected by the casting vote of the chairman, and the news was received in +Worcester with great rejoicings by his supporters. + +1820—MARCH—(General Election.)—Lord Deerhurst and Colonel Davies returned +without opposition: the former being proposed by Thomas Carden, Esq., and +seconded by Samuel Crane, Esq.; and the latter, by Richard Nash, Esq., +seconded by E. M. Wigley, Esq. The chairing, on this occasion, was a +very splendid affair. + +1826—JUNE—(General Election.)—So long before this election as March, +1824, George Richard Robinson, Esq., a London merchant, announced his +intention of becoming a candidate on “independent” principles, and by a +free expenditure of money made himself popular. All parties had been +engaged in a very active canvass, but in May Lord Deerhurst suddenly +announced his determination not again to offer himself as a candidate. +This caused immense chagrin, not only to his pledged supporters, who said +his victory was certain, but also to all those who had revelled in the +prospect of the high price which votes would fetch in a prolonged and +doubtful contest—such as the forthcoming one promised to be. Lord +Deerhurst made his appointment as a Vice Lieutenant, and his other +numerous public duties, the plea for retiring. Richard Griffiths, Esq., +of Thorngrove, was induced to come forward in his stead at the eleventh +hour. On the hustings, Colonel Davies was proposed by Mr. Alderman +Carden and Mr. John Palmer; Mr. G. R. Robinson, by Mr. Alderman Ballard +and Major Bund; and Mr. Griffiths, by Mr. John Dent and Mr. Henry +Clifton. Colonel Davies avowed himself in favour of reform, economy, and +free trade; Mr. Robinson intended generally to support ministers, but +declared himself independent; and Mr. Griffiths was a thorough Church and +King man. After six days’ poll the numbers were—Robinson, 1,542; Davies, +1,268; and Griffiths, 1,036. Mr. Griffiths then withdrew from the +contest, having spent, during the week he was in the city, some £8,000, +and thus answered the chief end of the parties who dragged him forward. +There indeed was scarcely ever such a dear election, to all the +candidates, in the city of Worcester—the most unprecedented exertions in +fetching voters from a distance, &c., being made. The entire sum spent +is said to have been £25,000. The total number of freemen polled was +1,963—viz., 1,184, city; 246, from London; and 433, country. This was +the largest number on record as having polled at any election. Davies +had 322 plumpers; Robinson, 132; and Griffiths, 50. The chairing took +place as usual, and the elegant cars were broken to pieces at the bottom +of Broad Street, at the imminent risk of the new members’ lives. A +dinner was given in the succeeding week to Mr. Robinson, at the Hoppole, +Mr. Alderman Ballard presiding. Colonel Davies’s friends met to form a +committee to secure his return in future at less expense; and Mr. +Griffiths announced his firm intention of offering himself again, +whenever a vacancy should occur. + +1830—JULY 30—(General Election.)—Colonel Davies and Mr. Robinson returned +without opposition; all the efforts of the third-man-no-matter-who party +having failed to produce a candidate. + +1831—MAY—(General Election.)—The Tory party three days before the +election brought forward a candidate in the person of the Hon. Colonel +Henry Fitzroy, brother to Lord Southampton, but the Reform enthusiasm was +so strong that his voice was drowned in the disapprobation of the people +the moment he opened his lips, and all the significant hints that he had +plenty of money to spend were thrown away. The Colonel soon found that +he was in a false position, and did not appear on the hustings at the day +of nomination. Colonel Davies was proposed by George Farley, Esq., and +seconded by Mr. John Palmer; while Archibald Cameron, Esq., proposed, and +Thomas Scott, Esq., seconded, Mr. Robinson. They were declared duly +elected, and the chairing took place forthwith, but the chair was +demolished sooner than usual. + +1832—DECEMBER—(General Election.)—Colonel Davies and Mr. Robinson again +returned. A few weeks before the election a third candidate appeared on +the scene, in the person of R. A. Dundas, Esq., cousin of Viscount +Melville, intending to contest the city on Conservative principles, but +after a canvass he gave the matter up as hopeless. Mr. Robinson having +in an address to the electors, said that Mr. Dundas had been “deluded +with hopes of success, which proved utterly fallacious”—his supporters +sent for him back again, and declared that he should stand a poll unless +Mr. Robinson withdrew these “offensive” expressions. A long conference +took place, and some modification of the terms, or explanation of their +intention, was conceded, and Mr. Dundas once more made his bow. Colonel +Davies was proposed by Mr. Hebb and Mr. George Allen; and Mr. Robinson by +Mr. Spooner and Mr. Munn. The members went through the city in an open +carriage drawn by six grey horses, instead of in a chair, and the mob +having shewn some disposition to destroy the carriage, they were +disappointed by the postillions turning suddenly along the back streets +into the Hoppole yard. Some of the crowd climbed the gates, and began to +tear the decorations, but they were beaten off. A dinner was afterwards +given to the two members unitedly, at the Bell Inn, Mr. Hebb in the +chair. + +1835—(General Election.)—On this occasion a candidate was brought forward +by the Conservatives in the person of Joseph Bailey, Esq., a very opulent +ironmaster from Glanusk, in Monmouthshire. Mr. Robinson appeared to be +an universal favourite, as by the comparative moderation of his views he +had conciliated many of the Tory party, but they concentrated all their +animosity against Colonel Davies, who had not only been a very determined +but very active promoter of Reform measures in the House of Commons. The +Colonel had lost favour with some of the glovers by his support of free +trade principles. The most strenuous exertions were made by the Colonel +and Mr. Bailey, between whom it was at once seen that the struggle would +lie, while Mr. Robinson rested upon his oars in security. At the +nomination, Mr. Hebb and Mr. Allies proposed Colonel Davies; Dr. Hastings +and Mr. Thomas Scott, proposed Mr. Robinson; and Mr. John Williams, of +Pitmaston, and Mr. Dent, proposed Mr. Bailey. The show of hands was +entirely in favour of the two old members, and a poll was demanded by Mr. +Gutch in favour of Mr. Bailey. At the end of the first day’s poll the +numbers were—Robinson, 1,309; Davies, 882; Bailey, 835; but the second +day altered the state of things, and the final return, as made by the +Sheriff, was—Robinson, 1,611; Bailey, 1,154; Davies, 1,137: majority for +Bailey, 17. There was a sharp affray between the street partizans of the +various candidates on Tuesday evening, and several heads were broken. +Immediately after the election a dinner was given to Colonel Davies and +Mr. Robinson, at the Bell Inn, W. Sanders, Esq., in the chair; at which +it was announced to be the intention of Colonel Davies’s friends to bring +the result of the election before a committee of the House of Commons. +Captain Winnington, Mr. Cookes, and Mr. Holland, the three recently +elected Whig members for the county, were present. A dinner was given to +Joseph Bailey, Esq., M.P., at the Hoppole, in February. The party +numbered nearly 200, and Mr. Richard Spooner was in the chair. The +various speakers boasted of the “reaction” which had taken place in +favour of Conservative principles. Mr. Bailey paid his first visit to +Worcester after his election in October; dinners were provided for his +supporters, and _eighty public houses_ were “opened” in the evening. The +principal party was given at the Unicorn Inn, Broad Street, where Mr. +Richard Spooner presided. Mr. Henry Clifton and Mr. Pierpoint were +vice-chairmen. + +As soon as the session opened, a petition was presented against Mr. +Bailey’s return, and a scrutiny of votes took place before a committee of +the House of Commons, which was ballotted for March 31st, and consisted +of seven Tories and four Whigs; Mr. J. E. Denison (Nottinghamshire) being +chairman. After a sitting of eleven days, fifty-five votes were struck +off by the petitioners, and forty by Mr. Bailey, still leaving that +gentleman in a majority of one; and the petitioners then gave up the +struggle, in consequence of several adverse decisions on the part of the +committee. The following is a summary of the votes struck off on each +side: + + BY THE PETITIONERS. BY MR. BAILEY. +Pauper votes 33 Pauper votes 8 +Personation 2 Change of qualification 17 +Employed and paid 11 Employed and paid. 9 +Change of qualification 8 Not registered 3 +Wager 1 Dead before election 1 + Wagers 2 + 55 40 +Objections not admitted. 16 Objections not admitted. 4 + +The petitioners alleged three cases of bribery on Mr. Bailey’s part, but +failed in the proof; and the votes of a number of Mr. Bailey’s +professional agents, objected to by the petitioners, were retained, in +consequence of the memorable evidence of one of their number—that their +services were all gratuitously rendered. The conduct of the petition was +intrusted to Mr. John Hill, and by him managed most admirably. The +expenses were all covered by the subscriptions, which had been previously +raised, and that almost entirely among the citizens themselves. Mr. +Bailey’s expenses are said to have been £16,000. The expenses of the +election itself were but trifling. Of course the greatest excitement +prevailed in the city during the progress of the petition, and Mr. +Bailey’s party had great rejoicings on the issue. + +In September, 1836, a dinner was given by the Worcester Conservative +operatives to Mr. Bailey, at the Theatre. 427 persons sat down to table, +and there were many spectators. The chief speakers were Mr. Bailey, Mr. +Spooner, Mr. Pakington, and Mr. John Dent. There were great +congratulations on the “reaction” which had taken place in the city, as +elsewhere, in favour of Toryism. + +Immediately afterwards (October 24) the operative Reformers got up a +great dinner in the Town Hall, to refute the cry about “reaction.” Eight +hundred persons sat down to dinner in the outer hall, 500 in the assembly +room, and others at different inns. Mr. Arrowsmith was in the chair; +supported on his right by the Mayor, and on the left by Colonel Davies. +The whole party met in the outer hall after dinner (this being +brilliantly lighted up for the occasion), and a number of appropriate +toasts were given. + +1837—(General Election.)—The candidates at this election were Mr. Bailey +and Mr. Robinson (the former members), and Colonel Davies; but on the day +of nomination Mr. Robinson retired in the most unexpected manner. This +was owing to many of the Liberal electors having refused to give him +their promises on his canvass, because they thought he had not behaved +well to Colonel Davies at the previous election, and had, moreover, +offended them by some votes in the House, which did not savour +sufficiently of party. Mr. Bailey and Colonel Davies were declared duly +elected, under protest from Mr. J. D. Stevenson, who had proposed (but a +little too late) Mr. James Morison, of London. + +Mr. John Hood and Mr. Joseph Lingham proposed Mr. Robinson on this +occasion; Mr. John Williams and Mr. John Dent, Mr. Bailey; the Mayor and +Mr. George Allies, Colonel Davies. + +Barristers’ opinions were afterwards obtained, declaring that the return +of the Sheriff was, under the circumstances, incorrect. In anticipation +of another election, therefore, a Mr. Turton, son of Sir Thomas Turton, a +Sussex baronet, was introduced to the electors as a candidate on the +Liberal interest. He addressed a public meeting in the Guildhall in +October, at which it was resolved—first, to petition; and, secondly, to +support Mr. Turton if a vacancy then occurred. Colonel Davies’s friends +refused to promise a coalition with Mr. Turton. At the eleventh hour the +petition was abandoned, and Mr. Bailey brought an action against the +petitioners to recover £174, the sum which he had expended in preparing +to defend his seat; but on an appearance being put in, the claim was +abandoned. + +1841—JULY—(General Election.)—Colonel Davies retiring from the +representation, because of ill-health, was succeeded by Sir Thomas Wilde, +who, during his candidateship for the city, was made Attorney General, in +the room of Sir John Campbell, elevated to the Irish Chancellorship. Mr. +Bailey again offered himself on the Conservative interest, and Mr. Robert +Hardy, of the firm of Hardy and Padmore, ironfounders, being determined +that the Tories should not have the seat uncontested, presented himself +as the candidate of the Radical party, of which he had long been a +leading member. Mr. Hardy’s personal character and liberality had caused +him to be greatly respected in the city; but his ultra opinions, and +especially the fact of his being a Dissenter, left him little chance of +success. The usual meetings took place before the election, and Sir +Thomas Wilde availed himself of the opportunity to make some most able +speeches in exposition and defence of the policy of the ministry. The +nomination in the Guildhall presented more than the usual scene of +confusion, and a fight with bludgeons took place in the midst of it, +which had well-nigh proved fatal to one young man, who was accidentally +struck on the head. Mr. Bailey was proposed by Mr. John Dent and Mr. +Pierpoint; Sir Thomas Wilde, by Mr. George Farley and Alderman Corles; +and Mr. Hardy, by Mr. Edward Lloyd and Mr. Ledbrook. Sir Thomas Wilde +and Mr. Hardy had a great majority on the show of hands, and a poll was +demanded by Mr. Bailey. The numbers, as declared by the Sheriff, +were—Wilde, 1,187; Bailey, 1,173; Hardy, 875. All parties were surprised +to find that Mr. Hardy had obtained so many votes. + +The supporters of Mr. Hardy afterwards presented him with a large silver +salver “for his generous and patriotic conduct in coming forward to +vindicate, by his example, purity of election, and to afford his fellow +citizens an opportunity of redeeming their opinions from +misrepresentation by a Tory.” + +1846—JULY—(Election caused by Sir Thomas Wilde taking office under the +new Whig ministry.)—Sir Thomas Wilde having been appointed Attorney +General, he came to Worcester to be reëlected by his constituency, and on +the Monday (July 6) he addressed his supporters in the large room of the +Bell Hotel. They unanimously agreed to renew their adhesion, and no +other candidate was thought of. The election was fixed for Wednesday, +but on Tuesday evening Sir Thomas was apprised by Lord John Russell of +the sudden decease of Sir Nicholas Tindal, and of the intention to +elevate Sir Thomas to the chief justiceship of the Common Pleas. Of +course, under these circumstances, Sir Thomas could no longer be member +for Worcester, but Government had taken care to provide a candidate in +the bearer of the message, Sir Denis Le Marchant, Bart., now chief clerk +of the House of Commons. The Liberal party were hastily summoned +together on Wednesday morning, and on the recommendation of their late +representative, they transferred their support from Sir Thomas to Sir +Denis. Walking from the place of meeting to the hustings, Sir Denis was +proposed by the Mayor, and seconded by Francis Edward Williams, Esq., as +the member for the city of Worcester. Sir Thomas Wilde spoke on his +behalf, and no other candidate having been proposed, Sir Denis was +declared duly elected. He afterwards spoke at some length, declaring +himself a thorough free trader, and generally a supporter of the Liberal +government. Edward Evans, Esq., and George Allies, Esq., then moved a +vote of thanks to their late representative, Sir Thomas Wilde, and it was +carried with loud acclamations. Sir Thomas replied with great +_empressement_ and feeling, and after a vote of thanks to the Sheriff, +Mr. Elgie, the singular election of 1846 ended. The gentleman thus +suddenly made the representative of Worcester proved, during the short +time he held that office, one of the most practically useful members +which the city ever had. Four days elapsed between the election and the +usual procession, and in that interval Sir Denis returned to town to +negociate, as is generally believed, the support of the _Times_ to the +Whig ministry. The subsequent tone of the “leading journal” may be +supposed to give some corroboration to this rumour. + +1847—JULY—(General Election.)—Sir Denis Le Marchant and Mr. Bailey, +having each withdrawn their pretensions to represent the city (the +latter, in order that he might be elected for his native county of +Breconshire), both political parties had to look out for fresh +candidates. The Liberals fixed upon Osman Ricardo, Esq., of Bromsberrow +Place, a country gentleman who had taken little part in public matters, +but was known as a man of principle, and who laid himself out for the +substantial good of the neighbourhood in which he lived. The +Conservatives were not quite so easily suited, or so unanimous in their +choice. Mr. Sergeant Glover was first named by one section of the party, +but he at length gave way to Mr. F. Rufford, who, as chairman of the +Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway Company, possessed some +amount of popularity in the city. Mr. Rufford, in his addresses to the +electors, indignantly denied that he was a monopolist, and certainly led +people to believe that he was what was called in common parlance, “a free +trader,” and on the hustings said, “I am here to advocate free trade to +its fullest extent,” but in practice he turned out to be a Protectionist. +Mr. Robert Hardy again came forward on the Radical interest, avowed his +desire to see a separation of Church and State, and disapproved of +Government education. + +Mr. Alderman Lilly and Mr. Alderman John Hall proposed Mr. Hardy; Mr. +William Stallard, jun., and Mr. H. D. Carden, Mr. Rufford; and Dr. +Hastings and Mr. Alderman Edward Evans, Mr. Ricardo. The show of hands +being in favour of Messrs. Ricardo and Hardy, a poll was demanded for Mr. +Rufford, and at its close the numbers were—Ricardo, 1,163; Rufford, +1,142; Hardy, 930. The “open house” iniquity rioted in a rankness which +had never been equalled at previous elections. Probably, too, half the +electors were paid for their votes under what is called “the messenger +dodge.” Mr. Rufford, in 1851, became a bankrupt, and his examinations +showed that he certainly was not solvent when he offered himself as a +candidate at this election, yet he admitted that he expended considerably +more than £4,000. + + + +EVESHAM. + + +EVESHAM has enjoyed the privilege of sending two representatives to +Parliament from a very early date. In 1295 two burgesses were chosen to +represent the town in a parliament of Edward I, but there is no record of +any return from that date till the incorporation of the borough by James +I. Some of the elections which have taken place here during the present +century have been remarkable for profuseness of expenditure and tricks of +party warfare. The number of voters now on the register is 345. + +1802—JULY—(General Election.)—Charles Thelluson, Esq., the former member, +Patrick Crawford Bruce, Esq., a London merchant, and Humphrey Howorth, +Esq., for many years a physician in India, were the candidates. After +five days’ poll the latter retired from the contest, the number of votes +then being—Thelluson, 261; Bruce, 249; Howorth, 183. A petition was +afterwards presented against the return, on the score of alleged bribery, +but the committee report that the sitting members were duly returned, +though the petition was not frivolous. + +1806—NOVEMBER—(General Election.)—Mr. Howorth and W. Manning, Esq., a +West India merchant, returned without opposition, neither of the former +members standing again. + +1807—MAY—(General Election.)—Sir Masseh Manasseh Lopez, Bart., entered +the field at this election against the former members, and after six +days’ poll, the numbers of votes recorded stood thus—Manning, 494; Lopez, +334; Howorth, 320. This result was obtained by the returning officer +admitting 122 freeholders to the poll, contrary to former decisions, +which had determined that freemen and paymasters alone had the right to +vote. “A most gratifying interchange of compliments passed,” says the +reporter of the period, “during the closing of the poll books, between +the candidates, the mayor (W. Soley, Esq.), the assessor, and the +professional gentlemen employed; and though perhaps there never was a +severer contest, yet never was the conduct observed more honourable to +all parties.” It seems to have been altogether, and undisguisedly, a +matter of money. In a few days after the election an address was +presented to Mr. Howorth, by E. Rudge, Esq., and 189 burgesses, +complimenting him upon his conduct in the House of Commons, and begging +him “to bring their joint cause before a committee of the House,” assured +that “their insulted rights will be henceforward fixed on such a basis as +will baffle the attempts of those who will dare to violate them.” A +petition was accordingly presented, and in 1808, February 22nd, the +report of the committee was brought up, and Sir M. M. Lopez, Bart., was +declared to have been unduly elected, and Mr. Howorth ought to have been +returned; opposition to petition not frivolous. Mr. Howorth, in his +published address after this result, declares that he was ousted at the +election by the votes of “a class of persons having no common interest or +common feeling with the freemen and inhabitants of the borough.” He had +“vindicated their rights, and triumphed over this foreign influence.” +Mr. Howorth’s constituents afterwards presented him with a piece of +plate. + +1812—OCTOBER—(General Election.)—W. Manning and H. Howorth, Esqs., +reëlected without opposition. + +1818—JUNE—(General Election.)—A very sharp contest distinguished by all +sorts of manœuvres, violence, and questionable practices. The poll was +kept open for twelve days, and the numbers at its close were—for Mr. +Howorth, 410; Mr. Rouse Boughton, 359; and Sir Charles Cockerell, 341. +Mr. Rouse Boughton was son of Sir Charles William Rouse Boughton, Bart., +and Sir Charles Cockerell, was a brother to Lord Northwick. Two +petitions were presented as soon as Parliament met, against Mr. Rouse +Boughton’s return; one from Sir Charles, alleging bribery, and another +from voters of Evesham, against the admission of the votes of certain +persons. It seemed that it had actually been the custom to admit any man +to vote who had paid poor-rates for six months prior to an election, so +that Evesham almost enjoyed universal suffrage. It was, however, against +these votes that the petition was presented. The committee decided that +Mr. Boughton was not duly elected, and struck off all the scot and lot +voters from the roll, declaring that the election of members for Evesham +was vested in the mayor, aldermen, capital and other burgesses, members +of the corporation. The name of Sir Charles Cockerell was ordered to be +inserted in the return in lieu of that of Mr. Rouse Boughton. Lord +Palmerston was taken into custody for not being present when this +committee was ballotted for, but discharged, of course, on payment of the +fees, amounting to £30. A handsome piece of plate was afterwards +presented by the supporters of Mr. Boughton, to Mr. Edward Lawes, of +Sergeant’s Inn, for his exertions on that gentleman’s behalf. + +1820—MARCH—(General Election.)—Sir Charles Cockerell, Bart., and Mr. +William E. Rouse Boughton elected without opposition; Mr. Howorth having +retired from the representation because of continued ill-health. + +1826—JUNE—(General Election.)—There were three candidates in the field +when this election was first talked of: Sir Charles Cockerell (one of the +former members), Sir Roger Gresley, Bart., and Mr. Protheroe; but a +coalition was formed between Sir Charles and Mr. Protheroe, and Sir Roger +Gresley retired from the contest. Mr. William E. Rouse Boughton did not +again offer himself. Many of the electors were very angry at being +“sold,” as they called it, and looked out for a third candidate, who +would spend a proper quantity of money, and they found one in the person +of Patrick Grant, Esq., of Spring Gardens, London, who drove up to the +hustings just in time to be put in nomination. Having stood a three +days’ poll, however, he retired; the numbers then being—Cockerell, 235; +Protheroe, 137; Grant, 87. + +1830—AUGUST—(General Election.)—Sir C. Cockerell and Lord Kennedy (heir +apparent of the Earl of Cassilis) returned. Alexander Raphael, Esq., of +London, was a third candidate, but retired after two days’ poll; the +numbers then being—Cockerell, 231; Kennedy, 148; Raphael, 110. The +return was immediately petitioned against, on the score of bribery and +treating, and it was proved that sixteen freemen had gone down from +London and received £12 each (for their loss of time it was said), +independently of their expenses. The election was declared void (Mr. +Raphael being implicated in this bribery), and both Sir Charles Cockerell +and Lord Kennedy were thus incapacitated from sitting in that Parliament. +The issue of another writ was suspended, on the motion of the Marquis of +Chandos, to allow of time for further Parliamentary inquiry. The Marquis +afterwards brought in a bill for the disenfranchisement of the borough, +which was read a second time; but Parliament was dissolved before it +could be passed, and a writ was, therefore, issued to the returning +officer in the usual course. + +1831—MAY—(General Election.)—Sir Charles Cockerell and Lord Kennedy (the +lately ousted members), and Thomas Hudson, Esq. (Reformer), a Portuguese +merchant, were the candidates at this election; and the numbers at the +close of the poll were—Sir Charles, 208; Mr. Hudson, 157; Lord Kennedy, +136. The two former gentlemen were then declared duly elected. Lord +Kennedy did not appear in the town at all during the election. + +Evesham having been retained in schedule C of the Reform Bill, continued +to send two members to Parliament in spite of the smallness of the +population—at that time only numbering 3,998 individuals. The out-voters +being deprived of their right to poll, the number of electors was only +359. + +1832—DECEMBER—(General Election.)—Sir Charles Cockerell and Mr. Hudson +reëlected. Mr. Rudge, Mr. Skirrow, and other gentlemen had “come like +shadows and so departed,” declaring their intentions to be third +candidates, but suddenly retreating from the field. However, at the +eleventh hour, Mr. Peter Borthwick, who had signalised himself by +lectures in favour of negro slavery, was put forward by the Tory party, +but only received 126 votes—Sir Charles Cockerell polling 234, and Mr. +Hudson 212. The number of electors who voted was 329. + +1835—JANUARY—(General Election.)—Sir Charles Cockerell again came forward +as a candidate; but Mr. Hudson retired at the last moment, being opposed +by Mr. Peter Borthwick, the unsuccessful candidate at the previous +election. However, Mr. Rudge was put in nomination in his absence by the +Liberals, and a poll demanded on his behalf; the show of hands being in +favour of Sir Charles and Mr. Borthwick. On the hustings Mr. George May +charged Mr. Borthwick with having failed as a bookseller in Dalkeith, and +having been excommunicated by the Scotch United Secession Church. Mr. +Borthwick denied it, and said it was a relative whose debts he had paid +for him. Mr. Rudge eventually declined to stand the poll, and Sir +Charles Cockerell and Mr. Borthwick were declared duly elected. In June +a dinner was given to Mr. Borthwick in the Guildhall, the chair being +taken by Lieutenant Amherst; and a party of 160 sat down. The charge +made against Mr. Borthwick having been repeated in the _Bath Guardian_, +near which town he then lived, he commenced an action against the +proprietors for libel, which was tried in April, 1836, and ended in a +verdict for Mr. Borthwick on some counts of the indictment, with £100 +damages; but the jury held it proved that Mr. Borthwick had been a +bookseller in Dalkeith—had failed—had been in gaol—and had been a +professional, but unsuccessful, performer on the stage of the Surrey +Theatre. + +1837—FEBRUARY—(Election in consequence of the death of Sir Charles +Cockerell.)—The candidates were Lord Marcus Cecil Hill, brother of the +Marquis of Downshire, on the Liberal interest, and George Rushout Bowles, +Esq., nephew of Lord Northwick and the Dowager Lady Cockerell, on the +Conservative side. On the hustings, Lord Hill was proposed by Mr. +Benjamin Workman and Mr. T. N. Foster; and Mr. Bowles by Mr. Thomas +Blayney and the Rev. Joseph Harling. The Mayor declared the show of +hands to be in favour of Mr. Bowles, though his decision was questioned. +The contest was a close one, ending in Mr. Bowles’s election; the numbers +being—Bowles, 165; Hill, 140. About 60 electors did not vote. + +1837—JULY—(General Election.)—The Hon. George Rushout and Mr. Peter +Borthwick, the former members, coalesced to prevent the return of Lord +Marcus Hill—who, for the second time, came forward on the Liberal +interest—and they were successful; the numbers being—for Rushout, 168; +Borthwick, 166; Hill, 156. Of 490 votes recorded, 124 were plumpers; and +119 of these were for Lord Hill. The Liberal party were loud in their +indignation against the bribery which they asserted to have been +practised. The return was petitioned against; and the committee +ballotted for, consisted of six Conservatives and five Liberals: Sir +Robert Peel, Bart., being chairman. Mr. Cockburn and Mr. Rushton were +the counsel for the petitioners, and Mr. Thessiger, Mr. Austin, &c., for +the sitting members. Shortly after the opening of the case, the +petition, as far as regarded Mr. Rushout, was abandoned, and Mr. +Borthwick alone proceeded against. Mr. Borthwick was charged with +bribery, both by himself and his agents; he was also declared to want +qualification; and as many as 100 of his votes were objected to. The +cases of bribery alone were gone into; and the one proved was that of +Ebenezer Pierce, to whom Mr. Borthwick had presented a silver snuff box. +He canvassed this voter personally, about a week before the election, and +promised him a silver snuff box, which Mr. Charles Best afterwards +brought him, with Mr. Borthwick’s compliments, and told him to put it by +till after the election. It was proved that the box had been purchased +at Stow and Mortimer’s by Mr. Borthwick, in the interim, and he had +ordered them to engrave on it—“_Ex dono amici sui conducit_.” The +committee, upon this, decided that Mr. Borthwick had been guilty of +bribery. Mr. Austin abandoned the scrutiny, and permitted Lord Marcus +Hill to be put in a majority of one, by permitting the votes of several +persons, who admitted that they had been Mr. Borthwick’s paid agents, to +be struck off; but he declared that the decision of the committee in the +snuff box case had struck him with the utmost surprise, and begged to be +allowed to call evidence to clear Mr. Borthwick’s character. Mr. +Cockburn did not object, but the committee refused to hear any more +evidence. The committee reported on March 20, 1838, and the return being +amended, Lord Marcus Hill took his seat immediately afterwards. Soon +after the decision of the committee was known, a dinner was given to Mr. +Borthwick, and he was presented with an oblong silver salver, which had +been subscribed for by the wives and daughters of the Conservative +electors. The Rev. Mr. Harling presented the plate, and J. Amherst, +Esq., presided at the dinner. Mr. Borthwick made a very long speech, +reviewing his connection with the borough, and animadverting upon his +late colleague, Mr. Rushout, in unmeasured terms, for having forsaken him +before the committee. The language he made use of caused a challenge, +and the two gentlemen met at Wormwood Scrubs. After a second discharge, +without effect, Mr. Borthwick withdrew the offensive expressions. Lord +Marcus Hill was also entertained at a dinner at the Town Hall, over which +T. N. Foster, Esq., (the Mayor) presided; and a party of 200 gentlemen +sat down to the tables. + +1841—JULY—(General Election.)—The candidates were again Lord Marcus Hill, +Mr. Rushout, and Mr. Peter Borthwick; the latter, indeed, did not make +his appearance throughout the election, but he was strongly supported by +a section of the Conservatives, who thought he had been ill used by Mr. +Rushout in the matter of the previous election—and, generally, he seemed +to be a favourite with the populace. At the hustings, Lord Marcus Hill +was proposed by Edward Rudge, Esq., and the Rev. B. Bonaker; Mr. Rushout +by Dr. Beale Cooper and the Rev. M. Shaw; and Mr. Borthwick by R. +Blayney, Esq., and G. Eades, Esq. Mr. Francis Holland spoke for Mr. +Borthwick; and on the show of hands, three-fourths of the meeting held up +theirs for that gentleman, about one half for Lord Marcus, and but few +for Mr. Rushout. At the close of the poll the numbers were—Hill, 188; +Borthwick, 161; Rushout, 137. Lord Hill had 108 plumpers; Borthwick, 42; +and Rushout, 34. After the canvass, but prior to the election, Lord +Marcus was made a privy councillor, and appointed to the office of +Comptroller of the Royal Household. + +1847—JULY—(General Election.)—Mr. Borthwick retired from the +representation, and his place was taken by Sir Henry Willoughby, a +moderate Conservative and free trader. A third candidate came into +field, late in the day, in the person of Sir Ralph Howard, formerly +member for Wicklow, who professed Radical views. At the nomination, Lord +Marcus Hill and Sir Ralph Howard had the show of hands. The polling was +a very quiet affair, and at the close of the struggle Lord Marcus Hill +was found to have 195 votes; Sir Henry Willoughby, 172; and Sir Ralph +Howard, 131. + + + +DROITWICH. + + +DROITWICH was formerly one of the closest of Whig boroughs, and was +entirely under the influence of the Foley family. To the return for the +first election recorded below, the names of nineteen persons are appended +in the books of the Droitwich Corporation; and at a much more recent +date, ten persons returned two members to Parliament. The present +constituency of the borough numbers 368. + +1802—JULY—(General Election.)—Sir Edward Winnington, Bart., and the Hon. +Andrew Foley, reëlected. + +1805—FEBRUARY—(Vacancy on the death of Sir Edw. Winnington.)—Thomas +Foley, Esq., son of the Hon. Andrew Foley, elected. + +1806—NOVEMBER—(General Election.)—The Hon. Andrew Foley, and Lieutenant +Colonel Foley. + +1807—MAY—(General Election.)—Colonel Foley becomes a candidate for +Herefordshire, and the Hon. A. Foley and Sir Thomas Winnington, Bart., +are returned for this borough. + +1812—OCTOBER—(General Election.)—Hon. A. Foley and Sir T. Winnington +reëlected. + +1816—APRIL—Sir Thomas Winnington having accepted the Chiltern Hundreds, +Lord Sefton is elected in his stead. + +1818—JUNE—(General Election.)—Hon. A. Foley and the Earl of Sefton +reëlected. + +1819—FEBRUARY—(Vacancy on the death of the Hon. Andrew Foley.)—Colonel +Foley, son of the late member, elected. + +1820—MARCH—(General Election.)—Earl of Sefton and Colonel Foley +reëlected. + +1822—FEBRUARY—(Vacancy on the death of Colonel Foley.)—John Hodgetts +Hodgetts Foley, Esq., elected. + +1826—JUNE—(General Election.)—Lord Sefton and J. H. H. Foley, Esq., +reëlected. + +1830—(General Election.)—Earl of Sefton and J. H. H. Foley, Esq., +reëlected. + +1831—MAY—(General Election.)—Mr. J. H. H. Foley and Sir T. E. Winnington +elected; the Earl of Sefton making way for the hon. baronet. + +1832—DECEMBER—(General Election.)—The borough was deprived of one of its +members by the Reform Bill; and on this occasion J. H. H. Foley, Esq., +was returned alone, having been proposed by Sir A. Lechmere, Bart., and +seconded by T. T. Vernon, Esq. + +1835—(General Election.)—For the first time since 1711 this borough was +contested and a Tory returned. The candidates were J. H. H. Foley, Esq. +(the former member), and John Barneby, Esq., of Brockhampton. The former +was proposed by Captain Vernon and Mr. Francis; the latter, by Dr. +Steward and Mr. Lilley, of Wichbold. The Rev. Mr. Topham also addressed +the populace in Mr. Foley’s favour, and bore testimony to his attachment +to the Church. The show of hands was in Mr. Foley’s favour. At the end +of the first day the numbers were—Barneby, 115; Foley, 113: and at the +close of the poll—Barneby, 125; Foley, 122: majority for Barneby, 3. Out +of a constituency of only 281, 34 did not vote. The election issued in a +petition against the return, and on the 17th of March a committee of the +house was ballotted for to decide the matter; but it was constituted very +unfavourably to Mr. Foley, having at least eight Tories upon it. They +refused to reopen the register, so the inquiry was limited to a few +disputed votes on either side. Mr. Foley succeeded in striking off three +of Mr. Barneby’s votes, and so reducing matters to an equality; but Mr. +Barneby then struck off Lord Southwell’s vote, objected to on account of +his peerage. This left Mr. Foley in a minority of one, and Mr. Barneby +retained his seat. + +1837—JULY—(General Election.)—John Barneby, Esq., having determined to +contest the county, made way for Mr. Pakington to come in for this +borough, of which he has ever since been the representative. J. H. +Galton, Esq., of Hadsor, made a canvass of the electors on the Liberal +interest; but finding that his chances were not very good he retired from +the contest. Mr. Allen, barrister, also made a flying visit to the +place, intending to put up as a Reformer, but soon took his departure. +Mr. Pakington was proposed at the hustings by W. H. Ricketts, Esq., and +Mr. John Tolley; and having made a long confession of his political creed +(in which he avowed himself a staunch Conservative, but would not vote +for a repeal of the Malt Tax, and approved of the new Poor Law), he was +declared duly elected. + +1841—JULY—(General Election.)—J. S. Pakington, Esq., reëlected without +opposition. + +1847—JULY—(General Election.)—Mr. C. Lloyd, nephew of Lord Mostyn, +canvassed the electors on the Liberal interest, and had some promise of +support from the agents of a noble lord in the neighbourhood (Lord Ward), +who was expected rather to have thrown his influence into the +Conservative scale; but, notwithstanding this, Mr. Lloyd found that he +had very little chance of success, and consequently retired, leaving the +field free for Sir John Pakington, Bart., who was reëlected. + + + +BEWDLEY. + + +THIS, before the Reform Bill, was a close Tory borough, with some thirty +or forty self-elected burgesses, who returned their member with no +confusion or turmoil. Under the new state of things, Stourport joins +with it in the exercise of the franchise, and the united constituency now +includes 371 electors. Parties have been very evenly balanced here of +late years. + +1802—JULY—(General Election.)—Miles P. Andrews, Esq., who had for some +time represented the town, again chosen. + +1806—NOVEMBER—(General Election.)—Mr. Andrews reëlected. + +1807—MAY—(General Election.)—Mr. Andrews reëlected. + +1812—OCTOBER—(General Election.)—Mr. Andrews reëlected. + +1814—AUGUST—(Vacancy occasioned by the death of Mr. Andrews.)—Charles +Edward Wilson, Esq., of Bognor, Sussex, chosen. + +1818—JUNE—(General Election.)—Wilson Aylesbury Roberts, Esq., returned; +Mr. Wilson having retired in his favour. + +1820—MARCH—(General Election.)—W. A. Roberts, Esq., reëlected. + +1826—JUNE—(General Election.)—W. A. Roberts, Esq., reëlected. + +1830—JULY—(General Election.)—W. A. Roberts, Esq., reëlected. + +1831—MAY—(General Election.)—W. A. Roberts, Esq., reëlected. + +1832—DECEMBER—(General Election.)—After the passing of the Reform Bill, +Mr. Roberts did not choose again to offer himself, and Sir Thomas +Winnington, Bart., was elected without opposition. He was proposed by +Arthur Skey, Esq., and Jonathan Worthington, Esq. + +1835—JANUARY—(General Election.)—Sir Thomas Winnington reëlected without +opposition. + +1837—JULY—(General Election.)—Sir Thomas Winnington resigned in favour of +his son, T. E. Winnington, Esq., who was elected without opposition. + +1841—JULY—(General Election.)—For the first time this century this +borough was contested, Mr. Robert Monteith, son of a Lanarkshire +gentleman who had accumulated a fortune as a Glasgow merchant, coming +forward to oppose Sir Thomas Edward Winnington. At the nomination Sir +Thomas was proposed by A. Skey, Esq., and seconded by J. Williams, Esq.; +and Mr. Monteith by W. A. Roberts, Esq., and K. Watson, Esq. Sir Thomas +declared himself for an alteration of the Corn Laws, but for some measure +of protection. Mr. Monteith declared himself a thorough Conservative. +The show of hands was in favour of Mr. Monteith, and the struggle +throughout was a most severe one. In the Bewdley district Mr. Monteith +had a majority of eight, but this was more than counterbalanced by Sir +Thomas’s advantage at Stourport. The total numbers were—Winnington, 173; +Monteith, 168: majority, 5. A scrutiny was threatened but not proceeded +with. A dinner was afterwards given at the Swan Inn, Stourport, to +congratulate Sir Thomas Winnington on his return. The chair was filled +by George Harris, Esq., and the vice chairs by B. Devey and P. Baldwin, +Esqs.; and the company numbered 180. In September, the Conservative +party entertained Mr. Monteith at a dinner in a large marquee—400 persons +sitting down to the tables; Slade Baker, Esq., presided. In the ensuing +month Mr. Monteith sent £100 to be distributed amongst the various +charities of the two towns. + +1847—JULY—(General Election.)—Sir T. Winnington was again opposed, and +this time successfully, by Thomas James Ireland, Esq., of Hooton Hall, +Suffolk, professing high Church and State principles, and liberal in the +expenditure of his money. At the hustings, Sir Thomas was proposed by +Mr. Skey and Mr. Baldwin; and Mr. Ireland by Mr. Nicholas and Mr. Heath. +The show of hands was in Mr. Ireland’s favour, and after a most exciting +struggle Mr. Ireland was declared to have 160 votes, and Sir Thomas only +158. + +The return was petitioned against; and on the 4th March, 1848, the +inquiry commenced before the Parliamentary committee, consisting of three +Liberals and two Conservatives. Mr. Sergeant Wrangham and Mr. Sergeant +Kinglake were the principal counsel employed by Sir Thomas Winnington; +and Mr. Alexander, by Mr. Ireland. After five days’ examination of +witnesses, the committee decided that Mr. Ireland was not duly +elected—that it had been proved that a voter, named Price, had received +£15 for his vote—and that treating had been proved against Mr. Ireland’s +agents. The recriminatory case against Sir Thomas Winnington occupied +six days, and the committee decided that he had been guilty of treating, +by his agents, and that therefore the election was void. Mr. Elgie, his +principal agent, was himself examined, and proved that 26 or 27 inns were +opened on Sir Thomas’s side, some of which supplied as many as 1,000 +gallons a day. The committee made a special report to the House that a +most pernicious system of intimidation, kidnapping and treating prevailed +in the borough, and the writ was suspended, on the motion of Mr. Hume, +until the evidence was printed and laid before the house. On the 12th of +April, Captain Rushout moved that a new writ should issue, but Sir John +Hanmer proposed its further suspension. After a debate, in which the +corruption disclosed in the evidence before the committee was pretty +freely commented upon, the House came to a division, and 80 members voted +for issuing the writ, and 38 against it; so the writ was ordered, and a +fresh election took place in— + +1848—APRIL 17—The candidates on this occasion were Viscount Mandeville, +son of the Duke of Manchester (Conservative), and the Hon. Spencer +Lyttelton (Liberal). On the hustings, Mr. Lyttelton was proposed by Mr. +Skey and Mr. Pierce Baldwin; and Viscount Mandeville by Mr. Nicholas and +Mr. Heath. The show of hands was in favour of Mr. Lyttelton, but +Viscount Mandeville headed the poll throughout; the numbers at the close +being—Mandeville, 171; Lyttelton, 156. Of course this election was, to a +great extent, free from the corrupt practices of former ones, but the +circumstances under which it occurred furnished matter enough for +excitement. + + + +KIDDERMINSTER. + + +KIDDERMINSTER once returned two members to Parliament, but not liking to +have to pay them was, upon its own petition, relieved of the “honour.” +It was again enfranchised by the Reform Bill; but had only one member +allotted to it. The constituency here is remarkably small, in comparison +with the population, owing to so few of the operatives living in houses +which pay £10 a year rent. The number of electors now on the register, +including duplicates, is 490. + +1832—(General Election.)—In anticipation of the passing of the Reform +Bill, Richard Godson, Esq., a barrister on the Oxford Circuit, who was +very popular with the weavers because of his successful defence of some +of their number when tried for riot, made an entry into the town on the +4th April, 1831, and gave a public statement of his political principles. +He was not, he said, the nominee of some lord, but one of the people, +come to represent the people. The Reform Bill was merely a restoration +of the good old constitution, which would give every man his proper +weight in the national assembly. All other reforms must follow it; the +defects of the church must be removed; and, especially, there must be a +free trade in corn. And though he was interested in a West Indian estate +he should advocate Emancipation, &c. &c. His reception was, altogether, +most enthusiastic. He was, however, opposed by G. R. Phillips, Esq., of +Weston House, Warwickshire, also professing reform principles. Mr. +Phillips was proposed, on the hustings, by J. Newcombe, Esq., and H. +Talbot, Esq.; and Mr. Godson by William Boycot, jun., Esq., and Mr. James +Cole. A very severe contest took place, and the numbers at the close +were—Godson, 172; Phillips, 159: majority for Godson, 13. The total +constituency was 388. + +1835—(General Election.)—Mr. Godson was again opposed by Mr. Phillips. +Mr. Godson still professed to be a Reformer, but was supported by the +Conservatives. The show of hands was almost even, but decided by the +High Bailiff in Mr. Godson’s favour, and a poll was demanded by Mr. +Phillips, who was, eventually, returned by a majority of 73; the numbers +being—Phillips, 197; Godson, 124. Mr. Phillips refused to be chaired, +saying that he should spend the money amongst the people in other ways. +On the 10th of June, a piece of plate (ornament for the dinner table, in +silver, worth £150) was presented to Mr. Godson, by 1,975 inhabitants of +the borough, “in grateful remembrance of his ever watchful, independent, +and patriotic conduct when in Parliament.” The presentation was made by +Mr. Alderman Joseph Boycot, on the balcony of the Lion Hotel, in the +presence of some 7,000 persons. + +1837—(General Election.)—Mr. Phillips, some time before the writ was +issued for this election, declared his intention of withdrawing all +pretensions to the representation; being evidently afraid of a defeat, or +that a triumph could only be purchased on terms too dear. Mr. Godson, +however, found an opponent in the person of John Bagshaw, Esq., ex-M.P. +for Sudbury. Mr. Godson was proposed by Mr. Morton and Mr. Cole; Mr. +Bagshaw by Mr. Turner and Mr. Joseph Newcombe. The show of hands was +considerably in Mr. Godson’s favour, and a poll was demanded for Mr. +Bagshaw. Mr. Godson headed the poll from the first, and in the course of +the afternoon Mr. Bagshaw retired; the numbers being—Godson, 198; +Bagshaw, 157. + +1841—(General Election.)—Mr. Godson was opposed by Mr. Sampson Ricardo, +brother of Osman Ricardo, Esq., who came forward at the last moment, +after the Liberals had been disappointed by the candidate they had fixed +upon—a Mr. Rennie. Mr. Godson was proposed by Mr. Morton and Mr. Cole; +Mr. Ricardo by Mr. Charles Talbot and Mr. H. Worth; and the Mayor fairly +enough declared the show of hands to be in his favour, though, for so +doing, he was assailed by the Conservatives in a most discourteous +manner. The contest was, what Kidderminster contests always have been, a +very sharp one; but Mr. Godson was returned by a majority of 12; the +numbers being—Godson, 212; Ricardo, 200. + +1847—(General Election.)—Mr. Godson was reëlected without opposition. + +1849—SEPTEMBER—(Vacancy occasioned by the sudden demise of Mr. Richard +Godson.)—The first candidate in the field was John Best, Esq., a +barrister of short standing, son of W. B. Best, Esq., of Blakebrook +House, who came forward as a Conservative and Protectionist. Thomas +Gisborne Esq., of Yoxall Park, near Burton-on-Trent, next made his +appearance on the Reform side, professing very liberal opinions. He had, +formerly, been member for Nottingham. A diversion was speedily effected +by the arrival of a third man, in the person of Crawshay Bailey, Esq., of +Tredegar, South Wales, who was also Conservative in his views, and +apparently entertaining similar opinions to those of Mr. Best upon all +subjects. He was supported by a very influential section of the +Kidderminster Conservatives, and a downright split amongst them seemed +inevitable. However at the end of a week Mr. Bailey finding he had +little chance, withdrew from the contest, and left the two first to fight +it out. Considerable soreness of feeling, however, was felt amongst the +Conservatives by this temporary division, and the opponents built +thereupon very sanguine expectations of success. At the nomination Mr. +Best was proposed by Mr. William Boycot, sen., and Mr. Henry +Chellingworth; and Mr. Gisborne by Mr. William Holmes and Mr. Henry +Brinton, in whose favour the show of hands was declared to be. Mr. +Gisborne headed the poll till twelve o’clock, when some thirty voters, +who had been supporters of Mr. Bailey up to the time of his retirement, +and who, it was hoped by one party, and feared by the other, would now +remain neutral, came to the booths and recorded their votes for Mr. Best. +This decided the struggle; and when the clock struck four, Mr. Best was +found to have 217 votes against 200 only recorded for Mr. Gisborne. The +election, on the whole, passed off quietly, and with decorum. + +In the session of 1850 a petition was presented by some of the Liberal +electors against Mr. Best’s return, on the score of bribery and +corruption, and the matter came before a committee of the House of +Commons, on the 15th of April. The committee consisted of Mr. Bouverie +(chairman), Lord Enfield, Mr. Augustus Stafford, Mr. David Morris, and +Sir William Joliffe; the majority being Liberals. Mr. Sergeant Kinglake +led the case for the petitioners, and Mr. Alexander, Q.C., for Mr. Best. +The committee sat seven days, and a variety of witnesses were examined on +behalf of the petitioners; but bribery was only attempted to be proved in +two cases, the evidence, on all points, being decidedly weak. The +committee confirmed Mr. Best’s return. + + + +DUDLEY. + + +THE privilege of sending a member to Parliament was conferred on this +borough by the Reform Bill. The number of voters now on the register is +912. + +1832—(General Election.)—Sir John Campbell—then the Whig Solicitor +General, and long a practitioner on the Oxford Circuit, now Lord Chief +Justice of England—was returned. He had an opponent in the person of +Horace St. Paul, Esq., who contested the election on Tory principles. +Sir John was proposed by Mr. Twamley and Mr. Braidley; and Mr. St. Paul +by Mr. Dixon and Mr. Salisbury. The numbers, at the close of the poll, +were—Campbell, 315; St. Paul, 225: majority for Campbell, 90. + +1834—FEBRUARY 27—(Election rendered necessary by Sir John Campbell’s +elevation to the Attorney Generalship.)—Sir John was this time opposed, +on the Conservative interest, by Thomas Hawkes, Esq. The show of hands, +at the nomination, was in favour of Sir John; whereupon a poll was +demanded by Mr. Hawkes’s friends, and commenced immediately with great +briskness. At three o’clock, Sir John’s committee, finding great +difficulty in bringing their friends to the poll, gave up in a huff, and +Mr. Hawkes was declared duly elected; the numbers being—Hawkes, 322; +Campbell, 242: majority, 80. This result was said to be mainly owing to +the Dissenters and ultra-radicals refusing to vote for Sir John, “in +order to teach ministers a lesson;” but the effect was rather to disgust +the Whigs than to urge them forward with church reform. Sir John had +also made enemies by an attack, in the House, on the Dudley magistrates. + +1835—(General Election.)—Mr. Hawkes returned by a majority of 93 over his +Whig opponent, Captain Forbes. + +1837—(General Election.)—Mr. Hawkes again elected. Mr. Merryweather +Turner was the candidate on the Liberal interest, and obtained the show +of hands at the nomination; but at the poll the numbers were—Hawkes, 385; +Turner, 289: majority for Hawkes, 96. A challenge resulted from some +speeches at this election, and the Dudley magistrates issued their +warrants to bind over both Mr. Turner and Mr. Hawkes to keep the peace. +Mr. Turner did not get the challenge till half an hour after he had been +bound over at the instigation of Mr. Hawkes’s friends. + +1841—(General Election.)—Mr. Hawkes again elected; though opposed, on the +Liberal interest, by Mr. W. A. Smith, son of the then member for Norwich. +Mr. Downing and Mr. B. Best proposed Mr. Hawkes at the hustings; and Mr. +Thomas Lister and Mr. Thomas Hill proposed Mr. Smith, who had the show of +hands. The numbers on the poll were—Hawkes, 436; Smith, 189: majority +for Hawkes, 247. + +1844—AUGUST 8—Mr. Thomas Hawkes’s acceptance of the Chiltern Hundreds, in +consequence of the embarrassed state of his affairs, having caused a +vacancy, John Benbow, Esq., agent for Lord Ward, and, therefore, +possessing much influence in the borough, was put in nomination on the +Conservative interest, and opposed by Mr. William Rawson, an +Anti-Corn-Law lecturer. Mr. Benbow was proposed, on the hustings, by Mr. +Thomas Badger and Captain Bennitt; and Mr. Rawson by Mr. Charles Twamley +and the Rev. J. Palmer. The show of hands was in favour of Mr. Rawson. +The polling was a very quiet affair, and at the close the numbers +were—Benbow, 388; Rawson, 175: majority, 213. + +1847—(General Election.)—A Mr. Joseph Linney, Chartist operative from +Bilston, was put in nomination on the day of election, in opposition to +Mr. Benbow—addressed the crowd, and got the show of hands; but having no +money to pay his share of the expenses of a poll, was obliged to +withdraw, and Mr. Benbow was declared duly elected. + + + + +ELECTIONS OF COUNTY CORONERS. + + +THE number of coroners appointed for each English county was formerly +regulated by usage, the statute of 3 Edw. I, cap. 10, merely enacting +that “in all shires a sufficient number of men should be chosen as +coroners;” but it was competent for the Lord Chancellor to issue a writ +for the election of additional coroners, upon a petition from the +freeholders of the county and the approbation of the justices in quarter +sessions. The manner of the election was regulated by the statute of 58 +Geo. III, cap. 35, and the poll might be kept open ten days. By cap. 6 +of 28 Edw. III, it was enacted, “that all coroners of the counties should +be chosen in the full counties, by the commons of the said counties, of +the most meet and lawful people that should be found,” &c. Although by +this statute the election is not expressly confined to freeholders, yet +as none but freeholders are suitors at the county court (who were “the +commons of the counties” referred to by this statute) the usage has been +for freeholders only to vote. The amount of estate not being defined, +any _bonâ fide_ freehold interest in lands in the county, however small, +will confer the right to vote. Previous to the division of the counties +into districts—power to do which was given to the Privy Council, on +petition of the County Justices, by 7 and 8 Vic., cap. 92—each coroner +acted throughout the whole county, and every freeholder was entitled to +vote at each election. Now, however, the coroners, though still +considered coroners for the whole county, cannot hold inquests out of +their respective districts, except in special cases; and only the +freeholders residing within the district are entitled to vote at the +election for that district. The justices, of course, virtually assign +the districts; and a dispute which arose in this county, between the +magistrates and one of the coroners, on his claiming compensation for +loss of emolument by the division they had made, will be found noticed in +a subsequent part of this work. The poll at elections for coroners is +now limited to two days. + +1801—AUGUST 13—Richard Barneby, Esq., elected coroner in the room of +Humphrey Littleton, Esq., deceased. No opposition. + +1809—APRIL 26—Election of a coroner for the county, in the room of Mr. +George Best, removed, took place this day at the Talbot Inn, Claines. +Mr. Godson, of Tenbury, Mr. Cheek, of Evesham, and Mr. Griffiths, of +Broadway, were the candidates; but to save the expenses of a poll, they +agreed to leave the choice to three gentlemen—one nominated by each +candidate. The gentlemen chosen were—J. Philips, Esq., H. Wakeman, Esq., +and T. Bund, Esq.; and they determined (by drawing lots) on Mr. Godson, +of Tenbury, who was thereupon declared duly elected. + +1810—FEBRUARY 14—Election for a coronership in consequence of the +resignation of Mr. Richard Barneby. The candidates on this occasion were +Mr. J. H. Griffiths, of Broadway, and Mr. George Hill, of Worcester. +Both candidates rested their claim for support on the locality of their +residence—Mr. Griffiths saying that, as the other coroners lived one at +Chaddesley and the other at Tenbury, the Evesham side ought to have one +resident there—and Mr. Hill contending that there should be one, at +least, living in the county town. The nomination took place at the +Talbot, in the Tything, Worcester; and Mr. Griffiths was proposed by T. +Bund, Esq., of Wick, and seconded by — Knowles, Esq., Broadway; Mr. Hill +by R. Berkeley, Esq., Spetchley, and seconded by Philip Gresley, Esq., +High Park. The numbers after the first day’s poll were—Hill, 395; +Griffiths, 79: and then Mr. Griffiths retired from the contest. + +1815—FEBRUARY 10—Mr. Thomas Hallen, of Kidderminster, elected a county +coroner, in the room of Mr. Fidkin, deceased. Mr. H. Robeson, of +Bromsgrove, had been a candidate, but retired before the election. Mr. +Hallen was proposed by E. M. Wigley, Esq., of Shakenhurst, and seconded +by the Rev. R. F. Onslow, vicar of Kidderminster. + +1822—SEPTEMBER 27—Election to supply the place of William Godson, Esq., +of Tenbury, then lately deceased. The nomination took place in the +College Yard, at the east end of the Cathedral. Earl Mountnorris +proposed Mr. Charles Best, of Evesham, and this nomination was seconded +by Thomas B. Cooper, Esq.; T. S. Vernon, Esq., proposed, and John +Phillips, Esq., of Hanbury Hall, seconded, Mr. S. H. Godson, of Tenbury, +son of the deceased coroner. The show of hands was in favour of Mr. +Best, and Mr. Godson demanded a poll. This went on vigorously till five +o’clock in the evening, when the numbers were—Best, 635; Godson, 230. +Mr. Godson then retired from the contest, and Mr. Best was duly sworn in. + +1826—DECEMBER 13—The most determined contest ever known in this county +for a coronership commenced this day. Immediately on the death of Mr. +George Hill, five candidates announced themselves for the office—viz., +Mr. William Smith, Worcester; Mr. Frederick Stokes, Worcester; Mr. +Stephen Godson, Worcester; Mr. Charles Beville Dryden, Worcester; Mr. +Thomas Davis, Worcester; and Mr. Skey, Upton. Of these, however, all had +withdrawn before the nomination day, excepting Mr. Smith and Mr. Stokes. +The Sheriff had at first fixed that the nomination should take place in +the Castle Yard, but this property had recently been sold by Government +to Mr. Eaton, with a reservation of it for the nomination of members of +Parliament; but nothing had been said (according to Mr. Eaton’s view of +the matter) about coroners, therefore he refused to allow it to be used. +The nomination, therefore, took place at the Hare and Hounds Inn, +Sidbury; where Mr. Smith was proposed by Major Bund and John Williams, +Esq.; and Mr. Stokes by Sir Thomas Winnington, Bart., and the Rev. George +Turberville. The show of hands was declared to be in favour of Mr. +Smith, and a poll was demanded for his opponent; and this was continued +for ten days—the utmost period allowed by law. For the first three days +Mr. Stokes headed his adversary considerably; Mr. Smith, on the fifth +day, however, obtained the ascendancy, and kept it, though with varying +numbers, to the last day, when he very materially increased his majority, +which, in the end, amounted to 189 votes. The numbers polled were—Smith, +3,875; Stokes, 3,686: total number of freeholders polled, 7,561. The +contest resolved itself quite into a political struggle—Mr. Smith +representing the Tory and Mr. Stokes the Whig interest. The city, during +the progress of the election, was in a state of the utmost excitement—the +voters being brought in to the sole polling place, with flags and bands +of music, in every possible description of vehicle. On the sixth day, a +fierce fight took place between the partisans of the two candidates, on +their accidental meeting in the Tything; and several men with broken +heads were taken to the Infirmary. Mr. Stokes, at the conclusion of the +poll, demanded a scrutiny; and the matter of right and power, on the part +of the Sheriff, to grant one, was formally argued; but it was ultimately +refused, and Mr. Smith was sworn into the office. The contest cost each +of the candidates about £3,000 a day, while it lasted. [The copy of the +reservation clause in Mr. Eaton’s conveyance was afterwards produced, on +special application to Government, and it seemed that the Sheriff was +empowered to hold any court in the Castle Yard which he pleased.] + +1832—NOVEMBER 7—Mr. W. S. P. Hughes, solicitor, elected a county coroner, +in the room of Mr. Smith, who had absconded. Mr. Hughes was proposed by +the Rev. George Turberville, seconded by John Williams, Esq., and no +other candidate having offered himself, he was at once declared duly +chosen. + +1838—NOVEMBER 28—Election for county coroner, in the room of Mr. Thomas +Hallen, of Kidderminster, who had resigned. Mr. William Boycot, jun., of +Kidderminster, Mr. Henry Corser, of Stourbridge, and Mr. Ralph Docker, of +Kingsnorton, had offered themselves as candidates; but the two first +withdrew, and it was expected that Mr. Docker would “walk over.” It was +said that the three gentlemen had “tossed up,” and so decided the matter, +but that was denied. However, on the evening before the election, Mr. +Thomas Waters, Clerk of the Peace for the city, offered himself to the +freeholders for election, and there was every expectation of a sharp +contest. Mr. Spooner proposed Mr. Docker, who was seconded by Mr. Ellis; +Mr. Waters was proposed by Mr. Alderman R. Evans and Mr. Alderman +Stephenson. The show of hands was in favour of Mr. Docker, and Mr. Evans +demanded a poll for Mr. Waters. At the end of the first day the numbers +were—Docker, 246; Waters, 138: and Mr. Waters then retired from the +contest. + + + + +PUBLIC MEETINGS. + + +IT may be that the interest attaching to many of the meetings detailed +here is gone for ever, but the interest of others will perhaps increase +as time advances, and curiously serve to mark the ebb and flow of human +feelings and affairs. Though there is often reason to coincide with the +Duke’s apothegm—“Public meetings are public farces,” yet they at least +give us the results of the popular instinct, which is often as sure a +guide as the popular reason would be; and, when most foolish in their +conclusions, they are to be regarded as fortunate escapements for those +excitements without which a community cannot exist long together. If any +explanation should be felt necessary by the reader, of the public +occurrences which called forth these meetings, he will find it in another +portion of this work. + +1800—MAY 14—County meeting held in Worcester Town Hall, to consider what +steps should be taken in consequence of the high price of provisions, +which was very numerously attended. Resolutions were passed, begging +holders of corn to bring it into the market at reduced prices; and +requesting millers to grind for the poor at half their usual charge. The +Town Hall was granted as a place of deposit for corn, to be retailed to +the poor at prime cost. The greatest pleasure was evinced by the meeting +at hearing that vessels were arriving from abroad with importations of +wheat. It is recorded that many farmers attended Worcester market, in +consequence of this meeting, and sold wheat at 15s. to 18s. a bushel. + +1800—JUNE 7—County meeting to congratulate the King on his escape from +assassination by Hadfield; and meetings for a similar purpose held at +Stourbridge, Bromsgrove, &c. + +1800—OCTOBER 9—A common hall held at Worcester, at which resolutions were +passed to petition Parliament for fresh enactments against “engrossing,” +&c., and begging the legislature _to fix a certain price_, _beyond which +it might be unlawful to sell wheat_. + +1801—MAY 25—Common hall held at Worcester, at which a petition to +Parliament was unanimously agreed to, praying that wheat, and all other +grain, might be made saleable by weight only. + +1806—MAY 28—A public meeting of the inhabitants of Worcester convened in +the Town Hall, John Dillon, Esq., in the chair, to petition against the +proposed tax on beer. Amongst other reasons against it the petition +alleged—“That it will prevent, in a great measure, the frugal offices of +hospitality and charity.” + +1807—APRIL 24—Common hall at Worcester to take into consideration the +critical state of public affairs, at which an address, thanking His +Majesty for his strenuous opposition to the Catholic Services Bill, and +rejoicing in its rejection, was unanimously agreed to. + +1808—APRIL 14—A common hall, convened in Worcester, over which Mr. J. +Palmer presided; at which petitions were agreed to to both houses of +Parliament, in favour of the Bill then pending, for restricting the +grants of offices in reversion. + +1809—APRIL 13—A common hall, convened in Worcester, to adopt resolutions +relative to the investigation of the conduct of the Duke of York, as +Commander in Chief, in selling military promotions through his mistress, +Mrs. Clarke. The Mayor occupied the chair. Mr. J. Palmer moved +resolutions, thanking Colonel Wardle, M.P., for promoting the inquiry, +and Mr. Gordon, one of the city members, for voting for it; which were +seconded by Mr. Pope. Mr. J. Williams moved, as an amendment, that the +resolutions should be couched in more general terms and no names +mentioned in them; and Mr. B. Johnson, Town Clerk, seconded it. The +original resolutions were, however, carried by a large majority. In this +meeting occur the first mutterings of the Reform agitation; for the last +of the resolutions declares that “the late decision of the honourable +Commons (negativing Colonel Wardle’s motion for the Duke’s dismissal) has +disappointed the hopes and expectations of the people, and convinced us +of the necessity of a speedy and effectual reform in the representation +of the Commons in Parliament, as a security to the throne, a support to +the nobility, and a safeguard to the people—against that tide of +corruption which has laid so many nations of Europe prostrate at the feet +of the ruler of France.” + +1809—OCTOBER 25—County meeting. Henry Bromley, Esq., Sheriff, in the +chair. To present an address to His Majesty on his entering the fiftieth +year of his reign. + +1811—JULY 8—A common hall, Worcester, called by requisition to the Mayor, +to consider the best means of preventing the destruction of small fish in +the Severn, and the first Association formed for the protection of the +Fisheries: the great decrease of salmon lamented; and it is said to fetch +3s. to 4s. a lb. The corporation subscribed twenty guineas. A great +many seizures of illegal nets speedily made. + +1812—MAY 11—A public meeting, held at the Guildhall, Worcester, Thomas +Carden, Esq., in the chair, to consider what steps should be adopted for +the relief of the poor, who were suffering severely from the excessive +price of all provisions. A very large subscription was raised, and it +was unanimously resolved that it should be appropriated to the purchase +of bacon, peas, and rice, to sell again at reduced prices. The total +number of persons applying thus to be assisted was 7,418, and the sum +raised about £1,500. + +1813—FEBRUARY 10—A common hall held at Worcester, with the Mayor +presiding, at which a petition was unanimously agreed to against the +renewal of the monopoly of the East India Company. The resolutions were +moved by Mr. Johnson, Town Clerk, and seconded by Mr. Richards. + +1813—APRIL 28—A requisition, signed by seventy-four respectable freemen +and inhabitants of Worcester, was presented to the Mayor, requesting him +to call a common hall, for the purpose of addressing H. R. H. the +Princess of Wales, “on the late atrocious attempt against her honour and +her life;” but His Worship refused to call one. A public meeting was +therefore held at the Bell, Mr. Robert Felton in the chair, at which such +an address as had been contemplated was unanimously agreed to. + +1814—MAY 25—A common hall held in Worcester, the Mayor presiding, to +petition against the proposed imposition of corn duties. Mr. Nichols +moved a petition, which was seconded by Mr. Moseley, carried unanimously, +and received 6,000 signatures in two days. The petitioners declared that +corn, during the last twenty years, had been dearer in this country than +in any other in Europe, and, what was of the utmost importance, the +manufacturers of this country could not vie with other markets if the +prices of the necessaries of life could not be brought nearer to the +prices of other countries. If it was imagined that at the then prices of +corn (wheat averaging 8s. 6d. per bushel, and the quartern loaf selling +at 10½d.) the present rent of land could not be paid, the petitioners +submitted that the proper remedy was to lower the rents. The artisans, +during the war, when the price of corn and meat was excessive, had +behaved themselves in the most patient, loyal, and laudable manner, and +it was hard that they should not be allowed to share in the blessings of +the peace, &c. + +Dudley, Droitwich, &c., petitioned against the measure, which was +rejected by the House of Commons, in bringing up the report, by 116 to +110. + +1814—JUNE 30—A public meeting held in Worcester to petition the +legislature against that part of the recent treaty of peace with France +which related to the Slave Trade, and seemed likely to encourage its +revival. The Mayor took the chair. Mr. Stanley Pumphrey moved, and Mr. +Richard Spooner seconded, the resolutions and petitions, which were +unanimously adopted. The petitions received about 1,000 signatures; and +one with a similar object, sent from Evesham, received 900 signatures. + +1814—JULY 29—A public meeting of noblemen, gentlemen, and freeholders of +the county held at the Town Hall, Worcester, to vote an address to the +Prince Regent on the glorious termination of the war. Mr. Clarke, Under +Sheriff, in the chair. The address was moved by Lord Deerhurst, seconded +by the Hon. W. B. Lygon, M.P., and passed unanimously. + +1815—JANUARY 16—A common hall convened in Worcester to address Parliament +on the subject of the property and other war taxes. Mr. Josiah Palmer +first moved resolutions, which were opposed by Major Wigley, as too +strong, and aimed at the landed interest. Mr. Richard Spooner moved +others, which were seconded by Mr. Hooper, and carried by a considerable +majority. A petition was founded upon them, praying for the repeal of +the Income Tax, and the taxes on malt, tea, leather, and salt. + +1815—JANUARY 25—A county meeting held with much the same purpose; Mr. +Clarke, Under Sheriff, in the chair. Mr. E. M. Wigley moved a petition +against the Property Tax, which was seconded by Sir William Smith, Bart., +and adopted without opposition. The meeting then passed to the +consideration of the necessity of some protection to the farming +interest. Mr. Richard Spooner moved a petition praying that “foreign +corn, on importation, should be subjected to the same rate of duty as is +now paid by the British farmer.” He said the agricultural interest was +greatly depressed, and the foreigners ought to pay a duty equivalent to +the taxes paid by the British farmer. Lord Foley seconded the adoption +of the petition, which was carried by acclamation. + +1815—MARCH 6—A common hall held in Worcester; Samuel Garmston, Esq., +Mayor, in the chair; to petition against Mr. Robinson’s Corn Bill, +preventing the importation of wheat when under 80s. a quarter. Mr. J. +Palmer moved the petition, saying that the question was one of cheap or +dear bread, and not at all the benefit of the farmers, many of whom +signed the petitions against the bill, for they saw that its object was +to ensure the landholders their enormous rents. The Mayor, Colonel Wall, +Mr. Brown, Mr. Felton, &c., supported the petition, which was carried +with enthusiasm, and _received_ 7,965 _signatures the same afternoon_, +when it was obliged to be sent off by the London mail. + +EVESHAM—One of the most numerous meetings ever known in this borough was +held on this subject. Mr. Easthope (afterwards Sir John Easthope) moved +the petitions, which were supported by Mr. Phillips, Mr. Barnes, &c., and +opposed by Colonel Cooper, Rev. Mr. Shaw, and Mr. Phelps. They were +carried by a large majority. + +1816—MARCH 14—A county meeting held, with Joseph Lee, Esq., in the chair, +to petition for a reduction of expenditure. The speakers were E. M. +Wigley, Esq., Lord Deerhurst, Lord Elmley, and the Hon. W. H. Lyttelton, +and the general resolutions were then passed without opposition. R. +Spooner, Esq., then moved a petition praying for a readjustment of the +Property Tax, so that “occupiers of land might not be taxed according to +a fictitious assumption of profit,” and further objecting to it as +applied to the ordinary profits of industry. It also prayed for the +repeal of the war taxes on malt and salt. Mr. Wigley moved that the +consideration of the resolution be postponed; and Mr. Talbot moved as an +amendment that the Property Tax ought not, under any modifications, to be +revived. Both these were negatived, and Mr. Spooner’s petition carried. + +1816—MARCH 15—A city meeting was held for the same purpose, at which very +similar petitions were agreed to. + +1817—FEBRUARY 6—A common hall held by the Mayor, to vote addresses to the +Prince Regent to congratulate him on his escape from assassination, and +also to petition Parliament “to make such arrangements as should seem +likely to restore the commerce, manufactures, and agriculture of the +kingdom to their former flourishing state,” and praying for reduction of +expenditure; but adding that the petitioners “looked with anxiety to +Parliament firmly and strenuously to defend the constitution from the +imminent dangers of wild and speculative innovation.” The hall was +densely crowded. The address to the Prince Regent was moved by Mr. +Lechmere, seconded by Mr. Spooner, and carried unanimously. But on the +petition being proposed, Mr. Josiah Palmer moved its rejection, because +it did not recommend retrenchment sufficiently, and because a meeting was +to be held on the same subject the following day. Mr. Richard Mence +seconded Mr. Palmer’s amendment in a very energetic speech; and, after +several speeches, the petition was put to the meeting and decidedly +rejected. + +1817—FEBRUARY 7—A requisition was presented to the Mayor to call a common +hall to petition the legislature in favour of Parliamentary Reform, but +His Worship (R. Chamberlain, Esq.) declined, though he would grant the +use of the hall to the requisitionists for that purpose. Of this +permission they availed themselves; and a most crowded meeting was +assembled, with Mr. Robert Felton in the chair. The only speakers were +Mr. J. Palmer and Mr. Moseley, who moved petitions for reform, +retrenchment, and the abolition of sinecures, which were carried +unanimously, and forwarded to Lord Deerhurst for presentation. + +1817—NOVEMBER 28—County meeting and common hall held in Worcester, at +which addresses of condolence were agreed to—to the Prince Regent, Her +Majesty, and Prince Leopold—on the death of the Princess Charlotte. + +1818—DECEMBER 12—A county meeting held, at which the Earl of Coventry +moved, and the Lord Bishop seconded, an address of condolence to the +Prince Regent on the death of his mother, the Queen; which was, of +course, carried unanimously. A similar address was presented from the +corporation of Worcester. + +1819—MAY 1—A meeting of the proprietors and occupiers of land in the +county of Worcester, held at the Crown Inn, Broad Street; George Wigley +Perrott, Esq., in the chair; when it was unanimously resolved that a +memorial should be signed by the parties present, and sent to the Right +Hon. Frederick John Robinson, President of the Board of Trade, “to press +the just claims of the cultivators of the soil to a _full_, _fair_, _and +ample protection_ from the legislature; the _imperious necessity_ of +which was becoming daily more and more apparent.” The memorial, adopted +by the meeting, stated that “the unparalleled quantity of 26,000,000 +bushels of foreign corn imported into this kingdom within the last year, +DUTY FREE, {65} and of 13,000,000 lbs. of wool in three quarters of a +year, or nearly so, had occasioned a ruinous loss to the tenantry and +other occupiers of the soil, lessened the demand for labour, increased +the poor rates, diminished the means of paying for them, and must also +have tended materially to injure the home trade of the country.” The +subscribers were—G. W. Perrott, Cracombe House; C. E. Hanford, Wooller’s +Hill; John Hawkes, Allesborough; E. F. Welles, Earl’s Croome; John +Fletcher, Hill Croome; John Onley, Bransford; Thomas Hudson, Pershore; +Joseph Smith, Henwick; Francis Holland, Cropthorne; John Winnall, Braces +Leigh; and William Woodward, Birlingham. + +1820—FEBRUARY 28—A county meeting held at the Guildhall, Worcester, to +address His Majesty on the decease of his venerable father, and to +congratulate him on his accession to the throne. The address was moved +by the Earl of Coventry, as Lord Lieutenant of the County, and seconded +by Lord Beauchamp. + +1822—FEBRUARY 8—A county meeting to consider agricultural distress; E. +Isaac, Esq., High Sheriff, in the chair. Mr. J. Richards first addressed +the meeting. He alluded to the circumstances in which the agricultural +interest now found itself. In the previous session of Parliament the +petitions of the farmers had caused the appointment of a select committee +to inquire into the causes of the distress. They, in their report, +admitted that arable land could now only be cultivated at a loss, but +added that Parliament could grant no redress—they must look only to time +and patience. But this was a mockery, for they had had good seasons and +harvests, and how then was their case to be bettered by patience? Mr. +George Webb Hall professed to have discovered a remedy in the imposition +of a very heavy duty on foreign corn—the object of that was, of course, +to prevent its importation altogether, and increase the price at home. +But if that was done, where were the people to get money to purchase it? +The manufacturers would no longer be able to compete with foreigners, and +people would emigrate by tens of thousands. It was not true that the +price of corn had fallen because of foreign importation—the price of meat +had fallen just in the same proportion, and cattle and sheep were not +imported. Prices were low all the world over, and the only remedy for +the present state of things was a diminution of taxes. If it was asked +why corn could not be grown at 40s. a quarter now, as it could be in +1792, he would reply, because taxes, rents, and tithes, were all much +higher. The Bank Restriction Act of 1797, and Mr. Peel’s bill of 1819, +had committed a fraud in the value of money; and this was another cause +of distress. Ultimate relief, he thought, would only be obtained from a +reformed Parliament. He moved a series of resolutions in accordance with +these sentiments. Mr. Richard Spooner seconded them. Mr. Beale Cooper +then moved an amendment, stating—“That for 150 years, from 1663 to 1814, +importation of the produce of the soil was never permitted without the +payment of some duty; and it is a matter of historical truth that during +that time the prosperity of agriculture, commerce, and manufacture +progressively increased to a height of opulence unexampled in the history +of the world.” To the “unlimited competition” (after 80s. a quarter) +introduced for the first time by the bill of 1815, the amendment +attributed the depression of the produce of the soil below that of every +other commodity, necessarily caused by diminution of circulating medium, +and therefore the amendment prayed for a prohibitory duty. + +Mr. C. E. Hanford said if this amendment passed, the meeting would be a +farce. The Duke of Sussex, the Duke of Bedford, and Mr. Coke thought the +remedy was to be found in retrenchment and Parliamentary Reform. + +Mr. Spooner replied to Mr. Beale Cooper, who had told them that because +corn was imported duty free, therefore it had diminished in price; but +there had been no importation at all for the last three years, and so +that argument must be fallacious. The conduct of Parliament in +endeavouring to swindle the nation into payment of an unjust debt, which, +as it had been incurred in paper, ought to be paid in paper, showed the +necessity for reform. He was for triennial Parliaments and an extension +of the franchise, so that those who by direct taxation contributed +towards the burdens of his country, should have a voice in electing those +by whom they were imposed. He had been but a short time in Parliament, +but he had had sufficient opportunity of seeing how matters were managed +there; swarms of boyish members came in just at a division, and only +looked where the Marquis of Londonderry or Mr. Tierney stood, to see on +which side of the house they should go. + +Mr. G. W. Perrott seconded Mr. Cooper’s amendment, which, however, was +lost by a very large majority. Mr. Richards’s resolutions were then all +carried, excepting the last, which called for Parliamentary Reform; but +after several persons, and the High Sheriff amongst others, had begged +him to withdraw it as not pertinent to the objects of the meeting, that +also was carried by acclamation. Petitions were then agreed to, founded +on Mr. Richards’s resolutions, and the meeting broke up. Lord Foley and +Sir Thomas Winnington, who were unavoidably absent from the meeting, +attached their names to the petitions. + +[Lord John Russell, just about this time, wrote a letter to the farmers +of Huntingdonshire, recommending them indeed to seek for retrenchment and +reform, but using all the arguments now in vogue amongst Protectionists +against the importation of corn, and expressing his fears that Government +were going to hand over the country to political economists.] + +1822—MARCH 30—A meeting of the inhabitants of Kidderminster held, George +Hallen, Esq., High Bailiff, in the chair, to petition Parliament for a +revision of the Corn Laws; and it was resolved that the restrictions upon +the importation of corn were inconsistent with sound principles of +national policy, and were proved, by ten years’ experience, to be +injurious to the general interests of the community; and a petition was +therefore adopted for a moderate import duty on corn; which, in addition +to the unavoidable expenses of importation, would be a fair protection to +the farmer, and would be much preferable to the perplexing state of the +law, as it then stood. They also prayed generally for the relaxation of +all commercial restrictions. + +1823—APRIL 30—Meeting in Worcester, William Wall, Esq., in the chair, at +which a petition to Parliament, praying for the abolition of Negro +Slavery in the British colonies, was agreed upon. One was also forwarded +from Evesham at this time. + +1828—JUNE 20—Public meeting in the Guildhall, Worcester, with the Mayor +in the chair, at which petitions were agreed to, praying for restrictions +on the importation of foreign gloves. + +1828—NOVEMBER 7—Public meeting in the Guildhall, for the purpose of +establishing an Infant School in Worcester. The Mayor (James Fletcher, +Esq.) presided; and there were on the platform the Lord Bishop of +Rochester, Dean of Worcester, Rev. C. Benson, Sir A. Lechmere, Bart., W. +Wall, E. Isaac, J. P. Lavender, Esqs., Dr. Hastings, Mr. Henry Newman, +Mr. Josiah Newman, &c. A considerable subscription was entered into, and +the school was established in Friar Street, where it still exists. + +1828—NOVEMBER 27—A meeting at the Guildhall, Worcester, convened by the +“City and County Brunswick Club,” of those “who were friendly to its +political principles,” for the purpose of increasing the number of its +members. The general public, however, assembled in large numbers, and +the opposition, principally, took possession of the Nisi Prius Court. +The Brunswickers thereupon went into the Crown Court, and left Mr. Payne, +Roman Catholic, to harangue the company in the Nisi Prius Court upon the +unfairness of the proceeding. In the Crown Court, Major Bund was called +to the chair, and read the address and resolutions of the Brunswick Club, +with a view of obtaining “the concurrence and support of those who might +be friendly to them.” He proceeded, amidst mingled cheers and hisses, to +propose petitions to the King and Parliament, praying that no concession +might be made to Catholics. Mr. Richard Spooner endeavoured to put an +amendment, but was told that he had no right there unless friendly to the +principles of the Brunswick Club, and a show of hands was taken whether +he should be heard. The chairman having decided that it was against Mr. +Spooner, he retired, and the other resolutions were proposed by Dr. Beale +Cooper, E. Burroughs, Esq., John Phillips, Esq., and carried without much +opposition. On the suggestion of the Rev. Mr. Havergal, three cheers +were given at the close of the meeting for Protestant ascendancy. +Meanwhile, Mr. Spooner, in the body of the hall, and Mr. Foster, of +Evesham, in the Nisi Prius Court, proposed resolutions to the people +unable to get into the Crown Court, declaring the Brunswick Club to be +unnecessary and uncalled for—and these were carried by acclamation. The +Brunswickers’ petition received about 700 signatures on the day of +meeting. + +1830—MARCH 2—County meeting, presided over by John Scott, Esq., High +Sheriff, for two objects—first, to consider the question of erecting a +Shire Hall; and, secondly, to petition Parliament on the subject of +agricultural distress. + +As to the first matter, John Williams, Esq., moved a resolution +requesting the magistrates to be satisfied with alterations and additions +to the city Guildhall. This was seconded by Richard Spooner, Esq. The +Rev. Thomas Pearson proposed, as an amendment, that the county ought to +erect courts suitable to its respectability, but that the measure should +be postponed till the depression of the agricultural interest had passed +over. Dr. B. Cooper seconded this. Sir C. S. Smith and R. Spooner, +Esq., supported the original proposition, which was carried almost +unanimously. + +Colonel Lygon having briefly addressed the meeting, warning them not to +regard Parliamentary Reform as a panacea for their ills, Richard Spooner, +Esq., rose and proposed a petition for the adoption of the meeting: it +complained, in the first place, of extravagant salaries to placemen, and +next of the standard of currency to which the county had been obliged to +return by Mr. Peel’s act, and prayed for a thorough reform in Parliament +as the only means of setting these things right. Mr. Spooner bitterly +inveighed against the corruption of the Parliament as it then existed. +The petition was seconded by Charles Hanford, Esq. Sir C. Smith, Major +General Marriott, Dr. B. Cooper, and J. Williams, Esq., agreed with all +the statements of the petition; but did not want reform, and begged Mr. +Spooner to put it into a separate petition by itself. Mr. S. refused, +and the petition was carried almost unanimously. It afterwards received +2,180 signatures. + +1830—FEBRUARY 13—Meeting held in Worcester to form an “Agricultural +Society,” and to adopt such other measures as might be deemed expedient +in the present depressed state of the agricultural interest. Charles +Hanford, Esq., was called to the chair. The Rev. H. Berry moved a +petition to Parliament, praying for inquiry into the causes of distress, +for economy and revision of the poor laws, and for a salutary reform of +Parliament. F. Holland, Esq., of Cropthorne, seconded the adoption of +the petition. Mr. Allen objected to the “Reform” part of the business, +and suggested that a county meeting should be called. This was agreed +to, and a requisition to the High Sheriff immediately prepared. The +“Agricultural Society,” however, was formed. + +1830—AUGUST 6—County meeting, to vote addresses of condolence and +congratulation to His Majesty King William IV, on the death of his +brother and his accession to the throne. John Scott, Esq., High Sheriff, +in the chair. The addresses were moved by Lord Deerhurst, and seconded +by Sir Anthony Lechmere, Bart. + +1830—OCTOBER 13—Anti-Slavery meeting at the Guildhall; Dr. Hastings in +the chair. The speakers were the Rev. John Davies, the Rev. Thomas Lowe +of Hallow, the Rev. Daniel Wilson, Vicar of Islington, Major Bund, Mr. +Henry Newman, the Hon. T. H. Foley, M.P., the Rev. Dr. Ross of +Kidderminster, the Rev. Henry Hastings of Martley, the Rev. George +Redford, J. W. Isaac, Esq., the Rev. John Brown, Mr. Stanley Pumphrey, +and the Rev. Mr. Bell of Knightwick. Both the attendance and the +speeches were very respectable. A petition was agreed to, which received +1,826 signatures. Petitions were also forwarded to Parliament, about +this time, from every town and many villages of the county. + +1831—MARCH 17—City of Worcester Reform meeting, to support the bill just +then introduced into the Commons. The Mayor, H. B. Tymbs, Esq., refused +to call a town’s meeting, but left the Guildhall at the disposal of the +requisitionists. On the motion of R. Spooner, Esq., William Saunders, +Esq., was called to the chair. Mr. Allen moved, and Mr. Deighton +seconded, the first resolution, expressing the gratification of the +meeting in the measures proposed by His Majesty’s ministers. The other +speakers were Thomas Scott, Esq., Mr. Daniel George, Mr. Timings, Dr. +Corbett, Mr. George Brook, Mr. Greening, Mr. Spooner, Mr. Gillam, Mr. +Wensley, Mr. Williams, and Mr. Thompson. The hall was crowded, and +everything was unanimous and orderly. + +1831—MARCH 18—County of Worcester Reform meeting; Osman Ricardo, Esq., +High Sheriff, in the chair. The meeting was most numerously attended, +and there was no opposition. The speakers in favour of Reform were Sir +Thomas Winnington, Sir Christopher Smith, C. E. Hanford, Esq., H. E. +Strickland, Esq., R. Berkeley, Esq., W. Welch, Esq., W. Acton, Esq., T. +C. Hornyold, Esq., T. T. Vernon, Esq., and H. Bearcroft, Esq. Lord +Lyttelton, after the resolutions had all been carried, addressed the +meeting at considerable length, expressing his delight at having lived to +see the day in which the principles he had advocated through life were, +at last, to obtain a triumph in the wise and salutary measure of Reform +brought forward by the Government. The Hon. T. H. Foley, M.P., also +spoke in favour of the bill. + +1831—SEPTEMBER 30—Public meeting in the Guildhall, Worcester, of citizens +and others, to petition the House of Lords in favour of the Reform Bill, +which had now reached the Upper House. William Saunders, Esq., was +called to the chair. The principal speakers were Mr. Merryweather +Turner, Mr. Curwood, and Mr. Acton; the other movers and seconders of +resolutions being Thomas Scott, Esq., Mr. G. Brook, Mr. Smith, Mr. +Blackwell, Mr. John Bishop, and Captain Wilson. The hall was crowded and +the proceedings most enthusiastic. + +1831—OCTOBER 14—The Reform Bill having been rejected by the House of +Lords by a majority of 41, another meeting of the citizens was called in +the Guildhall, Worcester, to vote an address to the King, praying “that +he will continue his present confidential advisers.” John Curwood, Esq., +was in the chair, and the speakers were much the same as on the previous +occasion. The tone of the meeting was tolerably moderate. The Worcester +Political Union and the parishioners of All Saints and St. Michael met +and agreed to similar addresses. + +1831—NOVEMBER 5—The county meeting, for a similar purpose, was held this +day, Osman Ricardo, Esq., High Sheriff, presiding. The meeting was +crowded and enthusiastic. The speakers were Sir Edward Blount, Captain +Winnington, Colonel Davies, T. C. Hornyold, Esq., Sir Thomas Winnington, +Bart., W. Acton, Esq., Lord Lyttelton, Sir C. S. Smith, C. Hanford, Esq., +John Richards, Esq., Richard Spooner, Esq., A. Skey, Esq., G. Farley, +Esq., Colonel Jefferies, Rev. Mr. Berry, and the Hon. T. H. Foley, M.P. +The various speakers impressed upon the people the necessity of order, +and spoke confidently of obtaining reform shortly. Three cheers were +given at the conclusion of the meeting for Lord Lyttelton, three groans +for the Earl of Coventry, three cheers for the King, three for Earl Grey, +Lord Brougham, and Lord Althorp, and three groans for the Corporation. +Some disturbances took place in the city, in the evening of this day, +which will be found narrated in another place. + +1832—MAY 14—The Worcester Political Union met on the resignation of +ministers, because the Lords, for a second time, refused to accept the +principle of the Reform Bill. The meeting was held in Pitchcroft, at +five p.m., and the members of the Union went in procession to the grand +stand, headed by flags and a band. It is said that at least 10,000 +persons were present. C. Hanford, Esq., was called to the chair by the +acclamations of the crowd, who were first addressed by Mr. Arrowsmith; +and the other speakers were Mr. Hornidge, Mr. Raby, Mr. Mansell, Mr. W. +Bristow, Mr. Southan, Mr. Meek, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Payne, Mr. Bayliss, Mr. +Coates, Mr. Barnes, Mr. Stevenson, and the Rev. Mr. M‘Donnell and Mr. +Salt of Birmingham. The resolutions and petition prayed the House of +Commons to refuse the supplies, and not to pass the Mutiny Bill till the +Reform Bill was passed. + +Meetings were held at Kidderminster (Henry Talbot, Esq., presiding) and +at Evesham (William Welch, Esq., in the chair) with similar intentions +and results. + +1833—APRIL 12—A meeting held at the Guildhall, Worcester, to petition +Parliament on the subject of Negro Slavery. It was very numerously +attended. Dr. Hastings occupied the chair, and the audience was +addressed by the Rev. John Davies, Rev. George Redford, Rev. Peter +Duncan, Lieutenant Davis, Colonel Davies, M.P., Rev. Thomas Pearson, Rev. +R. Turnbull, Rev. Jacob Stanley, Mr. Stanley Pumphrey, Rev. Thomas Davis, +Mr. J. T. Price, Captain O’Brien, Mr. William Parry, Mr. Thomas Pumphrey, +Rev. Thomas Waters, and Rev. S. Webb. + +1833—APRIL 18—Meeting in the Guildhall, Worcester, to petition the +legislature for a repeal of the House and Window Taxes. In the absence +of the Mayor, Mr. John Blackwell was called upon to preside. Mr. +Prosser, architect, Mr. Greening, Mr. Wensley, Mr. Edward Hooper, Mr. +Pemberton, Mr. Scott, Mr. Williams, Mr. J. Davis, Mr. Wheeler, &c., moved +and seconded the resolutions, which declared that the house duty was +oppressive and especially obnoxious, because of the power vested in the +surveyor who levied it—that the window tax was offensive in principle and +in practice—that they both pressed most heavily on the middle classes—who +had, indeed, to bear everything—and that they ought to be forthwith +abolished. + +1834—JANUARY 20—Meeting of Dissenters at Kidderminster, Dr. Ross in the +chair, to memorialise Government for the redress of grievances. The +speakers were the Rev. Mr. Fry, Mr. Henry Brinton, Mr. Chadwick, Rev. Mr. +Smith, Rev. Mr. Warren, Rev. Mr. Coles, Mr. W. Brinton, Mr. Charles +Talbot, and Mr. Thomas Hopkins. The memorial agreed to was directed to +Earl Grey, and prayed, first, for relief from Church Rates; second, the +power of celebrating marriages without conforming to the Church service; +third, for the right of interring their dead in parochial burial grounds +by their own ministers; fourth, the right of admission to the +universities; fifth, for a general system of registering births, deaths, +and marriages, without regard to religious distinction. + +1834—FEBRUARY 24—Meeting of laity of the Church of England at +Kidderminster, to express unshaken confidence in the principles of the +Establishment, and to petition Parliament in its behalf. The meeting was +held in the National School-room, and was numerously attended. Abraham +Turner, Esq., was called to the chair, and the resolutions were proposed +by the High Bailiff, Mr. Samuel Beddoes, Mr. Woodward, churchwarden, Mr. +J. Gough, Mr. Bradley, Mr. George Hooman, Mr. Thomas Hallen, Mr. Boycot, +sen., Mr. Dixon, Mr. Tomkins, and Mr. Harvey. The resolutions were +unanimously adopted. [The Catholic priest, displeased at some allusion +made to his religion at the Dissenters’ meeting, declared that he thought +a union of Catholics with the Church of England not at all impossible.] + +1834—APRIL 9—Meeting of owners and occupiers of land, at the Bell Inn, +Worcester, “to consider the propriety of petitioning Parliament on the +ruinous state of the agricultural interest.” The room was very much +crowded; and the Earl of Coventry was called to the chair. Sir Anthony +Lechmere, Bart., moved the adoption of a petition which attributed the +greatest part of agricultural distress to the alteration of the currency, +by the Bill of 1819, and therefore prayed that Parliament would institute +an immediate inquiry into the effects of that measure. The removal of +“the present, though inadequate” protection of the Corn Laws, would +certainly accelerate their destruction, which was daily drawing nearer by +reason of the enormous increase of their various burdens. Earl Beauchamp +seconded the adoption of the petition. Major Bund moved that that part +of the petition which related to the currency should be left out, for +that was a subject into which if they once got they would never be able +to get out again. This called forth a long speech from Mr. Spooner, +“going into” the currency question very fully; and the result was that +the amendment was withdrawn, and the petition carried unanimously. The +petition had 3,000 signatures attached to it. Mr. T. Attwood, when it +was presented to the House by Colonel Lygon, “hailed it with +satisfaction, because it was the first agricultural petition which traced +the distress to its true source—the Currency Bill of 1819.” + +1835—JULY 27—A meeting at the Crown Inn, Worcester, to consider the +ninetieth clause of the Municipal Reform Bill, which, it was feared, +would prevent the new town councils from leasing the borough property on +anything like the same terms as the old corporations had done. John +Williams, Esq., was called to the chair. Mr. John Hill proposed, and Mr. +Francis Hooper seconded, a motion suggesting that a committee should be +appointed to inquire in the proper quarter what was the precise intent of +the clause. Mr. Waters moved, and Mr. G. Allies seconded, as an +amendment, “that this meeting, not believing that property, held under +corporation leases, will be depreciated in value, are unwilling to +address the legislature on the subject.” Mr. Waters’s motion was +carried. The Mayor wished only holders of corporation property to vote, +but other parties, who had thronged the room, insisted on their right to +express an opinion; and the result was regarded as a test of public +opinion in the city, with regard to the bill. + +1835—AUGUST 12—Meeting in the Corn Market, Worcester, to address His +Majesty on the subject of the Municipal Reform Bill, requesting him to +take measures to ensure its passing the House of Lords without +mutilation. The Mayor, Mr. Leonard, had refused to grant the use of the +hall. C. H. Hebb, Esq., was called to the chair; and the speakers were +Mr. Carey, Mr. Munn, Mr. Sanders, Mr. C. A. Helm, Mr. Greening, Mr. E. L. +Williams, and Mr. B. Stokes. A petition to the Commons was also agreed +to at this meeting, begging them not to consent to any alteration of the +measure. It received 6,221 signatures. + +1835—SEPTEMBER 7—Protestant meeting, in the Guildhall, Worcester, the +alleged object being to disseminate a knowledge of the principles and +practices of Popery, and to promote the great principles of Protestantism +as maintained by the Established Church. The assembly room was well +filled. Richard Spooner, Esq., was called to the chair. The Rev. +Mortimer O‘Sullivan was the chief speaker; the others being Sir Matthew +Blakeston, Bart., Rev. C. Benson, Colonel Taylor, Rev. George +Turberville, Rev. John Cawood, John Brown, Esq., Lea Castle, Dr. B. +Cooper, C. Hawkins, Esq., Samuel Kent, Esq., Rev. W. Chesshyre. A +“Protestant Association” was determined on, but the meeting resolved +itself, in reality, into an opposition to the appropriating clauses of +the Irish Church Bill, then before the Lords. This meeting was the +occasion of a correspondence between Mr. Hanford and Mr. Spooner, and a +whole host of general letters in the newspapers. The Rev. T. M‘Donnell +came from Birmingham on purpose to preach about it at the Catholic +Chapel. + +1835—SEPTEMBER 26—Meeting of the Worcestershire Agricultural Society, at +the Crown Inn, Worcester, numerously attended. Sir A. Lechmere, Bart., +the president for the year, in the chair. It was first resolved that +agriculturists had waited long enough for the amelioration of their +condition, which, according to a committee of the Commons in 1833, was to +result from “the cautious forbearance rather than the active +interposition of Parliament.” That it was necessary the agricultural +body should be roused into energy to prevent the “total ruin impending +over both landlords and tenants.” That Government were remitting all +sorts of taxes to the manufacturing interests, and none to them—and, +then, that it was highly desirable that the question of the currency +should be brought under the serious attention of Parliament; as the +sudden reduction of the amount of circulating medium had been one of the +chief causes of the ruinous prices of agricultural produce. It would +also be a great relief to the farmer to be allowed to malt grain, the +produce of his own farm, duty free. The Marquis of Chandos was accepted +as the farmers’ champion; and he was to be urged to bring these matters +before Parliament, these being the only remedies suggested. + +1835—OCTOBER 17—Meeting of the agriculturists of the county at the Crown +Inn, Broad Street, to consider the distress and ruinous condition of the +agricultural interest. Sir A. Lechmere, Bart., was called to the chair. +Mr. Spooner moved an address to the King, setting forth the distress of +the farmers, and suggesting that there ought to be an alteration of the +standard of value to relieve them—they ought, also, to be allowed to malt +their own grain. Mr. Robinson, M.P., Captain Winnington, M.P., and Mr. +Pakington, M.P., were very averse to mixing up the currency question with +agricultural distress, and had a long argument with Mr. Spooner thereon. +Mr. Robinson had voted for repeal of the malt tax, but would never +consent to one set of men only being exempt from the excise laws. The +address, as it originally stood, was carried by a large majority. + +1836—MAY 30—Town’s meeting at the Guildhall, Worcester, to agree to an +address to His Majesty’s ministers, and a petition to the House of +Commons, in favour of the Irish Municipal Reform Bill. The Mayor, C. H. +Hebb, Esq., was in the chair; and there was a numerous gathering of +citizens. Mr. Acton, Mr. Hanford, Mr. Alderman Gibbs, Mr. Sheriff +Allies, Mr. Alderman R. Evans, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Carey, Mr. Parry, Mr. +Greening, Mr. Chapman, and Mr. Southan were the speakers. The +proceedings were unanimous. + +1836—JUNE 30—Meeting in the Guildhall, Worcester, to form a “Worcester +Reform Association;” the principal object alleged being to look after the +registration. Mr. Robert Hardy was called to the chair, and the hall was +crowded with operatives and others. The meeting was addressed by Captain +Corles, Mr. F. T. Elgie, Colonel Davies, and others. G. Munn, Esq., was +elected president of the new association. + +1837—JANUARY 26—Meeting in Worcester Town Hall, to petition for Vote by +Ballot. The meeting had, first of all, been called for the Thursday +previous, but the requisitionists having determined to postpone it, the +Mayor left the hall. A number of the Conservative party were left +waiting in the Crown Court, and not having been properly apprised of the +adjournment, they, after a little interval, called Major Bund to the +chair. Mr. Gutch and Mr. F. Hooper moved a petition condemning the +ballot, which was declared to “lead to the corruption of public morals by +the general practice of treachery and hypocrisy.” This was carried by a +large majority. Mr. Gutch and Mr. Lingham then moved that “the conduct +of the Mayor and the requisitionists in not attending the meeting, and +not offering any explanation of their absence, was an insult to the +citizens of Worcester, and highly censurable;” and this also met with the +approval of the parties present. These proceedings of course only made +the original promoters of the meeting more in earnest, and the hall was +this day crowded by a company entirely unanimous in favour of the ballot. +The Mayor was in the chair; and the various resolutions and petitions +were moved by Mr. F. T. Elgie, Secretary to the Worcester Reform +Association, W. Acton, Esq., Mr. Hardy, Mr. Arrowsmith, Mr. John Hill, +Town Clerk, Mr. Raby, C. Hanford, Esq., Mr. Alderman Corles, Mr. John +Hall, &c. Mr. Waters asserted that he had told Major Bund, half an hour +before the meeting of the previous week, that it was postponed. The +ballot was declared, in the petition adopted by the meeting, to be +“essentially necessary to the purity of election.” + +1837—MARCH 30—Meeting of the clergy of the diocese, at the Chapter House, +to petition against the Church Rate Bill, then lately introduced by +ministers. The Venerable Archdeacon Onslow was in the chair. The Rev. +John Peel, Rev. T. Baker, Rev. John Foley, Rev. J. R. Gray, Rev. C. +Benson, Rev. R. B. Hone, Rev. A. B. Lechmere, Rev. H. Hastings, Rev. E. +W. Wakeman, and the Hon. and Rev. J. S. Cocks moved or seconded the +resolutions. The tone of the speeches generally was moderate; but the +Tithe Commutation Act was included in the animadversions of the speakers, +as well as the bill for abolishing church rates. + +1837—MAY 5—Public meeting at Worcester, to consider the best means of +alleviating the distress existing amongst the operative glovers. The +Mayor, C. H. Hebb, Esq., was in the chair. John Dent, Esq., Dr. +Hastings, Mr. S. Pumphrey, E. H. Lechmere, Esq., John Williams, Esq., W. +Wall, Esq., Mr. Tymbs, Mr. Lavender, R. Berkeley, Esq., and Mr. T. Newman +moved the various resolutions. The distress was not traced further, as +to its causes, than the decay of trade and want of orders. Many hundreds +of families had applied for relief. It was determined that a general +subscription should be entered into, and a committee of master glovers +was appointed to scrutinise the applications for charity. About £1,000 +was collected, including £100 from the Earl of Coventry, £50 from Earl +Beauchamp, and £30 from a performance at the Theatre, given for this +purpose by Mr. Bennett. + +1837—JULY 18—Anti-Slavery meeting at the Guildhall, to hear an address +from Mr. Joseph Sturge, on the apprenticeship system. Mr. Alderman R. +Evans was called to the chair. Dr. Redford, Mr. Stanley Pumphrey, Rev. +Thomas Waters, and Mr. Brewin moved resolutions declaring for total +abolition; and pledging the meeting only to support such candidates, at +the next election, as would vote for such a step. Mr. Robinson and +Colonel Davies gave the meeting satisfactory assurances. Mr. Bailey was +not present, but Mr. Gutch read a note from him. + +1837—AUGUST 10—County meeting held at the Guildhall, Worcester, to +congratulate Queen Victoria on her ascension to the throne, and to +condole with the Queen Dowager on her bereavement. The High Sheriff, W. +Roberts, Esq., was in the chair. The Earl of Coventry moved the +addresses; and the Bishop of Worcester seconded the one, and the Lord +Lieutenant, Lord Foley, the other. Earl Coventry was requested to +present them. + +1837—DECEMBER 20—Meeting of the clergy in the Chapter House, the Ven. +Archdeacon Onslow in the chair. Addresses to Her Majesty, a memorial to +the Archbishop of Canterbury, and petitions to Parliament were adopted +against certain clauses in the Marriage and Registration Acts, against +the Tithe Commutation Act, and against the constitution of the +Ecclesiastical Commission. The Revs. T. Baker, C. Dunne, Hon. J. S. +Cocks, A. B. Lechmere, G. W. Kershaw, C. Benson, R. B. Hone, J. F. +Turner, W. R. Holden, and W. A. Pruen, moved or seconded the resolutions. + +1837—DECEMBER 30—Anti-Slavery meeting in the Town Hall, to petition for +the immediate abolition of the apprenticeship system. Mr. Stanley +Pumphrey was in the chair. The speakers were—Dr. Redford, Mr. Bowly, Mr. +George Thompson (London), Mr. S. Burden, Mr. Alderman R. Evans, Mr. +Ledbrook, and Mr. B. Stokes. + +1838—FEBRUARY 6—Common hall at Worcester, to petition for the ballot. +Mr. Alderman Hebb took the chair. The movers of the resolutions +were—William Acton, Esq., Mr. Arrowsmith, Mr. Elgie, Mr. James Wall, +Charles Hanford, Esq., Mr. Greening, Mr. Edward Hooper, and Mr. George. +A Mr. Davis, a native of Worcester, but who had resided a considerable +time in the United States, said the ballot had not worked well there. +Colonel Davies and Mr. Turton, the expectant candidate, afterwards +addressed the meeting. + +1838—SEPTEMBER 11—Meeting of citizens at the Guildhall, at which it was +resolved that an act should be applied for to obtain powers for the +better regulation and repair of the streets and highways within the +borough. Mr. Pierpoint proposed that the powers under such act should +rest in the City Commissioners, and Mr. Deighton moved, as an amendment, +that they should lie in the Council. Mr. Pierpoint’s resolution was +carried; and, further, that the qualification of a Commissioner should be +reduced to an income of £20 a year. In consequence of this decision the +Council refused to proceed further with the bill. + +1839—FEBRUARY 23—County meeting, in the New Shire Hall, on the Corn Law +question. The High Sheriff, Mr. Russell, presided. The outer hall was +completely filled, and the minority of Corn Law repealers were very +noisy. The first resolution, proposed by the Earl of Coventry, and +seconded by William Acton, Esq., was as follows: “That taking into +consideration the natural and artificial causes which produce variations +in the price of corn, and which experience has proved it is beyond the +power of human legislation at all times to obviate or control, and +looking at the slight changes in prices which have occurred since the +last corn act was passed, which, while it regulates the duties on +importation, affords protection to the home grower—this meeting is of +opinion that it would be unjust and impolitic to make any alteration in +the principle of the present law.” The remaining resolutions were merely +routine, and were moved or seconded by Sir Offley Wakeman, Bart., O. +Mason, Esq., Hon. W. Coventry, George Allies, Esq. (Mayor of Worcester), +John Freeman, Esq., Sir A. Lechmere, Bart., Earl Beauchamp, and General +Lygon, M.P. They were all carried by very large majorities. Towards the +close of the meeting the uproar was very considerable, and at last, on +the interposition of the Earl of Coventry, Mr. F. H. Coates, though not a +freeholder, was allowed to speak in favour of a repeal of the Corn Laws, +and was heard with considerable attention. + +1839—APRIL 6—Large meeting of the clergy and laity of the Church of +England held in the Crown Court, New Shire Hall, to form a Diocesan Board +of Education in connection with the National School Society. The Lord +Bishop took the chair, and the Rev. Donald Cameron read a report of a +committee which had been previously appointed on the subject. Archdeacon +Spooner, Sir John Mordaunt, Bart., M.P., Prebendary Digby, Mr. Pakington, +and Canon Benson were the principal speakers, and moved resolutions +pledging the meeting to form such a society as was suggested, and +vigorously to support it. A training school for teachers was especially +mentioned. Handsome donations were given on the spot. + +1840—MARCH 27—The first Anti-Corn-Law meeting held in Worcester. It was +a gathering of operatives, and took place in the Town Hall. Mr. John +Richardson, ironfounder, was called to the chair; and the speakers were +Mr. Robert Hardy, Mr. Thomas Waters, and several operatives, by whom +indeed the meeting was convened. A petition, praying for a total repeal +of the Corn Laws, was unanimously agreed to. The meeting was held with +the view of strengthening Mr. Villiers’s hands in an approaching debate, +and the number of signatures attached to the petition was 3,326. + +1840—JUNE 29—County meeting, with the High Sheriff in the chair, to +address the Queen on her escape from the attempt at assassination by +Oxford. The resolutions were moved by Sir A. Lechmere, Mr. Pakington, +Lord Southwell, Colonel Davies, Dr. B. Cooper, and the Hon. and Rev. W. +W. C. Talbot. + +1841—NOVEMBER 15—Public meeting in the Guildhall, Worcester, to vote +congratulatory addresses to the Queen and Prince Albert on the birth of +the Prince of Wales. The Mayor, Edward Evans, Esq., presided; and the +resolutions were moved by the Lord Bishop of Worcester, John Williams, +Esq., Sir A. Lechmere, Bart., Captain Thomas, &c. A subscription was +entered into to supply the poor of the city with coal at a reduced rate, +and this was called the Prince of Wales’s Coal Fund—£1,021 were raised by +this means. + +1842—FEBRUARY 23—A common hall convened at Worcester, to consider the +distress of the country. The requisition had been taken round for +signature by Mr. J. D. Stevenson, and a great number of persons had +affixed their names. The hall was densely filled with operatives, and +the proceedings were commenced by Mr. R. Hardy, who moved a resolution +declaring that the distress of the country could be traced to “the Corn +Laws and other restrictions on the trade and liberties of the people.” +This was seconded by Mr. Edward Webb, and every hand was held up in its +favour, save one. Mr. Alderman Corles proposed another resolution, +declaring that the Corn Laws never would have been enacted if the people +had been fully represented in Parliament, and that all bad statutes had +arisen from class legislation. This was seconded by Mr. Alderman +Padmore, and carried unanimously. Mr. Elgie moved the third +resolution—that the present Parliament was not the people’s Parliament, +and that it was necessary for the operative and middle classes to unite +for the overthrow of monopolies. This was seconded by Mr. Fisher; but a +Chartist, named Davie, moved an amendment—“that the principles of the +People’s Charter should be embodied in the petition;” this was seconded +by an operative named Williams, and two Birmingham Chartists, named Young +and Mason, wanted to speak to the amendment; but the Mayor would not let +them, because this was a “town’s meeting” and they were strangers. This +caused great uproar; so he put the matter to the meeting, and requested +those who were of opinion that the people of Worcester could manage their +own affairs, to go to the right—and those who thought they were not +competent so to do, to the left. This but increased the disturbance, and +the Mayor put the question in the usual method; and, whether by mistake +or not, the great majority declared that strangers should not be heard. +The Mayor then put the amendment in favour of the Charter, and two-thirds +of the meeting held up their hands in its favour. Davie then moved the +adoption of the “National Petition,” praying for universal suffrage, +repeal of the union, &c. &c. &c. The Mayor objected that this was not +put as the petition of the people of Worcester. Dr. Redford made an +attempt to convince the operatives of their mistake in creating disunion, +but after a few sentences he gave up the task. The Mayor declined to put +the National Petition; and after asking whether any gentleman had +anything else to propose, he declared the meeting dissolved, and left the +hustings. The Chartists remained in the hall, and having moved Mr. +Stevenson into the chair, Mason and Whyte made long orations, especially +abusive of the Mayor, and the National Petition was carried by +acclamation. + +1842—APRIL 16—A numerous meeting of the agriculturists, held at the Crown +Inn, to consider Sir Robert Peel’s New Tariff. P. V. Onslow, Esq., in +the chair. Mr. Curtler, Mr. Williams, and others thought they had not +sufficient information before them to go upon, and expressed confidence +in Sir Robert Peel. Mr. Woodward moved a series of resolutions, stating +that the proposed alterations would seriously injure the agriculturists, +and they could have no confidence in any ministry who proposed them. Mr. +Benson moved a resolution somewhat milder, but deprecating the reduction +of duty on cattle, &c., and this was carried by a considerable majority. + +1843—MARCH 13—Public meeting in the Guildhall, Worcester, John Lilly, +Esq., Mayor, presiding, to petition against the tenth article of the +Ashburton treaty; which, in providing for the extradition of criminals +from Canada to the United States, was thought likely to interfere with +the liberty of escaped slaves. The resolutions were moved by Dr. +Redford, Alderman E. Evans, Rev. Mr. Holden, Rev. J. Earnshaw, Mr. G. +Grove, Rev. C. Lee, &c.; and Sir Thomas Wilde was requested to present +the petition. + +1844—FEBRUARY 27—Public meeting at the Bell Hotel, to form an +Agricultural Protection Society for Worcestershire. P. V. Onslow, Esq., +took the chair; and the resolutions were moved by Mr. F. Woodward, Sir +Anthony Lechmere, Dr. B. Cooper, Mr. Henry Hudson, J. S. Pakington, Esq., +M.P., Mr. Onley, Mr. Curtler, Mr. James Taylor, and the Hon. and Rev. W. +W. C. Talbot. The meeting was attended by about 300 farmers and +landowners, and about £550 were subscribed on the spot. + +1844—OCTOBER 4—A meeting of the medical profession of the county, +convened in the board room of the Worcester Infirmary, for the purpose of +considering the provisions of the Medical Bill introduced in the late +session of Parliament by Sir James Graham. Dr. Malden was called to the +chair; and Mr. Pierpoint, and Mr. Davis of Pershore, moved a resolution +approving of the bill in general. Dr. Hastings, and Mr. A. Martin of +Evesham, moved a second, declaring that the bill was defective in not +containing a clause for the punishment of unqualified and unregistered +practitioners, and that it was the duty of every medical man to oppose +the bill unless such a clause were inserted. A petition was agreed to, +praying for the insertion of such a protective clause. + +1844—NOVEMBER 28—A town’s meeting called at Droitwich, to consider the +proposal of the Patent Salt Company to carry their brine down to Camp by +means of pipes, and convert it into salt there, so as to save the great +expense of tonnage on the Droitwich Canal. The Mayor, T. G. Smith, Esq., +presided. The meeting unanimously agreed to petition against the +proposed measure, as one which would be utterly destructive of the trade +of the borough. Mr. Curtler, in moving the second resolution, went at +length into the whole matter, attributing the Salt Company’s want of +success to their own mismanagement; and he blamed them for seeking to +monopolise the whole trade in their own hands. At the same time he +admitted that they had a right to complain of the heavy charges imposed +by the Canal Company, who fancied themselves bound by the guarantee given +them by the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company to give them £8 +interest per share, to keep the tolls up to the _maximum_ of 3d. a mile +per ton. But he said the Canal Company were about to take steps to alter +this state of things. Mr. Pakington, who attended the meeting to learn +the wishes of his constituents, said he should give the Salt Company’s +measure his most strenuous opposition in Parliament. The scheme was +shortly afterwards abandoned. + +1844—DECEMBER 16—A public meeting held in the Guildhall, Worcester, to +consider what steps should be taken for the relief of the poor in the +city during the winter, which had commenced with much severity. The +Bishop of Rochester took the chair; and it was unanimously resolved that +the balance left from the Prince of Wales’s Coal Fund should be increased +by a general subscription, and another distribution of coal, blankets, +&c., take place. Mr. Mence suggested that the funds should be +distributed by the Visiting Society; but it was discovered that this had +recently become entirely a Church of England society, and Dr. Redford +protested against any general fund therefore being committed to its +charge. A committee, upon which all the Dissenting ministers of the city +were placed, was appointed by the meeting for the distribution of the +funds. The subscriptions amounted to £702. 17s. + +1845—DECEMBER 27—The Agricultural Protection Society held a general +meeting at the Crown Hotel, Broad Street, Worcester; P. V. Onslow, Esq., +in the chair. The speakers were Mr. F. Woodward, Mr. Lucy, J. S. +Pakington, Esq., M.P., Mr. Curtler, the Hon. W. Coventry, Mr. Gutch, and +Mr. Whittaker. The proximate causes for calling the meeting were—Lord +John Russell’s letter avowing himself a total repealer, and the certainty +that some measures affecting the agricultural interest would be brought +forward by Sir Robert Peel in the ensuing session. Mr. Curtler avowed +that he believed Sir Robert Peel to be an honest statesman, who had no +motive for injuring the agricultural interest, and never would think of +doing such a thing. The resolutions pledged the Society to carry out “a +well-digested mode of action” against repeal of the Corn Laws. + +1846—APRIL 29—A town’s meeting held at Worcester, to consider the New Gas +Company’s Bill; William Lewis, Esq., Mayor, presiding. There had been +many complaints of the bad quality of the gas supplied by the Old +Company, and murmurs were heard about the price charged; in consequence +of which, some parties thought it would answer their purpose to project a +new set of works. The Old Company thereupon reduced the price from 8s. +4d. to 7s. 6d. per 1,000 feet; but this was only taken as an admission +that the price ought to have been less before, and the New Company’s +project went on and a great deal of ill feeling was excited—the popular +cry, of course, being raised against that which had been a good while +established, and was supposed to have been a source of considerable +emolument to the parties engaged. That it had not been so to the +shareholders was proved, but it was thereupon retorted that the +management had been bad, and that the lessee of the works had made a +fortune by them, &c. Negociations were at one time opened for the sale +of the Old Company’s works to the New, but these fell through; and the +New Company being now about to bring their bill before Parliament, it was +necessary that they should have the approval of the town to back them. +Mr. Pierpoint, at this meeting, elaborately stated the case on the New +Company’s behalf; and Mr. H. B. Tymbs (chairman of the Old Company), Mr. +Jones (their new manager), Mr. Francis Hooper, Mr. John Hill, and Mr. +Bedford spoke for the Old Company. A petition in favour of the New +Company’s bill, proposed by Mr. W. D. Lingham and Mr. Barnett, was +carried by a majority of three to one. + +1847—MAY 24—The Mayor of Worcester, Mr. Elgie, convened a public meeting +in the Guildhall, for the purpose of considering the steps that should be +taken to relieve the poor of the city, who were suffering much from the +then high price of provisions. The meeting was most respectably attended +by men of all parties, and more than £300 was at once collected for the +purpose of furnishing the poor with provisions at a cheap rate. + +1848—FEBRUARY 26—Public meeting of the inhabitants of Worcester, to +petition against the Government proposal to increase the Income Tax per +centage. The Mayor, E. Webb, Esq., presided, and Mr. Gutch, Mr. Alderman +Elgie, Mr. F. H. Needham, Mr. Manning, Mr. Arrowsmith, Mr. John Hood, Mr. +Pierpoint, and Mr. Bedford moved or seconded the resolutions. F. +Rufford, Esq., M.P., also spoke. In consequence of demonstrations like +these throughout the country, the Government proposition to levy a three +per cent. permanent income tax was abandoned. + +1848—JUNE 16—A town’s meeting, held at Worcester, to petition in favour +of “further reform.” The Mayor, Mr. Webb, presided; and Mr. R. Hardy and +Mr. J. Wall moved the first resolution—declaring that the present +representation of the people in the House of Commons was partial, &c.; +and this was carried almost unanimously. Mr. Arrowsmith and Mr. Everett +moved a petition in favour of Mr. Hume’s motion for extension of the +suffrage to all householders, triennial Parliaments, ballot, and equal +apportionment of members to the population. John Dinmore Stephenson +moved a petition for the whole “six points” in amendment, but after twice +calling for a show of hands the Mayor declared the amendment to be lost, +though it was a very near thing. The other resolutions were moved by the +Rev. William Crowe, Mr. Alderman E. Evans, &c., and carried without +opposition. + +1849—MAY 5—County meeting, held at the Shire Hall, Worcester, to consider +the distress under which the agricultural body were then said to be +labouring. The High Sheriff, John Dent, Esq., occupied the chair; and +the meeting was most numerously and respectably attended. James Taylor, +Esq., of Moseley Hall, moved the first resolution—expressing alarm at the +depression under which both the agricultural and manufacturing interests +of the county were suffering. Mr. Joseph Stallard seconded this +resolution. Mr. James Baldwin, paper manufacturer, of Birmingham, +proposed an amendment, which, while it admitted the depression in trade +and agriculture, suggested a remedy in the reduction of taxation, and +chiefly from a repeal of the malt and hop duties. Mr. George Baker +seconded the resolution. Mr. Laslett, addressed the meeting from the +gallery, declaring that there was no possibility of any return to +Protection, and that a reduction of rent was what was wanted. Mr. +Laslett concluded his observations by saying, “You should have sent men +to Parliament who would have taken care of your interest and not have +sold you,” at which, as through his speech, there was great uproar. The +resolution was carried with comparative few dissentients. Mr. Curtler +then moved—“That the free trade measures of 1846 are partial and unjust +in their operation—are inconsistent with the burdened interests of this +country—must render abortive the utmost efforts of British industry to +struggle against the unequal competition to which it is exposed, and +which (if the present free trade measures are continued) will involve all +classes in one common ruin.” This resolution he supported in a long and +clever speech, endeavouring to show the preponderance of the agricultural +over the manufacturing interest, and inveighing against Sir Robert Peel +for his treachery to the agricultural party. The loss to the farmer, by +the removal of Protection, he declared could not be made up to him, even +if he was set free from paying any rent at all. The Rev. John Pearson +seconded the resolution, declaring that, though he had been accustomed to +take what was called a liberal line of politics, he was compelled to +advocate Protection from a conviction that the farmers had not been +fairly dealt with. The other resolutions were moved or seconded by Mr. +J. R. Cookes, Mr. Gardiner, Mr. Francis Woodward, and Mr. Henry Hudson, +and were all carried unanimously. Sir John Pakington afterwards +addressed the meeting at great length, saying that, though he had voted +against the repeal of the corn laws, and still continued to think that a +very dangerous measure, yet free trade must have a trial. He did not +think things quite so gloomy as his friends had represented them to +be—prices had been lower even in days of Protection, and he was not +inclined to increase the panic which prevailed. He recommended that they +should demand from Parliament a redistribution of local taxation. Mr. +Whittaker, amidst great cheering, begged the meeting not to be led away +by the speech they had just heard; they must stick to Protection and not +seek after a score of other things. General Lygon, M.P., and Captain +Rushout, M.P., declared their firm adhesion to the principles of +Protection. + +1850—JANUARY 19—A county meeting, in compliance with a requisition most +numerously signed by agriculturists, was held in the Crown Court of the +Shire Hall, in favour of Protection. John Dent, Esq., the High Sheriff, +being indisposed, the chair was taken by the Hon. W. Coventry. The first +resolution, declaring that the abandonment of Protection had involved +large classes of Her Majesty’s subjects, as well manufacturing as +agricultural, in distress and ruin, was moved by James Taylor, Esq., and +seconded by T. G. Curtler, Esq.; but before Mr. Curtler could conclude, +such vehement cries, for adjournment into the outer hall, arose, that the +proceedings were entirely interrupted. The chairman declined to adjourn, +and the free traders, in the principal gallery, maintained such a +continual uproar that all the rest of the proceedings passed in dumb +show. The other resolutions and petitions were moved or seconded by Mr. +Cookes, Mr. Henry Hudson, the Rev. John Pearson, Mr. Best, M.P., the Hon. +and Rev. W. W. C. Talbot, Mr. F. Holland, &c., and were carried by large +majorities in the midst of great noise. + +1850—NOVEMBER 16—A meeting of the clergy of the Archdeaconry of +Worcester, attended by about 200 of the clerical body, held in the +Chapter House, to protest against the Papal Aggression. The Venerable +Archdeacon Hone presided, and opened the meeting in a temperate speech. +Canon Wood moved an address to Her Majesty, declaring that the Bishop of +Rome had invaded the Queen’s prerogative by appointing archbishops and +bishops here with titles taken from English cities and towns—assuring Her +Majesty of their attachment to the principles of the Reformation—and, +also, that they would support her in the discharge of the solemn +obligations of her coronation oath to maintain the Protestant religion +and the rights of the bishops and clergy. The Rev. R. Seymour, rector of +Kinwarton, seconded the address, declaring that the Bishop of Rome had +been guilty of a schismatical act, and had invaded the unity of the +Church by appointing bishops in this country. The Rev. J. F. Mackarness, +vicar of Tardebigg, protested at length against the meeting adopting this +course. They would appear to be asking the help of the civil power +against the intrusion of Rome, and that would be most unwise. The Church +of England was already too much open to the taunt of being a law-made +church; and the only true way of conserving and extending their influence +as clergy was by earnestness of faith and devotion in labour. The +address was, however, carried without other dissent. The remaining +resolutions were moved by the Rev. H. J. Hastings, the Hon. and Rev. W. +H. Lyttelton, the Rev. H. Woodgate, and the Hon. and Rev. W. W. C. +Talbot. + +1850—NOVEMBER 18—A city meeting held in the Guildhall, Worcester, on the +subject of the Papal Aggression; the Mayor, Mr. Hughes, in the chair. +Sir E. H. Lechmere and Mr. Gutch moved the first resolution, which +declared that the Pope’s appointment of bishops in England, with +territorial titles, was “an act of aggression justly calling forth the +indignation of every true Protestant, and ought to be met with the most +determined resistance which our laws will sanction.” John Dent, Esq., +then moved an address to Her Majesty; but the meeting was fast falling +into confusion, and was indulging in speculations about the use and +propriety of bishops in general, when Dr. Redford came forward to second +the address, and by his speech procured the unanimous carrying of the +address. The other resolutions were proposed by F. Hooper, Esq., Henry +Aldrich, Esq., H. B. Tymbs, Esq., and W. Dent, Esq. The parishioners of +St. John’s parish also protested against the aggression, in vestry +meeting. + +1850—DECEMBER 14—The county meeting on the subject of the Papal +Aggression was held this day in the Shire Hall, having been convened by +the High Sheriff in compliance with a requisition signed by 700 persons. +Mr. Watkins, the High Sheriff, presided. James Taylor, Esq., and the +Hon. Gen. Lygon, M.P., moved an address to Her Majesty, declaring the +measures of the Pope to be “an assumption of authority over this +kingdom—an invasion of Her Majesty’s supremacy—an attack on the liberties +and independence of the Church of England—and an important advance in the +attempt to reimpose the doctrines and jurisdiction of the Roman Church +upon the people of this country.” Sir Edward Blount, Bart., and Robert +Berkeley, jun., Esq., moved a counter address, declaring that the +appointment of a Roman Catholic Hierarchy did not require any legislative +interference, and deprecating all restrictions upon the free enjoyment, +by every religious body, of its spiritual order and discipline. The +meeting was addressed by Mr. Spooner, M.P., the Rev. J. Walsh, Wesleyan +minister, and the Rev. — Alexander, Baptist minister from Upton, who +spoke in favour of the original address, and C. Hanford, jun., Esq., for +the amendment. The original address was carried by a very large +majority. Lord Lyttelton and Colonel Bund moved an address to the Bishop +of the Diocese; and on the motion of T. G. Curtler, Esq., seconded by the +Rev. J. Pearson, an addition was made to this address, thanking the +Bishop for having rebuked and discouraged Tractarian principles and +practices in this diocese. Mr. Knight, M.P., and the Rev. G. Hodgson, +moved another formal resolution, and the thanks to the High Sheriff were +proposed by Lord Southwell and seconded by Sir O. P. Wakeman. Meetings +on this subject were held about the same time at Stourport—T. S. Lea, +Esq., presiding; at Malvern, where T. C. Hornyold, Esq., and the Hon. Mr. +Clifford, moved an amendment; at Bromsgrove, Upton, Droitwich, Evesham, +Bewdley, Kidderminster (the Mayor presiding), Stourbridge, Dudley, &c. + + + + +THE COUNTY MAGISTRACY. + + +THE conduct of the general affairs of the counties of England, such as +their police, the regulation of the gaols and lunatic asylums, the +preservation of the county bridges, the levying of rates, &c., is +intrusted to the unpaid magistracy, nominated by the Lords Lieutenant, +and appointed by the Lord Chancellor; and at a time when an agitation is +afoot to change the character of the body by whom these important matters +are transacted, some consideration of the manner in which they have +discharged their high trust may be opportune and useful. It is now +proposed that a certain number of persons, chosen by the Boards of +Guardians of the different Poor Law Unions, should be associated with a +chosen body of the magistracy to manage all the county business. The +principle sought to be carried out is one now generally acknowledged as a +just one—viz., that “representation should be coordinate with taxation;” +but it is worth consideration whether anything will be gained by such a +change of system as is suggested, whether the interests of the ratepayers +are likely to be better cared for than they are at present, and whether, +indeed, they had not better let well alone. The Bench of County +Magistrates in Worcestershire may be supposed to be a fair representation +of the magistracy of the kingdom generally, and certainly on a review of +their proceedings during the last fifty years, especially with regard to +financial matters, the ratepayers must feel satisfied that their affairs +could not have been in better hands. The Worcestershire Magistrates have +had to consider, during the first half of the nineteenth century, many +matters involving a very large outlay of the public money; and upon a +review of the course they have taken, no one will be able to point to an +instance of grossly unnecessary expenditure, or a lavishness in dealing +with the public purse. They have always given attention to the +representations of the ratepayers, but have not often suffered themselves +to be turned aside from what was a plainly desirable, or necessary, +object, by false considerations of economy, and have generally taken an +enlarged view of the question before them. A most vigilant check has +been kept upon the details of the county expenditure, and a laudable +desire to lessen the general burden always been manifestly apparent. And +they have, of course, been free from those changes which representative +bodies from limited constituencies are ever and anon pretty sure to +undergo, when the fickleness of public favour—some party cry, or +prejudice, or the efforts of individuals striving for place and +power—suddenly dispossess old and tried men from the offices for which +they may be eminently suited, in order to make way for unqualified +busybodies, whom the passing commotion may have brought into +notice—“Straws,” as Junius said of Wilks, “on the surface of the +torrent.” And while such commotion lasts, brief as it may be, mischief +is often done which years are required to set straight again. + +The Worcestershire Bench has, of late years, been singularly fortunate in +its chairmen. It is only another mark of their anxiety to conduct their +business on the soundest principles, that they have not suffered party +considerations to sway them in the choice of the person upon whose +discretion and judgment so much will always depend. The services of the +Right Hon. Baronet who now fills the chair at Quarter Sessions have often +been acknowledged, and are fully appreciated both by his fellow +magistrates, and the body of the county at large. + +With regard to the administration of the criminal code which now devolves +to so great an extent upon courts of Quarter Sessions, each year’s +experience adds its proof that the substantial ends of justice are as +well attained there—and if the commonly received maxim, _Judex damnatur +cum nocens absolvitur_, be accepted as the test—even better attained, +than in any other criminal court in the kingdom. + +In the very commencement of the present century, the county magistracy +were occupied with a matter as important—at least, if the question of +expense be taken as the criterion of importance—as any that has been the +subject of their deliberations at more recent periods. It was the +rebuilding of the county prison. The county gaol formerly stood on what +is now known as Castle Hill, near to Edgar’s Tower, in the city of +Worcester. It was extremely insecure; several prisoners had escaped from +it, and the complaints of its absolute insufficiency for the purposes it +was intended to answer, were many and frequent. {90} The county +magistrates had at length come to a determination to build a new gaol on +a different site; but this was no sooner known than a violent opposition +was raised on the score of the cost, and few matters seem to have created +so much general alarm and excitement throughout the agricultural +districts as this proposal. In April, 1802, a meeting of landowners and +others paying county rates was convened at the Guildhall, Worcester, at +which the High Sheriff, Mr. Newnham, presided. There it was resolved, +that the erection of a new prison would be accompanied with great and +unnecessary expense, and that the existing gaol might be sufficiently +enlarged and repaired, at a moderate cost. The magistrates still +appearing determined to proceed, parish after parish protested against +any such step being taken, and these protests signed by most of the +influential tenant farmers, were published time by time, occupying many +columns of the then diminutive Worcester newspapers. W. Welch, Esq., +Chairman of Quarter Sessions, in order to correct the misrepresentations +which were abroad on the subject, replied to these protests by a public +letter, in which he stated that the cost of a new gaol would only be +£19,000, and that properly to repair the old one would cost £13,000; that +the grand jury had so often presented the gaol, that something was +absolutely necessary to be done; and that the burden on individual +ratepayers would not be anything like what was represented. Mr. R. +Hudson of Wick, on the other hand, challenged the magistrates to meet him +at the Crown Inn, Worcester, when he would prove to them that the +proceedings lately taken in the erection of a new prison had been +irregular, and could not be supported. + +At the Midsummer Quarter Sessions in that year, Mr. Welch, in his charge +to the grand jury, recapitulated the causes which had compelled the +magistrates to determine on a new gaol, and in proof of their desire to +study the general interest of the ratepayers, stated that, since he had +occupied the chair, the county accounts, which had formerly been in great +confusion, had been methodised and arranged, a saving had been effected +in the expenditure of the gaol of some hundreds a year, and a +considerable annual allowance from the exchequer, hitherto considered as +a perquisite of the Under Sheriff’s, proved to be due to the county, and +in future would be paid into the general fund. + +Yet so strong was the feeling against the new building that the +magistrates were compelled for awhile to abandon the project, and it was +not till the escape of more prisoners caused the Lord Chief Baron +Macdonald, at the Summer Assizes in 1807, to warn the county grand jury +that, if the gaol were not altered or rebuilt, the county would be +attached with a heavy fine for neglecting so essential a part of its +duty, that any further steps were taken in the matter. At the Midsummer +Sessions, 1808, the magistrates determined, without delay, to build a new +gaol, as they believed that the old one admitted of no sufficient +alteration. The expense was estimated at £18,000, and the site in Salt +Lane was fixed upon. The bench published a minute statement of the +number and amount of rates this expenditure would render necessary. + +A great deal of excitement and uneasiness, however, was found still to +prevail upon the subject, and it was especially said to be unnecessary to +change the site; so at the Epiphany Sessions, 1809, the matter was again +taken into consideration, and the bench adhered to their former +determination, referring, however, the question of site to a committee. +Mr. Welch, the chairman, about this time received an anonymous letter, +threatening his life, “if he interfered any further respecting a new +prison.” + +At an adjourned sessions, held in February, 1809, the magistrates finally +determined on the land in Salt Lane as the site for the new gaol, and +adopted the plan of a Mr. Sandys. They published the reasons for their +decision at length, the principal being, that the nature of the ground +upon which the old prison stood would not admit of their obtaining a good +foundation for the extensive buildings contemplated. + +The new prison was, after this, vigorously proceeded with, and at the +Epiphany Sessions, 1813, the chairman announced that the new gaol was +completed, and in spite of much difficulty about the foundations, &c., +the cost was within the estimate. The grand jury having inspected it, +declared their entire approbation of the works, and thanked the +magistrates for their attention to the interests of the county. + +1810—A Special County Sessions was held in July this year, to take into +consideration the report of a committee appointed to investigate charges +of peculation brought against Mr. Welch, the chairman, by Mr. Johnson, a +fellow magistrate. The matter arose out of Mr. Welch receiving what were +called “justice wages,” and paying thereout for the dinners of the +magistrates at the Hoppole. Mr. Johnson declared that he had a balance +in hand, on account of this fund, of £65, which, but for his discovery, +Mr. Welch would have appropriated. The committee, however, reported that +the charge was “wholly unjustifiable and unfounded,” and a vote of thanks +to Mr. Welch, “for his uniform, upright, and independent conduct,” was +thereupon passed unanimously. Long replies and rejoinders, from Mr. +Johnson and Mr. Welch, afterwards appeared in the public prints. + +1810—AUGUST 28—In consequence of Mr. Johnson’s reiteration of the charge, +another Special Sessions was held this day, not very numerously attended, +at which a general resolution of confidence in Mr. Welch was passed, but +not unanimously; indeed a more strongly worded motion had been negatived; +and William Smith, Esq., gave notice of a motion, at the next sessions, +for the removal of Mr. Welch from the chair. This, however, was +abandoned. + +1817—At the Easter Quarter Sessions, William Welch, Esq., resigned the +chair in consequence of ill health, after having held it for nearly +twenty years. Earl Beauchamp moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Welch for the +services which he had rendered to the county, which was seconded by Lord +Deerhurst, and carried unanimously. The Right Hon. Earl Beauchamp was +then chosen chairman in his stead. + +1819—The magistrates at the Michaelmas Sessions publish a declaration in +the Worcester newspapers, of their abhorrence of the blasphemous and +seditious sentiments then openly disseminated in society—of their +attachment to the throne—and of their full unanimous and unequivocal +determination to support the tried and invaluable constitution. The +grand jury do the same. [This was just after the trial of Carlile for +republishing Paine’s _Age of Reason_, and in the midst of the excitement +attendant on the Peterloo Massacre.] + +At the same Sessions, Edmund Meysey Wigley, Esq., was chosen chairman, in +the room of Earl Beauchamp, who had expressed a wish to relinquish the +office. The noble Earl, however, afterwards resumed its duties. + +1823—At the Midsummer Sessions, Benjamin Johnson, Esq., was temporarily +elected to the chair, now vacant by the decease of Earl Beauchamp. + +At the Michaelmas Sessions following, Henry Wakeman, Esq., of Perdiswell, +was unanimously chosen to the chair, on the motion of Lord Deerhurst, +seconded by Richard Spooner, Esq. + +1824—At the Epiphany Sessions, Mr. Wakeman declined the proffered honour +of the chair, as his health would not permit him to discharge its duties, +and proposed Lord Plymouth. This was seconded by Sir Thomas Winnington, +and his lordship was thereupon elected. + +1824—At the Easter Sessions, it was determined, after a warm discussion +and division, to erect a treadmill in the county gaol. Thirteen +magistrates said “aye,” and ten “no.” + +1826—At the Epiphany Sessions, the Rev. Reginald Pyndar introduced the +subject of a “Worcestershire Friendly Society,” and the formation of such +a society being highly approved of by the magistrates, a meeting was held +the next day in the Guildhall, with John Dent, Esq., Mayor, in the chair, +and the rules and tables proposed by Mr. Pyndar adopted as the basis of +an association for the benefit of the industrious and provident poor of +the county. + +The society thus formed has continued to thrive and flourish to the +present day, and has been productive of many direct and indirect benefits +to a large number of the poorer class; helping them to a knowledge of the +advantages of frugality—affording them a safe and profitable investment +for their surplus earnings—enabling them to escape from the temptations +of the public house, where the village club would have required their +attendance—and saving them from the distress and misery that overtake the +members of so many benefit societies constructed upon false principles, +or upon no principles at all. The society at present numbers 1,899 +members, of whom one-third are females, and it has a very large reserve +fund. Great part of its successful working and prosperity are +attributable to the fostering care and interest of the Rev. Thomas +Pearson. The following is a statement of the pecuniary affairs of the +institution, from its formation to the present time, which has been +compiled by its efficient secretary, Mr. Thomas Holloway. + + RECEIPTS. PAYMENTS. + _£_. _s._ _d._ _£_. _s._ _d._ +Honorary Subscriptions and 1,631 1 6 Sick Pay 4,994 8 9 +Benefactions +Payments by the Members 16,798 16 6 Death 872 0 0 +Interest 3,082 7 8 Endowments 2,007 0 6 + Annuities 155 18 0 + in Old Age + Management 5,287 4 2 + Expenses, + including + purchase + of + Policies, + Salaries, + Allowances + to + Surgeons, + Rent, &c. + &c. + Total 13,316 10 11 + Payments + Balance, 8,195 13 9 + being + total + Stock + Total Receipts £21,512 4 8 £21,512 4 8 + +1827—At the Easter Sessions, the Worcestershire and Staffordshire Canal +Company appealed against the sum at which they were rated for their docks +and basins at Stourport, by the parish of Lower Mitton. It was stated in +the course of the proceedings, that the tonnage of the canal for the year +ending Michaelmas, 1826, was £32,838. The officers of Lower Mitton had +taken the whole value of the basins as rateable there, but the court +decided that they must only charge for acreage, computing the basins as +they would other portions of the canal. + +1829—JANUARY 14—At the Epiphany Quarter Sessions, the Earl of Plymouth +resigned the chairmanship; and on the motion of Major Bund, seconded by +the Earl of Beauchamp, Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., was elected in his stead. + +At these Sessions, the magistrates of Droitwich denied the authority of +the county magistrates to appoint visitors to the Asylum for Pauper +Lunatics kept by the Messrs. Ricketts in the borough, and on the matter +being referred to the law officers of the crown, it was decided by them +that the act passed in the previous session of Parliament vested the +appointment of visitors in the magistracy of the borough in which the +asylum was situate. Major Bund gave notice of a motion thereupon, to +consider the propriety of building a County Lunatic Asylum. + +1829—At the Michaelmas Sessions, the magistrates altered the divisions of +the county for Petty Sessional purposes, forming them into eight +districts, to be called “The Upton, Pershore, Hundred House, Worcester, +Kidderminster, Droitwich, Northfield, and Blockley Divisions.” + +1829—An adjourned Sessions was held in November, to consider the +propriety of erecting County Courts, the inconvenience of the City Hall +having been commented on at every Sessions and Assizes which had taken +place for some years past. A case had been laid before Mr. Sergeant +Russell, to have his opinion as to whether the magistrates could legally +spend money on the enlargement and improvement of courts belonging to the +city, and he had replied that they could not; and that if they wanted a +Shire Hall of their own, they must obtain a special Act of Parliament for +it. The Rev. Mr. Pearson, after reporting the failure of all attempts at +negociation with the Worcester Corporation, moved “that it was necessary +to erect new courts and suitable lodgings for the judges, and that the +magistrates should take the necessary steps for obtaining an Act of +Parliament for that purpose.” This resolution was seconded by Colonel +Bromley. Earl Somers moved an adjournment of the question, on the ground +that in the then depressed state of the country the expense ought not to +be incurred. This was seconded by Osman Ricardo, Esq. An adjournment +“to the next Epiphany Sessions” was carried; but Lord Foley then moved, +“That it is the opinion of this court that the present courts and judges’ +lodgings are totally insufficient.” This was seconded by R. Spooner, +Esq.; and Colonel Davies opposed it, because he thought that the +agitation of the subject was ill-timed. Lord Foley’s motion was +ultimately carried by 20 to 17. A committee was then appointed to have +another conference with the City Corporation. + +Nine Catholic noblemen and gentlemen were now for the first time inserted +in the Commission of the Peace for this county—viz., the Earl of +Shrewsbury, Viscount Southwell, Sir E. Blount, Sir C. Throckmorton, R. +Berkeley, Esq., W. Wakeman, Esq., T. C. Hornyold, Esq., C. E. Hanford, +Esq., and W. Acton, Esq. + +1830—At the Epiphany Sessions, the question of new courts was again +discussed. The committee reported that they found the Guildhall, +Worcester, erected in 1721, belonged exclusively to the city. The Rev. +T. Pearson again moved that an Act of Parliament should be applied for, +with a view to the erection of a Shire Hall; and this was seconded by the +Rev. George Turberville. Major General Marriott moved as an amendment, +that the Deputy Clerk of the Peace should be instructed to lay a +presentment of the present courts before the grand jury at the next +assizes. James Taylor, Esq., seconded this. Lord Deerhurst then moved a +resolution, declaring that the county, in the present depressed condition +of all classes, would rather submit to the inconvenience of the present +courts than incur the expense of new ones, which was seconded by Dr. B. +Cooper. Lord Deerhurst’s amendment was negatived by 31 to 25, and +General Marriott’s without a division. Earl Somers then moved the +appointment of a committee to ascertain the practicability of so altering +the present courts as to make them sufficiently convenient. This was +seconded by John Williams, Esq., but rejected by 31 to 24, and Mr. +Pearson’s original motion was then carried. + +1830—NOVEMBER 29—The general state of the county caused Viscount +Deerhurst to summon the magistrates to a meeting, at which the following +resolution was passed: + +“That the general peaceable state of the county of Worcester affords a +subject of great congratulation. The magistrates, however, viewing with +the utmost abhorrence the atrocious acts of violence which have taken +place in other counties, feel it their duty to declare that they have +made such arrangements as, by giving full effect to the existing laws, +are best calculated to prevent the occurrence of similar calamities in +this county.” + +1831—At the Epiphany Sessions, the subject of new courts was resumed. +Several plans for the enlargement of the Guildhall were laid before the +magistrates, but the court adopted a resolution proposed by the Earl of +Plymouth, without a division. It ran thus: “That the consideration of +the question, relative to the alteration of the courts of justice, be +adjourned _sine die_, it being found inexpedient to enlarge the +Guildhall; but that a bill authorising the magistrates to build new +courts, at a future period, be drawn up.” + +1831—At the Easter Sessions, J. H. H. Foley, Esq., M.P., and Lord +Lyttelton, urged the necessity of building a gaol at Stourbridge, but the +proposition was negatived by 27 to 14. Petitions against the bill for +legalising the sale of beer to be drunk on the premises in beer houses, +were agreed to at the instance of Dr. Beale Cooper. + +1831—At the Midsummer Sessions, it was resolved that the new courts +should be erected at the back of the gaol, and that the expense should +not exceed £25,000. The bill had been brought in by the county members, +and read a first time the Friday before. + +1832—At the Epiphany Sessions, Dr. Beale Cooper proposed the enlargement +of the gaol, which was referred to a committee. The Rev. Thomas Pearson +proposed that plans should be immediately selected for new county courts +adjoining the gaol. The Rev. George Turberville proposed that the matter +should be further delayed till the next September, and Mr. Pearson’s +motion was carried by 24 to 8. + +A vote of thanks was passed to Earl Plymouth and the Yeomanry, for their +promptitude and firmness in quelling riots in the county. + +1832—At the Midsummer Sessions, the order which had been made at a +previous sessions to build the new county courts on land adjoining the +gaol, was rescinded, on the motion of the Rev. George Turberville, +seconded by Mr. Pakington, by a large majority, and the committee were +directed to look out for another site. + +At these Sessions was discussed a matter which excited great interest +amongst the legal profession, viz., the allowance of fees to attorneys, +who for some two or three sessions had only been paid £1. 1s. for brief +and attendance, instead of £2. 14s. 4d., as formerly. The solicitors +were heard by counsel, and the former payment was restored. + +1832—At the Michaelmas Sessions, a new valuation of the county parishes +was read by General Marriott. The land assessable was valued at +£741,854—the old valuation had been £750,250; so that the land had +decreased in value about 3d. in the pound, or 1¼ per cent. + +The question of erecting county courts again came under consideration—the +present site in Foregate Street, and one in Pierpoint Street, both being +proposed, and the former was adopted by a majority of 30 to 14. Premiums +were offered for the three best plans. + +1833—At the Epiphany Sessions, the court proceeded to the appointment of +a chaplain to the county gaol, the office being now vacant by the +resignation of the Rev. J. Hadley. A resolution was first proposed by +Major Bund, and carried by a large majority, “That a beneficed clergyman +ought not to be appointed chaplain to the gaol.” Votes were given for +eight candidates, but the contest lay between the Rev. J. Adlington, who +received 22 votes, and the Rev. W. Dunn, who had 14. + +1833—At the Easter Sessions, it was resolved, upon the motion of the Rev. +Thomas Pearson, that “henceforth this court should be an open one.” + +The county was called upon to pay £759. 17s. for special constables +employed by the Sheriff to keep the peace at the last election. + +Three plans were laid before the court, by the committee, for the new +county courts, viz., one by Mr. Charles Day, Worcester; Mr. Mead, London; +and Mr. Habershon, London. Previous to deciding upon them, General +Mariott moved that the erection of the courts should be postponed till +the enlargement of the gaol should be completed, in order that two such +serious expenses might not be pressing on the county at the same time. A +number of letters from different parishes had been received by the +chairman, remonstrating against new courts, but General Mariott’s motion +was lost by 30 to 10. The three plans were then submitted to the court +for choice, and the Rev. Mr. Pearson regretted that one from a Mr. +Haycock, which he thought undoubtedly the best, was not amongst them. +Mr. Mead’s was recommended by the committee as the best, but fifteen +magistrates voted for Mr. Day’s, and only three for each of the others. +Many magistrates refused to vote; and the general feeling of the public +at the time was, that the advantage of the county, and the embellishment +of the city, had been sacrificed to personal interest created by a +canvass. A committee was appointed, with the Rev. Thomas Pearson as its +chairman, to carry the plan thus chosen into execution. + +1834—At the Epiphany County Sessions, the salary of the county treasurer +(Sir A. Lechmere) was reduced from £100 to £60—because it was higher than +that paid by adjoining counties, and farmers were in distress—by a +majority of 39 to 20. Various reductions were also made in the fees of +the clerk of the peace. + +1834—At the Easter Quarter Sessions, Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., resigned the +chairmanship—the calamity which he had recently sustained, in the loss of +his lady, inducing him to retire altogether from public life. The Rev. +George Turberville immediately moved the following resolution: + +“That the court is fully sensible of, and grateful for, the valuable +services of their late chairman, Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., and deeply +regrets that he feels himself unable to continue those services for the +benefit of the county.” + +This was seconded by John Williams, Esq., and carried unanimously. + +1834—At the Midsummer Sessions there was a very full attendance of +magistrates, and the Rev. George Turberville was requested to preside as +senior. The first business was to elect a chairman, in the room of Sir +C. S. Smith, Bart., resigned; and on the motion of the Rev. president, +seconded by James Taylor, Esq., John Somerset Pakington, Esq., was +unanimously elected to the office which he has ever since filled with so +much ability and advantage to the county. + +1835—At the Midsummer Sessions the magistrates agreed to a petition to +Parliament against the Bill for permitting counsel for a prisoner in all +cases to address the jury—a privilege hitherto confined to cases of +misdemeanour. Mr. Temple, General Marriott, and Mr. Hanford were the +only dissentients. The measure, it was said, would tend to defeat the +ends of justice by the frequent acquittal of guilty persons, and to bring +juries into discredit by inclining them to found their verdicts rather on +the arguments of counsel than upon the facts. + +1836—MAY 9—A Special Sessions held, Dr. Beale Cooper in the chair, to +consider what was to be done about the New County Courts and Judges’ +Lodgings, as the magistrates had expended the £25,000 they were empowered +to raise by the first act. After a long discussion, it was unanimously +determined to apply for a fresh act immediately, enabling them to raise +£7,000 more. [Parliament refused to depart from its standing orders, and +so the bill could not be introduced that session.] + +1836—At the Michaelmas Sessions the Prisoners’ Counsel Act was first +brought into operation; and it is strange how unanimously an +arrangement—now admitted on all hands to be a good one—was condemned and +found fault with. + +1837—The Midsummer Sessions were held in the New Courts, though these +were as yet scarcely completed. + +1838—MAY 10—A Special County Sessions, to consider the Bill then before +Parliament for Amending the Constitution of County Courts and Courts of +Quarter Sessions—which proposed to compel the holding of eight sessions +in the year, and the holding of courts in various parts of the county; it +gave the magistrates the option of having a barrister as a salaried +chairman; and proposed alterations in “county courts,” to enable them to +be used for the easy recovery of small debts. Mr. Pakington moved a +petition against the measure, which Mr. Holland objected to—it was, +however, carried by a majority of 23 to 8. + +1838—At the Midsummer Sessions the New Shire Hall and Judges’ Lodgings +were reported as complete; and a vote of thanks was passed to the Rev. +Thomas Pearson for his able and useful exertions as chairman of the +building committee for the past five years. The salary of the chaplain +was increased to £250 per annum. The court refused to insert the county +advertisements either in the _Kidderminster Messenger_ or the +_Worcestershire Chronicle_. + +1839—The Epiphany Sessions adjourned to the 14th of January, and +afterwards given up entirely, because no clerk of the peace had been +appointed since the death of Mr. Blayney—Lord Foley, the Lord Lieutenant, +being out of the country. + +1839—FEBRUARY 5—A General Sessions of the Peace held in lieu of the +Epiphany Sessions, which had been given up. The court petition for a +change of law as regards beer houses. The enlargement of the County +Gaol, at an expense of £2,100, agreed upon, to obtain sixty additional +cells. + +1839—At the Easter Sessions the court unanimously agreed to a resolution +which the chairman proposed, condemning the existing system of parish +constables as insufficient for the detection and punishment of criminals, +and promising consideration to any measure the Government might introduce +for establishing a rural constabulary. The court again petitioned +against the District Courts’ Bill; Mr. Hanford alone dissenting. + +1839—At the Michaelmas Sessions the important subject of establishing a +rural police was brought forward by Mr. Pakington, according to previous +notice. He entered into the whole subject with great ability; pointing +out the great increase of crime in the rural districts, as rendering such +a measure absolutely necessary, and ended by moving that “it was +expedient forthwith to take measures for the adoption in this county of +the act for the establishment of county district constables.” After a +short discussion the motion was carried with only two dissentients—Dr. +Cooper and Rev. Mr. Cartwright. Mr. Pakington proposed that a chief +constable and twelve sergeants should be the only appointments under the +act at present, because it would be desirable to bring it into operation +by degrees. To this Mr. Hanford moved as an amendment, that there should +be a chief constable, ten sergeants, and thirty men under them; and this +was carried over the original motion by 20 to 18. The salary of the +chief constable was fixed at £250 a year; and the Metropolitan +Commissioners of Police were requested to nominate a suitable person. +The court then adjourned till the 4th November, to receive and consider +the rules drawn up by the Secretary of State. + +1839—NOVEMBER 4—At the Adjourned Sessions, Mr. Pakington stated that the +Government refused to allow the Commissioners of Police to nominate a +chief constable, and expressed his great regret that this should be the +case, as he thought the magistrates quite incompetent to select a +suitable person. He proposed, therefore, that the court should adjourn +to the 2nd December, then to consider all applications which might be +made for the office, and proceed to the election. Dr. Beale Cooper moved +that the further consideration of the plan for forming a constabulary +force for the county of Worcester be postponed till the next Easter +Quarter Sessions. He maintained that the thing was altogether in a crude +state—had not had sufficient examination—that it was a departure from the +spirit of the British constitution—and that their present constables were +sufficiently on the alert, for since the year 1806 the commitments had +increased from 51 to 427—the number in the previous year. William Acton, +Esq., seconded the amendment, because he thought the act would probably +be altered next session, and because he objected to the expense coming +wholly out of the county rates. General Marriott, James Taylor, Esq., +and Richard Spooner, Esq., spoke in favour of the motion; and the Rev. +Mr. Cartwright for the amendment. Lord Lyttelton thought they were +forced to adopt a rural police, because Birmingham and Gloucestershire +had got a new force, and the chairman said that they should lose public +confidence if a comparatively small bench of magistrates reversed that +which had been done a month before by a much larger one. On a division, +Mr. Pakington’s motion was carried by 24 to 9. A letter was agreed to, +to be sent to the Secretary of State, complaining of the determination +Government had come to in the matter of the chief constable. The rules +sent down by the Secretary of State for the guidance of the force were +agreed to. + +1839—DECEMBER 2—Mr. R. R. Harris, an inspector of London Police, elected +chief constable. He had been recommended by the police committee out of +32 applicants, and was chosen by a majority of 21 to 13 votes given for +Captain Scargill, who was proposed by the Earl of Coventry. It was +determined that the pay of the sergeants should be £80 a year. + +1840—OCTOBER 29—At the Michaelmas Sessions the magistrates became +embroiled in a dispute with Mr. W. S. P. Hughes, one of the county +coroners, arising out of a complaint made by the constable of Rock, who +accused Mr. Hughes of “extorting” a fee of a shilling from him illegally. +The fee was “for the crier of the court,” which the coroners in this +county had always been in the habit of requiring, but after the passing +of the act, 1 and 2 Victoria, certainly could not be sustained; and this +Mr. Hughes admitted in a letter to the committee of magistrates which had +been appointed to take the matter into consideration. This, however, the +committee said came too late; as Mr. Hughes had been repeatedly warned +that the fee was illegal, and they considered that he had rendered +himself liable to a prosecution “for extortion and misconduct in his +office,” or might be removed from the coronership altogether by a +petition to the Lord Chancellor. Mr. Hughes applied to be heard against +the report, by counsel, but this the court refused by a majority of 33 to +7. Mr. Hughes then protested against the proceedings of the committee as +_ex parte_, and their report as showing an animus against him wholly +unwarranted and improper. Mr. Charles Best, coroner, deposed that he and +his predecessors in office had always been in the habit of requiring this +shilling. After a discussion, the Rev. Thomas Pearson moved the adoption +of the report, and that the chairman should inform Mr. Hughes that his +charge was illegal, and admonish him accordingly. This was carried, and +the chairman “admonished” Mr. Hughes, who immediately said—“I do not +consider you have any power to admonish me. I, as coroner of this +county, am an officer far superior to the magistrates of this court; and +I take leave to tell them that they by no means adopt a proper course +when they take upon themselves to admonish a superior officer of the +crown.” + +1841—JANUARY 4—Mr. Helm unanimously appointed county solicitor. The +Quarter Sessions advertisements ordered to be inserted in the +_Worcestershire Chronicle_, but not in the _Kidderminster Messenger_. + +1841—APRIL 5—At the Easter Sessions, a new assessment of the county by +surveyors was ordered, on which to base the county rate, and £500 placed +at the disposal of a committee to obtain it. + +1842—JANUARY 3—At the Epiphany Sessions, the court agreed to memorialise +the Government to pay the cost of the rural police. Memorials from five +parishes were presented, complaining of the expense of the police, and +declaring that the county rates were nearly doubled by them. + +1842—JUNE 27—At the Midsummer Sessions, Dr. Beale Cooper brought forward +a motion for the abolition of the rural police, which he said was +unconstitutional, and had proved to be utterly inefficient. Colonel Bund +seconded the motion. The chairman disposed of Dr. Cooper’s charge of +inefficiency in a few words, and regretted that the establishment of a +police was not made compulsory on all counties. Dr. Cooper then withdrew +his motion. + +1842—At the Michaelmas Sessions, Dr. Cooper moved that the county police +force be reduced to one sergeant for each Electoral Division, and two +constables for each Petty Sessional Division; to which the chairman moved +as an amendment, that the question of the propriety of a reduction be +referred to the police committee, and this was carried without a +division. + +1843—JANUARY 2—At the Epiphany Sessions, the subject of the rural police +was again discussed at great length on the presentation of a special +report by the police committee, declaring that the force ought not to be +reduced. Mr. Onslow wanted to prevent the reception of the report, but +the chairman would not consent to that course, and Mr. Onslow at last was +induced to withdraw the resolutions he had intended to propose upon the +subject; but a committee was formed to inquire into the provisions of the +Parochial Constables’ Act. + +Mr. Ellins’s case was brought before the court at these Sessions by +Richard Spooner, Esq., who moved for a committee of inquiry into the +facts under which Mr. Ricketts had been libelled in the _Worcestershire +Chronicle_, as it was alleged that Mr. Ellins had supplied the +information on which the libel was founded. Colonel Bund seconded the +motion. Mr. Hanford opposed it, because they would be stepping out of +their jurisdiction; and the chairman could not tell what was to be the +course or purpose of such a committee. The committee was determined on +by 34 to 10, and the chairman, Mr. Hanford, Mr. Spooner, Rev. T. Pearson, +Mr. Skey, Hon. W. C. Talbot, and Mr. Temple, were placed upon it. Mr. +Ellins’s application to be heard before it by attorney, was agreed to. + +The chairman at these Sessions addressed a most valuable statement to the +grand jury on the county expenditure, and the causes of the increase in +the number and cost of criminal prosecutions. + +1843—At the Easter Sessions the committee appointed in Mr. Ellins’s case +were about to bring forward their report, when Mr. R. Scott and Mr. R. M. +Mence moved that it should not be read, as the matter was one altogether +out of the jurisdiction of the court, and with which they had no right to +deal. On a division, 20 hands were held up for its being read, to 9 +against it. The report was then read, and stated the committee to be of +opinion that “Mr. Ellins was the moving party to the publication in the +_Worcestershire Chronicle_, of a most gross and unfounded libel, imputing +corruption and jobbing to W. H. Ricketts, Esq., in the execution of his +duty as a magistrate and member of the police committee, in carrying into +effect the orders of the court.” Mr. Hanford and the Rev. Thomas +Pearson, as members of the committee, declared that though they believed +Mr. Ellins to be a party to the libel, they did not believe him to be the +sole party, as the report seemed to convey. Mr. Scott moved that the +report be rejected. The court had no right to take any judicial notice +of the acts or character of any of its individual members; and nothing +could be more dangerous than for a judicial body to exceed its +jurisdiction. Mr. Scott condemned Mr. Spooner for bringing this matter +forward at the previous Sessions without notice. Mr. Benson also spoke +against the reception of the report. The chairman had always had doubts +as to the propriety of their moving in the matter, but thought it +discourteous to the committee to reject the report, and it was received +by a majority of 28 to 11. On the question of transmitting it to the +Lord Lieutenant, there was another division, 20 voting for that course +and 11 against it. + +1843—At the Midsummer Sessions, Lord Lyttelton addressed a letter to the +court, enclosing one from the Lord Chancellor, with his opinion that the +proceedings of the magistrates in Mr. Ellins’s case had been very +irregular. Lord Lyttelton trusted the magistrates would feel it their +“duty carefully to avoid any similar proceedings for the future;” and he +requested that his letter might be entered upon the records of the court. +Mr. Spooner thought they had a perfect right to do as they had done, and +moved that the letter be not entered on the records. The chairman said +he had always considered their proceedings irregular, but thought Lord +Lyttelton’s “lecture” might just as well have been left alone. The +consideration of the letter was at last postponed till the next Sessions. + +Mr. Simcox Lea at great length entered into the subject of the rural +police, and moved, as a resolution, that their benefit had not been +equivalent to their cost. He wanted the Bench to adopt the plan of paid +parish constables in their stead, and insisted particularly on the +inefficiency of the chief constable. Mr. Noel seconded the motion. The +chairman made an able defence of the police, and adduced several +instances of their efficiency. Mr. Scott would vote for the motion, +because the police were too few to be of much use. Mr. Onslow complained +of the number of offences that were committed without detection ensuing. +Colonel Bund, the Rev. Thomas Pearson, Mr. Benson, and Colonel Clive, +spoke in favour of the police, and the motion was rejected by 34 to 13. + +1843—At the Michaelmas Sessions the magistrates determined that the Lord +Lieutenant’s letter, in Mr. Ellins’s case, should not be placed upon the +records of the court. Mr. Scott was the only magistrate who added +anything to the few words which were spoken from the chairman; and he +said the whole proceedings ought to be erased from the records, or the +Lord Lieutenant’s letter to be added as the conclusion. + +1844—At the Easter Sessions, Lord Lyttelton read a paper _in re_ Mr. +Ellins’s case, declaring the magistrates’ proceedings in the matter to +have been altogether irregular, and suggesting that they ought to be +entirely struck out of the records of the court, or his own letter of +animadversion on them inserted. As his lordship concluded with no +motion, the chairman would not permit any discussion, and the court +passed to the next business on the paper. + +1844—At the Midsummer Sessions, Mr. Scott again brought this matter +forward, by moving that the letter of the Lord Chancellor to the Lord +Lieutenant should be entered on the minutes of the court. This was +seconded by the Rev. John Pearson, but opposed by the chairman and +others, and at last rejected by 28 to 17. + +1845—At the Easter Quarter Sessions, the police committee recommended +that Dudley, Shipston, and other districts, surrounded by other counties, +should be taken into this county for police purposes, and that, to this +end, the force should be increased by twenty men, including a +superintendent and two sergeants. Mr. Merry moved that only twelve men +be added to the force, but this was negatived by 26 to 6, and the +original motion carried. Mr. Hanford’s motion to do away with the carts +and horses kept by the rural police was negatived by 20 to 17. + +1845—At the Midsummer Sessions, Mr. B. L. Stable was elected Governor of +the County Gaol, in the room of Mr. Lavender, who retired, and was voted +a pension of £149. 10s. per annum. + +1847—At the Epiphany Sessions the court agreed to erect a Lunatic Asylum, +in connection with the city of Worcester, for the accommodation of 200 +pauper lunatics. The total number of such unfortunate beings in +Worcestershire was 284, but the court conceived that accommodation for +two-thirds would be quite sufficient; and on Dr. B. Cooper suggesting +that three-fourths should be provided for, the chairman begged the court +not to agree to providing for more than 200 in the first instance, as the +expense of these erections was so great. A committee was formed for the +purpose of carrying the measure into effect. The Hon. and Rev. W. W. C. +Talbot moved for a committee to consider the propriety of dividing the +county into districts for police purposes; but Mr. Curtler, from a very +carefully prepared table, showed that the police force and their expense +were very equitably distributed with regard to the value of the property +to be protected in the different districts of the county, and that the +agricultural portion were in no sense paying for the support of the +police of the manufacturing districts. Mr. Talbot withdrew his motion. + +1847—At the Easter Sessions the court, on the motion of the Rev. Thomas +Pearson and Mr. Curtler, unanimously agreed to petition in favour of the +Juvenile Offenders’ Bill, then introduced into Parliament by Sir John +Pakington. + +1847—Easter Sessions—On the 19th of December, 1846, the county was +divided into three Coroners’ districts by an Order in Council; and at +these Sessions the magistrates assigned these districts to Mr. Docker, +Mr. Hughes, and Mr. Best. Mr. Robinson still continues to act as coroner +for Dudley, but, at his death, Dudley will form district No. 6 in +Staffordshire. Mr. Hughes, shortly after his district was assigned, +petitioned the Lords of the Treasury for compensation for loss of +emolument which he said he sustained by this arrangement, and they +awarded him £55 per annum. He was paid two quarters by the county +authorities, but they then took an opinion as to the legality of his +claim, and this being adverse to Mr. Hughes, they refused to continue the +payments. In Hilary Term, 1850, Mr. Hughes applied to the Court of +Queen’s Bench, and obtained a rule _nisi_ against the magistrates, to +compel them to show cause why the payment should not be continued—which, +however, was afterwards discharged, on the ground that as the county had +never been customarily divided into districts, Mr. Hughes could not show +a loss of any fees to which he was legally entitled. + +1848—At the Midsummer Quarter Sessions the court agreed to erect +Stourport and neighbourhood into a separate Petty Sessional Division. +The Hundred House and Kidderminster magistrates opposed the motion, but +it was carried by 18 to 15. + +1849—At the Michaelmas Sessions the committee of visitors appointed to +superintend the erection of the Lunatic Asylum reported that they had not +been able to obtain any tenders for executing the works required at the +sum estimated by the architect, chiefly because the lunacy commissioners +insisted on the whole building being made fireproof. The total cost of +land and buildings would be about £32,000, other extras £3,044; and +fittings were not included even in this sum. They had agreed with the +London Life Insurance Society for a loan of the money at four per cent. +The report was unanimously received. + +1850—At the Michaelmas Sessions a report was read from a committee which +had been appointed to inquire into the county expenditure, and to +ascertain the feasibility of reduction. The cost of prosecutions and +gaol expenses for the year 1849 was £8,993. 18s. 3d.; salaries, £2,661. +5s. 2d.; high constable’s cravings, £240; coroner’s cravings, £1,527. 0s. +10d.; clerk of the peace’s cravings, £745. 18s. 2d.; registration of +voters, £342. 11s. 8d.; bridges, £580. 14s. 5d.; lunatics, £193. 4s. +2d.; new weights and measures, £858. 3s. 10d.; sundries, £1,099; total, +£17,240. 13s. 2d.; police, £7,836. 6s. 9d.; Shire Hall, £1,696. 12s. 9d. +The committee reported that the only way in which a reduction could +possibly be effected was a reduction in the salaries of the general +officers and of the police, which they did not deem advisable, and would +rather recommend that Government should be memorialised to defray the +cost of the county police, gaol, &c., out of the consolidated fund. The +report was adopted without any division. + +At the dinner of the magistrates, at the Shire Hall, after the +transaction of the county business, the Rev. Thomas Pearson being in the +chair, a portrait of Sir John Pakington, Bart., the result of a +subscription amongst the magistrates, and which now hangs in the drawing +room at the County Courts, was inaugurated. + + * * * * * + +UPTON BRIDGE has been the _bête noir_ of the county magistrates all +through the half century. Since 1810 scarcely a sessions has passed at +which it has not been mentioned, and it has given rise to lawsuits, +disputes, and embroilments without number. In 1814–16, in 1829, and +again in 1847, the magistrates took proceedings against the feoffees of +Hall’s Charity—some lands left in 1570 for the repairs of Upton Church +and Bridge—to compel them to account or to contribute towards the repairs +of this bridge. In 1817 the bridge was reported to be in very doubtful +plight, and the advice of Mr. Smirke, the eminent architect, was taken as +to the repairs which ought to be done; a considerable sum of money was +then laid out upon it. At the Michaelmas Sessions, 1822, a bridge warden +was appointed, because much injury had been done to it by mooring vessels +to the parapets, and by taking away sand from the foundations. In +1832–34 another considerable sum was spent in repairs; this time the +feoffees of Hall’s Charity being concurring parties. In 1837 the parties +promoting the Severn Navigation Improvement offered the magistrates +£5,000 towards the expense of building a new bridge, but this was not +acceeded to; and in 1838 the bench resolved to procure the insertion of a +clause in the Severn Navigation Bill then before Parliament, to bear the +county harmless from any loss or damage which might arise to Upton bridge +from the improvements in the river; but no proceedings were necessary to +be taken under that resolution, because the bill was thrown out. In +1842, £121 were expended in repairs, to keep the bridge from falling. +The magistrates would not do more than was absolutely necessary, because +they did not know how the operations of the Severn Commissioners might +affect it. At the Midsummer Sessions, 1845, a committee was appointed to +confer with the commissioners about the state of the bridge. At the +Epiphany Sessions, 1846, the county surveyors recommended that £1,260 +should be immediately spent on the bridge; and the magistrates at the +same Sessions declared themselves “neutral” as to the bill then +introduced by the Severn Commissioners. This bill took power to alter +the bridge by the introduction of a swivel. At the Epiphany Sessions, +1847, Mr. Curtler read an elaborate report, in explanation of the +liability of the feoffees of Hall’s Charity to aid in the repairs of the +bridge; in consequence of which proceedings were taken, and in 1849 the +matter was referred to a Master in Chancery. It was not finally settled +till 1851, when Lord Langdale, Master of the Rolls, ordered the feoffees +thenceforth to divide the receipts into three parts—the first for the +church, the second for the repairs of the bridge, and the third for the +general good of the town. At the Michaelmas Sessions, 1847, another +committee was appointed to inquire into the state of the bridge, and to +confer with the Severn Navigation Commissioners; but at the next Epiphany +Sessions, Mr. Curtler, by a majority of 19 to 8, carried a proposition to +seek to obtain a clause in the Commissioners’ Bill then before +Parliament, to limit their power over the bridge to three years: the +bill, however, was thrown out on second reading. The rest of the year +was consumed in an attempt to get from Mr. Walker, C.E., a report on the +state of the bridge, and in conferences with the Commissioners. At the +Easter Sessions, 1849, Mr. Walker’s report was read, which recommended +that the bridge should entirely be rebuilt; and a motion to that effect, +made by the chairman, was carried almost unanimously. It is needless now +to say, that nothing further was done in the matter but to talk about it +at each succeeding Sessions, till the bridge concluded its own history by +falling down during a high flood which occurred in February, 1851. It +was built in 1605; and there can be no doubt that four of the original +arches remained just as they had been first erected, until the day when +they tumbled down of sheer old age. + + + + +REMARKABLE TRIALS. + + +THE following are brief notes of some of the more interesting trials, as +well civil as criminal, which have occupied the attention of the Courts +of Assize, or Quarter Sessions, in this county, during the present +century. + +The KING _v._ WADDINGTON—In the summer of 1800 a criminal information was +filed against S. F. Waddington, Esq., an eminent hop merchant residing in +London, “for monopolising practices in the purchase of hops” in this +county. The rule having been made absolute, the case came on for trial +at the Worcestershire Summer Assizes, in that year, before Sir Simon Le +Blanc and a special jury, at Nisi Prius. Mr. Plumer, principal counsel +for prosecution, stated the offence to be—enhancing the price of hops by +spreading rumours of scarcity among the planters, advising them not to +sell, and by engrossing a large quantity of that commodity. Mr. +Waddington was described as having invited the planters to a dinner, and +given them as a toast, “Hops, £20 a cwt;” telling them that they had +never had a large enough price, begging them to hold back, and promising +to buy himself at an increased rate, rather than they should be +distressed for money. Such was the enthusiasm created by his speech, +that one gentleman got up afterwards and proposed, “Mr. Waddington, the +saviour of the country.” He afterwards did buy great quantities of hops +in Worcester market, at prices varying from 10s. to 40s. above those +current prior to his appearance. The counsel characterised this +forestalling as a “crime of deepest dye;” and “long, very long, had the +people of this country borne with the most exemplary fortitude this +greatest of all public evils.” Mr. Dauncey, Mr. Waddington’s counsel, +insisted that his client had only acted as other factors were in the +habit of doing, and if he were punished, the private enterprise of the +country would receive a most grievous check and injury. He said the +offence of “engrossing” was a most undefinable one, and not cognizable by +the common law. The learned judge admitted this was a moot point, but +remarked on the enormity of the offence, and told the jury they had only +to say whether or no the evidence made out to them the fact of Mr. +Waddington’s having done that which the indictment set forth. The jury, +after this charge, immediately returned a verdict of “guilty.” On the +24th of November, Mr. Waddington was brought up for judgment in King’s +Bench. Mr. Law moved in arrest of judgment, arguing that engrossing was +no longer an offence at common law. Hops, too, were not “victuals.” Mr. +Waddington, speaking in his own defence, arraigned the whole proceedings +as altogether incompatible with the right of the individual to use his +capital in trade as he pleased. Mr. Erskine, in support of judgment, +said that hops being a commodity so easily engrossed, required to be +strictly regulated: the practice of engrossing was innocent neither in +the eyes of man nor God. Lord Kenyon, though not giving judgment, spoke +at length on the matter. Hops were as much a “victual” as salt, both +being used for the preservation of victuals; and he was old enough to +recollect an application being made to that court for an information for +a conspiracy to raise the price of salt at Droitwich. Mr. Waddington was +remanded to prison till the last day of term. The judges then declared +themselves of opinion that there ought to be no new trial, and that there +was no defence. He was again remanded to prison till the ensuing term, +in spite of a spirited remonstrance, and a reference to the case of Horne +Tooke, whom Lord Kenyon characterised as a “bankrupt in character and +fortune, and destitute of every virtue and quality which could command +respect.” On the 8th of December, Mr. Waddington was found guilty, by a +London jury, of “engrossing” hops in the county of Kent. While in prison +he sold a ton of potatoes daily for ½d. per lb., and appropriated the +proceeds to the benefit of his poorer fellow prisoners. On the 25th of +January, 1801, Mr. Waddington was finally brought up for judgment, and +Mr. Justice Grose declared that the court being unanimously of opinion +that the information on which Mr. Waddington had been convicted was well +supported at common law, he was sentenced to pay a fine of £500, and to +be imprisoned one month. On the 4th of June, Mr. Waddington having been +confined in King’s Bench prison upwards of twenty-seven weeks, at last +purged his crime, and went down to Maidstone. At Tunbridge he was +feasted at a superb dinner, and about two miles thence was met by a +number of hop planters, who took the horses from his carriage, covered it +with wreaths of hop bine, and had it drawn by relays of men (twelve +miles) to Maidstone. There he rode in triumph through the streets; made +a speech which was received with immense acclamation; “Waddington and the +freedom of commerce” resounded through the streets; and a subscription on +his behalf was entered into. + +1802—At the Summer Assizes, held before Mr. Justice Lawrence and Mr. +Justice Le Blanc, three men and one woman (for privately stealing) were +sentenced to death, but all respited. Three privates in the 5th Dragoons +were tried for the murder of Samuel Porter, ostler at the New Inn, +Pershore, and one named Rankins was found guilty; but as the fatal blow +was struck in what might be considered an affray, some points were +reserved for the twelve judges, and his sentence was ultimately commuted +to transportation. + +1803—At the Summer Assizes this year there were only seven prisoners in +both county and city for trial, and, of these, three were acquitted. Of +the remaining four, Thomas Beach for uttering a forged £5 note, and +Elizabeth Guise for robbing her master, Mr. Blizard of Stoulton, were +sentenced to death. Beach was executed; the woman reprieved. At the +same Assizes the Rev. J. F. Tonyn, rector of Alvechurch, recovered £300 +damages from the Rev. Henry Lynam, his curate, for criminal conversation +with his wife. + +1805—FEBRUARY 21—In the Court of King’s Bench an indictment was preferred +by Mr. Forrester, of Elmley, in this county, against Colonel Passingham +and a Mr. Edwards. Colonel Passingham had once been an intimate friend +of Mr. Forrester, had debauched his wife, and carried her off, in +January, 1803. Edwards was, also, once Forrester’s friend, but becoming +a bankrupt, and prosecutor being his opposing creditor, he became his +implacable enemy. Both then conspired to oblige the prosecutor to make a +very large settlement upon his wife, and he was actually terrified into +doing so by charges of horrible crimes. These facts being proved on the +part of the prosecution, the defendants brought forward eleven witnesses +to swear that Mr. Forrester had actually been guilty of the offences +alleged—but they utterly broke down. The jury found both prisoners +guilty of the conspiracy. Being brought up for judgment in the ensuing +term, they were both sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in Newgate; +the additional punishment of the pillory being specially remitted, lest +their lives should be forfeited by any indignant violence on the part of +the populace. Mr. Forrester afterwards obtained a divorce from his wife, +she having contrived to visit Passingham in prison, and assumed his name. + +1807—At the Summer Assizes a special jury cause at Nisi Prius, in which +Sir John Geers Cottrell, Bart., as heir at law of Mrs. Freeman of Henley +Park, brought an action of ejectment against Joseph Harris, Esq., of +Stanford, the sole executor and residuary legatee of that lady, appears +to have excited much interest. The jury returned a verdict for +defendant, establishing Mr. Harris’s right to a considerable estate in +the parish of Rock, and other property. Attorney for defendant—Mr. Hyde, +Worcester. At the Summer Assizes the cause again came on, the plaintiff +having obtained a new trial. Some of the most celebrated counsel of the +day were engaged—Mr. Garrow being retained by the plaintiff, and Sir +Thomas Plumer for defendant. After a twenty-four hours’ battle, the jury +confirmed the verdict of the former jury by a verdict for defendant. The +finding gave general satisfaction. + +1808—AUGUST—At the Worcester Summer Assizes this year was tried the cause +of HILL _v._ SMITH, an action brought to try the right of the Corporation +of Worcester to toll on wheat sold by sample, and of course a matter of +great interest to the agriculturists of the county generally. The +Corporation pleaded—“1st, that from time immemorial they had taken a pint +of wheat out of each bag, as a toll on wheat sold by sample in the +market, and afterwards brought into the city: 2nd, the same +justification, except that the taking was in the name of toll, and not as +a distress: 3rd, that the Corporation were seized in fee of the Manor of +Worcester, and that the toll was taken in respect of such manor: 4th, +that the Corporation had immemorially repaired the horse and carriage +road in the Corn Market, amongst others, and by reason thereof had +immemorially taken the toll on all grain brought over the Corn Market to +be delivered to a buyer.” The evidence fixed the custom of sale by +sample to have commenced in the year 1760. The learned judge directed +the jury to withdraw from their consideration the question of toll +traverse in respect of the manor, and toll thorough (the last issue), the +Corporation being unable to support these issues, and desired them to +consider whether the grant (by charter, enabling them to toll wheat) was +not originally for all corn sold, both where the bulk or only a part was +brought into the market. The jury, after an hour and a half’s +consideration, returned a verdict for the Corporation on the second and +third issues, and for the agriculturists on the others. Counsel for the +agriculturists—Mr. Sergeant Williams, Messrs. Jervis, Abbott, and Lord; +attorney, Mr. Hill: for the Corporation, Messrs. Dauncey, Wigley, Puller, +and Mence; attorney, Mr. Weller. + +1808—At the Summer Assizes, William Reynolds, convicted of an assault +upon a female, was sentenced to be imprisoned fourteen days, and to stand +in the pillory at Tenbury. Ann Green, for stealing brushes, was ordered +to be privately whipped; and four men, for divers crimes, were sentenced +to fourteen days’ imprisonment and a public whipping. + +1809—JULY 14—Worcester Summer Assizes. R. Baylis, churchwarden of Elmley +Lovett, was tried for painting up libels against the rector, the Rev. G. +Waldron, upon the walls of the parish church. They were principally +texts of scripture, the intended application of which, however, could not +be doubted. He was sentenced to pay a fine, and to twelve months’ +imprisonment. + +1810—Lent Assizes—A. LECHMERE, ESQ., _v._ DISSON, was a trial to recover +compensation for negligence in the defendant in the manufacture of +oil-cake. Mr. Lechmere had paid great attention to the feeding of +cattle, and had brought oil-cake into much greater notice than it had +been before. He purchased a quantity from defendant, but finding his +cattle did not thrive upon it as he expected, he had it analysed; and +several witnesses declared, that due attention had not been paid to the +clearing of the seed by skreening and sifting it; so that a great deal of +extraneous matter was left in the cake.—Verdict for the plaintiff: +damages, £50. + +1812—APRIL 20—A case of assault and battery, OVERBURY _v._ MOSELEY, tried +in the Worcester City Court. It arose out of a street row, which +occurred in the previous November. Overbury and another insulted some +lady in the Foregate Street, and Moseley came up to her help, and gave +Overbury a thorough thrashing, for which he brought this plaint. The +mayor having impartially summed up, the jury returned a verdict for the +defendant. Defendant conducted his own cause. Complainant was +represented by Mr. Sockett, an attorney of Worcester, who exerted himself +for his client beyond his strength, became ill, and soon afterwards died. + +1812—JUNE—HILL _v._ SMITH in error, having been argued before the Court +of Exchequer. Sir J. Mansfield, after many delays, now gave judgment. +The court held that a sale by sample was not a legal contract for the +sale of anything whatever, and that the lord or superior of an open +market was not entitled to any toll on commodities not brought in bulk. +A sale by sample had been held by Lord Coke, and other great law +authorities, to be illegal, as contrary to the principle and object for +which a market was established. The verdict for the Corporation +(obtained at Worcester Summer Assizes, 1808) was therefore reversed, and +the cause remitted to the court below to ascertain the amount of damages +the plaintiff was entitled to for the trespass committed in taking his +corn; which were, of course, merely nominal. + +1814—AUGUST—At the Hereford Summer Assizes was tried FORD _v._ RACSTER, +being an action brought by the executors of Dr. Ford, as Rector of +Cradley, Herefordshire, against Miss Racster, of Worcester, to try the +question of the liability of blackpoles to tithe. It was argued for +defendant, that these blackpoles, being more than twenty years’ growth, +were timber trees; but the jury decided that they were not, according to +the custom of the country, and thereupon verdict was entered for +plaintiff, and damages assessed at £100, being for eleven years’ fallage. + +1816—At the Lent Assizes was tried an action for libel, brought by the +Rev. Joseph Shapland against Richard Mug Mence, Esq. Verdict for +plaintiff. The Rev. Mr. Shapland pleaded guilty to an indictment for an +assault. At the ensuing assizes he was sentenced to six months’ +imprisonment, and to enter into recognizances to keep the peace for seven +years, himself in £500, and two sureties in £250 each. Mr. Shapland was +Vicar of St. Peter’s, and had some unhappy disputes with his wife, to +settle which Mr. Mence had been called in as a mutual friend. After a +while, conceiving Mrs. Shapland to have been ill-treated, Mr. Mence took +her part very decidedly, and refused to sit in company with Mr. Shapland. +Mr. S. at this was greatly exasperated; and meeting Mr. Mence one day +walking near the Guildhall, he struck him several times with a heavy +walking stick. Mr. Mence received the blows on his arm, which was +severely injured. Mr. M. afterwards published a pamphlet, containing a +long detail of Mr. Shapland’s family jars, and the part he had himself +taken therein; and this was the libel complained of. In November, 1812, +Mr. Mence was called up for judgment in the King’s Bench, and sentenced +by Lord Ellenborough to six months’ imprisonment, and afterwards to find +sureties to keep the peace, himself in £1,000, and two sureties of £500 +each. The two gentlemen were thus both imprisoned at the same time—the +one in the city, and the other in the county gaol. + +1817—At the Lent Assizes, held before Mr. Justice Park and Mr. Justice +Burrough, no less than twenty prisoners were sentenced to death, most of +them for sheep stealing; but they were all afterwards reprieved. + +1818—At the Lent Assizes this year, the trial of Joseph Steers, a +respectable tradesman of Worcester, and six others, charged with being +concerned in the “freemen’s riots,” and the demolition of the buildings +upon Pitchcroft, created the most intense interest, and at one part of +the proceedings there was an absolute tumult in court, so great was the +crush of people. The history of these riots is as follows: In 1817 the +“popular mind” of Worcester was much agitated and incensed by buildings +being erected on the corner of Pitchcroft Ham, nearest to the city, and +known as Little Pitchcroft. The citizens viewed any encroachment on this +lung of the city with commendable jealousy, as it was their principal +resort for amusement and promenade; besides which, each freeman had some +property in the Ham, having a right of pasturage thereon. A meeting was +accordingly called in August, at the Hoppole Inn, to protect the rights +of the freemen in this matter. Richard Spooner, Esq., then exceedingly +active in all popular movements in Worcester, was called to the chair, +and a committee was appointed, who issued notices to the parties who had +built upon the Ham to remove their erections before the 29th of +September. On the 15th of September, however, the committee met, and +agreed that as the removal of the whole buildings would be attended with +great loss to a charity which derived considerable revenue from the +wharfs, &c., it would be more desirable only to remove those buildings +and fences which were most obnoxious. On this decision being made known, +the populace determined to take the matter into their own hands; and on +the morning of the 29th assembled in large numbers, and commenced the +demolition of such of the fences and buildings as were not strong enough +to resist their efforts. The mayor came down to the spot and read the +Riot Act, but nobody took any heed of his worship, who, with the +magistrates, then began to swear in everybody as special constables—the +said “specials” standing by and looking on at the demolition, very +anxious to keep the peace, but not venturing to interrupt the mob. At +last some of the yeomanry assembled, but being pelted with stones, they +retreated to the Star and Garter yard, and made no further appearance. +The demolition was concluded next morning; everybody saying that it was +most disgraceful, but nevertheless glad that it was done. Steers and +other persons, who had taken part in the work of destruction, were +indicted (under statutes which had recently been passed) for a capital +offence; but Mr. Jervis, counsel for the prosecutor, Mr. John Edmunds, +declared that that was only done in order to have a foundation to recover +the damages he had sustained during the riot. After two witnesses had +been examined, Mr. Justice Burrough, who presided, said there was enough +evidence to convict the whole prisoners of a capital offence, and advised +them to throw themselves on the mercy of the court. This course they +adopted; and his lordship then discharged them, on entering into +recognizances of £100 each, to keep the peace for twelve months. The +greatest possible interest had been made on behalf of these parties; and +Lord Deerhurst, whose efforts were supposed to have contributed greatly +to the lenity with which they were treated, was almost overwhelmed, on +leaving the court, by the tumultuous approbation of the populace. The +mob endeavoured to drag Mr. Justice Burrough in triumph through the city, +on leaving for Stafford; but his lordship instantly called in the aid of +the javelin men, and threatened to commit the foremost of the crowd. To +finish the story here; immediately after these assizes, the agitation +about the encroachments was recommenced, and Mr. Thomas Carden, one of +the six masters, put forth a statement that the four acres in dispute +were the gift of Thomas Wylde, Esq., formerly of the Commandry in the +city of Worcester, to the Corporation; and the rents and profits of this +land had been uniformly applied to the benefit of the Free School, and +Trinity Alms Houses. Having in 1796 let out this land in lots, the six +masters had been enabled to increase the pay, to twenty-nine old women, +from 3s. to 6s. per month, which was a thing much more worth doing than +to allow one thousand freemen the pasturage thereon, from Old Midsummer +Day to Old Candlemas Day. A common hall was shortly afterwards held, at +which the committee appointed for protecting the freemen’s rights made +their report. It was read by R. Spooner, Esq., and stated that they had +ordered entries to be made on two of the plots in Little Pitchcroft; the +result of which had been, that actions had been brought against the +enterers, and the _venue_ changed by the plaintiffs to Gloucester. The +committee now wanted to know whether the claims of the freemen were to be +contested or abandoned, as in the former case it would be necessary that +the city generally should enter into a subscription to provide the sinews +of war. The report was adopted, and a subscription forthwith commenced. +A motion to make terms with the six masters was rejected. Just before +the trial came on, however, the matter was settled by arrangement, +concessions being made on either side; and buildings cover the greater +part of “Little Pitchcroft” to this day. + +1819—At the Summer Assizes, John Grindley, of Bromsgrove, was tried on a +charge of wilfully murdering Thomas Mannering. They had quarrelled in a +public house, gone out into the street to fight, but there made up their +differences, and sat upon the public stocks, drinking some beer. While +thus occupied, Grindley stabbed Mannering twice so severely that he died +next day. He was found guilty of manslaughter, and sentenced to six +months’ imprisonment. + +1820—At the Lent Assizes, John Burton was convicted of the murder of one +Jaunty, in Worcester, on the 30th of July, 1819. Parties who had been +employed by the Excise to seize some malt, were met at the back of the +Hoppole Inn by a number of persons from the neighbouring public houses, +and a general battle commenced; the interest of which at length +concentrated itself in a fight between Burton and Jaunty. They had +several rounds, and Jaunty at last getting the better of his antagonist, +Burton ran off to his house, but presently returned with a pike, and +stabbed Jaunty right through the heart and lungs. Burton was, however, +reprieved on a point of law. At these assizes, twenty-seven persons were +sentenced to death (one a woman, for stealing thirty-nine yards of +bombazine from a shop at Stourbridge), but all were reprieved, except one +for highway robbery. + +1820—MARCH 24—A curious application was made to the Lord Chancellor by +the guardians of Sir Roger Gresley, a young man of twenty, and a ward of +Chancery, to restrain the Earl and Countess of Coventry, and the Hon. +John Coventry, from encouraging a marriage between Sir Roger and Lady +Sophia Coventry, daughter of the earl, aged seventeen. There had been +negociations for a marriage, rent rolls having been handed to the +guardians, &c.; but as no settlement could be made on the bride till Sir +Roger was of age, the matter was postponed. The court took it in dudgeon +that anything should have been done towards disposing of its ward in +matrimony without its license, &c. + +1821—FEBRUARY 13—A rule moved for in the Court of King’s Bench on behalf +of the magistrates of Worcestershire, to compel the inhabitants of +Ombersley to pay £150 into the hands of the clerk of the peace for the +repairs of Hawford Bridge. The Ombersley people replied that they were +going to repair, and that £50 would be quite sufficient to do all that +was needed. The rule was granted, but enlarged to the next term to admit +of time for the repairs being effectively carried out by the inhabitants +of Ombersley themselves, if they so pleased. + +1821—At the Lent Assizes, before Mr. Baron Jarrow, an action was brought +by a schoolmaster at Dudley, a little deformed man, named Hilliard, to +recover damages from Mr. Badger for knocking his hat off at the theatre, +because he would not take it off when the national anthem was being +played. Mr. Badger, in the zeal of his loyalty, not only knocked the +unfortunate pedagogue’s hat off, but the pedagogue himself off the bench; +and Mr. Baron Jarrow, in summing up, intimated that he thought he was +rather to be commended than otherwise, and pictured to the jury “the +glorious sight of a whole audience in a theatre paying a just tribute of +veneration to their sovereign.” The jury returned a verdict for +plaintiff: damages, one farthing. + +1821—AUGUST—At the Midsummer Assizes was tried, JARRATT _v._ THE MAYOR +AND CORPORATION OF EVESHAM, being an attempt to establish the right of +any person who had served a freeman of that borough for an apprenticeship +of seven years to be himself admitted a freeman. The Corporation +admitted that if the whole service had been within the borough the custom +was to admit; but if the master and apprentice had lived elsewhere any +period of the time then the right of admission failed. A verdict was +entered for the Corporation. + +1823—Two men, named Oliver and Skinner, convicted at the Easter City +Sessions of a most unprovoked assault on three journeymen carpenters +going home one dark night in January, and sentenced—Oliver to six months, +and Skinner to nine months’ imprisonment. These two fellows were part of +a fraternity calling themselves “lambs,” who used to infest the streets +of Worcester at night for the sole purpose of annoying more peaceably +disposed persons. At the trial they brought a number of witnesses to +prove an _alibi_, but utterly failed, and disclosed the most unblushing +perjury in lieu thereof. + +1823—William Taylor, a working stone mason, recovered £120 damages in the +Sheriff’s Court, for a fright into which he had been put by Henry Geast +Dugdale, Esq., a magistrate of Worcestershire, living at Bordesley Park. +He was one of some workmen who were erecting a stone lodge for defendant, +who one day, when they had nearly finished, came up and peremptorily +ordered them off his premises. He said he had been told by his master +not to leave till he had finished the job; but Mr. Dugdale, foaming with +rage, presented his gun at him, cocked it, and declared he would shoot +Taylor presently, if he were not gone; whereupon he dropped his chisel +and mallet in a terror, took to his heels, and had been declining in +health ever since—such had been the effect of the alarm upon his nervous +system. Mr. Dugdale, in addressing the jury, said “he once took a noble +earl by the collar, and forced him off his lands;” and hereupon Lord +Plymouth, writing to the Worcester papers, said Mr. Dugdale no doubt +meant himself, but that the whole statement was entirely untrue. + +1824—At the Midsummer Assizes, before Mr. Justice Littledale, was tried +the cause of PIERPOINT _v._ SHAPLAND, in which Matthew Pierpoint, Esq., +of Worcester, surgeon (and as it proved upon the trial, physician also), +brought an action for slander against Miss Susanna Shapland, a lady then +residing in College Green. The damages were laid at £5,000. Mr. +Pierpoint had been called in to attend Mrs. Isaacs, Miss Shapland’s +sister, shortly before her death, and administered an emetic: after that +he ceased to attend her, and Miss Shapland afterwards told Mrs. Henry +Clifton that Mr. P. had treated her sister improperly. Mr. Jervis was +counsel for plaintiff, and Mr. Russell for defendant. A verdict was +returned for plaintiff, with 39s. damages. This trial excited +extraordinary interest—ladies, to make sure of places, going to the +courts at five o’clock in the morning. + +1825—At the Lent Assizes an action for libel, against CHALK AND HOLL, was +tried before Mr. Justice Littledale. It was brought by a painter named +Davis, who had, by mistake, been described in a paragraph in the +_Worcester Herald_ as concerned in a street row and an assault upon a +watchman. The party’s name _was_ Davis, but not the one pointed at in +the paragraph, and defendants, finding their error, corrected it in the +next paper and apologised; nevertheless Davis persisted in the action, +urged thereto, as it came out in the trial, by his attorney, who had +undertaken that it should cost him nothing. The counsel engaged were—for +the plaintiff, Mr. Campbell (now Lord Chief Justice Campbell); and for +defendant, Mr. Russell. The jury returned a verdict for plaintiff, as +the judge told them they must to do so, with damages one farthing. + +1827—Summer Assizes, before Mr. Justice Littledale. THE KING _v._ COOKE +was an action against a draper, at Dudley, of the most Radical cast, for +publishing libels on His Majesty’s Government. The libels were placards +exhibited in the defendant’s window during a time of great disturbance +amongst the colliers, in May, 1826. The case had been entered for trial +at previous assizes, but put off from time to time. The alleged libel in +the placards was the assertion that ministers were bringing starvation +upon the people by their measures. Mr. Whateley was for the prosecution, +and Mr. Campbell for the defence. The appearance of the placards in the +defendant’s window having been proved, Mr. Andrew Gracewood, doorkeeper +at the Foreign Office, was put in the box to prove that Earl Liverpool +and others mentioned in the handbills were at the time of their +publication ministers of state. Mr. Campbell, of course, ridiculed the +whole prosecution, and said Cooke was being made the victim of private +malice. The judge told the jury the handbills were libellous, so they +returned a verdict of guilty. Cooke was only required to enter into +sureties to appear when called up. + +1827—At the Lent Assizes this year there were nearly a hundred prisoners +for trial, and against twenty-four of them sentence of death was +recorded. + +At these assizes was tried AGG _v._ TIMBRELL, in which the plaintiff +recovered £7 damages for the injury done to his gig by the negligent +driving of the defendant’s coachman. Mr. Charles Phillips was counsel +for plaintiff, and Mr. Taunton for defendant. The affair was chiefly +curious from the remark of defendant, who, when the accident happened and +Agg complained, said, “Do you know who I am? I’m Doctor Timbrell, Doctor +of Divinity, Archdeacon, and magistrate in two counties. Don’t talk to +me, or I’ll commit you!” + +1828—In November, this year, in the King’s Bench, a rule for a criminal +information against the Rev. Humphry Price, for issuing inflammatory +handbills at the time of the late strike between the Kidderminster +weavers and their masters, was made absolute. The Rev. gentleman +appeared in court himself, and avowed himself to be the author of the +placards charged against him. The cause against him was tried at the +next Hereford Lent Assizes. A number of verses, entitled “_The Complaint +of a Kidderminster Weaver’s Wife to her Infant_,” appeared to be most +complained of; they ended thus: + + “O cruel, cruel, cruel masters, + Dare ye thus mock at our disasters? + See parent, child, to phrenzy given, + And dream yourselves of reaching heaven? + + Rouse from your slumbers! count the price + Of your own cursed avarice; + And count it well, ere taught too late + To dread than ours a far worse fate.” + +Mr. Campbell defended the Rev. gentleman, but he was found guilty, and +being brought up for judgment next term, was sentenced to twelve months’ +imprisonment, and adjudged to pay the costs. + +1829—At the Midsummer Assizes, before Mr. Baron Vaughan, John Hunter, +Esq., of Pershore, was tried for feloniously altering a deed. A true +bill had been returned against Mr. Hunter at the Lent Assizes, but he was +enlarged till the Midsummer Assizes on very heavy bail. The +respectability of Mr. Hunter, who but for this charge would this very +year have been High Sheriff of the County, caused the intensest interest +to be felt in the trial, and the courts were thronged to suffocation. +Mr. Campbell, K.C., Mr. Sergeant Ludlow, Mr. Carwood, and Mr. Godson, +were the counsel for the prosecution; and Mr. Taunton, Mr. Sergeant +Russell, and Mr. C. Phillips, assisted the defendant, who, as the law +then stood, was obliged to address the jury himself, and could only avail +himself of counsel in cross-examination, this being a misdemeanour. The +charge against Mr. Hunter was that he had erased the words “part of” from +a deed which he held, and the effect of the erasure would be to put him +in possession of the _whole_ of the premises to which it referred. In +fact, in 1825 he brought an action on the strength of this deed to +recover the whole of the premises, but permitted himself to be +non-suited. Mr. Hunter, in the written defence he handed in to be read +to the jury, contented himself with denying any knowledge of how the +erasure came about, and that it existed in the deed when it first came +into his possession, he having bought the property as an entire property. +The evidence given, and some of the witnesses adduced by the prosecution, +were of a very doubtful character; and after the long array of witnesses +which Mr. Hunter called to speak to a long life of unblemished +uprightness, the jury said they would not trouble his lordship to sum up, +and Mr. Hunter must be _honourably acquitted_. + +1830—At the Summer Assizes, before Mr. Sergeant Bosanquet, came on the +case of CHALK AND HOLL _v._ ROBINSON, M.P., being an action to recover +£13. 8s. 6d. for printing electioneering squibs on Mr. Robinson’s behalf, +at the election of 1826. They were written and ordered by some of Mr. +Robinson’s agents and solicitors, and his object in resisting the claim +was to disown any personal connection with them. The matter was +referred, at the judge’s request, to Mr. Holroyd; and he awarded the sum +claimed to the plaintiffs, holding Mr. Robinson liable; Mr. Brampton +proving that the orders came from his committee room. + + + +THE ODDINGLEY MURDER. + + +THE annals of crime record few tragedies so fearful in their enactment, +so mysterious in their present concealment, so singular in their ultimate +discovery as the Oddingley murder. A clergyman is shot at noon-day, +while walking in his own fields—the assassin and the motive are perfectly +known, yet he eludes justice, and suddenly and for ever disappears. Some +of the men to whom common rumour points as the probable instigators of +the crime, pass to their account, and make no sign. At last, when +twenty-four years have elapsed, the body of the murderer is strangely +discovered, in a state of preservation and under circumstances which +leave no room to doubt that he was himself murdered by those who had +hired him to commit the crime they were afraid to perpetrate with their +own hands. + +Thus circumstance combined with circumstance to increase the romance of +this tale of blood, and invest it with a fearful interest, creating an +unparalleled excitement, not only in this neighbourhood but throughout +the whole country. People delighted to point to it, as showing how, with +silent footfall, justice ever tracks the murderer’s steps, and at last +exposes his guilt to the gaze of day, with whatever care and midnight +secrecy he has sought to hide and cover it. But it showed, also, that +the punishment of murder, as of other crimes, is sometimes postponed to a +more perfect time of retribution, and that men doubly dyed with the blood +of others—shed under the influence of passions the most +detestable—avarice, hate, and fear—can walk their lives long among their +fellows with a smooth brow, and at last placidly turn their faces to the +wall without, to outward seeming, one pang of remorse or outcry of +conscience. + +The first notice of this terrible crime appeared in the Worcester papers +of June 26, 1806, and is as follows: + + “The Rev. G. Parker, rector of Oddingley, in this county, was, on + Tuesday evening last, most inhumanly murdered in a field near his own + dwelling house. The perpetrator of this cruel deed discharged a gun + at the unfortunate gentleman, the contents of which entered his right + side; and afterwards, in a manner peculiarly atrocious, with the butt + end of his gun fractured his skull. An inquest was held the + following day, before R. Barneby, Esq., coroner, when the jury + returned this verdict—‘Wilful murder, by some person or persons + unknown.’” + +Mr. Parker was an amiable man and benevolent to the poor, but there had +been an unhappy dispute between him and his parishioners about the +tithes, which was perfectly well understood to have been the cause +prompting to his death. His predecessor had been in the habit of +compounding with the farmers for his tithes, they giving him in lieu +thereof £135 per annum. Mr. Parker, considering this inadequate, +proposed raising it to £150. Captain Evans, one of his parishioners, +however, prevailed on the farmers to join him in resisting this proposal, +and Mr. Parker, in consequence, collected the tithe. After he had done +so for two years, the farmers, finding themselves losers by the system, +offered to accede to the proposal previously made. Mr. Parker told them +he was still willing to abide by it, but required, as he had been at an +expense of £150 in erecting a barn, and making other arrangements for +collecting the tithe, that they should, in addition, repay him that sum, +but this was refused. + +The magistrates, immediately after the murder, issued a bill, offering a +reward of fifty guineas for the apprehension of the murderer, and +minutely described the person and dress of Richard Hemming, a carpenter +of Droitwich, who was at once suspected as the perpetrator of this +fearful crime. The report of the gun was heard by several parties, and +two persons from Worcester saw Hemming escaping over some fields in the +neighbourhood of the spot—indeed he was distinctly traced to a wood at +Lench, but there all trace of him was entirely lost, and it was thought +that he had left the country in security. A free pardon was offered at +the time by Government to any accomplices in the murder who would become +king’s evidence. + +In June, 1807, a man, who had enlisted into the marines, was detained by +the magistrates at Plymouth on suspicion of being Hemming. Mr. Carden +immediately despatched parties to ascertain the truth of the matter, but +it proved to be a case of mistaken identity. The affair, though public +notice of it was hushed, was never forgotten—the country people had their +beliefs and traditions concerning it, and though it was confidently +affirmed by some that Hemming had been seen alive in America, the real +truth was more than guessed at. It was by some firmly believed that +Hemming had been murdered by the parties who employed him to assassinate +Mr. Parker, and they themselves seemed scarcely anxious to avoid the +imputation. Captain Evans, whom all pointed at as being the principal +instigator of the assassination, constantly kept standing upon his estate +a certain clover rick, which he had made three days only after Mr. +Parker’s murder, and when he parted with the estate two years afterwards +to a Mr. Barnett, this rick was still kept standing. The general belief +was that Hemming’s body had been buried beneath this rick, and in 1816 +Hemming’s widow (then married again) made a deposition before the +Droitwich magistrates of her conviction that this was the case. A search +warrant was granted, but in that same night the clover rick mysteriously +disappeared, and though the ground which it had covered was carefully dug +up, nothing was discovered. Captain Evans, at the time of Mr. Parker’s +murder, lived upon the Church Farm, Oddingley; but in 1808 he went to +reside on a small estate called New House, upon the confines of the two +parishes of Hadsor and Oddingley. Here he remained till 1826, when he +went to Droitwich, and there lived till his death, which occurred in +1829; he was then ninety-four years of age. He was formerly a captain in +the 89th Foot, and received half pay up to the day of his death. He was +a magistrate of the borough of Droitwich. + +It may be well conceived that all idea of any further discovery of the +circumstances under which this terrible crime was committed had long been +given up, and that the discovery of the skeleton of Hemming created the +most startling surprise. On the 21st January, 1830, a carpenter named +Burton was engaged in removing a barn upon the Netherwood Farm, +Oddingley, which, at the time of Mr. Parker’s murder, was occupied by Mr. +Thomas Clewes. He had begun to remove the foundation when he met with a +pair of shoes and carpenter’s rule. The story of Hemming immediately +recurred to his mind, and, carefully covering up again what he had found, +he went to the magistrates of Droitwich and the coroner of the county +(Mr. William Smith). The further investigation of the spot was very +carefully conducted by the neighbouring magistrates and Mr. Pierpoint of +Worcester; and the whole skeleton of a man, of just such height and make +as Hemming was known to have been, was disclosed to view. His former +wife particularly identified the remains by the mouth and teeth, and +declared her firm belief to be that the rule which Burton had found was +that which Hemming used customarily to carry in his pocket. The bones of +the skull had been beaten into many pieces. An inquest was commenced +upon these remains on the following Tuesday, and, by adjournment, on the +Friday; at the close of which sitting, Thomas Clewes was taken into +custody on suspicion of having been concerned in the murder of Hemming, +and in the course of the next day he expressed his desire to make a +confession. The coroner and jury accordingly went to him in the County +Gaol, where, with great composure, he gave the following account of the +circumstances under which Hemming was himself murdered on the evening of +the day after that on which he had shot Mr. Parker. Whether it is the +absolute truth or not, coming as it did from an accomplice, must always +be a matter of doubt, but it is at any rate all that will now be known of +this deed of terror. + + +CLEWES’S CONFESSION. + + + “On the morrow morning after the parson was shot (I mean the Rev. Mr. + Parker, Rector of Oddingley), it was on Bromsgrove fair day—I cannot + recollect exactly the year—about seven o’clock, George Bankes came + down to me, and says, ‘We have got Hemming, who shot the parson, at + our house (meaning Captain Evans’s) this morning, and I do not know + what to do with him—will you let him come down here?’ I said, ‘I + will not have him here, nor have nothing to do with him.’ Bankes + then went off. Bankes said, ‘he is lurking down in the meadows.’ I + went up to Oddingley about eleven o’clock in the day to Mr. Jones’s; + Mr. Jones is dead, and Mr. Nash lives in the farm now. As I went up + the road side, I suppose he (meaning Captain Evans) kept sight of me + all the way. The Captain called to me; he was in his garden, close + by the road side; he followed me out of the garden into the field, + and said he wanted to speak with me. He said, ‘I’ve had Hemming at + our house this morning, and something must be done by him; he is + lurking down towards your house now; I ordered him to get into your + buildings by day-time, if possible, or at the edge of night, that you + (meaning witness) might not see him, or any of your family, and + somewhat must be done by him. I shall come down to your house at + night, and bring somebody with me, and we must give the poor devil + some money, or do something with him, and send him off; will you get + up and come to the barn? it won’t detain you a minute.’ I refused + coming, and said, ‘I did not like to come.’ The Captain said, ‘it + can make no odds to you—you need not be afraid to come at eleven + o’clock; just come out, it will make no difference to you at all; if + you don’t come I shall be afraid of your dogs.’ I went out at the + back door and down to the barn door, as the clock struck eleven. + There was the Captain and James Taylor, and a third, whom I thought + and believed to be George Bankes. They went into the barn (I mean + the Captain, Taylor, and George Bankes), and I with them; I believed + it to be Bankes; he had on a smock-frock; as soon as the Captain came + into the barn, he calls, ‘Holloa, Hemming, where be’est?’ not very + loud; Hemming spoke, and said ‘Yes, Sir;’ Taylor and the Captain then + stepped on the mow, where Hemming was lying, which was not higher + than my knee; the Captain pulled a lantern from under his coat, or + out of his pocket; myself and George Bankes were then on the + thrashing-floor; the Captain said, ‘Get up, Hemming, I have got + something for thee;’ Hemming was at the time covered up with straw; + he was rising up on end, as if he had been lying on his back; as he + rose up, Taylor up with a blood-stick, and hit him on the head two or + three blows; I (witness) said, ‘This is bad work—if I had known you + should not have had me here;’ the Captain said, ‘He has got enough;’ + Taylor and the Captain came down off the mow directly; Taylor said, + ‘What is to be done with him now?’ the Captain said, ‘D—n his body, + we must not take him out of doors, somebody will see us, mayhap.’ It + was not very dark. Taylor went out of doors, and fetched a spade + from somewhere; it was no spade of mine; and Taylor and the Captain + said, ‘We will soon put him safe.’ Taylor then searched round the + bay of the barn on the contrary side where it was done, and found + holes which dogs and rats had scratched; he threw out a spadeful or + two, and cleared away from the foundation side of the wall. ‘This + will do for him,’ Taylor said to the Captain, who stood by and + lighted him the while. Bankes and myself were still on the floor of + the barn. Then the Captain and Taylor got upon the mow, and pulled + Hemming down to the front of the mow. The Captain said to Taylor, + ‘Catch hold of him,’ and they dragged him across the floor, and into + the hole they had dug for him in the opposite bay, and Taylor soon + covered it up. I cannot tell whether he was put in on his back or + not; I never stepped into the bay from the floor; I thought I should + have died where I was; the Captain said to Taylor, ‘Well done, boy, + I’ll give thee another glass or two of brandy.’ The Captain said to + me on the floor when we went out, ‘I’ll give you anything; d—n your + body, don’t ever split.’ All four were present at this; we then + parted; the Captain darkened his lantern; the Captain, Bankes, and + Taylor, went away towards Oddingley; I went to bed; the whole did not + occupy half an hour; Hemming had his clothes on; Hemming never moaned + nor groaned after he was first struck; there was no blood—not a spot + on the floor; nothing else was done that night. On the 26th of June + I was at Pershore fair; George Bankes came to me in the afternoon, + between four and five; he called me up an entry at the Plough, and + said, ‘Here is some money for you that Hemming was to have had.’ Mr. + John Barnett was with Bankes then, Bankes and Barnett each of them + gave me money, but I do not recollect how much I had from each; I did + not count it until I got home. They said when they gave it me, ‘Be + sure you don’t split.’ There was no more said about it that night. + It was in two parcels, in all between £26 and £27, and all in bills; + there was no silver. I put it all in one pocket. This was to have + taken Hemming off, as Bankes and Barnett informed me. A few days + after, I was at the Captain’s; he sent for me by my own son, John + Clewes, then about seven years old. When I got to the Captain’s, I + found him alone; he said to me, if I kept my peace, and did not + split, I should never want for £5. I never received any money from + him afterwards. On the same day, in the parlour of the Captain’s + house, Catherine Bankes came to me, and went down on her knees, in + great distress, and begged and prayed of me not to say anything, as + she feared the Captain had done a bad job, and that they would all + come to be hanged if I spoke. I promised her I never would say + anything.” + +[Bankes was a farm bailiff; Taylor died about 1816, having lived some +time in infamous notoriety at Droitwich. Barnett, at the time of the +murder, was only bailiff for his mother, but had since become an opulent +farmer. Clewes himself failed three or four years after the murder, and +had since been engaged as a labourer or woodman.] + +A great many witnesses were examined at the inquest, who spoke to +expressions of hatred and malice used by Captain Evans, Barnett, Bankes, +and Clewes, with regard to Mr. Parker, and many trifling circumstances +which tended to implicate them in the disappearance of Hemming, and +corroborate Clewes’s confession. The jury, after five days of most +elaborate investigation, returned a verdict of wilful murder against +Thomas Clewes and George Bankes; and further found that John Barnett, +late of the parish of Oddingley, farmer, was an accessary to such murder +before the fact. + +These three persons were accordingly put upon their trial at the ensuing +March Assizes, before Mr. Justice Littledale. A true bill was found +against Clewes as principal in the second degree, and against Barnett and +Bankes as accessaries before the fact to the murder of the Rev. George +Parker, by Richard Hemming. Mr. Curwood was the leading counsel for the +prosecution, Mr. Sergeant Ludlow for Clewes, Mr. Campbell, K.C., for +Bankes, and Mr. Taunton, K.C., for Barnett. An objection was taken to +the prisoners pleading as accessaries to a murder, the principal in which +had not been found guilty; and this objection being allowed, Clewes and +Bankes were arraigned as principals, and Barnett as accessary before the +fact to the murder of Richard Hemming. Clewes was first put upon his +trial alone. The evidence of the finding of the body of Hemming having +been given, and its identification completed, many witnesses were +examined to speak to expressions of the prisoner, tending to show that he +had been anxious to procure the death of Mr. Parker; and expressions used +by Hemming, showing that he had been employed to do some foul deed at +Oddingley. It was proved, too, that Clewes and Hemming had been +frequently in one another’s company prior to the murder. Last of all, +after a sharp struggle on the part of the prisoner’s counsel to prevent +it, Clewes’s confession was put in and read. Sergeant Ludlow briefly +addressed the learned judge, urging that Clewes was entitled to his +acquittal, as his confession stood uncontradicted, and that did not prove +him to have been a principal in the crime. The court decided that the +matter must be left to the jury, and to them the prisoner declined saying +anything; nor did the law then admit of counsel addressing the jury in +defence. The jury, after a short summing up, returned a verdict of +“Guilty as an accessary after the fact;” but Mr. Justice Littledale +observing that they had only to inquire whether he was guilty of aiding +and abetting in the murder, they returned a general verdict of “Not +guilty.” The crown refused to call any evidence on the coroner’s +inquisition, or against Barnett and Bankes, so they were all discharged. +The expenses attending the prosecution amounted to between £700 and £800. + +1830—At the Lent Assizes, before Mr. Baron Bolland, was tried the cause +of THE KING _v._ DINELEY, in which Mr. Francis Dineley, solicitor, +practising at Pershore, was found guilty of conspiring with one William +Loxley, deceased, to defraud Nicholas Marshall of £2,000. The +transaction took place so far back as 1804, when Loxley and Dineley +induced Mr. Nicholas Marshall to advance the sum of £2,000 on what it was +alleged they _knew_ to be defective security, and he lost the whole of +it. Mr. Campbell made a long speech in defence, alleging that the defect +in the security might not have been known to his client, and remarking +strongly on the long time which had elapsed. The case for the +prosecution rested mainly on letters written by Dineley to Loxley. + +1830—MAY 21—In the Arches Court, judgment was delivered in the suit of +BARNETT _v._ REV. WILLIAM BALDWIN BONAKER, being a complaint on the part +of some of the inhabitants of Church Honeybourne against their clergyman +for neglect of duty, such as continued absence from the parish. Sir J. +Nicholl, the judge, declared the evidence insufficient, and condemned the +promoters of the suit in full costs. + +1830—OCTOBER 20—At the Michaelmas Sessions were tried the Kidderminster +rioters. True bills were found for riot and assault against ten carpet +weavers, and the case for the prosecution was conducted by Mr. Evans and +Mr. Lea; Mr. Godson and Mr. Lumley appearing for the prisoners. Three of +them, named Lamsdale, Green, and Stephens, were first tried for being +concerned in an attack on the prison, on the second day of the +disturbances, and with assaulting William Hopkins, a constable; but they +were acquitted, to the great surprise of the court. Six men were next +tried for the attack on Mr. Cooper’s factory, and for very ill-treatment +of a man named Edwards, working there at low prices. He was left by the +mob, thrust into the ashpit of one of the furnaces, more than half dead. +Phaizy and Hopkins, the men principally concerned in this assault, were +sentenced to six months’ imprisonment—Lamsdale to three months, and Price +to two months’ imprisonment; and all to enter into sureties to keep the +peace. Other two were acquitted. In three other cases verdicts were +taken by consent, and almost nominal punishments inflicted. Mr. Godson’s +strenuous exertions in these cases laid the foundation for his subsequent +popularity in the borough of Kidderminster. + +1830—OCTOBER 18—At the trial of one of the prisoners at the City +Michaelmas Sessions, Mr. Curwood, his barrister, handed in a protest +against the jurisdiction of the court, because it was not constituted +according to the charter of James I, which required that the +recorder—“one learned and discreet man, learned in the laws”—should +always preside at gaol deliveries. Earl Coventry and his ancestors had +long been recorders of Worcester, and seldom (or never) present at +Quarter Sessions. The magistrates refused to receive the protest. + +1831—The cause list at the Midsummer Assizes this year contained +thirty-one cases for trial, and two of them excited much interest. The +first was an action brought by the Rev. Edward Herbert against a Mr. +Heath, for an assault, in which Mr. Campbell and Mr. Whateley were for +plaintiff, and Mr. Charles Phillips for defendant. For the prosecution +it was merely proved that Heath struck Herbert some dozen blows with a +horsewhip in Broad Street, Worcester, on the 23rd of the previous +February. One witness heard Heath say the words, “that — my father, and +you consider yourself well horsewhipped for it.” Mr. Charles Phillips +made a very long and powerful speech for the defence, stating to the jury +that if the prosecutor had dared himself to come into the box, he would +have forced him to confess that he had not only broken his pledge to Mr. +Heath’s sister, but had slandered his buried father in the most +outrageous and unbearable manner. Mr. Justice Patteson told the jury +that all they had to do was to say whether Heath had committed the +assault, and so they returned a verdict of “Guilty;” but no sentence was +passed, though the affidavits of defendant were ready, and Mr. Justice +Patteson himself pointed out to Mr. Phillips an error in the record, no +doubt with a view of getting rid of the case. + +The other case was a charge against Mr. Francis Hill, of Stourbridge, of +having committed wilful perjury, by swearing that he had not adopted +certain royalty mines, while he had, in fact, signed a document to do so. +Mr. Campbell, for the defence, urged that many a man signed deeds which +he did not understand; and a host of witnesses appeared to give Mr. Hill +the best of characters. He was honourably acquitted. + +1831—At the County Epiphany Sessions six men were tried for destroying a +thrashing machine, the property of Joseph Fretwell, of Blockley, and were +indicted for a riot and assault. Mr. Godson and Mr. Lea were for the +prosecution, and Mr. Strutt and Mr. Evans for the defence. There was no +attempt to deny that the men did come into Mr. Fretwell’s barn, and take +the machine to pieces; but on cross-examination of the prosecutor it was +shown that he was just about to quit the farm, which he held under Lord +Northwick, and that these men had come to take the machine down by his +lordship’s orders, in order to prevent the destruction of the premises by +the lawless mob who were going about the neighbourhood. Fretwell was +evidently regarding his landlord with feelings of exasperation, because +he had let the farm over his head. One of the men was found guilty of +riot and assault, the other five of riot only. Two of them were ordered +to pay a fine of £30 each, and the others of £20 each, and to be +imprisoned till those fines were paid. But the money was immediately +handed to them, and they were discharged from the dock. + +Six men were charged with being concerned in the destruction of Mr. +Baylis’s needle presses and stamps, at Tardebigg, and were sentenced to +twelve months’ imprisonment each. + +Six other men were arraigned for going about the villages of Defford, +Pinvin, &c., in a riotous manner, and obtaining victuals and drink by +threats and intimidation; but the evidence only showed that they had +importunately asked for relief at two or three places, and inquired of a +labourer in the road whether his wheelbarrow was a “machine,” because, if +it were, they would smash it! They were all acquitted. + +1832—Lent Assizes—The Rev. John Lynes, Rector of Elmley Lovett, was sued +for a penalty of £270 for non-residence in his parish for three months, +under an act passed in the year 1817, which provided that a clergyman +absenting himself for a quarter of a year should forfeit a third of the +annual value of his living, and the living of Elmley Lovett was set down +at about £800 a year. Mr. Jervis, with Mr. Richards and Mr. Alexander, +were for the prosecution, and Mr. Campbell for defendant. A great number +of witnesses were called to prove the defendant’s absence; some of them +his own servants; but in the opinion of the learned judge (Mr. Justice +Taunton) the absence for the entire time was not made out, and the jury +returned a verdict for defendant. + +At the same Assizes was tried the action of SHELTON _v._ STEWARD, rival +surgeons at Bromyard, and brought by the former against the latter for a +libel, said to be contained in a letter published in the _Hereford Times_ +and _Worcester Journal_, and which was supposed to insinuate that Mr. +Shelton was ignorant in his profession, and guilty of improper conduct. +Verdict for plaintiff: damages, £10. + +1832—At the County Epiphany Sessions, ten of the Dudley colliers were +indicted for a riot, to obtain a rise in wages, in the previous December. +Several parties, working in the Broad Pit Collieries (Earl Dudley’s) were +ill-used by the mob for working at the ordinary wages; but Mr. Godson, +who was for the prisoners, contended that their identity had not been +sufficiently made out. After four hours’ consultation the jury acquitted +all the prisoners. Seven of the same men were charged with an assault on +one of their butties at this time, and five pleaded guilty by +arrangement, and were liberated on their own recognizances. The other +two were acquitted in the teeth of the evidence. Several other parties +were indicted for assaults arising out of these riots, but only two, +named Hill and Smart, were found guilty. Hill was sentenced to six +months’ and Smart to one month’s imprisonment. + +1834—At the Lent Assizes, seven men were tried before Mr. Justice Allan +Park for being concerned in election riots at Dudley, breaking windows, +&c., and were all found guilty. They were sentenced to trifling terms of +imprisonment, excepting one man named Griffin, who had committed a +serious assault on Jewkes the constable, and, therefore, was ordered to +be imprisoned for twelve months. + +Robert Osbaldeston was tried at these Assizes of shooting at Mr. Wood, +gunsmith, Broad Street, Worcester, and was acquitted only on the ground +of insanity. + +Edmund Campbell Brewer, a confidential clerk in the employ of the +Stourbridge Canal Company, was found guilty of forging a bill of exchange +for some £13 odd. He absconded to America, and then it was found that he +had embezzled £1,000 and more, belonging to the Company. Yet, upon the +trial, many witnesses gave him the best of characters; and the +prosecutors themselves said that his conduct had been most exemplary till +this time. Mr. Eberhardt followed him to America, and apprehended him in +Utica. He was sentenced to be transported for life. Great exertions +were made to obtain a commutation of his punishment. + +1835—At the Lent Assizes, before Mr. Justice Patteson, was tried HILL +_v._ HICKES, an action brought by Mr. George Price Hill, a solicitor in +Worcester, against Mr. Hickes, for having slandered him to his uncle at +Dudley, by intimating that he was a rogue, &c. Verdict for plaintiff +40s. damages. Mr. Sergeant Talfourd was for plaintiff, and Mr. Sergeant +Ludlow for defendant. + +At these Assizes also was tried ANDERTON _v._ GIBBS AND FERNEY, the +latter being executors of Mr. John Moor, a manufacturer of Dudley, and +whose daughter Mrs. Anderton claimed to be. The question was one of +legitimacy, Mr. Moor’s wife having left him and formed a criminal +intimacy with a Mr. Corfield at the time of Mrs. Anderton’s birth. The +jury found a verdict for plaintiff, and property, to the amount of +£6,000, thus passed into Mr. Anderton’s possession. + +1835—At Warwick Lent Assizes was tried DAVIES _v._ BADGER, an action +brought by a journeyman whitesmith of Dudley, against Mr. Badger a +magistrate of Dudley, for striking him with a stick at the Dudley booth, +at the previous East Worcester election. Mr. Balguy, K.C., was for +plaintiff, and Mr. Sergeant Goulburn for defendant. It was of course +made a political affair, and excited great interest. Mr. Badger, through +his counsel and his witnesses, denied ever striking the man at all. The +jury returned a verdict for plaintiff: damages £30, costs 40s. + +1835—At the Midsummer Assizes was tried PARKER AND SON _v._ ROBINSON, +M.P., a case which excited much attention at the time, and was +particularly interesting to those of the legal profession who looked to +reap rich harvests at elections. The plaintiffs sued Mr. Robinson for +assistance said to have been given him in the way of canvass, &c., at the +election of 1832, when the sitting members were threatened with an +opposition by the Hon. Mr. Dundas. Mr. Robinson had paid £75, and paid +£13 into court, but the amount of the bill was £186. Mr. Robinson +pleaded that he had not given authority for such expenses to be incurred +by plaintiffs, who, at this election, were only subsidiary agents, Mr. +Cameron being his chief attorney. Various solicitors were examined pro +and con to show that the charges were reasonable or otherwise; and the +Jury, eventually, returned a verdict for plaintiffs, damages £38; thus +Mr. Robinson paid £126 instead of £186. Mr. Sergeant Ludlow was for +plaintiffs, and Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, M.P., for defendant; and both made +amusing speeches about the affair. + +1836—At the Lent Assizes, before Mr. Justice Williams, was tried BADGER +_v._ COOKE, an action brought by Mr. Badger, the Dudley magistrate, +against Mr. Samuel Cooke, the celebrated Radical mercer, for a libel. +After Mr. Badger had been found guilty of the assault on Davis at the +Stourbridge election, Cooke issued a placard triumphing in the result of +that trial, and saying that “every honest man must ever afterwards look +with most indignant contempt on his (Mr. Badger’s) actions, since he had +already disgraced the dignified functions of his station,” &c. &c. The +defendant addressed the jury in his own defence, quoting papers to show +that Mr. Badger often made use of as strong expressions towards his +political opponents, and declaring that it was nothing more than a +question of Tory and Radical. He was found guilty, Mr. Justice Williams +declaring that the paper had a palpable tendency to defame and degrade +Mr. Badger in his character as a magistrate. He was only required to +enter into a recognizance of £50 to appear when called upon. + +1838—At the Summer Assizes this year a very painful and remarkable case +of circumstantial evidence took place, being no other than the trial of a +wife and daughter for the murder of one who had stood to them in the +relation of husband and father. On the evening of the 3rd of August, +1837, Mr. John Orchard, the landlord of the Woolstaplers’ Arms Inn, in +Stourbridge, a man in the prime of life and in good health, was seen to +go up the yard attached to his house, and his wife and eldest daughter, +with a man named Smith, were seen to follow him. He never returned +alive. Smith came down the yard again shortly, but the wife and daughter +remained there some time. Two or three hours afterwards the daughter +told some of the people in the house that her father was very ill, and +she was afraid he would die; but no one saw him until he was actually +dead. When a surgeon arrived the body was on a chair in the kitchen, and +Mrs. Orchard was supporting the head in her hands. She pointed the +surgeon’s attention to a small hole between the third and fourth ribs, +immediately over the heart, and said she supposed it was done by a nail +in tumbling over some tubs in the yard. He had a shirt on, but there was +no hole in that. The brewhouse, tubs, and yard appeared to have been +just washed, and the opinion of the medical man was, that Orchard must +have been dead an hour at least when he saw him. On a post mortem +examination, the wound in question was found to be four inches and a half +deep, and went right through the pericardium and right ventricle, so that +it must have caused almost instant death. Of course grave suspicion +under these circumstances could not but attach to the mother and +daughter, especially as there had been repeated quarrels between them and +the deceased, and the wife was also suspected to have been improperly +familiar with the man Smith. The coroner’s jury, however, returned a +verdict of “wilful murder against some parties unknown,” and months +passed without any further discovery. At last a woman, who had assisted +in laying out the corpse, told some party that the man was murdered with +a skewer, which was afterwards thrown into the Stour. The woman, when +interrogated by the police, denied having said anything of the sort; but +a skewer—just such an instrument as would have produced the wound—was +found in the Stour, nevertheless. The wife and daughter were then +apprehended and put on their trial. Mr. Whateley conducted the +prosecution, and Mr. Godson the defence. The judge, Lord Abinger, told +the jury that they must not convict the prisoners on suspicion, and they +were both acquitted. + +1838—At the County Epiphany Sessions, William Baylis, the crier of +Evesham, appealed against the commitment of three justices, who had +ordered him to be sent to prison, under the 60th and 65th sections of the +Municipal Act, for refusing to deliver up the bell. It was denied that +the court had a right to entertain the appeal, but the court chose to do +so, and quashed the conviction, subject to a case to the Queen’s Bench on +the points argued. A similar appeal was heard from Robert Knight, one of +the sergeants-at-mace under the old corporation, who refused to deliver +up his mantle. The magistrates were—Mr. Strickland, Mr. Cheek, and Mr. +Ashwin. + +1839—At the Midsummer Assizes the Rev. T. B. G. Moore, curate of +Bromsgrove, prosecuted Mr. J. B. Crane, carrier, Mr. Nicholas Hill, +publican, Mr. W. Whitehouse, farmer, Samuel Taylor, John Pinfield, jun., +William Sansome, George Wakeman, labourers, and Henry Hill, baker, for a +riot alleged to have taken place at a church rate meeting at Bromsgrove; +and Nicholas Hill and Taylor were also charged with an assault on the +Rev. prosecutor. The meeting in question was held on the 14th of the +previous February, and the parties who had got first to the vestry had +voted Mr. Greening to the chair and then declared the meeting adjourned +to the Town Hall; Mr. Moore, the curate, however, declared that he was +the only lawful chairman and adjourned the meeting to the school-room. +Here there was a scene of great excitement, and after the meeting had +decided by a very large majority that there should be no rate, a poll was +demanded by the pro-rate party. Immediately upon this there was a +general rush to the platform—a violent struggle for the vestry book—and +all sorts of people—Mr. Moore amongst the number—were tumbled about, +struck, and ill-treated. It was said that the riot had been instigated +by Mr. Nicholas Hill and Mr. Crane, and that Mr. Hill, in getting the +book out of the curate’s possession, had forced his head against the desk +so as to cause great pain. Mr. Sergeant Ludlow, in his speech for the +defence, made much of this being a case got up by subscription—to crush +the Bromsgrove opponents of church rates, and to put money into the purse +of Mr. Annesley, an attorney, living twenty-five miles away from +Bromsgrove. Whitehouse and Sansome were acquitted; Mr. Nicholas Hill +found guilty of assault and riot, and the rest of the defendants of a +riot only. Counsel for plaintiff, Mr. Sergeant Talfourd and Mr. Lea; +attorney, Mr. Annesley of Pershore; for defendants, Mr. Sergeant Ludlow +and Mr. Godson; attorney, Mr. F. T. Elgie, Worcester. In the following +November defendants were called up for judgment (after an unsuccessful +effort to get a new trial), when Nicholas Hill was sentenced to six +weeks’ imprisonment, and the other three to four weeks’ imprisonment +each. + +At the same Assizes, Mr. Meredith, woolstapler, of Pershore, was +convicted of striking Lieutenant Amherst three times, one day in the open +street. There had been considerable excitement in the town about the +election of Guardians of the Poor for the parish of St. Andrew, in the +preceding March, and the plaintiff and defendant were active men on +opposite sides. The first time they met in the street, Meredith put a +paper into plaintiff’s face, saying, “Look at that;” and when he put up +his clenched fist to defend himself, Meredith knocked his hat on one +side. The second time Lieutenant Amherst admitted that he had called +Meredith a d— blackguard, before any blow was struck, but Meredith +afterwards hit him several times. Meredith, having been found guilty, +was fined £20, and bound over himself in £300, and two sureties of £100 +each, to keep the peace for three years. + +1839—At the Michaelmas Sessions Samuel Cooke, the celebrated Chartist +draper at Dudley, was prosecuted for attending and assisting at a riotous +and illegal meeting at Dudley, on the 16th of July. It was proved that a +placard, calling the meeting, had been seen in Cooke’s window, and that +he himself addressed the assembly; but it did not appear that he had said +anything very outrageous. The meeting was tumultuous, but no actual +mischief had been done. Cooke defended himself with a good deal of +shrewdness, and complained that he was a persecuted man. The jury +returned a verdict of guilty, and he was sentenced to six months’ +imprisonment, which was generally considered to be a very sharp political +visitation of his offence. William Smith Lindon and James Hollis, for +using seditious language at the same meeting, were sentenced, the first +to three months’, and the second to six weeks’ imprisonment. + +1841—In November this year, in the Queen’s Bench, a rule _nisi_ for a +criminal information, was granted against the _Worcestershire Chronicle_, +on the application of W. H. Ricketts, Esq., for a libel in that paper +imputing to him jobbing and interested motives in disposing of the public +money to be laid out in building the Droitwich Police Station. Upon the +proprietors of the _Chronicle_ admitting that they had been misled and +offering an apology, Mr. Ricketts consented to the discharge of the rule. +The information on which the article complained of by Mr. Ricketts was +written, was supplied by Mr. George Ellins, a brother magistrate; and as +he refused to pay any of the costs which the proprietors of the +_Chronicle_ had incurred, they inserted another article, charging Mr. +Ellins with having misled them in the matter. This brought another rule +_nisi_ upon them from Mr. Ellins, who affirmed that he did not volunteer +the statement to Mr. Arrowsmith, and had especially told him that what he +did say was not for publication. The argument against the rule did not +come on till November, when Mr. Sergeant Talfourd showed cause for the +_Chronicle_, and the Solicitor General supported the rule on behalf of +Mr. Ellins. Lord Denman said it was absurd to suppose that Mr. Ellins +gave the information to Mr. Arrowsmith for any other purpose than that of +publication; and the rule was discharged with costs. + +1842—At the Lent Assizes was tried THE MARQUIS OF ANGLESEA _v._ LORD +HATHERTON, a cause more interesting from the rank of the parties +interested, and the right at stake, than from any attractiveness in the +subject or the evidence. It was an action to stop the noble defendant +from working coal mines on certain copyhold property belonging to the +latter at Cannock, in Staffordshire; and turned upon the question whether +Lord Anglesea, as lord of the manor of Cannock, had right to the +minerals. Sir Thomas Wilde, Sergeant Ludlow, Mr. Alexander, and the +Honourable Mr. Talbot, were retained for the defendant; and the +Solicitor-General (Sir William Follett), Mr. Richards, Q.C., Mr. +Whateley, Q.C., and Mr. Whitmore, for the plaintiff. A great number of +witnesses were called on either side, to prove rights and customs, and to +perplex the jury; and ultimately, after a trial of two days, a verdict +was found for the plaintiff, with nominal damages. The verdict created +much surprise. + +1842—JULY 20—A Court of Inquiry holden by Mr. Under Sheriff Gillam and a +special jury, to assess damages in the case POWELL _v._ PERRINS. This +was an action to recover damages for the seduction of plaintiff’s +daughter, plaintiff being a land surveyor at Hagley, and defendant a +chain maker, living near Stourbridge. £500 damages given for the +plaintiff. + +1842—At the Midsummer Assizes a horrible case of depravity was disclosed +in the trial of Richard Taylor, a blacksmith of Stourbridge, charged with +shooting at his wife, Hannah Taylor, with intent to murder her. Though +she had been the subject of a course of the most sickening brutality, she +refused to give evidence against him, and the witnesses, therefore, were +the neighbours and the prisoner’s own grown-up daughter, who stood in the +witness box with a child in her arms, which was the offspring of an +incestuous intercourse with her own father! The prisoner, on the +particular occasion for which he was tried, had shot at his wife, and +beaten her till she was well nigh killed. He then turned all his +children out of doors stark naked. He was only found guilty of an +assault, because nothing more could be proved without the wife’s +evidence, and he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment only. + +1843—At the Lent Assizes, Edwin Archer, a young labourer from Rouse +Lench, was tried for the wilful murder of George Green, in the previous +December. He pleaded guilty to the crime of manslaughter, and was +sentenced to fifteen years’ transportation. The prisoner and deceased +had been quarrelling, and set about to wrestle; in the course of the +struggle, Archer drew a knife and stabbed Green in four distinct +places—one of the wounds penetrating the heart—and death immediately +ensued. As soon as the fatal deed was done, Archer was aghast with +horror, and wept like a child over the body of his passion’s victim. + +Samuel Bridgwater was tried at these Assizes, at the instance of some +very indefatigable Radicals, for bribery at the election of 1841. The +bill had repeatedly been thrown out by the grand juries, as was supposed, +on political grounds, until at last a sufficient number of the right +party were found to return it as “a true bill.” The case, however, now +broke down at its very commencement, because a tailor had been sent to +the Crown Office for copies of the return to the writ for the Worcester +election, and he had not had them compared with the originals. + +1843—JUNE 1—The Rev. William Smith, vicar of Overbury, obtained a rule +_nisi_ for a criminal information against the _Worcestershire Chronicle_. +The parish had long been in a state of most unseemly dissension, and the +_Chronicle_, in giving a long and very detailed statement of meetings and +matters there, was said to have libelled Mr. Smith in attributing conduct +to him which he disclaimed, and generally in reflecting on his character +and conduct. The rule was, however, afterwards discharged by +arrangement, and no further proceedings were taken. + +1843—At the Midsummer Sessions, Sir Thomas Phillips, Bart., and two of +his labourers, were tried at these Sessions, for assaulting George +Cooper, a shoemaker of Broadway. Cooper was collector of taxes, and went +to Middle Hill to get a balance of taxes from the honourable baronet. He +had had repeated disputes with Sir Thomas Phillips, and this was also a +disputed affair, so Sir Thomas ordered him off the premises; and when he +talked of levying a distress, Sir Thomas pushed him out of the hall, and +struck him with a garden paddle once or twice. The two labourers were +discharged, and Sir Thomas Phillips fined £10. + +1843—At the Midsummer Assizes, before Mr. Justice Maule, was tried +LAVENDER AND ANOTHER _v._ BUCKLEE, being an action to recover £3,500, +which had been secured on a bond given by Messrs. Thomas and William +Bucklee to William Shaw, Esq., of Britannia House, Worcester. It was +said that Mr. Shaw, shortly before his death, had cancelled the bond by +cutting it off. It was said by the executors that Mr. Shaw was not in a +state of mind to cancel the bond; and that his housekeeper, who was a +relation of the Bucklees, appeared to have great influence with Mr. Shaw. +A great deal of evidence was given as to the transaction itself, at which +interested parties were present and took much part, and as to Mr. Shaw’s +state of health at the time. The jury, after an hour’s deliberation, +found a verdict for the defendant. + +A case which excited great interest in the city of Worcester, was the +trial of Charles Samuel Atkins, a young man respectably connected, who +was in the employ of Messrs. Griffiths and Clarke, linen drapers, as a +shopman. He was charged with embezzling £4, the property of his +employers, on the 27th of September, 1842. Atkins had been sent to Mrs. +Jeremy with a shawl and some satinette, and on his return said Mrs. +Jeremy had kept the shawl and not paid for it, and had retained the +satinette for approval. Mrs. Jeremy declared that she paid the person +who brought the shawl four sovereigns on the spot. It was shown that in +the very next week Mrs. Jeremy had had some satinette sent her from Hill +and Turley’s, by a young man remarkably like the prisoner, and that came +to very nearly the same sum as the shawl; and it was suggested that Mrs. +Jeremy might have confounded the two transactions. The jury returned a +verdict of “Not guilty,” and the court immediately echoed with deafening +cheers, while Atkins fainted away. Mr. Sergeant Talfourd conducted the +prosecution, while Mr. Bodkin, of the Old Bailey, was specially retained +for the defence. The linen drapers’ assistants of the city afterwards +presented Mr. Atkins with a silver snuff box. + +Mary Francis, 24, single woman, was charged with attempting to poison +Mary Jeffs, an elderly woman, living at Alderminster. The prisoner +brought the old woman a cake, pretending that some one had given it her +to make a present of it to the prosecutrix, but the strangeness of her +manner in delivering it, and her continually saying that she was only to +eat of it herself, excited the old woman’s suspicions. The cake was +analysed, and was found to contain a large quantity of arsenic. The +prisoner was courted by the old woman’s son; but not the slightest motive +could be assigned for her wish to deprive the mother of life. She was +found guilty, and sentenced to fifteen years’ transportation. + +1844—At the Lent Assizes was tried the QUEEN _v._ SMITH, being an action +brought by William Harris, the parish clerk of Overbury, against the Rev. +William Smith, the vicar, for dismissing him from his situation. Mr. +Smith alleged that the clerk had been guilty of drunkenness, had read the +responses irreverently, and had interrupted the celebration of the +sacrament on a particular occasion. Harris denied the whole of these +charges, and the present trial was on a return to a mandamus in the Court +of Queen’s Bench to ascertain their truth. Various witnesses were +examined on both sides: those for Harris asserting that it was Mr. +Smith’s eccentricities that alone caused the clerk to err. The jury +found that the charges of drunkenness were proved, and that Harris had +spoken the responses loudly to annoy Mr. Smith, but that the charge of +interrupting the sacrament was not true. The court, thereupon, ordered +the verdict to be entered for defendant. + +1844—MARCH 23—At Hereford Assizes was tried BELLERS _v._ CHALK AND HOLL, +being an action for libel, said to be contained in a paragraph in the +_Worcester Herald_ of the 2nd of December, 1843. Colonel Bund, of +Malvern, gave some information to the proprietors of the _Herald_, on the +strength of which they inserted a paragraph charging Mr. Bellers, of +Barnard’s Green, with cruelty to his mare, by shutting her up for years +in solitary confinement in such a position that she could not lie down. +Several statements afterwards appeared in the _Herald_ to the effect that +the cruelty to the mare had been abated after the publication of the +paragraph, and reporting the proceedings of a meeting, held at +Gloucester, for establishing a society for the prevention of cruelty to +animals. The Lord Bishop of the Diocese presided at that meeting; and +Mr. Thomas, the secretary of the Society in London for Preventing Cruelty +to Animals, attended, and stated that he had personally inquired into the +alleged case of cruelty, and had found the statement in the _Herald_ to +be correct. On the trial, Mr. Whateley, Mr. Gray, and Mr. Godson were +counsel for plaintiff; Mr. Sergeant Talfourd and Mr. Valentine Lee for +the defendants. Acting on the advice of counsel, defendants had not +pleaded a justification. The publication of the libel was admitted; of +course, no evidence could be offered in justification, and the jury found +a verdict for plaintiff, as they were bound to do under the +circumstances: damages, £150. + +1844—At the Midsummer Assizes, John Bowen, a man of about fifty years, +formerly an officer in the navy, was tried on the charge of defacing the +parish registers of Croome D’Abitot, and sentenced to seven years’ +transportation. It was shown that Bowen was engaged in making out a +pedigree for a John Wood, who wanted to establish himself as a relation +to the celebrated James Wood, of Gloucester, and had visited the Croome +D’Abitot rectory several times for that purpose. While the curate was +looking in another direction he tore a leaf out of the register. Mr. +Sergeant Talfourd was for the prosecution, and Mr. F. V. Lee for the +defence. + +THE QUEEN _v._ NEWTON, also tried at the Assizes, was a charge against +the eccentric barrister of that name, who used to come the Oxford +circuit, of having committed perjury, said to have been committed in some +affidavits. The presiding judge, Mr. Sergeant Atcherley, stopped the +case, as insufficiently supported in the evidence. + +1844—At the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions a singular trial took place of +two farmers, named Swan and Patrick, who were charged with killing deer +belonging to W. L. Childe, Esq., in Kyre Parva park. The witness against +them was a boy named Passey, who said he saw the parties accused chase a +fine buck into one corner of the inclosure and then shoot it; but there +were some discrepancies in his testimony. Both these farmers lived close +to Mr. Child, and as the fences were not in the best possible condition, +the deer used frequently to get on their land and eat their corn. Mr. +Lee made an ingenious speech for the defence, and called many witnesses +to character; after which the jury returned a verdict of not guilty, amid +the applause of the court. + +1845—At the Lent Assizes, eleven poachers were put on their trial for the +murder of Thomas Staite, one of the Earl of Coventry’s watchers, who was +killed in a very desperate affray which took place between the keepers +and the prisoners on the 19th of the previous December. One of them, +however, named George Lippett, was admitted as Queen’s evidence; and +another, Francis Dingley, while in prison made a full confession of the +whole transaction. The keepers and watchers were nine in number, and +they encountered the party of poachers at the gate leading into Park +Farm, Pirton. A fight with bludgeons took place, in which the keepers +were altogether worsted, and one or two of them left for dead. The +poachers also fired off two guns, but the shots did not take effect. The +unfortunate man, Staite, was found by his comrades, after the affray was +over, in a ditch close by the Park Farm house, so badly used that he +could not speak; and, indeed, he never uttered a word from that hour. He +was taken first to a neighbouring cottage, and then to the Worcester +Infirmary, where he died in six days. The identity of all the prisoners, +and the part they had each taken in the affray, was very clearly made out +by the evidence of four of the watchers and the statement of the approver +Lippett. Mr. Godson, in a very able speech for the prisoners, contended +that the case was not made out by the evidence of the keepers, and that +Lippett was not to be believed; ending with a protest against the game +laws generally, as the cause of much injustice and innumerable crimes. +The Lord Chief Baron Pollock, before whom the case was tried, told the +jury that they might find the prisoners guilty of manslaughter; and, +acting upon this hint, the jury returned a general verdict against all +the prisoners of “Guilty of manslaughter.” Witnesses to character were +then called on behalf of some of the prisoners, and his lordship +sentenced them to different terms of transportation as they seemed to +have taken an active part or otherwise in the attack upon the keepers. +Francis Dingley, Samuel Turvey, Joseph Turvey, and Joseph Tandy were +transported for life; Thomas Hooper, William Broomfield, and John Cook +transported for ten years; George Brant for seven years; and Thomas +Cosnett and William Collins were sentenced to two years’ imprisonment. +The prisoners were all Pershore men, but the case excited the most +intense interest in that part of the county. + +1846—At the Midsummer Assizes, Richard Farley, cabinet maker, fifty-three +years of age, and Ann Jones, a married woman, were tried for forging the +will of William Welch, of Llandilion, near Abergavenny. The will was +first produced and attempted to be used in Worcester—hence the trial took +place here. Farley was Welch’s son-in-law, and the will conveyed some +property at Aston Ingham to him instead of to his own son, William Welch. +A number of witnesses declared that the will was not in the handwriting +of the deceased, and that one at least of the signatures was written by +the prisoner himself. Ann Jones was an attesting witness, and repeatedly +asserted the genuineness of the will. Farley was sentenced to fifteen +years’ transportation, and Jones to twelve months’ imprisonment. + +1847—At the Lent Assizes this year, a trial took place which excited +considerable interest—that of HARRIS _v._ GRISSELL, being an action +brought by Mr. George Harris, carpet manufacturer, of Stourport, against +(really) the Severn Navigation Commissioners, though the ostensible +defendants were the contractors of the works—Messrs. Grissell and Peto. +Mr. Harris had a mill on the Stour, and he said that owing to the +erection of the weir at Lincombe, the water in the Stour had been so +pounded up as frequently to stop his undershot wheels, and to render his +mill useless. A great number of witnesses were examined on both sides, +and the learned judge (Mr. Sergeant Gazelee) having told the jury that +there was no defence to the action, they returned a verdict for the +plaintiff, with £500 damages; but this extraordinary summing up of the +judge’s enabled the defendants to get a rule for a new trial, and the +matter never proceeded further. + +1847—At the Midsummer Assizes, Harklas Lovell Blewitt, a travelling +tinker, was tried for the murder of his wife at Dudley, on the 3rd of +June. They were staying at a lodging house, and the wife, to escape the +ill-treatment of her brutal spouse, hid herself in the coalhole; he +followed her there with a kettle of hot water, and, holding her down with +one hand, poured it over her head and shoulders. She was so dreadfully +scalded that she died in ten days; but though there was no pretence for +saying that it was unintentionally done, the jury, to the amazement of +the court, returned a verdict of “Guilty of manslaughter” only, and the +fellow was sentenced to transportation for twenty years. + +1848—At the Lent Assizes, four men, named Cartwright, Sweatman, Payne, +and Turberfield, were charged with breaking into the toll house at +Knighton-on-Teme, kept by an old man named John Mound, and his wife, and +stealing £115. The burglars used very violent threats towards the poor +old people, who most distinctly swore to all four of the men as the +parties who robbed and assailed them. They were consequently found +guilty, and sentenced to fifteen years’ transportation each. Yet it was +afterwards distinctly proved that Turberfield was not engaged in the +robbery, and he received a free pardon. Two other men, convicted of +burglary at these assizes, on what appeared to be the clearest evidence, +were discharged by the Secretary of State, because it was afterwards +proved, beyond contradiction, that the crime had been committed by other +men. + + + + +EXECUTIONS. + + +THE county has of late years been almost wholly spared the painful +spectacle of justice proceeding to its direst extremity of taking away +human life, though formerly capital punishments were but too common, and +inflicted for what we should now esteem very inadequate causes of +offence. Their policy and propriety in any case are now allowed to be +fit matters for discussion; and it is probable that public opinion may, +in a few years hence, demand their entire abolition. + +1800—At the Lent Assizes this year, ten persons were sentenced to death, +but seven of them were reprieved before the judges left the town. +Richard and John Lane, brothel’s, were convicted of the murder of Thomas +Goode, of Redmarley, in October, 1799. They were impatient to possess +some property which would be theirs at his death, and having waylaid him, +both shot him—one with a gun, the other with a pistol. They were +executed on the 10th of March, and each died uttering execrations on the +other. + +1800—At the Summer Assizes, thirteen persons were sentenced to death, and +three of them executed—one for burglary, and two for sheep stealing. +They are said to have died “with the utmost resignation, and +acknowledging the justice of their sentences.” + +1801—At the Lent Assizes, five persons were sentenced to death for +burglary, a woman for stealing two £10 notes, five men for highway +robbery, three for horse stealing, one for stealing a cow, another for +stealing two calves, four for sheep stealing, and two for escaping from +prison after sentence of transportation—twenty-two in all! Six of these +were left for execution; but great interest being made for some of them, +only one was actually hung. + +1803—MARCH—Richard Colledge executed for horse stealing. + +1803—JUNE—Thomas Beach executed for uttering a forged £5 note. + +1805—MARCH 22—John Sanky, _alias_ Young, convicted at the Assizes just +concluded of uttering a forged bill of exchange, with intent to defraud +Messrs. Knapp and Lee, glovers, of Worcester, was executed on a temporary +gallows erected in Salt Lane. He addressed the spectators for a full +half hour, acknowledging the justice of his sentence, and expressing his +confident hope of pardon through the righteousness and atonement of our +Saviour. He had attempted, in the interval between his sentence and +condemnation, to escape from the gaol, but he now declared that he never +entertained any idea of doing the gaoler or turnkey any personal injury. +_He then gave out three verses of a hymn_, _and was joined in singing +them by many of the persons who surrounded the fatal tree_; after this he +prayed aloud in a very solemn manner for himself and the spectators. +Several distressing mistakes were made by the executioner, but the +unhappy sufferer retained his composure amidst all these blunders, and +appeared to die with absolute cheerfulness. This young man was evidently +possessed of considerable talents, but they had been miserably +misapplied. + +1805—AUGUST 16—W. Dalton, convicted before Lord Ellenborough at the +Summer Assizes of two burglaries, one at Astley and the other at +Kidderminster—executed at Red Hill. His demeanour was becoming. + +1806—MARCH 19—John Davenport and William Lashford hung at Red Hill for a +burglary at Bellbroughton. They confessed their crime, and behaved in a +becoming manner. + +1812—MARCH 20—William Scale was executed in the field of the New Gaol for +committing a rape at Norton, near Worcester. He is described as +“penitent, resigned, and met his fate with the fortitude becoming his +deplorable situation.” + +1815—JULY 21—William White was executed on a gallows erected “in the +outer circle of the County Gaol,” for a rape on Ann Davis of Beoley. He +is declared to have died, “as since his condemnation he had lived, full +of contrition and piety.” + +1816—MARCH 22—William Clements and John Batty executed at the County +Prison for breaking into the dwelling house of Mr. Martin of Paxford, and +stealing a large sum of money; and John Rowen for forging and uttering a +bill of exchange for £315 on Messrs. Cox, Merle, and Co., bankers, +London, with intent to defraud Messrs. Attwood and Co., bankers, +Worcester. + +1818—JULY 31—William Corfield sentenced to death for a burglary at the +house of George Jukes of Tenbury, was executed at the new drop erected +over the entrance to the County Gaol. He had conducted himself after his +trial in a very refractory manner, and could not be brought to +acknowledge the justice of his sentence. Shortly before his execution he +wrote an exceedingly sensible and properly worded letter to his wife. + +1819—MARCH 19—John Harris convicted of uttering forged Bank of England +notes at Bromsgrove, hung in front of the County Gaol. He died +“sincerely penitent.” + +1820—MARCH 17—Robert Hollick, convicted of robbing Thomas Gittins and +Thomas Hawker on the highway at Claines, and cruelly ill-treating the +latter, was this day executed. As he was being led out of his cell, his +mother, sister, wife, and child, came to see him, not having visited him +previously. The execution was delayed awhile to grant them an +interview—which, as may be supposed, was a most distressing one. It did +not, however, unnerve the culprit, who died with great firmness, though +fully admitting the justice of his sentence. + +1821—MARCH 23—Thomas Dyer, capitally convicted of horse stealing, was +executed at the County Gaol, but died protesting his entire innocence of +the crime laid to his charge. He left a paper behind him, stating the +names of the parties from whom he bought the horses, and the sums of +money he had given for them; but it does not appear that anybody thought +it worth while to make further inquiries about the matter. + +1821—AUGUST 24—William Mantle and William Bird were executed at the +County Gaol; the former convicted of stealing sheep, the property of Mr. +Henry Hyde of Little Kyre; and the latter of breaking into the house of +Mr. John Bird of Bromsgrove, and stealing wearing apparel, &c. The ropes +were nearly extended to their full length when tied round the unhappy +culprits’ necks, so that scarcely any fall took place, and they died in +great agony, especially Bird. Their remains were interred in St. +Andrew’s churchyard. + +1823—MARCH 24—James Davis and Joseph Rutter, two young men convicted at +the Lent Assizes—the former of horse stealing and the latter of sheep +stealing—were executed at the County Gaol. Davis was a deserter from the +army, and appeared to have stolen from sheer want. Rutter’s had been a +long course of crime. Davis began to address the crowd when brought upon +the scaffolding, warning them to avoid Sabbath breaking and vicious +practices; when Rutter said, impatiently, “Come, let’s have no more of +that;” and they were immediately hurried into eternity. He literally +preferred hanging to a homily. + +1826—JULY 21—John Hobday, a young man only twenty-one years of age, +having been convicted at the Midsummer Assizes of a burglary at the Bell +Inn, Kidderminster, and a savage assault upon the officers who +apprehended him at Birmingham, was executed at the County Gaol this day. +He was reported to be very penitent, and prepared for death. + +1830—MARCH 11—Michael Toll, convicted of the wilful murder of Ann Cook, a +woman with whom he lived, by knocking her into a pit at Oldswinford, was +executed this day in front of the County Gaol. His body was given to the +surgeons to anatomise, and afterwards exposed to public gaze at the +Infirmary. In his stomach were found a number of pieces of blanket, +which he had swallowed in order to produce suffocation. + +1830—JULY 30—Charles Wall, convicted at the Summer Assizes of the murder +of Sally Chance, at Oldswinford, was executed in front of the County +Prison at six o’clock p.m., the execution having been deferred to that +unusual hour in consequence of the election taking place that day. His +body was delivered to a surgeon at Stourbridge, and afterwards exposed to +view to great crowds who came from all the surrounding parts to see it. +The party murdered was a little girl, whose mother the prisoner was about +to marry, and he killed her by throwing her into a lime pit. + +1830—AUGUST 13—Thomas Turner, a lad only seventeen years of age, +convicted at the same Assizes of a rape upon Louisa Blissett, a child +under ten years of age, at New Wood, about three miles from +Kidderminster, was executed this day. + +1831—MARCH 25—Thomas Slaughter, _a lad not eighteen years of age_, was +executed for setting fire to a large wheat rick, the property of Mrs. +Rebecca Tomlinson, of Elmley Lovett. The poor fellow was wholly +uneducated, and evidently of weak intellect. + +1832—MARCH 22—James and Joseph Carter, two brothers, aged twenty and +twenty-two respectively, and condemned at the Lent Assizes for two cases +of highway robbery at night, with violence, in the neighbourhood of +Bewdley, this morning underwent the extreme penalty of the law in front +of the County Gaol. Both men met death with firmness, but without +bravado; and Joseph Carter addressed the populace from the scaffolding, +warning them to avoid Sabbath breaking, drunkenness, and bad women. The +crowd on this occasion behaved with unusual decorum, and seem really to +have been impressed with a feeling of sadness at seeing two persons +hurried out of life so early. + +1834—MARCH 12—Robert Lilly, convicted at the Lent Assizes of the murder +of Jonathan Wall, at Bromsgrove, was executed in front of the County +Gaol. Wall had interfered to prevent his ill-using his wife, and Lilly +stabbed him in the abdomen with a clasp-knife. There was a large +concourse of spectators at the execution—principally females, but the +culprit did not address them, and he died without a struggle. + +1837—MARCH 23—William Lightband, executed in front of the County Gaol for +the murder of Joseph Hawkins, shopkeeper, of Areley Kings, on the 8th +September, 1836. He was a carpenter, entirely without education, and had +pursued a sottish and irregular mode of life. However, the instruction +he received when in prison seemed to have had effect upon his mind, and +he met death in becoming manner. Though it snowed during the whole +morning there was a great concourse of spectators, and the Rev. Mr. Dodd, +assistant minister at the Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel, afterwards addressed +them. Their behaviour was more decent than usual on such occasions. + +1849—MARCH 26—The last execution which took place in Worcester was that +of Robert Pulley, who was condemned to death for the barbarous murder of +a poor girl, named Mary Ann Staight, at Broughton, on the 5th of +December, 1843. The manners of the prisoner were so brutish and careless +as to induce a doubt in his sanity; and at the expense of the High +Sheriff, Mr. John Dent, counsel was provided at his trial to defend him +on this ground. It was also made the plea for a memorial to the Home +Secretary on his behalf, which was signed by many benevolent persons, and +by those opposed to all capital punishments. His conduct after trial, +however, was such as to convince all who conversed with him of his +perfect rationality. He was lamentably ignorant; but listened with much +attention to the exhortations of the ministers who visited him. He +displayed great firmness in his last moments. The execution took place +at noon on the roof of the County Gaol, in the presence of a large crowd +of spectators, who behaved with much propriety. + +The excitement occasioned by this execution produced much discussion as +to the expediency of capital punishments. A public meeting was held in +the Guildhall, Worcester, by those who wished their abolition, at which +Mr. Charles Gilpin attended and spoke. Mr. George Grove attempted to +show that Scripture contained a command which was conclusive on the +subject, and required us to shed the blood of the man who took away the +life of another; but a resolution, declaring capital punishments to be +opposed to the spirit of Christianity and inexpedient, was carried almost +unanimously. The Rev. W. H. Havergal and Dr. Redford also preached upon +the subject—the former in favour of, and the latter against, death +punishments. + + + + +RAILWAYS. + + +THE County of Worcester has hitherto been very poorly supplied with +Railway communication—a strange fatuity having attended the various +undertakings which have been projected for meeting its necessities in +this respect. Worcester itself was, indeed, almost shut out from this +advantage, now so indispensable to prosperity, till the half century had +closed; but a brighter day appears now to be dawning upon us. + + + +BIRMINGHAM AND GLOUCESTER. + + +THIS is the only railway which has yet been completed in this county, and +it was promoted chiefly by parties living at the termini, who made it +their only object to carry it in as straight a line as possible from +point to point, with very little reference to the convenience of the +towns by the way. If the shareholders could have foreseen the disastrous +influence of such a policy upon their own funds, they would certainly +have taken a different course, even though they felt no interest in the +prosperity of the places which they so much injured by passing at +considerable distances. The scheme was first projected in 1834, and the +directors obtained their act on their first application to Parliament in +1836; the line was opened from Cheltenham to Bromsgrove, in June, 1840, +and throughout the whole distance on the 17th of December in that year. +The share capital subscribed was £1,142,125, to which £380,076 was +afterwards added of money borrowed on debentures, &c. Though the line, +except at the Lickey, presented no engineering difficulties, and was +cheaply constructed, yet the rate of profit was very small; and in +October, 1842, the £100 shares were quoted as low as 41. In January, +1845, it was amalgamated with the Bristol and Gloucester Line; and in +1846, when the broad and narrow gauge interests were each making such +struggles for the ascendancy, the Midland Company entered into an +arrangement to lease the line for 999 years, paying 6 per cent. upon the +capital. The Great Western bid 5½ per cent., but would go no higher. + +This undertaking was first introduced to the notice of the citizens of +Worcester at a public meeting held on the 15th of January, 1834. The +Company were at this time about to determine upon their route, and had +two plans before them—the one eventually adopted _viâ_ Cheltenham, and +another that was to have come by way of Stourbridge, Kidderminster, and +Worcester; the former was marked out by Mr. Brunel, the latter by a Mr. +Wooddeson. In consequence of this state of things some gentlemen had +formed themselves into a provisional committee with a line of their own, +and Messrs. Gwinnall and Hughes, the solicitors employed, procured the +calling of this meeting, in the Guildhall, Worcester, with the Mayor, W. +Dent, Esq., in the chair. The committee laid their plans, in the rough, +before the meeting, and asked a vote of sanction and support from the +meeting. Sir Anthony Lechmere wanted no railways at all. Major Bund and +Mr. Gutch proposed a month’s adjournment. But a resolution to stand by +the committee, and to approve of no railway but one which came right +through Worcester, was passed by a large majority. The Grand Connection +Railway project took its rise from the suggestions of this committee. + +The Birmingham and Gloucester Company making no attempt to obtain an act +in the session of 1835, the matter was not again discussed till the 22nd +October in that year, when a meeting was convened, over which Mr. J. W. +Lea, Mayor, presided. Some of the provisional directors were present, +and admitted that they intended to carry the line through Spetchley. Mr. +John Hyde proposed that the directors should be requested to include a +branch to Worcester in their scheme. Mr. Pierpoint said the main line +ought to be brought, and could be brought, much nearer Worcester; and if +it were not so brought, the city of Worcester ought to oppose the line by +every means. A committee of conference was appointed, and the meeting +adjourned for a week. It was then announced that the provisional +directors of the line had agreed to have a survey taken of a deviation +line from Abbott’s Wood to Norton, as well as of a direct branch to +Spetchley, and lay them both before Parliament to choose from. Several +speeches were made to show that the whole line had been contrived without +any regard to the interests of the city and county of Worcester; and on +the motion of Mr. Hooper, seconded by Mr. Deighton, it was resolved that +no railway should be sanctioned by the people of Worcester that did not +bring the main line within a mile of the city. On the 4th November +another meeting was called, to consider the propriety of surveying a line +for a railway on the western side of the Severn, to go by Kidderminster. +It was evident that the Birmingham and Gloucester directors intended to +adhere to their original plan, and so the citizens of Worcester +determined to oppose them vigorously, and entered into a subscription, +headed by fifty guineas from the corporate body, to survey a fresh line. + +On the 31st March, 1836, a public meeting was called to consider the +expediency of further opposing the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway +Company. The directors of that company had bound themselves in a penalty +of £70,000 to make a branch to Worcester, to join there the Grand +Connection Railway to Wolverhampton, and on that score the opposition to +their bill, on the part of the citizens of Worcester, had been withdrawn, +and it had passed through committee in the Commons. Mr. Waters, who had +been chiefly instrumental in calling the present meeting, said that he +thought Worcester ought to join Tewkesbury in opposing the measure in the +House of Lords. Mr. Pierpoint said the sum subscribed after the former +meeting had been totally inadequate for the purpose of opposing the bill, +and so they had to make the best terms they could—which were, that the +Railway Company should make a deviation line from Abbott’s Wood to +Oddingley, or forfeit £70,000. Mr. Pierpoint represented this as +altogether distinct and separate from the Grand Connection Railway, +although, he said, he would put the bond on the fire that night if the +opposition were determined on. The Mayor asked him how he could do that +if the bond were given him on behalf of the city, and he replied that he +had been well advised upon the point. A great deal of personal +altercation took place, and hot party feeling introduced, but the meeting +ended by Mr. Pierpoint proposing the following resolution: “That in +consequence of certain satisfactory arrangements having been entered into +between the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Company and the Grand +Connection Railway committee, the interests of this city have been so +consulted that this meeting think it unnecessary to interfere.” Mr. +Waters, in a few days afterwards, published a letter in answer to “A +Grand Connection Shareholder,” in which he declared Mr. Pierpoint to have +been proved, by this very letter of his brother shareholder, to have +deceived the whole body of his fellow citizens; inasmuch as there was +only an agreement between the Birmingham and Gloucester Company and Grand +Connection Company to carry out the deviation line between them; or if +the Grand Connection Company did not obtain their act, then the +Birmingham and Gloucester line were to make a branch from Worcester to +Abbott’s Wood. + +In April, 1839, the Company attempting to get a bill—to extend their +rails to the Berkeley Canal at Gloucester, and to raise more +capital—through Parliament, they were opposed by the Worcester Chamber of +Commerce on the ground that they had not fulfilled their engagements with +the city of Worcester. The bond which they had given to Mr. Pierpoint, +as Chairman of the Grand Connection Railway Company, binding them in a +penalty of £70,000 to make a branch from Worcester to Abbott’s Wood, was, +they said, null and void, because the Grand Connection Railway Company +had ceased to exist. The Parliamentary committee, principally in +consequence of the able and zealous exertions of Mr. John Hill, the Town +Clerk of Worcester, determined that the Company should be compelled to +introduce into the bill clauses obliging them to complete the Abbott’s +Wood branch before opening the main line for traffic. The Birmingham and +Gloucester Company, after this decision, gave up their bill. + +In 1842 the Company, having been threatened with proceedings under the +bond, offered to construct a branch with a single line of rails from +Spetchley to Sansome Fields, Worcester. A public meeting was called on +the 15th of August, to consider this proposal. Mr. Pierpoint and Mr. +John Dent moved the acceptance of the proposal. Mr. E. L. Williams and +Mr. Waters moved, as an amendment, that the city should abide by the +bond, and be satisfied with nothing less; and after a long discussion the +Mayor put the matter to the vote, and declared the amendment carried. + +In 1843 the Company brought two bills before Parliament—the one a money +bill, and the other to get powers to make a branch from Bredicot to +Worcester. The latter was opposed in committee by Mr. Berkeley, of +Spetchley, on the ground of an agreement between him and the Company that +such a division of his lands should not be made. The other was opposed +by the Worcester Town Council and Chamber of Commerce, with a view of +getting justice done to the city; and they procured the insertion of +clauses binding the Company to abide by an award of the Board of Trade in +the matter. General Pasley was accordingly sent down by the Board of +Trade to survey the county in September; and upon his report, and a +hearing of the several interests, they issued their award in the +following April. By this the Railway Company were called upon to make a +branch from Bredicot to the Bath Road, Worcester. But no further steps +were ever taken in the matter. Such a branch as the one proposed would +only have been in the way when the Oxford and Wolverhampton line was +constructed; and with that the public mind was now occupied. As to “the +bond,” that is still a subject of profound mystery, and much perplexes +the good people of Worcester. + + + +THE GRAND CONNECTION RAILWAY PROJECT. + + +THE origin of this project has been already mentioned. + +In December, 1835, a public meeting was held in Worcester, over which the +Mayor, J. W. Lea, Esq., presided; at which it was fully determined to +proceed with this Railway, which was to go from Gloucester to Worcester, +on the western side the river; to cross the Severn at Worcester, thence +direct to Kidderminster, and afterwards to Birmingham in one direction +and Wolverhampton in another. The capital was to consist of 800,000 +shares of £50 each. The shares were taken up pretty freely, and the bill +was read a second time, and went into committee in March, 1837. It was +strenuously opposed there by the Birmingham Canal Company, and by several +landowners. The preamble was, however, declared proved. The committee +divided on the point, and the numbers were—for, 15; against, 14. General +Lygon, the chairman of the committee, was most indefatigable in promoting +the undertaking. The bill was thrown out on bringing up the report in +the House of Commons, by a majority of 165 to 88. The principal argument +used against it was that it would destroy the beauty of the county of +Worcester. Its defeat was principally owing to the landowners. It was +attempted to be revived in the following year, but without success. + + * * * * * + +IN 1840 the Railway Commissioners were engaged in determining what would +be the most desirable route for a grand trunk line which should connect +the metropolis with the Welsh coast, so that the quickest possible +communication might be made with Ireland. One project was to carry a +line from Port Dynllaen, in Brecknockshire, to Didcot, on the Great +Western line; and in this the people of Worcester felt much interested. + +1840—MARCH 17—A public meeting was held in Worcester in favour of this +line; and in the absence of the Mayor, Mr. Chalk, who was in London to +present the address of congratulation from the town council to Her +Majesty, John Dent, Esq., was called to the chair. A report from the +Chamber of Commerce on the subject of the meeting was read by Mr. +Alderman Edward Evans, and it was resolved to procure subscriptions in +order to obtain another survey of the line of country from the Royal +Commissioners. A similar meeting was held in the next week at Evesham. + +The Chester and Holyhead route, though the longest by several miles, was +eventually preferred by the Commissioners, because Holyhead was the +better harbour and starting point for vessels. + + * * * * * + +IN 1842 a branch railway was projected to connect Evesham with the +Birmingham and Gloucester Railway at Eckington, but it was strenuously +opposed by the owners of lands through which it must have passed, and was +thereupon abandoned. + + * * * * * + +THE railway mania of 1845 of course did not leave Worcestershire +uninfected. No fewer than twenty-seven schemes, having more or less +reference to this county, were advertised in the Worcester papers, with +long statements of imaginary advantages and abundance of “provisional +directors.” The Welsh Midland; Worcester, Tenbury, and Ludlow; +Worcester, Warwick, and Rugby; and Worcester, Hereford, Ross, and +Gloucester, were those which found most favour with the Worcester public. +A great number of meetings were held in reference to them all over the +county, and every scheme was enthusiastically received everywhere; it is +quite useless, however, to allude to them further, as, without a single +exception, they were utterly resultless, excepting in abstracting money +from the pockets of people who could ill afford to lose it. The 30th +November was at Worcester, as at all other places, a day of great +excitement—the promoters of the various schemes which had just started +into existence having, before twelve o’clock on that night (Sunday), to +deposit their plans and sections with the clerks of the peace. Plans for +no less than thirty-six railways were deposited at the office of the +Clerk of the Peace for this county, {156} and thirteen with the Clerk of +the Peace for the city. + +The early part of the year 1846 was occupied with “amalgamations” and +“arrangements;” then came the ordeal of standing orders, and very few +survived that. In some instances ingenious engineers had made rivers run +up-hill, and canals swim over bridges, instead of allowing the bridges to +bestride the canals; while in many cases the most trivial error of +misdescription or omission to serve a notice was sufficient to extinguish +a scheme of real utility. Then ensued the panic and “winding up”—very +few of the scripholders ever obtaining any return out of their deposits. +Only six of all the projects connected with Worcestershire received the +sanction of the legislature, and only three of the rest were resuscitated +in the coming season; these were the Shropshire Union (Shrewsbury to +Worcester), the Worcester and Hereford (Midland Company’s project), and +the Worcester, Tenbury, and Ludlow. The last mentioned, however, seemed +only to have been continued for speculating purposes, and was speedily +withdrawn. The Worcester and Hereford line was warmly supported by the +citizens of Worcester in a public meeting held in February, 1847, but it +was thrown out on standing orders; and the Shropshire Union was also +abandoned. + + + +OXFORD, WORCESTER, AND WOLVERHAMPTON. + + +THE first meeting at Worcester with reference to railway communication +between that city and the metropolis, _viâ_ Oxford, was as follows: + +1844—MARCH 19—The Mayor presided at a very respectable gathering of +tradesmen of the city in the Guildhall, and Mr. F. T. Elgie made a +statement of the proposal by the Great Western Company to construct what +is now known as the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway, and +requested the support of the citizens to the scheme. Mr. W. S. P. Hughes +said the Grand Connection Railway would answer all the purposes of the +city of Worcester, and that was to be brought before Parliament again +immediately, with every prospect of success. A resolution in favour of +the line proposed by Mr. Elgie was, however, carried unanimously. The +merits of the two lines were discussed at a public meeting at +Kidderminster, on the 4th of April, at which Mr. Elgie and Mr. Hughes +supported their respective schemes, and the Oxford line had a majority in +the meeting of three to one. + +1844—MAY 9—Another railway meeting was held in the Guildhall this day, +with the Mayor in the chair, to support one or other of the schemes for +connecting Worcester with London. Mr. Elgie and Mr. Brunel appeared for +the Oxford line, and Mr. Taunton and Mr. Addison for a line from +Worcester through Evesham and Leamington, to join the London and North +Western Railway. This was to be only a single line of rails. Mr. Brunel +assured the meeting that the Oxford line was supported by the Great +Western, and that £1,000,000 would be sufficient for its construction. +Mr. Hughes, on behalf of the promoters of the Grand Connection Railway, +said the cost of the line from Worcester to Wolverhampton alone would be +above a million; and proposed, as an amendment, that it would be +premature to express an opinion in favour of any particular line till +they had more details before them. The meeting, however, almost +unanimously expressed itself in favour of the Great Western project. + +1844—The great town’s meeting at which the Great Western and London and +Birmingham projects for a Worcester Railway were brought into competition +for the approbation of the citizens, was held in the Guildhall on the 4th +November, William Lewis, Esq., Mayor, presiding. It was first assembled +in the Crown Court, but afterwards there was an adjournment to the outer +hall. The proceedings were commenced by Mr. Waters’s moving “That until +the Parliamentary plans were deposited, the citizens were in no position +to decide upon the eligibility of the schemes proposed to them.” Mr. J. +W. Lea seconded this proposition. Mr. Leader Williams denied that the +Great Western were _bonâ fide_ in their scheme, and until the plans were +deposited they could have no security that they would go on with it. Mr. +Elgie retorted that Messrs. Waters and Williams wanted no railway at all. +The motion was negatived by a very large majority. Mr. Alderman +Matthews, Mr. Francis Rufford, and Mr. Barlow spoke on behalf of the +Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line, which again received the +almost unanimous adhesion of the citizens, Mr. E. Shelton, of Thorngrove, +alone putting in a word for the London and Birmingham Company’s line. + +1845—FEBRUARY 4—The Railway Commissioners of the Board of Trade reported +in favour of the Tring line, and against the Oxford, Worcester, and +Wolverhampton. + +1845—FEBRUARY 22—A general meeting of the Oxford and Worcester Railway +Company’s shareholders was held in the Guildhall, Worcester, at which +they determined to proceed vigorously with their own measure, in spite of +the unfavourable report of the Board of Trade. The report of the +provisional committee, read at this meeting, stated that the project had +been set on foot in the previous February, by the influential mining and +commercial interests of South Staffordshire, who afterwards applied to +the Great Western Railway Company to support and lease a line from +Wolverhampton to Banbury; but this was ultimately changed for the line to +Oxford. + +On the 26th of March a common hall was convened at Worcester, at which +the citizens unanimously agreed to petition in favour of the Oxford, +Worcester, and Wolverhampton line. A series of resolutions in favour of +the Tring line was transmitted to the Mayor, who presided, as having been +agreed to at a private meeting of its supporters at Messrs. Hyde and +Tymbs’ offices, with Mr. Francis Hooper in the chair, the day before; and +this was assigned as the reason for the non-attendance of the friends of +the London and Birmingham scheme. + +1845—APRIL 10—The inhabitants of Droitwich assembled in public meeting on +the railway question, and on the motion of W. H. Ricketts, Esq., +petitioned in favour of the Birmingham and Gloucester Company’s deviation +line, refusing to support the Oxford and Wolverhampton scheme. + +THE GREAT BATTLE OF THE GAUGES.—The Parliamentary Committee to whom had +been intrusted the duty of reporting on the various railways proposed for +this district, commenced their labours on the 5th of May. The members of +the committee were the Right Honourable F. Shaw (Dublin University), +chairman; Messrs. Bramston, Horne, Drummond, Villiers, Stuart, and +Lockhart. The lines brought before them were: + + +BROAD GAUGE. + + +1—Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway. + +2—Oxford and Rugby Railway. + + +NARROW GAUGE. + + +3—London, Worcester, and Rugby and Oxford Railway. + +4—Birmingham and Gloucester Railway—Worcester Branch and Deviation. + +5—Birmingham and Gloucester Railway—Wolverhampton Extension. + +6—London, Worcester, and South Staffordshire Railway—the Tring line. + +7—Grand Junction—Dudley Branch, Shrewsbury and Stafford, and Shrewsbury +and Wolverhampton. + +8—Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railway. + +All the great railway interests of the country thought themselves +interested in the decision of the committee, and brought their forces to +bear upon the battle; inasmuch as it was supposed that it would decide to +which of the gauges the preference should be given in coming railway +economics, and so be of vital importance to the opponent systems and the +great companies connected with them. For months prior to this contest +the press had swarmed with pamphlets, some contending that a greater +power, speed, and safety could be attained upon the broad gauge; others +requiring a uniformity of gauge throughout the country, and pointing out +the inconvenience of a break of gauge at Gloucester and elsewhere: but +the decision of the committee had very little reference to any of these +matters, and was clearly influenced by different considerations. The +principal counsel employed were Mr. Talbot and Mr. Cockburn for the +Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton line; Mr. Austin and Sergeant +Wrangham for the London, Worcester, and South Staffordshire line; Mr. +Daniell for the Birmingham and Gloucester; and Mr. Kinglake for the Great +Western Company: besides innumerable others. Mr. Austin opened the case +on behalf of the London and Birmingham line to Tring, which he contended +was all that the district could require; that it would be absurd to +introduce the broad gauge north of Birmingham; and, lastly, the Board of +Trade had reported in its favour. The witnesses connected with this +county, who were examined in its favour, were Mr. Richard Smith, mining +agent to Lord Ward (whose interests had been especially consulted in this +scheme); Mr. William Hancock, ironmaster, Cookley; Mr. W. Berrows, +ironmaster, Dudley; Mr. E. Williams, miller, Dudley; Mr. Best, +Kidderminster; Mr. H. Brinton, Kidderminster; Mr. Harris, carpet +manufacturer, Stourport; Mr. Heath and Mr. Griffiths, Bewdley; Mr. Lukin, +manager of the Weldon Tin Works; Mr. H. B. Tymbs, Mr. John Hood, Mr. A. +Wells, Mr. James Wall, and Mr. J. W. Lea, Worcester; Mr. E. Smith, +gardener, Evesham; &c. Mr. Daniell then opened the case for the +Birmingham and Gloucester Company’s Deviation line, and examined Mr. M. +Pierpoint, who said that he believed this and the Tring line would be all +that the citizens of Worcester would want, and would answer their +interests better than the Oxford and Wolverhampton line. Mr. W. +Chamberlain and Mr. Robert Hardy, with Mr. Tombs, of Droitwich, were also +examined by Mr. Daniell. Mr. Cockburn then called witnesses in favour of +the Great Western Company’s broad gauge projects: those from this county +were Mr. James Boydell, Oak Farm Iron Works, Kingswinford; Mr. Jonathan +Fardon, Stoke Works; Rev. W. H. Cartwright, Dudley; Mr. Paul Matthews, +Stourbridge; Mr. John Hill, Mr. Alderman Edward Evans, Mr. William Lewis +(Mayor), Mr. Henry Webb, Mr. Leader Williams, of Worcester; and Mr. T. A. +Foster, of Evesham. After the committee had sat twenty days, they +reported that they found the preamble of the Oxford, Worcester, and +Wolverhampton Railway and of the Oxford and Rugby lines, proved: and +those of the railways promoted by the London and Birmingham not proved, +with the Birmingham and Gloucester Deviation line. They evidently came +to this decision from a belief that the broad gauge lines were so planned +as best to answer the wants of the districts through which they passed, +and that the public favour had been generally accorded them on that +ground. The avowed intention of the Great Western Company to carry out a +line to Port Dynllaen, had also probably some influence with the +committee. The greatest excitement prevailed during the whole of the +inquiry—no change of ministry ever created greater in the lobbies of the +House—and the result seemed to be very unexpected, as shares in the Tring +line went up considerably a day or two before the decision was given. +The committee were occupied some days longer in considering the clauses +of the Oxford Company’s Bill, and gave the Birmingham and Gloucester +Company power to use the loop line at Worcester, at a remuneration to be +fixed by umpires. It being known that the London and Birmingham Company +intended to oppose the Oxford Bill in the House, petitions in favour of +that line were sent up from Worcester, Droitwich, Dudley, Blockley, and +Chipping Camden. Lord Ingestre moved that the report on the Oxford, +Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway Bill be brought up. Mr. Pakington +seconded the motion. Mr. Cobden moved, as an amendment, that an address +be presented to Her Majesty to appoint a commission to inquire into the +comparative merits of the broad and narrow gauges. Colonel Wood seconded +the amendment; which, after much debate, was lost by 247 to 113, and the +Oxford Railway Bill was read a second time. Its triumph was hailed with +great rejoicings in this county. The bill had a comparatively easy +passage through the House of Lords, though strenuously opposed in +committee by the London and Birmingham Company, and on the 4th of August +it received the royal assent. Its various successes were occasions of +excited rejoicings in Worcester. + +The first general meeting of the shareholders was held in October, at the +Guildhall, Worcester. The Yorkshire shareholders sought to set aside the +agreement between this Company and the Great Western directors, by which +the line was to be leased to the Great Western Company for 3½ per cent., +and half the surplus profits. They wished to make this an independent +line; but at the representations of the chairman and others, who, with a +too fatal confidence in the Punic faith of the Great Western, represented +that they were under such obligations to that Company in the starting of +the project and its success in Parliament, and that it would be +dishonourable to break this agreement of lease—the Yorkshire shareholders +withdrew their opposition to the reception of the directors’ report. + +1846—FEBRUARY 27—At the first half yearly meeting of the shareholders, +the chairman, Mr. Rufford, expressed his gratification at the resolution +of the Great Western Company, to “extend the guarantee to such sum as +shall appear to them necessary for the completion of the second railway +and works, and fixing the rate of interest at 4 per cent. per annum in +lieu of 3½ per cent. per annum; subject to such conditions as may appear +equitable between the two Companies.” The shareholders present seemed +pleased with this arrangement. The amount of expense incurred before a +sod of earth was turned, was £76,124; of which £36,765 went in law and +Parliamentary expenses, and £14,288 to the engineers. + +1846—AUGUST 29—The second half yearly meeting of the Oxford and +Wolverhampton Railway shareholders, held at Worcester, when it was +promised that the deviation line from Stoke to Abbott’s Wood should be +opened in twelve months, and the whole line in three years. Lord +Redesdale called upon the directors to oppose the making of the Oxford +and Birmingham line upon the broad gauge, foretelling that it would drain +all the traffic from this line. The meeting was harmonious, and thanks +very cordially voted to the directors. + +1847—AUGUST 27—Half yearly meeting of the Oxford, Worcester, and +Wolverhampton Railway shareholders, at which Mr. Brunel reported that the +loop line from Stoke to Abbott’s Wood might be finished by the end of the +year. Mr. Figgins, a London shareholder, wanted to see the agreement +with the Great Western, and to set it aside. Mr. Barlow said there never +was a lease more binding and less likely to be set aside. Mr. Elgie +produced a copy of the agreement, by which it appeared that the line was +leased to the Great Western for a permanency; and the chairman said it +guaranteed four per cent. to the shareholders on whatever amount might be +expended. The resolutions prepared by the directors were carried +unanimously. + +1849—FEBRUARY 24—At the half yearly meeting it was announced that the +interest, which had hitherto been given to the shareholders on the amount +of capital paid up, must be discontinued for want of funds; and the +directors talked of making an arrangement with the Great Western Railway +Company “more suitable to existing circumstances.” + +1849—JUNE 9—At a special meeting of the proprietors a long report was +presented from the directors, complaining that the Great Western Company +would now only give them £4 per cent. on £2,500,000 of capital, instead +of on the whole sum necessary to complete the line, as the directors had +understood them to guarantee, and had led their proprietary to believe. +A committee of proprietors was appointed to confer with the directors +upon the course to be adopted. + +1849—SEPTEMBER 1—Another special meeting of the directors, held in +London, at which the committee of proprietors, appointed at the previous +meeting, presented a report, severely impugning the conduct of the +directors in several particulars, and advised that the narrow gauge alone +should be laid down between Tipton and Abbott’s Wood, and the line +immediately opened so far. + +The year 1850 witnessed a total rupture with the Great Western Company, +and some very unpleasant meetings between the shareholders and the +directors. The Company passed two bills through Parliament—the one +authorising them to sell the Stratford Canal to the Oxford and Birmingham +Company, and the other to enable certain other companies to advance them +money for the completion of their line. The first morsel of the +railway—the half of the loop line from Worcester to Abbott’s Wood—was +opened on the 5th October, and worked by the Midland Company under +special agreement. + +In January, 1851, Lord Ward became chairman of the Company, and the whole +management passed into different hands. Messrs. Peto and Betts accepted +contracts for constructing the greater portion of the line; and +arrangements were entered into, by issuing preference shares at £6 per +cent., for raising the capital necessary to complete the undertaking, +which, it was now estimated, would cost £3,300,000 instead of the million +and a half, which was the sum originally intended to be raised. + +The preference shares were almost immediately subscribed for, and the +directors soon afterwards entered into an agreement to lease the line to +the London and North Western and Midland Companies; whereupon Lord Ward +resigned the chairmanship, and an unpleasant correspondence took place +between his lordship and Mr. Peto. The arrangement, however, was never +carried out, as an injunction was obtained by the Great Western Railway +Company to prevent any other company doing that of which they themselves +evaded the performance. + +Since that time the directors have been proceeding to lay down the line +upon the narrow gauge, and with the view of working it independently of +either of the great companies, nor have the Great Western been able to +hinder them further. The whole of the loop line was opened on the 18th +of February, 1852, and thirty-six miles of the main line, from Evesham to +Stourbridge, on the 1st May, 1852. + + + + +IMPROVEMENT OF THE RIVER SEVERN. + + +BEFORE the age of railways, the advantages to a nation as well as to a +district of having its ports brought as far inland as possible, were so +many and apparent, that it can be no wonder the improvement of the +navigation of the Severn was contemplated at an early date. It was +projected in 1784, by Mr. William Jessop, an engineer of some note at +that day; and though the science of hydraulics was then very little +understood—as, indeed, it is even now {165}—yet the nature of the bed of +the Severn and its very gentle fall, marked it out as a river easily +admitting of improvement, and not at all beyond the reach of the means +then known and practised. The plan proposed by Mr. Jessop was, so far as +can be gathered from the reports and documents still in existence, a very +fair and feasible one; he proposed to convert it into a ship canal as far +as Stourport, by means of weirs. As to the details of the scheme, we +have of course no means of judging. It was, however, opposed most +strenuously by the landowners on either bank of the river, who feared +that the weirs would prove obstructions to the current, and increase the +frequency and mischief of the floods which often cover the lands near the +banks. The project was, therefore, at that time abandoned, nor was it +ever formally broached again till 1835, when Mr. Edward Leader Williams, +an ironmonger in Worcester, pressed the matter so strongly upon his +fellow citizens, and so clearly demonstrated, by models and plans of his +own devising, that it was perfectly possible to make the river, as far as +Worcester, navigable for ships drawing twelve feet of water, that they at +length awoke to the advantages which would accrue to them by the +improvement of this outlet to “the great highway of nations.” The fears +and objections of some of the leading landowners having been overcome, a +company was started for the purpose of carrying out the scheme. + +The first public notice of the matter appeared in the _Worcester Journal_ +of November 12, 1835, when a provisional committee was announced, and the +inhabitants of Worcester called together to give their opinion upon the +plan. This meeting was held on the 30th November, when Mr. Jonathan +Worthington was called to the chair, and Mr. Bedford read the committee’s +report, which proposed that a pound lock should be erected at Gloucester, +below the ship basin lock, from which a channel of 500 yards in length +should be cut to pass Gloucester bridge, and a weir erected near Over +bridge. The Haw, Mythe, and Upton bridges were to be passed by similar +cuts, and the estimated cost of the whole scheme was £180,000; at which +sum, it was thought, a depth of twelve feet might be obtained all the way +from Gloucester to Worcester, and six feet thence to Stourport. Mr. +Leader Williams explained the details of his plan. The Earl of Coventry +declared that he should give it his hearty support; and the objections +raised by other landowners were satisfactorily answered. The money +required was to be raised in £20 shares, and the press and public of +Worcester were singularly unanimous and enthusiastic in favour of the +project. The formal prospectus of the company presently appeared—Mr. +Thomas Rhodes was announced as the chief, and Mr. E. L. Williams the +resident engineer. + +At a very numerous meeting of the shareholders held in October, 1836, +over which Mr. J. W. Lea presided, Mr. Rhodes’s report was read; and it +was decided, by a very large majority, that application should be made to +Parliament to sanction a scheme for increasing the depth of the river to +twelve feet. Some of the landowners proposed that the depth sought +should only be six feet six inches, but this suggestion met with no +support from the general body of subscribers. As soon as the people of +Gloucester found that the project was taken up thus seriously, they +entered into a systematic opposition, in which the selfish motives that +actuated them were at first sought to be flimsily concealed, but were +afterwards unblushingly avowed and unscrupulously worked out. At the +first meeting which they convened upon the subject, it was pretended that +the health of the city of Gloucester would be endangered by a stagnation +of the river at the proposed lock; that the salmon fisheries would be +destroyed, and the lands on the banks overflowed: therefore they, the +citizens of Gloucester, felt bound to oppose the scheme! Afterwards they +distinctly declared that they would fight it tooth and nail, because it +would take part of their trade further up the river. Many of the +landowners, too, could not be convinced but that any alteration of the +river, if it did not increase the floods, would at least impede the +drainage, and render their lands permanently cold and damp. The +Shropshire traders, and a majority of the Worcester and Birmingham Canal +Company, both of whom feared that the tolls raised would interfere with +their receipts, were also its opponents; though, as regards the Canal +Company, nothing could be more shortsighted. + +The bill was introduced into Parliament in the session of 1837, and was +opposed on standing orders, but passed these successfully. The most +urgent efforts were then made by the Gloucester interest to defeat the +measure on the second reading, and with but too much success. Captain +Winnington moved the second reading on the 12th of April, and Captain +Berkeley moved that it be read on that day six months; the principal +argument he made use of was, that it would _be imposing a tax on a free +river_! The bill was supported alike by the Government and by the leader +of the opposition, Sir Robert Peel; but the private influence brought to +bear by interested parties was not to be outweighed by the arguments of +statesmen, or enlarged considerations of national benefit. The bill was +thrown out by a majority of 149 to 124. The Gloucester people were +characteristically grateful to their two city members for their +“unwearied exertions” in opposition to the bill. + +The shareholders met again in September, 1837, and a very able report +from the committee was laid before them, in which it was stated that the +whole plan had been laid before the most eminent engineers of the day, +and some trifling alterations in detail agreed to; but they could not +recommend the shareholders to seek any less depth of water than twelve +feet: and as steps had been taken to conciliate the landowners, they +thought another application might be made to Parliament with every +prospect of success. £15,000 had been received on the shares, but on the +call which had been made £4,000 were still in arrear. The expenses had +amounted to £11,700. The shareholders almost unanimously agreed to form +themselves into a new Company for the further promotion of the +undertaking, and a provisional committee was named for that purpose. +This committee, however, were not able to raise sufficient capital to +proceed with the ship project, and they therefore called another meeting +of the subscribers to the old Company, where Mr. Cubitt gave an +explanation of a plan to increase the depth of the river to six feet six +inches up to Worcester, and to six feet from Worcester to Stourport. +This, he said, would cost £150,000. After discussion, this plan was +adopted; and the necessary number of shares having been taken, +preparation was again made for application to Parliament. In order to +get rid of every pretext for opposition from the Gloucester interests, +all thought of weirs and works near that city was abandoned; and from +Saxon’s Lode downwards it was proposed to deepen the river by dredging +only. By way of diversion, however, another scheme was started +conjointly by the Worcester and Birmingham Canal and Gloucester +interests, which was to procure a depth of five feet in the river between +Gloucester and Worcester, by means of two extraordinary moveable weirs, +to be inserted at Saxon’s Lode and Wain Lode Hill; and this, though seen +to be totally impracticable and ridiculous, was advocated in the +Gloucester papers by way of rivalry to the Severn Company’s plan, which +they continued to describe as fraught with injustice, because it would +deliver a free river into the hands of a Joint Stock Company. The funds +of the Severn Navigation Company proved insufficient to carry the scheme +out in its integrity; therefore the improvement of the river, from +Worcester to Stourport, for the present was abandoned. This alienated +the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal Company, and altogether the +opposition again got up to the measure was so strong, that after the bill +had been introduced into Parliament in the session of 1838, and the +standing orders passed, a deputation of the Worcester Company met the +Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Company proprietors, to see if some further +concessions could not be made which might get rid of the principal +objections to the scheme. The result of this interview was, that the +Gloucester and Berkeley Canal Company consented to support a project for +the improvement of the river under public commissioners, instead of a +Joint Stock Company; and the bill was therefore withdrawn, with the view +of introducing another, on the principle thus suggested, in the next +session. The shareholders in the Company were called together in +September, and received the report of the committee, but there were no +assets to divide—the additional expenses (£5,333) had just swallowed up +the deposits. The exertions of Mr. J. W. Lea, the chairman of the +Company, were acknowledged by a special vote; and many gentlemen present +declared their willingness to further any future efforts which might be +made, by all the means in their power. The year 1839 was consumed in +efforts to induce the Government to take the matter up, as they had +recently done the navigation of the Shannon; but these, though zealously +backed by Sir Denis Le Marchant, Bart., then member for Worcester, all +proved fruitless. + +In August, 1840, the shareholders of the Company were again convened at +Worcester, and another attempt resolved on to raise funds to apply to +Parliament for powers to obtain a six feet depth of water and place the +undertaking under the management of a Commission. A further call of ten +shillings per share was accordingly made, but so few of the subscribers +responded to it that another meeting was held in the ensuing month, and +the Company dissolved itself—thus ending the attempts to improve the +Severn by private enterprise and speculation. + +The gentlemen, however, who had so long and laboriously exerted +themselves to effect this great national improvement, did not lose sight +of the subject, and in a short time after the dissolution of the old +Company one of the most influential meetings ever assembled in Worcester +was convened to prosecute the matter afresh. At this meeting, held on +the 11th October, 1840, the Right Hon. Lord Ward, who was called to the +chair, made his _debût_ in public life, and advocated the cause of the +Severn Navigation Improvement in a speech of remarkable ability. Lord +Hatherton, Mr. Blakemore, M.P., the members for the city of Worcester, +and others took part in the proceedings, and the result was that a large +subscription was entered into, to which Lord Ward contributed £500, Mr. +Bailey £300, Messrs. Dent £300, for the purpose of defraying the expenses +of another application to Parliament. On this occasion the proposal was +to place the undertaking under a Commission, so that no private parties +might gain any benefit from it. No works were proposed at or near +Gloucester, yet the usual opposition was improvised in that city and by +the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company. The bill now introduced was +allowed to pass the second reading unopposed, but on its going into +committee an attempt was made to add the Monmouthshire and Birmingham +members to the committee, but this was opposed by Government as a most +inconvenient infringement of the standing orders, and was defeated by 117 +to 33. The committee consisted, therefore, of what was called “The +Worcestershire List,” which included eleven members from adjoining +counties, as well as those for this county and its boroughs, and six +selected members. E. W. W. Pendarves, Esq., was chosen chairman. + +On the 30th April, 1841, the committee sat for the first time, and then +began a struggle which, in the Parliamentary annals of private bills, had +up to that time been quite unprecedented. Twenty petitions were +presented against the bill, but for several of them nobody appeared in +support, and the opposition almost resolved itself into the +Gloucestershire, Shropshire, and Birmingham Canal interests, and the +landowners. Mr. Sergeant Merewether, Mr. Talbot, and Mr. Craig were +engaged as counsel for the bill, and Mr. Sergeant Wrangham and Mr. Austin +were the principal opposing counsel. The first day was taken up by Mr. +Sergeant Merewether’s opening speech. For eight days following the +promoters called evidence in support of the preamble—their engineers +especially being subjected to the most searching cross-examinations by +the opposition. On the tenth day Mr. Talbot summed up the evidence for +the promoters, and Mr. Austin commenced his address for the Worcester and +Birmingham Canal Company, and the examination of his witnesses occupied +two days longer. On the thirteenth day Mr. Sergeant Wrangham spoke for +the Gloucester interest. Six days more were taken up by other opponents +and their witnesses; and on the twentieth Mr. Sergeant Merewether +replied, and the committee, after a short consultation, unanimously +resolved—“That the preamble of the bill is proved.” This great victory +was not achieved, however, without most material damage to the scheme; +for in order to meet the opposition of the landowners, which evidently +had great weight with the committee, the promoters had to abandon the +weir below Upton, and consent to dredge the river up to Diglis. Weirs in +large rivers of this kind had not been much known, and it was thought +that they might increase the floods. Mr. Walker, the engineer, too, was +very positive that the required depth might be obtained by dredging, and +the committee, therefore, determined that that should have a trial—and a +most unfortunate determination it has proved. Some other important +alterations took place in the discussion of the clauses, the principal of +which was the exemption of the Shropshire trade from toll; though it +could not be denied that they would derive a benefit, like all other +traders, from the Improvement. A long discussion took place upon the +position of the lock at Diglis, which the Worcester and Birmingham Canal +Company wanted put above the mouth of their canal; but to this the +committee would not consent. The Commission, after much debate, was +constituted as follows: three justices of the peace for the county of +Worcester, three for the county of Gloucester, four for the Worcester and +four for the Gloucester town councils, one for the council of the city of +Bristol, one for Droitwich, one for Tewkesbury, one for Wenlock, one for +Newport, one for the Upper and Lower Avon Navigation and the council of +Evesham, two for Stourport, two for the Staffordshire and Worcestershire +Canal Company, two for the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company, two +for the Gloucester and Berkeley Canal, one for the Herefordshire and +Gloucester Canal, and one for the Coombe Hill Navigation—thirty in all. +{171} The toll was fixed at sixpence per ton from Gloucester to +Worcester, and fourpence per ton from Worcester to Stourport: this being +what the promoters proposed. Having by this time got near the end of the +session, the opponents of the measure sought to render all the efforts of +the committee nugatory by speaking against time; but this was seen +through and defeated by the members of the committee meeting in the +evening as well as in the morning, and at last the bill was reported to +the House. Mr. Waters, the solicitor to the bill, was publicly thanked +in the committee room for the singular exertions by which he had carried +the measure through, in the teeth of such a determined opposition. The +Parliament being prorogued immediately after the bill was reported, it +was obliged to stand over till the next session. + +In the interval there was some grumbling on the part of the Gloucester +corporation and the landowners at the large sums they had to pay for the +Parliamentary opposition, but the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company +prepared to renew the fight. It came before the committee again in +March, 1842. Some opposition was here offered on behalf of the +Tewkesbury people, but the committee would not suffer the question to be +reopened; and the only alterations made were those suggested and proposed +by the promoters themselves. On the bringing up of the report, Mr. Muntz +moved the recommittal of the bill on behalf of the Worcester and +Birmingham Canal Company, who complained of the lock at Diglis being +placed below the mouth of their canal, and of the unjust exemption of the +Shropshire trade from toll. Mr. Mark Phillips and Mr. R. Scott spoke on +the same side; while Mr. Pakington, the Honourable R. H. Clive, Mr. +Labouchere, Sir C. Douglas, Lord G. Somerset, Sir Thomas Wilde, Sir +William Rae, and Mr. Ormsby Gore spoke in favour of the bill passing at +once: and Mr. Muntz, seeing the strong feeling of the House, withdrew his +motion. There was some further opposition made in committee in the +Lords, and four days were consumed there; but the bill passed without any +material alteration; and the royal assent being given to it on the 13th +of May, 1842, it at length became the law of the land. + +The first step was taken under the act on the 7th of June, 1842, when the +commissioners met, and T. C. Hornyold, Esq., was elected chairman. Mr. +Thomas Waters was appointed clerk. Mr. William Cubitt was appointed +engineer-in-chief, Mr. E. L. Williams retaining his office as resident +engineer; and advertisements were ordered to be inserted in the +newspapers for loans. The first stone of Lincombe weir was laid on the +5th of August, 1843. + +At several subsequent meetings of the Commission, the Gloucester +commissioners amused themselves by offering every possible opposition to +the speedy progress and completion of the work; though they were, of +course, appointed for the express purpose of carrying it out. However, +they were always out-voted by those commissioners who felt their interest +and honour alike concerned in the duties assigned to them by Parliament, +and the trial weir at Lincombe was opened on December 23, 1843. Spite of +the ratiocinations of adverse engineers, and those ignoramuses who fancy +they know everybody’s business better than their own, the weir was found +to stand the current, floods, and frosts of the winter admirably, and the +barge was passed through the locks in three minutes. + +The work now proceeded rapidly—the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal +Company having advanced the necessary funds, and the contracts having +been taken by Messrs. Grissell and Peto; with the exception of one sad +accident on the 5th of August, 1844, by which twelve of the workmen +engaged at Diglis lost their lives by the upsetting of the boat in which +they were returning from their work, they were completed without a single +drawback or mishap. The lock at Diglis was opened on the 9th October, +1844; and this part of the work was thus completed in fifteen months, in +the most able and satisfactory manner, within the original estimate of +its cost, £140,000—a fact almost unexampled in the construction of great +national undertakings of this kind. The dredging, however, between +Diglis and Gloucester, occupied a longer time than had been expected, and +proved a very costly business; but this, it must always be borne in mind, +formed no part of the promoters’ scheme, but was forced upon them by the +landowners, who objected to the erection of any weirs below Diglis. + +The completion of the locks and weirs was celebrated on the 25th of +January, 1844, by a public dinner at the Guildhall, Worcester, when a +testimonial was presented to J. W. Lea, Esq., for the zeal he had always +manifested in the improvement of the river. J. S. Pakington, Esq., M.P., +occupied the chair, and Alderman Edward Evans was vice-president. +Amongst the party were Lord Hatherton, the Mayor of Worcester, T. C. +Hornyold, Esq., Captain Winnington, John Dent, Esq., William Cubitt, +Esq., &c. The testimonial, which consisted of a quantity of silver +plate, with Mr. Lea’s crest engraved on each article, was of course +presented by the chairman. + +At the close of 1846, Mr. Cubitt certified that a depth of six feet of +water had been obtained from Lincombe to Gloucester, and the Commission +consequently met on the 1st of January, 1847, and ordered tolls to be +levied at all the locks in the terms of the Act of Parliament. Some +opposition was offered, both by Gloucester Commissioners and by traders +on the river; but on Mr. Cubitt’s certificate the step of raising tolls +was obligatory on the Commission. There can be no doubt that at the time +of Mr. Cubitt making the certificate there was six feet of water in the +river, though every one saw that under the system of dredging it would be +impossible to maintain that depth in all seasons of the year. + +At the annual meeting of the Commission in September, 1847, the traders +complained that the depth of water in the river between Worcester and +Gloucester was not six feet, and expressed their belief that it could not +be secured without additional locks and weirs. The committee of works +reported to the same effect, and declared the dredging a failure. A +committee was, therefore, appointed to consider the best means of +completing the improvement between Diglis and Gloucester. + +This committee reported to a meeting of the Commission, held on the 13th +December, 1847, recommending that application should be made to +Parliament for powers to put a weir in at Tewkesbury, and to raise a dam +at Over bridge, near Gloucester, to divert the water into the other +channel and to scour out the silt accumulating there. The meeting +assumed a very unpleasant character—such personal and improper remarks +being made that Sir John Pakington, at one time, left the chair, but was +induced to return. The opposing commissioners negatived that part of the +proposal which related to the dam at the Over bridge by a majority of +seven to four. Preparation was therefore made to apply to Parliament for +the Tewkesbury weir alone; but Parliament had, at this time, taken it +into their heads that a “preliminary inquiry” ought to be made on the +spot into measures of this sort; and, accordingly, in February, 1848, +sent Mr. Cockburn Curtis, a young engineer, to take evidence, and make a +report to the Admiralty. At Gloucester he took a show of hands as to +whether the Commissioners had kept faith with the public in imposing toll +or not! Mr. Curtis’s report was in accordance with the unfriendly +influence then prevailing at the Admiralty, and he recommended a scheme +of his own instead of the Tewkesbury weir—a scheme which few people, +besides Mr. Curtis himself, have ever been able to comprehend. + +With this report in their hands, the interested opponents of all +improvement on the river waited on those members of Parliament whom they +could in any way influence, stole a march on the promoters, and threw out +the bill most unexpectedly on the second reading by a majority of 104 to +91. This was on the 6th March, 1848. + +At a meeting of the commissioners, held in October of the same year, both +parties mustered their forces, and divided, in the first place, upon the +question of who should be chairman, and 13 votes were given for Sir John +Pakington and 11 for Mr. Hyett. It was then proposed by Mr. Lea that an +application should be again made to Parliament, similar to the one of the +preceding session. It was represented that the Commission was in debt to +the contractors, principally because of the great expense incurred in +useless dredging, and that more money must be raised. After a very +stormy debate the renewed application was agreed to by the chairman’s +casting vote only, and so also were other necessary resolutions. In +minor matters the opposition had a majority. + +In February, 1849, the “preliminary inquiry” took place into the merits +of this measure. The surveyors appointed by the Admiralty on this +occasion being Captain Bethune and Mr. Veitch, C.E. These gentlemen +again reported unfavourably of the scheme as proposed by the Commission, +professing themselves desirous of seeing the river so altered below +Gloucester as to bring the tide up to Worcester! It was understood that +the great fight would again take place on the second reading, which came +on on the 23rd April, 1849. The Admiralty, Board of Trade, and +Government generally, Sir Robert Peel, &c., supported the second reading; +but the private interests in opposition prevailed, and the bill was once +more thrown out; this time by a majority of 34—191 voting against it, and +134 in its favour. + +In the session of 1850 a select committee was appointed into the working +of these “preliminary inquiries,” and in consequence of the evidence +given by Mr. Edward Leader Williams and others, proving that they only +added to the expenses of passing a bill, without performing one act of +utility which might not be better done by the inquiry before the +committee of the House, they were abolished, and Parliament returned to +its old practice in these matters. + +Since that time the Commissioners have been resting on their oars, +feeling it useless to go to Parliament again if they had the same +opposition to encounter, and trusting that the Admiralty might be induced +to take up the improvement of the river, both above and below Gloucester, +as a project of great national importance. They have, indeed, directed a +survey of the whole river to be made, and Mr. Walker has made a “hasty” +report thereon, in which he says as little as possible as to the river +above Gloucester, and makes impracticable suggestions as to its +improvement below. + +The present condition of the river is an evil example of what may be done +when men fancy their own selfish pecuniary interests will be promoted by +impeding that which would be so manifest an advantage to the country at +large, as the improvement of one of its principal rivers, so as to make +it navigable for sea-going vessels to the furthest possible point inland. +Some of them, however, are gradually awaking to the truth that no public +interest can thus be sacrificed with impunity, and to discover their own +shortsightedness in the matter. The time is not far distant when some of +those who have hitherto been the bitterest opponents of the improvement +of the river Severn will be found amongst its warmest supporters. + + + + +WORCESTER TOWN COUNCIL. + + +THE first charter of incorporation was granted to the city of Worcester +in 1261—45th Henry III. The charter of James I, granted in 1622, was, +with slight interruptions, the rule by which the city was governed up to +the time of the Municipal Reform Act; and it must be said for the old +Corporation that they appear to have been in a great measure free from +the jobbery and malversation of funds which characterised so many of +these close self-elected bodies. They had indeed a civic feast, for +which £150 was yearly allowed, and kept a cellar of good wines; but these +things were quite in accordance with the spirit of the time—some fifty +years ago. John Wheeley Lea, Esq., was Mayor at the time of the +extinction of the old body; the Earl of Coventry Recorder; Charles +Sidebottom, Esq., Deputy-Recorder (a rather doubtful office then recently +revived) and Town Clerk; and Mr. Deighton, Sheriff. Great efforts had +been made to induce the burgesses, in the election of the new body, to +make a calm and impartial choice of those persons who were really most +fitted to conduct the business of the city, without respect to their +political bias; but in the excited state of feeling which prevailed at +that time, this was found impossible; and indeed it was hardly to be +expected that the Liberals, after such an entire exclusion from office, +should make terms with their opponents—it was at last their turn to enjoy +the honours which the Tories had hitherto monopolised. The first +election took place on Saturday, December 27, 1835, when out of +thirty-six councillors, thirty-four chosen were Reformers—the +Conservatives only returning two in St. Nicholas’s Ward. + +1835—DECEMBER 30—The new body met for the first time, and took the +declarations required by the act. + +1836—JULY 1—First meeting for business, when the following Aldermen were +elected: St. John’s Ward, Mr. Joseph Hall; St. Nicholas’s, Dr. Hastings +and Mr. Edward Evans; St. Peter’s, Mr. George Allies, Mr. William Corles, +and Mr. Francis Gibb; Claines’, Mr. C. H. Hebb, Mr. Richard Evans, and +Mr. Thomas Stephenson; All Saints’, Mr. John Bradley, Mr. John Howell, +and Mr. F. Williams. Mr. F. Williams declined the honour, and Mr. Thomas +Chalk was afterwards elected in his stead. + +1836—JANUARY 2—Choice of officers—Mr. C. H. Hebb elected Mayor; Mr. +George Allies, Sheriff; and Mr. C. Sidebottom, Town Clerk. + +1836—JANUARY 14—The Council assembled for the first time in the room +which has ever since been used for their meetings. A committee was +appointed to confer with Mr. Sidebottom about separating the offices +which he held, and giving up that of Town Clerk. A finance committee was +appointed to investigate the accounts of the old body; and it was +determined to dress up the Mayor in robes of scarlet and purple. + +1836—JANUARY 21—It was agreed by a majority of 31 to 10 that Mr. +Sidebottom should continue to hold the office of Stipendiary Magistrate, +Judge of the Court of Pleas, and Town Clerk, at a salary of £500 per +annum. Mr. Stinton, Mr. Curwood, and Mr. Whitmore, barrister, were +proposed for recommendation to the Secretary of State to the office of +Recorder. Mr. Stinton had the majority of votes. Salary fixed at £150 +per annum, but afterwards reduced to £100. + +1836—JANUARY 26—The Council recommended twelve persons as magistrates to +the Secretary of State—The Mayor, Mr. Alderman R. Evans, R. Temple, Esq., +Mr. Alderman Hall, William Shaw, Esq., R. Berkeley, Esq., William +Saunders, Esq., John Dent, Esq., L. Johnstone, Esq., William Acton, Esq., +G. Farley, Esq., and Captain Thomas. Three of these gentlemen were +Conservatives. Mr. Farley and Mr. Johnstone having declined to serve, +the names of Mr. Lavender (Conservative) and Mr. Alderman Corles were +inserted in the list, but the Lord Chancellor only appointed the first +ten. The wine of the old corporation was ordered to be sold, except +fifty dozen to be applied in aid of sick poor. + +1836—FEBRUARY 18—Report made by the committee appointed to investigate +the accounts of the old corporation. The balance sheet presented to the +Council by their predecessors showed credit a balance of £1,028, while +the real fact was that the old corporation was in debt £1,170. £200 of +this sum had been promised towards the improvements in front of All +Saints’ Church, payable only on condition of the inhabitants doing their +part within a certain number of years. The new Council confirmed this +grant on the same terms. + +1836—MARCH 24—First quarterly meeting. A statement of the value of the +city property was laid before the Council; which, some being calculated +at twenty-five years’ purchase, and others at fourteen years’, was +reckoned to be worth about £43,000. In mortgages and debts to the +charities there was owing by the corporation £5,381. The gross produce +of the corporation wine was £823, being an average of nearly 64s. per +dozen. The Council determined to discontinue the practice of “fetching +the fair from St. John’s to Worcester,” as a “farce.” + +1836—APRIL 7—It was announced by Mr. Sidebottom that he had been gazetted +as police magistrate of the city; and as the holding of that office was +deemed by Government inconsistent with the town clerkship (as had been +all along foreseen), he must give up the latter. In answer to a question +by Alderman Corles, he said he intended to retain the assessorship to the +Court of Pleas. + +1836—APRIL 21—Mr. John Hill chosen Town Clerk in the room of Mr. +Sidebottom. + +1836—MAY 5—The Council received a grant of a separate Quarter Sessions, +as they had prayed. The appointment of Mr. T. Waters as Clerk of the +Peace was confirmed, and Mr. J. B. Hyde was appointed City Coroner. + +1836—JULY 7—The Attorney-General’s opinion having been taken, it was +decided that Mr. Thomas Hughes had no claim for compensation for loss of +his situation as Vice-Chamberlain under the old body. This was a subject +which had been repeatedly before the Council. + +1836—OCTOBER 6—Dinner given by the Town Council to the Mayor. Dr. +Hastings was in the chair, and proposed the health of Mr. Hebb in +flattering terms; describing him as a benevolent medical man, an author +of some celebrity—having translated the works of some French pathologists +at a time when there was little communication with the continent—and the +constant advocate of the diffusion of useful knowledge. As their chief +magistrate he had laid them all under a great debt of obligation. “The +Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese” was responded to by the Rev. T. +Pearson, and “The Dissenting Ministers” by Dr. Redford; “The Members for +the County” was answered by Mr. Cookes, Captain Winnington, and Mr. +Holland; and Mr. Robinson answered for the city members. Colonel Davis +responded for the “Magistrates of the County,” and was most +enthusiastically received. 306 sat down at table. + +1836—NOVEMBER 9—The Council, in entering on their second year of office, +reëlected Mr. Hebb as Mayor, and chose Mr. Alderman Gibb as Sheriff. +There were scarcely any changes made in the body at the election on the +1st of this month. + +1837—APRIL 11—The Council agreed to the by-laws which have since, with +little alteration, been acted upon. + +1837—JULY 10—Addresses voted to the Queen Dowager (of condolence for her +bereavement), and to the Queen Regnant on her accession. The Mayor, Mr. +Sheriff Gibb, and Mr. Alderman Hall were ordered to present the latter. + +1837—NOVEMBER—The election this year did not alter the position of +parties at all. A very warm vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Hebb for +his services as Mayor for two consecutive years, and Mr. George Allies +was elected in his stead. Mr. Alderman Stephenson was elected Sheriff. + +1837—NOVEMBER 23—Mr. Deighton presented a petition from 126 farmers, +holding 25,000 acres of land, praying the council to provide them with a +covered corn market. Some gentlemen proposed that they should use the +Town Hall, but eventually a committee was appointed. + +1837—NOVEMBER 27—The Council petitioned Parliament for an alteration in +the fees and regulations in passing private bills. + +1837—DECEMBER 15—The Council decided against Mr. Deighton’s proposition +to allow a salary of fifty guineas to the Mayor, by a majority of 23 to +12. + +1837—DECEMBER 28—The Council decided against Mr. Alderman Chalk’s motion +to throw open their meetings to the public, by 24 to 6. + +1838—FEBRUARY 21—The Council refused to remove the Corn Market to Angel +Street, or to grant the petition of the agriculturists to sell the old +Sheep Market as a site for a new Corn Market. + +1838—MAY 2—The Council petitioned for the abolition of the apprenticeship +system, on the motion of Mr. Alderman Edward Evans. + +1838—NOVEMBER—The municipal election made no difference in the political +constitution of the Council. At the first meeting of the renovated body, +Mr. Alderman Richard Evans was elected Mayor, on the proposition of Dr. +Hastings and Mr. Alderman Hall; and Mr. John Hall was chosen Sheriff. +Mr. Alderman Richard Evans was the first Dissenter who ever held the +office of chief magistrate in Worcester. The Aldermen elected this year +were Mr. William Corles, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Chalk, Mr. Lilly, Mr. Edward +Evans, and Mr. Benjamin Stokes. + +1838—DECEMBER 20—Mr. Padmore chosen Alderman in the room of Mr. Stokes, +deceased. + +1839—FEBRUARY 7—Mr. E. L. Williams proposed that the Council, “being +deeply impressed with a conviction of a thorough examination of the +existing Corn Laws,” should petition Parliament for an inquiry into their +operation. He thought agriculture needed some protection, though the +present laws wanted alteration: if gloves required protection, corn did. +Alderman E. Evans seconded his motion. Mr. W. Pugh proposed, as an +amendment, that the Council should petition for a total repeal. Alderman +Hastings said that a repeal of the Corn Laws would be productive of +immense evil; because if they reduced the revenues of the rich, they took +it out of their power to assist the poor; and they would certainly rue +the day if they agreed to a change that would be so silly. No measure +that the legislature could adopt would prevent corn being occasionally +dear, and its dearness now arose from deficient production and regrating. +On a division there appeared + +For total repeal: Aldermen Hall, Corles, Lilly, and Padmore; Councillors +F. Hall, Greening, Davis, Smith, Oates, J. Hall, George, W. Pugh, Crane, +W. Chamberlain, Southan, Dance, Lee, Ledbrook, Groves, and +Thompson—twenty. + +For inquiry only: The Mayor; Aldermen E. Evans, Hastings, and Palmer; +Councillors Fawkes, Horne, Dent, Lea, Grainger, Lingham, Summerfield, and +Williams—twelve. + +At this meeting the Council, in compliance with the order of the Lords of +the Treasury, awarded Mr. Thomas Hughes an annuity of £3. 6s. 8d., as +compensation for the loss of his office of clerk to the forty-eight, +which he had held under the old corporation. Mr. Hughes had claimed much +larger compensation as Deputy Chamberlain. + +1839—MAY 24—An address voted to the Queen, on the motion of Alderman +Hebb, seconded by Alderman Corles, thanking her for resisting the attempt +to change the ladies of her household, and, further, for having called +back the Whigs to her councils. The only dissentient was Mr. +Summerfield. + +1838—NOVEMBER—The elections still brought no diminution in the +preponderance of the Whig party. Mr. Alderman Hastings was first elected +Mayor, but declined to serve; and having paid the usual fine of £50, +required its disbursement on the score of his being an alderman, and the +Municipal Act did not say anything about their being fineable. Mr. +Alderman Chalk was elected unanimously in his stead. + +1840—MARCH AND APRIL—The Council determined to oppose the Birmingham and +Gloucester Railway Company’s new bill in Parliament; but afterwards +Alderman Corles moved, and Alderman Hebb seconded, a motion for the +discontinuance of such opposition, on the ground that the Council had no +legal right to pay the expenses out of the borough fund. Alderman +Hastings moved the confirmance of the Council’s previous resolutions; and +this amendment to Alderman Corles’s motion was carried by 20 to 6. + +1840—JUNE 16—The Council voted addresses to the Queen, the Prince, and +the Duchess of Kent, expressing their loyal joy at Her Majesty’s escape +from the shot of the assassin, Oxford. + +1840—MARCH TO JULY—The grant of £200 for the improvements in front of All +Saints’ Church, made by the old corporation conditionally on their being +completed by November, 1839, and renewed by the new body for five years +longer, was repeatedly discussed. Mr. Alderman Hebb held that it was an +illegal grant, and ought to be resumed; but the Council, on obtaining an +undertaking from Messrs. Lea, Leonard, and Williams for its repayment at +the end of the second term of five years if the alterations were not then +completed, suffered the money to remain in their hands. + +1840—NOVEMBER 9—The newly elected Council—consisting of almost the same +parties as in the previous year—elected C. A. Helm, Esq., as Mayor for +the succeeding twelve months. Mr. W. Lewis was also proposed, and +received 16 votes to 22 for Mr. Helm. Mr. Alderman Edward Evans was +chosen Sheriff. + +1841—MAY 6—The council unanimously petitioned for a revision of the +import duties, on the motion of Mr. Sheriff Evans, seconded by Mr. F. T. +Elgie. + +1841—SEPTEMBER 29—A special meeting of the body was held to memorialise +the Queen on the subject of the Corn Laws. Mr. Elgie moved the memorial, +which asserted that the Corn Laws were the principal causes of the +present distress of the country. Mr. Pierpoint moved an amendment, +declaring that the discussion of political subjects was contrary to the +spirit of the Municipal Act, and highly inexpedient; and wound up by an +assertion of a wholly political character, viz., that the distress of the +country had been produced by the hasty and crude legislation of the +Whigs. The amendment was negatived by 26 to 5, the minority consisting +of Messrs. J. Dent, Anderson, Pierpoint, Bedford, and Summerfield. + +1841—NOVEMBER—The Conservatives made great efforts in all the wards to +get a footing in the Council this year, but, except in St. Nicholas, were +wholly unsuccessful. Mr. Alderman Edward Evans was elected Mayor, and +Mr. Alderman Lilly, Sheriff, by 23 votes, while 12 were given for Mr. +Elgie. Mr. Hebb retired from the Council; and Messrs. R. Evans, J. Hall, +W. Lewis, G. Allies, C. A. Helm, and C. Hastings were elected aldermen in +room of those who retired. + +1841—DECEMBER 3—A special meeting to protest against the recent +appointment of magistrates without consulting the Council. Mr. Alderman +Allies proposed a resolution, which declared that the six individuals who +had been appointed magistrates owed their elevation to political +partizanship and not to the esteem in which they were held by their +fellow citizens; protesting also against the appointment because of its +exclusiveness, and because the Council had not been asked to recommend. +Mr. Alderman Padmore seconded the motion. Mr. Hughes moved, as an +amendment, “That this meeting is unnecessary and uncalled for;” and this +was seconded by Mr. Bedford, who said that parish officers could not get +justice from the present justices; and denounced the appointment of Mr. +Sidebottom to the stipendiary magistrateship as a “flagrant job,” only to +make way for Mr. Hill. The motion was carried by 27 to 4, and a memorial +prepared to be presented by Sir Thomas Wilde to the Secretary of State. + +1842—JANUARY—A committee appointed, on the motion of Mr. Elgie, to +inquire into the truth of Mr. Bedford’s declaration, that the appointment +of Mr. Sidebottom as stipendiary magistrate was a “flagrant job,” and +they reported that it was altogether “untrue and unfounded;” inasmuch as +Mr. Sidebottom declared that his resignation of the office of town clerk +was voluntary. + +1842—MAY 20—A special meeting of the body was held to congratulate the +promoters of the Severn Navigation Improvement on the passing of the +measure, and to thank the noblemen and gentlemen by whose exertions its +success had been secured. + +1842—JULY 12—The Council refused to nominate Commissioners of Income Tax +for inquiring into the emoluments arising from public offices held in the +city, and the appointment, therefore, reverted to the treasury or the +commissioners for general purposes. + +1842—OCTOBER 26—A special meeting held to consider the railway question. +Mr. Alderman Chalk proposed that it was desirable for the Council to +examine whether there was any agreement subsisting between the city and +Mr. Berkeley, such as should preclude the city from consenting to the +project, or going to Parliament for whatever line they thought fit. Mr. +Pierpoint seconded the motion. Mr. Elgie proposed, as an amendment, that +it be referred to the railway committee to inquire whether any engagement +had been entered into by which the citizens were bound in honour or +equity from becoming parties to the Bredicot branch. The Town Clerk gave +it as his opinion that there was no agreement in existence which bound +the city in any way. On a division, the amendment was carried by 15 to +13—the Mayor, Alderman Corles, and four other councillors declining to +vote. Mr. Chalk, Mr. Bedford, and others protested against the amendment +being declared carried, because it had not obtained, as required by the +sixty-ninth clause of the Municipal Act, _a majority of those present_. + +1842—NOVEMBER—Mr. Alderman John Lilly unanimously elected Mayor, and Mr. +Alderman Lewis, Sheriff. + +1843—JANUARY 2—The Council determined to oppose the Birmingham and +Gloucester Railway Company in their application to Parliament for powers +to make the Bredicot branch, by a majority of 25 to 5. + +1843—AUGUST 1—The Town Clerk brought a bill of £250 for the costs of the +unsuccessful opposition to the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Money +Bill. Mr. Alderman Palmer moved that it be referred to the Finance +Committee; but it was resolved by 11 to 9 that the bill, which was +admitted on all hands to be very fair in its charges, should be paid at +once, together with £17 due to the Town Clerk on a former occasion. + +1843—OCTOBER—The Guildhall having been illuminated on the occasion of the +Queen Dowager’s visit to the city, Mr. W. D. Lingham, the City +Chamberlain, brought in a bill of £18. 7s. 6d. for the expense, the +payment of which was disputed with most pitiable parsimony. The Council +divided, and 19 voted for payment to 14 against it. + +1843—NOVEMBER—There was but little contest in the municipal election this +year. Mr. Alderman Lewis was elected Mayor; and Mr. L. Ledbrook, +Sheriff, by 21 votes to 19 given for Mr. Edward Wheeler. + +1843—DECEMBER 5—Upon the motion of Mr. Hughes, seconded by Alderman +Padmore, it was decided that the meetings of the Council should be thrown +open to the public; but this was afterwards set aside. + +1844—JANUARY 4—The Council, on the motion of Mr. Bedford, determined only +henceforth to style themselves, “The Mayor, Aldermen, and Citizens of the +City of Worcester,” as their proper legal title. A motion to give a +salary to the Mayor was rejected by 19 to 10. + +1844—SEPTEMBER—The Council (and afterwards the Chamber of Commerce) +pronounced in favour of the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway +project, in preference to any other of the schemes before the city, by +large majorities. + +1844—NOVEMBER—There were no contests in the wards this year, except at +St. John’s. Mr. William Lewis was reëlected Mayor without opposition, +and Mr. Lloyd was chosen Sheriff by 22 votes to 12 given for Mr. Elgie. + +1845—JANUARY 11—At a special meeting called to assent to, or dissent +from, the Tring line promoted by the London and Birmingham Company, and +which would pass through part of the corporation property in the +Blockhouse, &c., Mr. Alderman Chalk asked the Council to abide by its +former decision in favour of the Oxford line, and dissent from the Tring +scheme—and proposed a resolution to that effect, which was seconded by +Mr. Alderman R. Evans. Mr. Wall and Mr. Hood moved that the Council do +assent to the Tring line; but this was negatived by 18 to 7, and Mr. +Chalk’s resolution carried. + +1845—MARCH 27—The Council again declared in favour of the Oxford and +Wolverhampton line. Mr. Knight moved, as an amendment to the resolution +proposed by Mr. Elgie, that the Council should petition in favour of the +Tring line; but this was lost by 19 to 8. + +1845—NOVEMBER—The elections this year brought two more Conservatives into +the council. E. J. Lloyd, Esq., was elected Mayor, and Mr. F. T. Elgie, +Sheriff. + +1846—FEBRUARY 3—The Council petitioned for a total and immediate repeal +of the Corn Laws by a majority of 17 to 9. + +1846—APRIL 14—William Lewis, Esq., chosen Mayor for the remainder of the +year, in the room of Edward Lloyd, Esq., deceased. + +1846—MAY 5—At this, a quarterly meeting of the Council, Mr. Sheriff Elgie +moved a petition against the New Gas Company’s Bill (which had been +approved, in public meeting, the week before), and Mr. Hood seconded it. +Mr. Alderman Chalk objected to such a subject being brought on without +previous notice, and to a quarterly meeting being taken advantage of for +such a purpose. He moved an amendment for the postponement of the +question, which was, however, lost by 16 to 5, and Mr. Elgie’s petition +carried. A counter petition was afterwards presented from fourteen other +members of the body. + +1846—NOVEMBER—F. T. Elgie, Esq. was unanimously chosen Mayor by the new +body, and Mr. Edward Webb, Sheriff. + +1846—NOVEMBER 16—Mr. Arrowsmith moved that the Council should erect baths +and washhouses with as little delay as possible. Mr. Bedford thanked Mr. +Arrowsmith for bringing the matter forward, remarking that hitherto his +own efforts, for sanitary improvements, had all failed for want of +support. The motion was unanimously carried, and a committee appointed +to carry out the suggestion; and this committee has been formally renewed +from time to time, yet five years have now elapsed and baths and +washhouses in Worcester seem further off than ever. + +1847—APRIL 24—A memorial having been presented to the Council, from the +agriculturists, praying to have the Sheep Market leased to them, in order +that they might erect a Corn Exchange thereon, Mr. Arrowsmith moved that +no sufficient reason had been shown to the Council to authorise them in +making a change that would be so injurious to a great number of the +inhabitants of the city. This was carried by 18 to 13. The Council +also, by a majority of 18 to 8, agreed to a petition in favour of Lord +Morpeth’s Sanitary Bill. + +1847—NOVEMBER—The elections this year resulted in very little change. +Edward Webb, Esq. was chosen Mayor, and Mr. Padmore, Sheriff. + +1848—APRIL 5—The Council granted a lease of the Wheat Sheaf Inn, Corn +Market, and other premises, to one of the Corn Exchange Companies. + +1848—MAY 2—The Council, at a quarterly meeting, passed a resolution, +approving of the Mayor’s efforts to bring about an arrangement between +the rival Corn Exchange Companies; and begging the agriculturists to rest +satisfied with the one in Angel Street. + +They also petitioned in favour of Lord Morpeth’s Health of Towns Bill. + +1848—AUGUST 11—At a special meeting, called to consider the Corn Exchange +question, the Council, after a very warm debate on various propositions, +determined to take the opinion of Mr. Alexander as to their right to +regulate the Corn Market, to take toll on corn sold, and to prevent the +removal of the market from its ancient site. The opinion only went to +justify the corporation in taking toll on corn pitched in bulk, and no +further proceedings were taken in the matter. + +1848—OCTOBER—The Council, with only one dissentient, agreed that it was +desirable that the Public Health Act should be applied to Worcester; and +appointed a committee to make a representation to that effect to the +Central Board of Health. + +1848—NOVEMBER—Mr. Alderman Padmore was elected Mayor; and as he declined +to give a Sunday breakfast, go to the Cathedral, or wear a gown, he gave +£100 to the city instead. This donation, having afterwards been +considerably increased, has found a permanent shape in the handsome town +clock which now ornaments the front of the Market House. Mr. Goodwin was +elected Sheriff. + +1849—JANUARY 1—The Council having previously determined to petition the +Lord Chancellor to appoint six new city magistrates, because some of +those named in the original commission were dead, and others did not +attend on the bench, this day proceeded to the selection of names. +Alderman Lewis had 29 votes; Alderman Chalk, 27; the Mayor, 25; Alderman +E. Evans, 25; J. W. Isaac, Esq., 22; Alderman Webb, 20; Dr. James Nash, +14; William Stallard, Esq., 10; Mr. Jabez Horne, 8; Alderman Helm, 3; Mr. +Bedford, 1; and Alderman Elgie, 1. The first six names were consequently +transmitted to the Lord Chancellor. + +1849—NOVEMBER—The agitation respecting the carrying out the Health of +Towns Act this year, caused considerable change in the composition of the +municipal body; the only suitability sought in the new councillors being +their known determination to oppose the measure. Their subsequent +proceedings have had reference almost entirely to the + + + + +APPLICATION OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH ACT TO WORCESTER. + + +THE passing of the Public Health Act in the session of 1848 was an epoch +of our civilisation. It was the recognition of a great social want, and +an attempt to remedy a great social evil, which had silently grown up +with the increase of our large towns, and threatened to turn our +prosperity and blessings into a curse. The principle of the act received +the cordial and unanimous assent of all the great parties in the state; +and though numerous alterations were made in the measure during its +progress through the Lower House of Parliament, these were entirely +improvements amicably suggested and cordially adopted by the ministry who +introduced it. Those who determinedly opposed some of its details were +always left, upon a division, in very small minorities. + +The chief objection which has been raised against the measure, by those +who have conscientiously or interestedly resisted its operation, has been +to the constitution of a General Board of Health in London, having some +check over the doings of those local bodies to whom the working out of +the act has been intrusted. This is denounced by the word +“centralisation,” but the Poor Law Board daily exercises, without remark, +a much more stringent authority over Boards of Guardians, who are just as +much representative bodies as Town Councils, than any which is vested in +the Board of Health. In many places where the act has been applied, the +need of such a supervision as that of the Central Board has been so +strikingly evinced that Parliament will, probably, soon be induced to +place yet greater powers of control in the hands of the Board, and make +the provisions of the act entirely compulsory instead of optional. It +might seem wise and well to leave the unerring laws of health and disease +to work out their own results, in punishing those who neglect the +necessary conditions by which alone health can be maintained where men +congregate together; but as the epidemics engendered by such neglect +cannot be confined to those who are their responsible producers, the +legislature, on behalf of society at large, has the right to interfere. + +The application of the act to Worcester has been productive of immediate +results that are sufficiently curious; but its importance, as regards the +future welfare of the city, cannot be overrated, and on that account, +much more than for any present turmoil, which, in “the whirligig of +time,” will subside and be forgotten, the subject claims a special notice +here. + +Worcester, more than most English towns, needed the application of such a +measure to its internal economy. Its fair exterior, and the outward +cleanliness of its principal streets, are but the deceitful masks of +hidden insalubrities. Surrounded by hills, which attract the moisture +and screen it from the healthful breezes that would drive away miasma, +its atmosphere is too constantly damp and relaxing in summer, and in +winter the fogs, rising from the stream and the undrained soil, lie long +upon its dwellings. The river, which flows through it, fortunately keeps +up a constant current of air, but epidemics always follow the course of +rivers. Though apparently well situated for drainage, the greater part +of the city is ill-circumstanced in this respect, for the southern and +western half, at least, is built on a cold marl, which retains the +soakings of the surface as a sponge. These are natural reasons which, it +might be supposed, would have suggested to the inhabitants the most +careful attention to drainage and cleanliness; yet it is a fact, that +scarcely a street in the whole city is supplied with a sufficient drain, +and that it contains more open cesspits, prolific of noisome smells and +active disease, than any town of equal size in the kingdom. + +The merit of having drawn public attention, in this city, to the +paramount importance of Parliamentary interference to enforce sanitary +improvements belongs to Sir Charles Hastings, M.D. + +At the city election in 1846, when Sir Denis Le Marchant suddenly +appeared as a candidate, Dr. Hastings, upon the hustings, addressed the +citizens, who were then gathered together, and said he was anxious Sir +Denis should have their opinion on a matter of the greatest importance to +every individual amongst them. “Amidst the great party struggles,” +continued the Doctor, “in the legislature, the social improvement of the +people had been too much overlooked, and it was certain that the sanitary +condition of the great mass of the inhabitants of this kingdom was such +as reflected no credit upon its Government. He wished, therefore, the +citizens of Worcester to impress upon Sir Denis Le Marchant the propriety +of giving his best attention to this great question, and of using his +best endeavours to get it promoted by the Government. He hoped that the +measures which had been under the attention of the legislature for the +last six or seven years would, at last, receive the consideration they +merited. All alike would be benefitted by the passing of laws necessary +for the protection of the public health, and which would have also a +great effect on public morals. (Applause.) He trusted that was their +opinion, and if it was so he prayed them to hold up their hands.” + +The assembly unanimously responded to the Doctor’s appeal; and Sir Denis +declared himself the warm advocate of sanitary measures. + +Dr. Hastings afterwards addressed a letter to the Town Council on the +subject; and in seconding Mr. Ricardo’s nomination, in 1847, he again +mentioned the matter, amidst the cheers of the assembly, and pressed it +upon the attention of each of the candidates. + +Mr. Austin, the secretary to the Health of Towns Association, came down +in the autumn of 1846 to make an inspection of the city, and report upon +the works and alterations necessary to be undertaken for the purpose of +securing the greatest possible amount of health and comfort to the +inhabitants. Mr. Austin presented his report to the City Commissioners +in December, 1846, and so able and informative was it deemed that it was +ordered, on the motion of Mr. Pierpoint, to be printed for general +circulation; and a sum of £20 was afterwards voted him by the same body. +Mr. Austin estimated the gross cost of drainage for the entire city, +proper water supply to every house, baths and washhouses, conversion of +soil for agricultural purposes, at £74,000; he believed a revenue of +£19,000 per annum might be derived from such works when carried into full +efficiency; the interest and expenses of management he set down at +£11,650. Some parties, unconnected with either of the two governing +bodies in the city, this year gave notice of their intention to apply to +Parliament for a “City Improvement Act,” in which powers would be taken +to carry out all those alterations which were felt to be so necessary for +the good ordering of the town; but this project was soon abandoned, and +the City Commissioners declared that, if Parliament did not that year +introduce a general act, they would themselves apply for an extension of +powers to enable them to carry out needful sanitary improvements. + +At a dinner given to Captain Candler, in February, 1847, Lord Lyttelton +strongly pressed upon the Mayor, and citizens of Worcester generally, the +desirability of at once carrying out the suggestions of Mr. Austin’s +report in their integrity. + +The Government having introduced the Public Health Act into Parliament, +in the spring of 1847, petitions in its favour were forwarded from +Worcester, one of which was signed by 700 of the working classes. The +principal difference between the measure as introduced by the Whig and +Conservative Governments was, that the one proposed by the latter placed +the “centralising” power in the hands of the Home Secretary, instead of +the Central Board, and would have constituted new local bodies for +working out the act, instead of placing it in the hands of the Town +Councils, which the Whigs did on principle. + +The first public meeting held in Worcester was one convened by the Mayor, +Mr. Elgie, on the 19th of April, 1847, to consider the measure proposed +by Government. But the Commissioners met in the morning, and determined +on opposing the Government bill, doubtless because it would altogether +extinguish them; and as a good deal of alarm had already been created in +the town by the large figures in Mr. Austin’s report, there was a +considerable opposition raised at the meeting. Dr. Hastings and Mr. +Orwin moved a resolution, declaring the necessity which existed for +sanitary measures; and this was carried. Mr. Arrowsmith and Mr. J. W. +Isaac moved a second, approving of the Government measure; but Mr. R. M. +Mence and Mr. Francis Hooper moved an amendment, to the effect that the +Health of Towns Bill contained many unnecessary and mischievous +provisions. The cost and the centralisation were the topics chiefly +dwelt upon by the opponents of the measure. Mr. Orwin spoke in favour of +the bill, and Mr. Thomas Lucy and Mr. Pierpoint against it; the latter +producing a toy whose joints were moved by a string, to illustrate what +the Town Council would be in the hands of the Central Board. The +proceedings were spun out to such an inordinate length, that the meeting +had almost dissolved itself, before the resolution and amendment were +put. The division was very close, but the Mayor decided that the +resolution in favour of the Government bill was carried. A petition to +Parliament in its favour was afterwards proposed, but that was lost, and +the resultless meeting then broke up. + +The same week the Council adopted a petition in favour of the measure, by +a majority of 18 to 8. + +In May, a petition was presented from Worcester in favour of the Public +Health Act, signed by the Very Rev. the Dean, and most of the Canons and +parochial clergy. The medical men of the city also, without a single +exception, petitioned that it might pass. + +The bill was committed in June, by a majority of 191 to 50; the only +Worcestershire members who voted in the minority being General Lygon and +Mr. P. Borthwick. The bill was, however, after all, with a multitude of +others, in the annual “slaughter of the innocents;” and then came the +general election. + +In seconding Mr. Ricardo’s nomination as a candidate for Worcester, Dr. +Hastings again mentioned sanitary matters, and declared, amidst the +cheers of the assembly, that he would not give his vote for any man who +would not pledge himself to support a bill for the improvement of the +public health. + +In January, 1848, Mr. Thomas Beggs lectured in the Town Hall, Worcester, +on sanitary improvements; and on the following day a public meeting was +held, over which the Mayor, Mr. Edward Webb, presided. The Rev. John +Davis then moved a petition to the legislature in favour of sanitary +measures, which was carried without dissent; and Mr. Ricardo, who was +present, expressed the pleasure he should feel in presenting it, and in +supporting Government in any measure they might propose for the +advancement of the sanitary condition of the people. + +In April, a town’s meeting was called to consider the Government measure, +on a hostile requisition; and the Mayor being indisposed, the friends of +sanitary improvements took no part. Mr. Summerfield was called to the +chair; and on the motion of Mr. Mence and Mr. Hooper, a petition was +adopted in opposition to the Health of Towns Bill, and ordered to be +forwarded to Mr. Urquahart, for presentation. + +In May, the Town Council, with only one dissentient, petitioned in favour +of the measure; and a petition of similar import was also very generally +signed by the inhabitants of the city. + +The bill passed the House of Commons on the 20th of June—the opposition, +in their strongest division, having only mustered fifty-four votes. It +met in the House of Lords with entire approbation; and every one of the +amendments made in committee there, were with a view to make its +provisions more stringent and “centralising.” + +On the 3rd of October, 1848, the Worcester Town Council, on the motion of +Mr. Alderman Elgie, came to a resolution, “That it is desirable forthwith +to bring into operation within the city the provisions of the Public +Health Act.” In a numerous meeting there was only one dissentient to +this resolution. A committee of fifteen members was then appointed to +carry out the resolution. They communicated the resolution of the +Council to the Central Board, and requested that an inspector might be +sent down to inquire into the propriety of applying the act to Worcester. + +Mr. George T. Clark, Government Inspector, accordingly gave notice in +November, both by advertisement and handbills posted in all parts of the +city, that he should make the necessary inquiries as to the sanitary +condition of the city, and invited all parties to give evidence before +him. Mr. Clark sat for the first time at the Guildhall, on the 4th of +December, and was very cordially received by the Mayor, Mr. Padmore, and +a considerable number of leading citizens and tradesmen, some of whom +have since taken a very active share of the opposition to the working of +the measure; but not one word of objection to the application of the act +to Worcester was ever uttered in Mr. Clark’s presence. + +Mr. Clark’s report appeared in April, 1849, and the conclusions to which +the inspector arrived were, that the public nuisances in Worcester were +many and great—constantly creating sickness, and increasing the mortality +of the place; that what was principally wanted was a proper water supply, +surface paving and drainage; and that remedies for the evils complained +of might be applied for a rate of not more than one penny a week per +house. The cost of the necessary drainage he estimated at £20,315, and +of the water supply at £21,750, while he set down the annual income +derivable from the water works at £4,238. + +Acting upon this report, the Central Board made a provisional order for +the application of the Public Health Act to Worcester; being competent to +do this, as to any place where the mortality ranged above 23.0 in 1,000 +per annum—and, according to the Registrar General’s report, the average +mortality in Worcester, for the seven years previous to the passing of +the Public Health Act, was 25.05 in 1,000. A bill to confirm this +provisional order was introduced into Parliament in July, 1849; and, +passing without opposition, received the royal assent in August. + +Immediately after the application of the act to this city, all sorts of +absurd rumours were put into circulation as to the expense it would +occasion to the ratepayers; and the ignorance and misinformation that +appeared to prevail upon the subject, would scarcely be credited if +related. Ward meetings were very generally held, at which memorials to +the Council were adopted, praying them not to carry out the act, or to +postpone its operation. And thus commenced an agitation, which, being +fostered by persons who had their own or party ends to serve, long +continued to disturb the peace of the city. + +At the meeting of the Council on the 7th of August, Alderman Elgie moved +that the Public Health Committee should report to the next meeting as to +what offices were necessary to be appointed, and other steps requisite to +be taken under the Health of Towns Act. This was carried by a majority +of 19 to 11. + +At a subsequent meeting, the committee reported that the officers +required would be a clerk, treasurer, surveyor, and medical officer of +health. An amendment for delay was rejected by 22 to 12, and the clerk +and treasurer were at once appointed. + +In consequence of the determination thus evinced by the Council to +proceed vigorously with the practical application of the measure, a +public meeting was called by the parties hostile to it. This was held on +the 25th of September, 1849, and presided over by the Mayor, Mr. Padmore. +Mr. Summerfield moved the adoption of a memorial to the Central Board, +praying that the act might not be applied to Worcester, because it was +denied that the mortality of the city exceeded 23 in 1,000; and because a +majority of the inhabitants were said to be unfavourable to the +introduction of the Public Health Act. Alderman Thompson seconded the +memorial. Alderman Edward Webb proposed, as an amendment, “That inasmuch +as the act is at present applied to the city, and considering the +unsatisfactory state of the dwellings of the poor, the insufficient +drainage, and bad supply of water, the memorial is unnecessary.” +Alderman Elgie and Mr. Waters addressed the meeting at great length on +the general question, and pointed out the absurdity of supposing that any +memorial to a board in London could stop the operation of an Act of +Parliament. Excepting Mr. James Wall, who made a few observations, no +one attempted to speak on the other side; but the amendment was lost, and +the memorial carried by a large majority. + +The presentation of the memorial was intrusted to the Rev. R. Sargeant +and Mr. Lucy, but the Board declined to receive them as a deputation in +the absence of Mr. Clark. The Rev. R. Sargeant, therefore, forwarded it +with a letter, and the Board of course returned for answer, that they had +no power to stop proceedings under an Act of Parliament; and further, +that the act had been legally applied to Worcester—as the Registrar +General had certified to them, under his own hand, that the mortality was +25.05 in 1,000. + +The appointment of surveyor was postponed by the Council till after the +municipal elections for 1849; but at the meeting of November 16, further +delay was resisted, and an amendment to that effect was defeated by 26 +votes to 12. Mr. Edward Leader Williams was then chosen surveyor under +the Public Health Act, by 23 votes to 8 given for the opposing candidate, +Mr. Samuel Purchas. The question of salary was postponed. + +For some months Mr. Williams went on, under the directions of the health +committee, preparing his plans for the improved drainage and water supply +of the city. His report on the drainage question was issued and printed +in June, 1850, and met with very general approval. Having been called +before the Council, at their meeting in August, and given explanations +upon some points, the Council in full meeting adopted the report with +only two dissentient voices. The report estimated the cost for the +entire drainage of the city at £17,345. + +The excitement amongst ratepayers was, however, kept up by a question of +the necessity of appointing a medical officer of health; and so strong +was the current of public opinion against such an appointment, that the +Council were compelled to abandon all thoughts of making it. Dr. Malden +and Dr. Hastings both addressed letters to the Council, declaring that, +in their opinion, a medical officer was needed for the proper carrying +out of the act. + +The by-laws necessary under the Public Health Act for the regulation of +slaughter houses, lodging houses, &c., were another fruitful source of +squabbles during 1850. On the 5th of March a code was agreed to in the +Council, by a majority of 15 to 7, which rendered it necessary that an +“officer of health” should have the superintendence of such places, and +to these the Secretary of State gave his assent. In July, however, the +anti-sanitary party having increased in boldness, carried a new set of +by-laws, by a majority of 18 to 16, in which the words “inspector of +nuisances” was everywhere inserted instead of “officer of health.” They +then begged the Home Secretary to endorse their inconsistent proceeding, +but he refused to do so. The original by-laws are, therefore, now law in +the city of Worcester; but as there is no “officer of health,” no use has +been made of them—they remain a dead letter. + +On the 5th September, 1850, the anti-sanitary party had a public meeting +in the Guildhall, at which Mr. Toulmin Smith attended and delivered an +harangue against centralisation. The meeting actually came to a +resolution “to resist the application of the act in that city and +elsewhere; and, if possible, obtain its repeal.” + +At the municipal elections for 1850, parties were returned to the Council +avowedly “to put a stop to the working of the act altogether;” but the +dignity of the Council and its proceedings was not improved by this +infusion of new blood. Up to the present time not a single step has been +taken towards the practical application of the act in the city; but, +instead of that, the Council have been engaged in a dispute with the +surveyor, whom they refused properly to remunerate—and thus they have +involved the city in great expense to no sort of purpose. The details of +this affair it would be altogether undesirable to resuscitate, and the +more so, as the Central Board have pronounced the Council to be entirely +in the wrong; but there is reason to hope that wiser and more enlightened +views, on a subject which involves the future prosperity of the city and +the health and life of its inhabitants, will soon prevail. + + + + +WORCESTER INFIRMARY. + + +THIS noble charity had its origin in the philanthropy of the medical men +of Worcester in the year 1745. It was first opened in a room in Silver +Street, and it was not for twenty years afterwards that the present +hospital was built, at an expense of upwards of £6,000. It has been +enlarged at various periods since that time, and is now capable of +accommodating 100 in-patients. The funded property of the institution +exceeds £27,000, and the annual subscriptions amount to upwards of +£1,200. The physicians and surgeons attached to the institution at the +beginning of the present century, were Dr. Johnstone, Dr. Seward, and Dr. +Mylne; Mr. Pennell Cole, Mr. Sandford, and Mr. Carden. The following are +minutes of the appointments which have since taken place, and of the more +important proceedings of the governors: + +1800—JANUARY 31—Election of physician in the room of Dr. Johnstone, who +resigned. There were three candidates, and the choice of the subscribers +fell on Dr. Skey, who had 127 votes; Dr. Philip W. Wilson 108, and Dr. +Barnett 73. + +1800—JUNE 27—At a quarterly meeting of the governors, it was ordered that +all legacies and benefactions amounting to or exceeding £50 be funded. + +1801—AUGUST 7—In consequence of “the distressed state of the Infirmary +and the dearness of every article of provision,” the order respecting the +funding of £50 legacies was suspended. + +1801—AUGUST 28—Dr. Barnett unanimously elected one of the physicians in +the room of Dr. Chambers, resigned. + +1803—FEBRUARY 1—Dr. Philip W. Wilson unanimously elected in the room of +Dr. Skey, resigned. + +1810—MARCH 30—It was ordered that the property of the institution, then +invested in the Three per Cents., should be transferred to the Four per +Cent. Government Annuities. + +1812—JUNE 26—Ordered that in future the secretaries of the Infirmary +should give security, by bond, to the amount of £200, for the delivery of +all books and papers belonging to the Infirmary. This was in consequence +of the late secretary, Mr. Staples, having refused to give up the books, +and a dispute as to the balance due from him. The funds being very low +and inadequate to meet the expenses, the Bishop of the Diocese requested +the parochial clergy to make collections in their respective churches on +behalf of the institution, by which means £1,483 were added to the funds. + +1812—OCTOBER 2—Mr. Charles Hastings elected house surgeon in the room of +Mr. Blower, resigned. Mr. Hastings had a competitor in the person of Mr. +James Lewis; and the votes were—for Mr. Hastings, 132; Mr. Lewis, 131. + +1813—AUGUST 13—The number of patients which each subscriber was allowed +to recommend was limited to one patient for every guinea subscribed. The +high price of provisions was alleged as the reason for this step. + +1814—AUGUST 30—Dr. G. Woodyatt elected physician on the resignation of +Dr. Barnett. + +1815—JUNE 30—The order, limiting the number of patients, rescinded, and +the subscribers permitted to recommend two patients for each guinea +subscribed, as was the case previously. The medical officers were +requested to invite the rest of the faculty in Worcester to witness all +the more important operations. + +1815—NOVEMBER 6—Election of surgeon: the office being vacant by the +retirement of Mr. Pennel Cole, Lord Somers proposed Mr. Thomas +Stephenson, who was seconded by Lord Beauchamp; Mr. Josiah Palmer +proposed Mr. J. P. Sheppard, seconded by Mr. Watson, Stourport; Hon. and +Rev. W. Jenkinson proposed Mr. Dangerfield, seconded by Dr. Cameron. The +result of the ballot showed for Mr. Stephenson, 335 votes; for Mr. +Sheppard, 238; and for Mr. Dangerfield, 135. The total polled was thus +708, or very nearly the then average number of subscribers. + +1815—DECEMBER 29—Mr. Herbert Cole (son of Mr. Pennel Cole, for thirty +years one of the surgeons to the Worcester Infirmary) unanimously elected +as house surgeon of the institution in the place of Mr. Charles Hastings, +resigned. + +1816—JANUARY—Sir William Smith, Bart., furnished the matron’s rooms at +his own cost. + +1816—JULY 29—Dr. Lewis Evans elected a physician in the room of Dr. +Cameron, resigned. + +1818—APRIL 20—At a large meeting of the governors, Dr. Philip W. Wilson +brought forward certain charges against his brother officers of the +medical staff, as to an operation which he alleged had been improperly +performed, but the charges were dismissed by the governors. + +1818—APRIL 24—Dr. Philip W. Wilson retired from his post, as physician, +avowedly on the ground that his brother physicians and surgeons +constantly opposed the admission of others of the profession to witness +the operations they performed. Dr. Wilson’s letter to the public was +replied to by Mr. J. H. Savigny, who thought it undesirable that +infirmaries should be turned into theatres for display. + +1818—OCTOBER 2—Ordered that, if the income arising from subscriptions and +funded property is insufficient to keep open two additional wards, then +first fitted up, a sum, not exceeding £200 annually, should be +appropriated for that purpose from such legacies as should be left to the +charity, and not specially directed to be vested in the funds. + +1818—NOVEMBER 2—Jonas Malden, M.D., and Charles Hastings, M.D., were +appointed physicians in the place of Drs. Philip W. Wilson, and Louis +Evans, resigned. + +1819—FEBRUARY 15—J. P. Sheppard, Esq., elected surgeon in the room of Mr. +Stephenson, resigned. + +1819—Dispute amongst the medical men as to the treatment of surgical and +medical cases. + +1819—APRIL—J. H. Savigny, Esq., took the office of secretary _pro. tem._, +in the place of Mr. Jackson, resigned. + +1819—OCTOBER 29—Mr. Matthew Pierpoint appointed surgeon in the room of +Mr. Sandford, who resigned after twenty-seven years of most useful +service to this institution. Mr. Pierpoint was proposed by Lord +Deerhurst, and seconded by Mr. Sandford himself. + +1820—JANUARY 12—A silver cup presented to Mr. Savigny for his various and +important services to the institution. + +1823—APRIL—An additional wing erected in addition to the north end of the +Infirmary. + +1823—JULY 26—Mr. John Eleox chosen secretary to the Infirmary, _vice_ J. +H. Savigny, Esq., resigned. + +1824—APRIL 23—Dr. Lewis chosen physician in the room of Dr. Woodyatt, +deceased. + +1826—NOVEMBER 6—Election of a physician in the room of Dr. Lewis, +resigned. The candidates were Dr. Nash, proposed by John Williams, Esq., +and William Wall, Esq.; and Dr. Streeten, proposed by the Rev. Digby +Smith and Major Johnson. At the close of the ballot Dr. Nash was found +to have 298 votes, and Dr. Streeten 243—majority for Dr. Nash 55. + +1827—MAY 8—The governors agreed to the erection of an operating room, and +other necessary offices, at an expense of £700. + +1829—JUNE 5—Mr. T. H. Wheeler elected secretary, _vice_ Mr. Elcox, +resigned. + +1829—JULY 27—Mr. T. Carden elected surgeon, _vice_ John Carden, Esq., +resigned. + +1830—JULY 2—The funded property of the institution, hitherto in different +stocks, was all transferred to the Three-and-a-half per Cents. Reduced. + +1833—DECEMBER 27—At the quarterly meeting of the governors, Earl +Beauchamp in the chair, it was announced that £1,126 had been collected +for the institution during the last few months at different churches and +Dissenting chapels, which would pay off the debt of £550, due to the +treasurers, and enable them to get through the next twelve months without +touching the funded property. Mr. Gutch afterwards read a report of a +committee which had been appointed to inquire into the expenditure of the +institution which had, for a series of years, exceeded the income. They +admitted that there had been great abuses in various departments of the +institution, and especially as to the supply of drugs and chemicals, and +it was therefore recommended that a practical chemist should be appointed +on the drug committee, who, during his appointment, should be ineligible +to supply drugs. They recommended also that all legacies, above £100, +should be funded, with sundry other regulations. The report was +received, but it was determined not to publish the evidence upon which it +was founded, by a majority of 16 to 11. + +1834—APRIL 4—At the quarterly meeting of the governors, a resolution, +determining that all legacies of £100 should be funded, was adopted; and +it was also resolved that the evidence taken respecting the +mal-administration of the drug department, should be referred to a select +committee. + +1834—JUNE 27—It was determined to take counsel’s opinion as to the power +of the Corporation to renew the lease of ground on which the Infirmary +stood, as it belonged to Nash’s Charity. This matter had repeatedly been +under the attention of the governors, and at last it was found necessary +to obtain an Act of Parliament, in order to legalise the lease. The +sub-committee reported that no further investigation that could be made +into the irregularities which had taken place, and the discrepancy +between the amount of drugs ordered and consumed, would be satisfactory; +and so the matter finally dropped. + +1838—AUGUST 16—Election of a surgeon, in the room of Mr. Thomas Carden, +deceased. There were no less than ten candidates, and a great deal of +interest was excited in the matter by peculiar circumstances attending +some of the candidates. John Williams, Esq., was called to preside over +the meeting, which was adjourned to the County Courts for the sake of +room. The chairman proposed Mr. Edward Morris, who was seconded by +William Acton, Esq.; Colonel Davis and Mr. Sidebottom proposed Mr. J. H. +Walsh; James Morton, Esq., and R. Spooner, Esq., proposed Mr. H. D. +Carden; the Major and Mr. Duncan proposed Mr. Budd. An objection had +been raised to Mr. Carden because he had not been, as the rules were +considered to require, resident during the previous twelve months in +Worcester. Counsel’s opinion was taken on the point, and a very tedious +and hot discussion took place on the matter at the meeting. Ultimately +it came to a vote, and 106 declared Mr. Carden eligible, and 90 that he +was not. His name, therefore, went to the ballot, and he was +elected—having received 310 votes to 131 for Mr. Walsh, and 40 for Mr. +Budd. + +1843—JUNE 30—At a quarterly meeting of the governors, a strong resolution +was passed in reference to a disgraceful attack upon C. H. Hebb, Esq., +which had appeared in the _Guardian_ newspaper. Mr. Hebb having had an +operation very successfully performed upon him, presented the Infirmary +with a sum of £10 in token of his thankfulness, and partly because the +instruments belonging to that institution had been employed by the +operating surgeon. The writer in the _Guardian_ affirmed that the +instruments had been purchased solely with a view to this very operation, +and so “the shine was taken out” of Mr. Hebb’s donation. This proved to +be utterly false. + +1845—DECEMBER 19—A very sharp contest for the office of secretary to the +Infirmary, in the room of Mr. T. H. Wheeler, deceased, between Mr. John +Palmer, proposed by Mr. Curtler and Dr. Hastings—and Mr. D. W. Nash, +proposed by the Rev. T. Pearson and Mr. John Parker. Mr. Nash had 216 +votes, and Mr. Palmer 169. + +1846—MARCH 28—At the quarterly meeting of the governors, the committee +appointed, on the motion of Mr. Curtler, to inquire into an alleged +laxity of attendance on the part of the medical officers of the +institution, and ill conduct of its general business, presented their +report. Mr. Curtler, however, had not attended the meetings of the +committee, because the medical officers all insisted on their right to be +present; and several complaints, therefore, had not been brought before +them. The charges, in most of the cases investigated, seemed to be +disproved; but of the beneficial effect the inquiry had in the improved +management of the institution there can be no doubt. Mr. Curtler +obtained another committee, to revise the whole of the rules of the +institution. + +1846—JUNE 26—A quarterly meeting of the governors held in the Nisi Prius +Court, at the Shire Hall, with John Williams, Esq., in the chair. The +medical men connected with the institution offered great opposition to a +motion of Mr. Curtler’s to exclude the subscribers from all meetings of +committees, and give them leave only to attend the general quarterly +boards; the object being to enable the governors to appoint select +committees. Mr. Curtler supported the proposition, as the usual practice +of all large bodies and institutions of this kind, and because inquiry +into the affairs of the institution by a select committee became +absolutely necessary, as the funds were being frittered away and the +rules neglected. The medical men said the alteration was aimed at them, +and sought their exclusion from the committees. They called select +committees secret committees, and said the rules made with so much wisdom +by their ancestors ought not to be altered. The medical men defeated Mr. +Curtler’s resolution by 58 to 32. + +1847—JANUARY 2—A quarterly meeting of the governors held at the Shire +Hall, over which the Lord Bishop of the Diocese presided. Mr. Curtler +moved for a select committee, on which only two of the medical officers +of the institution should attend, to consider what alterations were +necessary in the rules. The medical men insisted upon their right to be +all present at the meetings of the committee, and only yielded when the +majority of the meeting was evidently seen to be against them. They then +agreed to a committee of nine gentlemen, reserving the right to delegate +any two of their own body to act with them. + +1847—MARCH 27—At the quarterly meeting of the governors, Mr. Curtler’s +committee for revising the rules of the institution presented their +report. The medical men having given way, a great number of alterations +were recommended, and power taken to appoint select committees, on which +two of the medical officers should always serve. The other medical men +of the city and neighbourhood were invited to witness operations; and the +salary of Mr. Cole, the house surgeon, increased to £100 a year. Mr. +Curtler mentioned—as one among other things showing how necessary inquiry +had been—that the malt supplied to the institution was enough for twice +the beer that was consumed within the walls, and that about thirty-three +hogsheads annually disappeared out of the back door. The report was +unanimously received. + +1849—MARCH 31—At the quarterly meeting of the governors it was determined +that the £840 obtained from the sale of tickets at the Jenny Lind concert +should be applied to the building of a chapel for the use of the +patients. The Very Rev. the Dean added another £100; and it was +principally to his exertions in obtaining what more was necessary in the +way of funds, that the public and the patients owe the very pretty +erection which is now attached to the back of the main building. + + + + +WORCESTER MUSICAL FESTIVALS. + + +THE history of the origin of the meetings of the three choirs of +Worcester, Hereford, and Gloucester, does not belong to the nineteenth +century. It will be sufficient here to say that the first took place in +the year 1725 (when £48. 18s. was collected), and that they have +gradually risen in importance, till, besides being the means of obtaining +annually a very large sum for the support of the widows and orphans of +the clergy, they have now taken a first place amongst the musical +_réunions_ of the kingdom, and have greatly aided in fostering the +melodious science. It will be seen from the following brief notes of the +festivals at Worcester, that the most celebrated singers have, from time +to time, all taken a part in the performance here of the chief works of +the great masters of music. In the seventeen meetings held here this +century, upwards of £14,500 have been realised for the clergy’s widows +and orphans. + +1800—SEPTEMBER 14—Seventy-seventh meeting of the three choirs. The +festival this year occupied three days. The sermon was preached by Dr. +James. _The Messiah_, _Creation_, _Acis and Galatea_, &c., performed. +The principal novelty was the chorus in Handel’s _Ode to St. Cecilia_—“As +from the Power.” Chief performers—Madame Mara and Miss Tennant; Messrs. +Knyvett, Nield, and Bartleman. Amount collected for the charity, £468; +and the receipts for tickets yielded a surplus of £250 in addition. + +1803—SEPTEMBER 27—Sermon by the Rev. H. Stillingfleet. Principal vocal +performers—Mrs. Billington and Miss Fanny Ross; Messrs. Melville, +Incledon, Bartleman, Nield, &c. The collections for the charity amounted +to £501. 8s. The receipts were £2,630, and exceeded the expenses by +£600. + +1806—SEPTEMBER 22—Sermon by the Rev. G. Turberville. _The Messiah_ and +_Alexander’s Feast_ were the only entire works performed. The principal +performers were Mrs. Billington, Mrs. Vaughan, Miss Melville; Messrs. +Harrison, Knyvett, &c. The collections amounted to £714. + +1809—SEPTEMBER 26—Sermon by the Rev. Dr. Wingfield. _The Messiah_ the +only oratorio performed entire. Performers—Mrs. Billington and Mrs. +Vaughan; Mr. Braham (his first engagement at these festivals), Messrs. +Bartleman, Vaughan, and Goss. The sum collected for the charity was +£800, the largest amount up to that time ever collected. + +1812—SEPTEMBER 9—Sermon by Rev. Dr. Onslow, Vicar of Kidderminster. +Principal performers—Madame Catalani, Mrs. Salmon, Miss Melville; Messrs. +Vaughan, Goss, Hawes, Denman, and Bellamy. _The Messiah_ and _Creation_ +performed entire. Collections, £906. + +1815—SEPTEMBER 12—Sermon by Rev. J. Fleming St. John. Principal +performers—Madame Marconi, Miss Stephens, Mrs. Vaughan; and Messrs. +Bartleman, Vaughan, Knyvett, &c. _The Messiah_, Haydn’s _Seasons_, and +various selections performed. Collections, £749. The tickets were +printed in London, and some spurious ones got into circulation. + +1818—SEPTEMBER 15—Sermon by the Rev. William Digby. Principal +performers—Miss Stephens, Mrs. Salmon, Miss Symonds; Messrs. Braham, +Kynvett, Bellamy, and Hawes. _The Messiah_ was the only oratorio +performed entire. The contributions to the charity amounted to £936—the +largest amount collected up to that time. + +1821—OCTOBER 3—Sermon by the Dean, Dr. Jenkinson. Principal +performers—Miss Stephens, Madame Camporesi, and Miss Travis; Messrs. +Bellamy, Vaughan, Knyvett, Hawes, Master Smith, &c. _The Messiah_ was +the only oratorio performed entire. A selection from _The Seasons_ one +evening. Sum collected for the charity, £877. + +1824—SEPTEMBER 15—One hundred and first meeting of the three choirs. +Sermon preached by the Hon. and Rev. Edward Rice, D.D. Principal +performers—Mesdames Salmon, Stephens, Travis, and Ronzi de Beguis; +Messrs. Braham, Bellamy, Kynvett, Signor de Begnis, &c. _The Messiah_ +was the only oratorio performed entire. Receipts for the charity, £828; +and for tickets, £2,957. + +1827—SEPTEMBER 11—Sermon preached by the Rev. W. F. Hook, M.A., perpetual +curate of Moseley. Principal performers—Madame Pasta, Madame Caradori +Allan, Miss Stephens, Mrs. W. Knyvett; Messrs. Braham, Phillips, Knyvett, +Vaughan, and Signor Zuchelli. _The Messiah_ and _Palestine_ performed. +Receipts for the charity, £1,083; for admission, £3,997. This was one of +the most successful meetings ever held. The Duchess of St. Albans held +one of the plates the first morning. + +1830—SEPTEMBER 14—Sermon by the Very Rev. the Dean, Lord Bishop of +Rochester. _The Messiah_ was the only oratorio performed. On the first +morning the service was opened by a funeral anthem, in commemoration of +his late Majesty King George IV. Principal performers—Madame Malibran, +Mrs. Knyvett, and Miss Cramer; Messrs. Braham, Phillips, Vaughan, +Knyvett, &c. Balls were held every evening at the Town Hall; and a +banquet was given by the Bishop of Rochester and Lady Sarah Murray, in +the Chapter House, after each morning’s performance. The Duchess of Kent +and the Princess Victoria were among the company. The receipts for the +charity were £1,005, and for admissions, £3,314; being considerably less +than the amount realised in 1827. + +1833—SEPTEMBER 24—Sermon by the Bishop of Worcester. Every pains had +been taken to make this festival successful; the performances occupying +four mornings instead of three, and the orchestra being much enlarged. +About 170 performers were engaged, the principal vocalists being—Madame +Malibran, Miss Clara Novello, and Mrs. Knyvett; Messrs. Braham, Phillips, +Vaughan, and E. Taylor. De Beriot, the violinist, was also a feature of +this festival. _The Messiah_ was performed entire; and selections from +_The Creation_, _Palestine_, _The Last Judgment_, _The Deluge_ +(Schneider), and _Mount Sinai_ (Neukomm)—the last proving a decided +failure. Malibran was all in all at this meeting. The receipts for the +charity were £981, and for admissions, £3,496. The ball at the College +Hall was a most brilliant finale, the company numbering upwards of 700. +The expenses were no less than £4,300; so that the stewards were £800 out +of pocket. + +1836—SEPTEMBER 27—Sermon by the Rev. Prebendary Benson. Principal +performers—Madame Caradori Allan, Miss Hawes, Mrs. Knyvett, and Miss +Novello; Messrs. Braham, Phillips, Vaughan, Knyvett, &c. The scheme +contained many novelties. _The Messiah_ was performed on the first +morning; Mozart’s _Redemption_, Bishop’s cantata, _The Seventh Day_, and +a selection, the second morning; and _The Last Judgment_, with a +selection, on the third. _Acis and Galatea_ was sung at the first +concert; the others were entirely miscellaneous. The receipts exhibited +a sad falling off, being, for the charity, £828, and for admissions, +£2,685. The stewards were about £1,000 out of pocket. An article of +_bijouterie_ was presented to Miss Clara Novello, by Colonel Clive and +the committee, as an expression of their admiration at her singing, and +of thanks for the kind manner in which she had fallen in with the wishes +of the committee as to some alterations of the scheme. + +1839—SEPTEMBER 10—Sermon by the Rev. W. H. Woodgate, Rector of +Bellbroughton. _The Messiah_, _Creation_, and _Palestine_ performed in +their entirety. The concerts were all made up of miscellanea. Principal +performers—Miss Hawes, Miss Clara Novello, Madame Persiani, Miss +Woodyatt, Miss Beale; Messrs. Phillips, Vaughan, Bennett, Machin, +Edmunds, &c. The receipts for the charity this year were £932, and for +admissions £2,820, which was an increase upon the sum realised at the +previous meeting, though the prices of tickets were this year reduced to +the sums at which they have ever since remained. The expenses, however, +reached £4,089, so that there was a deficiency of £1,270. + +1842—SEPTEMBER 20—The sermon was preached by the Lord Bishop of the +Diocese. This festival was marked by an entire change of system and the +great success attending upon it. There were no foreign “stars” engaged +in the vocal department, and, consequently, a great deal of expense was +saved. The oratorios were conducted, not by the organist of the +cathedral, Mr. Clarke, but by Mr. Surman of Exeter Hall, and the +performances were held in the nave and not in the choir. The only +previous occasion on which the festival had been held in the nave was at +the visit of George III, sixty years before. The arrangement of +orchestra and seats was that which has been ever since observed. The +principal singers were—Miss Birch, Miss Marshall, Miss Dolby, Mrs. Loder, +and Miss Davis, our own young townswoman; Mr. Phillips, Mr. Leffler, and +Mr. Hobbs. The oratorios performed were—_The Messiah_, _Judas +Maccabeus_, and _Engedi_. At the evening concerts _Alexander’s Feast_, +Haydn’s _Seasons_, and Schiller’s _Song of __the Bell_ were performed +entire. The chorus consisted of 218 singers, and there were 82 +instruments in the orchestra. The organ was in the course of being +renewed by Hill. The collections for the charity amounted to £1,059. +16s. + +1845—Sermon by Canon Wood. Only three morning performances this year, +which, for the first time, were under the conduct of Mr. Done. _The Last +Judgment_ and a collection of anthems were performed on the Wednesday +morning, and _The Messiah_ on the Thursday. In the evenings _Acis and +Galatea_ and Mendelssohn’s _Walpurgis Nacht_ were performed entire. The +principal vocalists were—the Misses Williams, Miss Rainforth, Miss +Whitnall; Herr Staudigl, Mr. Pearsall, Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Machin, and Mr. +Young. The amount collected for the charity was £850. 14s. + +1848—Sermon by the Very Rev. the Dean of Worcester. Mdlle. Jenny Lind +had promised to take a part at this festival, but Mr. Lumley compelled +her to break her engagement, and she was actually singing at Birmingham +on the first day of the Worcester meeting; notwithstanding this, the +festival was one of the most successful, in point of attendance, which +has ever been held at either of the three cities. On the first morning +at least 1,500 people were present in the nave of the Cathedral, and at +the last concert in the College Hall it is computed that 1,100 persons +were crammed into the room. There were this year four morning +performances; the oratorios performed entire being the _Elijah_ and +_Messiah_, with selections from _Palestine_, _Creation_, and _Engedi_. +In the evenings parts of Mendelssohn’s _Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Haydn’s +_Seasons_, and Weber’s _Oberon_ were performed, with miscellaneous +selections. The principal vocalists were—Mdlle. Alboni, Madame +Castellan, the Misses Williams, and Miss Dolby; Mr. Sims Reeves, Signor +Lablache, Mr. Lockey, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Machin. The amount collected +for the charity was £960, and the receipts by sale of tickets reached +£3,080; yet the expense attaching to the engagement of the “stars” was so +great that the loss was very considerable. + + + + +NATURAL PHENOMENA. + + +IT is altogether beyond the province of this work to enter into any +detail of the scientific peculiarities of the county of Worcester; but it +would have been very satisfactory to have been able to have recorded +here—besides those isolated disturbances of nature’s more ordinary +course, which arrest the attention of indifferent spectators—the results +of observations made by competent persons which might have formed the +basis of a county meteorology. But, in truth, none such exist; excepting +in the daily memoranda of one or two gentlemen extending over only a very +few years, there are no data for arriving at any conclusions on the +subject. As the members of the medical profession and the scientific +agriculturist become increasingly alive to the important part which +atmosphere and electricity play in the conditions of animal and vegetable +life, the want of such tables will be severely felt. The city of +Worcester itself stands but thirty-six feet above the level of the sea; +and, from its peculiar position, its temperature is generally higher than +that of the surrounding country or of the kingdom generally. Though +Worcestershire may be considered as the central county of England, and +consequently the most inland, yet we have our fair share of rain, and +perhaps even more than an average quantity. Such observations as could +be procured on this point will be found in the Appendix. The principal +part of our rain, and the greater number of storms that visit us, come +from the S.W., and the prevailing wind is also from that quarter. In +some parts of the year it may be matter for every day observation to +notice the vapours, gathered apparently in the Bristol Channel, attracted +by the Malvern range, and spreading out a fan-like nimbus towards the +N.E., which distributes its fertilising showers over Worcester and the +lands lying between Bredon Hill on the one hand and the upper Severn on +the other—often over a much more limited tract of country—while the lands +beyond seem to lie under a dry and cloudless sky. The following are +memoranda of the more remarkable natural phenomena which have excited +notice within the county during this century. + +1802—JANUARY 20—A hurricane occurred, doing great damage to the houses in +and round Worcester. The windmill at Kempsey was set on fire by the +sails being whirled round with so great rapidity. + +1804—JANUARY 20—Violent gale from S.W., doing great damage. A stack of +chimneys falling through the roof of the house of Mr. E. Harris, +attorney, in Edgar Street, Worcester, killed the nursemaid, who was in +bed with two children, who were but little hurt. + +1805—JANUARY 25—The London mail to Worcester stopped by a heavy fall of +snow. + +1807—NOVEMBER 10—A violent storm occurred, which raged pretty generally +over the whole country. A barge laden with coal, moored near Worcester +bridge, was sunk. At Hanley Castle, and Stanford Park, a great many +trees were blown down, and several houses unroofed. + +1808—JULY 15—A most awful tempest from the S.W. The thunder continued in +one unbroken roar for an hour and a half; and the hailstones which fell +were like fragments of a vast plate of ice broken into pieces, being +broad, flat, and ragged. Many of them were perfect and unmelted the next +morning. + +1809—JANUARY 29—Great flood upon the Severn, the water rising to within +nineteen inches of the level of the extraordinary flood of 1795. + +1810—SEPTEMBER 22—A storm, described as “a dreadful whirlwind,” +commencing at Fearnal Heath, and taking a direction due north, through +Salwarp, Ombersley, Doverdale, and to the extremity of Hampton Lovett; +and its effects were felt as far as Chaddesley Corbett. The principal +sufferers were Sir John Pakington, Mr. Silvester of Doverdale, and Mr. +Saunders of Mayeux. Mr. Silvester had two hundred trees on his farm, +either torn up by the roots, or shattered at mid-trunk. Most of them +were pear trees in full bearing. + +1810—NOVEMBER 10—A tempest from the N.E. visited Worcester and its +environs. Great numbers of trees torn up by the roots. The lightning +struck the house of Mr. Harris of Edgar Street, came down the chimney of +the room in which he was sitting, burnt his hand and eyebrows, his +stockings and papers, and tore down a wainscot on the opposite side of +the room. + +1811—MAY 27—The famous Worcester hailstorm happened this day. It was +indeed a tempest, such as had been scarcely ever known in this country +before. Between four and five o’clock p.m., clouds of a horrible +blackness came up from the S.E., accompanied by a hideous noise. Shortly +hail began to fall, which almost immediately became a storm of ice, and +fell furiously in flakes of about five or six inches in circumference. +The windows of almost every house which faced the S.E. were wholly +demolished in a few minutes—gardens were laid utterly waste—and fields, +both of grass and corn, sustained irreparable damage. The ice-storm was +succeeded by heavy torrents of rain, with all the terrors of a tropical +tempest. The river Severn _in one hour rose six feet_, and continued +gradually to swell its torrent till it had reached the height of _twenty +feet_; and the flood, rapid and wide-spreading, swept away in its +impetuous career whole herds of cattle from the adjacent fields. 1,200 +panes of glass were broken in Messrs. Barr’s china manufactory, 500 in +the Workhouse, and 2,000 in Messrs. Chamberlain’s factory. Messrs. +Freame’s cabinet warehouse, Goose Lane, lost 1,000 panes, and all the +public buildings suffered severely. 150 rooks were killed in the rookery +at the White Ladies, and a vast many other birds were also afterwards +found dead. At Henwick and Hallow the crops were miserably injured. The +cost of replacing the glass broken in the city, alone, was estimated at +£5,000; and there being neither sufficient materials nor workpeople at +hand to repair it, the inhabitants for weeks had to suffer the +inconvenience of exposure to the weather. One glazier, who started off +to Stourbridge and purchased all the glass he could lay his hands on, is +said to have laid the foundation of a fortune by this calamity. We have +no record of the state of the atmosphere previous to this storm. + +1814—JANUARY 12—The Severn frozen over at Worcester, so as to admit of +parties walking across it, and the weather in every respect most severe. +JANUARY 20—The frost continued with such severity that the Severn was +frozen over at Tewkesbury, and several persons going to Tewkesbury market +rode over it at the Lode. The roads, also, were so blocked up by snow as +to render traffic of every description almost impossible. + +1817—JUNE 21—The neighbourhood of Stanford visited with a tremendous +tempest. From seven to ten p.m., the roar of the thunder was incessant; +the lightning one continued sheet of fire; and the rain descended in such +torrents that the whole country was inundated. The brook running from +Hanley William through Orleton rose to an enormous height, and carried +away fences, trees, and other obstacles, lodging them at great distances. +Many hop yards destroyed, and the soil almost wholly washed away. The +thermometer stood at 112° Fahrenheit in the sun, on the day before this +storm, and at 82° in the shade. + +1818—MARCH 4—A very furious storm from the S.W. experienced at Worcester, +continuing for about six hours. A great deal of damage done to the roofs +of houses. The Bristol mail was detained eleven hours by the floods. + +1818—APRIL 11—Great flood on the river Severn, the water rising to within +three feet of the height which it reached in February, 1795. + +1820—JANUARY 14—The Severn frozen over. + +1820—MAY 12—A thunderstorm occurred, which was very terrific in several +parts of the county. A rick of hay at Mr. Coucher’s, Woodmanton, +Clifton-on-Teme, was set on fire and wholly burnt; and four deer were +killed by the lightning in Hagley Park. + +1821—JANUARY 20—The Severn frozen over. + +1821—MAY 2—A very fearful thunderstorm occurred, which was general +throughout the kingdom. It did not do much damage in Worcestershire. At +Northwick Park five deer were killed, and their bodies were found +floating in the large sheet of water there. Four out of the five were +six-year-old bucks; and it was surmised that, blinded by the lightning, +they ran into the water; and though deer customarily swim well, yet they +were now unable to exert themselves and so were drowned. + +1821—DECEMBER 24—Great floods upon the Severn, which entirely cut off the +communication between Worcester and the lower parts of the county. The +cellars of all the houses near the Severn were flooded for some days. + +1822—MAY 20—A destructive thunderstorm in the neighbourhood of Worcester. +The hailstones, which were unusually large, smashed great quantities of +glass—particularly about Spetchley, where six hundred panes were broken +in the hothouses of R. Berkeley, Esq. Hailstones were picked up +measuring four inches in circumference. + +1822—DECEMBER 5—A terrific hurricane from the S.W., which raged with more +or less violence throughout the whole of England. In Worcester, the +roofs of several houses were almost uncovered, and the gable end of a +newly-erected building near the House of Industry was blown in. Five +boats were sunk at Diglis; and at Upton bridge one was capsized with +three men in it, one of whom was drowned. The coachman of the Holyhead +mail was twice blown off the box, and one of the horses dropped down +dead, on arriving at Chester, from excessive fatigue. + +1825—JULY 19—A tempest in the neighbourhood of Tenbury and Cleobury +Mortimer. The electric fluid struck an oak tree at Kinlet, and killed +nine sheep sheltering beneath it; set fire to the wooden steeple of Neen +Savage Church, melting the bells which it contained, and threatening the +destruction of the entire edifice. + +1825—DECEMBER 14—A fearful storm of wind, hail, rain, and lightning, +passed over Worcester from the S.W., and the electric fluid displaced a +stone about half way up St. Andrew’s spire. Mr. G. Parry, farmer, of +Hanbury, lost thirty-two ewes, heavy with lamb, and valued at £100. + +1826—JANUARY 14—A storm of wind, which blew a perfect hurricane about +noon. A stack of chimneys at Mr. Sidebottom’s house, at Worcester, fell +through the roof and two floors, severely injuring a servant. Trees in +the neighbourhood were torn up by the roots, walls and fences laid flat, +and corn and hay ricks unthatched and scattered. A considerable part of +the spire of Cleobury Mortimer Church was broken off during divine +service, and the congregation rushed out of the edifice in terror. A +barge, heavily laden with coal, was sunk in the Severn. + +1828—JULY 8—A tempest of considerable violence, during which the +lightning struck a house in Newdix Court, High Street, Worcester, and a +cottage near Merriman’s Hill—not, however, doing much damage in either +case. Vehement gusts of wind stripped old roofs of their tiling, and +blew down several trees in the neighbourhood. + +1830—JANUARY 20—A very heavy fall of snow, blocking up all the roads, so +that no coaches reached Worcester at all from the west, and the London +coaches came in a day after their time. + +1831—JULY 10—A tempest which raged throughout the county, doing much +damage. The lightning struck Hales, a watchman of Worcester, while +sitting at the door of a house at Spetchley, and he was for a time +paralysed, while the blood flowed from his ears and mouth. At Wick a +cottage was burnt down, and the nephew of the widow who occupied it was +affected by the electric fluid, much in the same manner as Hales. On +Defford Common the hailstones lay in hillocks nine inches high, and some +of the stones were as large as pigeon’s eggs. A great deal of glass was +broken, birds killed, crops destroyed (the heads of the wheat being +separated from the straw, and the pods of beans laid open), and fencing +laid low. + +1836—DECEMBER 28–30—An extraordinary snowstorm, which extended over the +greater part of the country, and continued for several days, till all the +roads were blocked up and communication almost at an end. The Worcester +mail was blocked up in the snow at Enstone, and could not be got out. +The mails for three days were thirty-six hours behind time. In some +places the snow was said to have drifted to a height of twenty feet. + +1839—JANUARY 9—A fearful gale of wind, general throughout the country, +and doing great damage to houses and plantations in this county. At +Burlish Common, near Stourport, a stack of chimneys fell through the roof +of a cottage on to the bed where a young woman was lying, and she +sustained such injuries as to cause her death shortly afterwards. + +1839—JUNE 13—A very violent hailstorm raged chiefly in the northern part +of the county. At Hagley, several hundred pounds’ worth of glass were +destroyed; and in Mr. G. B. Lea’s spinning mill, at Drayton, near +Kidderminster, 580 small panes were broken. At Hartlebury, &c., great +damage was done to the growing crops—many fields of barley being totally +destroyed; and at Harvington the hailstones were reported to lie six feet +deep on the ground: fifty rooks were killed in that neighbourhood. + +1839—JULY 31—In consequence of unintermittent rains for several days +together, a flood occurred in all the running streams, which rose higher +than had been known for many years. Of course, great damage was done to +the pastures and crops. On several roads communication was cut off. The +Ludlow and Aberystwith mails to Worcester were both stopped. The guard +of the Ludlow mail attempted to get on in a two-horse fly; but, at +Newnham, the fly was fairly floated, and the guard himself narrowly +escaped drowning. The Aberystwith coach was stopped at Knightsford +bridge, and had to be lashed to a tree: the bags were brought away in +boats. + +1843—JULY 5—An alarming tempest visited Worcester and the neighbourhood, +killing several sheep, shivering fine trees, and the subsequent hail +destroying much glass in greenhouses. + +1843—JULY 13—A very severe thunderstorm again occurred, igniting some +farm buildings at Abberton, killing a mare at Redditch, and doing other +damage. The wife of a labourer at Eastnor was struck by the lightning, +and the whole of her apparel was reduced to tinder; the steel busk of her +stays was heated to a red heat! and her body, in consequence, frightfully +burnt—nevertheless she recovered. The wife of a gardener at Inkberrow, +named Hopkins, was sitting at the fireplace, when the electric fluid came +down the chimney, and striking the woman, passed along her spine, killing +her on the spot. The damage done to the crops along the eastern border +of the county was very great. + +1843—AUGUST 9—A most violent thunderstorm, whose chief fury seemed to be +spent immediately over the city of Worcester. Wind in S.W. For two +hours the thunder pealed incessantly, and the electric fluid struck at +least ten houses in the city, but without doing any material damage at +either place. At one house which the lightning entered, in the Shambles, +a boy was standing with an awl in his hand, and the electric fluid +severed the blade from the haft, leaving the latter in the hand of the +boy! + +1845—JULY 6—A terrific thunderstorm, extending over all the S.W. and +midland counties of England, broke this evening over Worcester, just as +the several congregations were leaving their respective places of +worship. Just before the hurricane of rain commenced, the whole clouded +sky was covered with a lurid glare, as if from the reflection of a +distant conflagration. A great number of fine trees were uprooted, +especially near Bewdley. At Witley Court, great damage was done to the +windows and conservatories; at Pershore the hailstones were, in fact, +large pieces of ice, and some 2,000 panes of glass were broken. + +1846—AUGUST 1—A violent thunderstorm, which did considerable damage in +some parts of England, but not much in this neighbourhood. Two lambs, +belonging to J. Lea, Esq., of The Shrubbery, Kidderminster, were killed +by the lightning. + + + + +MISCELLANEOUS OCCURRENCES. + + +1800. + + +THE present century opened in a tempest of war and confusion, which gave +little prospect of soon exhausting its fury. Mention will be found below +of several serious riots on account of the high price of provisions, +which may be thus accounted for: The exemption from cash payments in 1797 +had given great relief to the merchants and tradespeople generally, but +had little effect upon the condition of the working classes; and the war +had not yet withdrawn so many men from productive industry as materially +to raise the rate of wages. The total number of levies for the army, +from the commencement of the war to the end of 1800, was but 208,388. It +had, however, continued sufficiently long to raise the price of all +provisions enormously, and the very deficient harvests of 1799 and 1800 +greatly increased this evil, and added to the distress. So much disquiet +was excited by these causes that Parliament was called together for a +second sitting in November, and all sorts of expedients were resorted to +to increase the supply of food—bounties were granted on the importation +of foreign corn—the use of corn in distilleries, or for making starch, +was prohibited—the manufacture of fine flour, or the use of it in making +bread, was forbidden, while the use of oats and barley was permitted and +encouraged—bakers were prohibited from selling bread that had not been +baked twenty-four hours—and, lastly, in the month of December His Majesty +issued a proclamation exhorting the strictest economy in families on the +use of every kind of grain, recommending that people should abstain from +pastry, and on no account allow the consumption of bread in their +households to exceed one quartern loaf for each person in a week. +Statutes against “engrossing and regrating,” that had almost become +obsolete, were also raked up and eagerly put in force against +speculators, whether great or small, both by country magistrates and +chief justices, though the great Holt had long ago laughed at them. The +average price of wheat this year was 119s. 6d. per quarter; and Three per +Cent. Consols averaged 63½. + +JANUARY—A subscription entered into for the relief of the poor in +Worcester, in consequence of the “high price of bread, butter, and other +necessaries of life.” The parties at the public meeting, called to +promote the subscription, pledged themselves “to reduce the consumption +of flour and butter in their own families as much as possible, and +earnestly recommended the same to all ranks of persons within the city +and suburbs.” The subscription, in the whole, amounted to more than +£700. The soup kitchen was opened before this time. + +JANUARY 7—The post boy, carrying the mail with the letter bags from +Worcester, for Bewdley, Kidderminster, and Stourbridge, was stopped about +six in the morning, two miles only from Worcester, by a man on foot, who +presented a pistol—cut the straps of the portmanteau and carried the mail +away. A reward of £200 was offered by Government, but the offender was +never apprehended. + +JANUARY 14—The County Magistrates, at Quarter Sessions, ordered that “no +makers of bread for sale, shall make, or sell, any superior quality of +bread at a higher price than the standard wheaten bread; and that every +peck loaf should weigh 17 lbs. 6oz., and every quartern loaf 4 lbs. 5 oz. +8 drams.” Price of wheat in Worcester market, 13s. 4d. to 15s. 6d. the +bushel. Hops, £14 to £16 per cwt. + +JANUARY 17—The “Worcester Fencible Light Dragoons,” retiring to England +from service in Ireland, were thanked by Lord Cornwallis, Adjutant +General of the forces in Ireland, for their services in that kingdom. + +JANUARY 25—The magistrates of Worcester offered ten guineas reward for +the discovery of the writer of “several inflammatory papers, reflecting +upon their conduct,” which were found in the Foregate Street. + +JANUARY 25—A labouring man robbed at Barbourne, Worcester, by footpads; +and, two days after, a farmer, on horseback, was stopped at the same +spot. + +FEBRUARY 21—A man apprehended in Worcester market for “forestalling,” and +committed to the assizes for trial. + +MARCH 9—A “Worcester Fire Office” established, with a capital of +£100,000. + +APRIL 4—Disturbances in the Worcester markets, on account of the high +price of provisions. The magistrates issued a notice that sellers would +be protected. The consumption of butter greatly reduced in consequence +of its enormous price. + +APRIL 7—The Corporation of Worcester offered premiums of 1s. 6d. for the +first 100 bushels of potatoes brought into the market before the 1st +July; 1s. for the second 100; and 9d. for the third. Claimants upon 240 +bushels were paid. Wheat at 14s. 6d. to 18s. per bushel. Beef at least +9d., and mutton 10d. per lb. + +APRIL 25—The colliers of Stourbridge in a state of great disturbance from +the scarcity. A squadron of the 7th Dragoon Guards sent into the +neighbourhood. + +MAY 2—Meeting of the gentry and inhabitants of Stourbridge; the Hon. +Edward Foley in the chair; at which resolutions were passed, begging the +farmers to bring wheat into that market to sell at 15s. per bushel, and +barley at a price not exceeding 8s. + +MAY 9—Disturbances at Redditch, which threatened to be very serious, but +quelled by the Bromsgrove Volunteers, who stood a furious attack made on +them by the mob with great firmness and prudence. Several of the rioters +were apprehended, but discharged on finding sureties for their good +behaviour. + +MAY 15—Attempt on the King’s life in Drury Lane Theatre by Hadfield. +Addresses from the Worcester Corporation were sent to the Right Hon. the +Earl of Coventry for presentation, as recorder of the city. + +MAY 30—Accounts of “Internal Defence Subscription” published, from which +it appeared that £4,550 had been subscribed by the county, and £532 by +the city of Worcester: spent equally in the augmentation of the Militia +and the Yeomanry Cavalry. + +JUNE 10—Visitation and address by the Bishop, in which the scarcity was +attributed to the war and inclement seasons. Use of “Church Catechism,” +in the instruction of children, urgently enforced. + +JUNE 26—Honorary degree of M.A. conferred on Lord Foley, at the Oxford +Commemoration of Founders and Benefactors of the University. + +JULY 9—A further subscription entered into in Worcester for the relief of +the poor, who had been constantly subsidised from the fund ever since the +winter; 96,000 quarts of soup having been distributed amongst them, +besides great quantities of potatoes and much money. + +JULY 21—Lord Dudley and Ward purchased a large quantity of imported wheat +at Liverpool, to retail to the poor at a reduced price. Price of wheat +in Worcester market, 21s. to 22s. 6d. per bushel. + +AUGUST 10—The price of wheat in Worcester market having fallen to 10s. +and 13s. per bushel, the relief committee discontinued their labours. +The promise of a plenteous harvest produced this change for the better. + +AUGUST 15—The Mayor and magistrates of Worcester attempted to enforce +sanitary regulations—such as cleansing “the kennels,” for they considered +“all stagnate water injurious to health, and the exhalations from it the +forerunners of contagious disorders.” + +AUGUST—A great number of houses between Stourport and Worcester searched +for unlawful nets, used for the taking of small fish in the Severn. Many +such being found they were all publicly burned at Bewdley. + +AUGUST 25—This evening, because the bakers in Worcester were unprovided +with bread to sell, the populace assembled as soon as it was dark and +began to demolish their windows, but the disturbance was soon put a stop +to by the magistrates. A sudden rise in the price of flour on the +previous Saturday had prevented the bakers from supplying themselves with +the necessary quantity for the week. + +SEPTEMBER 12—The Mayor, magistrates, &c., of Worcester met “to ensure a +more regular supply of the necessaries of life, at reasonable prices,” to +their fellow citizens, and determine to erect a corn mill to be worked by +steam. + +SEPTEMBER 19—A mare, belonging to Mr. Tully of St. John’s, ridden seventy +miles on the London Road, from Worcester to Benson, in eleven hours and +forty-nine minutes. + +SEPTEMBER 21—Meeting of farmers, &c., at Bromsgrove, when they agreed to +supply that market, for three months, with wheat at 11s. 6d. a bushel. + +NOVEMBER 21—“John Bunn, jun., flax dresser,” advertised his address. +Sales of flax crops occasionally advertised. + +NOVEMBER 27—£2,350 subscribed to the Flour and Bread Institution, for the +benefit of the industrious poor. The institution bought foreign wheat +largely, and sold to the poor at reduced prices. It was said in its +results “greatly to exceed the expectations of its most sanguine +promoters.” + +DECEMBER 1—Lord Valentia and Mr. Child supplied the Bewdley market with +grain, at 12s. a bushel, to be sold to the poor, under the direction of +the bailiff. + +DECEMBER 5—Mr. Burrow, saddler, of Worcester, purchased a large quantity +of potatoes to sell again to the poor under the market price. + +DECEMBER 10—John Beet, of Rowley Regis, butcher, was convicted by the +Droitwich magistrates, in the full penalty of 50s. for “cutting and +gashing two cow hides and a calf skin, and for slaying them below the +gambrel or knee.” + +LOCAL ACTS PASSED THIS YEAR—For continuing and enlarging powers of +Bewdley Turnpike Trust; ditto Kidderminster Turnpikes; Act for repairing +roads leading to and from the Hundred House. + + + +1801. + + +IN February, this year, Mr. Pitt unexpectedly retired, and Mr. Addington +was called to the King’s Councils, a fact principally to be attributed to +the ill success of the war which had been entered into with France, and +continued at a cost of blood and treasure totally disproportionate to its +advantages. The new ministry, from the moment of entering office, +declared peace to be their aim, and the preliminary articles were signed +in London in October. This war, which had lasted for eight years, cost +us £427,000,000, and at the end of it the only additional possessions we +retained were Trinidad and the Dutch holdings in Ceylon. In consequence +of the harvest in 1800 being almost an entire failure, the high price of +provisions continued to create much distress amongst the poor, and the +bounties on flour imported from America were increased. The Three per +Cents. fluctuated between 54¾, in January, and 69½, in October: average +price about 61. Wheat averaged 69s. 10d. + +JANUARY—Price of grain in Worcester market 20s. to 24s. a bushel. + +MARCH 28—Riot amongst the Worcester women, on account of the high price +of provisions—20d. being asked for a pound of butter; 2s. a peck for +potatoes; and 9d. a pound for meat. The mob of women prevented the +Birmingham “badgers” from carrying off their purchases, and then, +assembling before a baker’s shop in Broad Street, compelled his wife to +throw out to them all the bread she had in the house. Special constables +were at last sworn in and tranquillity restored. + +MAY 27—Price of the quartern loaf fixed by the Mayor of Worcester at 1s. +7d., though selling the same day in London at 1s. 4½d. Constant +complaints that the markets at Worcester were higher than elsewhere, and +as this continued to be the case, a Mr. B. Lloyd purchased, in June, +1,000 barrels of American flour at Liverpool, and sold them here in +single barrels. + +JUNE 20—Two vagrants, confined in the County Bridewell, forced out a +window, and, dropping themselves over a wall twenty feet high, made good +their escape. + +JULY 17—The committee of the Worcester Flour and Bread Institution +reported, that since the previous October, 100,000 loaves had been sold +to the poor by its means at one third less than the average market price. +During the same period 140,000 quarts of soup had been distributed. + +JULY 30—The Directors of the Worcester House of Industry, which was +established in 1795, published a statement apologising for the increase +of rates. The average number of poor relieved in and out of the house, +during the previous twelve months, had been 583 weekly! while in 1795 it +was only 235. The Directors attributed this increase to the high price +of food and the sickliness of the season, and said it was not greater +than in other manufacturing towns. + +AUGUST 5—Miss Mellon performed at Worcester Theatre to crowded houses. + +OCTOBER 14—Dinner at the Crown Hotel, Worcester, “to celebrate the +Peace.” Illumination, &c. + +OCTOBER 15—Ball at the Guildhall, for the benefit of the Infirmary, +attended by 300 persons. Net profits £102. + +NOVEMBER 10—Lord Foley met with a severe accident while hunting, one of +his horse’s legs dropping into a deep hole and falling back upon his +lordship. + +NOVEMBER 10—An advertisement having been inserted in the Worcester +papers, by the Hon. Mr. Ward, stating that he intended to offer himself +as a candidate for Worcester at the next general election, the +Corporation met and voted unanimously that “as there is no vacancy in the +representation of the city, the Corporation considered that an +insuperable bar to their countenancing a contest from any quarter +whatever, having had woful experience how destructive it is of peace and +good neighbourhood, which happily has prevailed among all ranks of +citizens for a long time.” + +DECEMBER 14—Both the Worcester members, Mr. Wigley and Mr. Robarts, voted +in a minority of 22 to 80, to continue the restrictions on the use of +barley in distilleries. + +DECEMBER 18—General collection made throughout the city by the parish +officers on behalf of the Infirmary, instead of further illuminations on +account of the Peace. + +DECEMBER 21—Considerable festivities at Witley Court, on Lord Foley +attaining his majority. A very large sum distributed amongst the poor of +the neighbourhood. + + + +1802. + + +THE confirmation of the Peace of Amiens diffused universal joy, and the +harvest of 1801 having been tolerably abundant, much less pressure was +experienced on account of the price of bread. Three per Cents. stood at +about 70½. Wheat averaged 69s. 10d. + +JANUARY 9—C. Thellusson, Esq., M.P. for Evesham, distributed one hundred +guineas amongst the poor freemen of that borough. + +JANUARY 11—William Smith publicly whipped in the corn market, Worcester, +according to sentence of sessions, for stealing a bag. + +FEBRUARY 1—Lord Foley appeared at the bar of the Court of Common Pleas, +and suffered recoveries of estates of considerable value. He took his +seat in the House of Lords on the 22nd April. + +APRIL 16—The Worcester Militia, under Colonel Newport, called together +and disembodied. + +MAY 5—A private in the 5th Dragoons, immured in Worcester gaol for +desertion, and daily expecting exemplary punishment, received an account +of the death of a distant relation in Ireland, bequeathing him a property +of £4,000 per annum. + +JUNE 1—General Thanksgiving for the Peace. An address of congratulation +was voted on the occasion by the Corporation of Worcester, and forwarded +to the Earl of Coventry, as recorder of the city, for presentation. + +JUNE 9—The Hon. Mr. Ward attained his majority, and the event was +celebrated at Himley with great rejoicings. A barrel of beer, called +“Big Ben,” containing 1,000 gallons, which had been brewed at the birth +of Mr. Ward, was tapped on the occasion. + +JUNE 8—The Yeomanry assembled on the _Sunday_, as requested, and received +the thanks of His Majesty and the Parliament. Each troop, henceforth, +reduced to forty rank and file. + +AUGUST 29—Lord Nelson, accompanied by Sir William and Lady Hamilton, +visited Worcester, on their return from a tour through South Wales. He +was met on the road by a great number of people, who drew his carriage +into the city: visited the china manufactory; was received by the Mayor +and Corporation at the Town Hall; entertained at a collation; and the +Earl of Coventry, the recorder, presented him with the freedom of the +city in a china vase from Messrs. Chamberlain’s manufactory. [The visit +is recorded by the mosaic of stones in front of the Guildhall.] + +SEPTEMBER 10—The price of coals being raised, Lord Dudley and Ward +directed that the poor inhabitants of Worcester should be supplied from +his pits at nearly half the ordinary cost. + +SEPTEMBER 27—H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge visited Worcester, his regiment +being then quartered in this county, and was presented with the freedom +of the city. + +DECEMBER 10—The magistrates of Worcester published a correct list of +fairs, &c., because the difference between the Old and New Styles being +then thirteen days instead of twelve, great uncertainty prevailed +respecting the days on which they actually took place, and people +frequently arrived “a day after the fair.” + +PRIVATE ACT PASSED THIS YEAR—For enclosure of waste lands at Ripple. + + + +1803. + + +THE hollow peace proved very short-lived. Buonaparte being evidently +bent on the subjugation of the entire continent, and the British refusing +to evacuate Malta till they had satisfaction as to his designs, war was +again declared in May this year. The return to hostilities seemed as +much to please the nation at large as the peace had done only the year +before. On the threat of invasion arose that unparalleled volunteer +enthusiasm to which many of the following memoranda have reference. +Consols fluctuated from 73 in January to 52 in October; average price, +about 60. Price of wheat, 58s. 10d. + +JANUARY 10—A. Robarts, Esq., M.P. for Worcester, “with his accustomed +liberality,” presented half a guinea to each of the poor freemen of the +city who chose to accept it, and the gift was “gratefully received” by +upwards of 500 persons—the total sum distributed being 270 guineas. + +JANUARY 24—The new member, Joseph Scott, Esq., entertained 500 of the +freemen at a dinner, and next day invited 123 of his more respectable +friends to dine at the Hoppole, in celebration of his election. One of +the toasts given was, “The pious and revered memory of the late Mr. +Alderman Mather.” + +FEBRUARY 1—The Venerable Bishop Hurd completed the select and valuable +library at the Episcopal Palace, Hartlebury, which he has since +bequeathed as an heir-loom to his successors in the see. + +MAY 18—The Worcestershire Militia, under Colonel Newport, set out, by +forced marches, for Gosport, in consequence of the renewal of war with +France. + +MAY 26—The Messrs. Chamberlain sent, in pursuance to order, a superb set +of porcelain to court, for the use of His Majesty on the ensuing +birthday. + +JUNE 6—The Droitwich Road Bill received the royal assent, after a very +severe opposition in Parliament. + +JUNE 22—Meeting of the hop planters of Worcester and Hereford at the +Talbot, Tything, Worcester, the Hon. James S. Cocks in the chair, to +petition that the use of quassia may be prohibited. + +AUGUST 12—The enthusiastic citizens of Worcester form themselves into a +corps of “Loyal Worcester Volunteers;” and similar corps were formed in +every town and many of the rural districts in the county. The +subscriptions for clothing and arms for the city corps amounted to +£2,500. + +AUGUST 19—The Worcester Loyal Volunteers, amounting then to 722 men, met +on Pitchcroft, and elected the Hon. George Coventry their Lieutenant +Colonel, and Samuel Wall, jun., Esq., their Major. + +SEPTEMBER 21—Lord Foley formed a rifle corps of 100 men, to be added to +the extraordinary defences of the country “at the present crisis.” + +OCTOBER 9—(Sunday)—General muster and exercise of the Loyal Volunteer +Infantry on Pitchcroft. Almost all the drills took place on the +Sunday—the members of the corps being, from business, unable to attend on +any other day. Hon. George Coventry commandant of this district. + +DECEMBER 3—The ladies bought up every particle of flannel that they could +lay their hands on, to make flannel dresses for the volunteers! + +DECEMBER 16—William Sturges, Esq., of Acton Hall, Worcestershire, M.P. +for Christchurch, Hants, received permission to take the additional name +of Bourne. This gentleman gave name, in turn, to a very well known act +of Parliament. + +LOCAL ACTS—For continuing and enlarging powers of acts for repair of road +from Worcester to Bromsgrove; for making horse towing path from Bewdley +to Diglis; for inclosure of lands at Little Comberton. + + + +1804. + + +MR. PITT, having strengthened his hands by the addition of Addington, now +Viscount Sidmonth, and his friends, returned to office; the war with +Buonaparte was carried on with fresh vigour, and the volunteers at home +were fired with an increase of patriotic ardour. The number of men +withdrawn from productive industry amounted already to at least 400,000; +and that remarkable rise in prices, which continued throughout the war, +now commenced. Consols averaged 57. Bad harvest; wheat averaged 62s. +3d. + +FEBRUARY 12—(Sunday)—General inspection, on Pitchcroft, of the Loyal +Worcester Volunteers under Colonel Coventry, by Colonel Houston. The St. +John’s, Bewdley, Stourport, Kidderminster, Evesham and Pershore, and +Elmley corps also reviewed this week. + +MARCH 10—The towns of Bewdley and Kidderminster alarmed very early by the +beating of the Volunteer drums, in consequence of a report that the +French had landed, 50,000 strong. The Volunteers immediately assembled, +shouldered their muskets, and set off towards Worcester with immense +alacrity and amid the enthusiastic cheers of their wives and sweethearts. +After marching some three or four miles they were informed, that it was a +false alarm, intended merely by way of proof and exercise. So they +marched back again, in ire and chagrin. + +APRIL 10—Colours, worked by the young ladies of Evesham, were presented +to the Evesham and Pershore Volunteers by Mrs. Perrott. + +APRIL 17—A similar presentation was made to the Worcester Volunteers by +Lady Deerhurst. Colours afterwards consecrated in the Cathedral. + +MAY 29—The ancient custom, of the different companies walking in +procession with the Mayor and Corporation of Worcester to the Cathedral, +revived. + +AUGUST 1—The Tenbury Volunteers (Captain Edward Wheeler) received colours +from Mrs. Pytts of Kyre House. + +SEPTEMBER 6—A meeting of the trustees of the Upton roads to rebut the +statement of “certain interested innholders who, to serve their own +private ends, make a practice of falsely representing to their customers +that the road from Upton to Gloucester is so greatly out of repair as to +endanger the safety of travellers, and that there are no proper +accommodations for persons travelling in carriages, either at Upton or +Corse Lawn.” + +SEPTEMBER 17—The South Worcester Volunteers presented with colours on +Hanley Common by Mrs. Lygon, who also presented the privates with a purse +of 100 guineas to drink the King’s health. + +NOVEMBER—The Directors of the Worcester House of Industry gave notice, +that they intended to obtain for all incorrigibly vicious females twelve +months’ hard labour in Bridewell; therefore they had better keep clear of +the united parishes and the workhouse beadles. + +LOCAL ACT—For continuing and enlarging the powers of the Upton Turnpike +Trustees. + + + +1805. + + +THE discussion of the Catholic claims was the principal domestic matter +occupying the attention of Parliament and the public; while the death of +Nelson, and Trafalgar, filled all men’s hearts and mouths towards the +close of the year. The war was fast becoming popular; for though the +taxes were enormous, our taxable income, which in 1792 appears not to +have exceeded £130,000,000, had increased to £220,000,000. A great +proportion of the vast war outlay was, in fact, but a circulation amongst +ourselves. Consols averaged 59; wheat averaged 89s. 9d. + +JANUARY 4—The Vice Chancellor and Mayor of Oxford issuing a notice, +forbidding all stage carriages to pass through that city between nine +a.m. and four p.m. on Sundays, the times of the carriers leaving +Worcester on the Friday were obliged to be altered. They afterwards set +out for London at five p.m. on Friday, reaching London on Tuesday +morning. + +FEBRUARY—A dispute between the physicians and surgeons of Worcester, the +former (Dr. Cameron, Dr. Wilson, and Dr. Barnett) declaring that they +would not meet the surgeons in consultation in any medical cases unless +the surgeons would refrain from acting as consulting physicians. They +defined the department of the surgeon to be—any external or local disease +unaccompanied by any general affection of the system but what the local +disease itself produced and requiring manual assistance in its treatment. +Messrs. Yeomans, Rayment, Nash, Hill, Hebb, and Romney consented to the +physicians’ terms; Messrs. Cole, Sandford, and Carden refused them. + +FEBRUARY 25—The Hon. Mr. Ward presented a petition to the House of +Commons from the freeholders and rackrenters of Worcestershire and +Herefordshire, praying to be allowed to employ five horses in narrow +wheeled waggons. + +MARCH 29—The following advertisement appeared in the _Worcester Herald_ +of this date: + + “COCKING: A main of cocks will be fought at the house of Mr. John + Lloyd, the sign of the Pheasant, New Street, Worcester, between the + gentlemen of Worcestershire and the gentlemen of Gloucestershire, to + show and weigh thirty-one cocks on each side in the main, for four + guineas a battle and fifty guineas the odd battle; and twenty cocks + on each side in the byes, for two guineas a battle. To weigh on + Saturday the 18th of April, 1805, and fight on Monday, Tuesday, and + Wednesday, the following week, being Easter week. + + FEEDERS: GOSLING, Worcestershire. HAYNES, Gloucestershire.” + +MAY 1—The Loyal Worcester Volunteers inspected by General Bingham, and +afterwards marched to Gloucester, there to remain twenty-one days on +permanent duty. + +MAY 6—The Worcester Yeomanry Cavalry, under the command of the Hon. +Colonel Cocks, marched to Hereford, there to remain on fifteen days’ +permanent duty. + +MAY 20—The Volunteers return from Gloucester laden with honours and +encomiums. The officers of the regiment invited to a dinner at the Crown +Inn by the Mayor and Corporation. + +JULY 22—The Young Roscius performed in Worcester Theatre with the same +success as elsewhere. The exorbitant prices which the manager, in the +first instance, wished to charge for admission caused considerable +excitement and a sort of O. P. riot, and the manager was obliged to +yield. + +SEPTEMBER 25—A boy, gathering nuts in a wood at Crowle, accidentally +removed a piece of turf, and found beneath it a trap door and chimney. +He called several men to the spot, who immediately descended through the +door, and discovered a subterranean cave divided into several apartments +with much care and ingenuity. In one of the rooms there was a quantity +of cold meat, and in another a number of skins with entrails, &c. It had +evidently been the retreat of sheepstealers and general thieves, though +none happened to be there at the moment of discovery. + +DECEMBER 11—An address presented to the King from the Corporation of +Worcester, congratulating him upon the glorious victory of Trafalgar, and +lamenting the death of Nelson. As much as £400 collected in Worcester +for the wounded marines, and the widows and orphans of those who fell in +the action. + +LOCAL ACTS—For building a chapel of ease at Redditch; for enclosure of +waste lands at Rushock. + + + +1806. + + +THIS year Pitt and Fox both passed from the scene. Pitt was only in the +forty-seventh year of his age; and though he had conducted the affairs of +the kingdom during a longer period, and with greater popularity, than +perhaps any other statesman in modern times, yet he may be said to have +died of chagrin at the defeat of all his favourite schemes. Grenville +and Fox succeeded him at the helm of affairs, and the general election +which then took place furnished them with a strong body of supporters in +the House of Commons. The new ministry were pacifically inclined, but +found it impossible to negociate with Buonaparte. A loan of twenty +millions was negociated to carry on the war, and the property tax +increased from 6¼ to 10 per cent. Consols stood at about 60; wheat +averaged 79s. 1d. + +FEBRUARY 19—A Malvern carrier, returning to Worcester, drove his horse +and cart over the side of Powick bridge, at a place where the wall had +fallen down and the road broken in. He was carried a considerable +distance down the stream, but help came in time to save his life. The +dangerous state of the bridge was accounted for by there being a dispute +between the Earl of Coventry and the parish of Powick, as to who was +liable to the repairs. The matter had been tried at Gloucester Assizes +in 1802, and a verdict given for the parish; nevertheless, his lordship +had not repaired it. + +APRIL 7—A man stopped by footpads on the road between Droitwich and +Worcester (about two miles from the former place), and robbed of all the +money he had, about 8s. + +MAY—The Worcester Lying-in Charity established. + +JULY 29—At the Summer Assizes, Michael Crockett found guilty of a fraud +at Bromsgrove, was ordered to be pilloried in that town on the succeeding +market day, and afterwards to be imprisoned for two years. + +SEPTEMBER 5—The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence visited Evesham +and Kidderminster. + +LOCAL (PRIVATE) ACTS—For enclosure of lands in Wick and St. Andrew, +Pershore; ditto in Crowle. + + + +1807. + + +THE abolition of the slave trade, under the short Grenville ministry, +must ever be remembered as the feature of this year. Lord Howick having +brought in a bill for securing to all His Majesty’s subjects the +privilege of serving in the army or navy without regard to religious +opinions, the King’s “scruples” were aroused, and he called a new +administration, with the Duke of Portland at its head, to his councils. +They dissolved Parliament, and the elections were attended with great +excitement. By means of the cry of “the Church in danger,” a remarkable +reaction was effected, and the ministry found themselves commanding large +majorities in the new House. One of the first acts of the new ministry +was one which marked by how long an interval they were separated from the +minister in whose steps they professed to follow. At the request of our +merchants, whose ships were under various disadvantages from which those +of neutral states were free, they issued Orders in Council that neutral +vessels, _whithersoever bound_, should put into some port connected with +England, and there obtain a license to continue their trade! A general +suspension of American navigation and trade consequently took place, and +these orders eventually led to the war with America in 1812. They +contributed also in various ways to the depreciation of our bank paper, +and their folly was thus terribly and speedily avenged upon ourselves. +Consols averaged 63; wheat averaged 75s. 4d. + +FEBRUARY 25—A woman, named Mary Davies, publicly whipped at Kidderminster +by order of the magistrates, for embezzling a quantity of yarn. + +APRIL 2—Captain Bund appointed to the Colonelcy of the Worcestershire +Militia, _vice_ Colonel Charlton, deceased. + +APRIL 27—Mr. Robarts, member for Worcester, offered to erect a steam +engine for supplying the city with water. The waterworks which have ever +since been made to serve for that purpose, were erected in consequence of +this generous offer. + +MAY 1—Sir Thomas Winnington fell from his horse, near Bromyard, while +accompanying Colonel Foley to his canvass in Herefordshire, and broke his +leg. + +JUNE 23—A riot in Worcester between the mob and the military in barracks +there, and several parties taken into custody. A recruit, for aiding and +abetting the populace, was sentenced to receive 500 lashes! + +JUNE 28—A meeting of the Worcester glovers, with Mr. J. Knapp in the +chair, to resist a combination of the “grounders, stoners, and white +leather parers” to obtain an advance of wages. The names of fifty-six +firms were appended to the resolutions—“John Dent and Son” standing +sixth. + +AUGUST 10—The North Worcester Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Villiers, +assembled in a field near Bromsgrove, and were presented with a pair of +colours by the Right Hon. Lady Beauchamp. + +AUGUST 19—H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester visited Worcester, and proceeded +to Witley Court. Next day, accompanied by Lord and Lady Foley, the Dean +of Worcester, &c., he inspected the porcelain manufactory of Messrs. +Barr, Flight, and Barr, and ordered a superb service. + +SEPTEMBER 23—The Prince of Wales, Duke of Sussex, and a large party of +other nobility visited the Marchioness of Downshire at Ombersley Court. +The Mayor and Justices of Worcester, with the Town Clerk and several of +the Council, waited on H.R.H. there, and presented an address to him. + +SEPTEMBER 25—The Prince of Wales and a large party this day visited +Worcester, were met by the Recorder, Earl of Coventry, and partook of a +collation at the Town Hall. The streets were lined by the Worcester and +Birmingham Volunteers. A visit was paid, and orders given, at both china +manufactories. Messrs. Chamberlain and Co. appointed porcelain +manufacturers to H.R.H. + +LOCAL ACTS—For enclosure of lands at Aldington and Broughton Hackett. + + + +1808. + + +MATTERS at home remained quiet, and much as in the preceding year, the +public mind being taken up with the expedition to Spain, discussing the +battle of Vimiera, and Convention of Cintra. Three per Cents. stood as +high in June as 70⅜, and averaged throughout the year 65½. This was the +only year during this century in which our exports of wheat exceeded our +imports: average price, 81s. 4d. + +MARCH 2—The mail from Birmingham to Bristol took on two passengers only +from Worcester, a young lady named Capper and a little child. On getting +to Severn Stoke the horses became restive, and at Ripple altogether ran +away. The reins broke, and both coachman and guard got down to stop the +horses, but were unable to do so, and the coach was soon out of their +sight. The young lady, while the vehicle was at its utmost speed, became +so alarmed that she threw herself out of the coach door, and her neck was +broken by the fall. + +MAY 26—The Mayor of Worcester committed two journeymen bootmakers to +prison for combining with others against their master, Mr. J. Garner, to +demand an increase of wages. It was shown that industrious men could +obtain at that trade from 30s. to 50s. a week. + +JUNE 24—A society formed in Worcester for the prevention of vice—such as +Sabbath breaking, &c. + +JULY 6—The Rev. Rowland Hill preached in the Countess of Huntingdon’s +Chapel, Worcester, this (Wednesday) evening. + +JULY 28—The Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex again visited Ombersley +Court. + +OCTOBER 21—A new double-bodied post coach advertised to run from +Worcester to London three days a week, starting from Worcester at twelve +at noon and arriving in London at eight next morning. + +DECEMBER 6—Lieutenant Carden, of the Worcester militia, on his return +from Ombersley was stopped close to the Barbourne turnpike by three +recruits, and forced to deliver up his gold watch and money. They +afterwards beat a girl, and attempted to rob the Bewdley post boy; but +Mr. Carden having raised an alarm as soon as he got into the town, a +number of people started after them, and two out of the three were +apprehended the same night. + +LOCAL ACTS—To amend and enlarge the acts relating to the Worcester and +Birmingham Canal Navigation; for enclosure of lands at Bredon. + + + +1809. + + +PARLIAMENT was principally occupied with the inquiry which led to the +Duke of York’s resignation of the commandership of the army. Money was +so plentiful that a loan of eleven millions was raised at a lower rate of +interest than the public creditor had ever before consented to receive. +Consols stood at 68; harvest indifferent; wheat averaged 97s. 4d. + +JANUARY—The first steps taken to establish a Lancastrian school in +Worcester. Up to this time there had been no day school at which it was +possible for the children of the poor to obtain an education. Sunday +schools had only been established a few years—that at Angel Street Chapel +(Independent), opened in 1797, being the first. In April, Mr. Lancaster +lectured on education, at the Hoppole Inn; and a meeting was held at the +Unicorn, John Williams, Esq., in the chair, at which resolutions were +come to to open a Lancastrian school immediately—all religious parties +uniting in its support on the common basis of the scriptures; the +Apostles’ Creed and Dr. Watts’s hymns being taught to all the children, +and the Church Catechism to those only whose parents requested it. + +APRIL 26—A fire broke out, about eleven p.m., in the china manufactory of +Messrs. Grainger, Wood, and Co., Lowesmoor, Worcester, which in the +course of two hours reduced the whole premises to ruins. The property +was insured, but not by any means to its full amount. + +MAY 5—In the _Worcester Herald_ of this date the Rev. Thomas Foley, +rector of Oldswinford, published, as an advertisement, a long vindication +of Joanna Southcote. The charge of her having sold her “seals” for +half-a-crown a piece he declared to be “an infamous falsehood;” as she +gave them away without money and without price “to all that had faith to +believe in her inspired writings.” He concluded by giving a summary of +her doctrines in most enthusiastic language. + +JUNE 31—The toll on foot passengers passing over Worcester bridge +discontinued, as the flourishing state of the receipts had reduced the +debt to £5,000. The first stone of the present bridge was laid in 1771, +and it was opened to the public in 1781. The bridge and quays cost +£29,843. + +JUNE 22—A young woman, named Harris, most inhumanly murdered at +Honeyborne, near Evesham. She was called up from bed, and, on opening +the door, was attacked by some person with a pitchfork, and at last +dragged to a horsepond and drowned in it. Suspicion fell on a young man +by whom she was pregnant, but the coroner’s jury returned a verdict of +“Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.” The murderer was +never discovered. + +OCTOBER 25—The celebration of the National Jubilee—fiftieth year of His +Majesty’s reign. At Worcester a subscription was raised for the relief +of the poor instead of illuminations. Dinner at the Guildhall—Earl of +Coventry in the chair—and 252 guests were present; and a ball at the +College Hall. A great number of benefactions throughout the county from +the rich to their poorer brethren. Meetings in all the towns of the +county to present addresses to the King. The debtors in the County Gaol +were released by subscriptions, and with the aid of the High Sheriff and +Lord Somers. + +NOVEMBER 13—Thomas Freeman, glove manufacturer, fined £50 by the +magistrates of Worcester, for having in his possession four oil leather +skins and eleven pairs of gloves, which had been purloined from other +masters’ warehouses, and of which he could not give a satisfactory +account. A moiety of the penalty given to the Infirmary (a public +charity), in compliance with the terms of the act of Parliament. + +LOCAL ACTS—To amend the road from Teddington to the turnpike road between +Evesham and Pershore; for enclosure of lands at Iccomb. + + + +1810. + + +CONSIDERABLE commercial embarrassment was experienced this year; not, +however, arising from the unprecedented situation in which England found +herself placed—in having almost single handed to oppose the growing power +of Buonaparte—but from speculative trading in the markets of South +America. The depreciation of bank paper procured the appointment of a +bullion committee. The early part of the year was occupied with the +affair of Sir Francis Burdett; and the latter with the appointment of the +Prince of Wales as Regent, in consequence of the increasing incompetence +of the King to attend to business. Consols stood at 68. The imports of +wheat this year amounted to 1,491,300 quarters; average price, 106s. 5d. + +MARCH 10—At the Lent Assizes, Francis Morris—for stealing a quantity of +unwinnowed barley, the property of Mr. G. Thomas of Hanbury—was sentenced +to be publicly whipped for the space of 100 yards on the next market day +at Worcester. + +MARCH 21—R. Ellins, post boy, carrying the bag from Bewdley to +Stourbridge, was detected opening the bag and stealing out of it two +letters containing upwards of £3,000 in bank notes. + +APRIL 6—The Mansion House at Glasshampton, Astley, the residence of the +Rev. J. J. Denham Cookes, burnt to the ground. + +JUNE 3—(Sunday)—Dreadful fire in Kidderminster, consuming three dwelling +houses, a large carpet manufactory, barns, stables, waggons, carts, +implements, timber, &c. Believed to have been the act of incendiaries. + +JUNE 11—A Sir Francis Burdett riot at Kidderminster. Two persons were +brought prisoners to the County Gaol for being concerned in it, and the +mob in Worcester attempted their rescue, and broke to pieces the carriage +in which they were being conveyed. They also broke the windows of +several obnoxious persons; but the magistrates, with the help of the +Yeomanry and Militia then on duty in the city, very speedily repressed +the tumult. + +JULY 6—The Boys’ Subscription Free School opened in Worcester. + +JULY 28—Advertisements in this day’s _Worcester Herald_ of a project to +open a “Bristol and Severn Canal,” in which the merchants of Worcester +were conceived to be much interested, and therefore invited to take +shares. And another of twelve acres of growing flax to be sold by +private contract. + +LOCAL ACTS—For enclosure of waste lands at Holt, Sedgeberrow, Pensham, +Bonehill, Tibberton, and Eckington. + + + +1811. + + +OUR military operations on the continent, and the large amount of specie +sent abroad in the previous year for the purchase of corn, continued and +increased the depreciation in the value of bank paper; and upon Lord King +giving notice to his tenants that he should require his rents paid in +guineas—or, if in notes, at an increase of £17. 10s. per cent. upon their +nominal value—a bill was hastily passed which made it illegal to give +more money for gold coin than was authorised by the mint, or to take Bank +of England notes for less than their ostensible value! The other +Parliamentary event of the year was the signal defeat of Lord Sidmouth’s +attempt to abrogate the Toleration Act, by requiring that Dissenting +ministers should find six householders to answer for their +respectability, before a license could be granted to them to preach. +Consols stood at 64; wheat averaged 95s. 3d. + +APRIL 27—A prisoner, named Elizabeth Townshend, made her escape from the +County Gaol, having worked a hole in the wall. + +MAY 9—Mr. Barr of Worcester, and three gentlemen from Burslem, had an +interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to represent to him the +impolicy of imposing a pottery tax as he proposed. The minister appeared +to be convinced, and no more was heard of it. + +MAY 31—Lucien Buonaparte came to reside at Thorngrove House. + +AUGUST 12—The Mayor and Corporation of Worcester dined at Croome. A most +sumptuous entertainment was provided for them. + +NOVEMBER 3—The Worcester Association for the Severn Fisheries established +a fish market in Worcester—none having before existed. They took very +active steps in preserving the river from illegal and injurious fishing, +and a great number of condemned nets and wheels were publicly burnt in +the Corn Market. + +NOVEMBER 8—The Directors of the Worcester House of Industry issued a +considerable number of copper tokens, which were much in demand on +account of the great want of small change in the country. The exchange +was immediately vested in the funds, and the interest applied to the +assistance of the poor rates. A meeting of tradesmen was afterwards held +(Mr. W. Beeken in the chair) at which resolutions were unanimously passed +to resist the introduction of any other copper tokens into the trade of +the city excepting those issued by Government and the Worcester House of +Industry. They asserted that there was a sufficiency of copper coinage +in the country. A counter meeting of manufacturers was held at the Star +and Garter immediately afterwards, asserting that the business of the +city could not be carried on without more change, and they, therefore, +determined to continue the issue of their own penny and halfpenny tokens, +which they declared to be equal in weight to the legal coin of the realm, +and that they always paid twenty shillings in the pound for them. + +LOCAL ACTS—For enclosure of lands at Astley, Overbury, North, Middle, and +South Littleton, and Churchill. + + + +1812. + + +MR. PERCIVAL’S ministry was continuing to increase in power and in +popularity, principally on account of the warm support which they had +given to the Spanish cause, when Mr. Percival himself was suddenly +assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons, by Bellingham. After +the Prince Regent, by the Earl of Moira and Lord Wellesley, had +unsuccessfully, and to all appearance insincerely, negociated for the +formation of a new ministry, in which Lords Grey and Grenville should +have a part, the Earl of Liverpool was appointed First Lord of the +Treasury, and the rest of the old ministry remained as before. The +Regent henceforth forsook the Whig friends of his youth, and became a +good Tory. The orders in council respecting navigation, which had been +so obnoxious to the Americans were repealed under Lord Liverpool. A +motion, pledging Parliament to an early consideration of the Catholic +claims, was carried in the Commons by 300 to 215, but defeated in the +Lords by 174 to 103. The Parliament, having nearly run out its term, was +dissolved in October; but the elections did not produce much excitement, +or change in the position of parties. Considerable disturbances took +place in the manufacturing districts, on the introduction of new +machinery. The Three per Cents. did not average 60 throughout the year; +wheat averaged 126s. 6d. + +JANUARY 19—The coming of age of T. C. Hornyold, Esq., celebrated at +Blackmore Park, by a series of splendid dinners, balls, and other +entertainments. + +MARCH 27—An anonymous letter having been sent to Sir William Smith, +Bart., one of the commissioners of taxes for the hundred of Doddington, +threatening him with vengeance if he confirmed surcharges, a reward of +£100 was offered in the _Gazette_ for the discovery of the writer. + +APRIL 26—The Worcester Church of England School, conducted on Dr. Bell’s +principles, first opened in Frog Lane. + +APRIL—Wheat again risen to 18s. and 20s. per bushel, and the price of +potatoes also exorbitant, so that the poor had the greatest difficulty in +procuring the necessaries of life—in some places there had been riots. +In Kidderminster £500 was raised by subscription to purchase potatoes and +sell them to the poor at a reduced price. + +AUGUST 7—The coachman of M. Lucien Buonaparate, now staying at +Thorngrove, stabbed by a fellow servant named Luigi Vespasiani, in the +heat of a dispute on some trifling subject. The coachman for a long +while remained in a very dangerous state. + +AUGUST 24—A _fête_ on the occasion of the opening of the Severn Horse +Towing Path from Worcester bridge to the Lower Parting. + +OCTOBER—The Hon. Lieutenant Colonel Cocks, eldest son of Lord Somers, +fell at the siege of the Castle of Burgos—Peninsular War. An address of +condolence was sent to Lord Somers from the Mayor, magistrates, and +citizens of Worcester. Lieutenant Cocks had been frequently noticed in +the Marquis of Wellington’s despatches in a most gratifying manner. + +LOCAL ACTS—For enclosure of lands at Holdfast (Ripple), +Shipston-on-Stour, and Badsey. + + + +1813. + + +THE estimates for the year amounted to seventy millions, and to meet this +great demand the sinking fund was trenched upon, for it was found +impossible to raise new taxes, though the rise of prices and the extended +circulation of bank notes had, hitherto, enabled the country to meet the +extraordinary demands upon it without difficulty. Mr. Vansittart, in his +financial statement this year, said he thought the sinking fund had +reached a point beyond which its operations ought not to go; it would be +very prejudicial to pay off too much of the National Debt at once! The +war which had now broken out with America was of course very injurious to +our commerce. A bill for the relief of the Catholics was brought in this +year by Mr. Grattan, and its general principle affirmed by a considerable +majority, but an amendment, excluding Catholics from a seat in +Parliament, being carried, by a majority of four, the bill was abandoned. +Three per Cents. stood at 59; wheat averaged 109s. 9d. + +JANUARY 1—A novel species of amusement took place in the Hundred House +meadow, Witley. Five wild rabbits were singly turned off at an assigned +distance before a dog fox, trained for the purpose by Mr. Charles Tearne +of Stockton; and after an excellent course of about 400 yards, were +severally killed by Reynard in capital style. A large concourse of +people were assembled to witness this singular sport. + +JANUARY 2—The clergy of the diocese met in the audit room, and agreed to +a petition against the Catholic claims. This was the occasion of a +series of letters between Mr. T. Hornyold, who accused the clergy of +illiberality, and the Rev. J. J. Denham Cookes. Mr. Hornyold distinctly +disclaimed the temporal authority of the Pope. + +JANUARY 8—The Worcester Corporation voted the sum of 100 guineas for the +relief of the Russians in their contest with the French, and a general +subscription list was opened at the banks. At the same meeting it was +unanimously resolved to instruct the representatives of the city to +oppose the Catholic claims. + +JUNE 23—An auxiliary to the Bible Society formed for the city and county +of Worcester. Several attempts had been made to effect this before, but +it was said that it would be in opposition to the Christian Knowledge +Society; and other obstacles were thrown in the way. Only four or five +clergymen of the Church of England were present at the first meeting. It +was, however, very warmly taken up in the first instance by the resident +gentry, the Earl of Coventry accepting the presidency; and Lord Deerhurst +took the chair at the preliminary meeting, held in the Guildhall, at +which the High Sheriff of the county and the Mayor of the city were also +present, and took part. The Rev. Mr. Burns, Rev. Mr. Steinkopff, and +Rev. Mr. Hughes were the deputation from the Parent Society. + +AUGUST 8—The fine Wesleyan chapel in Pump Street, Worcester, opened, with +sermons by Dr. Adam Clarke. The collections amounted to £412. + +OCTOBER 12—A meeting of freeholders at the White Lion, Upton-upon-Severn, +with Lord Somers in the chair, to deliberate on the propriety of +inclosing Malvern Chace. The meeting agreed to a petition in favour of +such a scheme. + +LOCAL ACTS—For paving, cleansing, lighting, and watching the town of +Kidderminster; for effecting an exchange of lands belonging to the +Bishopric and the Dean and Chapter of Worcester; for enclosing lands at +North Piddle, Salwarp, and Flyford Flavell. + + + +1814. + + +PEACE was at last announced, and its advent was hailed with the utmost +enthusiasm by the whole nation, who expected that it would bring with it +unnumbered blessings; but its immediate effects seemed to be only +disastrous. The reduction of our military forces threw great numbers of +men into the labour market, and wages were reduced. While the renewed +freedom of navigation brought abundance of all kinds of raw produce to +our ports, it did not bring any corresponding increase of our foreign +trade and exports to reimburse us, for British merchants had pushed their +speculative supplies to the continent, beyond prudential limits, in spite +of the Berlin and Milan decrees. For instance, tea and other goods had +been sent to Germany, from the port of Salonichi, in Greece, whence they +were carried two thousand miles on the backs of mules. The war too had +impoverished our customers. Three per Cents. fluctuated in April from 72 +to 62, and averaged throughout the year 67. The harvest this year was +abundant, and corn fell to 74s. 4d. + +JANUARY 19—A subscription set on foot for the relief of the poor of +Worcester. About £700 raised and distributed in coals. + +APRIL 10—The populace burned an effigy of Buonaparte on occasion of the +Allies entering Paris. Great rejoicings in other towns of the county. +On the 7th and 8th of June there was a general illumination at Worcester +on account of the proclamation of Peace. Rejoicings at the various +county towns, and at many gentlemen’s seats—particularly at Stanford. + +MAY 6—The Grand Duchess of Oldenburgh, sister to the Emperor of Russia, +visited Worcester with her suite. Inspected Messrs. Flight, Barr, and +Barr’s royal porcelain manufactory, and Mr. John Knapp’s glove +manufactory. + +AUGUST 17—The first steam boat made its appearance below Gloucester, +intended for the conveyance of passengers and light goods between +Gloucester and Worcester. It made the return voyage to Gloucester in +four hours and a half. + +SEPTEMBER 5—Prince Frederick of Orange visited Worcester. + +SEPTEMBER 18—Mr. Kean performed at Worcester Theatre this (Saturday) +evening as _Richard III_, and on the following Monday morning as +_Hamlet_. + +DECEMBER 26—A splendid silver vase, valued at two hundred guineas, and +the freedom of the city presented to Colonel Henry Walton Ellis, of the +23rd Fusiliers, a native of Worcester, who had most honourably +distinguished himself in Holland, Egypt, America, the West Indies, and +the Peninsular War. The Earl of Coventry was the presentee. Colonel +Ellis fell in the following June at Waterloo. + +LOCAL ACTS—For enclosing lands at Bayton, Ombersley, Inkberrow, Abberley, +Norton, and Strensham; for vesting in Lord Somers the right of +presentation to the perpetual curacy of Stoulton; for taking down +Ombersley Church, erecting a new one, enlarging the churchyard, and +building a workhouse at Ombersley. + + + +1815. + + +THE enactment of a new and more stringent Corn Law was the most important +proceeding of our Parliament this year. In the early years of our +commercial history, prohibitions were laid upon the exportation of corn, +but these were gradually relaxed, and in 1688 a bounty of 5s. per quarter +was offered, on exportation, till the home price had reached 48s., while +a duty of 6s. to 8s. per quarter was levied on imported wheat, while the +price ranged between 53s. 4d. and 80s. a quarter. In 1766, on the +apprehension of scarcity, this was entirely reversed, exportation was +prohibited, and importation was free. In 1774 a duty of 6d. a quarter +was levied on all imports of wheat, which were not permitted till the +price had reached 48s. in the home market. In 1791 this duty was raised +to 2s. 6d. a quarter, and in 1804 the importation price was fixed at 63s. +a quarter, instead of 48s. Such is a brief history of English Corn Laws +down to this period. In the session 1812–13, when prices were beginning +to decline, a committee was appointed to inquire into the working of the +Corn Laws, and though their report was very meagre in information, it yet +created great alarm throughout the country, and meetings were everywhere +held to petition against any alteration of the existing law, which might +prevent the people enjoying that which they had looked forward to as one +of the greatest blessings of peace—cheap bread. In May, 1814, Sir Henry +Parnell succeeded in carrying a resolution permitting the free +exportation of corn, be the price what it might; and it was intended to +have fixed an import duty of 24s. 3d. upon wheat until it rose to 63s., +and a sliding scale from that price to 86s.; but the opposition it evoked +in the country was so strong that the project was abandoned. The House +of Commons resumed the discussion of the Corn Laws on February 22, 1815, +and after two evenings’ debate it was resolved, by a majority of 209 to +65, that wheat should not be imported till the price was 80s. a quarter. +Immediately the country was in arms; on the very next day a petition was +presented from the Corporation and liverymen of London, which had +received 40,000 signatures in ten hours, praying that no alteration might +take place. On the 3rd of March Mr. Vansittart moved the second reading +of the Corn Bill; and an attempt to delay it till the following week, to +allow time for the country to petition, was rejected by a majority of +171. On the 6th of March the House went into committee, but that evening +the populace of the metropolis had surrounded the House, and insisted on +stopping every member, and sought to make them pledge themselves to vote +against the obnoxious measure; a Mr. Croker was in particular very +ill-treated, and the Speaker sent for a detachment of the Life Guards, +who continued to surround the House for the rest of the evening. A very +high debate upon this matter took place in the House itself, but nothing +availed to stay the progress of the measure, and it was carried through +committee that evening by majorities varying from 120 to 180. The Bill +was read a third time, and passed on the 16th of March. It was carried +rapidly through the Lords by large majorities, and on the 23rd it +received the royal assent. The principal opponents of the measure were +Mr. Baring, Mr. Phillips, Sir R. Peel, Mr. Protheroe, &c. It did not +however answer the purpose of keeping up prices, for they gradually sank +lower and lower till they were considerably below 60s. per quarter, and +farmers, holding their lands on lease, constantly appeared in the +_Gazette_. The average price of wheat this year was 65s. 7d.; and +Consols stood at 60. For an account of the meetings held, and the steps +taken, in this county to protest against the enactment of the Corn Laws, +see ante, pp. 61, 63. + +JANUARY 19—Lord Somers addressed the lords of manors and proprietors of +freeholds on Malvern Chace, announcing his intention of giving up all +further attempts to bring about an enclosure of the same. He found it +impossible to reconcile so many conflicting interests. + +JANUARY 26—Mr. Charles Matthews gave his celebrated entertainment, called +“Mail Coach Adventures,” at Worcester Theatre. + +JUNE 18—On the glorious field of Waterloo, Lieutenant Colonel Lygon +commanded the Life Guards. Lord Sandys, then Lord Arthur Hill, was an +A.D.C. to the Duke of Wellington. + +DECEMBER 4—The Worcester and Birmingham Canal opened. The first act for +the cutting of this canal was passed on the 9th June, 1791. From the +Severn to Tardebigg (15 miles) there is a rise of 428 feet, with 71 +locks. From Tardebigg to the Birmingham Canal (14 miles) is level. At +West Heath it passes through a tunnel 2,700 yards long. In the first and +subsequent acts power was taken to raise no less a sum than £657,500; the +original number of proprietors being only 1,800. It has throughout been +an unfortunate concern; for the first act is filled with guarantees to +other canals and opposing interests, which have hung like a millstone +round the necks of the proprietors. From Tardebigg to Birmingham the +canal is of greater capacity than in the part nearer the Severn. The +company is now, however, about to be absorbed into the Old Birmingham +Canal Company, and matters will, probably, henceforth wear a different +aspect. + +DECEMBER—The celebrated Elliston opened Worcester Theatre for one season. +There being amongst his company the Misses Brunton, Mr. and Mrs. Keeley, +&c. + +LOCAL ACTS—For taking down and rebuilding the parish church of St. +Thomas, Dudley; for enabling the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company +to complete and extend their works. + + + +1816. + + +THIS was a truly gloomy year. Agriculturists, manufacturers, and +tradespeople all alike experienced the depression resulting from the +sudden change from war to peace; and it was felt the more, as it was so +totally unexpected. The harvest was exceedingly unproductive, and the +farmers got no relief by the high prices which corn fetched—for the +quality of home-grown corn was poor in the extreme. The sudden reduction +of paper money in circulation had much to do with this untoward state of +things; the understanding that the Bank was to return to cash payments +immediately, had compelled them to reduce the quantity of notes in +circulation, and the metallic currency had either been bought up +privately and converted into bullion, or sent abroad. The ministry +proposed to continue the property and income tax, but such was the +feeling of the country against it, on the score of its being only a war +tax, that it was rejected by a majority of 238 to 201, and the ministers +were obliged to borrow to make up the year’s deficit. Three per Cents. +averaged 61; wheat averaged 78s. 6d. + +JANUARY 22—Henry Wakeman, Esq., of Perdiswell, at his audit for Claines, +made a reduction in his tithes of £20 per cent., an example which was +pretty generally imitated by the large titheowners throughout the county. +The reason alleged was “the great declension in value of all farming +produce.” Wheat now selling at 6s. a bushel in Worcester market. + +JANUARY 29—A Worcestershire Agricultural Society established, at a +meeting held at the Hoppole; Lord Viscount Elmley in the chair. Lord +Foley, Sir Thomas Winnington, Sir William Smith, &c., were among its +first supporters. Its first exhibition of stock took place in June, when +£40 was distributed in prizes (which were all carried off by five +persons); but, after languishing for a year or two, it was given up for +want of support. + +MAY—The Messrs. Chamberlain ordered to attend at Warwick House, with +specimens of porcelain for the Princess Charlotte, who gave them a large +order in anticipation of her approaching marriage. Messrs. Flight, Barr, +and Barr were afterwards honoured with an order. + +AUGUST 12—Miss Foote performed in _The Honeymoon_ at Worcester Theatre. + +NOVEMBER 18—A subscription entered into for the relief of the poor of +Worcester. The gross amount collected was £1,900, the greater part of +which was distributed in coals. The apparatus for making soup by steam +first set up in the Bull Entry. + +DECEMBER 20—A dinner given at the Lion Inn, Kidderminster, to the Right +Hon. Earl Beauchamp, in acknowledgment of the undeviating attention which +his lordship had uniformly paid to the interests of that town while he +had been the representative of the county. + +LOCAL ACTS—For better repairing the roads leading into and from the city +of Worcester; for enlarging the powers of the acts for repairing the +roads from Bromsgrove to Dudley; for enclosing lands at Rock, Feckenham, +and Minith Wood. + + + +1817. + + +THE distress which still continued in the early part of this year +occasioned many tumultuous meetings in different parts of the country, +and loud outcries for Parliamentary Reform. The ministry, taking +advantage of some of the excesses of the populace, obtained the +suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and the passing of an act for +repressing “seditious meetings.” Sir Francis Burdett’s motion for a +committee to inquire into the state of the representation, was negatived +by 205 to 77. Three per Cents. averaged 74; wheat averaged 96s. 11d. + +FEBRUARY 26—Lord Deerhurst presented the Worcester petition for +Parliamentary Reform and Retrenchment, which had been signed by 3,000 +freemen and inhabitants. He gave it a modified support in a maiden +speech of considerable length. + +MARCH 25—A second subscription commenced for the relief of the Worcester +poor—the £1,900 subscribed in the previous November having been all spent +in coal, soup, and bread; 1,500 penny loaves and 1,500 quarts of soup +were given away daily, and 1,300 tons of coal distributed. The second +subscription realised about £300; and when the committee, at the end of +April, announced that they must discontinue giving bread with the soup, +Miss Stillingfleet of College Green requested that it might be furnished +at her expense, which was done for some time, at a total cost to that +lady of £150. + +APRIL 18—A person exposing elvers for sale fined in the mitigated penalty +of 10s., at the instance of the Worcester Fisheries Association. + +APRIL 24—The Hon. W. H. Lyttelton presented a petition to the House of +Commons from the parish of Oldswinford, complaining of the pressure of +the poor rates. The rate there assessed on houses amounted to 29s. in +the pound; on the rent of land employed in farming, to 32s.; and on +several other kinds of land, to 61s. in the pound! The population was +4,381, of whom 1,868 received parish relief, and only 158 persons were +able to contribute to the rates. + +MAY 8—An elegant silver cup presented to Robert Felton, Esq., at a dinner +at the Star and Garter, on his leaving the neighbourhood, “In testimony +of the admiration of the donors of his ardent devotion to the public +welfare, and of their esteem for the disinterested friendship and +generous zeal which distinguished his social character.” + +AUGUST 5—Viscount Sidmouth visited Worcester, and was presented with the +freedom of the city. + +NOVEMBER 19—The whole of the shops closed in Worcester during the time +appointed for the funeral of the Princess Charlotte. The Mayor and +Corporation attended divine service at the Cathedral, where a pathetic +discourse was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Forester, one of the +Prebendaries, from _Luke_ viii, 52—“She is not dead, but sleepeth.” + +LOCAL ACTS—For amending the act of last session as to repairing the +Worcester roads; for enclosing lands at Cofton Hackett. + + + +1818. + + +TRADE began to revive and agriculturists again to be hopeful—principally +as the result of the favourable exchanges bringing us large quantities of +the precious metals from the continent, which gave ease to the banks and +encouraged the liberal use of money in various undertakings. Thus +employment became abundant, and the working classes were contented. The +gradual disappearance of the precious metals for several years past had +been a source of much disquietude to our statesmen, and was no doubt one +cause of the great fall in prices which took place on the advent of +peace; but it must principally be attributed to the absence of that +demand by Government for men and money which, during the war, was so +great. Consols averaged 79; wheat averaged 86s. 3d. + +JANUARY—The Worcester Fire Office dissolved in favour of the Phœnix Fire +Office. + +JANUARY—The price of hops at this time averaged from £26 to £31 per cwt. + +MARCH 29—At the County Quarter Sessions, Earl Beauchamp, the chairman, +severely lectured the farmers, through the grand jury, on paying their +labourers such miserably low wages—as breaking down all independence of +spirit, and necessarily tending to the increase of crime. + +APRIL 7—The WORCESTER GAS COMPANY formed at a meeting held at the +Guildhall, William Wall, Esq., in the chair. The share list, subscribing +£12,000, was filled up in a few hours, and the shares—on the deposit of +20s.—were, in two days, at 50s. premium. + +MAY 14—The WORCESTER SAVINGS BANK established at a meeting held at the +Guildhall, with Earl Beauchamp in the chair. It was opened in June, at a +temporary office in Foregate Street, and £745 were paid in, in small +sums, the first day. It has ever since continued to be a flourishing and +most useful institution. + +AUGUST—Six men charged before the magistrates of Worcester with garden +robbing, were ordered to be publicly whipped in the several parishes +where the offences were committed. + +AUGUST 31—The WORCESTER SOCIETY OF ARTS exhibited their pictures—the +first exhibition of the kind in Worcester—at the Town Hall. The +paintings principally consisted of landscapes by Thornycroft, Smith, Doe, +and Young; animals by Pitman; some Scripture subjects by Bacon; portraits +by Millichap; and several contributions by amateurs. + +SEPTEMBER 2—Twenty-seven illegal fishing nets and three large wheels, +found in use at a mill near Worcester, were seized by order of the +Worcester Severn Association committee, and publicly burnt in the Corn +Market. + +SEPTEMBER 7—The Grand Duke Michael, brother to the Emperor of Russia, +visited Worcester, for the purpose of inspecting porcelain manufactories, +and ordered a large service of Messrs. Chamberlain. + +SEPTEMBER 25—Eight men killed by an explosion of fire-damp in the Buffery +Colliery, Dudley. + +OCTOBER 19—A bull baited on Pitchcroft. The poor animal was most +barbarously mangled, and, after the “sport,” was driven through the +principal streets to the slaughter house, writhing in torture. + +LOCAL ACTS—For lighting Worcester and Kidderminster with gas; for +enclosing lands at Great Comberton. + + + +1819. + + +THE hopes of a speedy return to prosperity which the previous year had +excited were again overcast, and all classes were feeling the pinchings +of distress. This renewed again the outcries for Parliamentary Reform; +and the people, exasperated by the stringent measures of the ministry, +began to exhibit some alarming symptoms of discontent. The crowning +scene was the meeting at Manchester, and the “Peterloo Massacre,” which +formed an exciting topic for Parliament. Lord John Russell made his +first motion for Parliamentary Reform, which only amounted to the +disfranchisement of a few of the rotten boroughs, and a transfer of their +franchise to the large towns; and it was withdrawn on the ministry +promising to disfranchise Grampound, where Sir M. M. Lopez, member for +Evesham in May, 1807, had bribed voters at £35 apiece. But by far the +most important measure of the year was the Cash Payments Bill, which is +generally known as “Peel’s Bill,” but is rather to be ascribed to Mr. +Huskisson and Mr. Ricardo. This provided for a gradual return to cash +payments, and the withdrawal of all bank notes under £5. The result of +this measure, in contracting the circulation of the country, and in +depressing prices, was far greater than had been anticipated. In +anticipation only of such a measure, the circulation of the Bank of +England had been reduced, since 1815, by two millions; and since 1814, +two hundred out of seven hundred country banks had entirely disappeared. +Three per Cents. averaged 71; wheat averaged 74s. 6d. + +JANUARY—The WORCESTER HUMANE SOCIETY, which had been first of all +established in 1786, but suffered to die out, revived, under the auspices +of Lord Beauchamp. + +FEBRUARY 26—Meeting at Stourport, the Rev. Reginald Pyndar in the chair, +to protest against any duty or tax being imposed upon coals at the pit’s +mouth. + +MARCH 3—A silver cup, value 100 guineas, transmitted to Sir William Duff +Gordon, by those of his former constituents who had been his supporters. + +APRIL 3—Two parcels, from the bankers of Worcester to the bank of Sir +William Curtis and Co., being incautiously left for a few minutes, by the +guard of the old Fly coach, in the bar of the Bull and Mouth, Aldersgate, +were stolen. They contained about £4,000 in unnegociable bills of +exchange, and about a like amount in provincial and Bank of England +notes. + +APRIL 10—The wife of Joseph Richardson, a day labourer, living at +Cooksey, near Bromsgrove, and in receipt of 10s. a week wages, was +delivered of four children at a birth, all of whom lived and throve +heartily. Being deserving people they were subsidised by many of the +neighbouring gentry, and the four children proved a pretty stroke of +fortune to them. A ball was given on behalf of the four younglings at +the Talbot Inn, Stourbridge; and they were all christened at Upton Warren +Church, having sixteen godfathers and godmothers. + +APRIL 30—Petitions presented from various towns in Worcestershire against +a proposed New Settlement Act, which would have given a settlement to a +pauper by three years’ residence only. + +MAY 4—The Hon W. H. Lyttelton moved a resolution, in the House of +Commons, for the abolition of lotteries; but the Chancellor of the +Exchequer thought them very good things, and the Government could not +spare the £30,000 of revenue which they annually produced. The motion +was negatived by 133 to 84. + +MAY 9—An association formed, at a meeting at the Crown Inn, called “The +Worcestershire Association for the Protection of Agriculture.” +Agriculture, the promoters said, ought to be the predominant interest in +the state, and they conceived that, from a want of union, they had +suffered many important privileges to be wrested from them. + +MAY—T. C. Hornyold, Esq., and F. L. Charlton, Esq., endeavoured to +reëstablish a pack of fox hounds in this county, but failed. + +AUGUST 5—The first anniversary dinner of the Worcestershire Medical and +Surgical Society, held in Worcester. Dr. Hastings, president; Mr. J. P. +Sheppard, vice president; Mr. C. H. Hebb, secretary. The Provincial +Medical and Surgical Association may be said to have had its origin with +this society. + +AUGUST 9—The city of Worcester first lighted with gas. + +SEPTEMBER 23—The freemen of Evesham entertained their representative, Sir +Charles Cockerell, Bart., to a dinner at the Guildhall, in commemoration +of his success in confining the franchise of the borough to the freemen +only. A handsome bronze medal was after dinner presented by Sir Charles +to each of the freemen present, as a mark of his favour and esteem. + +NOVEMBER 19—The Duke of Gloucester, being on a visit at Croome, was +invited by the Corporation to visit Worcester. The Earl of Coventry, as +recorder of Worcester, presented H.R.H. with the freedom of the city; and +he afterwards partook of a collation provided by the Mayor, and then +visited the china manufactories. + +NOVEMBER 30—Colonel Davies seconded Lord Althorpe’s motion for referring +the papers laid before the House, on the subject of the Manchester +massacre, to a select committee of inquiry, in a speech of considerable +power. For the motion, 150; against, 323: majority for ministers, 173. + +LOCAL ACTS—For enlarging the powers of acts to repair the road from +Evesham to Alcester; for repairing the road from Bromsgrove to +Birmingham. + + + +1820. + + +THE country was this year in a ferment with the proceedings on the +Queen’s trial. Trade still languid, but the harvest was uncommonly +abundant; and the price of corn and country produce was thus materially +reduced, to the relief of the mechanics and lower ranks of the town +populations. Consols at 68; wheat averaged 67s. 10d. + +JANUARY—Subscription in Worcester for the relief of the poor, realising +£1,250, and distributed in coal and soup. + +JANUARY—The Worcestershire Hunt reorganised, under the management of T. +C. Hornyold, Esq., of Blackmore Park. + +APRIL 25—Elizabeth Waterson strangled in bed by her husband, Joseph +Waterson, a miller, living at Bromsgrove. It was quite clear that the +man had been some time insane; and the coroner’s jury returning a verdict +to that effect, he was at once removed to the Lunatic Asylum at +Droitwich. + +MAY 16—Colonel Davies moved for a select committee to investigate the +military expenditure, in a very spirited speech. Motion negatived by 125 +to 45. + +MAY 29—The walking of the trades was this year revived in Worcester. + +JULY—Hartlebury Common enclosed. + +AUGUST 10—A splendid service of china, from the manufactory of Messrs. +Grainger, Lee, and Co., presented to Colonel Davies, in “testimony of the +high sense entertained by his electors of his truly patriotic and +distinguished conduct during the whole of his Parliamentary career.” + +OCTOBER 5—The Worcester and London Fly coach upset at Stoughton bridge on +its return from town. There were fourteen passengers, exclusive of the +coachman and guard, and all were hurt. A lady had her arm broken; a poor +woman her arm broken, and various contusions; a gentleman had his hip +dislocated, &c., &c. No explanation of the cause. The Aurora and the +Royal Sovereign, both day coaches to London, were upset the next week, +and some passengers hurt. + +NOVEMBER 1—A quantity of unseasonable salmon seized in Worcester market +by the committee of the Worcester Severn Association, and ordered by the +magistrates to be burnt. + +NOVEMBER 13—Worcester illuminated on the Queen’s acquittal. +Illuminations also at Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Evesham, +Upton, &c. At Evesham also a public dinner took place at the Cross Keys, +with C. E. Hanford, Esq., in the chair, and a subscription set on foot +for the poor by Mr. Nathaniel Hartland, by which 1,200 families were +supplied with bread and meat. + +NOVEMBER 27—At a meeting held at the Rein Deer, Worcester, a petition to +the King praying him to dismiss his ministers, and a congratulatory +address to the Queen on her acquittal, were agreed on, and afterwards +received about 2,000 signatures. A counter address to the King, from the +Mayor, magistrates, clergy, and others, declaring their attachment and +loyalty, &c., &c., begging him to maintain the rights of the crown, +otherwise the country would be involved in ruin, &c., &c., received about +500 signatures. The first was presented by Lord Foley and Mr. Hobhouse; +the second by the Earl of Coventry. Loyal addresses, denouncing a +licentious press, sent from Evesham and Stourbridge. An address for the +county was also drawn up by the Lord Lieutenant, and being approved of by +the High Sheriff was sent to the different towns in the county for +signatures, as the promoters could not have convened a public meeting +with any hope of success to their cause. A counter address, headed by +Lord Foley’s signature, was immediately got up. Counter addresses sent +from Droitwich, &c. + + + +1821. + + +THE low price of agricultural produce caused such an outcry from the +farmers, that a committee was appointed on agricultural distress, whose +report, however, did not tend much to enlighten Parliament as to the +means of relieving them. Tenants farming with borrowed capital, and +landowners whose estates were mortgaged, must of course, the committee +said, feel heavily the increased value of money occasioned by the recent +changes in the currency; and they could only hope for relief from a +reduction of the rate of interest—such as did actually take place shortly +afterwards. The Bank resumed cash payments, and called in all its £1 +notes, on the 1st of May. The Catholic Emancipation Bill first passed +the Commons this year, by small majorities, but was rejected by the +Lords. Consols averaged 75; wheat averaged 56s. 1d. + +JANUARY 31—Petitions presented from Kidderminster and Evesham praying +that the Queen’s name might be inserted in the liturgy. + +MARCH 15—Dinner given at Stourport to the Rev. R. Pyndar of Arley House, +on his removal from the neighbourhood, to testify the respect the +inhabitants felt for his character and their gratitude for the services +he had rendered to the town. Richard Jukes, Esq., presided. + +MARCH 27—The Dean, Archdeacon, and clergy of Worcestershire met in the +Chapter House and agreed to a petition against the Catholic Emancipation +Bill, in which they said that “the projected alteration in the laws +affecting Roman Catholics is a measure so hazardous in the experiment as +to afford just ground for alarm,” and they considered that “the +qualifying of Roman Catholics to possess political power will tend to +injure the Protestant Establishment, which they are bound to transmit, +unimpaired, to posterity.” + +MAY 15—The operatives of Kidderminster presented the Queen with a carpet +of very beautiful workmanship and ten yards square; to defray the expense +of manufacturing which, 3,000 weavers and others had contributed 1s. +each. + +MAY 29—The ancient pageant and procession of the Corporation, trades, +clubs, man in armour, &c., revived in Worcester with great gaiety and +show, under the conduct of the Mayor, Mr. Hooper. + +JUNE 4—Lord Deerhurst and Colonel Davies both voted with the minority in +favour of Sir J. Macintosh’s motion for the abolition of the punishment +of death in cases of forgery. + +JUNE 6—Colonel Davies brought in a bill for the better preventing the +adulteration of clover seed. + +JULY 29—The coronation of His Majesty George IV celebrated in Worcester +by subscription, procession, and dinner. The procession to service in +the Cathedral comprised about 2,000 charity school children, Worcester +Militia, Corporation clothiers’ company, bakers’, smiths’, tailors’, +fishermen’s, butchers’, carpenters’ and masons’ companies, Druids’ Lodge, +Lodge of Odd Fellows, and the Orange Lodge. Festivities at Bromsgrove, +Bewdley, Evesham, Kidderminster, and Stourbridge, particularly +noticeable. + +AUGUST 27—The new tower of St. Helen’s Church, Worcester, completed, and +the bells, which had so long remained mute, in consequence of the +dilapidation of the old tower, were once more roused into harmony. These +bells were cast in 1706, and bear the names of Queen Anne, her principal +commanders and their victories. + +SEPTEMBER 8—A meeting of yeomanry, connected with the Agricultural +Association, held at the Crown Inn, Sir Thomas Winnington in the chair, +at which a series of resolutions were agreed to, tracing “agricultural +distress” to a depreciated paper currency, _doubling_ the prices of +produce labour and rents; and while the proposed return to the bullion +standard was reducing these to their former level, the charges to the +farmholder, sinecurist, and placeman were not reduced. They were also +still of opinion that the admission of foreign grain, duty free, [that is +after wheat was 80s. a quarter] added grievously to the difficulties of +the landed interest. Mr. George Webb Hall was the chief speaker. + +LOCAL ACTS—For making a tramroad from Stratford-on-Avon to +Moreton-in-Marsh, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour; for repair of +Stourbridge roads; for repair of Bewdley roads; for repair of +Kidderminster roads; for repair of Bromyard roads. + + + +1822. + + +THE year commenced with the same heavy complaints from the +agriculturists, and in most counties meetings were held to declare their +distress, and to call for retrenchment and reform. In some cases Mr. +Cobbett procured the addition of a rider to these agricultural petitions, +praying for a reduction of interest on the National Debt. Such a +reduction, indeed, was actually made, by the conversion of the Five per +Cents.; and this, with the retrenchments forced upon ministers by the +representatives of the counties constantly voting with Mr. Hume and other +economists, allowed of considerable relief in the shape of remission of +taxes. The Bank of England also reduced its rate of discount from five +to four per cent. on the 20th of June. A most important measure, too, +was that which extended permission to the banks to issue notes under the +value of £5 until 1833, which was likewise forced upon ministers by the +Parliamentary landlords; and it produced an immediate rise in prices, but +led also to a plethora of paper money most disastrous in its +consequences. Consols averaged 80; wheat averaged 44s. 7d. + +FEBRUARY—Discovery of mineral waters at Evesham—a saline spring; +containing 23.06 of sulphate of soda in every 100 parts. + +FEBRUARY 7—The WORCESTER DISPENSARY established. + +MARCH 4—Colonel Davies moved reductions in the army estimates, and was +supported by a minority of 58. + +APRIL 17—At a respectable meeting held in Worcester, presided over by +William Wall, Esq., a petition was agreed to, praying for a revision of +the criminal code. + +MAY—Collections made in Worcester, and at the parishes adjoining, on +behalf of the starving peasantry in the west of Ireland. More than +£1,100 was collected in this district. + +JUNE—A PENITENTIARY established in Worcester. It did much good for +years, and was then suffered to die for want of support. + +JUNE 25—A road maker at Eckington, named Pickerill, only thirty-three +years of age, having obtained from his wife a confession of her +infidelity, mixed half an ounce of arsenic with as much sugar and ate it +before her face. Assistance was immediately obtained, but he died in a +few hours. + +OCTOBER 10—An attempt was made to carry away a newly buried corpse from +Grimley churchyard. A reward of £50 was offered for the conviction of +the resurrectionists, who had evidently only desisted from carrying away +the body by finding it too much decomposed for their purpose. + +OCTOBER—The penny loaf, as fixed by the magistrates at what was called +the assize of bread, varied from 4 oz. 14 dr. to 9 oz. 14 dr. between +October, 1821, and October, 1822. + +LOCAL ACT—For repair of Evesham roads. + + + +1823. + + +THE great abundance of monied capital produced its customary effects in +leading persons to engage in various works and undertakings, which +produced a demand for labour and renewed the feeling of confidence. +Consols averaged 81; wheat 53s. 4d. + +MARCH 13—Consecration of St. Clement’s New Church by the Bishop of the +Diocese. Sermon preached by the rector, the Rev. John Davies; and a +collection, realising £95. 10s., afterwards made at the doors—and this, +with donations and collections the next Sabbath, was increased to £174. +10s. The church is built in the Saxon style, and contains 807 sittings, +407 of which are free. The old church was situated on this side the +river, on the North Quay. It was in a most dilapidated condition, and +often unapproachable in flood time. + +APRIL 25—Messrs. Flight, Barr, and Barr completed a very handsome service +of Worcester porcelain, in Saxon green and gold, with heraldic devices, +for Lord Amherst, then going out as Governor General to India. + +MAY 13—At the Newmarket meeting, Lord Foley challenged for the whip, +naming his horse Sultan, by Selim. No acceptance of the challenge being +made, he got the whip by default. + +MAY 20—The weight of the penny loaf altered in one week from 6 oz. 9 dr. +to 10 oz. 11 dr.; the price of wheat having fallen from 8s. 9½d. to 5s. +2½d. per bushel. + +MAY 23—The New Worcester Bridge Act received the royal assent. Reduced +tolls levied henceforth on the horses instead of the carriages. + +MAY 31—The Worcester Paving and Lighting Act received the royal +assent—better known as the City Commissioners’ Act. Its provisions it is +now unnecessary to allude to, as the Commissioners themselves are now +numbered with the things that have been. It is curious to notice, +however, that it took power to pull down the houses in front of All +Saints’ Church; but, after a lapse of thirty years, this improvement was +effected not by act of Parliament or a public body, but by voluntary and +private efforts. At their first meeting, Mr. Welles was appointed clerk; +Mr. Edward Hooper, head surveyor; and Mr. Henry Rowe, surveyor of +buildings. Their first efforts were directed to the cleansing of the +streets, preventing waggons carrying over-weights through the city, +removing obstructions from the highways, &c. + +OCTOBER 7—Great fight at Welland, between Jordan of Worcester and Wheeler +of Gloucester, which was attended by at least 1,500 persons. Jordan came +off an easy winner, and without any great punishment being inflicted on +either pugilist. The stakes were thirty guineas a side. + +LOCAL ACTS.—For building bridges over the Severn at Haw Passage and Mythe +Hill; for repair of Tenbury roads; for altering and enlarging the powers +of the Worcester Bridge Trustees; the Worcester City Commissioners’ Act. + + + +1824. + + +A CONTINUOUS advance in prices—the result, partly of the over issue of +small bank paper, and partly of the reduction in the rate of interest, +and ease in the money market—gave the appearance of the most unbounded +prosperity to every department of business and commerce. Everything that +men touched turned to gold under their hands, and the greatest wonder was +felt at the sudden disappearance of that distress which the agricultural +interest, especially, had, but a few months before, been complaining of +so bitterly. This year the Four per Cents. were converted into +Three-and-half Stock, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was thereby +enabled still further to reduce the taxes—the principal one removed being +that on silk. Three per Cents. in November were done at 96½, and +averaged throughout the year 92. Wheat averaged 63s. 11d. + +JANUARY 7—The great fight between Spring and Langan for the championship, +which is to be found commemorated by a print hanging up in almost every +inn and public-house in England, took place in Pitchcroft, the ring being +formed just opposite to the Grand Stand. Considerably more than 150 +guineas were paid to the managers of the fight to ensure its taking place +at Worcester. The stakes were 300 guineas a side; and the betting two to +one on Spring, who was a native of Warwickshire; while Langan was an +Irishman. Not less than 40,000 people thronged Pitchcroft as spectators, +many being perched upon sheds and booths, erected temporarily, and let +out as standing places at considerable prices. During the second round +one of these erections gave way, and a number of persons were +precipitated to the ground, a distance of twenty feet, amidst the broken +timber, and trampling upon each other. At least thirty people were +carried to the Infirmary with serious fractures of the limbs or ribs, and +one unfortunate fellow died of a compound fracture of the leg. Spring +came on the ground at half-past twelve, but Langan could not be found for +some time. He was, in fact, making off, and his backers brought him back +with some difficulty. Lord Deerhurst and Sir James Musgrave kept time; +and Colonel Berkeley acted as umpire. Spring was exceedingly cautious, +and Langan impetuous, and the greater part of the rounds ended in +wrestling, in which Langan often succeeded in throwing his antagonist. +By the eighteenth round the ring was broken in by the crushing of the +mob, and not ten feet of space was left for the men to fight in. After +an hour and a half’s fighting the affair seemed as little near conclusion +as at its commencement. At the eightieth round, Langan planted a +tremendous blow on Spring’s head; but, at the eighty-fourth, Spring +knocked Langan down with such terrific hits, that he fell as weak as a +child. The cry then became general to take him away, but, although +covered in his gore, he refused to give in, and was at last only removed +by force. The battle lasted two hours and thirty-two minutes—a most +unheard of length of time. At the next assizes Mr. Justice Park, in his +charge to the grand jury, administered a severe rebuke to the county and +city magistracy for winking at, and permitting, this affair. + +MARCH 6—James Jones and John Brown were publicly whipped in front of the +County Gaol (in addition to three months’ imprisonment with hard labour), +for stealing an old tea kettle. + +MARCH—The proposition to admit the importation of French gloves, hitherto +altogether prohibited, created great consternation amongst the +manufacturers at Worcester. Mr. Huskisson, in replying to some questions +of Colonel Davies about the matter, in the House, said—“He trusted to the +eloquence of the gallant Colonel for satisfying his constituents of the +reasonableness of those views of open trade in which he had the honour to +agree with the gallant Colonel. As to the particular article of gloves, +there must be time to determine what proportion of duty they were to +bear. The prohibitions, however, must be done away, and a high +protecting duty substituted.” The duty was afterwards fixed at 4s. per +doz. on habits, 5s. on men’s, and 7s. on women’s gloves. + +MARCH 17—Mrs. Fry attended the quarterly meeting of the Friends in +Worcester, and addressed the congregation who were assembled at their +Meeting House. She afterwards visited both City and County Prisons with +Samuel Gurney, and at the latter addressed the prisoners in plain and +forcible language. + +MAY 24—The Worcestershire Yeomanry, under the command of Viscount +Eastnor, assembled for their annual six days’ training. They, this year, +mustered 180; and the helmet they had hitherto worn was exchanged for the +cap. + +JUNE—The Cesarean operation performed by Mr. Waldron, surgeon, of +Malvern, on Mary Hunt, of Leigh, with complete success. The child was a +very fine healthy child. + +OCTOBER 17—A man named Thomas Smith, who had been convicted at the City +Midsummer Sessions of a robbery, and sentenced to seven years’ +transportation, made his escape from the City Prison (the new one was +then building) by working out the bricks in the wall of his cell, +unlocking a padlock, and filing through two large nails in the doorpost. + +DECEMBER—Projects on foot for the removal of the Corn Market, and +erecting a suitable building for the accommodation of the farmers in +Sansome Street, Worcester, but the magistrates decided that matters must +remain as they were. + +LOCAL ACTS—For repair of the road from Broadway to Stratford; for repair +of the road from Worcester to Bromsgrove; for paving, lighting, &c., the +town of Evesham, and improving the bridge over the Avon; for repair of +the road from Evesham to Bishop’s Cleeve. + + + +1825. + + +NEVER in so short a period of time did a nation experience such a +transition from the confidence of commercial prosperity, to the despair +and panic of general bankruptcy, as did Britain in the twelve months of +1825. The year opened with a flow of trade and ease in making money +which had never been equalled, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer +declared that the prosperity of the country was fixed on a firm and +immutable basis—for which speech, Mr. Cobbett nicknamed him Mr. +Prosperity Robinson. Yet before the year closed all was in confusion: a +run upon all the banks throughout the kingdom took place—seventy three +country banks were totally insolvent—the Bank of England itself was only +saved from a complete drain of its gold, which was reduced to under +£1,300,000, by the fortunate discovery of a box of one pound +notes—bankruptcy and ruin spread amongst traders of every class—and the +country was within forty-eight hours of barter. To account for this +disastrous state of things is not difficult. The enhancement of prices, +and the recklessness of the country bankers in pushing their paper money, +had begot a spirit of speculation and gambling, not equalled since the +South Sea Bubble. Between 1822 and 1825, twenty-six foreign loans were +negociated, of which only ten are now paying dividends; and companies +were started for all imaginable purposes, the nominal capital of which +amounted in the whole to more than four hundred millions sterling. Soon +after midsummer, this year, the tables began to turn—foreign markets were +glutted with British fabrics, and a drain of gold took place to pay for +the imports, as foreigners would no longer take our goods. Besides this, +gold and silver coin chained down to a certain standard of value, while +all other things had enormously risen in price, was of course a +profitable speculation for the foreigners; and in 1822–3 and 4, +thirty-three millions and a half of ounces of silver were exported, and +the known export of gold exceeded 1,270,000 ounces. It will be seen +that, to the credit of this county, not a single bank here was actually +insolvent, and only one closed its doors even for a short period. Three +per Cents. averaged 89; wheat averaged 68s. 6d. + +JANUARY 25—The lady of Sir Edward Mostyn, Bart., then residing at Spring +Bank, Red Hill, near Worcester, was returning home in her carriage, when +the horses took fright and set off at a gallop. She jumped out, and +received such severe contusions on the head that she died in two days +afterwards. Her remains were interred in the parish church of Llannas, +Flintshire, in which county Talacre, Sir Edward’s paternal seat, was +situated. + +SEPTEMBER—The long brass French six-pounder and nine suits of black +armour which now adorn the walls of the lower hall, in the Guildhall, +Worcester, presented to the Corporation by Colonel Wall of Hallow Park. +They all belonged to Charles II, and were left by him after the fatal +battle of 1651. + +OCTOBER 26—The Worcestershire Militia inspected upon Pitchcroft. At the +dinner of the officers in the evening, a handsome silver salver was +presented to Colonel Newport Charlett as a tribute of the respect and +esteem in which he was held by the regiment. + +OCTOBER 11—The Worcestershire Fox Hounds, lately reorganised under Mr. +Parker, had their first run. The pack consisted of about thirty couples +of hounds. + +DECEMBER 19—At a public meeting at the Guildhall, of tradesmen and +others, with the Mayor in the chair, a resolution of confidence in the +different banks of the city was passed, and afterwards published with +upwards of 500 signatures. + +At a public meeting at Kidderminster, a similar vote of confidence was +passed as to Messrs. Wakeman and Turner’s bank. At Bewdley, the +inhabitants also met and expressed their reliance in the banking +establishment of Messrs. Pardoe, Nichols, and Baker. Bromsgrove—in the +house of Messrs. Rufford and Biggs. Stourbridge—Messrs. Hill, Bate, and +Robins, and Messrs. Rufford and Biggs. Dudley—in the houses of Messrs. +Dixon, Dalton, and Co., and Messrs. Hordern, Molineux, and Co. The bank +of Messrs. Hartland, having branches at Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, and +Evesham, was compelled to suspend payment; but this was the only concern, +connected with this county, unable to sustain the run which the terrible +panic of this year caused on every bank throughout the kingdom. + +LOCAL ACTS—Stourbridge Commissioners Act; for making and maintaining a +road from Birmingham to Pershore; for repair of Upton roads; to amend the +Stratford and Moreton Tramroad Act; for enclosure of land at Stock and +Bradley. + + + +1826. + + +To prevent the occurrence of such dire disasters as the previous year had +witnessed, a bill was brought in the moment Parliament met, to prohibit +the English banks from circulating notes under £5, after February, +1829—thus allowing them three years to recall their present issue. The +loss by the panic of the previous December is estimated at £40,000,000 +sterling; but matters soon began to right themselves, and the elasticity +of British resources never was more signally displayed. At Midsummer a +dissolution took place, the Parliament having sat for nearly seven years. +The questions which principally agitated the public mind were the Corn +Laws and Catholic Emancipation. The Corn Law of 1815 had dissatisfied +all parties, and the populace generally entertained the greatest +hostility to it. In Ireland the priests now first openly interfered in +the elections to procure the return of members pledged to the Catholic +cause; while in England a strong counter feeling was evoked, and in many +places Whig candidates were rejected, in spite of family influence, +because of their leaning towards Catholic Emancipation. The harvest +being a failure, as regarded oats and rye, peas and beans, the Government +issued an Order in Council to admit these kinds of food at a duty of 2s. +a quarter; and Parliament was called together in November to pass an Act +of Indemnity. Three per Cents. averaged 79; wheat averaged 58s. 8d. + +JANUARY 23—A silver salver, two waiters, and two decanter stands, +weighing in the whole 320 ounces, presented to J. Simpson, Esq., LL.D., +who for many years kept school in Worcester, by his former pupils. + +FEBRUARY—The glovemakers of Worcester made several ineffectual +remonstrances against the proposed alteration of the laws touching the +admission of foreign manufactured articles. They were told that gloves +would certainly be admitted in the ensuing July, though with the +protective duties already mentioned. These being considered +insufficient, the trade was brought to an entire stand-still. By the +exertions of Colonel Davies, however, the importation was limited to the +port of London only, and confidence was gradually restored to the +business. + +FEBRUARY 21—Messrs. Hartland and Co. resumed payment. + +JULY 1—A party of pleasure, consisting of the two sons and four daughters +of Mr. Joseph Hill, farmer, of Lintridge, near Dymock, and Miss Helen +Woodyatt, daughter of a Hereford confectioner, ascended Malvern Hills, +and being overtaken by a thunderstorm, took refuge in an alcove, on the +Worcestershire Beacon, which was roofed with iron. This attracted the +electric fluid, and in one discharge of lightning the whole party were +laid prostrate on the ground: three of the Misses Hill and Miss Woodyatt +were killed, and the others were seriously injured. + +JULY—Captain Brace, R.N., presented to the Corporation of Worcester the +second brass gun which now stands in the Guildhall—one which was taken +from a French battery near Toulon, in 1813, by H.M. ship Berwick, of +which Captain Brace was then Commandant. + +AUGUST 21—Lord Foley laid the foundation stone of Holt Fleet bridge. + +AUGUST—The growing importance and populousness of the town of Dudley +induced the Lord Chancellor to order an additional coroner to be elected +for that part of the county. Mr. W. Robinson, solicitor, of Dudley, who +had been very instrumental in obtaining the order, was elected to the +office without opposition. + +SEPTEMBER 26—Mr. Cobbett, the “lion” of the day, visited Worcester, and +spent a short time with some agriculturists in the neighbourhood, +afterwards staying with Sir Thomas Winnington, Bart., at Stanford Court, +for one night. Mr. Cobbett’s opinion of Worcester and Worcestershire +people may be found in the account which he gives of this trip in his +_Register_ for October 7 of this year. + +LOCAL ACT—For building Holt Fleet bridge. + + + +1827. + + +THAT the elections had caused considerable change in the constitution of +the House of Commons was made apparent by their coming, early in the +session, to a vote adverse to the Catholic claims—the votes of the Lower +House on this question having for many years past been favourable to +their consideration. A motion of Sir Francis Burdett to remove penalties +from the Catholics, though warmly supported by Mr. Canning, was lost by +276 votes to 272. Lord Liverpool’s illness requiring the reorganisation +of the cabinet, so much difficulty was experienced in the choice of a +prime minister that the country was virtually without a ministry for some +weeks. The Catholic question was put forward as the principal +difficulty—the chief members of Lord Liverpool’s administration refusing +to take office under a Premier who was favourable to the Catholic claims. +Immediately that Mr. Canning—whose talents unequivocally marked him out +for the position—kissed hands, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Eldon, Mr. +Peel, and others of the old cabinet resigned, and Mr. Canning could only +hold office by an unprincipled coalition with the Whigs—unprincipled +because such a ministry could only be carried on by one party or the +other totally belieing their previous political creed. Mr. Canning had +always avowed himself the determined foe of Parliamentary Reform and the +repeal of the Test Acts, but was popular because of his adhesion to the +Catholic claims and the policy he had adopted as Foreign +Secretary—separating this country from the Holy Alliance, recognising the +South American States, and interfering in defence of the independence of +Portugal. Earl Grey was the only member of the Whig party who openly and +honestly stood aloof from the new ministry. Immediately after the close +of the session, Mr. Canning—irritated, perplexed, exhausted, by the +forsaking of all his former friends—died. The new ministry was then +reorganised under the leadership of Viscount Goderich—formerly Mr. +Robinson. Three per Cents. averaged 84; wheat, 58s. 6d. + +JANUARY—The celebrated “Horace Bentley” controversy originated in a +paragraph which appeared this month in _Berrow’s Worcester Journal_, +stating that the Roman Catholics in Cavan, Ireland, were renouncing the +errors of their Church in considerable numbers. In the _Journal_ of +February 7, a person signing the initials “W. L.” begged, as an English +Catholic, to be informed what were the errors that the Catholics of Cavan +were renouncing, and pledged himself that, if any one would point out to +him only one error, either in morals or doctrine, which the Catholic +Church taught, he would, as soon as possible after, publicly read his +recantation in the parish church of B—. In a fortnight after W. L.’s +letter had appeared, one was inserted in reply, signed “Horace Bentley,” +offering, if the Bible was accepted as the test, to prove that the Church +of Rome taught “several fundamental and fatal errors.” W. L. replied +that he would “leave Mr. B. to take his own course. He might prove his +allegations from the Holy Scriptures, or from any source he might deem +expedient—he was ready to join the issue with him.” This, Horace Bentley +contended, was an evasion of the requirement—that an absolute test of +truth and error should be agreed upon; but, nevertheless, proceeded to +prove the existence of what are considered by Protestants to be the +principal errors of the Roman Church, by an extraordinary array of +quotations from Catholic authors and authorities themselves. The letters +were, on all hands, admitted to display singular ability. W. L., at +first, questioned the correctness of the quotations, and was evidently +astonished at their production. An offer was made by the Catholic party +to change their champion, on the ground of W. L.’s incompetence; and, +though this was not accepted, yet the last two letters under that +signature were plainly from another hand. In these, endeavour was made +to show that the doctrines of the Church of England were, in many +respects, identical with those of the Church of Rome, and that “every +consistent Protestant must be an infidel.” The Protestant party were so +delighted with their disputant, that a proposal was made to purchase a +piece of plate by subscription. The _incognito_ was, for a long time, +most admirably preserved, and the letters of Horace Bentley were pretty +generally ascribed to the Rev. Dr. Hook, then Dean of Worcester. It has +now, however, long been known that they were written by the Rev. G. +Redford, D.D., LL.D., minister at Angel Street Chapel, Worcester. The +original W. L. was a machine manufacturer at Bromsgrove. + +MARCH 3—A duel took place on Kempsey Ham between John Somerset Russell, +Esq., of Powick Court, and Mr. John Parker, master of the Worcestershire +Fox Hounds. They fired at each other, but neither of the balls took +effect; and the seconds then interfered and effected a reconciliation. +An officer came on the ground, armed with a warrant, to arrest the +disputants, but of course he was “too late.” The quarrel arose about +some matter connected with the hunt. + +MARCH 27—Colonel Davies voted in a minority of nineteen on an amendment, +moved by Mr. Hume, to admit wheat at all times at a fixed duty of 10s. a +quarter. Colonel Davies also succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a +committee to inquire into the mode of taking the poll at elections for +cities and boroughs. + +MARCH—An eccentric fellow at Droitwich cut his throat, having previously +left some most singular instructions respecting his funeral, which were +obeyed to the letter. He was buried with his shoes on, with a penny in +one hand and a halfpenny in the other. Some of the earth surrounding his +mother’s coffin was put into his, and his body was wrapped in the sheet +on which she had been laid out. The carriers of the coffin and mourners +ran, as soon as the funeral was over, at their topmost speed, to a public +house, where they sang _one_ song and _two_ psalms, afterwards drinking +peace to the soul of the departed till they were all drunk. + +JUNE 29—At a meeting of the Worcester Corporation, on the motion of Henry +Clifton, Esq., the freedom of the city was unanimously voted to the Right +Hon. Robert Peel, “late principal Secretary of State for the Home +Department, in testimony of the high sense they entertained of his +consummate abilities and inflexible integrity as a statesman, and his +unshaken fidelity and attachment to the Constitution in Church and +State.” + +NOVEMBER 29—Mr. T. A. Knight, only son of T. A. Knight, Esq., of Downton +Castle, accidentally shot by John Barneby, Esq., of Brockhampton, while +they were both sporting on Mr. Knight’s demesne. + +DECEMBER—The Worcestershire Yeomanry disbanded by order of Government, in +common with all those corps which had not been engaged in actual service +of any kind for the previous ten years. The regiment was first raised in +1794, by the Hon. Somers Cocks. The Kidderminster troop, which was a +separate body, raised in 1798 and commanded by Captain Boycot, was also +disbanded. + + + +1828. + + +THE discordant materials of which the Canning ministry was composed after +his death, soon brought it to an end: before Parliament met this year +Lord Goderich had resigned, and the Wellington and Peel cabinet was +formed. The most important measure of the year was the repeal of the +Test and Corporation Acts; the principle of which having been affirmed in +the House of Commons, on the motion of Lord John Russell, by a majority +of 237 to 193, was adopted by the Government, and they carried through +the bill as their own measure. Consols averaged 86; wheat 60s. 5d. + +JANUARY 1—The tolls on carriages and horsemen passing over Worcester +bridge discontinued—the bridge having been erected forty-six years, and +the trustees having now paid off the debt, and laid by a fund yielding a +revenue of £125 a year to be applied in the repairs of the bridge and its +approaches. + +JANUARY 3—Holt Fleet bridge opened to the public. Its extreme length is +226 feet, and consists of one arch of 150 feet span; the centre being 35 +feet above the river at ordinary periods. The design was furnished by +Telford. The entire cost was £8,300. + +FEBRUARY 26—Four elegant silver corner dishes and covers, weighing nearly +300 ounces, presented to the Rev. George Turberville of Hanley Castle, +for his long and valuable services as an active magistrate of the county. +The presentation took place at a dinner at the White Lion, Upton, at +which Sir Anthony Lechmere, Bart., presided. + +SEPTEMBER 3—The Rev. Mr. Ketley, appointed by the London Missionary +Society to take the place of the ill-treated Smith, of Demerara, whose +case had occupied so large a share of public attention, was publicly +ordained at the Independent Chapel, Worcester. + +SEPTEMBER 26—A sumptuous silver vase, presented to Viscount Eastnor by +the Yeomanry, “as a farewell token of the cordial and lasting esteem +which is felt for him by all ranks of the corps.” + +OCTOBER 29—The inhabitants of Bewdley, following _suite_ with the Kentish +Brunswickers on Penenden Heath, declared in public meeting that “the +Protestant constitution shall not be changed.” John Williams, Esq., the +High Bailiff, was in the chair; and the petition against the Catholic +claims was moved by the Rev. John Cawood, and seconded by John Nichols, +Esq. There was no opposition. The Mayor and Corporation of Evesham +forwarded a similar petition. + + + +1829. + + +THE ministry—supposed by all England to be determined to resist, _a +l’outrance_, the claims of the Catholics to emancipation—astounded the +country by making the King recommend, in his speech at the opening of +Parliament, that these claims should be immediately taken into +consideration. The Catholic Association and Mr. O’Connell’s election for +Clare were supposed to have been the causes immediately compelling +ministers to give way; but the Emancipation Act really owed its existence +to the continuous efforts of the great Liberal party and the weight of +public opinion in England. The measure was passed in the Commons by a +majority of 173, and in the Lords of 105. The circulation of small notes +came to an end in the early part of this year, and although so much time +had been afforded for preparation for this step, and it had been so +repeatedly postponed, it nevertheless produced much straitness in +commercial transactions, and had its effect in reducing both the price of +the provisions and the wages of labour. Three per Cents. averaged 88; +wheat averaged 66s. 3d. + +JANUARY—A subscription entered into for the relief of the Worcester poor. + +FEBRUARY—The petitions against Catholic Emancipation, got up by the +Brunswick Club, received about 6,000 signatures in this county. On the +presentation of the petition in the House of Lords, Lord Lyttelton +characterised the manner in which it was got up as “anomalous and +irregular.” + +FEBRUARY 9—The WORCESTER LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION established +at a public meeting held at the Guildhall, presided over by Mr. Daukes of +Diglis House. It was for some years warmly supported by Lord Lyttelton +and most of the literati of the county. + +FEBRUARY 17—An alarming fire in the outbuildings of Mr. Joseph Ross of +Sneachill, White Lady Aston, consuming altogether about four thousand +pounds’ worth of property, and wholly uninsured. Three hundred guineas +were offered as a reward for the discovery of the incendiary, no doubt +being entertained that it was wilful. + +MARCH 24—Meeting of the clergy of the diocese, with Archdeacon Onslow in +the chair, to petition against the Catholic Relief Bill. The tone of the +proceedings and petition was very moderate. The Hon. H. B. Lygon was the +only member for this county who voted against the Bill. + +MAY 29—Presentation of plate (a massive silver vase) to Archdeacon +Onslow, having been Vicar of Kidderminster for twenty-eight years, by +general subscription of the inhabitants there. + +JUNE 17—The Duc de Chartres visited Worcester, with its manufactories and +Cathedral. + +JUNE 22—Ombersley Church consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. +This very elegant little church is built of white stone from the +Ombersley quarries, in the decorated English style. Its extreme length +is 117 feet, and the spire is 154 feet high; and the church will +accommodate about 1,000 persons. The Marchioness of Downshire gave the +stone, the additional land to extend the churchyard, the organ, and the +stained windows, &c. + +JULY 16—The new Catholic Chapel, Sansome Street, Worcester, opened. The +Rev. Dr. Walsh, Bishop of the Midland District, officiated; and the Very +Rev. Dr. Weedall, President of St. Mary’s College, Oscot, preached. The +chapel is capable of containing about 800 persons. The collection at the +door on this occasion amounted to about £48. + +AUGUST 26—Silver Street Chapel (Baptist), Worcester, reopened, after +enlargement, on which occasion a sermon was preached by the celebrated +Robert Hall of Bristol. + +DECEMBER 10—The Marquis of Anglesey visited Worcester, and was +entertained by the Corporation in great style; the freedom of the city +being presented to him in common hall by Lord Deerhurst. + + + +1830. + + +MINISTERS, having alienated their old friends by their conduct on the +Catholic question, held office by support of the Whigs, but towards the +close of the session these also deserted them. The revolutions at Paris +and Brussels, the demise of George IV, and the distress amongst the +agricultural labourers giving rise to fearful incendiarism through the +whole of the south of England, imparted extraordinary interest and +importance to the question of Parliamentary Reform. Public meetings were +everywhere held upon the subject, and at the elections which took place +in August, Reformers were returned for all those towns where the +constituency was at all on a popular basis. The result was a loss of +more than fifty members to ministers; and they managed to involve +themselves in still more unpopularity and dislike by their unqualified +declarations against all Reform, and by dissuading the King from +accepting an invitation to dine at Guildhall on Lord Mayor’s Day, on the +ground of apprehended disturbance. The new Parliament met on the 2nd of +November, and on the 15th Sir Henry Parnell moved for a committee to +revise the civil list. A division took place, and ministers were left in +a minority of 29—233 votes being given for the motion, and 204 against +it. Ministers immediately resigned, and Earl Grey was called to His +Majesty’s Councils, with the understanding that Parliamentary Reform was +to be a cabinet measure. Thus, after twenty-three years’ exclusion from +office, the Whigs found themselves in power, and their principles +triumphant. Consols averaged 98½; wheat averaged 64s. 3d. + +JANUARY—Subscription for the relief of the poor again entered into at +Worcester, and £1,108 raised. Distributed in soup and bread. £200 +raised with a like object at Bewdley, and a subscription at Droitwich. + +JULY 2—Petitions from various towns of the county against the Beer House +Bill, which was also strongly opposed by Colonel Davies. + +AUGUST 6—The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria arrived at +Malvern, for the purpose of making a considerable stay there. + +AUGUST 25—Most serious riots at Kidderminster. The carpet weavers, +instigated by the “Society of Workmen,” attacked, almost without notice, +the factory of Mr. Cooper, because he employed a number of men upon a +particular description of light work at three halfpence per yard less +than the customary price. In the evening the mob again assembled, and +broke the windows not only of Mr. Cooper’s house, but those of Mr. Simcox +Lea, Mr. Best, Mr. Brinton, Mr. Dobson, and Mr. Gough, manufacturers; of +George Constance, Esq., High Bailiff; Messrs. Hallen and Talbot, +solicitors; Mr. Boycot; Mr. Russell, coal merchant; the Town Hall; and +the Black Horse Inn—nor was the town restored to quiet till a troop of +the 14th Dragoons arrived at six o’clock on Wednesday morning. The +property stolen and destroyed was valued at £3,000. Eight men were +immediately afterwards apprehended, and committed by the magistrates for +the part they had taken in the disturbances. Rewards amounting to £1,000 +were offered for the conviction of the ringleaders. + +SEPTEMBER 7—The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria visited +Worcester, accompanied by Sir John and Lady Conroy and the Baroness de +Lehzen, and received the Mayor and Corporation at the Deanery. They +inspected the three china manufactories; and the young Princess, then +twelve years of age, displayed the greatest interest in the ingenious +processes to which the porcelain clay is submitted. + +SEPTEMBER 18—Frightful accident to the Aurora, day coach from London, +which was crammed with passengers inside and out, bringing persons to the +ensuing Worcester Musical Festival. The coachman neglected to put the +drag on the wheel in coming down Severn Stoke hill, and the speed which +the vehicle gained as it came down, upset it shortly after rounding the +turn at the bottom. Mr. Bennett, organist of Christ Church, Oxford, was +killed on the spot; and Mr. Hughes, glover, of Sidbury, Worcester, died +next morning. Several other passengers were most seriously hurt. The +jury upon the inquest refused to return a verdict of manslaughter against +the coachman, although directed to do so by the coroner; but put a +deodand of £30 upon the coach and horses, in each case. + +SEPTEMBER 9—Date of the death of the celebrated Mr. Huskisson, who was +born at Birtsmorton in this county. + +OCTOBER 26—St. George’s Chapel, Barbourne, a chapel of ease to Claines +Church, consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. The sermon was +preached by Prebendary Benson, and the collection afterwards realised +£60. The presentation of the chapel is vested in the incumbents of +Claines. The total cost of the building was £3,500; of this, Sir H. +Wakeman, Bart., contributed £500. £1,200 was raised by private +subscriptions, &c. The Church Building Commissioners contributed the +remainder. The painted window at the east end was the gift of James +Wakeman, Esq. It will accommodate 750 persons, 400 of the sittings being +free. + +OCTOBER 29—The WORCESTER MENDICITY SOCIETY formed at a meeting at the +Guildhall, with H. B. Tymbs, Esq., Mayor, in the chair. This Society +still continues to exist, and has acted most beneficially both in +discovering cases of imposture and in aiding the truly unfortunate. It +is only a pity that it is not more generally supported and confided in. + +DECEMBER—Riots at Tardebigg amongst the needle makers, who thought +themselves aggrieved by the introduction of machinery to stamp the eyes +of the needles. They commenced an attack on the machinery and house of +Mr. Baylis of Tardebigg, but were interrupted by the arrival of +constabulary from Redditch, and six men were committed by the magistrates +for trial. Five agricultural labourers were also committed to gaol for +breaking a thrashing machine, which had been left on the road side at +Hanley William. A thatched cattle shed, with two cows, a hay rick and +stubble rick, the property of Mr. Nind of Dumbleton, burnt down by an +incendiary fire. + +LOCAL ACT—For enclosing lands at Hagley. + + + +1831. + + +THE measure of Reform, introduced by the Grey ministry a few days after +the meeting of Parliament, so much exceeded general expectation in extent +and boldness, that the people immediately adopted it with enthusiasm; and +the cry was, “The Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill.” After +a debate of seven nights’ duration, leave was given to bring it in +without a division, and the trial of strength was reserved for the second +reading, which was carried by a majority of one only; the numbers +being—for, 302; against, 301. The ministers, however, persevered with +it; but, in committee, General Gascoyne moved that the number of members +for England and Wales should not be diminished, and this was carried +against ministers by a majority of eight. The consequence was, that the +bill was for a while abandoned, and another appeal made to the country. +The elections, which now took place in the midst of unparalleled +excitement, gave ministers such a decided majority in the Commons, that +the second reading of the bill was carried by a majority of 136, and it +went through committee without any material alteration. The Lords, +however, had not the prudence quietly to pass a measure which the people +had so unequivocally demanded, and the second reading was negatived in +the Upper House by a majority of 41. Riots and disturbances everywhere +ensued; and none can understand, except those who actually took part in +the year’s events, how near the nation was to convulsion and revolution. +The cholera made its appearance in the country on the 26th October, and +was very fatal in many places. Consols averaged 81; wheat averaged 66s. +6d. + +JANUARY 10—The Vice Chancellor gave his decision in the case of the St. +Oswald’s Hospital property, Worcester, declaring that the leases which +had been granted by the governors were illegal, and must be set aside. +This decision affected large properties in the Tything, which, having +been held for leases of forty years at a nominal rent, and these renewed +at a fine only amounting to about one year’s rent, had been treated in +the market as little inferior to freehold. The proceedings were based on +an act passed at the instance of the celebrated Dr. Fell, Bishop of +Oxford in 1660, and who was then master of this hospital. This act +expressly provided that, in the leases granted of the property belonging +to the hospital, “the best improved value that the lands and houses +should be yearly worth should be reserved for the respective yearly rents +thereof.” The solicitor, on the part of the information, was Mr. S. +Godson of Worcester. + +JANUARY 21—Graves opened in Hanley Castle churchyard, and two recently +interred bodies taken away. They had been sent in packing cases from the +Anchor Inn, Upton-on-Severn, to London, but, parties following them +immediately, the cases were recovered, and the bodies restored to their +resting places, but the disturbers of the grave’s quiet were not caught. + +MARCH 9—The Kidderminster carpet weavers presented Mr. Godson with a very +handsome hearth rug, for his exertions in their behalf at the sessions of +the previous August. + +MARCH 23—On the first division on the Reform Bill, on Sir R. Vyvyan’s +amendment, “That the Bill be read a second time that day six months,” all +the members for Worcestershire were present. The Hon. T. H. Foley, +Colonel Davies, Mr. Robinson, Mr. J. H. H. Foley, and Earl of Sefton +voted against the amendment; and Hon. H. B. Lygon and W. A. Robarts, +Esq., for it. + +JUNE—The Worcester Militia reorganised; and ten troops of Yeomanry raised +by the Earl of Plymouth. + +AUGUST 25—In the Marquis of Chandos’s celebrated amendment to the Reform +Bill, giving farming tenants at will, to the amount of not less than £50, +votes for counties, Colonel Davies and Mr. Robinson voted in the majority +against ministers, and the Hon. T. H. Foley, Captain Spencer, and Mr. +Godson in the minority for them. Colonel Davies, in the progress of the +bill, moved several amendments, which were discussed at length, and only +defeated by small majorities: one was to prevent persons, having votes in +boroughs, from voting at county elections. + +SEPTEMBER 14—Presentation of colours to the Worcestershire Yeomanry. +This took place at Hewell, the Countess of Plymouth presenting the +cornets with the colours. The ceremony was performed in the presence of +an immense concourse of spectators. A dinner was afterwards given on the +ground, by the Earl of Plymouth, to the nobility of the county and +officers of the regiment. + +OCTOBER 19—The Worcester Society of Artists opened an exhibition in the +rooms of the Old Library in Angel Street, containing altogether some 164 +pictures, from the easels of professional artists and amateurs in the +city and county. + +NOVEMBER 5—Worcester Riots.—The ferment which the rejection of the Reform +Bill by the Lords had created having spread generally through the +country, and much terror caused by the Bristol anti-Wetherell riots, the +Mayor and magistrates of Worcester swore in a number of special +constables this week; and, at the request of the Mayor, the Home +Secretary directed a troop of the 7th Hussars to take up their quarters +at Droitwich. It was thought possible that the ill disposed might make +the county Reform meeting, held this day, a _point d’appui_, and the 400 +special constables had express orders to hold themselves in readiness for +action at any moment. However, the proceedings passed off very quietly, +and the day closed without any disturbance; but unfortunately a small and +purely accidental fire broke out in the back premises of Mr. Woakes in +High Street. A great number of people were gathered to the spot, and a +squabble occurred in the crowd, during which the hose of the fire engines +was cut, and the mob seemed to regard this as the signal for disorder. +Some rascals harked them on to mischief, and they first of all made an +incursion into Foregate Street, where they broke all the windows in the +house of Mr. France, solicitor, and on their return smashed those of Sir +Anthony Lechmere and other individuals known to belong to the unpopular +party. The Mayor and magistrates were already at the Hall, with a large +body of special constables, and the bells of the city churches were set +tolling to collect the remainder. This roused the whole town, and all +the bad characters it contained were speedily enrolled amongst the mob. +The special constables at the command of the Mayor sallied out of the +Town Hall and engaged the rioters, and some smartish encounters took +place in various directions. Several of the mob were captured and +carried off to prison; but none of the specials were much hurt. The +tumult still continuing, the Mayor sent off expresses to Pershore and +Droitwich for the military; but, in the interim, he addressed the +rioters, and attempted to induce them to disperse. Some of the leaders +said they would do so if he would release the prisoners who had been +taken. The Mayor, hereupon, went down to the gaol, and, amidst the +huzzas of the mob, liberated the captives; but they then wanted the +release of the other prisoners confined in the gaol. This the Mayor +positively refused, and returned to the Guildhall. At a quarter after +one Captain Bathurst, with a troop of the 7th Hussars, rode up to the +Guildhall, and the mob threw some stones at them; and, as they showed no +disposition to disperse, the Mayor read the Riot Act, but had no sooner +done so than a stone was hurled at him, which struck him on the head. He +immediately ordered the military to clear the streets, which they did in +a very short time. A great number of stones were thrown at them; but the +resistance speedily ceased, and many parties were again taken into +custody and conveyed to the gaol. Several of the mob were cut, though +not seriously, by the sabres of the military. A detachment of the 91st +Infantry arrived from Pershore about three a.m., but their services were +not then required. The city, for two or three nights afterwards, wore an +unquiet aspect, and desultory mobs were collected, but no further harm +was done. The magistrates examined the prisoners afterwards—amounting, +in all, to about thirty persons. Most of them were liberated on entering +into their own recognizances to keep the peace, and a few of the worst +were fined or sent to the treadmill. + +LOCAL ACTS—For erecting a County Hall and Courts of Assize at Worcester; +for better repairing the road from Bromsgrove to Birmingham. + + + +1832. + + +THE ministers, calling Parliament together again almost immediately, +proposed another Reform Bill, differing from the former one in the +apportionment of boroughs in the schedules, in preserving the rights of +freemen by birth and servitude, and in giving freeholders in boroughs the +right to vote in county elections. The second reading was carried, on +the morning of Sunday, the 18th of December, 1851, by a majority of 324 +to 162; the majority being thus much larger than before. The bill passed +a second reading in the Lords by a majority of 9; seventeen peers who +voted against the bill in 1831 voted for it in 1832, and others absented +themselves. Immediately on going into committee, however, Lord Lyndhurst +proposed to postpone the disenfranchising to the enfranchising clauses, +and this was carried against ministers by a majority of 35. Earl Grey +then applied to the King for powers to carry the bill as it stood; and, +on the King’s refusing a _carte blanche_ for the creation of peers, +ministers resigned _en masse_. Lord Lyndhurst was sent for by the King; +but the Commons pledged themselves, by an overwhelming majority, to +support only the former ministers, and, in the face of such a resolution, +no ministry could be formed. Then came the thunders of the _Times_, +declaring that “the Queen had done it all,” the threatened run upon the +Bank, and symptoms of disaffection among the soldiery. At last the King +found himself obliged to put into Earl Grey’s hands all the powers he +required, and he returned to office on the 15th of April. The opposition +peers then, at the King’s request, absented themselves from the House, +and the bill passed with little further discussion. It received the +royal assent on the 7th of June. Parliament was soon afterwards +dissolved; and the new constituencies, of course, returned a very large +preponderance of Whig or Reform members. Three per Cents. averaged 83½; +wheat averaged 58s. 8d. + +JANUARY—Several attempts made to fire carpet manufactories in +Kidderminster. The trade of the town in a deplorable condition; 779 +heads of families receiving out-door relief weekly. + +FEBRUARY 1—Colonel Davies moved, in the House of Commons, for a committee +of inquiry on the glove trade. He stated that not one-third of the +number of gloves were made in Worcester that there were formerly, when +120 masters each manufactured 100 dozen a week. He attributed this +distress and loss of trade entirely to the free trade in French gloves. +Mr. Poulett Thomson contended, on behalf of Government, that the general +manufacture of gloves in this country had increased, for the kid skins +imported in the last five years had been 3,679,000, to 2,600,000 in the +five years prior to the duty being taken off gloves. The distress he +believed to be owing to the late increase in the importation of skins, to +the use of Berlin gloves instead of kid, and to overtrading. The numbers +were—against the committee, 223; for it, 168: majority against the +motion, 55. + +FEBRUARY 28—A petition from the operative glovers of Worcester, having +2,206 signatures, and praying that the “system, falsely called free +trade,” may be abandoned, forwarded to the Earl of Coventry for +presentation. + +APRIL 2—The freedom of the city presented to the Earl of Plymouth and +Lieutenant Colonel Elrington by the hand of the recorder, the Earl of +Coventry. To the former, principally in approval of his raising the +Yeomanry corps; and to the latter, for his public services in the east. +Colonel Elrington presented the Corporation with arms and armour, taken +by him from pirates in the Persian Gulf. + +APRIL 5—At a dinner given at the Guildhall, Dr. Malden in the chair, a +very handsome service of plate was presented to the Mayor, Henry Clifton, +Esq., in remembrance of the vigilance and energy he had shown in +repressing the Worcester riots. + +APRIL 17—On the memorable second reading of the Reform Bill in the House +of Lords, by a majority of nine, the Earl of Coventry, Lord Northwick +(both of whom had voted against the former bill), Earl Somers, Lord +Foley, Lord Lyttelton, and the Bishop of Worcester voted in its favour; +and Earls Plymouth and Beauchamp and the Bishop of Rochester against it. + +MAY 23—The Mayor of Worcester, Henry Clifton, Esq., was presented at +_levée_ by the Bishop of Worcester, and thanked by His Majesty for the +“important services he had rendered on a late occasion.” + +MAY 29—The trade on the Severn stopped by the general resistance of the +bow-halliers to the use of horses in towing barges up the river. They +nailed the gates up along the towing path, and assembled in great numbers +to prevent any horses being attached to the vessels. The magistrates +made several attempts to convince them of the unreasonableness and folly +of their proceedings, but to no purpose. At last the Riot Act was read, +and a troop of Scotch Greys marched into Worcester from Kidderminster. +Under this escort the gates were opened and several vessels taken up the +river, but not without determined opposition and much disturbance. Eight +men were committed for trial to the sessions. + +JUNE 11 AND 12—Celebration of the passing of the Reform Bill, in +Worcester. On the Monday the Worcester Political Union, with a great +number of lodges and friendly societies, paraded the streets with banners +and music, and in the evening dined at various public houses. On the +Tuesday evening the city was illuminated—the lighting up being almost +universal, and costly transparencies and devices in many instances +adopted. + +JUNE 15—A Reform festival at Evesham, 700 persons dining at tables set +out along the open street—Vine Street. In the space between the tables +were raised twelve casks of ale, inscribed—“The King,” “Reform,” “Grey,” +“Brougham,” &c. Mr. Workman presided. Dinners also at Droitwich, +Redditch, &c. + +JULY 14—The cholera first made its appearance in Worcester: most of the +cases occurring in the Pinch, at the back of Bridge Place, Hylton Street, +a most dirty and close locality. It continued to rage till the middle of +October: 293 cases having occurred in the whole; and the deaths amounted +to 79. The medical men, forming the Board of Health, had been most +indefatigable in their labours and attentions to the sick in the Cholera +Hospital at Henwick. A very handsome subscription was entered into for +the relief of cholera sufferers and their families, and the proceeds of a +collection after a sermon by the Rev. Canon Benson, and of a concert at +the College Hall (£156), were devoted to the same good object. The +cholera visited every town in the county with more or less severity. It +raged most fearfully at Droitwich, Redditch, and Dudley; the cases in the +latter town amounting to 1,132, with a proportion of 250 deaths. Warm +salt baths were found very beneficial at Droitwich. The Yeomanry, this +year, assembled at Warwick, because of the prevalence of the disease in +Worcester. + +JULY 19—The PROVINCIAL MEDICAL AND SURGICAL ASSOCIATION formed, at a +meeting held in the board room of the Worcester Infirmary. More than +fifty medical men were present; and the venerable Dr. Johnstone, of +Birmingham, was called to the chair. The opening address was read by Dr. +Hastings, the founder of the association; another on the objects and +modes of medical investigation by Dr. Barlow; with various medical papers +by Dr. Milligan, Dr. Malden, Dr. Jeffery, and others; with “A proposal to +establish County Natural History Societies” by Dr. Conolly. The value +and importance of this association are now fully established. + +OCTOBER 9 AND 10—Musical Festival at Kidderminster, in St. George’s +Church, for the benefit of the National Charity Schools. _The Messiah_ +was performed one morning, and a selection of sacred music the other. +There was also a grand miscellaneous concert on Tuesday evening, and a +ball on Wednesday evening. The result was highly satisfactory. The +receipts were—for tickets, £853; collections, £209; donations, £180: +total, £1,242. The expenses amounted to £792, and £450 was thus left as +a balance in favour of the charity. + +OCTOBER 27—The revising barristers having completed the inquiry into the +first registration of the voters of the city of Worcester under the +Reform Act, there were left upon the list 1,521 freemen and 721 £10 +householders in addition, making a total of 2,242. Under the old state +of things there were about 1,600 resident and 800 non-resident freemen, +so that the Reform Act somewhat lessened the number of voters. It was +stated, incidentally, that from the year 1760 to 1832 (seventy-two years) +the Corporation of Worcester had admitted 5,092 freemen—viz., 2,625 by +right of servitude, 1,222 by birth, 1,103 by purchase, and 142 had been +honorarily admitted. The constituency of the county, after revision of +the lists, amounted to 8,283—viz. 3,122 for the western and 5,161 for the +eastern division. Total population, 110,348. The voters for the city +and various boroughs numbered 4,235. + +NOVEMBER 5—The Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria passed through the +county, escorted by the Worcestershire Yeomanry, who in reward for this +service have since received the appellation of the “Queen’s Own.” The +royal party passed through Tenbury, Witley, Worcester, and Bromsgrove to +Hewell, where they stayed for the night, being welcomed at each of these +places with the utmost loyalty and enthusiasm. At Hewell, the +townspeople of Bromsgrove and Redditch presented addresses, and the +nobility of the county assembled in the evening to pay their respects to +their Royal Highnesses. + + + +1833. + + +MEASURES called for by the state of Ireland occupied the first session of +the Reformed Parliament. The Coercion Bill, for the repression of crime, +was easily passed, and then came the Irish Church Bill, to abolish the +Church cess or rate, in that country, to impose a graduated tax on +clergymen, instead of taking first-fruits, and to abolish ten out of +twenty-two bishoprics. The bill passed with little opposition; but a +most important alteration was made in the Lords, as to the appropriation +of the revenues of the suppressed sees. A motion, made in the Commons, +for a repeal of half the Malt Tax, was carried by 162 to 152; but +ministers, a few days afterwards, got the vote rescinded. Consols +averaged 88; wheat averaged 52s. 11d. + +JANUARY 25—A police force, organised by the Worcester City Commissioners, +with Inspector Sharpe at their head. + +JANUARY—The Worcester Philharmonic Society, just formed, gave their first +concert. + +MARCH 26—Mr. G. R. Robinson moved for a committee to revise the taxation +of the country, and to inquire into the propriety of substituting a +property tax in lieu of a great portion of it. The motion was defeated +by the opposition of Government: 155 members, however, voted in its +favour; amongst the minority being the Hon. H. B. Lygon and Sir Thomas +Winnington. + +APRIL 8—THE WORCESTERSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY formed, at a meeting +held at the Guildhall, Worcester, with Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., in the +chair. + +MAY 1—The Hirondelle coach, passing through Worcester, was driven from +Liverpool to Cheltenham, a distance of 136 miles, in 9 hours and 33 +minutes—14 miles an hour, including stoppages. + +MAY 17—On Mr. W. Whitmore’s motion to substitute a fixed duty on corn for +the alterative duties then in force, Mr. G. R. Robinson and Mr. R. Godson +voted in the minority. Colonel Davies also paired off in favour of the +motion. + +JUNE 6—Colonel Davies moved a vote of confidence in ministers, with +reference to their conduct towards Portugal, which was carried by a +majority of 263. + +JULY 22—Funeral of the Earl of Plymouth, in Tardebigg Church. The whole +of the Yeomanry were assembled on the occasion, and great crowds gathered +to witness the procession. The burial service was performed by the Lord +Bishop of Worcester, assisted by the vicar of Tardebigg, the Right Hon. +and Rev. Lord Aston. + +SEPTEMBER 9—The Government Commissioners made their inquiries at +Worcester into the Charter and Corporation of the city. The forty-eight +members of the old Corporation were, of course, self-elected, and the +nomination virtually rested with a few of the body. They rigidly +excluded all professional men and all Dissenters. The income of the body +was stated to the Commissioners to be £2,100 per annum, and the +expenditure about £2,000; this included subscriptions and donations for +charitable purposes, amounting to about £300 a year. It was accidentally +discovered, during the inquiry, that the sword bearer charged one penny +per pot on all fruit brought into the market, though the toll was only +one farthing. A complaint was made that the £20 charged upon persons, +not freemen, who wished to trade within the limits of the city, had the +effect of discouraging young men from entering upon small businesses. + +OCTOBER—The _Bridgwater Treatises_ presented to the Rev. George Redford, +by some members of the Worcester Literary and Scientific Institution, for +“his just castigation of their scandalous libeller, ‘O. S.,’ for his +refutation of the assertion ‘That the diffusion of useful knowledge leads +to atheism,’ and for his defence of the anti-sectarian principles upon +which the London University is founded.” + +OCTOBER 25—A prisoner, named M‘Kenzie, confined in the City Gaol for +robbery, made his escape—slipping out of his cell just as the turnkey was +locking up. He had to make a jump of eleven feet from the top of one +building to another; and he afterwards said that, before making it, his +courage failed him, so he knelt down and asked God to assist him, and, by +God’s help, he succeeded! A truly curious instance of superstitious +profanity. He was retaken at Bridgnorth. + +NOVEMBER 14—Mr. Cockburn, the Government Commissioner for inquiring into +Municipal Corporations, attended at Bewdley. The burgesses and capital +burgesses of the borough were all elected, or chosen by the Corporation, +and, before the passing of the Reform Act, the privilege of voting was +thus confined to some thirty or forty persons. Previous to Mr. Robarts +being elected the member, it was customary for the candidate who found +favour to give some £300 or £400, and then there never was any opposition +to his taking his seat. It was said that these “compliments” had always +been applied to public purposes. Fifty guineas were allowed annually, +out of the Corporation funds, for the bailiff’s feast. No satisfactory +account was rendered of the Corporation property and receipts; and the +corporate officers refused to answer any questions about the Bridge +Trust, or the tolls taken thereat. The toll on foot passengers, it +appeared, had been discontinued for eighteen years; but £400 a year was +raised from the toll on carriages and horses. + +LOCAL ACT—To enable the Stratford and Moreton Railway Company to make a +branch to Shipston-on-Stour. + + + +1834. + + +ON the 1st of August in this year slavery ceased to disgrace the British +colonies. The Irish Church continued to be the principal subject of +discussion in Parliament; and on the 27th of May, Mr. Ward moved that the +temporalities of that church ought to be reduced; and as a majority of +the cabinet had resolved so far to accede to the motion as to appoint a +commission of inquiry, Mr. Stanley, Sir James Graham, the Duke of +Richmond, and the Earl of Ripon resigned their offices. The other +measures of the ministry with regard to Ireland were equally embarrassing +in their results. The unadvised disclosures of Mr. Littleton to Mr. +O’Connell, respecting the supposed intentions of the cabinet as to the +Coercion Bill, led to the retirement of Earl Grey, and Viscount Melbourne +became Prime Minister in his stead. The measures proposed for the relief +of Dissenters were withdrawn from the opposition of Dissenters +themselves; and the only act passed this session, of great public +importance, was that for the amendment of the Poor Laws, which received +the assent of almost all parties. Mr. Hume’s motion for a gradual repeal +of the Corn Laws was negatived by 312 to 155—Sir James Graham being the +principal speaker against it. In November, when the death of Earl +Spencer removed Lord Althorpe to the Upper House, and so further weakened +the Whigs, the King dismissed them, and called the Duke of Wellington to +his councils. Sir Robert Peel was then appointed Prime Minister, and +Parliament was dissolved. Three per Cents. averaged 90½. wheat, 46s. 2d. + +JANUARY—Mr. G. R. Robinson, M.P. for Worcester, elected chairman at +Lloyds. + +FEBRUARY—Lord Foley made strenuous endeavours to get Worcester created a +bonded port. + +APRIL 8—The “Athenæum,” Foregate Street, a building erected for the +accommodation of the Worcester Literary and Scientific Institution, +opened by an inaugural address from C. H. Hebb, Esq., the president. A +dinner, of the members and supporters of the institution, afterwards took +place at the Bell Inn, Broad Street, with Colonel Davies, M.P., in the +chair. + +MAY 9—Paganini performed in Worcester. + +MAY 15—The first stone of the Monument on the Lickey, erected to the +memory of the Earl of Plymouth, laid by Lord Lyttelton—the gentry of the +neighbourhood, the Cavalry, and a large concourse of spectators being +present. It was raised by public subscription. It is a simple obelisk +of Anglesea marble, raised on a pedestal 17 feet high and 20 feet square; +the top of the pillar is 91½ feet from the ground, and it is so situated +as to be seen at a distance of many miles. + +MAY 16—The first anniversary of the Worcestershire Natural History +Society held in the Guildhall, Edward Holland, Esq., the newly elected +president, in the chair. Dr. Streeten read the report of the committee. +In the evening the members dined together at the Crown Hotel, Broad +Street. + +JUNE 2—The first general exhibition of paintings opened in Worcester, in +the lecture room of the Athenæum, Foregate Street. It contained 195 +pictures, and was a most admirable selection. Amongst others were—“Cupid +interceding for Psyche,” by Etty; Constable’s “Barge on the Stour;” David +Roberts’s “Antwerp Cathedral;” two from the easel of Alexander Frazer; +and others by Stanfield, Danby, Pickersgill, Chalon, Jackson, Howard, +Creswick, &c.; while the local artists were also very fairly represented. +The pictures were very ably criticised in the _Worcester Herald_, by a +gentleman named Cary, who, for this purpose, adopted the sobriquet of +“Lorenzo.” + +JULY—Petitions sent up to Parliament, from various parishes in the city +and county, expressing confidence in the Established Church, and praying +that Dissenters might be kept out of the Universities. + +AUGUST 1—The first number of _The Analyst_, a monthly journal of +literature and natural history, principally devoted to the midland +counties, published in Worcester. It was edited by William Holl, Esq., +and reached a tenth volume. It was a clever and readable publication. + +AUGUST 17—The Bishop of Exeter preached at Hallow Church on behalf of the +Sunday schools. Next day the Rev. Prelate visited Worcester, and was +presented by the Mayor with a handsomely bound copy of _Green’s History +of Worcester_, as a token of admiration of his zealous defence of the +establishment. + +SEPTEMBER 1—Lord Deerhurst, while shooting in Sir Charles Cockerell’s +covers, at Sezincote, received the contents of a gun in his face, and +lost the sight of his right eye. + +SEPTEMBER 25—Church rate contest at Dudley, carried on with all the zeal +witnessed at a general election. The anti-rate party had a few weeks +before defeated the church party in vestry, but another meeting was +called for this day, when a rate of 10d. in the pound was proposed by Mr. +Isaac Badger, and carried on a poll by 474 to 390 votes. + +LOCAL ACT—For better supplying the town of Dudley with water. + + + +1835. + + +As the Reform enthusiasm had passed away, the elections resulted +unfavourably for the Whigs—the great majority of the counties returning +Conservative members. The Whigs, however, finding that they still +possessed a majority in the new house, set themselves to oppose Sir +Robert Peel’s Government on every point. They carried Mr. Abercromby, as +Speaker, by a majority of 10, and an amendment on the address by a +majority of 7. Sir Robert, however, continued to bring forward his +measures, some of which were generally approved of, and he bade fair to +gain the confidence of the country even under such disadvantageous +circumstances. But on the introduction of the Tithe Bill for Ireland, +Lord John Russell moved that no settlement of Irish Church affairs would +be satisfactory on any other basis than that of appropriating its surplus +revenues to educational purposes; and this was carried by a majority of +27. Sir Robert Peel and his colleagues then retired from office, and +Lord Melbourne again became Prime Minister. The rest of the session was +almost wholly spent in passing the Municipal Reform Bill, and an attempt +to carry a Bill for regulating the Irish Church, which was so mutilated +in the Lords that ministers abandoned it. Consols averaged 91; wheat, +39s. 4d. + +FEBRUARY 19—In the well-remembered division on the choice of Speaker for +the new House of Commons under Sir R. Peel’s ministry, Sir T. Winnington, +Bart., Sir C. Cockerell, Captain Winnington, Mr. G. R. Phillips, and Mr. +Cookes voted in the majority of 316 for Mr. Abercrombie—and Mr. Holland, +Mr. Robinson, Colonel Lygon, Mr. Borthwick, Mr. Hawkes, Mr. Bailey, and +Mr. Barneby in the minority of 306 for Sir C. M. Sutton. Thus the whole +12 county members were present, and 5 voted for Mr. Abercrombie and 7 for +Sir C. Manners Sutton. + +MARCH 10—On the Marquis of Chandos’s motion for a repeal of the Malt Tax, +which was defeated by a majority of 158, T. H. Cookes, Esq., E. Holland, +Esq., Captain Winnington, J. Bailey, Esq., G. R. Robinson, Esq., Sir T. +Winnington, and Mr. Hawkes voted in the majority—and Col. Lygon, Mr. G. +R. Phillips, Mr. Borthwick, and Mr. Barneby in the minority. + +APRIL 20—The East Worcestershire Conservative Association formed at a +meeting at Droitwich, over which John S. Pakington, Esq., presided; the +object being to rescue the Eastern Division from the hands of the Whigs. +The annual subscription was fixed at 5s., but large donations were given +by Lord Redesdale, Lord Eastnor, and others. + +APRIL—Addresses sent to Sir Robert Peel—requesting him to continue to +hold office, and expressing confidence in his administration—from +Worcester, Droitwich, Evesham, Hagley, and Oldswinford. A public meeting +was held at Kidderminster, for the purpose of sending an address to His +Majesty—the chair taken by Thomas Bradley, Esq., the High Bailiff—praying +the King to continue the Government in Sir Robert Peel’s hands. The +address received 1,473 signatures. + +MAY 25—The first stone of the Worcestershire Natural History Society’s +Museum and Lecture Room, Foregate Street, Worcester, laid by Lord +Lyttelton. + +JUNE 12—Petition presented by Mr. Robinson, from Worcester, in favour of +the Municipal Corporation Bill, to which 4,300 signatures were attached. + +JUNE 15—The second exhibition of modern paintings opened at the Athenæum, +Foregate Street, containing 228 pictures. Amongst them was M‘Clise’s +fine picture, “The Installation of Captain Rock;” Danby’s “Enchanted +Island” and “Solitude;” five of Constable’s; two of Creswick’s; with +others by Copley Fielding, Lee, &c. The Worcester artists were well +represented. + +JULY 30—The first stone of St. Paul’s Church, Blockhouse, Worcester, laid +by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese; the Recorder, Earl Coventry, the +Corporation, and a large concourse of spectators attending. The church +was built entirely by voluntary subscription, being intended to meet the +spiritual wants of the population living in the extra-parochial district, +and consequently not formally under the charge of any particular +clergyman. + +AUGUST 4—Mr. Sidebottom, as Town Clerk of Worcester, examined before the +House of Lords, as one of the witnesses against the Municipal +Corporations Reform Bill. His testimony went to say that the +Corporation, as it was, was very good—that there was never any +jobbing—that the freemen had held their rights ever since 1540—that the +freemen were become such by servitude or birth, saying nothing about +purchase—and that any alteration must be for the worse. + +OCTOBER 4—The clergy and Dissenting ministers generally, throughout the +county, celebrated the third centenary of the Reformation, and the +printing of the first entire English Protestant Bible by Coverdale, by +preaching appropriate sermons on this day. + +OCTOBER 6, 7, AND 3—Mr. John Constable, R.A., the celebrated painter, +lectured at the Athenæum, Worcester, on landscape painting. + +OCTOBER—Pershore and Upton Poor Law Unions incorporated. + +DECEMBER—Election of the Municipal Corporations—At Kidderminster the +Conservatives had a decided majority; and W. B. Best, Esq., was chosen +Mayor. At Evesham, also, they preponderated; William Barnes, Esq., the +former Mayor, was here reëlected. At Bewdley the new body were all +Conservatives; Slade Baker, Esq., chosen Mayor. At Droitwich they were +all liberals; and E. B. Penrice, Esq., was elected chief magistrate. + +LOCAL ACT—For improving the turnpike roads leading into and from the city +of Worcester. + + + +1836. + + +THE Tithe Commutation Act and the Dissenters’ Marriage Act were the two +principal measures carried this year; the other bills proposed by +Government, respecting the Irish Church, Irish Corporations, and +Charitable Trusts, being so altered in the Lords, that the Commons +refused to agree to their amendments, and they were dropped. Consols +averaged 90; wheat averaged 48s. 6d. + +JANUARY 19—Evesham first lighted with gas. + +JANUARY 26—THE WORCESTER DIOCESAN CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY formed at a +meeting at the Guildhall, Worcester. + +FEBRUARY—The Kidderminster Town Council having sent up a list of six +gentlemen (all Conservatives) as magistrates for the borough, Lord John +Russell refused to approve it, and substituted three other parties (two +being Whigs) for three of the names on the list. + +APRIL—The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the revenues of the +Established Church presented their report, from which it appeared that +the total number of benefices in the see of Worcester was 223; gross +total income per annum £73,255: 111 curates were employed at a gross +stipend of £9,002; average, £81 per annum. The incomes of the incumbents +varied from £20 to £1,500 a year. The gross income of the see of +Worcester was set down at £6,916, and of the Dean and Chapter at £12,088. +The eight minor canons received £34 a year, the precentor £14. 15s., the +schoolmaster £39. 19s. 6d., the under master £28. 1 s. 5d. + +APRIL 11—Dinner given at the Star Hotel to T. C. Brock, Esq., by the Hunt +Committee, on his resignation of the mastership of the hounds into the +hands of Captain Candler. The Hon. W. J. Coventry took the chair; and J. +S. Pakington, Esq., was vice president. + +APRIL 26—The first stone of Hartlebury New Church laid by Mrs. Baker, +wife of the rector, and daughter of the Bishop of the Diocese. + +JUNE 30—A splendid silver vase presented, at the George Hotel, Droitwich, +to Mr. T. G. Curtler, “in gratitude for his long services as Town Clerk +of the borough, and as a tribute of respect and esteem for his high +professional integrity and private character.” J. S. Pakington, Esq., +was called to the chair by the meeting, and presented the plate in a +highly eulogistic speech. + +JULY 8—_The Kidderminster Messenger_ started by Mr. Arthur Brough, a +bookseller in that town, and also carrying on a similar business at +Stourport. It at first professed to be a neutral newspaper, and, as +such, had an extensive circulation amongst men of all parties in +Kidderminster and the neighbourhood. Mr. Brough afterwards thought he +could, as a commercial speculation, improve the paper by making it a +thorough going Tory print, and he gave it the name of the _Ten Towns’ +Messenger_, alluding to ten towns round Kidderminster in which it +circulated. From this time it was furious in its politics and in the +language employed to advocate its principles. It reached its greatest +circulation when it extended its labours to Birmingham; the news of which +town was given at much length, and it assumed, consequently the +additional title of _The __Birmingham Times_. This was in 1839–40; and +from 1,700 to 1,800 copies, weekly, were sold at this time. In 1841, +however, Mr. Brough started the _National Advertiser_, by which he +expected to make much more money than by the _Ten Towns_, and in June, +1842, he sold it to the Rev. Charles Eckersall. The Tractarian +principles which it now advocated were, however, by no means palatable to +the majority of its readers, and the circulation of the paper gradually +declined, till Mr. Eckersall—like most other amateur newspaper +proprietors, having lost much money by it—got rid of it. The paper then +became the property of Mr. Friend, bookseller, of Kidderminster, but, +from various causes continued to fall off in circulation; and when it had +sunk to some 400 weekly, it was at last altogether discontinued on the +30th of June, 1849. + +AUGUST 25—Two superb pieces of plate—a silver vase and salver, weighing +together 286 ounces—presented to the Rev. J. Topham, M.A., of Droitwich, +by J. H. H. Foley, Esq., on behalf of the parishioners and friends of Mr. +Topham, who had purchased them by subscription, “as a token of respect to +his general character, and a testimony of the sense entertained by them +of his services in the cause of civil and religious liberty.” The +ceremony of presentation took place at the Court House. + +SEPTEMBER 26—St. Peter’s Church, Malvern Wells, consecrated. + +SEPTEMBER 31—Mr. Macready performed at Worcester Theatre in _Ion_. + +DECEMBER 14—Worcester Union incorporated under the New Poor Law, and the +guardians elected by the several city parishes. H. B. Tymbs, Esq., was +elected chairman of the new board, and Mr. Alderman R. Evans +vice-chairman. + +DECEMBER 24—The Lord Chancellor appointed, as trustees of the Worcester +charities, the gentlemen nominated by the Town Council, in preference to +those named by the old Corporation. The trustees thus appointed were—the +Mayor (C. H. Hebb, Esq.), Alderman R. Evans, John Dent, Esq., Mr. +Alderman Hall, Robert Berkeley, jun., Esq., Alderman W. Corles, William +Shaw, Esq., John Nash, Esq., George Allies, Esq., Mr. Thomas Grainger, +Humphrey Chamberlain, Esq., J. P. Lavender, Esq., Mr. Alderman Howell, +Francis Thomas Gibb, Esq., John Williams, Esq. The charities under the +management of the six masters were exempted from the operation of the +seventy-first section of the Municipal Reform Act. The Rev. E. Crane +resigned the chaplaincy of Berkeley’s Hospital, and the Rev. Edwin +Faulkner elected in his stead. Mr. E. Corles was chosen solicitor to the +trust. + +LOCAL ACT—For making the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway. + + + +1837. + + +THE subjects which occupied the attention of the legislature this year +were many and important, but no measures of great public polity actually +passed. Ecclesiastical matters formed the prominent topic, and a bill to +abolish church rates, and provide for the reparation of churches, by +putting the property of bishops, deans, and chapters into commission, was +read a second time, but the majority was so small, five votes only, that +ministers could not proceed with it. King William IV died on the 20th of +June; and, in the elections which followed the accession of the young +Queen, the Whigs with difficulty maintained their majority. Consols +averaged 91½; wheat averaged 55s. 10d. + +SEPTEMBER—Great excitement in Bromsgrove over politico-parochial matters. +Two parties were appointed by the Conservative party at the usual +time—Easter week; but this appointment, on an appeal to Dr. Phillimore, +the Chancellor of the Diocese, was declared informal and illegal. There +was, consequently, a fresh election in this month, when the whole parish +was routed up to vote. The result was, the choice of the two +liberals—Messrs. Ellins (who had 945 votes) and Hill (who had 915). The +Conservatives were Messrs. Edwards and Penn, who obtained 381 and 372 +votes respectively. A scrutiny was demanded, and it dragged out a weary +length with all sorts of expenses, but left the result of the election +unaltered. + +SEPTEMBER 13—Bazaar at Evesham, for the restoration of St. Lawrence’s +Church, producing £250. + +OCTOBER 30—Public meeting of the burgesses of Worcester at the Bell Inn, +to consider the best means of declaring their grateful sense of Mr. +Hebb’s constant endeavours in the behalf of civil and religious liberty, +and their approval of his conduct during the two years he had filled the +office of chief magistrate. It was determined that he should be +requested to sit for his portrait, and that the Council should be asked +to place it in the Assembly Room, where it now hangs. + +LOCAL ACTS—For amending and enlarging the powers of the act for erecting +a County Hall and Courts of Assize; the New Cattle Market Act; Birmingham +and Gloucester Railway Amendment Act, with powers to make branches to +Worcester and Tewkesbury. + + + +1838. + + +IRISH Tithes and Corporations—Church Rates—Jamaica and the Negro +Apprenticeship System, and the Canadas—formed the subjects of discussion +in Parliament. In the year previous had commenced that series of +deficits which contributed so much to the weakness and ultimate downfall +of the Melbourne administration: for finance is, after all, the +life-blood of a ministry. The Whigs could not, however, fairly be blamed +for the state of the national exchequer, which, in truth, was the +unavoidable consequence of the measures of former years. Immediately +after the restriction of small notes, in the year 1829, the prices of +merchandise and the amount of mercantile transactions rapidly declined; +though as the seasons were unfavourable, speculators managed, by aid of +the sliding scale, to keep up the price of corn till 1833, when it fell +to less than 40s. a quarter. Speculation in the American trade gained +for a time the appearance of prosperity; but on the failure of the United +States Bank in 1836, affairs were brought to a crisis, and our +manufacturers and merchants were plunged into extreme distress—trade was +utterly stagnated—and when the scarcity of 1839 necessitated large +importations of corn, and a drain of gold to pay for it, the Bank of +England was well nigh brought into the peril of 1825. Consols averaged +93; wheat averaged 64s. 7d. + +JANUARY—The _Worcestershire Chronicle_ established by a joint stock +company, at the head of which were some of the leading Reformers of the +city and county. It was designed to supply a want, then beginning to be +generally felt by this party, of an organ for the advocacy of their +opinions, and the advancement of their interests through the medium of +the press. The first number was published on the 3rd of January, 1838. +In the year 1842 the concern passed into private hands, and was +transferred to the present proprietors. + +JANUARY 22—Mr. Pakington made his Parliamentary _debût_ in a speech on +Canadian affairs, which was very well received. + +JANUARY—Subscriptions at Evesham, Redditch, and Pershore, for the relief +of the local poor during an inclement season. + +FEBRUARY—George Williams, Esq., surgeon, of Bewdley, nominated by Lord +John Russell as a magistrate of that borough, and the Town Council +thereof very indignant at not having been consulted. The Liberals +afterwards _fêted_ Mr. Williams at a dinner at the George Inn. + +MARCH 27—Celebration of Lord Ward’s majority at Himley, Sedgley, Dudley, +&c., by a succession of dinners and donations to the poor. The barrel of +ale called “Big Ben,” which had been brewed on Lord Ward’s natal day, and +reserved especially for this occasion, was tapped and distributed. His +lordship layed the first stone of a new church at Gornal, and afterwards +entertained a party of fifty gentlemen to a sumptuous feast at Himley +Hall. He declared himself a Conservative. + +JUNE 28—Celebration of Her Majesty’s coronation in Worcester and other +county towns. In Worcester the Yeomanry and Militia, the Town Council, +5,000 Sunday school children, and the various trade companies made up a +procession to the Cathedral, where a sermon was preached by Dr. Faussett. +2,100 poor people dined at the public expense in the Guildhall, Market +House, and Sansome Walk. 200 gentlemen dined together at the Shire Hall; +George Allies, Esq., Mayor, in the chair. Fireworks in the evening; and +a public breakfast for the ladies next morning in the Shire Hall. + +OCTOBER 4—At the annual assembly of the Yeomanry this year, Colonel Clive +presented Captain Emmott with a splendid service in silver, which had +been subscribed for generally by the regiment. The officers this year +gave a grand ball in the New Shire Hall. + +OCTOBER 27—A man named George Burrows committed from Droitwich for +stealing hay, made his escape from the County Gaol, having managed to +secrete himself in the yard until all the rest of the prisoners were +marched into the chapel to attend service. All his gaol clothes were +found returned one morning, being thrown into the court yard of the +prison. + +DECEMBER 4—Consecration of the church of St. Peter the Great, Worcester, +by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. The sermon was preached by the Rev. +C. Benson. The old building would only accommodate 350 persons; the +present church contains 408 appropriated, and 624 free sittings. The +total cost was £3,600. £169 were collected after the services this day. + +DECEMBER 6—Consecration of Christ Church Chapel, Catshill, near +Bromsgrove, by the Lord Bishop of Rochester. This chapel, built for the +accommodation of a populous district, contains 520 sittings. £45 were +collected after a sermon by the Bishop. + +DECEMBER 16—Great excitement created at Bromsgrove and its neighbourhood, +by the supposed murder of a Redditch needle pointer, named Joshua +Hollier. He went to the Malt Shovel public house at Burcott, and was +drinking, quarrelling, and fighting there during the whole of this +(Sunday) afternoon, with “navvies” who worked on the Birmingham and +Gloucester line then making in the neighbourhood. He went out of the +house about eight o’clock, and was soon after found lying on the ground +insensible. His shoes had been taken away. He was brought into the +house, and shortly afterwards died without having spoken. The coroner’s +jury, after six days’ examination of witnesses, returned a verdict of +wilful murder against John Rose, a “navvie” who went to the house with +him, and was supposed to have kicked the deceased as he lay on the +ground, and so caused his death. He was heard afterwards to say he “had +given him enough,” and such like expressions. The grand jury before whom +the case came threw out the bill. + + + +1839. + + +THE Whigs being reduced to an extremity of weakness, resigned office in +May, when the measures they proposed to take with regard to Jamaica were +only carried by a majority of five. Sir Robert Peel, however, was unable +to form a Government, because Her Majesty would not consent to change the +ladies of her bedchamber, and Lord Melbourne once more assumed the +Premiership. The Chartist disturbances at Newport and elsewhere were the +most notable occurrences of the year. The Corn Law question began to +secure increased attention. Consols averaged 92½; wheat averaged 70s. +8d. + +JANUARY—Discussions on Socialism rife in Worcester. Robert Owen having +been propounding his plans, John Brindley, head master of the Oldswinford +hospital, delivered a series of lectures to refute him. A public +controversy between them at the Guildhall attracted great crowds. Dr. +Malden took the chair, and Brindley spoke first. Owen afterwards at +great length gave a rambling account of his opinions, till he at last +gave utterance to a very gross sentiment, at which a general yell arose, +and the proceedings terminated in the utmost confusion. A vote of +censure was passed on Owen in dumb show, and the people were so excited +that he narrowly escaped some very rough treatment. + +JANUARY 15—Bewdley first lighted with gas. + +JANUARY—The gaol fever raged in the county prison, in which, though only +built for 90, no less than 209 prisoners were confined. + +FEBRUARY 18—The members for this county who voted against Mr. Villiers’s +motion that parties should be heard at the bar of the House against the +Corn Laws, were Mr. Bailey, Mr. Hawkes, General Lygon, Mr. Pakington, Mr. +Horace St. Paul, Captain Rushout, Sir T. Winnington, and Captain +Winnington. Colonel Davies and Lord M. Hill voted for it, and Mr. Godson +was absent. The motion was negatived by 361 to 172. + +MAY 7—Public meeting of the citizens of Worcester to sanction the newly +formed CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, as an association simply intended to promote +the commercial interests of the city without reference to politics. Mr. +Alderman Allies filled the chair, and gentlemen of all parties spoke +warmly in support of the Chamber. + + + +1840. + + +PARLIAMENT was engaged for a great part of the session with the question +of privilege arising out of the Stockdale and Hansard case. The Whigs +continued to hold office on most precarious tenure, being defeated in +their proposal to allow Prince Albert £50,000 a year. A want of +confidence motion, however, proposed by Sir J. Yarde Buller, resulted in +a majority of 21 in their favour. The happy marriage of the Queen with +Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha was celebrated on the 10th +February. Consols averaged 91; wheat averaged 66s. 4d. + +FEBRUARY 4—The Board of Guardians for the Pershore Union petitioned the +House of Lords for the dismissal of the assistant poor law commissioners, +as a useless and expensive body of men. The Rev. F. Best opposed the +motion, but it was carried by 25 to 5. The Droitwich Guardians did the +same. + +FEBRUARY 10—Her Majesty’s marriage kept in Worcester as a general +holiday—dinners given to operatives by their employers—and a ball in the +evening at the Guildhall. Public dinners at Great Malvern, Droitwich, +and Evesham; and at the latter place a subscription was entered into for +the poor, which amounted to 100 guineas. + +MARCH 28—The Worcestershire Agricultural Society held a general meeting +of members to petition against any alteration of the Corn Laws. Sir A. +Lechmere, Bart., was in the chair; and the petition, which was proposed +by Mr. John Williams and seconded by Mr. John Dent, was unanimously +adopted. + +APRIL 18—A rule granted by the Court of Queen’s Bench, calling upon E. B. +Penrice, Esq., Mayor of Droitwich, to show cause why a writ of _quo +warranto_ should not be issued against him for having held the office of +Mayor of that borough for three successive years. This discreditable +proceeding was taken under an obsolete statute of Queen Anne’s time. +Though the proceedings were abandoned, Mr. Penrice resigned the office, +and Mr. Alderman Tombs was elected in his stead. + +MAY—The PRISONERS’ RELIEF SOCIETY first established. This association, +with very limited means, has done much good, and that of a very necessary +kind, in assisting well behaved prisoners to go to their homes and escape +from temptation on their release from confinement. The credit of +suggesting it is wholly due to the Rev. Thomas Pearson. + +MAY—The _Paul Pry_ made its appearance in Worcester, filled with +scurrilous lampoons upon individual character, and the agent in that city +received a sound horsewhipping in his own back parlour from one of the +parties libelled. + +JUNE 11—An excited church rate contest in the parish of St. Martin, +Worcester; the numbers at the close of the poll being—for a rate of +four-pence in the pound, 185; against it, 183. A similar contest took +place in St. Peter’s parish a few days afterwards, which ended in a +majority of 66 for the rate—185 votes for and 119 against it. + +JULY 22—Great dinner of the operatives of Bromsgrove, in an immense tent +on the bowling green of the Bell Inn. G. F. Iddins, Esq., filled the +chair, and nearly 1,200 persons sat down at the tables. William Acton, +Esq., Mr. Twamley, Rev. T. Ashwell, Mr. J. B. Crane, Mr. F. T. Elgie, and +the Rev. Mr. Blakeman were the chief speakers, and the obnoxiousness of +church rates (a subject of great agitation at Bromsgrove) the chief +theme. + +JULY 31—Silver bread basket and waiter, pair of snuffers and tray +presented to Captain Rayer of Hillworth, by the tithepayers and +titheowners of Castlemorton, for the upright manner in which he had acted +as agent for the great tithes of that parish for twenty years. + +AUGUST 7—The Beer House Bill, introduced by Mr. Pakington, received the +royal assent. + +AUGUST 10—The Worcester Bridge Trustees having determined to widen the +bridge, and offered a premium of ten guineas for the best plan, awarded +the same to Mr. E. L. Williams, in preference to the plans of Mr. Daukes +and Mr. Varden, by a majority of five. The bridge has been widened in +accordance with Mr. Williams’s plan, and the alteration proves to be both +elegant and durable. + +SEPTEMBER 23—Several bodies of dead infants found in an old house at +Droitwich, where Mary Hall, an aged crone of very eccentric habits, +resided. Her husband had been sexton of the parish of St. Peter’s, +Droitwich, and during his last illness the woman had pretended to see his +duties properly performed. These bodies, however—instead of taking the +trouble to have them buried—she had stowed away amidst a variety of +remnants of food and other odds and ends. The whole house was in a state +of most disgusting filth. Mr. Hughes held an inquest on the skeletons, +and verdicts of “Died by the visitation of God” were returned. Mr. W. H. +Ricketts protested against all such proceedings, as unnecessary, and said +that at the Michaelmas Sessions he should move for the disallowance of +the expenses. + +NOVEMBER 10—The boiler of a new locomotive, which had been brought on the +Birmingham and Gloucester Railway for trial, exploded while standing in a +shed at the Bromsgrove Station, and two men in the Company’s employ, +named Rutherford and Scaife, were killed. The boiler plates were +supposed not to have been of sufficient thickness. + +NOVEMBER 13—Lord Lyttelton became a candidate for the office of High +Steward of Cambridge, in opposition to Lord Lyndhurst. Lord Lyndhurst +had 973 votes, to 487 given for Lord Lyttelton. + +LOCAL ACT—For the establishment of a Court of Requests for the parishes +of Kingsnorton and Northfield. + + + +1841. + + +THE Government having determined to seek an escape from the exigencies of +their financial position by a reduction of the custom duties on articles +of general consumption, the party in the country, who had for some time +been seeking the abolition of all such duties, immediately assumed a much +greater importance. The article first chosen for operation was +sugar—Lord John Russell at the same time giving notice that he intended +to propose a fixed duty of 8s. upon corn. The ministers, however, were +defeated in their proposal to reduce the sugar duties, by a majority of +36; and a vote of want of confidence moved by Sir R. Peel, was carried by +a majority of one. Ministers then dissolved Parliament, avowedly +appealing to the country on their free trade measures. The elections, +however, were decidedly against them. On the reassembling of Parliament +an amendment was carried on the address, by a majority of 91, and the +Whigs resigned. Sir Robert Peel then took office, but nothing more was +done this year in the way of legislation—the finances being made to +square by adding the £2,100,000 deficiency in the revenue to the National +Debt. Consols averaged 89; wheat, 64s. 4d. + +JANUARY 20—Accident on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, at Bredon. +A train, in passing through a deep cutting, had shaken down a large +quantity of earth, in which the engine became embedded, and ran off the +line. The chain connecting the engine and tender snapped, and so no harm +occurred to the passengers; but the stoker fell between the two, and his +legs being cut off in a most dreadful manner, he soon afterwards died. + +JANUARY 26—The body of a respectable young female, named Mary Anne +Patrick, found in Salwarpe Brook, under what at first appeared to be very +suspicious circumstances. She had been visiting relations at Wichbold, +and went out on the Wednesday morning for a walk by herself, but no +tidings were afterwards heard of her. When nearly a week had elapsed, +the Bromsgrove fire engine was passing through the brook, and the body +suddenly came to the surface. There appeared to be some severe wounds on +the head, which of course originated the belief that she had been +murdered; but when a _post mortem_ examination came to be made, it was +clear that she had fallen a victim to the pernicious practice of tight +lacing, and had fallen into the brook in an apoplectic fit. The +coroner’s jury returned an open verdict. + +JULY 25—The fatal affray between Mr. Emanuel Maiden, of the Shakspere +Inn, and John Fisher, ostler at the Star Hotel, which caused so much +excitement in Worcester, occurred this evening. Maiden and Fisher had +long been upon bad terms, and this night, about half-past twelve o’clock, +they unfortunately met in Angel Street, and a furious quarrel took place. +Maiden broke away from Sergeant Chipp, who was trying to keep him back, +and ran after Fisher. Several witnesses said they saw Maiden strike +Fisher on the back of the head, and he fell across the pavement. From +the effects of the blow, or the fall, Fisher died on the succeeding +Wednesday; and after several days’ inquiry, the coroner’s jury returned a +verdict of manslaughter against Maiden. He was admitted to bail on +Judge’s order, and tried at the ensuing Lent Assizes, when he was found +guilty, with a recommendation to mercy, and sentenced to a month’s +imprisonment without hard labour. + +SEPTEMBER 12—Bazaar and concert at Evesham, for raising funds towards +building new national school-rooms, by which about £200 were obtained. + +NOVEMBER—John Hill Clifton, Esq., T. G. Curtler, Esq., William Dent, +Esq., Francis Hooper, Esq., Matthew Pierpoint, Esq., and R. Yapp, Esq., +all Conservatives, put in the commission of the peace for the city of +Worcester. + +DECEMBER 6—The WORCESTER OPHTHALMIC SOCIETY formed, and a sharp contest +for the assistant surgeonship between Mr. T. Walsh and Mr. Everett, the +former of whom had 162, and the latter 130 votes. + +DECEMBER 18—Several daring robberies committed on the road between Severn +Stoke and Tewkesbury, and a locksmith named Richard Kington found +dead—robbed, and apparently murdered—at Clifton, about midway between +Severn Stoke and Kempsey. The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of +“wilful murder” against a man of bad character living at Severn Stoke. +Kington’s knife and tobacco were found in Tippin’s small clothes, and the +waggoner’s whip, which he had been carrying, in an outhouse adjoining to +Tippin’s abode. Tippin was tried at the ensuing assizes, but was +acquitted of the murder because there was some doubt whether the hurts on +the person of the deceased might not have been caused by a cart wheel +passing over his body; but he was found guilty of robbing the deceased, +and sentenced to transportation for life. + +LOCAL ACTS—For better assessing and collecting the poor rates in +Kidderminster. For repairing the road from Hagley to Birmingham. To +extend the jurisdiction of the Kingsnorton Court of Requests. + + + +1842. + + +SIR ROBERT PEEL’S measures, which he would not disclose “till he was +regularly called in,” proved to be a three per cent. income tax, a +sliding scale of duties on corn, intended to keep the price at 56s., and +a new tariff—all of which, in spite of many dissentients on both sides of +the house, he carried by large majorities. Consols averaged 92; wheat, +57s. 3d. + +JANUARY—New magistrates added to the commission of the peace at +Kidderminster and Evesham. At Kidderminster, John Sutton Barber, George +Hooman, James Morton, John Welch, and Thomas Bradley, Esquires. At +Evesham, E. T. Perrott, Robert Blayney, and John Thomas, Esquires. Of +course all were Conservatives. + +FEBRUARY 16—In the division on Lord John Russell’s amendment to Sir +Robert Peel’s proposal to alter the sliding scale, Mr. Bailey, Mr. +Borthwick, Mr. Barneby, Mr. Godson, Mr. Hawkes, Mr. Pakington, Mr. +Taylor, General Lygon, and Mr. F. W. Knight, voted in the majority of 351 +against the amendment, and Lord M. Hill and Sir T. Winnington, Bart., in +the minority of 228 in its favour. Sir Thomas Wilde paired off in its +favour. + +APRIL 1—The Worcester glove manufacturers met and discussed Sir Robert +Peel’s proposal to reduce the duty on gloves in the new tariff, and said +that they should be obliged to cease to employ any men at all if it was +adopted. A deputation of the glovers afterwards waited on Lord Ripon, +and Sir Thomas Wilde very ably stated their case—a plea _ad +misericordiam_. + +APRIL 26—Riots in Dudley, in consequence of a reduction of wages amongst +the nailors. Several people hurt by the Enniskillen Dragoons, in +clearing the streets, and others committed to gaol. + +JUNE 27—The Mayor of Worcester (Edward Evans, Esq.), Mr. Alderman +Hastings, Mr. Alderman Lilly, and Mr. E. Webb, added to the Worcester +Charity Trustees, to fill up vacancies. The Conservatives presented a +petition, praying that the number of trustees might be increased from +fifteen to twenty-one, of course expecting that the additional names +would be appointed from their party, and so they might obtain a +preponderance in the body; but this was opposed by the existing trustees, +and the Lord Chancellor refused to sanction it. + +JULY 2—Sir Thomas Winnington brought home his amiable bride (eldest +daughter of Sir Compton Domville) to Stanford Court, and was greeted by +his tenantry and neighbours in a very enthusiastic manner—triumphal +arches, music, strewing flowers, long processions, and other modes of +welcome being adopted to exhibit the feeling entertained towards the +honourable baronet. + +JULY 25—First stone of Wittington Church laid by the Rev. W. R. Holden. + +AUGUST 6—The colliers near Dudley struck for an increase of wages, and +the Dudley troop of Yeomanry being called out, came upon them as they +were proceeding to violence at the Cotsall pits, and took ten men +prisoners. + +AUGUST 23—St. Michael’s Church, Worcester, consecrated by the Lord Bishop +of the Diocese. + +OCTOBER 15—Military _fêtes_ at Hewell. The usual permanent duty of the +Worcestershire Yeomanry was this year dispensed with, as many of the +troops had been engaged in harrassing service in the collieries during +the strikes; but the review was held in Hewell Park—the inspecting +officer being Colonel Thorne. The whole regiment was afterwards invited +by their colonel to dinner in an immense tent near the hall—900 persons +sitting down to the feast. Amongst the company at the principal table +were Colonel Clive (chairman), Lord Lyttelton, Lord Foley, Earl Somers, +Viscount Eastnor, Lord Ward, Lord Sandys, Earl of Dartmouth, Colonel +Thorne, Sir William Clinton, Sir O. Wakeman, Sir C. Throckmorton, J. H. +H. Foley, Esq., J. S. Pakington, Esq., Hon. and Rev. W. W. C. Talbot, &c. +Colonel Clive’s health was proposed by Lord Lyttelton, and drank with the +greatest enthusiasm. + +LOCAL ACTS—For the Improvement of the River Severn; Stourbridge Roads +Act; Bromyard Roads Act. + + + +1843. + + +DISTRESS in the manufacturing districts gave increased force and vigour +to the anti-corn law agitation; but Lord Howick’s motion for a committee +of inquiry into the causes of that distress was negatived by a majority +of 306 to 191, and Mr. Villiers’s annual motion for a committee of the +whole House upon the corn laws was supported by only 125 members, while +381 voted against it. The defeat of Sir James Graham’s educational +measure by the opposition of the Dissenters was the most remarkable +feature in the Parliamentary year. In Scotland the year was most +signally marked by the secession of the non-intrusionist ministers from +the Established Church, carrying with them the bulk of the laity—in +Ireland, by the violence of the repeal agitation, and the arrest of Mr. +O’Connell—and in Wales, by the singular outbreak against turnpike gates, +known as the Rebecca riots. Consols averaged 95; wheat averaged 50s. 1d. + +FEBRUARY 21—The WORCESTER CITY MISSION, a Christian society which has +been, and continues to be, the means of doing a great deal of good +amongst the poor, with a very small income, established at a meeting held +at the Natural History Society’s room, over which the Mayor presided. + +APRIL 4—The Worcester magistrates, at their quarter sessional meeting, +appointed Mr. Herbert Budd as surgeon to the City Gaol, in the room of +Mr. F. Walter, retired. The Council had claimed the right to see to all +the expenses of the gaol, and not leave the supply of provisions in the +hands of the visiting magistrates; and the magistrates claimed the right +of appointing all officers, under the 38th clause of 1st Vict., cap. 78. + +APRIL 17—Dinner to the Dudley magistrates, to express approval of their +conduct during recent disturbances. Lord Ward presided, and Lord +Lyttelton and about one hundred other gentlemen were present. The +magistrates had refused to accept as bail for Chartists persons of the +same political opinions, and the matter had been made subject of severe +comment in the House of Commons. + +MAY—The Dissenters throughout the county petitioned urgently against the +educational measures proposed by Government. + +JUNE 20—A meeting held at Bromsgrove, with the view of alleviating the +distress of the nailors, whom low wages, and a strike in consequence, had +reduced to a condition of grievous wretchedness. The Right Hon. and Rev. +Lord Aston took the chair, and a subscription was entered into, and a +goodly sum raised, to be laid out under the management of a committee. + +AUGUST 1—A Commission of Inquiry opened at the Angel Inn, Pershore, into +the conduct of the Rev. William Smith, Vicar of Overbury. The +commissioners appointed by the Bishop were Dr. Phillimore, Chancellor of +the Diocese; Archdeacon Timbrill; Rev. F. D. Gilby; Rev. T. A. +Strickland; and Rev. W. Parker. The charges preferred by the +parishioners were twenty-two in number, and were supported by Mr. +Elgie—Mr. Foley appearing for the vicar. The inquiry lasted four days, +and a great number of witnesses were examined _pro._ and _con._ On the +18th, the chancellor pronounced the decision of the Commission in the +Lady Chapel at the Cathedral, Worcester. Many of the charges were +abandoned; and of those that remained, the chancellor said that on six a +_prima facie_ case had been made out for the Bishop to institute further +proceedings. These were, the removal of tombstones without a faculty; +thrice forcibly expelling the clerk during the service; placing persons +in the singing gallery to “read him down;” refusing to ask the prayers of +the congregation for a parishioner; and interfering in the election of +churchwardens. There was also a special presentment as to his general +conduct. As the Rev. gentleman refused to submit the matter to the +Bishop, further proceedings were referred to the superior courts, but +none were taken. The Bishop afterwards addressed an admonitory letter to +the Rev. gentleman, which was published, and drew from him a very +singular reply. + +AUGUST 2—A porter on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, named John +Killcash, having been drinking in the evening, laid himself down upon the +rails and fell asleep. The next train which came up severed his head +from his body. + +AUGUST 8—The Queen Dowager took up her abode at Witley Court. Triumphal +arches, and other methods of welcome, were adopted at Droitwich. On the +following Monday week Her Majesty visited Worcester, and attended divine +service in the Cathedral. Her return was to have been a public progress, +but the torrents of rain which descended spoilt the whole affair; so that +all the civic dignitaries could do was to rush down the Guildhall steps +in their scarlet robes, just as Her Majesty passed, and bow their +acknowledgments at the carriage door. On the evening after, the +tradesmen honoured by Her Majesty’s patronage illuminated their houses. +The Queen Dowager afterwards sent a cheque for £100 to the funds of the +Worcester Infirmary. + +AUGUST 19—The first stone of a new Chapel of Ease laid at Barnard’s +Green, by the Lady Emily Foley. + +AUGUST 30—The SEVERN AND TEME FISHERIES ASSOCIATION formed at a public +meeting held in the Guildhall, Worcester; Matthew Pierpoint, Esq., in the +chair. + +OCTOBER 7—Messrs. Cobden and Bright visited Worcester, in furtherance of +the anti-corn law agitation, and addressed an audience of about 1,200 +people in the Guildhall. The High Sheriff refused to call a county +meeting; therefore Edward Holland, Esq., took the chair. But a small +proportion of the meeting were farmers. There was a show of opposition +on the part of the Chartists, but it was very feeble and soon put down. +The corn law repealers afterwards had a dinner at the Bell Inn; W. B. +Collis, Esq., in the chair, and Robert Hardy, Esq., vice-president. + +OCTOBER 29—The new parish church at Oldswinford opened for divine +service, with two sermons by the Lord Bishop and the Rev. T. L. +Claughton. The collections amounted to £207. This church cost about +£5,000, and it contains 1,457 sittings—781 of which are free. + +OCTOBER 27—The Chapel of Ease at Headless Cross consecrated. The Lord +Bishop preached, and £60. 11s. were collected. The building will seat +about 250 persons, and most of the sittings are free. + +DECEMBER 10—Earl Beauchamp’s cash box, containing about £120, stolen +during the night from his dressing-room, at Madresfield Court. The thief +was never discovered. + +DECEMBER 18—A Winter Assizes before Mr. Baron Rolfe, occupying three +days. None of the cases tried were of much importance. + +LOCAL ACTS—To enable the Worcestershire and Staffordshire Canal Company +to lend money to the Severn Navigation Commissioners; to enable the +Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Company to raise a further sum of +money, and to amend the acts relating thereto. + + + +1844. + + +THE legislature was this year occupied with many exciting subjects; +especially the state of Ireland, then agitated by the proceedings on Mr. +O’Connell’s trial; restrictions on labour in factories; and the +Dissenters’ Chapel Bill. The financial measures of the year were +likewise very important; including, as they did, the reduction of the +Three-and-half per Cents., and the passing of the Bank Restriction Act—an +act, the wisdom of which is yet to be determined. Mr. Villiers’s annual +motion for repeal of the Corn Laws was negatived by 328 to 124. Consols +in October reached 100⅞, and averaged throughout the year, 99; wheat +averaged 51s. 3d. + +FEBRUARY 16—The OMBERSLEY LABOURERS’ FRIENDLY SOCIETY, for granting +allotments in that parish, set on foot by the Hon. and Rev. W. W. C. +Talbot. + +APRIL 12—The WORCESTERSHIRE LABOURERS’ FRIENDLY SOCIETY formed at an +influential meeting of landowners and farmers at the Shire Hall, over +which Lord Lyttelton presided. The object of the society was to +ameliorate the condition and standing of the agricultural labourers, by +giving them allotments. + +JULY 29—A silver tankard, weighing fifty ounces, presented to T. C. +Hornyold, Esq., by his tenantry, at their audit dinner. + +OCTOBER 5—Great festivities at Eardiston, on Sir William Smith attaining +his majority. + +DECEMBER 1—The Lord Bishop of the Diocese, in delivering an ordination +charge, expressed very decidedly his disapproval of Tractarianism and the +revival of obsolete customs in the Church, such as preaching in the +surplice. + +DECEMBER 28—An illicit still, which had been for some time quietly at +work in Worcester, discovered and seized by the police. + +LOCAL ACT—To alter and extend the provisions of the Severn Improvement +Act. + + + +1845. + + +SPECULATION and wild schemes, such as England had not seen since the +hey-day of South Sea projects, signalised the earlier part of the year. +The railway mania, indeed, continued till November; and then came a +sudden collapse, of which it is only to be wondered that its effects were +not more serious and lasting. In Parliament, the most important measures +were the re-imposition of the Income Tax, with an amended tariff, and the +increase of the Maynooth Grant from £9,000 to £26,360 per annum, +henceforth to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund, instead of being an +annual Parliamentary grant. A large number of petitions were presented +against the measure, but the second reading was carried by 323 to 176. +Consols, which stood at 100⅝ in January, sunk in December to 94⅝; wheat +averaged 50s. 10d. + +APRIL 19—In the division on the second reading of the Maynooth Grant +Bill, when ministers had a majority in favour of the Bill of 147 in a +House of 503, Mr. Barneby, Mr. Godson, Mr. J. S. Pakington, Sir Thomas +Wilde, and Sir Thomas Winnington, voted with the majority; and Mr. F. W. +Knight and Mr. J. A. Taylor with the minority. General Lygon, Lord +Marcus Hill, Mr. Borthwick, and Mr. Benbow were absent. + +MAY 24—Festivities at Hewell, continuing during several days, to +celebrate the attainment of Mr. Robert Clive’s majority. Several dinners +in the tennis court, dancing parties among the labourers, treats to the +school children, &c. + +JULY 3—Mr. Pierpoint brought forward a motion, at the meeting of the +Worcester Turnpike Trustees, for an amalgamation of the different +districts, so as to enable the poorer roads to get out of debt. This was +opposed by the gentlemen who lived in the more lightly taxed districts, +and lost on a division by 18 to 10. + +AUGUST 11—The first Worcester regatta. + +AUGUST 30—A fearful collision occurred at the Defford station; first in a +luggage train dashing against another that was being moved to a siding, +and then in the down train dashing into the wreck of the luggage train, +and becoming itself a mass of confusion. Three passengers lost their +lives, and several others were injured; one engine was smashed, and +several carriages were set on fire. The coroner’s jury laid a deodand of +£1,500 upon the engine, because there appeared to have been much +negligence on the part of the officials. + +NOVEMBER 7—A brick maker, named Humphrey Willis, having become +intoxicated, wandered on to the railway at Stoke Prior, and was killed by +the night mail train. + +DECEMBER 25—Abberley Hall, the residence of Mrs. Moilliett, destroyed by +fire. + +LOCAL ACTS—The Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway Act. To +enable the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Company to make a branch at +Stoke Prior, and for other purposes. To make and maintain a road from +Stanford bridge to Ham bridge, Clifton-on-Teme. + + + +1846. + + +SIR ROBERT PEEL having, from the failure of the potato crop and the +imminence of famine, become convinced that the Corn Laws could no longer +be maintained, resigned office in December, 1845, and resumed it again +for the purpose of carrying Free Trade measures when Lord John Russell +had failed to form a Government. His measure for a gradual reduction of +the duties on corn was ordered to go into committee, after twelve nights’ +debate, by a majority of 337 to 240. After the settlement of the new +commercial policy, the Government was defeated by a union of the Whigs +and Protectionists, in a proposal to carry a bill for the repression of +outrage in Ireland; and this was followed by Sir Robert Peel’s retirement +from office, which had for some time been foreseen as unavoidable. Lord +John Russell then became Premier. Consols averaged 95½; wheat, 54s. 8d. + +JANUARY 13—St. Matthias’ Church, Malvern Link, in the parish of Leigh, +consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. £130 were collected after +a sermon by his lordship. The total cost was £1,700, and it will seat +350 persons. + +FEBRUARY 27—In the first division on Sir Robert Peel’s Free Trade +measures, the majority included Mr. Benbow, Hon. R. Clive, Viscount +Eastnor, Mr. R. Godson, Lord Marcus Hill, Mr. Robert Scott, Sir Thomas +Wilde, and Sir Thomas E. Winnnington. Mr. Borthwick, Mr. F. W. Knight, +General Lygon, Mr. Pakington, Mr. R. Spooner, and Mr. J. A. Taylor voted +with the minority. + +MARCH 21—The Queen Dowager took her final leave of Witley Court. + +MAY 11—The Worcester New Gas Company’s Bill went into committee. The +Marquis of Granby, as chairman, suggested an amicable arrangement between +the New and Old Companies. The committee accordingly adjourned for two +days, and an agreement was then effected, principally by the zealous +endeavours of Sir Thomas Wilde. The New Company consented to become +purchasers of the Old Company’s plant, works, and stock at a valuation by +arbitrators, and to pay £1,000 over and above the valuation, but to give +nothing for “goodwill;” this being the point which had been the principal +difficulty in the way of an arrangement. + +JULY 3—Blowing-up of the Droitwich Patent Salt Company’s Works by the +sudden explosion of the steam pipes. Two men named Carter, father and +son, were so severely scalded that they died in a few hours after the +accident. + +AUGUST 4—First meeting of the Worcestershire Archery Society at Strensham +Court. The Dowager Lady Winnington was Lady Paramount. The first prizes +were won by Miss Clive and Miss Marion Bearcroft, Captain Clowes and J. +H. Galton, Esq. + +AUGUST 21—The Catholic Church at Hanley opened. A sermon preached on the +occasion by Dr. Wiseman. + +DECEMBER 26—The last number of the _Worcestershire Guardian_ published, +the interest of the paper being afterwards identified with the _Worcester +Journal_. It was one of the many Tory papers started by influential +parties in London, during the years 1833 and 1834, for the purpose of +regaining the power which the Conservative party lost in the Reform Bill +agitation. It fought the battles of the party with much fidelity; and +during the years in which Mr. George Hyde was editor, its attacks upon +the Liberals were distinguished by a good deal of smartness and ability, +though too highly seasoned with personality. + +LOCAL ACTS—For paving, cleansing, and improving the town of Bromsgrove; +Worcester New Gas Company’s Act; Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton +Railway Amendment Act; Severn Navigation Commissioners’ Amendment Act; +for making a railway from the Birmingham and Gloucester line at +Kingsnorton to Halesowen; Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Dudley Railway +Act. + + + +1847. + + +THE terrible condition of Ireland, and the decimation of its inhabitants +by famine, occupied the greater share of the attention of Parliament. +The Corn and Navigation Laws were entirely suspended until towards the +close of the year; in spite of which, the average price of wheat in May +was 100s. 5d. The issuing of the Minutes of the Council on Education, +which have since been acted upon, and the increase of the grant to +£100,000 per annum for the purpose of carrying them into effect, may be +regarded as the most important measure of the year. Parliament was +dissolved in July, and the elections tended to confirm the predominance +of Free Trade principles. Parliament met again on the 18th November. +Consols averaged 87; wheat, 69s. 9d. + +JANUARY 26—An elegant silver salver, with appropriate inscription, +presented to the Rev. Thomas Pearson by the honorary members of the +Worcestershire Friendly Institution, in testimony of the value of the +services by which, as chairman of the board of directors, he had so +greatly increased the efficiency and usefulness of the society. + +FEBRUARY 4—A massive silver tureen and four corner dishes presented to +Captain Candler on his retirement from the mastership of the fox +hounds—which he had held for ten years—at a splendid banquet given at the +Star, Lord Lyttelton in the chair. + +APRIL—Petitions presented from various of the Dissenting bodies +throughout the county against the new Educational Minutes of the Privy +Council. + +APRIL 22—The first County Court held in Worcestershire, under the +presidency of Benjamin Parham, Esq., then recently appointed the Judge of +the Worcester District. + +AUGUST 6—Shelsley Beauchamp Church reopened, after some costly +alterations. The Rev. T. L. Claughton preached on the occasion, and £566 +were collected; Lord Ward being a donor of £500. + +AUGUST 6—An engine running off the rails on the Birmingham and Gloucester +Railway at Kingsnorton, the driver, named John Warburton, was dashed to +pieces. + +AUGUST 16—The allottees took possession of the O’Connorite Lowbands +settlement at Redmarley. The National Land Scheme, under which this +estate, with others in different parts of the country, was purchased, set +out into lots, and divided to the few drawers of prizes in a lottery to +which thousands of others had subscribed, was one of the hugest delusions +to which the working men of this country ever lent themselves under +demagogue leadership. They allowed themselves to be persuaded, not only +that to leave their manual handicraft and become squatters on an acre or +two of ground would be the climax of independence and happiness, but that +by some legerdemain of compound interest, their money and estates would +be so reproductive that all the subscribers would in a few years get +allotments, which, being freehold, would give them immense political +power, and be the regeneration of the land. The fortunate allottees soon +found that they did not hold the fee simple of their acres, but were +called upon by O’Connor to pay a large rent, and being unaccustomed to +husbandry were speedily reduced to the condition of ruined paupers, +subsistent on the charity of the farmers among whom they were located. +The affairs of the company are now being wound up under an Act of +Parliament. + +AUGUST 17—A Provincial Grand Lodge of Freemasons established in the +county. Dr. Roden of Kidderminster was appointed Deputy Provincial Grand +Master of Worcestershire. + +AUGUST 17—Grand Bazaar in Mr. J. H. H. Foley’s grounds at Prestwood, in +aid of the funds of the Stourbridge Mechanics’ Institute. It continued +open for three days, and realised £1,117. + +SEPTEMBER 14—At the annual assembly of the Queen’s Own Yeomanry Cavalry, +the portrait of the gallant Colonel of the regiment, which had been +purchased by a general subscription of the officers and privates, and +painted by Pickersgill, R.A., was presented to Lady Harriett Clive in the +Shire Hall, Worcester. The pleasing duty of presentation was performed +by Major Martin, as senior officer, and Colonel Clive acknowledged the +compliment at length. + +OCTOBER 7—A meeting held at Dee’s Hotel, Birmingham, to take steps for +the establishment of a WORCESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING SCHOOL. The Right +Rev. The Lord Bishop took the chair. The resolutions were moved by Lord +Lyttelton, Archdeacon Spooner, Viscount Lifford, and Sir John Pakington, +Bart., M.P., and a large sum was subscribed upon the spot. The first +stone of the new school was laid by Sir John Pakington, October 10, 1850. + +LOCAL ACTS—For rating, to the relief of the poor, the owners instead of +the occupiers of certain property in the parishes of Kingsnorton, +Northfield, and Beoley. + + + +1848. + + +THIS year is to be gratefully remembered on account of the happy escape +which our country had from the confusion and revolution which raged over +the ill-governed kingdoms of the continent. A proposal of Government to +increase the Income Tax was defeated by the general expression of popular +disapprobation. Consols averaged 85; wheat, 50s. 6d. + +FEBRUARY 12—On the second reading of the Jewish Disabilities Bill, J. H. +H. Foley, Esq., O. Ricardo, Esq., and Lord M. Hill voted in the majority +for their removal—and R. Godson, Esq., T. J. Ireland, Esq., Hon. General +Lygon, Sir J. S. Pakington, Bart., F. Rufford, Esq., Captain Rushout, and +Sir H. Willoughby in the minority. + +FEBRUARY—The Corn Exchange dispute now raged in Worcester, being made in +great measure a question of politics; the Protectionists supporting the +proposal to build a new exchange in Angel Street, and the Free Traders +insisting on the old site, from which they contended it could not be +removed without much injustice to the shopkeepers and owners of property +in the Corn Market. The Mayor, Mr. Webb, made many strenuous efforts to +effect an amicable arrangement between the parties, but without success; +and the silly result was, that instead of uniting the funds to build a +handsome hall that would have been a credit to the city, two were built. +The erection in Angel Street entailed great loss upon the subscribers; +and the handsome room in the Corn Market, though left without many +embellishments which had been intended to be added, was a ruinous affair +both to the shareholders and the contractor. As the agriculturists all +steadfastly attended the Angel Street room, the one in the Corn Market +was at last obliged to be closed as a corn exchange, and was sold under +the Joint Stock Company’s Winding-up Act for £1,710—the price to the +shareholders being upwards of £4,000. It is now transformed into a very +handsome Music Hall. + +APRIL 22—The Worcestershire Agricultural Protection Society dissolved +itself, and voted its funds in hand, amounting to £500, towards the +erection of the Angel Street Corn Exchange. The Messrs. Dent, with Mr. +Francis Hooper and Mr. Lucy, protested against the appropriation of the +money to the building of the Angel Street Corn Exchange. + +JUNE 19—Sir John Pakington moved an amendment on Lord John Russell’s plan +for gradually reducing the duties on colonial sugar, and was only +defeated by a majority of 15—260 members voting with ministers, and 245 +with Sir John Pakington. Mr. Benbow, Mr. Godson, Viscount Mandeville, +Mr. Rufford, Captain Rushout, Sir H. Willoughby, and Sir J. Pakington +voted in the minority, and Mr. J. H. H. Foley, Mr. O. Ricardo, and Lord +M. Hill with the majority. + +JULY 31—Several Worcester theatrical amateurs performed Sheridan +Knowles’s _Hunchback_ with great success and excellence of acting. The +proceeds of this and another night’s performance were devoted to the +establishment of a gloving school. + +AUGUST—The British Archæological Association, under the presidency of +Lord Albert Conyngham, held their annual congress in Worcester. They +were received by the Mayor and Corporation—held morning and evening +sederunts, at which papers were read and antiquities exhibited—visited +Sudeley Castle and other places of interest in the neighbourhood—unrolled +a mummy at the County Courts, &c. The meeting was concluded by a +_soirée_ at the Guildhall, given by Lord and Lady Conyngham, at which Mr. +Silk Buckingham delivered a lecture on Thebes, &c. + +SEPTEMBER—After a lapse of ten years an EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS was again +opened in Worcester, and proved upon the whole very successful. The +catalogue numbered 200 pictures, amongst which were Constable’s +“Salisbury Cathedral,” and works by Etty, Sidney Cooper, Müller, &c. + +LOCAL ACTS—Worcester New Gas Company’s Amendment Act; to authorise the +Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway to raise a further sum of +money; to authorise an alteration in the Oxford, Worcester, and +Wolverhampton Railway; to enable the Worcester Turnpike Trustees to make +alterations in roads, &c. + + + +1849. + + +THE extreme distress in Ireland caused by the continuance of the potato +blight—the repeal of the Navigation Laws, carried on second reading by +266 to 210—and the admission of Jews to Parliament, refused by the +Lords—were the chief topics of Parliamentary discussion. Consols +averaged 92½; wheat, 44s. 3d. + +FEBRUARY 3—Mdlle. Jenny Lind gave a concert in the College Hall, +Worcester, in aid of the funds of the Infirmary, to compensate for the +disappointment which had been felt by her non-appearance at the Festival +in the previous year. The band of the 5th Dragoon Guards and the +Worcester Harmonic Society took part in the concert. Thirteen hundred +persons attended. The total receipts were £1,100, and £840 were cleared +for the Infirmary. + +APRIL—The WORCESTER MADRIGAL SOCIETY, recently formed, gave their first +concert. This society, which executes the quaint music of the old +madrigalists in excellent style, has already extended its fame far beyond +the limits of the “faithful city.” + +JUNE 29—The cholera broke out in Worcester, and continued fitfully to +seize upon its victims till the middle of October, when it altogether +disappeared. There were altogether eighty-nine cases, out of which +forty-three were fatal. The expenses of the Cholera Hospital amounted to +£832. Dr. Stevens’s saline treatment, only partially put in practice +there, seemed to be successful, so far as opportunity was allowed for its +trial. + +AUGUST—The seventeenth anniversary of the Provincial Surgical and Medical +Association was this year held at Worcester—Dr. Hastings, the founder of +the association, being president. Many interesting discussions, on +topics connected with medical science and the status of the profession, +took place, and valuable papers were read at the different sittings. The +meeting closed with a dinner at the Guildhall, at which the principal +county gentlemen attended. + +SEPTEMBER 21—St. Peter’s Church, Cookley, consecrated. William Hancocks, +Esq., was the principal contributor to the expense of this handsome +building, which cost some £3,400, and will accommodate upwards of 400 +persons. + +NOVEMBER 15—This day was very generally and religiously observed +throughout the county as one of thanksgiving for the abatement of the +cholera in the land. + +DECEMBER 10—Rejoicings at Prestwood, Stourbridge, Stewponey, &c., in +celebration of Mr. Henry Wentworth Foley’s coming of age. + +LOCAL ACT—For better assessing the poor rates on small tenements in +Kidderminster. + + + + +THE COUNTY ARISTOCRACY. + + +PEERS. + + +BEAUCHAMP, Earl—Seat, Madresfield Court. William Lygon, Esq., having for +some years represented the county in Parliament, was elevated to the +peerage by the title of Baron Beauchamp of Powyke Court, Worcestershire, +26 February, 1806, and created Viscount Elmley and Earl Beauchamp 1 +December, 1815. He assumed the surname and arms of Pyndar, instead of +those of Lygon, in October, 1813. He married Catherine, only daughter of +James Denn, Esq., and had issue eight children. His lordship died 21 +October, 1816, and was succeeded by his eldest son, William Beauchamp, +who for some years acted as Chairman of Quarter Sessions, and represented +the county from 1806. At his decease, unmarried, May, 1823, the honours +devolved upon his brother, JOHN REGINALD, the present Earl. He married, +first, 14 March, 1814, Charlotte, only daughter of the first Earl of +Clonmel, who died 26 April, 1846; and, secondly, 1851, the third daughter +of the Baroness Braye, and relict of Henry Murray, Esq. Is patron of +four livings. + +COVENTRY, Earl of—Seat, Croome Court; created, 1697. George William, +sixth Earl, died 1809, and was succeeded by George William, the seventh +Earl, Recorder of Worcester and High Steward of Tewkesbury, who died +1831, and was succeeded by George William, eighth Earl, Lord Lieutenant +and Custos Rotulorum of the county of Worcester. He married, first, 16 +January, 1808, Emma Susanna, second daughter of William, first Earl of +Beauchamp, and had issue George William, Viscount Deerhurst, who married +Harriett Anne, daughter of Sir Charles Cockerell, Bart., and died in +November, 1838, leaving one son, the present Earl, and one daughter. The +eighth Earl died May, 1843, when the title devolved on his grandson, who +was born 9 May, 1838, and is, consequently, at present a minor. Is +patron of five livings. + +LYTTELTON, Lord, Baron of Frankley, county of Worcester—Seat, Hagley +Park. William Henry, Governor of Carolina county, Jamaica, &c., was +created Baron, in Great Britain, 1794, the title having expired with his +nephew, Thomas, the second Lord Lyttelton (the probable author of the +_Letters of Junius_), who died November, 1779. William Henry, Lord +Lyttelton, died 14 September, 1808, and was succeeded by his eldest son, +George Fulke; at whose decease, unmarried, 12 November, 1828, the title +devolved on his brother by a second marriage, William Henry, third Baron. +He married, 4 March, 1813, Lady Sarah Spencer, eldest daughter of the +second Earl Spencer. His lordship died 30 April, 1827. He represented +the county in Parliament from 1807 to 1820, during which time he was the +consistent supporter of Liberal measures, and to him we are indebted for +the extinction of state lotteries. He was a fluent and argumentative +speaker. He was the warm friend of literary and educational institutions +in the county. His lordship was succeeded by his eldest son, GEORGE +WILLIAM, the present peer. The present Lord Lyttelton was born 31 March, +1817; he married, 25 July, 1839, Mary, daughter of the late Sir Stephen +Glynne, Bart. Is patron of three livings. + +FOLEY, Baron, of Kidderminster; created, 1776. Thomas Foley, Esq., M.P. +for the county of Worcester, was elevated to the peerage 1711, but his +son died unmarried, and the barony then expired. Thomas Foley, Esq., of +Witley Court, his cousin, was made Baron Foley, 20 May, 1776. Thomas, +the third Baron, married, 18 August, 1806, Lady Cecilia Fitzgerald, fifth +daughter of the second Duke of Leinster, and had issue four sons and four +daughters. He was Lord Lieutenant and Custos Rotulorum of the county of +Worcester, and extremely popular with all classes of the inhabitants. He +died 16 April, 1833, and was succeeded by his son, THOMAS HENRY, the +present peer, who was born 11 December, 1808, and married, 1849, the +eldest daughter of the thirteenth Duke of Norfolk—has been Captain of the +corps of the Gentlemen Pensioners-at-arms, is Lord High Steward of +Kidderminster, and is patron of one living. His lordship sat in +Parliament, for the county of Worcester, from 1830 to 1833. + +SANDYS, Baron, of Ombersley—Seat, Ombersley Court; created, 1802. Samuel +Sandys of Ombersley, Chancellor of the Exchequer in 1741, was elevated to +the peerage, as Baron Sandys, in 1743. The title, however, became +extinct in 1801, when the second Baron died without issue. The +Marchioness of Downshire, to whom his estates fell, was created Baroness +Sandys of Ombersley, 15 June, 1802, with remainder to her four younger +sons by the Marquess of Downshire, and their male issue. Her ladyship +died in 1836, and was succeeded by her second son, ARTHUR MOYSES WILLIAM +HILL. His lordship is a major general in the army. Is patron of the +living of Ombersley. + +WARD, Baron of Birmingham—Seats, Himley Hall, Dudley Castle, and Sedgley +Park; created, 1644. John Ward, Esq., of Sedgley Park, became sixth +Baron on the death, without issue, of his kinsman William, fifth Baron. +He was created Viscount Dudley and Ward, April, 1763; but his son dying +without issue, that title devolved on his half brother William, third +Viscount, born January, 1750, who died 25 April, 1823. He was Recorder +of Kidderminster, and represented the city of Worcester in the +Parliaments of 1780 and 1784. His contributions in furtherance of +benevolent objects were truly munificent, and the public charities of +Worcester always largely participated in his largess. He was succeeded +by his son, John William, fourth Viscount, who was created Earl Dudley of +Dudley Castle in 1827; but as he died unmarried in 1833, this title and +the Viscounty became extinct. The Earl was a man of powerful talents, +but withal most eccentric in his manners; and during the last few years +of his life was obliged to withdraw altogether from society. He was +Secretary for Foreign Affairs under Mr. Canning, Lord Goderich, and +during a part of the Wellington administration; and his speeches at this +time always commanded great attention, and were admired for their +classical eloquence and style. He wrote a somewhat celebrated article in +the _Quarterly Review_ on the _Life and Character of Horne Tooke_, with +others on Sydney Smith’s sermons, &c. The barony of Ward fell to his +second cousin William Humble, in holy orders, who died December, 1835, +and was succeeded by his son WILLIAM, the present peer. His lordship +married, 24 April, 1851, Selina Constance, eldest daughter of Robert de +Burgh, Esq., of West Drayton, who died without issue 14 November, 1851. +His lordship is patron of thirteen livings, and has very extensive +property in the county of Worcester; the whole of the Foley estates +passing into his hands by purchase in the year 1838: the purchase money +was said to be £890,000. + +SOUTHWELL, Viscount (Irish peerage)—Seats, Hindlip, Worcestershire, and +Court Mattress, Limerick. Thomas Southwell, Esq., of Court Mattress, was +created a Baronet by Charles II, and, after the Restoration, was +succeeded by his grandson, who took an active part in the cause of +William III. He was created a Baron of the kingdom of Ireland by George +I, in 1717. Thomas George, the third Baron, was, in 1776, created +Viscount. He died 1780, and was succeeded by his eldest son, Thomas +Arthur, fourth Baron and second Viscount, who married, in 1774, the +daughter of Francis John Walsh, de Sérrant. He died February, 1796, and +was succeeded by the present lord, THOMAS ANTHONY, under the title of +fifth Baron and third Viscount Southwell. Lord Southwell married, May, +1799, Jane, the younger daughter of John Berkeley, Esq., of Hindlip, in +whose right he came into possession of the Worcestershire property. His +lordship, in 1836, received from his late Majesty the dignity of the +Knighthood of the Order of St. Patrick. Is patron of the living of +Hindlip, Deputy Lieutenant of the County of Worcester, &c. + + + +BARONETS. + + +PAKINGTON—Seat, Westwood Park; created, 1620; revived, 1846. Sir John +Pakington, who died 6 January, 1830, in his 70th year, being unmarried, +and the title became extinct. His sister Elizabeth married William +Russell, Esq., of Powick Court, and her surviving son, JOHN SOMERSET +RUSSELL, assumed the name of his maternal ancestors, and inherited the +Pakington estates. The family honours were gracefully revived in his +person: he was elevated to the rank of a Baronet of the United Kingdom in +1846. He married, first, Mary, only child of Moreton Aglionby Slaney, +Esq., and by her (died in 1843) has issue one son, John Slaney Pakington, +Esq., married, 4 July, 1849, to Lady Diana Boyle, youngest daughter of +the late Earl of Glasgow; Sir John married, secondly, 1844, Augusta, +daughter of the Right Rev. George Murray, D.D., Bishop of Rochester; and, +thirdly, June, 1851, Augusta, relict of the late Colonel Davies, of +Elmley Park. Sir John is patron of the living of Hampton Lovett; has +been Chairman of the Worcestershire Quarter Sessions since 1834; is +Captain of the Westwood Troop of Worcestershire Yeomanry; twice +unsuccessfully contested the representation of the county; and has sat +for the borough of Droitwich since 1837. On the accession of Earl +Derby’s administration, he was appointed Her Majesty’s Secretary of State +for the Colonies. + +SMITH—Seat, Eardiston House; created, 1809. William Smith, Esq., of +Eardiston, married, 18 October, 1780, Mary, daughter of Edward Wheeler, +Esq., of Lambswick; was created a Baronet 23 September, 1809; and died +March, 1821; when he was succeeded by Sir Christopher Sidney Smith, born +14 May, 1798; married, December, 1822, Mary, daughter of the Rev. R. +Foley, and had issue one son and three daughters. Sir Christopher +married, secondly, Harriette, only daughter of the late Thomas Lee, Esq., +of Headingley, near Leeds, and relict of — Murphy, Esq. He died 19 +November, 1839, and his widow in 1840. He ably filled the chair at +Quarter Sessions from 1829 to 1834. Sir WILLIAM, the present Baronet, +was born 5 October, 1823—married 5 May, 1843, Susan, fourth daughter of +Sir William George Parker, Bart., R.N. + +WAKEMAN—Seat, Perdiswell House; created, 1808. Henry Wakeman, Esq., of +Perdiswell, married, first, in August, 1787, Theodosia, daughter of John +Freeman, Esq., of Gaines—which marriage was dissolved by Act of +Parliament—secondly, in June, 1797, Sarah, only daughter and heir +apparent of Richard Ward Offley, Esq., of Hinton, Salop; and had issue +two sons and one daughter. He was created a Baronet 20 February, 1808. +He died 23 April, 1831; and Lady Wakeman in 1843. Sir OFFLEY PEMBURY, +the present Baronet, was born 17 May, 1799; married, 1848, only daughter +of the late Thomas Adlington, Esq. Is patron of one living. + +WINNINGTON—Seat, Stanford Court; created, 1755. Sir Edward, the second +Baronet, married, in 1776, Anne, daughter of Thomas, the first Lord +Foley; and died in 1805, being then member for Droitwich. He was a very +learned scholar, and possessed of much critical acumen. Sir Thomas +Edward, his son, married, November, 1810, Joanna, daughter of John +Taylor, Esq., of Moseley Hall, and had issue three sons and four +daughters. Sir Thomas died 24 September, 1839. He was a steady +supporter of Whig measures, and represented Droitwich from 1807 to 1818, +the county from 1820 to 1830, and Bewdley till 1837. Sir THOMAS EDWARD +WINNINGTON, M.P., the present Baronet, was born 11 November, 1811; +married, 21 June, 1842, Anna Helena, eldest daughter of Sir Compton +Domville, Bart.; represented Bewdley in the Parliament of 1837, and is +now its member. Is patron of three livings. + +LECHMERE—Seat, The Rhydd; created, 1818; Anthony Lechmere, Esq., born +November, 1776, was created a Baronet 3 October, 1818. He filled the +office of Mayor of Worcester in 1816, and was the devoted friend of +agriculture. He died 25 March, 1849, and was succeeded by Sir EDMUND +HUNGERFORD LECHMERE, the present Baronet, born 25 May, 1792; married, +1819, Maria Clara, daughter of the late Hon. David Murray, and has issue +one son and one daughter. Is patron of two livings. + +BLOUNT—Seats, Sodington, Worcestershire; Mawley Hall, Shropshire; and +Haggeston, Northumberland. Sir Walter, the seventh baronet, died 31st +October, 1803, and was succeeded by Sir EDWARD, the present baronet, born +3 March, 1795; married, 14 September, 1830, Mary Frances, eldest daughter +of Edward Blount, Esq. + +PHILLIPS—Seat, Middle Hill. Thomas Phillips, Esq., of Middle Hill, +F.R.S. and F.S.A., was created a Baronet in July, 1821, and married +Harriett, daughter of Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Molyneaux, Bart., and +by her had issue three daughters. Sir Thomas, in 1842, married, +secondly, Elizabeth Harriett Anna, daughter of the Rev. W. J. Mansel, of +Iscord: is a Deputy Lieutenant of the County. + + + +HONOURABLES. + + +CLIVE, ROBERT HENRY—Seats, Hewell Grange, Oakley Park, &c.; second son of +the first Earl of Powis; married, 19 June, 1819, Harriet, daughter of the +fifth Earl of Plymouth. Has been lieutenant colonel in the army, and is +Colonel of the Queen’s own Regiment of Worcestershire Yeomanry Cavalry. +Was Under Secretary of State for the Home Department from April, 1818, +till January, 1822. Sat for Ludlow from 1818 till 1832, and since that +year for South Shropshire. Is patron of three livings. His eldest son, +Robert Clive, Esq., is now M.P. for Ludlow. + +COVENTRY, THOMAS HENRY, Rector of Severn Stoke and Croome Hill, and +WILLIAM JAMES (Earl’s Croome), brothers of the late Earl of Coventry. + +COCKS, JOHN SOMERS, Canon of Worcester and Prebendary of Hereford +Cathedral, brother of the late Earl Somers. + +LYGON, HENRY BEAUCHAMP—Seat, Spring Hill, Broadway. Third son of the +first Earl Beauchamp—a lieutenant colonel in the army and Colonel of the +10th Hussars. Has sat for the county since 1817, with the exception of +the short Parliament of 1831. Married, 8 July, 1824, Susan Caroline, +daughter of the second Earl of St. German’s; she died, 1835. + +LYTTELTON, SPENCER, Hagley, and WILLIAM HENRY, Hon. Canon of Worcester +and Rector of Hagley, brothers of Lord Lyttelton. + +TALBOT, WILLIAM WHITWORTH CHETWYND, Vicar of Ombersley, and WELLINGTON +PATRICK MANVERS CHETWYND, of Honeybourne, Captain of the 7th Foot, sixth +and seventh sons of Earl Talbot. + + + + +THE CHURCH. + + +BISHOPS OF THE DIOCESE. + + +1800—Dr. Richard Hurd. + +1808—JUNE—The Rev. Dr. Folliot Herbert Walker Cornwall, translated from +the See of Hereford. + +1831—SEPTEMBER 13—Dr. Robert Carr, translated from the See of Chichester. + +1841—MAY 1—Dr. Henry Pepys, translated from the See of Sodor and Mann. + + + +DEANS OF WORCESTER. + + +1800—Rev. Arthur Onslow, D.D. + +1817—OCTOBER—The Rev. John Bankes Jenkinson. + +1825—AUGUST—The Rev. James Hook, LL.D. + +1828—MARCH—The Rev. Dr. Murray, Bishop of Rochester. + +1845—DECEMBER—The Rev. John Peel, Rector of Waresley, and brother of the +Premier, in the stead of the Bishop of Rochester, who gave up this piece +of preferment in accordance with the arrangements of the Ecclesiastical +Commissioners. To the Deanery of Worcester had hitherto been attached +the Vicarage of Bromsgrove, with which were the Vicarage of Kingsnorton +and the Chapelries of Christ Church, Moseley, and Wythal. All of these +had been held by the Bishop of Rochester, and Bromsgrove had been without +a resident Vicar for half a century. These preferments are now separated +from the Deanery. + + + +THE CHAPTER. + + +1800—Rev. J. Torkington, LL.D. Rev. J. Stillingfleet, D.D. Rev. John +Plumptre, M.A. Rev. Richard Kilvert, M.A. Rev. Charles Talbot, M.A. +Rev. Septimus Collinson, D.D. Rev. John Carver, M.A. Rev. Thomas +Fountain. Rev. Thomas Evans, D.D. Rev. Thomas James, D.D. + +1803—Rev. John Wingfield, D.D. + +1804—Rev. James Meakin, A.M. + +1804—Rev. J. F. Seymour Fleming St. John, M.A. + +1808—Rev. John Bankes Jenkinson, M.A. + +1813—Rev. William Digby, A.M. + +1815—Rev. Townsend Forrester, D.D. + +1815—Hon. and Rev. Edward Rice, M.A. + +1817—Hon. and Rev. Richard Bagot, M.A. + +1817—Rev. Herbert Oakley, M.A. + +1818—Rev. Anthony Pye, M.A. + +1822—Rev. C. R. Sumner, M.A. + +1825—Rev. T. Gaisford, M.A. + +1826—Rev. J. Davison, B.D. + +1826—Rev. Christopher Benson, M.A. + +1827—Rev. Godfrey Faussett, B.D. + +1829—Thomas Singleton, M.A., to Deanery. + +1830—Hon. and Rev. James Somers Cocks. + +1833—Rev. E. Winnington Ingram, M.A. + +1834—Hon. and Rev. John Fortescue, M.A. + +1841—Rev. J. R. Wood, M.A., Chaplain to the Queen Dowager. + +1845—Rev. J. Peel, D.D., Dean. + +1848—Rev. E. H. Cradock, M.A. + +The number of Canonries is now reduced from ten to four. + + * * * * * + +1834—FEBRUARY—The office of Rural Dean was revived by the Bishop of +Worcester, having been allowed in this diocese to remain in abeyance for +nearly a century. The Right Hon. and Rev. Lord Aston was the first +appointed. + + + +PROCTORS + + + ELECTED TO REPRESENT THE DIOCESE IN CONVOCATION. + +1802—The Rev. T. R. Nash, D.D., Rector of Leigh, and the Rev. Francis +Mills, M.A., Rector of Barford. + +1806—Dr. Nash and the Rev. Francis Mills reëlected. The Rev. James +Stillingfleet, M.A., Prebendary, chosen to represent the Dean and +Chapter. + +1807—Dr. Nash and the Rev. F. Mills reëlected. The Rev. James +Torkington, LL.D., elected Proctor for the Dean and Chapter. + +1812—The Rev. Richard Kilvert, M.A., Rector of Hartlebury, and the Rev. +Francis Mills, M.A., elected for the body of the Clergy; and the Rev. Dr. +Torkington to represent the Dean and Chapter. + +1818—The Rev. John Wingfield, D.D., Vicar of Bromsgrove, and the Rev. +Francis Mills, for the Clergy; and the Rev. James Meakin, M.A., for the +Dean and Chapter. + +1820—The same clergymen reëlected. + +1826—The Rev. John Walker Baugh, M.A., Rector of Ripple, and the Rev. +Francis Mills, for the Clergy. + +1830—The Rev. J. W. Baugh, and the Rev. Francis Mills, for the Clergy; +and the Rev. William Digby, Sub-Dean, for the Dean and Chapter. + +1831—The same clergymen reappointed. + +1832—The Rev. J. W. Baugh, and the Rev. Francis Mills, for the Clergy; +and the Rev. Townsend Forrester, D.D., Sub-Dean, for the Dean and +Chapter. + +1835—The same clergymen reëlected. + +1837—The Rev. Thomas Baker, M.A., Rector of Hartlebury, and the Rev. +George Leigh Cook, B.D., Rector of Cubbington, Warwickshire, for the +Clergy; and the Rev. William Digby, M.A., Prebendary, for the Dean and +Chapter. + +1841—The Rev. Henry Arthur Woodgate, B.D., Rector of Bellbroughton, and +the Rev. John Howells, Vicar of St. Trinity, Coventry, for the Clergy; +and the Rev. William Digby for the Chapter. + +1847—The Rev. H. A. Woodgate, and the Rev. Robert Chapman Savage, M.A., +Vicar of Nuneaton, for the Clergy; and the Hon. and Rev. Somers Cocks for +the Chapter. + +1852—The Rev. H. A. Woodgate and the Rev. R. Seymour were elected by the +clergy. Two other clergymen were proposed, viz., the Rev. P. M. Smythe +and the Rev. R. C. Savage; the latter as a gentleman opposed to the +revival of Convocation; and a show of hands was taken. For Mr. Woodgate +20 hands were held up; for Mr. Seymour, 23; for Mr. Smythe, 17; and for +Mr. Savage, 9. + + + + +THE EXECUTIVE. + + +LORDS LIEUTENANT OF THE COUNTY. + + +1800—The Earl of Coventry. + +1808—NOVEMBER—The Right Hon. Lord Viscount Deerhurst appointed Lord +Lieutenant in the place of his father, who resigned in consequence of his +age and increased infirmities. + +1831—MARCH—The Right Hon. Lord Foley, in the room of the Earl of +Coventry, deceased. + +1833—MAY—The Right Hon. Lord Lyttelton, in the room of Lord Foley, +deceased. + +1837—JULY—The Right Hon. Lord Foley, in the room of Lord Lyttelton, +deceased. + +1839—OCTOBER—The Right Hon. Lord Lyttelton, in the room of Lord Foley, +resigned. + + + +CHAIRMEN OF COUNTY QUARTER SESSIONS. + + +1800—William Welch, Esq. + +1817—Earl Beauchamp. + +1823—Benjamin Johnson, Esq. + +1824—Lord Plymouth. + +1829—Sir C. S. Smith, Bart. + +1834—J. S. Pakington, Esq. + + + +HIGH SHERIFFS OF THE COUNTY. + + +1800—William Smith, Esq., Eardiston. + +1801—Thomas Phillips, Esq., Broadway. + +1802—Thomas Newnham, Esq., Broadwas. + +1803—John Phillips, Esq., Winterdyne. + +1804—Edward Knight, Esq., Wolverley (_ob._), and Thomas Holme Esq., +Beoley. + +1805—John Amphlett, Esq., Clent. + +1806—Sir Thomas Winnington, Bart., Stamford. + +1807—Thomas Bland, Esq., Ham Court. + +1808—Sir John Pakington, Bart., Westwood. + +1809—Henry Bromley, Esq., Abberley Hall. + +1810—Joseph Smith, Esq., Sion Hill. + +1811—Thomas Hawkes, Esq., Dudley. + +1812—John Baker, Esq., Wolverley. + +1813—E. Lechmere Charlton, Esq., Hanley. + +1814—John Knight, Esq., Lea Castle. + +1815—Edward Dixon, Esq., Dudley. + +1816—Joseph Lea, Esq., The Hill. + +1817—John Taylor, Esq., Strensham. + +1818—Samuel Wall, Esq., Hallow Park. + +1819—John Jeffreys, Esq., Blakebrook. + +1820—Richard Griffiths, Esq., Thorngrove. + +1821—Elias Isaac, Esq., Boughton House. + +1822—Samuel Ryland, Esq., Northfield. + +1823—John Williams, Esq., Pitmaston. + +1824—Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., Eardiston. + +1825—T. S. Vernon, Esq., Shrawley. + +1826—James Taylor, Esq., Moor Green. + +1827—George Farley, Esq., Henwick House. + +1828—George Meredith, Esq., Berrington, near Tenbury. + +1829—E. Rudge, Esq., Manor House, Evesham. + +1830—John Scott, Esq., Stourbridge. + +1831—O. Ricardo, Esq., Bromsberrow Place. + +1832—John Joseph Martin, Esq., Ham Court. + +1833—John Brown, Esq., Lea Castle. + +1834—John Howard Galton, Esq., Hadzor House. + +1835—Sir Edward Blount, Bart., Mawley Hall. + +1836—Sir O. P. Wakeman, Bart., Perdiswell. + +1837—W. A. Roberts, Esq., Bewdley. + +1838—Robert Berkeley, jun., Esq., Spetchley. + +1839—William Congreve Russell, Esq. + +1840—James Foster, Esq., Stourton Castle. + +1841—T. C. Hornyold, Esq., Blackmore Park. + +1842—Edward Holland, Esq., Dumbleton. + +1843—William Robins, Esq., Hagley. + +1844—John Richards, Esq., Wassell Grove. + +1845—Thomas Simcox Lea, Esq., Astley Hall. + +1846—William Hemming, Esq., Bordesley Park. + +1847—E. G. Stone, Esq., Chambers Court. + +1848—John Frederick Ledsam, Esq., Northfield. + +1849—John Dent, Esq., Worcester. + +1850—J. G. Watkins, Esq., Woodfield. + + + +CHAIRMEN OF PETTY SESSIONAL DIVISIONS. + + +WORCESTER DIVISION—Early part of present century—Thomas Bund, Esq. + +1810 to 1820—Rev. Arthur Onslow, D.D., Dean of Worcester. + +1820 to 1842—Rev. John Foley, Holt. + +Present Chairmen (alternately)—T. G. Curtler, Esq., and Rev. John +Pearson. + +HUNDRED HOUSE DIVISION—To 1834, Sir C. S. Smith, Bart. + +Present Chairman—The Rev. Thomas Pearson. + +PERSHORE DIVISION—1800 to 1836—Thomas Beale Cooper, Esq., M.D., Richard +Hudson, Esq., and Lieutenant General Thomas Marriott. + +Present Chairman—C. E. Hanford, Esq. + +BROMSGROVE DIVISION—1833 (when the Petty Sessions were first held +here)—The Hon. and Rev. Walter Hutchinson Lord Aston. + +Present Chairman—The Rev. William Vernon. + +EVESHAM DIVISION (formed 1842)—Thomas B. Cooper, Esq., M.D. + +STOURPORT DIVISION (formed 1848)—Thomas Simcox Lea, Esq. + +TENBURY DIVISION (formed 1845)—Rev. Charles Turner Farley. + +BLOCKLEY DIVISION—Early part of the present century—Rev. J. R. Hall and +William Broughton, Esq. + +1827 to present time—William Dickens, Esq. + +DUDLEY DIVISION—1800—The Rev. Joseph Cartwright. + +1811—The Rev. William Smith. + +Present Chairmen—Thomas Badger, Esq., or the senior magistrate in +attendance. + +DROITWICH DIVISION—Early part of the century—The Rev. J. V. Vashon and +the Hon. and Rev. Lord Aston. + +1844—Rev. William Vernon. + +UPTON DIVISION—18-- Rev. George Turberville. + +1838—Rev. Charles Dunne. + +1850—Rev. A. B. Lechmere. + +In the Kidderminster, Halesowen, Northfield, and Stourbridge Divisions it +has not been the practice to appoint any permanent chairmen. + + + +COUNTY CLERKS OF THE PEACE. + + +1803—John Soley, Esq. + +1822—Thomas Blayney, Esq. + +1839—H. B. Domville, Esq. + +1843—W. Nichols Marcy, Esq. + + + +CHAPLAINS OF THE COUNTY PRISON. + + +1800—Rev. — Faulkner. + +18-- Rev. — Myddleton. + +18-- Rev. J. Hadley. + +1833—Rev. J. Adlington. + + + +CHIEF CONSTABLE OF THE COUNTY POLICE. + + +1839—Mr. R. R. Harris. + + + +GAOLERS OF THE COUNTY PRISON. + + +1800—Mr. William Davies. + +1820—Mr. J. P. Lavender. + +1846—Mr. Benjamin L. Stable. + + + +MAYORS OF WORCESTER. + + +1800—E. Isaac, Esq. + +1801—H. Hughes, Esq. + +1802—Richards Rowlands, Esq. + +1803—John Blew, Esq. + +1804—John Forrest, Esq. + +1805—John Dillon, Esq. + +1806—James Wakeman, Esq. + +1807—Thomas Allies, Esq. + +1808—Samuel Crane, Esq. + +1809—Herbert Rogers, Esq. + +1810—William Blew, Esq. + +1811—John Dowding, Esq. + +1812—Benjamin Johnson, Esq. + +1813—Thomas St. John, Esq. + +1814—Robert Brown, Esq. + +1815—Samuel Garmston, Esq. + +1816—Anthony Lechmere, Esq. + +1817—Robert Chamberlain, Esq. + +1818—William Moore, Esq. + +1819—W. H. Chamberlain, Esq. + +1820—Elias Isaac, Esq. + +1821—Francis Hooper, Esq. + +1822—John S. Ballard, Esq. + +1823—William Shaw, Esq. + +1824—William Dunn, Esq. + +1825—Edward Blew, Esq. + +1826—John Dent, Esq. + +1827—R. R. Garmston, Esq. + +1828—Thomas Best, Esq. + +1829—John Fletcher, Esq. + +1830—John Morton, Esq. + +1831—H. B. Tymbs, Esq. + +1832—Henry Clifton, Esq. + +1833—John P. Lavender, Esq. + +1834—William Dent, Esq. + +1835—Thomas Leonard, Esq., and J. W. Lea, Esq. + + PASSING OF MUNICIPAL ACT. + +1836—C. H. Hebb, Esq. + +1837—C. H. Hebb, Esq. + +1838—George Allies, Esq. + +1839—Richard Evans, Esq. + +1840—Thomas Chalk, Esq. + +1841—C. A. Helm, Esq. + +1842—Edward Evans, Esq. + +1843—John Lilly, Esq. + +1844—William Lewis, Esq. + +1845—William Lewis, Esq. + +1846—E. J. Lloyd, Esq., (_ob._) and William Lewis, Esq. + +1847—F. T. Elgie, Esq. + +1848—Edward Webb, Esq. + +1849—R. Padmore, Esq. + +1850—J. W. Lea, Esq. + + + +RECORDERS OF WORCESTER. + + +1800—The sixth Earl of Coventry. + +1808—The seventh Earl of Coventry, in the room of his father. + +1831—The eighth Earl of Coventry, in the room of his father. + +1836—Under the Municipal Reform Act the Recorder was made virtually, as +he had been before nominally, the chief administrator of justice in all +corporate cities and boroughs having a Quarter Sessions; and the +appointment was vested in Government. John Buckle, Esq., +barrister-at-law, was appointed Recorder of Worcester—the Government not +acceding to the wishes of the Town Council, who had recommended Mr. +Stinton. + + + +CITY CORONERS. + + +1817—Mr. John Platt and Mr. Nathaniel Mence. + +1825—James Wakeman, jun., Esq., in the room of John Platt, Esq., +deceased. + +1828—Mr. Gwinnell and Mr. J. B. Hyde, in the room of Mr. N. Mence +(suddenly gone to America because of some defalcations), and Mr. Wakeman, +resigned. Mr. Gwinnell died 1835, and the vacancy thus occasioned was +not filled up. + +1836—Mr. J. B. Hyde reappointed Coroner by the new Municipal Corporation. + + + +TOWN CLERKS OF WORCESTER. + + +1800—Richard Cocks, Esq. + +1801—Benjamin Johnson, Esq. + +1829—William Welles, Esq. + +1830—Charles Sidebottom, Esq. + +1836—John Hill, Esq. + + + +GAOLERS OF THE CITY PRISON. + + +1800—Mr. Tyers. + +1802—Mr. James Griffiths. + +1819—Mr. William Griffiths. + + + +MAYORS OF BEWDLEY. + + +1800—James Fryer, Esq. + +1801—Thomas H. Crane, Esq. + +1802—Thomas Baker, Esq. + +1803—Jonathan Skey, Esq. + +1804—Joseph Crane, Esq. + +1805—Samuel Baker, Esq. + +1806—Jonathan Skey, Esq. + +1807—Rev. Edward Baugh. + +1808—James Fryer, Esq. + +1809—W. A. Roberts, jun., Esq. + +1810—Thomas H. Crane, Esq. + +1811—Joseph Crane, Esq. + +1812—Wilson A. Roberts, Esq. + +1813—George Baker, Esq. + +1814—Joseph Seager, Esq. + +1815—W. A. Roberts, jun., Esq. + +1816—James Fryer, Esq. + +1817—Thomas H. Crane, Esq. + +1818—Joseph Crane, Esq. + +1819—John Brookholding, Esq. + +1820—Robert Pardoe, Esq. + +1821—Thomas Cartwright, Esq. + +1822—Thomas Pilkington, Esq. + +1823—Joseph Crane, Esq. + +1824—Thomas Shaw, Esq. + +1825—George Baker, Esq. + +1826—John Brookholding, Esq. + +1827—Thomas Pilkington, Esq. + +1828—John Williams, Esq. + +1829—Thomas H. Crane, Esq. + +1830—James Fryer, Esq. + +1831—T. S. Cartwright, Esq. + +1832—John Brookholding, Esq. + +1833—Thomas Cartwright, Esq. + +1834—Slade Baker, Esq. + +1835—Slade Baker, Esq. + + * * * * * + +1836—John Bury, Esq. + +1837—John Nichols, Esq. + +1838—John Beddoe, Esq. + +1839—James Cole, Esq. + +1840—William Bucklee, Esq. + +1841—T. S. Cartwright, Esq. + +1842—George Baker, Esq. + +1843—James Holder, Esq. + +1844—Joseph Farmer, Esq. + +1845—George Masefield, Esq. + +1846—T. T. Lankester, Esq. + +1847—James Banks, Esq. + +1848—Adam Prattinton, Esq. + +1849—John Baker, Esq. + +1850—John Bury, Esq. + +1851—Slade Baker, Esq. + + + +TOWN CLERKS OF BEWDLEY. + + +1775—W. A. Robarts, Esq. + +1808—Samuel Baker, Esq. + +1816—Slade Baker, Esq. + +1833—William N. Marcy, Esq. + + + +MAYORS OF DROITWICH. + + +The close Corporation of Droitwich used formerly to elect two Bailiffs +and two magistrates, year by year, out of their own number; the Lords +Foley, from time to time, holding the office of Recorder. The two last +Bailiffs, for the year immediately preceding the passing of the Municipal +Reform Act, were E. B. Penrice and W. H. Ricketts, Esqs. The following +is a fist of Mayors under the Municipal Act. + +1836—E. B. Penrice, Esq. + +1837—John Robeson, Esq. + +1838–9—E. B. Penrice, Esq. + +1840—E. B. Penrice, Esq., (resigned) and S. Tombs, Esq. + +1841—William Trehearn, Esq. + +1842—Samuel Tombs, Esq. + +1843—Edward Smith, Esq. + +1844—John Pumfrey, Esq. + +1845–6—T. G. Smith, Esq. + +1847—Edward Smith, Esq. + +1848–9–50—John Bradley, Esq. + + + +TOWN CLERKS OF DROITWICH. + + +1800—Thomas Jacob White, Esq. + +1820—Thomas Gale Curtler, Esq. + +1836—Samuel Tombs, jun., Esq. + + + +MAYORS OF EVESHAM. + + +1800—Hon. & Rev. G. Rushout. + +1801—Anthony Roper, Gent. + +1802—John Lord Northwick. + +1803—George Day, Gent. + +1804—Thomas Gore, Gent. + +1805—William Barnes, Gent. + +1806—William Soley, Gent. + +1807—W. F. Preedy, Gent. + +1808—Thomas B. Cooper, Esq. + +1809—John Hunter, Gent. + +1810—Sir C. Cockerell, Bart. + +1811—Rev. E. Dolman Cooper. + +1812—W. F. Preedy, Gent. + +1813—Matthias Stratton, Gent. + +1814—Rev. H. P. Cooper. + +1815—George Day, Gent. + +1816—Thomas B. Cooper, Esq. + +1817—Hon. & Rev. G. Rushout. + +1818—Daniel Edge, Gent. + +1819—Edward Savage, Gent. + +1820—Rev. Joseph Martin. + +1821—Thomas B. Cooper, Esq. + +1822—William Barnes, Gent. + +1823—Benjamin Murrell, Gent. + +1824—William Soley, Gent. + +1825—W. F. Preedy, Gent. + +1826—George Day, Gent. + +1827—Thomas B. Cooper, Esq. + +1828—William Byrch, Gent. + +1829—John Procter, Gent. + +1830—John Thomas, Gent. + +1831—Daniel Edge, Gent. + +1832—John Walford Izon, Gent. + +1833—Sir C. Cockerell, Bart. + +1834—Alfred C. Cooper, Gent. + +1835—William Barnes, Gent. + + * * * * * + +1836—William Barnes, Gent. + +1837—Thomas B. Cooper, Esq. + +1838—T. N. Foster, Merchant. + +1839—Ben. Workman, Solicitor. + +1840—John New, Esq. + +1841—J. M. G. Cheek, Esq. + +1842—Thomas White, Tanner. + +1843—Anthony New, Esq. + +1844—Richard Gibbs, Gent. + +1845—John Bromford, Gent. + +1846—Zaccheus Hughes, Draper. + +1847—J. B. Haynes, Surgeon. + +1848—Anthony Martin, Surgeon. + +1849—R. H. Hughes, Merchant. + +1850—John Clarke, Esq. + + + +TOWN CLERKS OF EVESHAM. + + +1800—James Taylor, Esq. (reappointed 1836) + +1838—Oswald Check, Esq. + + + +MAYORS OF KIDDERMINSTER. + + +Prior to 1836 the chief officers of Kidderminster were High Bailiffs. +The following are the Mayors elected since 1836: + +1836—William Butler Best, Esq. + +1837—George Hooman, Esq. + +1838—George Talbot, jun., Esq. + +1839—Charles Talbot, Esq. + +1840—Henry Brinton, Esq. + +1841—Joseph Newcombe, Esq. + +1842—Wm. Henry Worth, Esq. + +1843—James Morton, Esq. + +1844—Wm. Butler Best, Esq. + +1845—George Hooman, Esq. + +1846—Wm. Butler Best, Esq. + +1847—Wm. Boycot, sen., Esq. + +1848—Wm. Boycot, sen., Esq. + +1849—Wm. Roden, Esq., M.D. + +1850—Wm. Boycot, jun., Esq. + + + +TOWN CLERKS OF KIDDERMINSTER. + + +1800—James Pinches, Esq. + +1801—George Hallen, Esq. + +1826—Thomas Hallen, Esq. + + + + +APPENDIX. + + +TABLE A—POPULATION. + + 1801. 1811. 1821. 1831. 1841. 1851. +County of Worcester 139,333 160,546 184,424 211,365 233,484 276,926_a_ +City of Worcester 11,131 13,551 16,207 _b_18,442 27,023 27,528 +Dudley 10,307 13,925 18,611 23,443 31,232 37,954 +Stourbridge (including 8,297 9,755 11,227 13,571 17,483 19,246 +the Lye and Upper +Swinford) +Kidderminster Bor. & 8,036 10,025 12,752 17,913 17,500 20,852 +For. +Bromsgrove 5,898 6,932 7,511 8,612 9,676 10,310 +Redditch 1,000 — — — 3,314 4,774 +Stourport 1,603 2,352 2,544 2,952 2,952 2,993 +Evesham 2,837 3,068 3,472 3,976 4,245 4,605 +Pershore 1,910 2,179 2,328 2,536 — 2,717 +Droitwich 1,840 1,977 2,176 2,487 2,779 3,125 +Upton 1,858 2,167 2,319 2,343 2,599 2,698 +Tenbury 1,541 1,562 1,668 1,768 1,776 1,784 +Great Malvern — — — — 2,768 3,763 + +_a_ By the Act 7 and 8 Victoria, c. 61, part of Halesowen parish, +containing 18,827 persons in 1851, and parts of other parishes, locally +situated in Worcestershire, but belonging to other counties previously, +became parts of Worcestershire. Taking the same limits, the population +of Worcestershire in 1841 was 248,460. + +_b_ The population of Worcester, even at this time, was estimated at +25,000; but the figures given above, up to this census, only indicate the +population included within the old city boundary. + + +WORCESTERSHIRE.—CENSUS OF 1851. + + HOUSES. POPULATION. + Inhabited. Uninhabited. Building. Males. Females. Total. +Eastern Division 32,136 1,387 236 81,441 81,067 162,508 +Western Division 23,503 1,336 101 55,515 58,903 114,418 +Entire County 55,639 2,723 337 136,956 139,970 276,926 + +TABLE No. 2.—CRIMINAL STATISTICS. + + +The following statistics only relate to the county of Worcester. Prior +to 1821 there are no records of convictions, &c., in existence; the +Table, therefore, commences with that year. + +Year. In what Court Tried. Number of Prisoner Number Number No. Sentenced Number Summary Total Number of Proportion of + Tried. Capitally Sentenced to various terms Acquitted or Convictions. Persons Convicted to + Convicted. Transportation. of Discharged. Convicted. Population. + Imprisonment. +1821 Assizes 80 25* 15 18 22 + Sessions 167 — 26 92 49 292 468 1 in 359 +1822 Assizes 58 16 6 10 26 + Sessions 132 — 22 57 53 324 437 1 in 390 +1823 Assizes 69 15* 8 20 26 + Sessions 68 — 12 35 21 348 438 1 in 397 +1824 Assizes 49 16 5 12 16 + Sessions 86 — 8 37 41 352 430 1 in 408 +1825 Assizes 54 15 6 21 12 + Sessions 103 — 14 51 38 363 469 1 in 379 +1826 Assizes 90 27* 10 30 23 + Sessions 70 — 8 36 26 304 405 1 in 446 +1827 Assizes 110 34 25 29 22 + Sessions 124 — 17 79 28 332 516 1 in 354 +1828 Assizes 42 13 6 10 13 + Sessions 156 — 27 88 41 304 448 1 in 414 +_a_1829 Assizes 83 39 5 13 26 + Sessions 154 — 34 75 45 287 453 1 in 412 +1830 Assizes 80 32* 3 12 33 + Sessions 142 — 25 81 36 319 470 1 in 405 +1831 Assizes 90 43* 7 23 17 + Sessions 220 — 41 112 67 402 628 1 in 307 +1832 Assizes 74 28* 9 16 21 + Sessions 164 — 36 83 45 373 545 1 in 345 +1833 Assizes 73 22 13 19 19 + Sessions 258 — 53 137 68 448 692 1 in 285 +1834 Assizes 69 3* 20 23 23 + Sessions 260 — 63 124 73 526 759 1 in 262 +1835 Assizes 51 11 6 16 18 + Sessions 139 — 24 82 33 373 512 1 in 393 +_b_1836 Assizes 47 4 14 12 17 + Sessions 212 — 32 125 55 357 544 1 in 363 +_a_1837 Assizes 66 14* 10 24 18 + Sessions 278 — 47 141 90 328 564 1 in 354 +1838 Assizes 64 3 23 21 17 + Sessions 303 — 36 179 88 425 687 1 in 292 +1839 Assizes 70 1 16 31 22 + Sessions 323 — 44 190 89 411 693 1 in 292 +_c_1840 Assizes 76 — 10 36 30 + Sessions 474 — 68 278 128 566 958 1 in 202 +1841 Assizes 99 1 9 60 29 + Sessions 383 — 43 231 109 461 805 1 in 256 +1842 Assizes 101 1 16 59 25 + Sessions 440 — 57 252 131 439 824 1 in 253 +1843 Assizes 120 2 14 44 60 + Sessions 418 — 39 245 142 535 879 1 in 242 +1844 Assizes 141 1 17 78 45 + Sessions 390 — 31 239 120 535 901 1 in 237 +1845 Assizes 135 1 20 66 48 + Sessions 368 — 28 220 120 460 785 1 in 298 +1846 Assizes 154 — 17 79 58 + Sessions 329 — 7 220 102 377 700 1 in 337 +_a_1847 Assizes 88 — 7 52 29 + Sessions 458 — 30 302 126 458 849 1 in 281 +1848 Assizes 109 — 12 70 27 + Sessions 515 — 21 354 140 599 1056 1 in 228 +1849 Assizes 99 3* 10 33 53 + Sessions 452 — 50 289 113 614 999 1 in 244 +1850 Assizes 115 3 15 62 35 + Sessions 427 — 38 280 109 605 1003 1 in 246 + +* Executions in all these years—vide pp. 146, 148. + +_a a_ Criminal code greatly mitigated. Various offences hitherto only +triable at Assizes, transferred to the jurisdiction of Quarter Sessions. + +_b_ Prisoners’ Counsel Bill passed. + +_c_ County Police established. + +_d_ Sir John Pakington’s Juvenile Offenders’ Act passed. + + * * * * * + +*** In 1836 the jurisdiction of the City Quarter Sessions was extended +to the new city boundary, and the deduction of population from the county +raises the proportion of convicted persons from that year forwards. In +1845 the outlying parts of the county were included in the jurisdiction +of the County Quarter Sessions, and the ratio of convicted persons is +proportionably diminished. + + + +TABLE No. 3.—PROVISION FOR RELIGIOUS WORSHIP. + + +It is not pretended that the following statistics are absolutely +accurate—the amount of accommodation afforded being altogether matter of +computation. Neither do they afford reliable data for comparing the +relative increase of different religious denominations, because a +considerable proportion of the old churches have been enlarged in the +present century; while, on the other hand, many of the new chapels built +by Dissenters, especially the Wesleyans, were erected in the place of +preaching rooms used before the year 1800. + + Built before Accommodation. Built after Accommodation. + A.D. 1800. A.D. 1800. +Places of 210 63,680 24* 14,590 +Worship in the +County +connected with +the +Established +Church +Wesleyans 6 3,240 34 6,760 +Baptists 13 3,654 17 3,498 +Independents 4 2,283 10 3,176 +Primitive — — 13 1,906 +Methodists +Wesleyan New — — 8 2,526 +Connexion +Wesleyan — — 4 950 +Association +Countess of 1 1,400 9 2,790 +Huntingdon +Catholics 2 630 10 2,089 +Unitarian 8 2,300 — — +The Friends 7 1,500 — — +Other Sects — — 4 500 + +* The Churches built in the county since 1800 are—Redditch (chapel of +ease); St. George’s Chapel, Kidderminster; St. Andrew’s, Netherton; St. +George’s Chapel, Claines; St. Peter’s, Malvern Wells; Christchurch +Chapel, Broadheath; Christchurch Chapel, Catshill; Bartley Green Chapel, +Northfield; Christchurch Chapel, Lye; St. James’s, Dudley; St. John’s +Chapel, Kate Hill, Dudley; St. Michael’s Chapel, Broadway; Christchurch +Chapel, Trimpley, Kidderminster; Yardley Wood, Yardley; St. John’s +Chapel, Kidderminster; Aston Magna, Blockley; St. Matthias, Malvern Link; +St. Paul’s, Worcester; St. Peter’s, Cookley; North Hill District Church, +Mathon; The Quinton, Halesowen; Langley Green, Halesowen; St. Peter’s, +Worcester; Amblecote, Oldswinford; Trinity Church, Malvern. + + + +TABLE No. 4.—OBSERVATIONS AS TO FALL OF RAIN. + +Year. Worcester. * Cleobury. † Orleton. ‡ +1835 — 29.16 27.265 +1836 — 32.93 28.155 +1837 24.465 31.18 28.545 +1838 23.850 28.73 26.355 +1839 34.595 37.70 34.145 +1840 20.715 26.94 25.800 +1841 29.649 34.82 32.770 +1842 — 25.09 25.480 +1843 — 30.42 29.935 +1844 — 23.56 21.730 +1845 — 27.91 27.405 +1846 — 29.24 27.015 +1847 — 28.60 27.985 +1848 — 36.69 39.015 +1849 23.88 30.79 26.945 +1850 18.66 22.84 24.615 +1851 18.93 21.33 28.276 + +* The first series of these observations at Worcester were taken by Mr. +T. R. Hill, at the Literary and Scientific Institution, and those for +1849–51 by Dr. Turley, St. John’s. It would seem as though less rain +fell in this neighbourhood than in other parts of the county; but the +years given happen to be amongst the drier ones, and in general it will +be found that more rain falls at Worcester than in most other parts of +England. The mean height of the thermometer in the midland districts of +England is about 50°, at Worcester the mean will be found slightly to +exceed that figure. + +† From observations taken by Mr. Hunter of Mawley Gardens. + +‡ From observations taken by Mr. T. H. Davis of Orleton, who possesses an +accurate register of the rain which has fallen in each month for the last +twenty years. The result shows May to be the driest, and November the +wettest, month, and gives 2.19 as the average of January; February, 2.21; +March, 1.91; April, 2.05; May, 1.82; June, 2.41; July, 2.39; August, +2.70; September, 2.41; October, 2.80; November, 3.16; December, 2.17; and +of the whole year, 28.276 inches. + + + +ELECTIONS OF 1852. + + +WORCESTERSHIRE EAST—J. H. H. Foley, Esq., and Captain Rushout reëlected +without opposition. + +WORCESTERSHIRE WEST—Hon. General H. B. Lygon and F. W. Knight, Esq., +reëlected without opposition. + +WORCESTER—MAY—(Election on Mr. Rufford’s accepting the Chiltern +Hundreds)—William Laslett, Esq., of Abberton Hall, had some time +previously announced himself as a candidate for the representation +whenever a vacancy should occur, professing Radical opinions. The +Conservatives brought forward Mr. Charles M‘Garel, who declared himself a +supporter of Lord Derby’s Government; but as he was not explicit on the +subject of “Protection,” he found so little favour with the voters, that +after four days’ canvass he left the city. Mr. Laslett was then returned +unopposed. JULY—Mr. Ricardo and Mr. Laslett united the suffrages of the +Whig and Radical parties, and the candidate supported by the +Conservatives was J. W. Huddleston, Esq., the well known barrister on the +Oxford Circuit. He avowed himself a Free Trader, but would support Lord +Derby’s Government in other matters. The Sheriff’s return showed 1,212 +votes given for Mr. Laslett, 1,164 for Mr. Ricardo, and 661 for Mr. +Huddleston. + +KIDDERMINSTER—Mr. John Best, the former member, was opposed by Robert +Lowe, Esq., a member of the Australian Council from 1843 to 1850, and +member for Sydney in 1848. He professed to be ready to support Lord +Derby’s Government according to their measures, though a thorough Free +Trader. He thus obtained the support of the Whig and Radical parties in +the borough, and also of a section of the moderate Conservatives. He was +returned on the poll by a majority of 94: the numbers being—Lowe, 246; +Best, 152. + +BEWDLEY—Sir Thomas E. Winnington, Bart., Liberal, and Joseph Sandars, +Esq., Conservative, were the candidates—Viscount Mandeville having been +previously elected for Huntingdonshire. The votes were—for Winnington, +169; Sandars, 151. + +EVESHAM—Lord Marcus Hill retired from the representation, and the +candidates were Charles Lennox Grenville Berkeley, Esq., formerly member +for Cheltenham, Liberal; Sir Henry Willoughby, Bart., Conservative; and +Sergeant Wilkins, Radical. The votes given were—for Willoughby, 189; +Berkeley, 170; Wilkins, 87. + +DUDLEY—John Benbow, Esq., the former member, Conservative, and James +Baldwin, Esq., an alderman of Birmingham, Radical, were the candidates. +The votes given were—for Benbow, 400; Baldwin, 231. + + + +WORCESTER RACES. + + +THE following are the winners of the “GOLD CUP,” value 100 guineas, the +surplus in specie—4 miles—which used to be the principal race at the +Worcester Summer Meeting, and which was first run for in the year 1812. + +1812—August 12—Mr. Shawe’s b. h. Offa’s Dyke. + +1813—August 11—Mr. Munsey’s b. m. Meteorina. + +1814—August 10—Sir W. Wynn’s b. c. Bravo. + +1815—August 8—Hon. W. B. Lygon’s b. c. Tozer. + +1816—August 14—Mr. Charlton’s b. c. Tozer. + +1817—August 13—Sir W. Wynn’s b. c. Piscator. + +1818—August 12—Mr. Charlton’s ch. c. Indus. + +1819—August 11—Mr. West’s br. h. Fitz Orville (w. o.) + +1820—August 9—Lord Stamford’s ch. c. Comet. + +1821—August 15—Mr. L. Charlton’s Master Henry. + +1822—August 14—Lord Stamford’s Peter Lely. + +1823—August 15—Mr. Mytton’s ch. g. Euphrates. The Grand Stand was first +used at these races. + +1824—August 11—Mr. Mytton’s br. c. Comte d’Artois (w. o.) + +1825—August 4—Mr. Mytton’s ch. g. Euphrates. + +1826—August 2—Mr. Mytton’s b. h. Longwaist. + +1827—August 22—Sir W. Wynn’s ch. c. May Fly. + +1828—July 30—Mr. Mytton’s ch. g. Euphrates. + +1829—August 19—Sir T. Stanley’s ch. g. May Fly. + +1830—August 11—Mr. Davies’s ch. g. Villager. + +1831—August 10—Mr. Beardsworth’s br. g. Independence. + +1832—August 16—Mr. Griffith’s Thorngrove. + +1833—August 7—Mr. Phillips’s b. c. Tom Brown. + +1834—August 6—Mr. L. Day’s b. m. Diana. + +1835—August 5—Sir T. Stanley’s b. c. Intriguer. + +1836—August 3—Mr. Haywood’s br. g. Lentulus. + +1837—August 2—Mr. Speed’s gr. g. Darling. + +1838—August 8—Mr. Speed’s gr. g. Isaac. + +1839—August 8—Mr. Tomes’s gr. g. Isaac. The “Gold Cup” was discontinued +after this year. + +Winners of the WORCESTERSHIRE STAKES, 20 sovs. each, 2 mile heats, from +1840. + +1840—August 4—Mr. Collins’s gr. g. Isaac. + +1841—July 8—Mr. J. Taylor nas. Earnest. + +1842—July 7—Major Hay’s ch. g. Retriever. + +1843—July 6—Lord Palmerston’s b. m. Ilione. + +1844—July 11—Lord Warwick’s b. c. Yardley. + +At the Worcester Autumn Meeting this year was run, the celebrated match +between Mr. Timms’s Cora and Mr. T. Smith’s Lady Harkaway, both ridden by +the owners: Cora winning by a length only. Time, 9 minutes; 52 seconds; +4 miles; 6 flights of hurdles. + +1845—July 8—Mr. Collett’s b. h. Coranna. + +1846—July 7—Captain Harcourt’s br. c. The Druid. + +1847—July 6—Mr. Bristow’s ch. f. Marietta. + +1848—July 4—Mr. J. Day’s b. m. Milliner (w. o.) + +1849—August 7—Mr. Mynors’s br. f. Miss Bunney (w. o.) + +1850—August 6—Mr. Sharratt’s b. f. Egret. + + + +STEEPLE CHASES. + + +1836—March 2—The first steeple chases ever run in Worcestershire came off +this day. The ground chosen was on the west bank of the Severn, from +Frieze Wood to the centre of the Lower Powick Ham, about four miles of a +stiffish hunting country. Captain Lamb’s Vivian, ridden by Captain +Beecher, beat Midnight and Saladin. + +1841—March 24—Steeple chases at Crowle. Cotton Ball won the first and +Fairy the second. + +1844—March 14—The first of the Worcester grand annual steeple chases. +Sixteen horses started for the Royal Birthday Stakes, which were won by +Discount—Vanguard being second and Harkaway third. + +1845—March 19—Seventeen starters for the Royal Birthday Handicap. Won by +Mr. W. Holman’s The Page. Value of stakes, £819. + +1846—November 7—Twelve starters for the Grand Annual. Won by Lord +Strathmore’s Switcher; Marengo second, and Pioneer third. + +1847—November 6—Sixteen horses started. Winner, Mr. Little’s br. g. +Chandler; Glaucus second. + +1848—November 4—Nineteen horses started. Winner, Proceed; Red Lancer +second. + +1849—November 2—Ten horses started. Winner, Mr. Vevers’s Vainhope; Young +’Un second. + +1850—December 4—Twelve starters. Winner, Miss Collingwood; Tipperary Boy +second. + + * * * * * + + BIRMINGHAM: + PRINTED BY JOSIAH ALLEN AND SON, + 3, COLMORE ROW. + + + + +ADDENDA AND ERRATA. {337} + + +IN addition to the Enclosure Bills enumerated in note, p. 6, must be +mentioned the following: Aldington, Astley, Abberley, Broughton Hackett, +Bredon, Bonehill, Badsey, Churchill, Little and Great Comberton, Crowle, +Eckington, Flyford Flavel, Holdfast (Ripple), Iccomb, Inkberrow, North, +South, and Middle Littleton, Norton, Overbury, Pensham, North Piddle, +Rushock, Salwarp, Sedgberrow, Shipston-on-Stour, Strensham, Tibberton, +Wick (Pershore). + + * * * * * + +Page 97, line 3—_for_ “Rev. George Turnbull,” _read_ “Rev. George +Turberville.” + +Page 188, line 19—_for_ “small majorities,” _read_ “small minorities.” + +Page 241, line 5—_for_ “vestin,” read “vesting.” + +Page 264, line 24—_for_ “accepted as the text,” _read_ “accepted as the +test.” + + + + +FOOTNOTES. + + +{6} The number of enclosure bills passed between 1800 and 1814 was +1,448; in the next year they fell off remarkably; and between 1814 and +1830, only 557 passed the legislature. The enclosure bills passed for +Worcestershire in the present century are Astley, Bayton, Ombersley, +Hartlebury, Alton (Rock), Feckenham, Minith Wood, Coston Hackett, Burlish +Common, Stock and Bradley, Hagley, Harberrow and Blakedown, Fladbury, +Yardley. And since the passing of the General Enclosure Act, powers have +been obtained to enclose part of Welland Common, Areley Common, Longdon, +Newbold-on-Stour, and Hatfield (Kempsey). + +{65} The ports were opened, at 1s. a quarter duty, from the end of +February, 1818, when some superior white wheat was fetching 102s. a +quarter, to the end of March, 1819. + +{90} On the Sunday during or immediately following the Assizes, which +used to be known as Assize Sunday, and kept as a great fair, the keepers +at the county gaol were accustomed to show the prisoners through the bars +to the curious crowd, and collect sixpences in a boot for pointing out +those who were sentenced to be hanged, &c. + +{156} The titles of the projects were—Worcester and South Wales +Junction; East and West Junction; Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Stour +Valley, Midland and Eastern Counties Railway; London, Warwick, +Leamington, and Kidderminster; Direct Birmingham and Leicester Railway; +Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Branches; Worcester, Hereford, Ross, +and Gloucester; Warwickshire and London; Derbyshire, Staffordshire, and +Worcestershire Junction; Worcester, Tenbury, and Ludlow; Trent Valley, +Midlands, and Grand Junction; Worcester and Leominster; Worcester and +Portdynllaen; Birmingham and Oxford Junction; Birmingham, Wolverhampton, +and Dudley; South Staffordshire Junction; Gloucester and Hereford Canal +and Worcester; Welsh Midland: Welsh Midland Extension; Midland and +Eastern Counties; Oxford and Worcester Extension and Chester Junction; +Birmingham and Bristol; Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Stour Valley (No. +2); Warwickshire and London (Worcester to Weedon); Birmingham and +Gloucester (branches); Northampton, Banbury, and Cheltenham; Leamington, +Warwick, and Cheltenham; Worcester, Warwick, and Rugby; Shropshire Union; +Dudley, Madeley, Broseley, and Ironbridge; Cambrian and Grand Junction; +Warwick and Worcester; Warwick and Birmingham; Rugby, Warwick, and +Worcester. + +{165} Some facts, with regard to currents and the course of running +water, established during the course of the recent alterations in the +Severn, were totally opposed to all the theories previously held by +hydraulic engineers; and when first brought under their notice were +scarcely credited, though backed by the best of testimony. + +{171} The present commissioners are Lord Hatherton, The Right Hon. Sir +John Pakington, Bart., M.P., T. C. Hornyold, Esq., John Benbow, Esq., +M.P., H. E. Strickland, Esq., Thomas Fulljames, Esq., W. H. Hyett, Esq., +J. W. Lea, Esq., E. Evans, Esq., J. M. Gutch, Esq., E. Webb, Esq., D. M. +Walker, Esq., T. Sturge, Esq., N. P. Price, Esq., M.P., W. H. Barrow, +Esq., M.P., Richard P. King, Esq., S. Tombs, jun., Esq., William +Dowdeswell, Esq., W. R. Anstice, Esq., Richard Blakemore, Esq., J. M. G. +Cheek, Esq., J. Rogers, Esq., J. S. Rutter, Esq., William Mabson, Esq., +P. Baldwin, Esq., A. H. Jenkins, Esq., John Home, Esq., E. L. Kendall, +Esq., W. Wills, Esq., John W. Hughes, Esq. + +{337} The errata have been applied in this Project Gutenberg eText.—DP. + + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WORCESTERSHIRE IN THE NINETEENTH +CENTURY*** + + +******* This file should be named 44040-0.txt or 44040-0.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/4/4/0/4/44040 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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