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If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: History of Madeley - including Ironbridge, Coalbrookdale, and Coalport - - -Author: John Randall - - - -Release Date: June 19, 2020 [eBook #62423] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF MADELEY*** - - -Transcribed from the 1880 _Wrekin Echo_ Office edition by David Price, -email ccx074@pglaf.org - - [Picture: Book cover] - - - - - - HISTORY OF MADELEY, - INCLUDING - IRONBRIDGE, COALBROOKDALE, AND - COALPORT, - - - From the earliest times to the present, - - WITH NOTICES OF - Remarkable Events, Inventions, - AND - PHENOMENA, MANUFACTURES, &c. - - —:o:— - - ILLUSTRATED - - With twelve wood-cut illustrations, and photographs. - - —:o:— - - The work will be found to contain a copious Index, - and list of old family names. - - —:o:— - - BY - John Randall, F.G.S., Author of “The Severn Valley,” “Old Sports - and Sportsmen,” “History of Broseley,” &c., &c. - - * * * * * - - Published at “The Wrekin Echo” Office, Madeley, Salop, 1880. - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - - -THE delay which has arisen in the publication of this work since it was -first announced needs some apology. It arose from two causes; one the -hope that fuller information might be forthcoming on some obscure points, -the other that the book is chiefly made up of matter reprinted from the -_Salopian and West Midland Illustrated Magazine_. It is therefore, to -some extent, fragmentary, and not one for which the author can hope to -receive the meed of praise bestowed upon his “Severn Valley,” “Old -Sports,” &c. Notwithstanding this, the author believes the work will be -found to be a satisfactory compendium of historical facts connected with -the parish; and now that they are known it would be a comparatively easy -task to produce a more creditable literary work. Johnson says we never -do anything conscientiously for the last time without sadness of heart; -the only sadness here arises from the consciousness that the opportunity, -however much desired, of reproducing the work in an improved form is -scarcely likely to occur in the lifetime of the author. - - _Madeley_, 1880. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -THE field of history is a wide one, but, in addition to its well-beaten -track, there yet remains less frequented paths to explore in connection -with our smaller villages and towns. - -The design of the present work may be stated in a few words. It is -simply to place before the inhabitants of Madeley, and those interested -in its history, the various phases through which it has passed in its -progress from feudal times to the present. Strangers often come and seek -for information which they do not always get: and much that is known by -old people of Madeley and its traditions would be lost unless noted down -at once. - -It will be seen that our information extends from the notice we get in -Norman times, when tillers of the soil, swineherds, fishermen, a miller -or two, and foresters, composed the population, the profits of whose -labours were reaped by a priest and the monks of Wenlock Priory. - -After the Dissolution it will be seen that the mansion was sold to the -Brooke family, particulars of which we have given, both in the earlier -and later parts of the work. - - - - -MADELEY. - - -There is a touch alike of poetry and of meaning in the name. Our -ancestors were delineators of natural scenery, verbally, and by the use -of names. Taking possession of primeval lands and uncleared forests, -driving their aboriginal owners before them—in one or more syllables they -were wont to give the history of a place, or the more distinguishing -features of a country, and word-pictures then current come down to us -little altered, having coiled up within them considerable sense and -by-gone meaning. Tradition, no less than the popular and generally -accepted etymology of the name, informs us that Shrewsbury was originally -the place of shrubs; that the dusky crow croaked at Crawley, and the -chattering daw built its nest at Dawley. The broc or brag—Anglo-Saxon -terms for the badger, once numerous along the Severn Valley—gave us the -Brocholes. To reynard we are indebted, in like manner, for the modern -name of Foxholes—a place near to the latter, where this animal flourished -when Madeley Wood, now covered with cottages, was what its name implied. - -Little local or archæological lore is required to know that Madeley Wood -was the wood bordering on the meadow, or that Madeley is a name derived -from meadowly, or mead—a term still used in poetical productions of the -day. In like manner, Mad-brook, a little stream on the borders of the -village, meandering through meadow land, was Mead or Meadow-brook—as one -of our smaller English rivers is called the Medway, from like -circumstances, and as Brockton on Madbrook was formerly Brook-town—the -town or enclosure on the brook. A tolerable estimate of Madeley, in one -of its early phases, and as it appeared to the commissioners appointed to -carry out the Domesday Survey, at the time it formed part of the manor -belonging to the Abbey of Much Wenlock, may be gleaned from the following -extract:— - - “The same (St. Milburg’s) holds Madeley, and held it in the time of - King Edward. Here is one hide (100 or 120 acres) not geldable (not - liable to pay taxes) and three other hides geldable. In demesne are - eleven ox teams, and six villiens (those employed in ignoble service) - and (there are) IIII. boors (peasants) with IIII. teams. Here are - IIII. serfs (slaves of the lower class) and there might yet be VI. - teams more here. There is a wood sufficient to fatten 400 swine. In - the time of King Edward the manor was worth £4 per annum; now it is - worth £5 per annum.” - -England at that time was covered over with such manors; they had -overgrown the free peasant proprietors which previously existed in Saxon -times. On each manor was the house of the lord with the Court yard and -garden, &c., comprising several acres. The manor land was for the use of -the lord, but portions were let off. Some doubt now exists as to the -true meaning of a hide of land, as both hides and virgates on adjoining -lands differed, but the conclusion that the hide was a land measure of 33 -English acres has been received by some, whilst others hold that it meant -a measure of land sufficient for the support of a family. The most -important agricultural operation of the period was ploughing, and a -peasant rarely undertook this for himself on his own little plot, which -was not sufficient for separate or independent management, with his own -team and plough. The team of a plough consisted then as a rule of not -less than 8 draught cattle, and this continued to be the case, as -recorded by Arthur Young. The bad fodder of that period diminished the -labour power of the draught cattle, especially during winter ploughing, -which was on straw feeding alone. Madeley is undoubtedly derived from -terms still in use, Meadow and ley, or lia; meadows having sometimes been -subjected for a whole year to common pasturage whilst the adjoining land -lay fallow, in order not to exhaust it by constant hay crops. - -Such was Madeley in the olden time, when men were goods and chattels, -subject to the rapacity and oppression of their owners, when laws were -enacted by which to kill wild animals was a crime equal in enormity to -killing human beings, and punished with the same rigour; when the right -to hunt was in the hands of kings and those holding tenure to whom they -thought proper to delegate it. The park, to which the modern names of -Park, Rough Park, and Park Street, now apply—names that serve to recall -former features of the surface—was enclosed from the forest, mentioned in -the above extract. Its origin was this; November 28th, 1283, King Edward -(1st) being petitioned that it would not be detrimental to his forest of -Mount Gilbert if the Prior and Convent of Wenlock should enclose their -Wood of Madeley (though within the limits of the forest) with a ditch, -and fence, (haia) and make a park there—allowed them to do so. The same -park is alluded to in a valuation taken 1390; together with one at -Oxenbold, which—including the meadows—was said to be scarcely sufficient -to maintain the live stock of the Priory. The Prior, who appears to have -built houses within the boundary of the forest, in 1259 was ordered to -pull them down; but having offered a fine to the king a charter was -granted the following year, stating that, “for £100 now paid the Prior -and Convent may have the houses in peace, although within the forest.” - -The Court House, formerly surrounded by this park, and near to the -station now called by its name—on the Great Western line—is an -exceedingly interesting building, and one claiming the attention of the -visitor. The present structure is in the Elizabethan style of -architecture; but the grounds present traces of earlier buildings. In -the years 1167, 1224, 1250, and again in 1255, mention is made of the -Madeley Manor. In 1379 the estimated value of pleas and perquisites of -the court is entered at two shillings. - -Near the old mansion is the Manor-mill, formerly worked by a steam called -Washbrook, which formerly supplied the extensive vivaries or fishponds -that furnished the kitchen of the establishment with the necessary means -of observing fast-days. Interesting traces of former pools and fisheries -are observable. Under date 1379, we find the water-mill at the Court or -Manor house “fermed” for 10s. per annum, and at a valuation taken of the -prior’s temporalities at an earlier period, viz., 1291, the same mill is -mentioned. Mills, then, were invariably the possession of the lord of -the manor, lay or ecclesiastical, and tenants were compelled to grind -there. They were therefore an important source of profit, and carefully -enumerated, and it is worthy of remark that where a mill is described as -being at a particular place, even at an earlier period—as in the Domesday -survey of the country—there, as in the case of the Manor mill at the -Court, one is now generally to be found in ruins or otherwise. In the -garden, which is still highly walled, and which was probably originally -an enclosed court, upon an elegant basement, approached by a circular -flight of steps—the outer one being seven feet in diameter and the inner -one about three—is a very curious planetarium, an horological instrument -serving the purpose of a sundial, and that of finding the position of the -moon in relation to the planets. It is a square block of stone three -feet high, having three of its sides engraved, and the fourth or north -side blank. Over this is a semicircular slab of stone so pierced that -the eye rests upon the polar star. - -Although little of the original building where festivals were held, -suitors heard, or penalties inflicted, remains, the present edifice has -many points of interest. The substantial, roomy, and well-panelled -apartments, upon the ground floor, and the solid trees, one upon the -other, forming a spiral stair-case to the chambers above, are objects of -no little interest. Ascending these stairs the visitor finds himself in -the chapel, the ceiling of which is of fine oak, richly carved, having -the arms of various ancient families in panels. The arms of the Ferrars -family may be seen in a shield over the principal doorway,—indicating the -proprietorship at one time of some member of that family. It was also -the residence of Sir Basil Brooke, fourth in descent from a noble knight -of that name, a zealous royalist in the time of Charles I. - -This family appears to have been resident at Claverley in the fourteenth -century. Mr. Brooke, of Haughton, near Shifnal, has deeds in his -possession showing the purchase of certain arable and pasture lands at -Beobridge, by Richard de la Broke, of Claverley, in 1316, and again in -1318, where he is described as Richard de la Broke, clerk, son of Richard -de la Broke, Claverley. - -Mailed and full-length fine stone figures of this highly-distinguished -family, who lived here, and shed a lustre on the place, formerly reposed -in the church, to whose sacred keeping they bequeathed their dust. -Equally vain, however, were their bequests and hopes, for when the -originals were no longer able to put a copper on the plate their very -tombs were destroyed, and their stone effigies ruthlessly turned out of -doors, and placed in niches outside the church, where, shorn of a portion -of their limbs, they still do penance in pleading attitudes, and look as -though they implored a bit of paint to prevent the inscriptions beneath -from being lost for ever. The stone in one case has lost its outer -coating, and the artifice of the sculptor in tipping nose and chin with a -whiter material has been disclosed, and thick coats of paint are peeling -off the defaced epitaphs which set forth the merits of their originals. -The inscriptions are in Latin, but the following is, we believe, a free, -if not an exact, translation:— - - “Here lieth interred John Brooke, Esquire, the son of Robert Brooke, - Knight, Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. He was a zealous and - loyal subject of Queen Mary, and assisted her in securing her rights - in opposition to the violent factions of the time. He published an - excellent commentary on the English Law in several volumes. After a - study of jurisprudence and science, being of an extensively liberal - mind and universally beloved, he made a Christian-like end, October - the 20th, in the year of our Lord, 1598, in the 62nd year of his - age.” - -The following is another:— - - “Here lieth the remains of Etheldreda, the wife of Basil Brooke, - Knight, a woman not only well-skilled in the knowledge of the Latin, - Italian, French, and Spanish languages, and in the science of music, - but also exemplary for piety, faith, prudence, courage, chastity, and - gentle manners. She left to lament her loss a husband, with an only - son, named Thomas, and five daughters, namely—Anne, the wife of - William Fitzherbert, Esquire, the grandson of Henry, Lord Chief - Justice of the Common Pleas, eminent for his commentary on our laws; - Mary, the wife of Thomas More, a descendant of that renowned - character, Thomas More, formerly Lord High Chancellor of England, a - man in his life and death universally esteemed; Dorothy, Agatha, and - Catherine, all of whom were of amiable dispositions. She died in the - year of our Lord —” (the date is defaced). - -The original is in Latin. The pillared arches and backs of the recesses -are elaborately carved. - -In “Villages and Village Churches,” published a few years ago, in -describing Claverley, we stated that the present vicarage was supposed at -one time to have been the residence of the Lord Chief Justice, whose -likeness is carved upon one of the timbers. We also described a -magnificent tomb of Lord Chief Justice Brooke, in the north-east corner -of the Gatacre chancel, which is both elaborate and imposing. On the top -are recumbent figures of the Lord Chief Justice in his official robes, -and of his two wives, with ornamental head-gear, mantles, ruffs, ruffles, -&c., of the period; and round the tomb are their eighteen children, also -in the respective costumes of their time. On the outside is the -following inscription, in Old English characters:— - - “Here lyeth the body off Robert Brooke, famous in his time for virtue - and learning; advanced to be com’on Serjaunt of the Citie of London, - Recorder of London, Serjaunt at Law, Speaker of P’lyament, and Cheife - Justice of the Com’en Pleace, who visiting his frendes and country, - deceasd the 6th day of September 1558, after he had begotton of Anne - and Dorothee, his wiefs, XVIII children. Upon whose sowles God have - mercy.” - -Jukes, in his Antiquities of Shropshire, says:— - - “This Robert was the son of Thomas Brooke de Claverley, in this - county, and was made Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the - first year of Queen Mary, when he received the honour of Knighthood. - He died in the communion of the church of Rome, A.D. 1558, and left - his zeal for his religion to posterity, and his excellent performance - of the Abridgment of the Common Law to the Students of that - Profession. 36th Hen. VIII. William Astun did homage for a shop - here. 38th Hen. VIII, the said Robert Brooke likewise did homage pro - shopa in Madalie. Recorda Paschæ, 2d Edw. VI rot. 11, de Roberto - Brooke, Armigero, et Dorothea uxore ejus occasionalis ad ostendendum - qualiter ingressi sunt et tenent unam shopam et dimid. acræ terræ in - Madeley. 3d. Edw. VI, the king grants to Edward Molyneux and Robert - Brooke, of London, Esqrs. all that annual rent of £4 13s. 9½d. - reserved to the crown out of this manor, together with the demenses - of the same, and other lands therein specified, in fee simple. John - Brooke, Esq. 27th Eliz. made a settlement of Madeley on Richard - Prince, Esq. Sir Basil Brooke, Knight, 3d James I, sold lands here - to David Stilgo, Robert and Edward Stilgo. Matthew Fowler, Gent. son - and heir of Roger Fowler, had general livery 17th James for his lands - in Madeley.” - -Mr. Brooke had the reputation of being a great lawyer, and whilst a -barrister we find him engaged by the Corporation of Shrewsbury to examine -a petition from the town “for the discharge of the subsidies.” According -to the entry in the Corporation books (1542) he and Serjeant Molyneux -were paid 15s. for their services. He is described as Recorder of London -whilst visiting the town, with Roger Townesende, Chief Justice of Wales, -and Richard Hasshall, Esqr., “one of the Commissioners of our Lord the -King,” and as being presented with “wayffers and torts,” at the expense -of the corporation. - -With regard to Basil Brooke, we find by an indenture of release, dated -the 29th of May, 1706, that he, Basil Brooke, Esq., of Madeley, deceased, -by his will bequeathed to the poor of the parish of Madeley the sum of -£40, which the churchwardens and parishioners of the parish desired might -be laid out in the purchase of lands and tenements for the use of the -poor. And it was witnessed that Comerford Brooke, in consideration of -the said £40, and also a further sum of £30 paid to him by Audley Bowdler -and eight other parties to the said indenture, granted to the said Audley -Bowdler and others, their heirs and assigns, three several cottages or -tenements, with gardens and yards thereto belonging, situated in Madeley -Wood, in the said parish, and in the said indenture, more particularly -described, on trust to employ the rents and profits thereof for the use -of the poor of the said parish in such manner as the grantees, with the -consent of the vicar and parish officers, should think fit. - -Near one of the fields adjoining the Court House, called the “Slang,” a -man, while clearing a piece of rough ground, which appeared not -previously to have been cultivated, a few years ago, came upon a large -number of gold coins, chiefly of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, and of the -modern value altogether of between three and four hundred pounds. - -Looking at what the place now is, and calling to mind what it must have -been when the spacious rooms rang with the joyous laugh, and echoed the -minstrel songs of bygone days, one is reminded of Southey’s Eclogues, in -one of which he seeks to connect the past and present by an old man’s -memory, only that in this case more than one generation has gone to rest -since the old Court House was complete with park, and moat, and -fish-ponds. The old stonebreaker bemoans the change in some old -mansion-house thus— - - “If my old lady could rise up— - God rest her soul!—’twould grieve her to behold - What wicked work is here. - - * * * * - - Aye, master, fine old trees. - Lord bless us! I have heard my father say - His grandfather could just remember back - When they were planted there. It was my task - To keep them trimmed, and ’twas a pleasure to me; - My poor old lady many a time would come - And tell me where to clip, for she had played - In childhood under them, and ’twas her pride - To keep them in their beauty. - - * * * * * - - I could as soon - Have ploughed my father’s grave as cut them down. - Then those old dark windows— - They’re demolished too; - The very redbreasts that so regular - Came to my lady for her morning crumbs - Won’t know those windows now. - There was a sweet briar, too, that grew beside; - My lady loved at evening to sit there - And knit, and her old dog lay at her feet, - And slept in the sun; ’twas an old favourite dog. - She did not love him less that he was old - And feeble, and he always had a place - By the fireside; and when he died at last, - She made me dig a grave in the garden for him, - For she was good to all: a woeful day - ’Twas for the poor when to the grave she went. - —At Christmas, sir! - It would have warmed your heart if you had seen - Her Christmas kitchen—how the blazing fire - Made her fine pewter shine, and holly boughs - So cheerful red; and as for mistletoe, - The finest bush that grew in the country round - Was marked for madam. Then her old ale went - So bountiful about! A Christmas cask, - And ’twas a noble one. God help me, sir, - But I shall never see such days.” - -Still greater changes than those described in the lines quoted above are -witnessed at the old Court House and in its immediate vicinity,—changes -so great that were it possible for one of its former feudal owners to -revisit the scene he would fail to recognise the place. Ugly pit-mounds -are seen surrounding the building; the place is illumined by the blaze of -the blast-furnace, the screech of machinery is heard around it, and the -snort of the iron horse sounds across the park, where the hounds were -wont to - - “Rend the air, and with a lusty cry - Awake the echo, and confound - Their perfect language in a mingled voice.” - -The fashions and manners here represented have passed away, and these -relics of antiquity look like fossils of old formations, or like -dismantled wrecks cast up by the ever-moving current of time. They -contrast strangely enough—these trophies of times gone by—with the -visible emblems of man’s altered genius around. Modes of life have -changed; every age has turned some new page as it passed. Instead of -monasteries and moated manor-houses, with country waste and wood, -thistled and isolated, whose wild possessors neglected even to till the -surface, we have men of active mould, who do daily battle with the -stubborn elements of the earth, while flashing fires flicker round their -stolid effigies, telling of wealth-producing agencies that make millions -happy. Ideas begotten of time, not then dreamt of, have leaped over moat -and rampart, re-constituted society, converted parks into pit-mounds, and -around the habitations of knighted warriors reared forges and constructed -railways. - -We are tempted to dwell a little longer here in connection with the Old -Court, because considerable interest attaches to features, memorials, and -traditions of such places. Viewed from the position we now occupy, a -position the culminating result of past efforts and past struggles, they -remind us of less favourable phases of society, and picture to the mind -ideas, manners, and institutions—the cradle of our present privileges. -Manor houses, many of which were destroyed during the Civil War, were -held by the Church, and by distinguished personages, lay or clerical, who -granted or leased land they did not themselves require. Hence the rise -of copyholds—estates held by copy of the roll of the Court of the Manor. -Courts were held within these manors and jurisdiction was had of -misdemeanours and disputes. On forest borders, on grassy plains, amid -fat meadow lands, by rivers, on rocky spurs and projections, these -mansions or castelled structures stood, whilst their occupiers, with -little industrial or political activity to escape the _ennui_ of their -position, were often driven upon the high road of adventure. One can -scarcely conceive the privileged owners of such mansions to do otherwise -than despise the dependent population—boors, serfs, and villeins, who -cultivated their domains. Salient and strongly marked were the two -classes—knowledge and power paramount with the one, ignorance and -incapacity characterising the other: a proud supremacy and -subserviency—claimed and admitted. Priors, bishops, and lay proprietors -moved from manor to manor, taking their seats in these feudal courts, -receiving homage and inflicting penalties. Woe to the bondsmen of the -estate—doomed from the cradle to the grave to slavery—found guilty of an -attempt to “steal himself,” as the old Roman law had it, from his lawful -owner. Even tenants under these proud holders were subject to great -exactions,—the cattle of the manor, boar or bull, by the condition of the -tenure being free to roam at night through standing corn or grass: a -provision as just as that with which in this the nineteenth century the -lord of the manor has power, after purchase, to mine under and throw down -the house one has built, in this same manor of Madeley, without one -farthing compensation. Sturdy radicals, troublesome fellows, then as now -held up at times the glass by means of political squibs to perpetrators -of such injustice. One quaint old Shropshire satirist in the 14th -century lashes severely the vices of the times. Another in a political -song colours his picture deeply. The church at times interfered to -mitigate the condition of the people, but the spiritual overseers of the -poor, as a rule, thought more of the sports of the field than of their -flocks except, indeed, at shearing time. Chaucer in estimating their -qualifications was of opinion that “in hunting and riding they were more -skilled than in divinity.” - -We need not wonder, then, to find in the thirteenth century the Rector of -Madeley a sportsman. Henry III, being in Shrewsbury, in Sept. 1267, at -which time he concluded a treaty with Llewellyn, and settled sundry -little differences with the monks and burgesses respecting a monopoly -claimed by the former, of grinding all corn used in the town, and -possessing all mills within its limits, granted through Peter de Neville -to Richard de Castillon the rector, licence to hunt in the royal forest -of Madeley. In such sport the clergy were borne out by their prelates. -Of one Walter, bishop of Rochester, it is recorded that he was so fond of -the sport that at the age of four score he made hunting his sole -employment, to the total neglect of other duties. There were jolly -churchmen in those days, for - - “The Archdeacon of Richmond, we are told, in his initiation to the - Priory of Bridlington, came attended by ninety-seven horses, - twenty-one dogs, and three hawks. Walter de Suffield, Bishop of - Norwich, bequeathed by will his pack of hounds to the king; whilst - the Abbot of Tavistock, who had also a pack, was commanded by his - bishop, about the same time, to break it up. A famous hunter, - contemporary with Chaucer, was the Abbot of Leicester, whose skill in - the sport of hare hunting was so great, that the king himself, his - son Edward, and certain noblemen, paid him an annual pension that - they might hunt with him.” - -The faithful portraits Chaucer drew of the Sumptner and Pardoner, agents -of ecclesiastical courts—one to hunt out delinquents who were wealthy, -the other to make them pay well for their sins—are familiar to most. The -prior of the Madeley manor carried this so far that he drew down upon him -one bright day in April, 1243, before he was aware of it, a king’s writ -for exacting “toll,” “on beer, seizing the third of widows’ goods who -died within the _vill_ of any deceased tenant, before his debts were -paid, and otherwise oppressing those within the limits of the priory.” -As the author of the “Antiquities of Shropshire” has said, - - “The prior ground down the vicar, the vicar in turn impoverished his - subordinates, and they (the chaplains) either starved their flocks or - were themselves paupers. The bishops moreover, doubtless for certain - considerations, connived at, nay, prominently aided the whole system - of extortion.” - -This had been carried so far as to require the presence of Bishop -Swinfield, who held the See, in 1285, to rectify misappropriations of -tithe in sheep and corn, and to arrange disputes respecting them within -the boundaries of the Priory. In April, 1290, the bishop paid another -visit, being by invitation the guest of the Prior; we do not get the -expenses of the feast, but he is known to have been a joval soul, well to -do, with two palaces in the country, and three in London, constantly -moving about, taking care to carry about with him his brass pots, earthen -jugs, and other domestic utensils for his retainers, who were littered -down in the great halls of the manors, at each stage of the journey. He -had numerous manor houses of his own, a farm at each, stables for many -horses, kennels for his hounds, and mews for his hawks. His kitchens -reeked with every kind of food; his cellars were filled with wine, and -his spiceries with foreign luxuries. Take a glance at the bishop’s feast -after a fast at his residence on the Teme. On Sunday, October the -second, at the bishop’s generous board, the consumption was, three -quarters of beef, three sheep, half a pig, eight geese, ten fowls, twelve -pigeons, nine partridges, and larks too numerous to mention, the whole -accompanied with a due proportion of wine. - -Madeley not being a “fat living,” there was great shuffling on the part -of the incumbents, none of them caring to hold it very long. One, master -Odo de Horbosio, who was instituted March 14, 1299, on presentation of -the Convent and Prior of Much Wenlock; and again, June 4th, 1300, has -license to study, and to attend to business of himself and friends. -August 2nd, 1300; William de Fonehope, who was presented by the Bishop of -Hereford, (by lapse,) on March 18th, 1318, we find exchanging in 1322, -with Sir William Hoynet, rector of Westbury; the said William the fifth -of August, the same year, exchanged with James de Tifford, who exchanged -with another, John Aron, who resigned it in November, 1319. - -The oftener these changes occurred the better for the priors, who held -the right of presentation to the bishop, and exacted fealty and fees. In -Madeley, being lords of the manor, they nominated and presented the -vicars: and in Badger, Beckbury, and elsewhere, where there were lay -lords who nominated, they held the right of presenting such as were -nominated to the bishop, and of exacting fees for their mediate offices -between the nominators and the bishop. - -As the land came to be cultivated, and the population engaged in -agricultural and other pursuits increased in number, the living, we -imagine, improved in value, and the advowson in importance. We have -shown from the commissioners’ description in Domesday what was the state -of Madeley just subsequent to the Norman conquest, and Madeley being -still within the limits of the forest of the Wrekin, which surrounded it -on three sides, little progress was made in the way of cultivation. From -the “Survey of Shropshire Forests” in 1235, it appears that the following -woods, besides those of Madeley, were subject to its -jurisdiction:—Leegomery, Wrockwardine Wood, Eyton-on-the-Weald Moors, -Lilleshall, Sheriffhales, the Lizard, Stirchley, and Great Dawley. -Forest laws were rigorously enforced, and encroachments, either by -cultivation or building without royal license to do so, were severely -punished. - -Prior Imbert was fined for three such trespasses, in 1250, in the heavy -sum of £126 13s. 4d., chiefly in connection with Madeley. In 1390 the -park and meadows the prior had been permitted to enclose with those at -Madeley, Oxenbold, and other manors, were estimated as barely capable of -maintaining the livestock of the priory. - -A perambulation of forests in the reign of Edward I. shows the village of -Madeley, with its bosc and two plains, to be disforested, as well as -Coalbrookdale, one half of Sutton Maddock, and some other places. Coming -down, however, to a much later period,—to the thirty-sixth year of the -reign of Henry VIII., when he sold the Madeley manor,—cultivation had -made considerable progress, and the property of the priory had very much -increased in value. The last of the Wenlock priors, Sir John Bailey, -_alias_ Cressage, gave up possession on the morrow of the Conversion of -St. Paul, 1539, _with his own free will and consent_, according to the -deed, together with that of the sub-prior, and eleven monks. Take - - “The fourth part of the Close Rolls of the 31st King Hen. VIII. 26th - January, 31st Hen. VIII. Deed of Surrender to the Crown of the - Monastery of Wenlock. - - “To all faithful christians to whom the present writing shall come, - we, John Cressegge, Prior of the monastery of St. Milburgh the - Virgin, of Wenlock, in the county of Salop, and the Convent of the - same place, greeting in the Lord everlasting, know ye that we the - aforesaid Prior and Convent, with our unanimous assent and consent, - and with our deliberate purpose, certain knowledge and mere motion - for certain just and reasonable causes, as our mind and consciences - specially moving, have freely and spontaneously given and granted, - and by these presents do give, grant, and yield up, and deliver and - confirm to our most illustrious and invincible prince and lord Henry - the Eighth, by the grace of God of England and France king, defender - of the faith, lord of Ireland and on earth of the church of England - supreme head, all that our said monastery, and also all the scite, - ground, circuit, and precinct, and church of the same monastery, with - all our movable debts, chattels, and goods to us or our said - monastery belonging or appertaining, as well those which we at - present possess, as those which by bond or any other cause whatsoever - to us and our said monastery are due in any manner; and also all and - singular our manors, lordships, messuages, gardens, curtilages, - tofts, lands, and tenements, meadows, feedings, pastures, woods, and - underwoods, rents, reversions, and services, mills, passages, - knights’ fees, wards, marriages, bondmen, villains, with their - sequels, commons, liberties, franchises, privileges, jurisdictions, - offices, courts leet, hundred courts, views of frankpledge, fairs, - markets, parks, warrens, vivaries, waters, fisheries, ways, paths, - wharfs, void grounds, advowsons, nominations, presentations, and - donations of churches, vicarages, chapels, chanteries, hospitals, and - other ecclesiastical benefices whatsoever, rectories, vicarages, - chanteries, pensions, portions, annuities, tithes, oblations, and all - and singular other our emoluments, profits, possessions, - hereditaments, and rights whatsoever, as well within the said county - of Salop, and in the liberties’ of London, Sussex, Chester, and - Stafford, as elsewhere in the kingdom of England and Wales, and the - marches of the same, to our same monastery aforesaid, in any manner - belonging, appertaining, appended, or incumbent, and all and all - manner of our charters, evidences, obligations, writings, and - muniments whatsoever to us or our said monastery, lands, or - tenements, or other the premises with their appurtenances, or to any - part thereof in any manner belonging or appertaining, to have, hold, - and enjoy our said monastery and the aforesaid scite, ground, - circuit, and precinct, and our church aforesaid, with all our debts, - goods, and chattels, and also all and singular manors, lordships, - messuages, lands, and tenements, rectories, pensions, and other - premises whatsoever, with all and singular their appurtenances, to - our aforesaid most invincible prince and king aforesaid, his heirs, - successors, and assigns for ever; and in this behalf, to all effects - of law, which shall or can result therefrom, we subject and submit - ourselves and our said monastery, with all and singular the premises, - and all rights to us in any wise howsoever acquired (as is fitting), - giving and granting, and by these presents we do give and grant, - yield up, deliver, and confirm to the same king’s majesty, his heirs, - successors, and assigns, all and all manner of full and free faculty, - authority and power to dispose of us and our said monastery, together - with all and singular manors, lands, and tenements, rents, - reversions, and services, and every of the premises, with all their - rights and appurtenances whatsoever, and according to his free and - royal will and pleasure to be alienated, given, exchanged, or - transferred to any uses whatsoever agreeable to his majesty, and we - ratify such dispositions, alienations, donations, conversions, and - appropriations by his aforesaid majesty henceforth in any wise - however to be made, promising, moreover by these presents that we - will hold firm and valid all and singular the premises for ever; and - that moreover all and singular the premises may have due effect we - publicly, openly, and expressly, and of our certain knowledge and - spontaneously will, renounce and withdraw all elections from us and - our successors, and also all plaints, challenges appeals, actions, - suits, and other processes whatsoever, rights, remedies, and - benefits, to us and our successors in that behalf by pretext of the - disposition, alienation, donation, conversion, and translation - aforesaid, and other the premises in any wise howsoever competent and - to be competent, and laying aside and altogether putting away all - objections, exceptions, and allegations of deceit, error, fear, - ignorance, or of any other matter or disposition, whatsoever as by - these presents we have renounced and withdrawn and from the same do - recede by these presents: and we the aforesaid prior and convent, our - successors, our said monastery, and also all the scite, ground, - circuit, precinct, mansion, and our church aforesaid, and all and - singular our manors, lordships, messuages, gardens, curtilages, - tofts, lands, and tenements, meadows, feedings, pastures, woods, and - underwoods, rents, reversions, and services, and all and singular - other the premises, with all their rights and appurtenances, to our - aforesaid lord the king, his heirs, successors and assigns, to the - use aforesaid, against all men will warrant and for ever defend by - these presents. In testimony aforesaid, we the aforesaid prior and - convent to this our present writing have subscribed our names and put - our common seal. Given at our chapter house the twenty-sixth day of - the month of January, in the thirty-first year of the reign of our - aforesaid most invincible prince and lord Henry the Eighth.” - -At any rate the prior, sub-prior, and eleven monks retired upon a pension -of £100, which was divided between them thus:— - - £ s. d. -Extranni Baylie (alias Cressage) nuper 30 0 0 -priori ibidem -Willielmus Corfeld nuper sub prior ibidem 6 13 4 -Richard Fishewyke presbitero 6 0 0 -Thomas Acton presbitero 6 0 0 -Johanni Caslett presbitero 6 0 0 -Richardo Fenymo presbitero 6 0 0 -Richardo Benge presbitero 6 0 0 -Richardo Norgrave presbitero 6 0 0 -Thomas Ball presbitero 6 0 0 -Willielmo Morthowe presbitero 5 6 8 -Johanni Lee presbitero 5 6 8 -Willielmo Chamberlain presbitero 5 6 8 -Johanni Hopkins presbitero 5 6 8 - Summa 100 0 0 - -Sir John, the last of the long list of Wenlock priors,—many of them noble -and distinguished men,—retired upon his life-pension of £30 to the old -Court House, Madeley, where he resided till his death, which took place -in 1552. Mr. Eyton says he died on Christmas-day, at the Madeley -manor-house, and was buried next day in Madeley church. The Wenlock -register, at Wynnstay, contains the following entry by Sir Thomas Butler, -the then vicar:— - - “1549. 25 Decr departed and dyed in the manor place of Madeley about - IX of the clock in the nyght Sir John Baily Clercke the last Prior of - Moncks that was in the Monastre of Moch Wenlock prior ther at the - tyme of the Surrender thereof, whose bodie was buryed on the morrow, - vz fest of St. Stephan in the parish churche of Madeley aforesaid.” - -The same authority, Sir Thomas Butler, who seems to have been a most -painstaking recorder of events, under date of February 20, 1539, has the -following entry a little higher up: - - “Edwd Browne Servant to my Lord Prior was married in Madeley and the - Certf. entered in the book of the parish Church of Madeley.” - -Unfortunately that register has been lost, if it existed. It may be that -it did not, as many existing churches were then chapels, that is -affiliations without a baptistery or a cemetery. - -Madeley was subject to the mother-church of Wenlock, and we know how -zealously the vicars of that church guarded their privileges. Broseley -was in the same position, and in our “Tourists’ Guide to Wenlock” we -quoted a memorandum made in the Wenlock register, in which the vicar -says:— - - “1542. Feb. 3rd Mem. at the same time in this Chancel of the Holy - Trinity that I went to bury the Corpse of the sd John, Sir Edmund - Mychell Parson of Browardesley aforsaid, in the presence of Rowland - Wilcocks of the same Browardesley, willed me to give my consent that - they of Browardesley might have their chapel there dedicate for the - Burial there so to be had unto whom I answered (if the law would so - bear me) I would not consent to the dedicating of that their Chapel - of Browardesley nor of none other annexed and depending unto this the - mother Church of the Holy Trinity of Moch Wenlock.” - -These privileges were not strictly regarded, we believe, but as a rule -the dead had to be carried to Wenlock to be buried, excepting in the case -of persons of distinction, like lords of the manor or wealthy tenants of -the prior, who were buried in the church. - -The king having got possession of the property of the Wenlock priory, -proceeded to dispose of it; and Madeley was sold to Robert Broke for what -must have seemed a good round sum in those days. The following -translation, which a friend has been kind enough to make for us, from a -Latin copy of the original deed preserved in the archives of Madeley -church, may be of interest. - -Patent Roll, 36 Henry VIII., Part V. Grant to Robert Broke, Esquire, of -the title and advowson of Madeley, co. Salop. - - “The king to all whom it may concern, etc. salutation. - - “Be it known to you all that we, in consideration of the sum of £946 - 3s. 8d., of our own legal English money, delivered over for our use - into the hands of our legal treasurer, for the increase of the common - revenue of our crown, by our beloved subject, Robert Broke, Knight, - the sureties having been paid on the said sum of £946 3s. 8d., we - declare that we shall be satisfied, contented, and fully indemnified, - and that thenceforward Robert Broke, his heirs and executors, are to - be exonerated and free from molestation, by force of these present - letters, which we have given and conceded from our own special - goodwill, certain knowledge, and of our own accord; and by these same - present letters we give and concede to the aforesaid Robert Broke the - whole of that manor named Madeley, with all and each of its rights, - connections, and patronages, in our county of Salop, enjoyed lately - over the priory of Wenlock, lately suppressed, in the abovementioned - county, and all the belongings formerly attached to the lately - existing monastery. Likewise all the other revenues of ours - whatsoever, with their patronages in the above-named Madeley, and - elsewhere in the above-named county, which have been part members or - subject to the above-named manor, either by acknowledgment, - acceptation, enjoyment, reputation, localization, or even by forcible - separation. - - “Likewise the advowson, the free enjoyment and the right of patronage - of our vicariate parish-church of the above-named Madeley, in the - above-mentioned county, as well as the rights attached to the whole - of the place and buildings that go under the one name of the Smithy - Place, and Newhouse called Calbrooke Smithy, with its patronages in - the aforesaid Madeley. - - “Likewise all our tithes of all fruits and grain annually growing, - being renewed or produced in Madeley the afore mentioned, and now or - lately in the possession of Richard Charleton; also the whole of that - yearly and perpetual endowment of ours, viz., of three shillings - annually, coming to us from the vicarage or church of the aforesaid - Madeley; and the whole of that annual and perpetual pension of ours - of 3s. 4d. annually, due from the rectory or church of Badger, in the - above-named county. - - “Likewise the messuages, tofts, houses, dwellings, stables, dovecots, - stagnant ponds, and vivaries, springs, gardens and orchards, lands, - tenements, incomes, revenues, dues, meadows, pasturages, woods, - shrubberies, and trees. - - “Likewise all the permanent feudal rights and customs, the permanent - dues, endowments, tithes, offerings, belongings, annuities, products, - revenues, and the annual result of engagements entered into by - whomsoever such engagements and provisions were made . . . common - fisheries, ways, paths, void grounds, as well, moreover, as the - liberties, franchises, and jurisdictions, profits, emoluments, - rights, possessions, and the rest of our heraditaments, both - spiritual and temporal, with all their rights, situated, lying, - within, and existing in the manor of the above-named Madeley, over - the late priory, whether belonging to the possessions or revenues of - the late existing. . . . - - “This manor, in truth, with its tenements, and the other things - premised, reaching the clear annual value of £46 17s. 7d., not - considering the tithe. The aforesaid manor, its advowson, rents, - revenues, services, and all and each of the other of its rights, are - to be possessed and held by the aforesaid Robert Broke, his heirs and - assigns, for the personal use of the said Robert Broke, his heirs and - assigns in perpetuity. - - “In consideration of the military service due in taxation to us, our - heirs and successors, viz., the twentieth part of the value of one - feudal knight, £4 13s. 9¼d. of our legal English money are to be paid - to our legal treasurer, for the increase of the common revenues of - our crown, on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel, each year, for - all the rents, services, and demands whatsoever . . . - - “We also wish, and by these presents we concede, to the aforesaid - Robert Broke that the said Robert Broke shall have and retain these - letters patent of ours, drawn up in the usual manner, under our great - seal of England, and signed without fine or tax, heavy or light, to - be paid into our revenue office, or in any other way to be demanded - or paid to the use of us, our heirs, or successors. - - “Therefore express mention of this our will has been made, etc. In - testimony of which, etc., T. R. Signed at Westminster, 23 July - [1544]. On behalf of the king himself, in virtue of the royal - commission.” - -The MS. breaks off abruptly in places, probably from the copyist not -being able to decipher the original. Of the Richard Charleton here -mentioned we have no account in connection with Madeley, but a Richard -Charlton is mentioned some ten years earlier, in the accounts of the -first-fruits office, as the king’s bailiff or collector at the Marshe, -near Barrow, where the Wenlock priors had one of their principal granges, -and held a manorial court. - -This was in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of Henry VIII., and -shortly after the very subservient parliament of 1534–35 had requested -the king “to be pleased, as their most gracious sovereign lord, upon whom -and in whom depended all their joy and wealth, to receive the -first-fruits of all spiritual dignities and promotions.” An earlier -member of this family is also mentioned as Bishop of Hereford, examining -the titles of the prior to certain privileges in Madeley, during one of -his Visitations. We have also heard it said, but are not aware on what -authority, that one of this very ancient and distinguished family at one -time lived at the Hay, in the parish of Madeley. - -The deed is further interesting from its mention of the ironworks at -Coalbrookdale, described as Smithy Place and New House. It is earlier by -a century than any notice previously met with, and we shall further -allude to it when we come to speak of these works. The patronages spoken -of, probably, were the rights exercised over the minerals by the Wenlock -priors, one of whom, in the exercise of such rights, had, in 1322, for -the sum of six shillings, granted a license to Walter de Caldebroke to -dig for coals in the Brockholes, for the term of one year. - -Some light is thrown upon the advowson and tithe of Madeley by -interesting old documents carefully preserved in the vestry of Madeley -church. The following copy of the “Terrier,” kindly lent by Joseph Yate, -Esq., made March 14th, 1710, shows the kind of tithe then collected: - - “True copy of the Terrier of the parish of Madeley, in the county of - Salop. For the vicar and clerks’ fees, tythes, offerings, and - minister’s fees, &c. - - “Imprimis. The court demesnes pays Easter offerings for master and - servants, but no other tythes, except eight shillings at Easter, in - lieu of tythes. The general way of tything within the parish is: hay - and clover is due throughout the whole of the parish, except the - demesnes, and is to be gathered at every eleventh cock; grass at the - tenth cock; every pig and goose pay at the tenth, but for want of - that number pay at the seventh; wool and lambs pay at the tenth, but - in case they are set, is twopence a fleece and threepence a lamb, and - for what lambs are fallen in wintering the owner pays twopence; - calves are gathered in like kind, at the tenth, but for want of ten, - at sixpence per calf. One penny a cow, in lieu of milk. Tythes of - orchards or fruit-trees are gathered in kind throughout the parish, - except the demesnes. The parishioners pay twopence for every stall - of bees they put down, in lieu of tythe-money. Twopence for every - colt, and two eggs for every hen or duck. Three eggs for every cock - or drake at Easter. Surplice fees are paid after this manner: every - marriage solemnized by banns, three shillings and sixpence; if by - license, five shillings (let the parishioner be man or woman). For - churching every woman, sixpence. Easter dues are: every man pays - threepence, every woman pays twopence; one penny smoke, and one penny - garden, clerks fees. Every hen at Easter, one egg; every marriage by - banns, sixpence; if by license, one shilling. Churching every woman, - twopence. Every burial without a coffin and ringing the bell, - twopence; if with a coffin, one shilling and sixpence. Fourpence for - every plough land; twopence every householder; double fees for all - strangers (and likewise the minister). Ten shillings per year for - looking after the clock. Tythes of corn-mills are due in all - parishes except demesnes. - - “Taken 14 March, 1710. Jeremy Taylor, vicar. John Stringer and - William Wood, churchwardens.” - -It would appear from this that the dead were sometimes buried without a -coffin, in which case a coarse cloth was, we believe substituted. The -“smoke penny” was a penny collected for every chimney emitting smoke, or -rather a tithe paid to the vicar upon the wood burnt. A dispute having -arisen in the earlier part of the last century between the vicar and -impropriator, respecting the right of the former to tithe on woods, a -parish meeting was called and a case got up by the vicar and -churchwardens for the opinion of counsel, in which the payment of the -smoke-penny was quoted to establish the vicar’s claim. We give the -queries put and counsel’s replies in the Appendix. - -Tithe and Easter offerings were occasionally paid in kind, as appears -from the churchwardens’ accounts. In one case two heifers are mentioned, -which it is added, produced forty shillings. - -In the churchwarden’s accounts of Easter offerings to the vicar of -Madeley, in 1693, we get an insight of the household of the Court. The -sums given are not stated, but the entry is as follows:— - - “Basil Brooke and wife gave —, John Brooke gave —, John Bowdler gave - —, John the butler gave —, Dennis — gave —, Joseph Littlehales gave - —, Thomas gave — Francis, — gave —, Anthony — gave —, Edward — gave - —, Mrs. Lawson gave —, Margaret — gave —.” - -We have already referred to this distinguished family in connection with -Madeley and Claverley, where one branch continued to reside for many -generations, whilst another was seated at Blacklands, in the neighbouring -parish of Bobbington. Dukes says:— - - “The family of Brooke, formerly of Lapley, in Staffordshire, and - afterwards of Bobbington, and subsequently of Haughton, in - Shropshire, had possessions in this parish, in whose family it - continued until 1800, when the capital mansion and estates belonging - thereto were sold by George Brooke, Esq. to different purchasers.” - -In Claverley the name of John de la Broke occurs in 1242, and that of -Thomas de la Bruche, in 1260, both of whom are supposed to have resided -there. In 1268 a Geoffrey de la Broke is mentioned as having been on an -inquest at Kinver. From 1299 to 1338 Richard de Broke, of Claverley, is -sometimes called Richard atte {35} Broke, in connection with juries on -which he sat, and in attesting deeds at Claverley, Bridgnorth, and -elsewhere. In 1316 he was a grantee of land at Beobridge, whilst his son -Richard is mentioned as a clerk in 1318, and the same son is again -mentioned with his father in 1324. In 1342 and 1343 this succession, Mr. -Eyton thinks, continues in Thomas atte Broke, of Claverley; but Randolf -atte Broke, who was at Enville, in 1347, he takes to have been an -ancestor of Brooke of Blacklands, one of whom (deceased in 1385) seems to -have married a co-heiress of the Gravenors. - -We have already noticed the very magnificent alabaster tomb, in the N.E. -corner of the Gatacre chancel, on which are the recumbent figures of Lord -Chief Justice Brooke, in his official robes, and his two wives, one on -each side; and a subsequent visit enables us to add some additional -particulars. The female-figures have ornamental head-gear, flowing -mantles, single ruffs round their necks, three rows of chain necklaces -hanging loose, and ruffles with braid at the hands. On the three sides -of the tomb are figures of their eighteen children, in the dresses of the -time. This tomb must have been a gorgeous one, for a close inspection -shows traces of gold and colour, which once adorned the principal -figures. It is to be regretted that the arms of this distinguished -family, like those of the Gatacre, the Beauchamp, the Talbot, the -Ferrers, and some others, which, about the end of the seventeenth century -adorned this church, have disappeared. Among others Mr. Eyton, in his -“Antiquities of Shropshire,” gives the following:— - - “Quarterly—first and fourth, Chequy * *, and * *, a crescent for - difference; second and third, * * a Cross Flory * *. (‘Thomas Broke’ - written over this Coat.) - - “Quarterly—first and fourth, Chequy * * and * *, on a Chief * *, a - Brock * *; second and third, Arg, a Cross Flory Sa. - - “Brooke (quarterly) empaling—Paly of six, Or and Az, a Canton Erm. - - “Quarterly—first and four, Chequy Arg and Sa; second and third, Arg a - Cross Flory Sa.” - -Over each of the doors, forming an entrance to, or egress from, the -gardens, at the old Court House, Madeley, are massive stones, with the -arms of the Brooke family, but without the crest. These correspond, too, -with the arms of the Rev. John Brooke, of Haughton, near Shifnal, who -represents another branch of the family of the Brookes, of Claverley. -They are as follows:— - - Parted per pale first Chequy * * and * *, second, Paly of six * * and * - *, a Canton Ermine. - - Parted per pale first Chequy * * and * *, second * * a Chevron, * * - between three Helmets. - - ARMS ON CEILING OF CHAPEL.—Quarterly—first and fourth, Chequy * * and * - *, second and third, * * a cross Flory * *. - - SHIELD OF ARMS IN WHAT WAS ORIGINALLY THE LARGE DINING HALL - BELOW.—Quarterly—first Chequy, * * and * *, second * *, a cross Flory * - *, third * *, a fess Chequy * * and * *, between ten Billets * *, - fourth * *, a fess * *, thereon three Bugle Horns * *, stringed * *, - garnished * *, between three Bucks’ Heads cabossed * *. - - Crest: Ostrich. - -There are also coats of arms over the gatehouse of the Brooke family, -{37} those over the window and doorway being— - - Party per pale. First Chequy * * * and * * *. Second paly of Six, and - a Canton Ermine. - -On the right tower— - - Paly of Six * * * and * * * with Canton Ermine. - - On this tower also is an heraldic rose, and on the left * *, a Cross - Pommee, * *. - -The first entry of an interment in the register at Claverley, the vicar -tells us, is that of a Brooke, and the second entry in the register at -Madeley is also the interment of a member of the same family. - -Subsequent and more detailed examinations of the arms in various parts of -the Court House and adjacent buildings throw a doubt upon the statement -in a previous page, as to the proprietorship or occupation at one time of -the Ferrers family. These arms differ, it will be seen, as may be -expected, from marriages and inter-marriages, but we are not sufficiently -acquainted with the arms of other old families of the time to say with -what or whose arms they were incorporated, and it would be overloading -our pages with genealogical lore to go into details. A family, some of -the members of which had two wives and eighteen children, would naturally -soon spread itself about the country. - -The Rev. C. Brooke, of Brackley, Northants, as these pages are going -through the press, writes to say:— - - “From the similiarity in the arms it would seem that there was a - connection between Robert Brooke of Madeley Court, and Brooke of - Blacklands, whose arms are given by Dr. Plot, in his ‘History of - Staffordshire,’ as ‘Chequy, arg. and sable;’ but it does not appear - to be so by the pedigree in the Visitation taken 1623, or by the - pedigree of Brooke of Blacklands, compiled by Mr. Eyton, for the Rev. - J. Brooke, from original deeds at Haughton, which he did as well as - the scanty records would allow.” - -A contributor to “Salopian Shreds and Patches” (Feb. 9, 1876) says one of -the bells of Church Stretton church has the following inscription:— - - “Donatum pro avi Edwardo Brooke de Stretton Generoso. 1711.” - -And adds— - - “Assuming that this is a correct reading of the abbreviated words on - the bell, the following is a literal translation:—‘Given for luck by - Edward Brooke, of Stretton, gentleman. 1711.’” - -The Rev. John Brooke, of Haughton, unwilling that one of the family -should have been supposed to have associated the word “luck” with things -so sacred, writes to say:— - - “On referring to the copies of the Claverley registers, as I have, I - find that ‘Avis’ was the Christian name of one of his wives, 1636; - therefore, after all, Edward Brooke probably gave the bell in memory - of either his wife or a daughter of that name.” - -One of the Brookes, residing or having property, or both, at -Coalbrookdale, went to Ireland, taking the name of the place with him, -and calling it “Colebrook.” - -In a work published on distinguished Shropshire families is the -following, which is interesting from its bearing upon an important -historical fact:— - - “Robert Brooke Miles married three wives; one, Anne, d. and heir of - Michael Warringe de Salop. He died 1558. - - ↓ - - John B. died 1598, aged 60. + Anne, d. of Francis Shirley, of - Staniton, co. Leicester. - - ↓ - - Sir Basil Brooke Miles, 1623, died 1646. + Etheldreda, d. and sole - heir of Edmund Boudendil.” - -Sir Basil was one of the sporting friends whom Giffard of Chillington -drew around him at his housewarming on the border of Brewood Forest, a -house which subsequently gave shelter to the Earl of Derby and King -Charles the First. It was built nominally as a hunting-seat, but really -for purposes of concealment; and the site on the bolder of two counties, -deep in the recesses of woods, traversed by no public roads, was -exceedingly suitable. It is said that on the completion of the building -the owner invited a few friends to dinner, to celebrate the occasion, and -amongst them Sir Basil Brooke, of the Court House, Madeley, who had -recently returned from Italy, and who on being requested by his host to -supply a name for the place, suggested Boscobel, or Bos co Bello; and -this was considered so appropriate, from the prospect it commanded of the -beautiful woods around, that it is said to have been at once adopted. - -It will be seen from what we have previously stated that the family of -Brooke continued to reside at Madeley till 1706, when, according to the -benefaction-table in the church, Basil Brooke by will bequeathed the sum -of £40, and for a further sum of £30, paid him by Audley Bowdler and -eight other parties, sold three several cottages or tenements, with -gardens and yards, at Madeley Wood, for the use of the poor. {40} - -The next tenant of the Court appears to have been the first Abraham -Darby, for we find that he died there, after which time we find no -tenants of more importance than the Purtons and the Triggers, who were -farmers, and held the land around. - -Thus early, even in Madeley, did the great owners of the soil—who merely -tilled the surface, and scarcely that—give place to miners and ironmakers -who knew how to win wealth from beneath. - -With regard to this fine old mansion itself, having about it the symbols -of ancient and distinguished Shropshire families, and associated at still -earlier periods with the history of the wealthy monastery of St. -Milburgh, it is fast going to decay. The last of the long and -distinguished line of Wenlock priors lived and died here, as did the -first great Shropshire ironmaster, the first Abraham Darby, afterwards, -and one almost regrets that the wish of the late James Foster, who -purchased the property, to repair and restore it, was not carried out. -The temptation to get the mines underneath it, however, proved too -strong: the whole has been undermined, and from attacks below and above, -with all the usual elements of decay at work, must ere long disappear, -rich as it is in associations of the past. - -It is one of that class of buildings the country can ill afford to spare, -for it speaks not to the antiquarian or the historian merely, but to all -who take an interest in the manners, customs, and domestic arrangements -of the past. It is difficult to say which are the original portions, but -the vaults and cellaring, and some other parts appear to have belonged to -a building which has undergone many changes. The windows, walls, and -doorways of that portion of the building occupied by Mr. Round, and the -substantial foundations that gentleman found beneath the surface in -cutting a drain in the same direction, with a well 15 yards deep, -indicate pretty clearly an extension of the buildings formerly on that -side. - -On going inside, and descending a spiral stone staircase to the basement -story of the building, visitors will have opportunities of seeing how -substantially the walls are built. They are a yard and a half in -thickness, and have narrow openings, each growing narrower towards the -outside, every two converging towards a point similar to what the reader -has witnessed in many a fortress of byegone times, and designed no doubt -for the same purpose, for defence. This staircase did not then as now -terminate in what was the large hall, but in the adjoining apartment, now -used as a brewhouse. The partition, too, which shuts off the entrance to -another pair of stairs near the coat of arms on the north did not exist, -nor the stairs either. The room is now 38½ feet long; then it would be -40, by 22 feet wide, and 14 feet high. Beneath these arms, on a daias, -probably, the head of the house would sit dispensing hospitality. The -chief staircase was near the other end of the hall, and composed of -immense blocks of solid oak. The spiral stone staircase from the base of -the building to the chapel at the top of the house was for the use, it is -supposed, either of the dependents or the officiating priest. A further -examination of the arms on the ceiling and a comparison with those in -other parts of the building show them to be those of the Brooke family. -An oak screen divides the chapel, which is wainscoted to the ceiling with -oak. On the eastern side of this screen is a piscina, which has been cut -out of the solid brickwork, and which at a subsequent period must have -been concealed by the wainscoating. In the western division, behind the -wainscoating, is a secret chamber, a yard square; probably for -concealment in times of danger. It is communicated with by a panel in -the wainscoat just large enough to admit a man, who, once inside, had the -means of bolting and barring himself in behind the oak panel, which would -look in no respect different to the others. This is called king -Charles’s hole, but there is no evidence or well-founded tradition that -he occupied it. There are a number of other curious nooks and small -chambers which might have served purposes of concealment in troubled -times, and probably did so, when the votaries of the two dominant -religions, fired with a zeal inspired by their positions, alternately -persecuted each other, as in the times of James, Mary, and Elizabeth. It -is an error however, and one which Harrison Ainsworth among others -appears to have fallen into, to suppose that the unfortunate king Charles -either came to the Court House or was secreted in it. It is probable -enough that, from the well known loyalty of the owner, the house would be -searched by the Parliamentarians for the king, and the fact that they -were likely to do so would lead to more discretion in selecting a place -of concealment. The fine old wainscoating is falling from the rooms, and -the whole place presents a scene of utter desolation. - -From the upper portion of the building a pit, said to be without a -bottom, and leading to a subterranean passage to Buildwas Abbey, may be -seen. There is of course no ground for either tradition: a house which -belonged to the priors of Wenlock would want no communication with a -rival monastery, which was looked upon with jealousy, and the more -abstemious habits of the inmates of which were in some measure a -reflection upon their own. The pit or well has no bottom, inasmuch as it -slants when it gets below the building in the direction of the pool in -which it terminates. - -Outside the building are some of the grotesque, nondescript stone figures -which builders of the Gothic age indulged in. On this side, too, is a -handsome stone porch, which, like some other portions of the same -building is more modern than others. The gate-house, like the porch, is -both more modern, and more Elizabethan than the other. It is a -well-proportioned and beautiful building, exciting the admiration of all -who see it. It possesses several heraldic embellishments, relating to -the Brooke family. - -It is a pity that the memorials of a family so ancient and distinguished, -and so connected with the early history of Madeley, have not been better -preserved. There must, one would think, have been mural monuments of a -costly kind in the old church, seeing that the family lived at the Court -for two centuries and a half at the least. - -The stone of which the house was built was quarried near the spot, but -the shelly limestone covering for the roof must have been brought from -Acton Burnell, or somewhere near. It is from the pentamerous beds of the -Caradoc sandstone. The house is supplied with spring-water by pipes from -an ancient reservoir on the high ground near where the stone used was -probably quarried. - - - -KING CHARLES’S VISIT TO, AND CONCEALMENT AT, MADELEY. - - -The first indication we find at Madeley of the troubled times which -ushered in the most remarkable episode in the history of the 17th century -is an entry in the church register, under date of April 14, 1645, -informing us that on the above date one William Caroloso was buried, the -church at the time being garrisoned by a Parliamentary regiment, -commanded by Captain Harrington. A page of history was being written -which in all future times would be read with interest; agencies, the -growth of centuries, had been developed; struggles for political and -polemical equality had disturbed the stagnation of ages. The injustice -of the courts, the persecutions, pillorings, and beheadings of reformers -and standard-bearers of truth, and the weakness and insincerity of -monarchs, had culminated in revolution, and six years later the weak -vacillating monarch, Charles II., after the battle of Worcester, where -3,000 of his army had been left upon the field, came a fugitive to -Madeley. The story of his flight, his disguise, and of his lodging in -“Wolfe’s bam,” is an episode in history that illustrates the vicissitudes -of life, affords a startling lesson to royalty, and brings into relief -the devotion and faithfulness of those in humble spheres to others when -in misfortune. Having ridden in hot haste from Worcester, and fallen in -with the Earls Buckingham, Derby, Wilmot, and others, “I strove,” he -tells us, “as soon as it was dark, to get them to stand by me against the -enemy, I could not get rid of them now I had a mind to it, having, -afterwards slipt away from them by a by-road when it was dark.” - -The story of his retreat through Kidderminster, where Richard Baxter -describes the balls flying all night, and the hurried northward flight -under the trusty scout, Master Walker; then the second pause of terror on -Kinver Heath; the stolen and breathless flight through Stourbridge; the -short and poor refreshment at Kingswinford; and the long gallop to the -White Ladies;—the whole flight being certainly forty miles—has been so -often told as to be familiar to the reader. - -These and other incidents of the flight have been worked up in a drama, -in five acts, by Mr. George Griffiths, of Bewdley. Scene 2 is laid at -the White Ladies (nine miles from Wolverhampton and one from Brewood, now -occupied by Mr. Wilson). - - “_Enter_ Col. Roscarrock, Richard Penderell, of Hobbal Grange, Edward - Martin, a servant, and Bartholemew Martin, a boy in the house. - - “_Col. Roscarrock_ (to the boy Martin): - Come hither, boy, canst thou do an errand, - And speak to no one on the road to Boscobel? - - “_Boy_.—That I can, Sir, without reward or fee; - Trust me, I will not say one word - To any he or she, so tell me what’s my duty. - - “_Col. Roscarrock_.—Go off to Boscobel the nearest road, - And one that fewest folks do travel by. - Tell William Penderell to hasten hither, - Without a minute’s stopping, - And should he ask thee why and wherefore, - Tell him Good Master Giffard wants him here - Without delay, and see thou com’st back with him; - And shouldst thou meet or pass folks on the road, - Say nought unto them as to where thou’rt going - Or what thy errand is. Haste, and some coin - Shall warm thy pocket if thou mind’st my words. - - “_Boy_.—Aye, aye, sir, humble boys have sharpish wits. - Because their simple food keeps them in health; - I’se warrant the Squire’s son, though so well fed, - Cannot leap gates like I, or ride a horse - Barebacked across the hedges of our farm. - Aye, aye, sir, I can keep my counsel, too; - I know a hay-fork from a noble’s sword, - And I do feel that with my harvest fork - I could defend a king as stoutly - As those who carry golden-handled swords. - I go, and no man, no, nor woman either, - Shall coax one word from off my faithful tongue. - - [_Exit_. - - “_Col. Roscarrock_.—See now, how this young varlet guesses all, - His eye alone told all I thought unknown; - Well, trusty friends dwell oft in rustic hearts - With more sincerity than in the breasts - Of those who fill the highest offices.” - -Boscobel was selected upon the suggestion of the Earl of Derby, who, -defeated and wounded on the 25th of August, 1651, at the battle of Wigan, -by the Parliamentary forces under Colonel Lilburn, found his way hither -whilst seeking to join Charles at Worcester, and who, after four or five -days rest here, went on, and reached Worcester on the eve of the famous -battle. - -Boscobel, so named, as we have seen, by Sir Basil Brooke, of the Court -House, Madeley, on account of its beautiful and well-wooded situation, -and built ostensibly as a hunting-lodge, but in reality as a hiding-place -for priests, amid the sombre forest of Brewood, was often used for the -purpose for which it was designed, as well as a shelter for distressed -Cavaliers. - -The story of the disfigurement of Charles, and his crouching wet and -weary in the woods, has been often told in prose and verse. We quote -Griffiths again:— - - “_W. Penderell_ (to the King).—Sire, disguise is your first need, - henceforth your title must not pass - Our lips; here in this chimney rub your hands - And then transfer the blackness to your face. - We must in, and clothe you in a rustic suit - Of green, with leathern doublet and a noggain shirt - For we have heard that troops have come to Codsall - But three miles off, under the traitor Ashenhurst. - Haste! Haste! and when your rough disguise is donned - We must take shelter in the thick Spring Coppice, - The darkest covert Boscobel doth claim. - - “SCENE 4. Richard Penderell’s house at Hobbal Grange. Enter the - King, old Mrs. Penderell, and her son Richard. - - “_The King_.—We must not stop here long, the air is full of spies, - The night now favours us; no moon nor stars - Shine out to show us to our enemies. - Let’s hence to Wales, fidelity lives there - More than on English soil. Oft have I read - Of their unvarying faith to those they served, - What straits and stratagems they felt and wrought, - To save misfortune’s sons from grievous fates. - - “_R. Penderell_.—We must disguise you more; - Rub well your hands in the wet dirt, - Here, take this bill, a woodman you must be, - And for a name let William Jones suffice; - Shew no dread, but speak few words, - For fear they should betray your better teaching. - Come, let’s away, I have a friend at Madeley, - Wolfe by name, faithful and trusty.” - -William Penderell acting as barber, the king was eased of his royal -locks, his hands and face were toned down to that of a country labourer, -and he sallied forth, wood-bill in hand, in the direction of Madeley, -with “a country-fellow,” whose borrowed suit he travelled in. To -understand his majesty’s toilet the reader must conceive the royal person -in a pair of ordinary grey cloth breeches—“more holy than the -wearer”—rather roomy in the slack; a leathern doublet, greasy about the -collar; hose much darned; shoes that let in dirt and wet to the royal -feet—ventilators in their way; and above all a sugar-loaf hat, rain proof -by reason of grease, turned up at the sides, the corners acting as -water-spouts. Thus disguised, the rain pouring in torrents, on a dark -night, along a rough by-road, “guided by the rustling sound of Richard’s -calf-skin breeches,” through mud and mire, over ruts, plunging now and -then into swollen streams, the king and his guide travelled in the -direction of Madeley. Slamming the gate at Evelyth bridge, in the middle -of the night, brought out the miller, who ordered them to stand, and -raised an outcry of “Rogues, rogues.” Foot-sore and weary, resolving -sometimes to go no farther, then plucking up their spirits and trudging -on, the house of Mr. Wolfe, who had “hiding holes for priests,” was -reached, where the king slept in a barn. - -Hearing from Mr. Wolfe’s son, who had escaped from Shrewsbury, that every -bridge and boat were in the possession of the Roundheads, so that escape -in that direction was hopeless, it was decided to advise his majesty to -return. Mr. Wolfe, according to Pepys, persuaded the king to put on “a -pair of old green yarn stockings, all worn and darned at the knees, with -their feet cut off, to hide his white ones, for fear of being observed;” -and Mrs. Wolfe having again had recourse to walnut-juice for the purpose -of deepening the tone upon the royal face, he again set out in the -direction of Boscobel. The king, in the diary above quoted, is made to -say:— - - “So we set out as soon as it was dark. But, as we came by the mill - again, we had no mind to be questioned a second time there; and - therefore asking Richard Penderell whether he could swim or no, and - how deep the river was, he told me it was a scurvy river, not easy to - be past in all places, and that he could not swim. So I told him, - that the river being a little one, I would undertake to help him - over. Upon which we went over some closes to the river side, and I, - entering the river first, to see whether I could myself go over, who - knew how to swim, found it was but a little above my middle; and - thereupon taking Richard Penderell by the hand, I helped him over.” - -They reached Boscobel at five o’clock on the morning of Saturday, -September 6th. Penderell, leaving the king in the wood, went to the -house to reconnoitre. All was secure, and he found Colonel Carless, who -was also hiding at Boscobel. He had been an active soldier throughout -the war. His presence cheered the tired and wandering monarch, who now -for the first time was brought into the house, and sitting by the fire -was refreshed with bread and cheese and a warm posset of beer, prepared -by W. Penderell’s wife, Joan, who also brought him warm water to bathe -his feet, and dried his shoes by placing in them hot embers. After a -short slumber the king was aroused by his anxious attendants, he not -being safe in the house in the daylight. With Colonel Carless he then -climbed into an oak tree that stood a few yards from the house, at some -distance from the other trees. It had been lopped or pollarded, some -years before, and in consequence had grown very bushy, and afforded a -good hiding-place. They took provisions for the day with them. Screened -from view, the king, resting his head on the knees of Carless, slept -soundly for some time. The king, in his narrative, as recorded by Pepys, -says:—“While we were in the tree we saw soldiers going up and down in the -thickets of the wood, searching for persons escaped, we seeing them now -and then peeping out of the wood.” - -Saturday evening brought darkness, of which the fugitives availed -themselves by going into the house, and Penderell’s wife, Dame Joan, -provided a dainty dish of roast chickens for the king’s supper. That -being over, the king retired to a hiding-hole at the top of the stairs, -where a pallet was laid ready, and there he passed the night. On Sunday -morning the king arose refreshed, and passed the day partly at his -devotions, partly in watching, and partly reading in the garden. We must -not forget to mention that he cooked his meat, frying some collops of -mutton. Meanwhile, John Penderell had gone in search of Lord Wilmot, -whom he found at Moseley Hall with Mr. Whitgreave, and in the evening he -returned, bringing tidings that the king could be received at Moseley. -Whereupon Charles, taking leave of Carless, set out on Humphrey -Penderell’s (the miller’s) horse, attended by the five Penderells and -their brother-in-law, Yates, well armed with bills and pike-staves, as -well as pistols. The king complained of the rough motion of the horse. -“Can you blame the horse, my liege,” said the honest miller, “to go -heavily, when he has the weight of three kingdoms on his back?” At -Moseley Hall the king remained from Sunday night till Tuesday evening, -when Colonel Lane came from Bentley, bringing a horse for him. Being -dressed in a suit of grey hose, and with the name of Jackson, he acted as -serving-man to Miss Jane Lane, rode before her, and eventually embarked -for France, which country after many narrow escapes, he reached safely on -the 16th of October. - -To Mr. Wolfe, of Madeley, the king presented a very handsome silver -tankard with the inscription, “Given by Charles the Second, at the -Restoration, to F. Wolfe, of Madeley, in whose barn he was secreted after -the defeat at Worcester, 1651.” The tankard is now in the possession of -W. Rathbone, Esq., of Liverpool, but a print of it hangs in the old -house. The tankard has upon the cover a coat of arms: the crest is a -demi-wolf supporting a crown. In the hall there is an old panel, which -was cut out of the wainscoating of the dining-room, with the initials, -thus:— - - F. W. M. - 1621. - -In the church register we find the burial of Barbara Wolfe, January 13th, -1660; of Ann Wolfe, September 19th, 1672; of Francis Wolfe, December 7th, -1665; and of Sarah Wolfe, late wife of Francis Wolfe, January 10th, 1698. - -The house is a very old one, and Mr. Joseph Yate, of the Hall, close by, -says he remembers his father telling him that in former times it was “a -house of entertainment.” The barn which is not more than twenty feet -from the house, afterwards became the Market House, the butchers’ -shambles being still discernible. The upper portion was rebuilt, or -cased, a few years ago, but the old timber skeleton remains. - -It is pleasant to find that Charles, at the restoration, further -remembered his preservers, and settled pensions on their survivors; but -not till 1675 was permanent provision made. Certain rents from estates -in Stafford, Salop, Hereford, &c., were intrusted to Sir Walter -Wollesley, John Giffard, of Black Ladies, and Richard Congreve, of -Congreve, to pay the yearly proceeds to the Penderell family, the sum -amounting to about £450 per annum, thus:— - - £100 a-year to Richard Penderell or his heirs, - - £100 a-year to William or his heirs. - - 100 marks, or £66 13s. 4d. a-year to Humphrey or his heirs. - - 100 marks to John or his heirs. - - 100 marks to George or his heirs. - - £50 a-year to Elizabeth Yates or her heirs. - -The surviving trustee is John Giffard, of Black Ladies, and his lineal -descendants, the present squire of Chillington, who is now sole trustee. -{54} - - - -THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON. - - -Another notable event noticed by an old book in the vestry of Madeley -Church already quoted, is the Great Fire of London, September, 1666, -sixteen years subsequent to the stirring drama previously recorded. It -comes before us in a house-to-house visitation, by the vicar and -churchwardens, for the purpose of raising subscriptions “in aid of a fund -to relieve the sufferings by the Great Fire.” - -In this account nine sugar-refiners are said to have lost £20,000; but, -notwithstanding the house-to-house visitation, only £1 2s. 10d. was -raised, which speaks little for the sympathy or wealth of the inhabitants -at that time. - - - -ASSESSMENTS IN MADELEY, AND ABOLITION OF THE CHIMNEY TAX OR SMOKE-PENNY. - - -The Smoke-Penny, Chimney Tax, or Hearth-Money, previously alluded to, so -oppressive to the poor, and so obnoxious generally, by exposing every -man’s house to be entered and searched at pleasure, had become so -unpopular that one of the earliest proceedings of the first Parliament of -William and Mary was to substitute a grant in “aid,” of £68,820 per -month, for six months, payable in proportions; the entire assessment for -Shropshire being £1203, and those for the several parishes in the -allotment of Madeley, at 12d. in the £, as under:— - - £ s. d. -Madeley 17 02 04 -Little Wenlock 10 04 06 -Huntington 03 11 10 -Beckbury 05 09 02 -Badger 03 13 06½ - £40 01 7½ - -The principle ever since continued of specific annual grants to the king -by votes of Parliament, partially acted upon by Charles II., but wholly -disregarded by the Parliament of the succeeding reign, was now fully -established. - - - -THE LAW OF SETTLEMENT. - - -From an order given to the constables of the parish of Madeley in 1690, -we get an insight of the laws of Settlement which imposed such -restrictions upon our ancestors, compelling a labourer to remain in the -place where he was born to the end of his days, and preventing him -bettering his condition. The order was that whereas Thomas Richardson -had endeavoured to make a settlement in Madeley contrary to the law, &c., -that they, the constables, bring his body to the serjeant’s house, Much -Wenlock, to answer all matters brought against him by the overseers of -the poor of the parish of Madeley. The constables were also to bring -John York, smith, before some justice of the peace to give sureties for -his own and his wife’s good behaviour. - - - -VAGRANTS AND STURDY BEGGARS. - - -Paupers having been created by restraints preventing them seeking employ -where work was to be had, of course became troublesome. Hence the -serjeant-at-mace orders the constables at Madeley upon oath to report -what felonies have been committed, and what vagrants and sturdy beggars -have passed through. - -The same constables were to ascertain how many persons of the age of -sixteen absented themselves from church, and for how many Sabbaths. Also -who destroyed hawks, hares, pheasants, &c.; and who bought by greater and -sold by lesser weights. - - - -THE OATHS OF SUPREMACY. - - -In the fifth year of William and Mary (1691) constables were to give -notice to all above sixteen and under sixty, whom they believed to be -disaffected, to appear before the serjeant-at-mace to take the oaths, -&c.: but a goodly number of the Madeley and Little Wenlock allotment -appear to have been guilty of contempt, and were ordered to pay the sum -of 40s. by them forfeited. Having been guilty of further contempt, the -constables are ordered to seize and bring the bodies of the delinquents. -(See Appendix.) - - - -THE POLL TAX. - - -In the same year, 1692, constables are instructed to look-up all loose -seamen and watermen, and bring them before one of the justices of the -peace; and to collect 4s. in the £, towards carrying on a vigorous war -with France. An order (September, 1693), signed “George Weld, Bart.,” -addressed to Mr. Brooke, of Madeley, calls upon the constables to summons -the Militia to appear at Shrewsbury &c., &c. Under the act passed for -collecting 4s. in the £, for carrying on the war, constables were -instructed to charge papists and all who had not taken the oaths of -supremacy double. - - - -ASSESSMENT FOR CARRYING ON A VIGOROUS WAR. - - -The assessment for Madeley for three months, on the allotment of Little -Wenlock by the commissioners, towards the raising of £1,651,702, as -granted by Parliament to the king for carrying on a vigorous war against -France, was £8 2s. - - - -PRESS LAWS. - - -In the same year constables were commanded to make diligent search for -all straggling seamen and watermen who were of able bodies, fit for -service at sea, and, to impress them, giving them one shilling. The -assessment in Madeley of 4s. in the £, for 1694, produced, on land, -works, &c., £149 1s. 4d., “one pound having been abated on the -lime-works.” - - - -TAX UPON MARRIAGES, BIRTHS, BURIALS, &c. - - -In 1695 the Madeley constables were to collect duties upon “marriages, -births, and burials, and upon bachelors and widows,” for carrying on the -war with France, according to the rank of the individuals. - -In 1696, and 1697, we find constables have various duties assigned them; -and in 1698, they are required to carry out an act for preventing frauds -and abuses in the charging and collecting, and paying of duties upon -marriages, births, and burials, bachelors and widows. Also for -collecting a quarterly poll for the year. - -In 1702 instructions are given to constables to present all papists, -Jesuits, and all others that have received orders from the see of Rome. -Also all popish recusants and others that do not come to their several -parish churches within the divisions. - -In 1703 they were to collect subsides for her majesty (Queen Anne), for -carrying on the war with France and Spain, and to charge those who had -not taken the oath of allegiance double. - -In 1708 constables were to ascertain what masters or servants gave or -took greater wages than were allowed by law. - -Our account of instructions to constables continues to 1714, but nothing -to merit comment occurs. Many names of old Madeley families occur, which -we shall notice hereafter. - - - -RENT AND VALUE OF LANDS IN THE LORDSHIP OF MADELEY, in 1702. - - -Demesne lands in Madeley, (537a. 3r. 33p.) or those attached to the Court -House, with the 770 trees upon it, valued at twenty years purchase, was -said to be £6,459 10s. 4d.; yearly rent, £289 13s. 6d. The whole acreage -of Madeley, including the above, was 2073 acres, the yearly value of -which was £1,021; trees, 3369; loads of wood, 160; purchase, £17,366 9s. -4d. For names of proprietors, see Appendix. - -We find from a survey of the lordship of Madeley, that the demesne lands -of the Court in 1786, belonged to Richard Dyett, Esq., one of an old -Shropshire family, from whom it was purchased by William Orme Foster, -Esq., about the year 1830. - - - -THE COAL AND IRON INDUSTRIES OF MADELEY. - - -During the period events previously recorded were being enacted, the coal -and iron industries now employing so many hands, and which have brought -so much wealth to individual proprietors, were being developed. Francis -Wolfe, who gave shelter to King Charles, is supposed to have been a -shareholder in some ironworks at Leighton, and probably at Coalbrookdale, -from the fact that an iron plate, bearing date 1609, has the initials -“T.R.W.,” and another with the date 1658 (the latter removed here from -Leighton), also bears a “W” among other initials. We read also of a -clerk of a Shropshire ironworks being the first to convey the news of the -disastrous defeat of the royal army at Worcester. We find, too, that as -early as 1332 Walter de Caldbroke obtained from the Wenlock monks license -to dig for coals at the outcrop at the Brockholes. We also learn from -Fuller, who lived and wrote in the seventeenth century, that what he -calls “fresh-water coal” was dug out at such a distance from the Severn -as to be easily ported by boat into other shires. - -Iron, too, was made as we have seen from the Patent Roll, 36 Henry VIII., -part v., where the grant of the manor of Madeley to Robert Brooke, Esq. -is expressly said to include “the rights attached to the whole of the -place and buildings that go under the one name of the Smithy Place, and -Newhouse called Caldbrooke Smithy, with its patronages in the aforesaid -Madeley.” - - - -THE FIRST IRONWORKS.—THE REYNOLDSES. - - -The first ironworks were of course of a very humble description; the -outcrop of the mines did not then determine the situation so much as the -presence of a powerful stream which supplied a force to work the leathern -bellows which blew the fires. The first Abraham Darby came to the Dale -in 1709, and in 1713 the make was but from five to ten tons per week. In -1712 he used coal in smelting iron. He died at the Court House, Madeley, -in 1717, and was succeeded by his son, the second Abraham Darby, who in -1760 is said to have laid the first rails of iron for carriages with -axles having fixed wheels. The third Abraham Darby effected another -great achievement, the casting and erecting the first iron bridge, for -which he obtained the medal of the Society of Arts. The credit of having -laid the first iron rails is claimed for Richard Reynolds, who succeeded -the second Abraham Darby in the management of these works in 1763, and -who, according to Sir Robert Stephenson, who examined the books of the -works, cast six tons of iron rails for the use of the works in 1767. It -was at these works, too, that the brothers Cranege anticipated Henry Cort -by seventeen years by the discovery of the process of puddling in a -reverberatory furnace, by the use of pit-coal, in 1766, under the -management of Mr. Reynolds. - -Mr. Reynolds also took a warm interest in the success and introduction of -the steam engine, which he adopted in 1778. “For no one,” observes his -daughter, “did he entertain sentiments of more affectionate esteem than -for James Watt,” with whom, as well as with Wedgwood and Wilkinson, he -was associated in several public movements of the time. Being a Friend -he was opposed to war and refused Government orders for cannon; and he -was stung to the quick when Pitt’s ministry proposed to lay a war tax -upon coal. The country had been carrying on wars—wars everywhere, and -with everybody, and to meet the lavish expenditure, the popular minister -of the day, on whom Walpole tells us, “it rained gold boxes” for weeks -running, “the pilot that weathered the storm,” sought to replenish the -exchequer by a tax of 2s. per ton, to be paid on all coal without -exception raised to the pit’s mouth. The iron-masters of Shropshire, -Staffordshire and Yorkshire, as well as those of other English and -Scottish counties were alarmed; it was felt to be an important crisis in -the history of the trade. Deputations and petitions were sent up, but -the wily premier had so carefully yet quietly surrounded himself with -facts, that he knew of every pound of iron made and of every ton of coal -that was raised. Pitt received the gentlemen connected with the trade -with the greatest freedom and affability; bowed them in and out; -appointed hours and places to meet their convenience, and left them -dumbfounded at his knowledge of details of their own business. Mr. -Reynolds entered the field in opposition to the tax, gave evidence before -the Privy Council, and by petitions to the House and letters to members -of the Cabinet, materially aided in defeating the attempt. The gravity -of the occasion is, perhaps, even more evident to us, on whom the -advantages of a cheap and plentiful supply of iron have fallen. We can -better measure the consequences that must have followed. A tax upon coal -at that period would have paralysed the trade, checked its development in -this country, and thrown into the lap of others benefits we ourselves -have derived; would have disendowed the island of advantages in which it -is peculiarly rich,—upon which it is mainly dependent for its wealth, its -progress, and its civilization. A tax upon coal would have been a tax -upon iron, upon the manufacture of iron, upon its consumption, and its -use in the arts and manufactures of the kingdom,—a tax upon spinning, -weaving, and printing,—a tax upon the genius of Watt and Arkwright, whose -improvements it would have thrown back and thwarted,—upon the extension -of commerce at home and abroad. The immense advantages possessed by the -manufacturers of the New World would then have given them the lead in a -race in which, even now, it is as much as we can do to keep up. Our -energies, just at a time when the iron nerves of England were put to -their greatest strain, would have been paralysed, and we should have been -deprived of our railways, our locomotives, our steam-fleets, and much of -our commerce, and prosperity. Mr. Reynolds saw the evil in prospective, -and in a letter to Earl Gower, President of the Council, dated the 7th -month, 1784, takes a very just review of the past history of the trade -and the improvements then about to be adopted. He says:— - - “The advancement of the iron trade within these few years have been - prodigious; it was thought, and justly, that the making of pig iron - with pit coal was a great acquisition to the nation by saving the - woods and supplying a material to manufactories, the make of which, - by the consumption of all the wood the country produced, was unequal - to the demand; and the nail trade, perhaps the most considerable of - any one article of manufactured iron, would have been lost to this - country, had it not been found practicable to make nails of iron made - with pit coal; and it is for that purpose we have made, or rather are - making, the alterations at Donnington-Wood, Ketley, &c., which we - expect to complete in the present year, but not at a less expense - than twenty thousand pounds, which will be lost to us and gained by - nobody if this tax is laid on our coals. The only chance we have of - making iron as cheap as it can be imported from Russia, is the low - price of our fuel, and unless we can do that there will not be - consumption equal to half the quantity that can be made, and when we - consider how many people are employed on a ton of iron, and the - several trades dependent thereupon, we shall be convinced the Revenue - is much more benefited even by the consumption of excisable articles, - &c., than by the duty on a ton of foreign iron; nor will it, I - believe, escape observation that the iron trade, so fatally affected - by this absurd tax, is only of the second, if indeed, on some - account, it is not of the first importance to the nation. The - preference I know is given, and I believe justly, as to the number of - hands employed, to the woollen manufactory; but when it is remembered - that all that is produced by making of iron with pit coal is - absolutely so much gained to the nation, and which, without its being - so applied, would be perfectly useless, it will evince its superior - importance, for the land grazed by sheep might be converted with - whatever loss to other purposes of agriculture or pasturage; but coal - and iron stone have no value in their natural state, produce nothing - till they are consumed or manufactured, and a tax upon coal, which, - as I said, is the only article that in any degree compensates for our - high price of labour, &c., or can be substituted in the stead of - water for our wheels, and bellows, would entirely ruin this very - populous country, and throw its labouring poor upon the parishes, - till the emigration of those of them who are able to work shall - strengthen our opponents, and leave the desolated wastes, at present - occupied by their cottages, to the lords of the soil.” - -In the year following (1785) the interests of the iron trade were again -considered to be endangered from commercial arrangements proposed by the -Irish House of Commons for the consideration of Parliament. Mr. -Reynolds, Messrs. Boulton, Watt, Wedgwood, Wilkinson, and others, united -in forming an association for the protection of the trade, under the -title of “The United Chamber of Manufacturers of Great Britain.” The -Shropshire iron and coal masters petitioned the House, and Mr. Reynolds -again wielded the pen in defence of the trade. We extract sufficient to -show the extent of the works. He says, addressing Earl Gower, under date -28th of the third month, 1785,— - - “We solicit thy effectual interposition against a measure so - injurious to us and to the many hundreds of poor people employed by - us in working and carrying on mines, &c., for the supply of a large - sale of coals by land and water, and of coals and mine for sixteen - fire-engines, eight blast furnaces, and nine forges, besides the air - furnaces, mills, &c., at the foundry at Coalbrookdale, and which, - with the levels, roads, and more than twenty miles of railways, &c., - still employs a capital of upwards of £100,000, though the declension - of our trade has, as stated in a former letter, obliged us to stop - two blast furnaces, which are not included in the number before - mentioned. Nor have we ever considered ourselves as the first of - many others employed in iron or coal works in this kingdom.” - -We have considered the subject of our present sketch chiefly under one -aspect only—as a man of action—and that mainly in connection with the -iron trade, and in providing against those reverses to which not only -that but other branches of industry were peculiarly liable, more -particularly during the latter end of the last and the commencement of -the present centuries. Mr. Reynolds, however, has claims no less -distinguished under a classification beneath which is frequently found -another division of human benefactors. He was not only a man of -action—great in dealing with things tangible,—but he was a man of thought -and of genius—as quick to devise and to plan as to execute. What is -still more rare, he possessed those qualities in proportions so finely -balanced, that their happy combination, during a long and active life, -gave birth to schemes of noble enterprise, valuable to the district, and -important to the nation. That which merited, from vulgar -shortsightedness, the epithet of eccentricity, a state of deep and -penetrating thought, was oftentimes the conceiving energy of a vigorous -mind mastering in the mental laboratory of the brain, plans and schemes -of which the noblest movements of the day are the just and legitimate -offspring. The schemes he inaugurated were victories won, the -improvements he effected were triumphs gained to the nation or for -humanity. - -That quality of mind which too often runs waste or evaporates in wild -impracticable ideality, with him found an object of utility on which to -alight, and under the magic of a more than ordinary genius difficulties -disappeared, formidable obstacles melted into air, and the useful and the -true were fused into one. He never felt the fluttering of a noble -thought but he held it by the skirts, and made it do duty in this -work-day world of ours, if it had relation to the tangible realities of -time. “Though I do not adopt,” he writes to a friend, “all the notions -of Swedenbourg, I have believed that the spiritual world is nearer to us -than many suppose, and that our communication with it would be more -frequent than many of us experience, did we attain to that degree of -purity of heart and abstraction from worldly thoughts and tempers which -qualify for such communion or intercourse.” He was not a man whose soul -ran dry in solitude, or that grew melancholy the moment the click of -money-making machinery no longer sounded in his ears. He was one of the -old iron-kings, ’tis true, but with a soul in harmony with the silvery -music of the universe. Often with no companion but his pipe, he retired -to some retreat, consecrated perhaps by many a happy thought, and watched -the declining sun, bathing in liquid glory the Ercall woods, the majestic -Wrekin, the Briedden hills, and the still more distant Cader Idris. A -deep vein of genuine religious feeling often appeared upon the surface, -and seemed to penetrate reflections of the kind. Speaking of a new -arbour he had made, be says— - - “From thence I have seen three or four as fine sunsets as I at any - time have seen, and if the gradual going down, and last, last twinkle - of the once radiant orb, the instant when it was, and was not, to be - seen—made me think of that awful moment when the last sigh consigns - the departing soul to different if not distant scenes, the glorious - effulgence gilding the western horizon with inimitable magnificence, - naturally suggested the idea of celestial splendour, and inspired the - wish that (through the assistance of His grace) a faithful obedience - to the requirings of our great Maker and Master, may in that solemn - season justify the hope of my being admitted into that city which - hath no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine on it, for the - glory of God lightens it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.” - -The Wrekin was a favourite object; to its summit he made his annual -pilgrimage, together with his family, his Dale relations, his clerks, and -most of the members of the little Society of Friends. The following bit -of landscape painting betrays a master hand, and is so faithful in -itself, depicting no less the features of the country than the genius of -his mind, that we incorporate it with our present sketch:— - - “We went upon the Wrekin,” he writes, “sooner than usual this year, - that my children might partake of the pleasure. The weather was - pleasant, though rather windy. From the top of that hill the - prospect is so rich, so extensive, so various, that, considered as a - landscape only, it beggars all description; and yet I cannot forbear, - as thou desirest it, mentioning the tufted trees in the adjoining - woods, upon which, occasioned perhaps by the uncommonness of the - scene, I always _look down_ with a particular pleasure, as well as - survey those more distant, which are interspersed among the corn and - meadows, contrasted with the new-ploughed fallow-grounds and pastures - with cattle; the towns and villages, gentlemen’s seats, farm-houses, - enrich and diversify the prospect, whilst the various companies of - harvest men in the different farms within view enliven the scene. - Nor are the rivers that glitter among the laughing meadows, or the - stupendous mountains which, though distant, appear awfully dreary - without their effect considered part of the landscape only. But not - to confine the entertainment to visual enjoyment, what an - intellectual feast does the prospect from that hill afford when - beheld, ‘or with the curious or pious eye.’ Is not infinite power - exerted, and infinite goodness displayed, in the various as well as - plentiful provision for our several wants. Should not the - consideration expand over hearts with desires to contribute to the - relief of those whose indigence, excluding them from an equal - participation of the general feast, is for a trial of their faith and - patience and of our gratitude and obedience! Whilst with an - appropriation of sentiment which receives propriety from the - consciousness of our unworthiness, we substitute a particular for the - general exclamation of humble admiration, in the word of the - psalmist—‘Lord, what is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son - of man that thou (thus) visitest him?’ The romantic scenes of - Benthall Edge,—its rocks and precipices, its sides and top covered - with wood; the navigable Severn, in which its feet are immersed; the - populousness of the opposite shore; the motion, noise, and life on - the river; the adjoining wharves and manufactories, are capable of - affording a high entertainment, and I should willingly devote one day - in the year to a repetition of the enjoyments of the pleasures I have - heretofore received from them: though equally near, and equally - desirable, a jaunt to Benthall Edge is not equally facile with one to - the Wrekin. It seems more out of my province.” - -Our readers, ere this, must have discovered a power of description, a -grace and polish, blended with a masculine force of thought, in the -correspondence of Mr. Reynolds, of a more than common order; and would -still more, could we feel at liberty to quote more copiously from -numerous letters to his friends. If we follow him more closely into -private life, and lift the veil that too often hides a dualism of -character from the unsuspicious public eye, we find the sterling elements -of the gentleman and the Christian. - -Take the experience of the past as recorded, or the traditions of the -present, as found among a generation second in remove from Richard -Reynolds’s time, and they bring out into relief still more striking -traits of character, that do honour to our common nature. The guiding -principle of his life, in all cases of bargain and of sale, Mrs. Rathbone -tells us, were in accordance with the old adage—“Live and let live;” and -as an instance of the consistency with which he acted up to his motto she -adds that, at the breaking out of the American war, when bar-iron rose to -an extravagant price, and the makers of pig-iron could obtain their own -terms, instead of taking an unreasonable advantage of the opportunity, he -proposed to his customers that it should be left to one of themselves to -name a fair price for pig-iron in the _then state_ of the trade, and to -determine the scale of proportionate reduction which should take place -when the price of bar-iron should fall, as he foresaw that it would -follow the _then_ great and unsatisfied demand. The proposal was -accepted, and by the scale which was then fixed his conduct was governed. - -Order and punctuality were exemplified in his dealings. “A place for -everything and everything in its place”—a maxim for which he confessed -his obligation to De Witt—was not only his rule, but was painted in large -characters in the kitchen, over the fireplace, for the benefit of the -servants. The appellation “honest,” given to his father, was a term -equally applicable to the son, who at the outset and in after life made -it a rule to regulate his affairs by that principle of prudence and of -equity. - -He yielded to every man his own, not only as concerned demands upon his -purse, but in what are usually deemed small matters, such as those of -respect which one man owes to another. He would follow a poor person to -his or her home to apologise if he had spoken warmly or unbecomingly in -the heat of temper. It was painful, his granddaughter tells us, for him -to see waste. “I cannot bear to see sweeping on the ground that which -would clothe a poor shivering child” was his remark made respecting the -long dresses of the time. - -Mrs. Rathbone, in her memoir, says:— - - “My grandfather had great respect and regard for a very amiable and - excellent minister of the Gospel, who lived in his neighbourhood, the - Rev. Joshua Gilpin; and it was mainly through his exertions and - personal interest that Mr. Gilpin was presented to the living of - Wrockwardine. He also enjoyed the acquaintance of many scientific - and well-informed men. His manners, as a host, were courteous and - dignified, and his conversation, when he was perfectly at ease, - animated, and often diversified with a quaint wit and humorous - satire. His fine countenance beamed with intelligence and kindness; - his eyes were piercing, and were remarkable for the brightness which - seemed literally to flash from them under strong emotion. It was - something almost fearful to meet their glance in anger or - indignation, whilst equally striking was their beautiful expression - under the excitement of admiration or affection.” - -In the short sketch we gave of Mr. Reynolds in the “Severn Valley,” we -said, “the stamp of heaven’s nobility was visible in his face, and the -free and open features with which nature had endowed his person were not -dwarfed by the uniform look and expression sometimes demanded by sects. -Eyes of liquid blue, full-orbed, gave back the azure tint of heaven, and -lighted up a manly face, fair and ruddy. To these indications of a Saxon -type were added others, such as light brown hair, that in flowing curls -fell upon the shoulders of a tall and full-developed figure.” - -The portrait we have hereafter described was obtained with some -difficulty, as Mr. Reynolds refused for a long time to concede to the -wishes of his friends on the subject; and the first attempt made was by a -miniature-painter, who made a sketch from the garden as he sat reading by -candle-light. This was not successful, and a second attempt, made as he -sat at meeting, being no better, he was induced to sit to Mr. Hobday. -The books shown in the background were favourites of his, and they are -arranged in the order in which he regarded them. - -In a letter to his son, dated 8th of 12th month, 1808, he says:— - - “John Birtell has paid £48 4s. 7d. for the pictures, frames and - cases, which should be repaid to him. I understood from S. A. it was - thy wish to make thy sister a present of one of them, and in that - case please to remit the amount to John Birtell; if she (S. A.) is - mistaken, remit the money to J. B. nevertheless, and I will repay - thee the half of it; but I insist upon one condition both from thee - and thy sister: that as long as I live, the pictures be nowhere but - in your bed-chambers. The first was begun without my knowledge, and - indirect means used to accomplish it; at length I was candidly told - it was determined to have it, and when I saw what was done, I thought - it better to sit for the finishing than to have it a mere caricature; - but I think it a very moderate performance at last. I was willing - too, to avail myself of the opportunity, if such a one must be - presented, of exhibiting my belief of Christianity as exhibited in - the 5th chapter of the Romans; and my estimation of certain authors, - by affixing their names to the books delineated in the back ground.” - -In reference to this subject (his portrait), some twelve months after, in -a letter to his son, he says:— - - “This reminds me to mention what I intended to have mentioned before; - that is, an alteration I propose to be made in the one here, and if - this could be done in the others, I should like it; and which, I - suppose, would be best effected by obliterating the books, and - arranging them differently, according to the estimation in which - their writings or character may be supposed to be held; with the - addition of Kempis and Fenelon, not only for their intrinsic merits, - but to show that our good opinion was not confined to our own - countrymen. They would then stand thus:— - - “Fox and Penn. - Woolman and Clarkson. - Hanway and Howard. - Milton and Cowper. - Addison and Watts. - Barclay and Locke. - Sir W. Jones and Sir W. Blackstone. - Kempis and Fenelon. - - “I do not know whether I gave thee my reasons, as I did to thy - sister, for the original selection. She may shew thee my letter to - her, and thou may communicate the above to her, with my dear love to - all, repeated from - - “Thy affectionate father, - “RICHARD REYNOLDS.” - -It was the custom when Mr. Reynolds had charge of the Coalbrookdale works -to perform long journeys on horseback, and we have heard it said that on -one occasion, being mounted on the back of an old trooper, near Windsor, -where George III. was reviewing some troops, the horse, on hearing -martial music, pricked up his ears, and carried Mr. Reynolds into the -midst of them before he could be reined up. He was a good horseman, and -a grandson of Mr. Reynolds writes:— - - “We also enjoyed very much our grandfather’s account of a visit paid - to the Ketley Iron Works by Lord Thurlow, the then Lord Chancellor. - My grandfather, having gone through the works with his lordship, and - given him all requisite information and needful refreshment, proposed - to accompany him part of the way on his return, which offer his - lordship gratefully accepted, and the horses were ordered to the door - accordingly. They were, both of them, good riders, and were, both of - them, well mounted. The Lord Chancellor’s horse, no doubt a little - instigated thereto by his owner, took the lead, and my grandfather’s - horse, nothing loth to follow the example, kept as nearly neck and - neck with his rival as _his_ owner considered respectful. The speed - was alternately increased, until they found themselves getting on at - a very dashing pace indeed! and they became aware that the steeds - were as nearly matched as possible. At last, the Chancellor pulled - up, and complimenting my grandfather upon his ‘very fine horse’ - confessed that he had never expected to meet with one who could trot - so fast as his own. My grandfather acknowledged to a similar - impression on his part; and his lordship, heartily shaking hands with - him, and thanking him for his great attention, laughed, and said, ‘I - think, Mr. Reynolds, this is probably the first time that ever a Lord - Chancellor and a Quaker rode a race together.’” - -The years 1774, 1782, and 1796 were periods of great distress. Haggard -hunger, despairing wretchedness, and ignorant force were banded to -trample down the safeguards of civil right, and armed ruffians took the -initiative in scrambles for food. The gravity of the occasion, in the -latter case, may be estimated by the subscriptions for the purchase of -food for the starving population. We give those of the iron companies of -this district only: Messrs. Bishton and Co. gave £1,500; Mr. Botfield, -for the Old Park Company, £1,500; Mr. Joseph Reynolds, for the Ketley -Company, £2,000; Mr. R. Dearman, for the Coalbrookdale Company, £1,500; -Mr. William Reynolds, for the Madeley-Wood Company, £1000. Mr. Richard -Reynolds gave £500 as his individual subscription. Applications, in -times of distress, from far and near were made to Mr. Reynolds for -assistance. Taking a general view of the distress existing in the -beginning of the year 1811, he says, in reply to a letter from a -clergyman, “I am thankful I am not altogether without sympathy with my -fellow-men, or compassion for the sufferings to which the want of -employment subjects the poor, or the sufferings still more severe of some -of their former employers. Thou mentions Rochdale, Bolton, Leeds, and -Halifax. Wilt thou apply the enclosed towards the relief of some of -them, at thy discretion? Those who want it most and deserve it best -should have the preference,—the aged, honest, sober, and industrious. I -am sensible how limited the benefits from such a sum in so populous a -district must be, and of the difficulty of personal investigation before -distribution. If it could be made subservient to the procuring an -extensive contribution it would be of more important service. If it -cannot I think it would be best to commit it to some judicious person or -persons in each place, to distribute with the utmost privacy, and (that) -for their own sakes, were it only to avoid applications from more than -they could supply, and yet the refusal would subject them to abuse. But -in whatever manner thou shalt dispose of it, I send it upon the express -condition that nobody living knows thou ever had it from me; this is -matter of conscience with me. In places where we are known, and on -public occasions, when one’s example would have an influence, it may be -as much a duty to give up one’s name as one’s money; but otherwise I -think we cannot too strictly follow the injunction:—‘Take heed that ye do -not your alms before men to be seen of them, otherwise ye have no reward -of your Father which is in heaven.’” - -If some poor tradesman in London or elsewhere was tottering on the verge -of bankruptcy, and a friend was found to write to Richard Reynolds, he -was put upon his legs again. Poor debtors found themselves relieved from -the King’s Bench by an unknown hand. Unwilling to be known as the giver -of large sums, he would sometimes forward his subscriptions with his -name, and send a larger contribution anonymously afterwards. In this way -he gave a sum in his own name on behalf of the distress in Germany, and -then forwarded a further sum of £500 privately. For years he had -almoners in London and elsewhere, dispensing sums to meet distress, and -on behalf of public and private charities, scrupulously enacting that his -name should not appear in the transactions. To one party he sent £20,000 -during the distress of 1795. He had four distributors of his bounty -constantly employed in Bristol alone. They brought in their accounts -weekly, giving the names of persons or families, the sums given, and the -circumstances under which they were relieved. Not the least to be -appreciated was the consideration and delicacy with which he assisted -persons not ostensibly objects of charity (to use the word in its common -sense) and many who, through relationship, personal interest, or -estimable conduct were felt to have claims on his kindness and -generosity. - -He solicited in Bristol subscriptions on a large scale for augmenting the -fund for the payment of a weekly sum to the inhabitants of the -almshouses, going from house to house,—his own zeal kindling that of -others. One gentleman to whom he applied, of acknowledged wealth and -importance in the city, having given him a cheque for £500, he said he -would give him back the cheque, as such a sum from _him_ would do more -harm than good. The gentleman immediately wrote another for £1000. He -himself gave £2000 (one of his friends says £4000), and £4000 to the -Trinity almshouses. In 1808 he placed in the hands of the trustees the -sum of £10,500 to be invested in land, the rent of which was to be -devoted to seven charitable institutions in Bristol, named in the deed -and trust, in such manner and proportion, either to one alone, or between -any, as should at the time appear expedient to the trustees. An addition -to the infirmary being needed, he devoted much of his time to that -object, subscribing £2,600. The committee also received an anonymous -donation of £1000, entertaining no doubt who was the giver; and on the -following day one of their number happening to meet Richard Reynolds, -thanked him in the name of the committee for his acceptable donation. He -said—“Thou hast no authority for saying I sent the money,” and the -gentleman repeating the acknowledgment of the committee, Mr. Reynolds -quietly said—“Well, I see thou art determined that I should give thee a -thousand pounds,” and the next day they received a donation of that sum -with his name attached, thus doubling his first contribution. To these -gifts may be added (besides his annual subscription) donations:—£1,260 to -the Stranger’s Friend; £900 to the Misericordia; £500 to the Refuge, and -the same to the Orphan Asylum; and to the Bible Society, £900. Of -several other small amounts one need only be mentioned, from his -purse,—that of £300 to the Temple parish, towards providing a better -supply of water to the poor. - -Mr. Reynolds’s last visit to Ketley, the scene of his labours, and the -source of his vast income, was in June, 1816. His funeral took place on -the 18th of September, amidst a manifestation of respect, as marked and -profound as ever was paid to the remains of mortal man. The city of -Bristol offered spontaneously to his memory that signal tribute of -general regard that a name embalmed by good deeds alone can win. Columns -of schoolboys, with mournful recollections of the good man’s smile, -formed a melancholy passage to the dwelling of their benefactor. These -were flanked by vast crowds of sympathising poor, who felt they had lost -a friend. The clergy of the Church of England, ministers of dissenting -congregations, gentlemen forming the committees of various societies, and -other leading men, besides a large body of the Society of Friends, -followed the several members and relatives of the family in procession. -So great was public curiosity excited on this occasion, and such the -eagerness manifested by the poor, who had lost their best friend, to pay -their last respect to his remains, that not only was the spacious -burial-ground filled with spectators and mourners, but the very tops of -walls and houses surrounding the area were covered. The behaviour of the -vast concourse of people was in the highest degree decent, orderly and -respectful, the poor, considering it a favour to be permitted in their -turn to approach the grave of their departed friend, and to drop the -silent tear as a mark of their regard for the man whose life had been -spent in doing good. - -Montgomery, in verses from which we extract the following, paid a just -tribute to his memory: - - Strike a louder, loftier lyre; - Bolder, sweeter strains employ; - Wake remembrance! and inspire - Sorrow with the song of joy. - - Who was he for whom our tears - Flowed, and will not cease to flow? - Full of honours and of years, - In the dust his head lies low. - - . . . . . . . - - He was one whose open face - Did his inmost heart reveal; - One who wore with meekest grace - On his forehead heaven’s broad seal. - - Kindness all his looks express’d, - Charity was every word; - Him the eye beheld and bless’d, - And the ear rejoiced and heard. - - Like a patriarchal sage, - Holy, humble, courteous, mild, - He could blend the awe of age - With the sweetness of a child. - - . . . . . . . - - Oft his silent spirit went, - Like an angel from the throne, - On benign commission bent, - In the fear of God alone. - - Then the widow’s heart would sing, - As she turned her wheel, for joy; - Then the bliss of hope would spring - On the outcast orphan boy. - - To the blind, the deaf, the lame, - To the ignorant and vile, - Stranger, captive, slave, he came, - With a welcome and a smile. - - Help to all he did dispense. - Gold, instruction, raiment, food, - Like the gifts of Providence, - To the evil and the good. - - Deeds of mercy, deeds unknown, - Shall eternity record, - Which he durst not call his own, - For he did them for the Lord. - - As the earth puts forth her flowers, - Heaven-ward breathing from below; - As the clouds descend in showers, - When the southern breezes glow. - - . . . . . . . - - Full of faith, at length he died, - And victorious in the race, - Wore the crown for which he died, - Not of merit but of grace. - - - -WILLIAM REYNOLDS. - - -The father, Richard Reynolds, as will be seen from our sketch, managed to -realize immense wealth at Ketley, and, what is more, to remain superior -to the influence wealth too often has upon its possessor. The finer -feelings of the man never succumbed to the vulgar circumstances of his -position, but maintained their freshness, and graduated to maturity by -the mastering force of a resolute will and a well-disciplined and highly -enlightened mind. Never so completely absorbed in the arts and -intricacies of money-making as to lose sight of higher and worthier aims, -he sought an opportunity earlier than men in his circumstances usually do -of enjoying the well-earned fruits of an active life; of indulging in -that repose and retirement congenial to minds similarly constituted to -his own. Accordingly, his shares in the works were turned over to his -two sons, William and Joseph. William was the more distinguished of the -two in carrying out improvements connected with the works. Like his -father, he possessed an active mind, an elevated taste, and a desire for -knowledge; to which were added a mechanical genius, and an aptitude for -turning to account resources within his reach. He saw the necessity of -uniting science with practice in developing the rich resources of the -district; and that knowledge and discovery must keep pace with aptitude -in their use. - - “An equal appreciation of all parts of knowledge,” it was remarked by - Humboldt, “is an especial requirement of an epoch in which the - material wealth and the increasing prosperity of nations are in a - great measure based on a more enlightened employment of natural - products and forces. The most superficial glance at the present - condition of European states shows that those which linger in the - race cannot hope to escape the partial diminution, and perhaps the - final annihilation, of their resources. It is with nations as with - nature, which, according to a happy expression of Goethe, knows no - pause in ever-increasing movement, development, and production—a - curse, still cleaving to a standstill. Nothing but serious - occupation with chemistry and physical and natural science can defend - a state from the consequences of competition. Man can produce no - effect upon nature, or appropriate her powers, unless he is - conversant with her laws, and with their relations to material - objects according to measures and numbers. And in this lies the - power of popular intelligence, which rises or falls as it encourages - or neglects this study. Science and information are the joy and - justification of mankind. They form the spring of a nation’s wealth, - being often indeed substitutes for those material riches which nature - has in many cases distributed with so partial a hand. Those nations - which remain behind in manufacturing activity, by neglecting the - practical application of the mechanical arts, and of industrial - chemistry, to the transmission, growth, or manufacture of raw - materials—those nations amongst whom respect for such activity does - not pervade all classes—must inevitably fall from prosperity they - have attained; and this so much the more certainly and speedily as - neighbouring states, instinct with the power of renovation, in which - science and the arts of industry operate or lend each other mutual - assistance, are seen pressing forward in the race.” - -Upon this principle Mr. Reynolds placed himself under the teaching of Dr. -Black, the discoverer of latent heat, a gentleman who by his eminent -ability and teaching did so much to inspire a love for the science in -England during the latter part of the last century. He was thus enabled -to bring the knowledge he possessed of elementary substances and of their -peculiar qualities, gained in the laboratory, to bear upon the -manufacture of iron in the furnace and the forge, and to anticipate some -of the discoveries of later times. - -Steel and iron have long been manufactured at Ulverstone, and the quality -or fitness of the ore for the purpose is attributed to the presence of -manganese in the ore, which since the establishment of railways has come -into general use. In Mr. Reynolds’s time we imported large quantities of -iron and steel; and ignorant of what constituted the difference between -our own and that of foreign markets, had with some humiliation to confess -our dependence. In no case had a uniform quality of bar-iron with the -superior marks of Sweden and Russia been produced. A great variety of -processes had been tried, and makers were not wanting who made laudable -efforts for the accomplishment of the object, feeling that in so doing -they devoted their time to the service of their country, and that in a -national as well as a commercial point of view no experiments were -fraught with more important consequences. - -Mr. Reynolds thought he saw the solution of the problem how to produce -metal equal to that made from the magnetic and richer ores of the Swedish -and Siberian mines, when Bergman published his analysis of Swedish iron, -showing the large percentage of manganese it contained. The analysis -showed the following results: - - CAST IRON. - Parts. -Plumbago 2.20 -Manganese 15.25 -Silicious Earth 2.25 -Iron 80.30 - 100 - STEEL. -Plumbago .50 -Manganese 15.25 -Silicious Earth .60 -Iron 83.65 - 100 - BAR-IRON. -Plumbago .50 -Manganese 15.25 -Silicious Earth 1.75 -Iron 84.78 - 100 - -In order to effect a combination corresponding with this analysis of the -French chemist he introduced manganese into the refinery during the -re-smelting process, and succeeded in producing bar-iron capable of -conversion into steel of better quality than had previously been made -from coke-iron. From subsequent experiments the per-centage introduced -of metallic manganese could be traced into bar-iron, the inference being -that the purpose served was the additional supply of oxygen it gave to -burn out the impurities—a result the Bessemer process has since attained -in another way. When it is remembered that the end to be attained in -these processes is to consume the impurities of the metal, and that those -impurities are of such a nature as to unite with oxygen at a high -temperature and form separate compounds, also that this boiling and -bubbling up of the liquid metal was carefully watched and tended -formerly, one can understand how near the iron-kings of a past age were -to the Bessemer discovery of the present. - -“The old men,” as they are frequently called in the works, appear to have -had an inkling of the real nature of the process: The rising impurities -and combination of opposite gases indicated by bubbles were called the -“Soldier’s coming.” At any rate the Bessemer invention is an adaptation -of a principle acted upon during the past century in the Shropshire -ironworks. Mr. Reynolds’s patent was obtained December 6, 1799, and was -stated to be for “preparing iron for the conversion thereof into steel.” -In his specification he described his invention to consist in the -employment of oxide of manganese in the conversion of pig-iron into -malleable iron or steel, but did not enter into details as to the method -he employed for carrying his invention into effect. - -John Wilkinson obtained a patent January 23, 1801, for making “Pig or -cast metal from ore, which when manufactured into bar-iron will be found -equal in quality to any that is imported from Russia or Sweden.” The -patentee states his invention to consist “in making use of manganese, or -ores containing manganese, in addition to ironstone and other materials -used in making iron, and in certain proportions, to be varied by the -nature of such ironstone and other materials.” - -Mr. Reynolds was not only a chemist, but a geologist. He succeeded in -forming a collection of carboniferous fossils to which modern professors -acknowledge their obligations, and which, with the additions made by Mr. -William Anstice, Dean Buckland pronounced one of the finest in Europe. -Other manufacturers, every day dealing with subterranean treasures that -give iron in abundance, were as dwellers amid the ruins of some ancient -city, taking down structures of the builders of which and of the history -of which they were ignorant. With him minerals had an interest beyond -their market value. Coal and ore from the dusky mine, raised at so much -per ton, were not minerals merely, but materials prepared to his hand by -Nature. He detected traces of that venerable dame’s cast-off garments in -one; the others were fabrics, the result of processes as varied as his -own, the produce of machinery more wonderful and powerful than that he -was about to employ in converting them to the general uses and purposes -of mankind. His pit-shafts to him were mere inlets to the deep -storehouse of the globe where Providence had treasured means whereby to -enrich future inhabitants of the surface. Geology as a science, ’tis -true, was but beginning to shed its light on the cosmogony of the world; -endeavours to make out a connected history of the earth from examinations -of the structure itself were deemed strange; and the more intelligent of -his contemporaries, who without hesitation adopted speculations daring -and beyond the province of human intellect, looked coldly upon his -labours. The old workmen to whom he offered premiums for the best -specimens could not for the life of them make out the meaning of his -morning visits to the mines, his constant inquiries respecting fossils, -his frequent hammering at ironstone nodules, his looking inside them and -loading his pockets with them—seeing that he did not confine attention to -those that seemed likely to make good iron. Some considered it to be one -of the good old Quaker’s eccentricities, and did not forget when he -turned his back to point to their heads, intimating that “all was not -right in his upper garrets.” Others, knowing that he sometimes used the -blow-pipe and tried experiments in his laboratory, believed his aim to be -to extract “goold,” as they said, from the stone—a supposition to which -the presence of iron pyrites gave some degree of colouring. One fine -morning, in particular, as flitting gleams of sunshine came down to -brighten young green patches of copse and meadow, telling of returning -spring, a group of his men were seated with bottle and tot, drinking the -cuckoo’s foot-ale, when, “Here comes Measter William, here comes Old -Broadbrim,” it was said, “with his pecker in his pocket, fatch the -curiosities from the crit.” Mr. Reynolds was not very well pleased, for -large orders were in the books unexecuted, and coal and ore could not be -got fast enough. Every engine had its steam up; but not a beam-head or -pulley creaked or stirred. One or two bands of workmen had gone down, -but had come up again. The cuckoo’s voice that morning for the first -time had been heard, and it was more potent than the master’s; for it was -the custom, and had been from time immemorial, to drink his foot-ale, and -to drink it out of doors; and the man was fined, who proposed to deviate -from custom by drinking it in-doors. On May Day too it was the custom, -as it now is, to gather boughs or sprigs of the birch, with its young and -graceful fronds, and mount them on the engines, the pit heads, and -cabins, and on the heads of horses, to proclaim the fact that we had -entered upon the merry, merry month of May. - -Mr. Reynolds was generally pleased with meeting his men, and would -readily enter into their whims, and turn such interviews to account. By -such means he often obtained from them a knowledge of their wants, and -received hints and suggestions that aided him in carrying out -improvements in the works. The same disruption of social ties did not -then exist as now; that mutual relation that beautified the olden time, -and gave men and master an interest in each others welfare existed. A -master, then, was more like the chief of a tribe, the father of a family; -he had generally sprung from the ranks, he felt himself to be of the same -flesh and blood, removed only a little by circumstances, and bound by a -community of interest. Money-making had not then been reduced to a -science, nor men to machines. With some degree of pride the men laid -their stony treasures at the master’s feet. There were amongst them what -the colliers call millers’ thumbs, horses’ hoofs, snails’ houses, -“shining scales,” “crucked screws,” “things-like-leaves, and rotten -wood.” “You should have heard,” said an old sage, “Mr. Reynolds give a -description of them, and have seen the effect upon his audience. If I -remember rightly, millers’ thumbs were orthoceratites, shells—as the name -implies—like horns, but not pointed, and having several air-chambers. -Horses’ hoofs, were portions of others, coiled, and spiral—that could -float on the water, sink to the bottom, or rise to the surface, by a -peculiar mechanical apparatus—like the forcing pump of a steam engine. -The shining scales, were scales of fish coated with armour, hard as -flint, and furnished with carvers to cut up the smaller fry on which they -fed.” He showed that the nodules of ironstone contained exact -impressions of leaves and fruits that grew beneath the golden beams of a -tropical sun; that the bits called rotten wood were really wood, showing -the beautiful anatomy of the tree, that it had been water-worn by being -carried down the dancing stream into the soft and yielding mud in which -it ultimately sank and was preserved. Coal, he explained, was nothing -more than the vegetation of former periods, which accumulated where it -grew, or was swept down by rains or streams into beds where it was -hermetically sealed, fermented, and converted into mineral fuel for -future use. “Lord, sir,” said our informant, “you should have seen how -they all stared. Flukey F’lyd, one of the butties of Whimsey pit, said -he little thought they were working in the gutters, or grubbing in the -mud-banks of slimy lakes of a former world; he had seen stems of trees -and trunks in the roof, but he thought they had got there at the Flood, -and turned to stone. Gambler Baugh, of the Sulphur pit, said he thought -the coal had been put there at the creation, and was intended to be used -to burn up the world at the last day; and that he sometimes considered it -a wrong thing to get it, believing they ought to use wood, and concluded -by inviting the Governor to ‘wet,’ as he said, ‘the other eye, by taking -another tot.’ The company drank his health, his long life and happiness, -and exclaimed—’who’d have thought it.’” “Aye, who would have thought -it,” continued Mr. Reynolds, warming with his subject, “when the first -iron mine was tapped that in the slime and mud of those early times, now -hardened into stone lay coiled up a thousand conveniences of mankind; -that in that ore lay concealed the steam-engines, the tramways, the -popular and universal metal that in peace and war should keep pace with -and contribute to the highest triumphs of the world.” Upon such -occasions questions of improvement, invention, adaptation, &c., &c., -would often be freely discussed, and we have it upon the authority of -some of the old workmen that many of the achievements in engineering we -applaud in the present day, were the result of such suggestions in part. - -Nothing, in fact, was known about iron ore, iron making and machinery, -but what he knew or else took steps to acquaint himself with, if he had -the opportunity. We have a number of large foolscap MS. volumes of -experiments and extracts neatly copied, with pen and ink drawings of -machines, parts of machines, &c.; shewing that whilst Smeaton and Watt -were engaged in perfecting the construction of the steam engine, Mr. -Reynolds was endeavouring to apply it to purposes similar to those to -which it is now applied as a locomotive. Thus he constructed a -locomotive with a waggon attached, the cylinder and boiler of which are -still preserved. An accident, we believe a fatal one, which happened to -one of the men upon starting the engine led Mr. Reynolds to abandon the -machine; but he by no means lost faith in the invention. On the -contrary, he was wont to say to his nephew, the late William Anstice, -father of the present Mr. Reynolds Anstice, “I may never live to see the -time, but thee may, William, when towns will be lighted by gas instead of -oil and candles, when vessels will be driven without sails, and when -carriages will travel without horses.” - -This was before Trevithic invented a machine which travelled at a slow -rate with heavy loads on a railway at Merthyr. It was prior to 1787, -when Symington exhibited his model steam carriage in Edinburgh, and to -the time when Darwin, (1793), with equal poetry and prophecy, wrote— - - “Soon shall thy arm, unconquered steam afar - Drag the slow barge, or drive the rapid car.” - -Mr. Reynolds indeed contemplated, it is believed, a subterranean tram -road from the banks of the Severn right up into the heart of the iron -districts of Ketley and Donnington Wood, upon which his engine was to -travel, but the prejudice against the scheme was so great, and the jury -empanelled to inquire into the nature of the accident inflicted such an -enormous fine to be enforced every time the engine was used, that it was -abandoned. There are also a pair of partially rotatory brass cylinders -in existence which Mr. Reynolds intended as models for a boat on the -Severn. This was before Shropshire generally, and the iron districts -more particularly, had begun to participate in the advantages of -still-water communication. With the superior advantages of railways, it -is difficult to appreciate the full benefit of such communication for -manufacturing and agricultural purposes at that time in inland counties -like our own. Mr. Reynolds however, with full faith in the future -development of the powers of steam by means of improved machinery, took -great pains to extend and perfect canal navigation, and his name is -associated with every important work of improvement in the district -during the latter end of the last and the beginning of the present -centuries, and especially with a very ingenious contrivance by means of -which the inequalities of surface were overcome, and the old-fashioned -locks were dispensed with. - -Mr. Reynolds commenced his canal for the conveyance of minerals from -Oakengates and Ketley in 1788; and shortly after its completion an Act of -Parliament was obtained for one from Donnington Wood which, forming a -junction therewith, was to proceed along the high ground above -Coalbrookdale, on one hand, and Madeley and Coalport on the other. The -difference of level was 73 feet in one case and 207 feet in the other. -Telford, speaking of the difficulties to be encountered from the nature -of the country, says: - - “The inequality of the ground and the want of sufficient water seemed - insuperable, and might probably have been so for ages to come had not - Mr. William Reynolds, of Ketley, whose character is too well known to - need any eulogium, discovered the means of overcoming them. Having - occasion to improve the method of conveying ironstone and coals from - the neighbourhood of Oakengates to the ironworks at Ketley, these - materials lying generally about the distance of a mile and a half - from the ironworks, and 73 feet above their level, he made a - navigable canal, and instead of descending in the usual way by locks, - contrived to bring the canal forward to an abrupt part of the bank, - the skirts of which terminated on a level with the ironworks. At the - top of this bank he built a small lock, and from the bottom of the - lock, and down the face of the bank, he constructed an _inclined - plane_, with a double iron railway. He then erected an upright frame - of timber, in which was fixed a large wooden barrel. Round the - latter a rope was passed that led to a moveable frame, the frame - being of a sufficient size to receive a canal boat, resting and - preserved in nearly a horizontal position, by having two large wheels - before and two small ones behind—varying as much in the diameters as - the inclined plane varied from a horizontal plane. This frame being - placed in the lock, the loaded boat was brought to rest upon it. The - lock gates were shut, the water was drawn from the lock into a - side-pond, the boat settled upon a horizontal wooden frame, and—as - the bottom of the lock was formed with nearly the same declivity as - the inclined plane—upon the lower gates being opened, the frame with - the boat passed down the iron railway into the lower canal, which had - been formed on a level with the Ketley ironworks, being a fall of 73 - feet. A double railway having been laid upon the inclined plane, the - loaded boat in passing down brought up another boat containing a load - nearly equal to one-third part of that which passed down. The - velocity of the boats was regulated by a break acting upon a large - wheel, placed upon the axis on which the ropes connected with the - carriages were coiled.” - -This contrivance has been in use up to the present time. During Mr. -Reynolds’s life a representation of it figured upon copper tokens, one of -the first iron bridge being upon the opposite or obverse side. - -Another of these contrivances is still in use near the Hay, in the parish -of Madeley, called the Coalport Incline. This is 207 feet in length, and -the gradient is much greater, being about one in three. So great indeed -that on the chain snapping we have known a canal boat with five tons of -iron pigs on board gain such velocity that on coming in contact with the -water in the lower canal it has broken away from the iron chains which -held it to the carriage, bounded into the air, clearing two other boats -moored on the side, together with the embankment, and alighted in the -Severn, close to the ferry-boat, into which it pitched some of the -iron-pigs it contained. At the foot of this incline Mr. Reynolds drove a -level to the shaft of the Blissers Hill pits, to bring down the coals to -the lower canal for loading into barges on the Severn. This was the -famous Tar Tunnel from which petroleum was formerly exported in large -quantities to all parts of Europe. - -William Reynolds removed from Ketley to a large house formerly occupied -by Lord Dundonald, at the Tuckies, where he continued to superintend the -ironworks he had leased at Madeley Wood, familiarly known as Bedlam -Furnaces, and was succeeded by his brother, Mr. Joseph Reynolds, who -continued to carry on the Ketley Works till the recurrence of one of -those fearful revulsions that have marked the history of the trade. For -a quarter of a century we had been carrying on wars, levying troops, and -interfering with everybody’s business but that which properly belonged to -ourselves. We had obtained our object of ambition by bribery, strategy, -and force of arms combined. We had restored the ancient families of -France, reduced that country to its ancient limits, and annihilated its -commerce. With glorious victory came fearful collapse, and the country -awoke to find that a fallacy which it had been taught to regard as -truth—that war brings commercial advantages that compensate for fearful -waste and lavish expenditure. To add to the calamity, a succession of -bad harvests was experienced, and the reduction of the army served to -swell the poor’s-rates upon which working men and their families had been -thrown for a bare support. Iron from £18 had gone down to £7 per ton, -carriage paid from Ketley to Stourport. Mr. Reynolds believed the trade -would never again rally, and resolved to blow out the furnaces at Ketley. -This was in 1817. In 1818, at an immense sacrifice of property, -consisting of the usual apparatus for making and manufacturing iron, he -sold off at an immense loss, and removed to Bristol. Language cannot -paint the deep distress which accompanied and followed this step. Men, -with wives and families dependent upon them, saw their only ground of -hope taken from them. Starving by thousands, and yoked like horses, they -might be seen drawing materials for the repair of the roads, or conveying -coal into Staffordshire. One third of the Shropshire banks failed. -Disturbances were frequent; mobs of men collected in bodies and went -about taking food where they could find it, and the militia had often to -be called out to quell disturbances. Not only ironmasters, but -manufacturers generally were reduced to despair. The parish authorities -of Wellington advertised in the public journals for persons to come -forward and take the Ketley works; and a company, consisting of the -Messrs. Montford, Shakeshaft, Ogle, Williams, Hombersley, and others, was -formed. - -From what we have written, it will be seen that Mr. William Reynolds was -on familiar terms with his men. In severe weather and distressed times, -he made soup to give away three times a week, and he generally kept -“open-house” for his workmen and friends; of the latter he had a large -circle. He did not like idleness or indiscriminate almsgiving. A number -of men thrown out of employ came to him in a body for relief during a -deep snow. He set them to clear an entire field, and to make him a -snow-stack; which they did of large proportions, receiving daily wages -for the same. He allowed a house and garden rent-free to “Sniggy Oakes,” -as he was called—heaven knows what his right name was, for in that day it -was seldom known in the mining districts—on condition that the said -Sniggy ferry’d him and his family across the river when they required it. -One evening Sniggy, knowing he was out on the other side, went to bed -instead of sitting up, which he found a deal more comfortable on a cold -wet night, and Mr. Reynolds, after calling him first one name and then -another, ringing the changes upon every alias, and changing it for “boat! -boat!” “ferry! ferry!” had to go round by the bridge. Coming opposite -the cottage where Sniggy was snug in bed, he smashed every window, -shouting “boat” at every blow of his huge stick. Sniggy roared with -fright, and promised better things another time. “On another occasion,” -says our informant, “while having a balcony put up in front of the -Tuckies, he gave strict injunctions that the martins’ nests should not by -any means be disturbed, threatening to shoot the man who violated his -instruction. They all obeyed him but one man, and he—.” “What, you -don’t mean to say he was going to carry out his threat?” said we. “But -he was,” it was replied, “and did.” “What shoot him?” “Yes; shot him, -sir—shot him with a pop-gun!” Being a Quaker, many anecdotes are told of -him not paying church-rates, and what are called Easter offerings, -showing a rich vein of genuine humour running through a warm and generous -nature. Old people too tell with much glee of a grand illumination they -remember to celebrate one of those interludes of war, termed “a peace -rejoicing,” when the bridge across the river, and a large revolving -wheel, were lighted up with lamps, and the manufactory, in which—together -with Messrs. Horton and Rose—he was a shareholder, was illuminated. - -“He is a wise son who knows his own father,” it is said, but it is -sometimes more difficult to trace the paternity of an anecdote, and we -tell the following as it was told to us. - - “Mr. Reynolds was kind and generous to a fault, but he did not like - to be tricked. Returning late from a party on horseback, he was - requested to pay again at a turnpike gate. Old Roberts, who having - been in the army, looked with contempt upon all but a red uniform, - and hated Quakers’ plain suits in particular, the more so as the - wearers were known to be averse to war, now found himself, as he - imagined, in a position to ‘take the small change,’ out of the - Quaker. Mr. Reynolds disputed the charge, knowing from the time he - left his friend’s house that he must be in the right; but, as the - other insisted upon being paid, he paid him. When the latter had - opened the gate, Mr. Reynolds remarked, ‘Well, friend, having paid, I - suppose I am at liberty to pass through as often as I like?’ - ‘Certainly, sir,’ said the old robber—as the juveniles would persist - in calling the old man, adding an additional ‘b’ to his name, and - clipping it of the two terminating letters. Mr. Reynolds had not - travelled far on the home-side of the gate—sufficiently far however - to allow the other to get into bed, before he returned, and called up - the gatekeeper; having occasion, as he said, to go back. By the time - he had again got into bed back came his tormentor at an easy jog-trot - pace; and as he again passed through the gate he begged to be - accommodated with a light. ‘Thou art sure it is past twelve o’clock, - friend?’ said Mr. Reynolds. ‘Quite sure,’ said the other, adding ‘I - thought I had done with you for to-night.’ ‘Thou art mistaken,’ said - Mr. Reynolds, ‘it is a fine night, and I intend to make the most of - it.’ In about ten minutes time the hated sound of ‘Gate, gate,’ - brought old Roberts to his post, muttering curses between his teeth. - ‘Thou art quite sure it is past twelve, art thou?’ was the question - asked, and asked again, till at last the gatekeeper begged of his - tormentor to take back the toll. ‘It cured him, though,’ said our - informant, ‘and made him civil; but they called him ‘Past Twelve’ for - the rest of his days.’” - -When Mr. Reynolds removed from Ketley to Madeley Wood, he also removed -from the former to the latter place some very primitive steam engines, -from the fact that they were constructed by a man named Adam Hyslop, and -differed from the ordinary condensing engines of Boulton and Watt in -having a cylinder at each end of the beam: one a steam cylinder and -condensing box; the other a condensing cylinder only, into which the -steam, having done duty in the steam cylinder is conveyed. They were -invented prior to Boulton and Watt’s final improvements. Three of these -singular looking engines are still used in the field, and work most -economically, with five pounds of steam to the square inch. - -Of the early history of the Madeley Wood Works, we have been able to -glean little satisfactory, beyond the fact that Richard Reynolds, who -bought the manor in 1781 or 1782, granted a lease in June 1794 of the -Bedlam or Madeley Wood furnaces to his son William, and Richard Rathbone, -who very shortly after gave up his interest to William Reynolds, who -afterwards carried them on himself. The site was a good one at that -time, being at the base of the outcrop of the lowest seams of coal and -ironstone, which could thus be obtained by levels driven into the hills, -or by shallow shafts, from either of which they were let down inclined -planes to the furnaces, close by which flowed the Severn, to take away -either coal or iron. - -It was on the side of this hill on which the Madeley Wood works were -situated, at a place called the Brockholes (_broc_, or badger-holes), -that in 1332 Walter de Caldbrook obtained a license from the prior of -Wenlock to dig for coal. Speaking of coal found in this or similar -situations in Shropshire, we find, too, that quaint old writer, Thomas -Fuller, two centuries ago, as quoted by W. O. Foster Esq., at the meeting -of the Iron and Steel Institute at Coalbrookdale, in 1871, giving his -opinion thus:— - - “One may see a three-fold difference in our English coal—(1) the sea - coal brought from Newcastle; (2) the land coal at Mendip, Bedworth, - &c., and carried into other counties; (3) what one may call river and - fresh water coal, digged out in this county at such a distance from - Severn that they are easily ported by boat into other shires. Oh, if - this coal could be so charmed as to make iron melt out of the stone, - as it maketh it in smiths’ forges to be wrought in the bars. But - Rome was not built all in one day; and a new world of experiments is - left to the discovery of posterity.” - -It seems probable, therefore, that for five hundred years coal has been -gotten out of the sides of these hills at Madeley Wood, either for use in -local forges or for export by the river Severn, or both; and the more so -that old levels are numerous along their side where coal crops out, and -that wooden shovels, wooden rails, and other primitive implements have -been found in them. - -Some of the shafts sunk by Mr. Reynolds came down upon old workings for -smiths, or furnace coal, as at the Lodge Pit, as shown by the section. - -This shaft, after passing through five yards of sand, six of brick and -tile clays, thirteen of rough rock, and thirteen of other measures, came -upon the Penneystone, the Sulphur coal, the Vigor coal, the Two-foot -coal, the Ganey coal, the Best coal, and the Middle coal, which, like the -Penney measure, were all entire; but instead of the Clod coal they found -Clod-coal gob (the refuse thrown into the space from which the coal had -been removed). - -William Reynolds, the proprietor of these works, died at the Tuckies -House, in 1803, and was followed to his grave in the burial-ground -adjoining the Quaker’s chapel, in the Dale, by a very large concourse of -friends and old neighbours. His son, Joseph Reynolds, and Mr. William -Anstice succeeded to the works, the latter being the managing partner; -and in consequence of the mines being exhausted on the Madeley Wood side -of the field, new shafts were sunk to the east, the first of importance -being the Hill’s Lane pits. The Halesfield, and then the Kemberton, -followed; and the mines having been thus proved on that side, the idea -first suggested by William Reynolds, of removing the works to that side, -was acted upon by Mr. William Anstice, who built his first furnace at -Blisser’s Hill in 1832. A second was built in 1840, and a third in 1844. -Of these and other works we propose to speak in connection with events of -a later period. - - - -EVENTS RELATING TO THE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL HISTORY OF MADELEY, FROM THE -13TH TO THE 19TH CENTURIES, NOT PREVIOUSLY NOTICED. - - -We have no means at command for giving anything like such a consecutive -account of Madeley as would show its growth and progress from the feudal -times, when first noticed in the Domesday Survey, to the present time; -and the facts that we have to offer on this head must necessarily appear -disjointed and isolated. - -The next notice we find succeeding that in Domesday is one in 1291, when -it was taxed to the _Ninth_, twelve merks, but whether of gold or silver -we cannot say, probably the latter, as one merk of gold was equal to five -of silver—to £3 16s. 8d. - -Land was being gradually won from the forests, but it was as yet of small -value. Thus we read, under date of March 28th, 1322, of a man named -Bercar and his wife, who, for the payment (or fine) of three shillings, -bought small parcels of _new_ land in the fields of Madeley and of -Caldbrook (Coalbrookdale), of William, the bailiff, to hold for their -lives. - -In the year 1341 the parish was assessed at £2 16s. 0d., but the reason -assigned for the low assessment was that there had been great storms, -want of sheep-stock, and a surrender of the land held by tenants. In -1379 a valuation of the manor is thus mentioned:—“Capital messuage, -nothing (this would be the Court, or manor-house); water-mill (the old -manor or Court mill), ten shillings; fisheries of two vivaries, three -shillings; three caracutes of land (or as much as three teams of oxen -could plough in the year), as averaging £1 18s.” Three acres of meadow -is set down as worth, when carried, three shillings. The verbiage of the -park was valued at three shillings and fourpence. The assized rents of -free tenements amounted to £6 16s. 2d., and the pleas and perquisites of -the Court (held by the prior at the Court-house) at two shillings. In -1390 the rents of Madeley, including a _ferm_ of coals, and the pleas and -fines of the Court, were said to yield £22 18s. 0d. This _ferm_ of coals -was probably that granted by the prior in 1322 to Walter de Caldbrook for -six shillings. - -In the sixteenth century the rental of the manor was returned at £39 18s. -8½d. At the same time—that is in 1534–5—the rectorial tithes are set -down at £2, and the vicar’s income at £5 5s. In 1693 an assessment made -for Madeley, by order of the justices of the peace, James Lewis, balf., -George Weld, and Thos. Crompton, of 4s. 6d. in the £, from sixty-four -persons, produced £149 1s. 4d. In this assessment the name of Sarah -Wolfe occurs sixth on the list. In 1698 an assessment of 3s. 6d. in the -£, by order of Richard Littlehales, balf., and Ralph Browne, from -fifty-two persons, produced £112 5s. 0d. In this assessment the iron, -coal, and lime works paid £55 14s. 0d. of the above sum. In 1704 an -assessment of 4s. 6d. in the £, from forty-six persons, paid £149 to -which the iron, coal, and lime works contributed £84. The sum paid in on -the 27th of March of the same year for 1697, for window-tax, was £8 14s.; -the tax for births, deaths, &c., for the same year, was £4 18s. 4d., for -1698, £4 1s. 7d., and for the following year, £3 5s. 6d. In the same -year the land-tax produced £27 14s. 6d. In 1670 the window-tax was £8 -6s. 0d. In 1671 the land-tax produced £55 0s. 0d. In 1672 the -window-tax was £8 0s. 2d. In 1704 the sum realized for windows had risen -to £10 17s. 6d., and that for births, deaths, and marriages to £5 12s. -0d. In 1676 the land-tax paid £36 19s. 4d., for the first quarter, 24th -July; for the second quarter, 23rd October, the same; and for the third -quarter (paid March 27, 1675), the same; the sum for the fourth quarter -was also the same. In 1675 two sums, £31 9s. 8d., and £63 8s. 6d., were -paid in for land-tax, and £16 2s. 2d. the following March. On the 4th of -May, 1706, “John Boden paid in full of ye last year’s land-tax, £36 17s. -0d.” The fourth quarterly payment of the poll for Madeley, made April -15, 1695, was £14 14s. 6d. - -We pass over payments for intervening years, and come to 1709. In July -of that year the first and second quarterly payments of the land-tax were -each £36 19s. 4d.; for the third quarter, £37 8s. 4d., and for the last -quarter, £36 10s. 4d. The first and second quarterly payments in full -amounted to £73 18s. 8d. In 1702 a survey of the lordship of Madeley -showed there were twenty-seven tenants, holding 2073 acres; that the -yearly value was £1021 10s. 0d.; also that there were upon the land 3369 -trees, and sixteen loads of wood, the value of which by purchase was set -down at £17,366 9s. 4d. In 1725 a case was prepared by the vicar and -churchwardens, after a vestry-meeting had been held, for the opinion of -counsel on the question of the right of the vicar to receive tithe of -wood cut down by the lay impropriator. The case set forth that “the -vicars of the other twenty-two parishes in the franchise of the priory -enjoyed tithes of wood as small tithes, excepting in a few instances, and -that the vicar of Madeley has from time to time received the tithes of -hay, clover, &c., which are usually esteemed great tithes. But hitherto -no tithes of wood have been paid at Madeley within memory of living -witnesses, except that about thirty years since the late vicar received -one shilling as a composition from the tenant of the impropriator.” - -Counsel (Thos. Browne, of the Inner Temple), in reply, says Madeley was -appropriated to the priory of Wenlock at the same time as Stoke St. -Milburgh—22nd March, 1343—and yet the vicar of Stoke receives tithe-wood, -and thinks that the smoke-penny to the vicar is strong evidence in favour -of his being entitled to the tithe of wood so used, because that payment -comes in lieu of such wood; but it must be admitted that the impropriator -is entitled to all the tithes of a vicar, unless such vicar shows usage -or endowment to support the demand as to such great tithe. - -The counsel’s opinion seems to have left the question pretty much in the -same state as before, and that the vicar and churchwardens did not -establish their claim is shown by subsequent assessments and by the -report of the Tithe Commissioners (1848), who said all woodlands are by -prescription or other lawful means exempt from tithe. - -The appropriation of the rent-charge in lieu of tithes in the parish took -effect in 1847, and it may be interesting to add that after various -meetings and inquiries it was found that by prescription or other lawful -means all the woodlands, containing in estimated statute measure 200 -acres, well known by metes and bounds, were absolutely free from tithes; -also all gardens annexed to houses. - -It was also found that 267 acres of the Court Farm were covered from -render of small tithes in kind by prescriptive or customary payments in -lieu thereof to the vicar, and 233 acres of the Windmill Farm by payment -of 5s. 3½d.; the Broad Meadow, containing twenty-two acres, by payment of -ninepence; the Hales, seventeen acres, by payment of fivepence; the Bough -Park, twenty acres, and Rushton Farm (Park House), twenty-six acres, by -payment of 10½d.; part of Court Farm (J. and F. Yates, proprietors), and -six other acres, by payment of twopence. The quantity subject to tithes -amounted to 2800 acres, 2000 being arable, and 800 as meadow or pasture. - -Finding also that the average value of tithes for the seven years -preceding Christmas, 1835, did not represent the sum which ought to be -the basis for a permanent commutation, the Tithe Commissioner awarded as -follows: to Sir Joseph H. Hawley, impropriator, of Leybourn Grange, Kent, -£115 10s., by way of rent-charge; and £226 to the vicar for the time -being, instead of all the remaining unmerged tithes of hay and small -tithes, arising from the lands of the said parish. The valuation was by -William Wyley, upon wheat, barley, and oats, as under:— - -Wheat 7s. 0¼d. 32,427,300. -Barley 3s. 11½d. 57,517,590. -Oats 2s. 9d. 82,787,879. - -The great-tithes have since been purchased from Sir Joseph Hawley for -Ironbridge church, now a rectory. - - - -SCARCITY OF WHEAT IN MADELEY IN 1795. - - -The system of farming and the state of the laws regarding the importation -of grain were such down to the period we refer to that the country was at -the mercy of the viscisitude of the seasons, and if these were adverse -nothing less than a partial or a general famine was the result, and it -sometimes happened that the use of an extra ounce or two of bread was -grudged if not considered sinful. Thus, an old writer commenting upon -the scarcity of grain in the above year, censured the use of tea on the -ground that it led to the use of bread and butter. He says:— - - “I find, July 29th, that ‘in the parish of Madeley, Salop, there are - 924 families; and since the use of Tea is becoming so prevalent, on a - moderate calculation each family consumes three and a half pounds of - flour each week more than formerly, by instituting a fourth meal each - day. In days of yore, Breakfast, Dinner and Supper were esteemed - sufficient, but now it must be Breakfast, Dinner, _Tea_ and Supper, - which wastes both Meal and Time, and makes a difference each week in - the parish of Madeley of 3234 lbs. of flour.’” - -In that same year, on the ninth of July, a meeting of numerous gentlemen, -farmers, millers, and tradesmen was held at the Tontine, on “the alarming -occasion of the scarcity of corn and dearness of all kinds of other -provisions,” and a committee was appointed for the immediate collection -of contributions and the purchase of such grain as could be procured, to -be distributed to the necessitous at a reduction of one fourth, or nine -shillings for twelve. The wants of the poor were described as being -beyond what they had at any former time experienced, and according to the -best accounts that could be collected the quantity of grain of all sorts -in the country was very far short of the consumption before harvest. -Many families in Madeley were short of bread, and the colliers were only -prevented rising by assurances that gentlemen of property were disposed -to contribute liberally to their relief as well as to adopt measures for -obtaining from distant parts, such aid as could be procured. The -committee directed 2,000 bushels of Indian corn to be sent for from -Liverpool, to meet immediate requirements, but such were the murmurs of -the poor according to a letter from Richard Reynolds to Mr. Smitheman, -that it was impossible to say what would be the consequences, and the -writer adds:— - - “I should not be surprised if they applied in a body at those houses - where they expected to find provisions, or from which they thought - they ought to be relieved. They already begin to make distinctions - between those whom they consider as their benefactors, and those whom - (as George Forester expresses it in the annexed letter) are at war - with their landlords; and I fear those whom they consider as - deserting them in their distress, would not only incur their - disapprobation, but might be the next to suffer from their - resentment. I therefore the more readily attempt to fulfil my - appointment by recommending thee in the most earnest manner to send - by the return of the post to Richard Dearman at this place, who is - appointed treasurer on the present occasion, a bill for such a sum as - thou shalt think proper to contribute, and at the same time to write - to thy servant at the West Coppice to give notice to thy tenants, (as - G. Forester has to his) and especially to William Parton of Little - Wenlock, that it is thy desire that he and they should conform to the - general practice and deliver immediately all his wheat to the - committee, at twelve shillings per bushel, for the use of the poor. - And if there is any wheat, barley, beans, or peas, at the West - Coppice, or elsewhere in thy possession or power, I recommend thee to - order it to be sent without delay to the Committee; and then if the - colliers, &c., should go in a body, or send, as I think more likely a - deputation to thy house, thy having so done, and thy servant shewing - them thy order for so doing, as well as thy contributing liberally as - above proposed, will be the most likely means to prevent the - commencement of mischief, the end of which, if once began, it is - impossible to ascertain.” - -The letter goes on to state that the following sums had been subscribed: -George Forester, £105. Cecil Forester, £105. J. H. Browne, £105. the -Coalbrookdale Company, £105. and John Wilkinson, £50. In addition to -this the writer, Richard Reynolds, and J. H. Browne had consented to -advance £700. each to be repaid out of the corn sold at the reduced -price. - -Mr. Reynolds concludes by saying, “such is the urgency of the temper of -the people, that there is not a day to lose if we are desirous to -preserve the poor from outrage, and most likely the country from plunder, -if not from blood.” - -Periods of distress and panic arising from scarcity were not unfrequent -when wages were stationary, or comparatively so. Great changes had taken -place during the periods previously described. First, during feudal -times, here and elsewhere the great body of peasantry was composed of -persons who rented _small farms_, seldom exceeding twenty or thirty -acres, and who paid their rent either in kind or in agricultural labour -and services performed on the demesne of the landlord: secondly, of -_cottagers_, each of whom had a small croft or parcel of land attached to -his dwelling, and the privilege of turning out a cow, or pigs, or a few -sheep, into the woods, commons, and wastes of the manor. During this -period, the population derived its subsistence immediately from the -land;—the landowner from the produce of his demesne, cultivated partly by -his domestic slaves, but principally by the labour of the tenants and -cottiers attached to the manor; the tenants from the produce of their -little farms; and the cottiers from that of their cows and crofts, except -while working upon the demesne, when they were generally fed by the -landlord. The mechanics of the village, not having time to cultivate a -sufficient quantity of land, received a fixed allowance of agricultural -produce from each tenant. - -Under the above system, not only the little farmer, but also the humblest -cottager, drew a very considerable portion of his subsistence directly -from the land. His cow furnished him with what is invaluable to a -labourer,—a store of milk in the summer months; his pig, fattened upon -the common and with the refuse vegetables of his garden, supplied him -with bacon for his winter consumption—and there were poultry besides. - -Gradually the labourer and small cultivator lost the use they had made of -the road-side and other waste which were assigned under inclosure acts, -not to the occupier, but _the owner_ of the cottage; few cottages were in -the occupation of their owners; they generally, indeed we may say -universally, belonged to the proprietors of the neighbouring farms, and -the allotments granted in lieu of the extinguished common rights were -generally added to the large farms, and seldom attached to the cottages. -The cottages which were occupied by their owners had of course allotments -attached to them; but these by degrees passed by sale into the hands of -some large proprietor in the neighbourhood, _De facto_, in ninety-nine -cases out of the hundred, the allotment has been detached from the -cottage, and thrown into the occupation of some adjoining farmer. - -That such a charge should have been attended with important consequences, -can excite no surprise, a complete severance was effected between the -peasantry and the soil; the little farmers and cottiers were converted -into day-labourers, depending entirely upon daily earnings which may, and -frequently did, in point of fact, fail them. They had no land upon the -produce of which to fall as a reserve when the demand for labour happened -to be slack. This revolution became unquestionably the cause of the -heavy and increasing burdens upon parishes in the form of poor-rates, and -jail rates. - -It has been well said that from the moment when any man begins to think -that - - ‘The world is not his friend, nor the world’s law,’ - -the world and the world’s law are likely to have that man for their -enemy; and if he does not commence direct hostilities against them, he -abandons himself to despair, and becomes a useless if not a hurtful -member of the community. - -If we go back to the time of the great plague, about the middle of the -reign of Edward III., which gave occasion to the first attempt to -regulate wages by law, corn rose from 5s. 4d., the average the first -twenty-five years to 11s. 9d., the average of the twenty-five years -following. In this reign the pound of silver was coined into 25s., and -at the end of the reign of Henry IV., into 30s. In 1444, other statutes -regulating wages were passed probably owing to the high price of corn, -which had risen on an average of the ten preceding years to 10s. 8d., -without any further alterations in the coin; and for this reason there -seems no adequate cause but a succession of scanty crops; as a -continuance of low prices afterwards prevailed for sixty years. The -average price of wheat from 1444 to the end of the reign of Henry VII. -(1509) returned to 6s., while the pound of silver was coined into £1 17s. -6d. instead of £1 2s. 6d., as at the passing of the first statute of -labourers in 1350, thus indicating a continuance of favourable seasons, -and probably, an improved system of agriculture. The rise in the price -of corn during the next century was owing probably to other causes. From -1646 to 1665 the price of the quarter of wheat was £2 10s. 0d. During -the wars of the Roses, and subsequently it was cheap; but during the -civil wars under Charles I., and for some time subsequently it was dear. -The harvests of 1794 and 1795 were deficient, but the rise in the price -of grain, occasioned by the deficiency of these two years, which is -supposed to have been about one eighth, threw into the hands of the -agricultural interest, in 1795 and 1796, when prices were at the highest, -from 24 to 28 millions for the two years, the farmers with a deficiency -of one eighth, having sold their crops for nearly a third more than the -usual price before labour had risen. - -Mr. Reynolds saw the evils we have been describing, and when he purchased -the manor of Madeley from Mr. Smitheman he made it a point to encourage -small allotments and leases of copyholds. - - - -THE CHURCH, AND THE MORAL AND RELIGIOUS ASPECTS OF THE PEOPLE OF MADELEY. - - -We have previously given the names of some of the early rectors of the -church, when the whole mind of the people here, as elsewhere, by -education, if not conviction, was Roman Catholic. There was undoubtedly -a pleasant kind of poetry about the older system of religion, which no -man, from the peasant to the peer, thought of questioning, but which, -from the cradle to the grave, governed and regulated, as far as its -influences went, the thoughts and actions of all men. They were the high -days of ecclesiastical power, when the Church could smite with -excommunication and civil disability obnoxious families or individuals, -and when monarchs could be cut off from the allegiance of their subjects, -and made to appear as lepers among their brethren. - -We know little of the moral or social condition of the inhabitants, or -how far they were influenced by the rude discipline to which they were -subject. Delusion, we know, by the traces it has left, then and for a -long time after among the uneducated classes, formed the basis often of -belief. It was a time when man, equally deceived by the imperfections of -his senses and the illusions of self-love, long considered himself to be -the centre of the movements of the stars, and his vanity was punished by -the terrors to which they gave rise. It may not have had a corrupting -tendency, and may even have been a beneficial fallacy, for it must have -tended much to the accomplishment of any undertaking to believe that it -was within the range of possibility. We can now view the planets as they -circle, without supposing that they are impelled by intelligences who -exercise either a benign or a hostile influence over our action. Ages of -labour have removed the veil which concealed the true nature of the -planets, and man now finds himself on the surface of one which he has -reason to suppose is so small as to be scarcely perceptible in that great -solar system which formerly appeared so mysterious. Then it was not so: -astrologers and conjurors were looked up to as wielding even more -terrific powers than the priest, and horoscopes, nativities, and the most -ordinary events were traced to influences of the planets. Dust and -cobwebs now cover the tombs of the authors of works on astrology; the -staff on which they leaned is broken; their brazen instruments are green -and cankered. - -In an old book on this subject, disinterred among certain other contents -of an old chest in the vestry of the church, entitled “Astrological -Predictions for 1652,” we find, as was not unusual, awful -prognostications concerning Church and State, and threatenings of -troubles, violent distempers, and great slaughters. There appears to -have been a court of astrologers, for we find a notice in a foot-note of -“a learned sermon composed for the Society of Astrologers.” Predictions -and assertions of interference with men’s actions and the most ordinary -course of events not being read to advantage except in the language of -their authors, we purpose giving an extract or two. Like relics, which -seem to lose their venerable sanctity when removed from an old tomb to a -museum, extracts in modern type lose the charm the well-thumbed old -yellow work has as it is lifted from the old church chest, mellow and -mouldy. It appears from the numerous notes and memorandums on the blank -leaves to have been used by the clergyman as a sort of pocket-book, and -some of the notes appear to be intended attestations of the predictions -so earnestly given. Here are some of the predictions bearing chiefly -upon passing events of the times, or such as were likely to arise:— - - “England is subject to that Sign of the Zodiac, viz. Aries, wherein - Mars at present is placed, & therefore we English, & in Engla. must - expect some, or many of those misfortuns which he generally - signifieth, and which even now we repeated: but the same sign - pointeth out also many Cities & places in the upper Germany, so also - in Austria and its Territories, the Eastern and Southeast parts of - France and the Cities and Townes therein scituated, also the North - East or more Easterly parts of Denmark, that or those parts of the - Polonian Countries or Provinces which are bordering or adjacent unto - the unruly Cossacks, and those Cities and Towns in the upper Silesia, - which lye neer unto the Borders or Confines of the Turks Dominions, - the Dukedom of Burgundy; the Swedish Nation and Souldiery are also - more or lesse, and many of their Towns subject unto the Sign Aries, - and therefore in all or most of these Countries by us nominated, - there will be some violent distempers in the people, some slaughter - of men, and casually by one accident or other much damage in many of - their principal Cities or Sea-towns by Fire, War, inroads of Pyrates - or souldiers, &c.” - - “When Venus shall be Lady of the yeare and unfortunate, as now she is - in the seventh house; Women will more than ordinary scold with their - Husbands, and run twatling and scolding out of their houses: many Men - will depart, or run, separate or divorce themselves from their Wives. - This unnaturall Deportment of Women unto their Husbands and Men unto - their Wives, is increased by the nearnesse of Venus unto Mars, and - his positure in the seventh House, which signifieth Women, their - loves and affections either unto their Husbands or others. In that - House he is ‘Damnofus & malus, quia significat inimicitias & - discordias magnas, & accident hominibus furta interfectiones & - contentiones multæ & rixæ in illo anno maximeq in gent illius - Climatis.’ Mars is very unfortunately placed in the seventh house, - signifying there will be many controversies, Law-suits, Duels, much - enmity, many Thefts by Sea & Land, much robbing of Houses; and these - shall most apparantly manifest themselves in the Country, City or - Towne subject unto the sign he is in, of which we have formerly - treated.” - -The eclipse of the sun, 29th March, 1652, 9-56 a.m., is announced with -hieroglyphic figures, followed by these remarks:— - - “We intended to write a particular Treatise concerning the effects of - this Eclips, which is the greatest this Age hath beheld, and in that - Booke to have delivered unto Posterity a Method whereby they might - have judged what manner of Effects should have been signified by any - Defect of either of the two Luminaries; but our time at this present - being otherwise taken up, we are confined to a narrow scantling of - Paper: we hope some well-wishers unto Astrology will perfect what we - intended on that Subject, being desirous to see the Labours of other - Men abroad, the whole burthen hereof being too heavy for one - Anglicus.” - -The idlest tales were believed and credited as facts, and men more -cunning than the common herd thrived by magical and cabalistic spells -they were supposed to cast upon evil spirits. The clergy dealt in -exorcisms, and in surplice and stole performed the rites of the Church. -They condemned witchcraft, however, as heresy; and as early as the reign -of Henry VIII. a statute was passed which enacted that any person, after -the day therein named, devising, practising, or exercising “any -invocations, or conjurations of spirits, witchcrafts, enchantments, or -sorceries, to the intent to get or find money or treasure, or to waste, -consume, or destroy any person in his body, members, or goods, or to -provoke any person to unlawful love, or for any other unlawful intent or -purpose, or by occasion or colour of such things or any of them, or for -despite of Christ, or lucre of money, dig up or pull down any cross, or -crosses, or by such invocations or conjurations of spirits, witchcrafts, -enchantments, or sorcery, or any of them, take upon them to tell or -declare where goods stolen or lost shall be come—that then all and every -person or persons offending as before is mentioned, shall be deemed, -accepted, and adjudged a felon or felons, without benefit of clergy.” -This act was carefully worded, inasmuch as it only extends to witchcraft -or enchantment practised with a criminal or unlawful intent. - -Men with very much less learning than the author quoted, lived by their -wits, from their supposed knowledge of the stars, and from being able, as -they professed, to consult the planets and to restore lost property. -Men, and women too, would take long journeys to consult one who could -“read the stars,” or “rule the planets.” From a conversation recorded by -a close observer of men and manners in the beginning of the present -century, for instance, we learn that one of these wise men who lived as -far off as Oswestry was occasionally consulted by the inhabitants here. -Of course it was easy with a little tact for the wife to worm out the -main facts in one room whilst the husband listened and gathered them up -for use in another. Tom Bowlegs having missed a five-pound note from his -cupboard holds the following conversation with a friend, who tells him he -cannot help thinking that the note has been mislaid, not stolen, and -says:— - - “The five-pound peaper is not stolen but lost, and thee’lt be sartin - to find it. - - No sich thing Yedart, replies Bowlegs; for I went to the wise-mons - and he tow’d me all about it. - - The wise-mon! what wise-mon? - - Dick Spot that lives slip side Hodgistry the yed of aw the conjurors - in Shropshire. - - Aye, and what did he tell thee? - - Well, thee shalt hear: - - As a five-pound paper was a jell for a poor mon to lose, I determined - to know all about it, so off I set for Dick Spot’s house. After - knocking at the door it was opened by an owd woman, as ugly as the - divil himself, with a face as black as the easter. At first seet I - thought I was tean to, and was for bowting; but wishing to know all - about the paper, I mustered aw my courage, and went in. Pray, said - I, is the Wise-mon a-whoam. No, said she, but he will directly; sit - down; I suppose you have lost something, and wants to know where it - is. Yes, said I, you bin reet. What is it that you have lost? So I - up and tow’d her, aw abowt it. Just as I had finished, in comes the - wise-mon; and he (to my great surprise) said—follow me into this - room; while I was scraping wi mi foot, dewking mi yed, and stroking - my yarr down, amounting altogether to a nation fine beawe, he said—I - was consulting the planets this morning and found that a £5 Shiffnal - bank note had been stolen from under a sugar bason in your cupboard - on Wednesday morning last, between the hours of nine and ten o’clock, - by a tall mon, with a long visage marked by the small pox, gray eyes, - and black beard. (Wonderful! said I, that is the very mon I - suspect!) You will therefore, on your return home, make it known in - his neighbourhood that if the bill is not returned in one week from - this day, that he will lose one of his legs in a few weeks after. If - this comes to his ears I have no doubt the bill will be returned - immediately, but if he does not, he shall be marked as I have told - you, and in that case the bill will be irrecoverable. I knew by the - planets that you would be here at 12 o’clock to-day, and having - overstaid my time at Hodgistry (here he wiped the sweat from his - face). I ran all the way to be in time to meet you.” - -The devil, or “divil,” seems to have been an important personage, often -making bargains, in which he not unfrequently got worsted. There were -too familiar imps or demons, according to John Heywood’s homely rhymes,— - - “Such as we - PUGS and HOBGOBLINS call; their dwellings be - In corners of old houses least frequented, - Or beneath stacks of wood; and these convented - Make fearful noise in butteries and in dairies, - ROBIN GOODFELLOWS some, some call them FAIRIES. - In solitarie rooms these uproars keep, - And beat at doors to wake men from their sleep, - Seeming to force locks be they ne’re so strong - And keeping Christmasse gambols all night long.” - -That merry wanderer, Puck, even as late as the present century, was -common to our fields, where he seems to have had a partiality for simple -countrymen, market-fresh, whom he led many a weary dance in fields out of -which they could not find their way. He was occasionally domiciled in -the kitchen, and was useful in sweeping up the hearth while housewives -snored in bed. Farmhouses were favourite residences; but woe to the -dairymaid who happened to offend them! Her milk was sure to turn sour. -They haunted mines sometimes, and used the pick to help forward the -midnight task, or became malignant and caused inundations of water, or -let loose noxious vapours to destroy both mine and miners. On one -occasion a miner named Bagley, who preferred being let down when all the -rest had ascended the shaft, in order to have the assistance of an imp, -was watched by another, who concealed himself for the purpose. But the -imp, who was working whilst the man rested, discovered him and called -upon his friend to bump him against the timber for his intrusion. On -being caught a second time, the imp raised an alarm—“He peeps again, -Bagley; bump him!” showing that the sprite or whatever he was could speak -English. As a supposed proof of the truth of this, Bagley was called -“Bump him, Bagley!” to his dying day. - -An old inhabitant of Madeley who believed thoroughly in such things told -us that he once looked through a hole into an old building on a moonlight -night, and saw a score of spirits of this kind dancing right merrily! He -also assured us that an old woman, whose name he gave us, but which we do -not remember, was accounted a witch, and had the power to change herself -into a hare; and that on one occasion she was hunted by the hounds, who -ran her to her cottage, on the Brockton road, where she took the chimney, -and was found sitting by the fire, her hands and feet bleeding from the -run. {121} - -If the clergy of those days believed in evil eyes, witchcraft, and -ghosts, it was to be expected that the people would do so, too. They -stood alone on a mental as on a religious eminence. The knell of -ecclesiastical authority had not then been rung; civil incapacity and -inferiority was the tacit proscription of all outside the pale of the -Church; and what we glean of morals and manners under the rigid system of -godly discipline then prevailing is not much in its favour. - -Madeley, towards the latter end of the past and beginning of the present -century was favoured above many neighbouring parishes in its clergy. It -had men who led tranquil, holy lives, and some who proclaimed the -conscience of the individual to be the only judge in matters of the -soul,—men who were, it is true, ill-rewarded for their pains, but who -lived beneficent lives, and rendered disinterested service. - -Such were John William de la Fletcher and Melville Horne, the latter of -whom went out as a missionary, and established the colony of Sierra -Leone; and others who succeeded them. Let us speak first, however, of -the former. - - - -REV. JOHN W. FLETCHER, VICAR OF MADELEY. - - -No sketch of Madeley would be complete which did not include a copious -notice of Mr. Fletcher. So many “Lives” of Mr. Fletcher have, however -been written, and are so readily attainable, that we need not enter into -those details appertaining to his parentage, birth, youth, education, -etc., which belong properly to the biographer who writes a book; and we -shall content ourselves therefore with a summary of such matters, in -order the more fully to bring out those traits of character which -distinguished him whilst vicar of this parish. - -Jean Guilhaume de la Flechere, to give his proper Swiss name, was born at -Nyon, fifteen miles from Geneva, in the year 1729. He received his -education first in his native town, and then at Geneva, at which latter -place he distinguished himself by his abilities, his thirst for -knowledge, and intense application to study. His biographers relate -boyish incidents and hairbreadth escapes, communicated by himself. His -father before marriage was an officer in the French army, and afterwards -in that of his own country, and young Fletcher on arriving at maturity -resolved to enter the army too, but in consequence of some -disappointments he came to London to learn the English language, and -having done so he obtained a situation as tutor in the family of Mr. -Hill, M.P. for Shrewsbury, who resided at Tern Hall, near Atcham. He was -ordained 1757, and occasionally preached at Atcham, Wroxeter, and the -Abbey church at Shrewsbury, and at St. Alkmunds. - -Two years after he was ordained, he was in the habit of occasionally -coming to preach at Madeley, and the year following, through the -influence of Mr. Hill, he was appointed vicar, having chosen it in -preference to a smaller parish with a larger income. Mr. Chambray, the -then vicar, gladly accepting the living Mr. Fletcher declined, thereby -making way for him. One of Mr. Fletcher’s pupils died, the other became -M P. for Shrewsbury; afterwards he represented the county, and finally -was made a peer, under the title of Baron Berwick of Attingham, the name -the house now bears. He appears to have received his appointment to -Madeley in March, 1759. - -The Rev. Robert Cox, M.A., one of Mr. Fletcher’s biographers, says:— - - “Previous to Mr. Fletcher’s presentation to the living, its - inhabitants, with some honourable exceptions, were notorious for - their ignorance and impiety. They openly profaned the sabbath, - treated the most holy things with contempt, disregarded the - restraints of decency, and ridiculed the very name of religion. It - is to the reproach of England that such a description is but too - frequently applicable to places where mines and manufactories have - collected together a crowded population.” - -A desire to be extensively useful soon induced Mr. Fletcher to undertake -extra-parochial duties, but in every way, indignities were offered by -those on whom by contrast his piety, temperance, humility, and example -more strongly reflected. The clergy went into titters and cried -“Enthusiast!” The half-gentry chalked up “Schismatic!” and the -magistrates sought to set the world on a grin by ticketing him a -“Jesuit!” Need we be surprised to hear that Mr. Fletcher was seized, as -he tells us, with the spirit of Jonah—and tempted to quit his charge! It -was a passing temptation, yet such was his tenderness of conscience that -the shadow of a doubt—intruded rather than entertained—disquieted him. - -About this time he had some doubts respecting a passage in the service -for the baptism of infants, and also in that for the burial of the dead. -He received much comfort however from his correspondence and interviews -with John and Charles Wesley, whose preachers he welcomed into his -parish. - -In a letter dated May, 1767, we find him inviting Whitfield to his parish -for the same purpose. In this letter, May 18th, 1767, he speaks of Capt. -Scott having preached from his horse-block, which seems to mark the first -introduction of Wesleyan Methodism into Madeley. The Roman Catholics -too, gave him trouble, by opening a mission in Madeley, and drawing over -to them two of his converts. This appears to have been in March 1769, -for in a letter to his friend Mr. Ireland dated the 26th, he says:— - - “The (Popish) Priest at Madeley is going to open his Mass-house, and - I have declared war on that account last Sunday, and propose to strip - the Whore of Babylon, and expose her nakedness to-morrow. All the - Papists are in a great ferment, and they have held meetings to - consult on the occasion.” - -An odour now hangs and will hang about the name of Fletcher, and turning -to his example for encouragement, amid the more sterile tracts of labour, -the weary and desponding will get refreshed. As mountains pierce the -clouds and bring down rains upon the parched and shrivelled plains, so -men now and then tower high above their fellows, and privileged with a -greater significance, sunned and bathed in a purer light, they become a -medium of it to others. It was so with Fletcher. In his presence men of -coarser mould and ruder habits, as well as those distinguished for their -attainments, felt the force and purity of his life. It has taken the -Church of which he was so distinguished a member nearly a whole century -to come up to plans by which he extended the sphere of his usefulness: we -mean those outdoor meetings, cottage-lectures, Scripture readings, -catechisings, and similar means whereby in every corner of the parish he -contrived to stir men up and to create among them a concern for their -higher interests. These are his words:— - - “Soon after coming to Madeley, I have frequently had a desire to - exhort in Madeley Wood and Coalbrookdale, two villages of my parish, - but I have not dared to run before I saw an open door. It now, I - think, begins to open, as two small societies of twenty persons have - formed themselves in those places.” - -But for a large soul like Mr. Fletcher’s the parish even is too limited, -and we find accordingly that he gathered a small society sixteen miles -off, riding that distance in order to preach at five o’clock in the -morning two or three times a-week. Of course a man could not do this -without treading on someone’s toes. It was the way to get opposition, -and he got it. The churchwardens, clergy, archdeacon, bishop, and -magistrates were dead against him. Magistrates threatened him and the -whole of his flock with imprisonment; and the bishop preached against him -before his brethren at the general visitation. He writes to Charles -Wesley—“A young clergyman who lives at Madeley Wood, where he has great -influence, has openly declared war against me by pasting on the -church-door a paper, in which he charges me with rebellion, schism, and -being a disturber of the public peace. He puts himself at the head of -the gentlemen of the parish (as they term themselves), and supported by -the recorder of Wenlock he is determined to put in force the Conventicle -Act against me. A few weeks ago the widow who lives in the Rock Church -and a young man who read and prayed in my absence were taken up.” He -tells us he appeared at Wenlock and bearded the justices, who denounced -him as a Jesuit! - -Times have changed, and what was deemed in Mr Fletcher an indiscretion -and even a crime, is now universally applauded. If persecution to Mr. -Fletcher arose from those who by influence and position should have -seconded his plans, we need scarcely feel surprised to find that, setting -himself against the commoner and coarser vices of the times, he was -opposed by those who thrived thereby. In a letter to Mr. Charles Wesley -he says—“You cannot well imagine how much the animosity of my -parishioners is heightened, and with what boldness it discovers itself -against me, because I preach against drunkenness, shows, and -bull-baiting. The publicans and the maltmen will not forgive me: they -think that to preach against drunkenness and to cut their purse is the -same thing.” - -It is difficult to imagine a man of education, taste, and refined feeling -in the midst of elements more discordant, or so totally out of character -with what he had been used to. Unvisited by those influences that from a -thousand sources now combine to smooth the path of the country clergy, -mining districts, like others where the physical energies of the body are -developed to the utmost stretch by the nature of the employment, -presented the greatest obstacles to progress; the most dogged -indifference to efforts made for their advancement; and, where attempts -were made to put a check upon the brutal amusements of the population, -they offered the most determined resistance. At out-door or in-door -services, in such semi-civilized portions of the parish, the sound of -prayer, both on Sundays and week-evenings, would ascend mingled with the -yells and cries and curses of drunken colliers, the barking of dogs, the -roar of a bull, or some indulgence of the kind with which publicans -seasoned their attractions. The Green, at Madeley Wood, was a favourite -spot for such games, and narrowly upon one occasion did this zealous and -pious man escape being pulled from his horse and made the victim of a -party of infuriated colliers, who made the bargain to “bait the parson.” - -Mr. Fletcher, with a view of further promoting his mission of usefulness -in 1767 visited Yorkshire, Bristol, Bath, and Wales, and subsequently his -native country, Rome, &c. He returned to England in 1770; and some time -after undertook the charge of a college founded by the Countess of -Huntingdon, at Trevecca, in South Wales, but resigned the appointment, in -consequence of his repugnance to Calvinistic views. This brought out Mr. -Fletcher as a controversialist, with Toplady and others. At the breaking -out of the American War Mr. Fletcher took up his pen in defence of the -Government, and the right divine of kings, contending that “if once -legislation was affirmed to belong to the people, as such, all government -would be overturned,” and that such a scheme ought to be totally -extirpated; doctrines which so pleased the King that the Lord Chancellor -was commissioned to offer him preferment, which he declined. - -Poor human nature at best goes on crutches; and one infirmity he had to -struggle with when young, Mr. Benson tells us, “was temper. He was a man -of strong passions, and prone to anger in particular, insomuch that he -has frequently thrown himself on the floor, and laid there most of the -night, bathed in tears, imploring victory over his spirit.” He obtained -it, and by the means employed—by earnest wrestling, by prayer articulate -at times—voiceless, waiting prayer at others. Holiness to be realised in -man—holiness incarnate on earth, eternal in the heavens—and the -annihilation of all that would bar it out from the soul was his motto. -But the man that would tremble before the suspicion of a fault, on the -other hand, could beard a gamester armed, and pour an avalanche of -indignation upon his head—aye, while the infuriated duellist held a -pistol to his breast. There was a combination of earnestness, sincerity, -and, withal, humiliation, about the man that won its way and fused all -before it. There was a primitive simplicity and singleness of purpose, -an enthusiasm unmixed with bitterness, and that heavenly temper about Mr. -Fletcher which reminds one of the sublimated virtues and graces of the -early Christians. Like the old fathers, he accommodated himself to his -hearers, suiting his exhortations to their modes of thought, and seizing -opportunities for imparting instruction and advice, so as to secure for -both the most favourable reception. His parishioners soon began not only -to perceive but to appreciate these excellent features of his character. -Unmoved by storm and tumult, actuated by the purest motives, with a grace -and sweetness that shone through every look and gave value to every -action, his visits, wherever he went, brought with them influences like -the reviving breath of spring. If he overtook on the road a poor woman, -wearied with a load, he assisted her to carry it, meanwhile taking care -to exhort her to relieve herself of that more intolerable one of sin. If -he saw a man fetch down a bird with his gun, he complimented him upon his -aim and called his attention to the mark for the prize of his high -calling—thus tempering and interweaving with things and pursuits of this -life those relating to that which is to come. A very atmosphere of good -surrounded him, from whence distilled heavenly and refreshing dew. To -meet the objections of his parishioners to early Sunday morning meetings, -on the ground of their being unable to rise so early, he was accustomed -to go round the village himself, tinkling a bell; “thus, though free from -all men,” as the Apostle said to the Corinthians, he made himself the -servant of all, giving himself up to the work as practically and -devotedly as though each particular department had been his special duty. -If a poor man was ill and lacked attendance he sat by the sickbed and -tended him; if he needed clothes to keep him warm he stripped himself; if -he needed money he gave it; and even the furniture in his house was at -the service of the poorest. He was not only a servant, but a “servant of -servants,” therefore, unto his brethren; and upon the well-recognised -principle of true greatness laid down by his divine Master—“Whomsoever -would be chief amongst you, let him be your servant”—he obtained that -reverence and regard with which, even now, his name is spoken of both in -the cottages of the poor and houses of the rich. - -There was in Mr. Fletcher a combination of distinguished virtues seldom -found in one man, and those so marked and developed that each by itself -would have been sufficient to confer distinction upon any individual -possessing it in an equal degree. Of his ministrations in the pulpit of -the old church none now left can speak. By the children, however, of -those who have listened to him we have often heard it said—“Never were -hearers more riveted and enrapt by lips of a fellow-mortal.” Every topic -received at his hand a fresh bloom—a brilliancy, a fascination, a -fragrance that entranced. Christ the Saviour, Christ in the garden, and -upon the cross; now at the right hand of the Father, and again coming in -great glory to judge the world; man regenerated; the benediction and the -curse; the two hemispheres of the one truth needful for man to know, were -themes upon which he began, continued, and ended. - -The “Rock Church,” previously spoken of, at Madeley Wood, was a cottage -built on a spur of one of the sandstones of the lower coal measures, and -it still stands, overlooking the valley of the Severn. Mr. Fletcher -exerted himself, however, to erect a place of better accommodation in -1776, and succeeded in building what now forms part of the old Wesleyan -chapel, a short distance from the Rock Church; and we find him devoting -£25, being a balance of £105 received as the annual income from his -estate in Switzerland, to its completion: the remainder previously -appears to have been devoted to other charitable purposes. He was unable -then, however, to clear off the whole, for in the following year he wrote -to Thomas York and Daniel Edmunds, who assisted him in the secular -concerns of the vicarage, saying:— - - “I have attempted to build a house in Madeley-Wood, about the centre - of the parish, where I should be glad if the children might be taught - to read and write in the day, and the grown-up people might hear the - word of God in the evening, when they can get an Evangelist to preach - it to them; and where the serious people might assemble for social - worship, when they have no teacher. - - “This has involved me in some difficulties about discharging the - expense of that building, and paying for the ground it stands upon; - especially, as my ill health has put me on the additional expense of - an assistant. If I had strength, I would serve my church alone, - board as cheap as I could, and save what I could from the produce of - the living to clear the debt, and leave that little token of my love, - free from encumbrances, to my parishioners. But as Providence orders - things otherwise, I have another object which is, to secure a - faithful Minister to serve the church while I live. Providence has - sent me dear Mr. Greaves, who loves the people, and is loved by them. - I should be glad to make him comfortable; but as all the care of the - flock, by my illness, devolves upon him, I would not hesitate for a - moment to let him have all the profit of the living, if it were not - for the debt contracted about the room. My difficulty lies, then, - between what I owe to my fellow-labourer, and what I owe to my - parishioners, whom I should be sorry to have burdened with a debt - contracted for the room. - - “I beg you will let me know how the balance of my account stands, - that, some way or other, I may order it to be paid immediately: for - if the balance is against me, I could not leave England comfortably - without having settled the payment. A letter will settle this - business, as well as if twenty friends were at the trouble of taking - a journey; and talking is far worse for me than reading or writing. - I do not say this to put a slight upon my dear friends. I should - rejoice to see them, if it would answer any end. - - “Ten thousand pardons of my dear friends, for troubling them with - this scrawl about worldly matters. May God help us all, so to settle - all our eternal concerns, that when we shall be called to go to our - long home and heavenly country, we may be ready, and have our - acquittance along with us. I am quite tired with writing; - nevertheless, I cannot lay by my pen, without desiring my best - Christian love to all my dear companions in tribulation, and - neighbours in Shropshire.” - -Mr. Fletcher was now, as will be seen, in ill-health, and being ordered -by his physician to a warmer climate, he wrote before leaving Bristol, -another and longer pastoral letter to his Madeley parishioners. In 1778 -we find him writing other letters from Nyon, in Switzerland, detailing -information he had collected in passing through France, concerning the -deaths of Voltaire and Rousseau, and inclosing notes to be read to -societies at Madeley, Dawley, The Bank, &c. - -The building at Madeley Wood cost more than he expected, and we find him -saying:— - - “I am sorry the building has come to so much more than I intended; - but as the mischief is done, it is a matter to exercise patience, - resignation, and self-denial; and it will be a caution in future. I - am going to sell part of my little estate here, to discharge the - debt. I had laid by fifty pounds to print a small work, which I - wanted to distribute here; but as I must be just before I presume to - offer that mite to ‘the God of truth,’ I lay by the design, and shall - send that sum to Mr. York. Money is so scarce here, at this time, - that I shall sell at a very great loss; but necessity and justice are - two great laws, which must be obeyed. As I design, on my return to - England, to pinch until I have got rid of this debt, I may go and - live in one of the cottages belonging to the Vicar, if we could let - the vicarage for a few pounds; and in that case, I dare say, Mr. - Greaves would be so good as to take the other little house.” - -Mr. Fletcher returned to England in the spring of 1781, better, but -without having regained his health; and in the course of the summer he -had an interview with Miss Bosanquet, at Cross Hall, Yorkshire, which led -to marriage in November, and both arrived at Madeley in January, 1782. -With good nursing his health returned, so that he was able to write to -Mr. Wesley in December of that year, to say—“I have strength enough to do -my parish work without the help of a curate.” This was one of those -years of bad harvests and scarcity of provisions, which usually led to -disturbances, and we find him in the same letter saying:—“The colliers -began to rise in this neighbourhood: happily, the cockatrice’s egg was -crushed before the serpent came out. However, I got many a hearty curse -from the colliers for the plain words I spoke on the occasion.” - -Acting upon the proposals of Mrs. Darby, he established a Sunday-school -in Madeley Wood. These proposals were:— - - “I.—It is proposed that Sunday-schools be set up in this parish for - such children as are employed all the week, and for those whose - education has been hitherto totally neglected. - - “II.—That the children admitted into these be taught reading, writing, - and the principles of religion. - - “III.—That there be a school for boys, and another for girls, in - Madeley, Madeley-Wood, and Coalbrook-Dale: six in all. - - “IV.—That a subscription be opened, to pay each Teacher one shilling - per Sunday, and to buy tables, forms, books, pens, and ink. - - “V.—That two Treasurers be appointed to ask and receive the - contributions of the subscribers. - - “VI.—That whosoever subscribes one guinea a year shall be a Governor. - - “VII.—That three or four Inspectors be appointed, who are to visit the - schools once a week, to see that the children attend regularly, and the - masters do their duty. - - “VIII.—That a book be provided for setting down all receipts and - expenses; and another for the names of the Teachers and the scholars. - - “IX.—That the schools be solemnly visited once or twice a year; and a - premium given to the children that have made the greatest improvement.” - -Three hundred children were soon gathered together whom Mr. Fletcher took -every opportunity of instructing, by regular meetings, which he attended -with the utmost diligence. In order to encourage the children he gave -them little hymn-books, pointing them to some friend or neighbour, who -would teach them the hymns and instruct them to sing. They were greatly -taken with this new employment, insomuch that it is said many would -scarce allow themselves time to eat or sleep, for the desire they had of -learning their lessons. At every meeting, after inquiring who had made -the greatest proficiency, he distinguished them by some little reward. -He also urged upon his more wealthy parishioners the importance of -establishing such schools at Coalbrookdale and Madeley. - - -MR. FLETCHER AS HEAD OF LADY HUNTINGDON’S COLLEGE. - - -Mr. Fletcher was for some time at the head of a college founded by the -Countess of Huntingdon for young men preparing for the ministry, at -Trevecca, in South Wales. His attachment to his flock at Madeley, -however, prevented him paying more than occasional visits and giving -advice with regard to the appointment of masters, and the admission or -exclusion of students. Mr. Benson, one of the tutors, tells us that he -here gave numberless proofs of his amiable disposition. To mention but -one instance, two of the students were bitterly prejudiced against each -other, and he took them into a room by themselves, reasoned with them, -wept over them, and at last prevailed. Their hearts were broken; they -were melted down; they fell upon each others’ necks and wept aloud. - -The long journeys on horseback, in all seasons and in all weathers, from -Madeley to Trevecca and back again to Madeley, however, told upon his -constitution, and much impaired his health. - - -MR. FLETCHER AS A CONTROVERSIALIST. - - -Mr. Fletcher’s connection with Trevecca College terminated in his -resigning, in consequence of a dispute which arose out of certain minutes -by the Wesleyan Conference in opposition to the doctrine of -predestination, first brought into prominence by the great Geneva -reformer, Calvin. Lady Huntingdon invited all in connection with the -college to write their sentiments respecting them, adding a strong hint -that all who did not repudiate the views contained in Mr. Wesley’s -minutes must prepare to quit. Mr. Fletcher wrote strongly in favour of -his friend Wesley, and resigned his appointment. These expressions of -his views brought him in opposition to his patrons, the Hills, two of -whom, Richard (afterwards Sir Richard) and Rowland, used their pens in -defence of Mr. Fletcher’s opponent, a brother-clergyman named Toplady, -then the great champion of Calvinism. Mr. Wesley, who had laid the train -which led to the explosion, either from want of time or inclination to -remain on the field, left two of his preachers to sustain the shock, and -these proving unequal to the task, Mr. Fletcher was left to fight the -battle single-handed. This he did in a series of cleverly-written works, -entitled “Checks to Antinomianism,” in speaking of one of which in a -letter to a friend, dated March 20, 1774:, he says:—“I do not repent of -my having engaged in this controversy; for though I doubt my little -publication cannot reclaim those who are confirmed in believing the lie -of the day, yet it may here and there stop one from swallowing it all, or -at least from swallowing it so deeply.” Two years after he says—“I have -almost run my race of scribbling; and I have preached as much as I could, -though to little purpose; but I must not complain. If one person has -received good by my ten years’ labour it is an honour for which I cannot -be too thankful, if my mind were as low as it should be.” - -A not very friendly critic, the _Christian Observer_, speaking some time -afterwards of this discussion, says:— - - “We have no hesitation in saying that we believe Mr. Fletcher’s - motives in writing them to have been pure and upright. We also think - that in his manner of conducting the controversy, now happily almost - forgotten, he had decidedly the advantage of his antagonists. He was - an acute and animated disputant; a brilliant imagination rendered his - argumentation imposing, splendid, and dazzling, while it enabled him - to paint the doctrines of his adversaries in the darkest and most - odious colours; and whatever may have been the merits of the cause - which he defended,—into these we do not mean to enter,—he was - undoubtedly superior in talents and learning to all his opponents.” - -Mr. Wesley says:—“One knows not which to admire most, the _purity_ of the -language (such as scarce any foreigner wrote before); the _strength_ and -_clearness_ of the argument; or the _mildness_ and _sweetness_ of the -spirit that breathes throughout the whole.” Those who read these -discussions in the present day feel surprised at the warmth and -bitterness exhibited by the antagonists, but allowance must be made for -the temper of the times. - - -MR. FLETCHER AS A POLITICIAN. - - -As in the religious controversy, so in the political dispute which arose -out of the American War of Independence, Mr. Fletcher came forth as the -champion of his friend Mr. Wesley, who having provoked his antagonists, -deputed the task of answering them to the Madeley vicar, and the friends -of both must now, we imagine, regret that either of them took up their -pens in such a cause. It is not too much to say that both entered the -lists, if not on the side of the oppressor, at any rate as against that -spirit of liberty for which a Washington and a Franklin fought, and which -had been implanted on New England soil by colonists to whom a Stuart king -had made the old country unsafe longer to live in. The mistake was -perhaps the result of that harsh-drawn line by which intensely devout -minds like those of Mr. Wesley and Mr. Fletcher are apt to separate -things religious and political, and which not unfrequently leads to an -insensibility to public injustice and crime, even, strangely -disproportioned to the zeal displayed in behalf of some dogmatic and -invisible subtleties of creed. Dr. Arnold and others since Mr. -Fletcher’s day have done much to correct the notion which removes -religion and God from politics, and which sets up in sharp opposition the -earthly and heavenly relations of men. - - -MR. FLETCHER AS A DESCRIPTIVE WRITER. - - -It may afford a fair specimen of Mr. Fletcher’s dispassionate descriptive -style of writing, and at the same time serve to commemorate a notable -phenomenon much talked of at that time, to quote his account of the great -landslip at the Birches, just on the borders of the parishes of Madeley -and Buildwas. - - “When I went to the spot,” says Mr. Fletcher, “the first thing that - struck me was the destruction of the little bridge that separated the - parish of Madeley from that of Buildwas, and the total disappearing - of the turnpike road to Buildwas bridge, instead of which nothing - presented itself to my view but a confused heap of bushes, and huge - clods of earth tumbled one over another. The river also wore a - different aspect; it was shallow, turbid, noisy, boisterous, and came - down from a different point. Whether I considered the water or the - land the scene appeared to me entirely new, and as I could not fancy - myself in another part of the country, I concluded that the God of - nature had shaken his providential iron rod over the subverted spot - before me. Following the track made by a great number of spectators, - who came already from the neghbouring parishes, I climbed over the - ruins and came to a field well grown with rye-grass, where the ground - was greatly cracked in several places, and where large turfs, some - entirely, others half turned up exhibited the appearance of straight - or crooked furrows, imperfectly formed by a plough drawn at a - venture. Getting from that field over the hedge, into a part of the - road which was yet visible, I found it raised in one place, sunk in - another, concave in a third, hanging on one side in a fourth, and - contracted as if some uncommon force had pressed the two hedges - together. But the higher part of it surprised me most, and brought - directly to my remembrance those places of mount Vesuvius where the - solid stony lava has been strongly marked by repeated earthquakes, - for the hard-beaten gravel that formed the surface of the road was - broken every way into huge masses, partly detatched from each other, - with deep apertures between them exactly like the shattered lava. - This striking likeness of circumstances made me conclude that the - similar effect might proceed from the same cause, namely, a strong - convulsion on the surface if not in the bowels of the earth. Going a - little farther towards Buildwas I found that the road was again - totally lost for a considerable space, having been overturned, - absorbed, or tumbled with the hedges’ that bounded it to a - considerable distance towards the river; this part of the desolation - appeared then to me inexpressibly dreadful. Between a shattered - field and the river there was on that morning a bank on which besides - a great deal of underwood grew twenty fine large oaks, this wood shot - with such violence into the Severn before it that it forced the water - in great columns a considerable height, like mighty fountains, and - gave the overflowing river a retrograde motion. This is not the only - accident that happened to the Severn; for near the Grove the channel - which was chiefly of a soft blue rock burst in ten thousand pieces, - and rose perpendicularly about ten yards, heaving up the immense - quantity of water and the shoals of fishes that were therein. Among - the rubbish at the bottom of the river, which was very deep in that - place, there were one or two huge stones and a large piece of timber, - or an oak tree, which from time immemorial had lain partly buried in - the mud, I suppose in consequence of some flood; the stones and tree - were thrown up as if they had been only a pebble and a stick, and are - now at some distance from the river, many feet higher than the - surface of it. Ascending from the ruins of the road I came to those - of a barn, which after travelling many yards towards the river had - been absorbed in a chasm where the shattered roof was yet visible. - Next to these remains of the barn, and partly parallel with the - river, was a long hedge which had been torn from a part of it yet - adjoining the garden hedge, and had been removed above forty yards - downward together with some large trees that were in it and the land - that it enclosed. The tossing, tearing, and shifting of so many - acres of land below, was attended with the formation of stupendous - chasms above. At some distance above, near the wood which crowns - that desolated spot, another chasm, or rather a complication of - chasms excited my admiration; it is an assemblage of chasms, one of - which that seems to terminate the desolation to the north-east, runs - some hundred yards towards the river and Madeley Wood; it looked like - the deep channel of some great serpentine river dried up, whose - little islands, fords, and hollows appear without a watery veil. - This long chasm at the top seems to be made up of two or three that - run into each other, and their conjunction when it is viewed from a - particular point exhibits the appearance of a ruined fortress whose - ramparts have been blown up by mines that have done dreadful - execution, and yet have spared here and there a pyramid of earth, or - a shattered tower by which the spectators can judge of the nature and - solidity of the demolished bulwark. Fortunately there was on the - devoted spot but one house, inhabited by two poor countrymen and - their families; it stands yet, though it has removed about a yard - from its former situation. The morning in which the desolation - happened, Samuel Wilcocks, one of those countrymen, got up about four - o’clock, and opening the window to see if the weather was fair he - took notice of a small crack in the earth about four or five inches - wide, and observed the above mentioned field of corn heaving up and - rolling about like the waves of the sea; the trees by the motion of - the ground waved also, as if they had been blown with the wind, - though the air was calm and serene; the river Severn, which for some - days had overflowed its banks, was also very much agitated and seemed - to turn back to its source. The man being astonished at such a - sight, rubbed his eyes, supposing himself not quite awake, and being - soon convinced that destruction stalked about he alarmed his wife, - and taking the children in their arms they went out of the house as - fast as they could, accompanied by the other man and his wife. A - kind Providence directed their flight, for instead of running - eastward across the fields that were just going to be overthrown, - they fled westward into a wood that had little share in the - destruction. When they were about twenty yards from the house they - perceived a great crack run very quick up the ground from the river; - immediately the land behind them with the trees and hedges moved - towards the Severn with great swiftness and an uncommon noise, which - Samuel Wilcocks compared to a large flock of sheep running swiftly by - him. It was then chiefly that desolation expanded her wings over the - devoted spot and the Birches saw a momentary representation of a - partial chaos! then nature seemed to have forgotten her laws: trees - became itinerant!—those that were at a distance from the river - advanced towards it, while the submerged oak broke out of its watery - confinements and by rising many feet recovered a place on dry land; - the solid road was swept away as its dust had been on a stormy - day;—then probably the rocky bottom of the Severn emerged, pushing - towards heaven astonished shoals of fishes and hogsheads of water - innumerable;—the wood like an embattled body of vegetable combatants - stormed the bed of the overflowing river, and triumphantly waved its - green colours over its recoiling flood;—fields became moveable,—nay, - they fled when none pursued, and as they fled they rent the green - carpets that covered them in a thousand pieces;—in a word, dry land - exhibited the dreadful appearance of a sea-storm. Solid earth as if - it had acquired the fluidity of water tossed itself into massy waves, - which rose or sunk at the beck of him who raised the tempest; and - what is most astonishing, the stupendous hollow of one of those waves - ran for nearly a quarter of a mile through rocks and a stony soil - with as much ease as if dry earth, stones, and rocks had been a part - of the liquid element. Soon after the river was stopt, Samuel - Cookson, a farmer who lives a quarter of a mile below the Birches, on - the same side of the river, was much terrified by a dust of wind that - beat against his windows as if shot had been thrown against it, but - his fright greatly increased when getting up to see if the flood that - was over his ground had abated he perceived that all the water was - from his fields, and that scarce any remained in the Severn. He - called up his family, ran to the river, and finding that the river - was dammed up, he made the best of his way to alarm the inhabitants - of Buildwas, the next village above, which he supposed would soon be - under water. He was happily mistaken, providence just prepared a way - for their escape; the Severn, notwithstanding a considerable flood - which at that time rendered it doubly rapid and powerful, having met - with two dreadful shocks, the one from her rising bed and the other - from the intruding wood, could do nothing but foam and turn back with - impetuosity. The ascending and descending streams conflicted about - Buildwas bridge; the river sensibly rose for some miles back, and - continued rising till just as it was near entering the houses at - Buildwas it got a vent through the fields on the right, and after - spreading far and near over them collected all its might to assault - its powerful aggressor, I mean the Grove, that had so unexpectedly - turned it out of the bed which it had enjoyed for countless ages. - Sharp was the attack, but the resistance was yet more vigorous, and - the Severn, repelled again and again, was obliged to seek its old - empty bed, by going the shortest way to the right, and the moment it - found it again it precipitated therein with a dreadful roar, and for - a time formed a considerable cataract with inconceivable fury, as if - it wanted to be avenged on the first thing that came in its way, - began to tear and wash away a fine rich meadow opposite to the Grove, - and there in a few hours worked itself a new channel about three - hundred yards long, through which a barge from Shrewsbury ventured - three or four days after, all wonder at the strangement of the - overthrow.” - -Mr. Fletcher added:—“My employment and taste leading me more to search -out the mysteries of heaven than to scrutinize the phenomena of the -earth, and to point at the wonders of grace rather than those of nature; -I leave the decision of the question about the slip and the earthquake to -some abler philosopher.” - -The phenomenon was nothing more nor less than a landslip, such as has -occurred time after time alongside the banks of the Severn, only upon a -larger scale than usual; and Mr. Fletcher, as was his wont, turned the -event to account by addressing the large number who had assembled to -witness what had taken place, in words of earnest and solemn import, and -by preaching again to them on the same spot the following evening. - - -MR. FLETCHER IN THE PULPIT. - - -In person Mr. Fletcher was above the middle stature. He had a pleasing -face, a penetrating eye, and a slightly aquiline nose. His manners were -courteous and graceful, and he displayed a dignity and humility of -character rarely associated in the same person. In the pulpit, it is -said, the liveliest fancy could not frame for any of the ancient saints -an aspect more venerable or apostolic. - -Of Mr. Fletcher’s preaching, the author of a letter quoted by Mr. Gilpin -says:— - - “I would rather have heard one sermon from Mr. Fletcher, _viva voce_, - than read a volume of his works. His words were clothed with power, - and entered with effect. His writings are arrayed in all the garb of - human literature. But his living word soared an eagle’s flight above - humanity. He basked in the sun, carried his young ones on his wings, - and seized the prey, for his Master. In short, his preaching was - apostolic; while his writings, tho’ enlightened, are but human.” - -His aim was not to captivate his hearers by artificial means, but by -simple and sincere scriptural arguments; and his language, gesture, -voice, and pleasing expression of countenance aided much in fixing the -attention and affecting the heart. Many walked long distances and -brought their dinners with them, that they might attend morning and -afternoon services; and deep indentations in the stone pillars of the -vicarage gate exist to show where some sharpened their knives. He -sometimes provided dinners for them in his own house. - -The clerk at one of the churches Mr. Fletcher served for some time sought -to turn his popularity to account by charging for admission to all not -belonging to the parish, to which practice Mr. Fletcher soon put an end -upon its coming to his knowledge, and compelled him to return the money. - -Mr. Fletcher preached _extempore_, but generally used notes, or heads of -the divisions and subdivisions of his subjects. We have eight of these -(given us by Miss Tooth, Mrs. Fletcher’s adopted daughter). They are -very neatly written, each one occupying a space of about seven inches by -five. In preaching at Bristol on one occasion he said:— - - “One Sunday when I had done reading prayers at Madeley, I went up - into the pulpit, intending to preach a sermon, which I had prepared - for that purpose. But my mind was so confused that I could not - recollect either my text or any part of my sermon. I was afraid I - should be obliged to come down without saying anything. But having - recollected myself a little, I thought I would say something on the - first lesson, which was the third chapter of Daniel, containing the - account of the three children cast into the fiery furnace: I found in - doing so such an extraordinary assistance from God, and such a - peculiar enlargement of the heart, that I supposed there must be some - peculiar cause for it. I therefore desired, if any of the - congregation found anything particular, they would acquaint me with - it in the ensuing week. - - “In consequence of this, the Wednesday after, a woman came and gave - me the following account: ‘I have been for some time much concerned - about my soul. I have attended the church at all opportunities, and - have spent much time in private prayer. At this my husband (who is a - baker) has been exceedingly enraged, and threatened me severely what - he would do if I did not leave off going to John Fletcher’s church: - yea, if I dared to go to any more religious meetings whatsoever. - When I told him I could not, in conscience, refrain from going at - least to our parish church, he grew quite outrageous, and swore - dreadfully if I went any more he would cut my throat as soon as I - came home. This made me cry mightily to God that He would support me - in the trying hour. And though I did not feel any great degree of - comfort, yet having a sure confidence in God, I determined to go on - in my duty, and leave the event to Him. Last Sunday, after many - struggles with the devil and my own heart, I came down stairs ready - for church. My husband asked me whether I was resolved to go - thither. I told him I was. ‘Well then,’ said he, ‘I shall not (as I - intended) cut your throat, but I will heat the oven, and throw you - into it the moment you come home.’ Notwithstanding this threatening, - which he enforced with many bitter oaths, I went to church, praying - all the way that God would strengthen me to suffer whatever might - befall me. While you were speaking of the three children whom - Nebuchadnezzar cast into the burning fiery furnace, I found it all - belonged to _me_, and God applied every word to my heart. And when - the sermon was ended I thought if I had a thousand lives I could lay - them all down for God. I felt my whole soul so filled with His love - that I hastened home, fully determined to give myself to whatsoever - God pleased: nothing doubting but that either He would take me to - heaven if He suffered me to be burnt to death, or that He would some - way or other deliver me, even as He did his three _servants that - trusted in Him_. When I got almost to our own door I saw the flames - issuing out of the mouth of the oven; and I expected nothing else but - that I should be thrown into it immediately. I felt my heart rejoice - that, if it were so, the will of the Lord would be done. I opened - the door, and to my utter astonishment saw my husband upon his knees, - wrestling with God in prayer for the forgiveness of his sins. He - caught me in his arms, earnestly begging my pardon, and has continued - diligently seeking God ever since.’ - -“I now know why my sermon was taken from me—namely, that God might thus -magnify His mercy.” - - -MR. FLETCHER’S CHARITY AND LOVE OF THE POOR. - - -Mr. Fletcher’s income from his living was not more on an average, Mrs. -Fletcher says, than £100 per annum; and many of the wealthy people of the -Dale objected to pay tythe, which he equally objected to enforce. - - “But whether he had less or more, it was the same thing upon his own - account (Mrs. Fletcher remarks): as he had no other use for it, after - frugally supplying his own wants and the wants of those dependent on - him, but to spread the gospel and assist the poor. And he frequently - said he was never happier than when he had given away the last penny - he had in the house. If at any time I had gold in my drawers it - seemed to afford him no comfort. But if he could find a handful of - small silver when he was going out to see the sick he would express - as much pleasure over it as a miser would in discovering a pan of hid - treasure. He was never better pleased with my employment than when - he had set me to prepare food or physic for the poor. He was hardly - able to relish his dinner if some sick neighbour had not a part of - it; and sometimes when any one of them was in want I could not keep - the linen in his drawers. On Sundays he provided for numbers of - people who came from a distance to hear the word; and his house as - well as his heart was devoted to their convenience. To relieve them - that were afflicted in body or mind was the delight of his heart. - Once a poor man who feared God, being brought into great - difficulties, he took down all the pewter from the kitchen shelves, - saying—’This will help _you_, and I can do without it: a wooden - trencher will serve _me_ just as well.’ In epidemic and contagions - distempers, when the neighbours were afraid to nurse the sick, he has - gone from house to house, seeking some that were willing to undertake - that office. And when none could be found he has offered his - service, to sit up with them himself. But this was at his first - coming to Madeley. At present there is in many (and has been for - many years) a most ready mind to visit and relieve the distressed. - - “He thoroughly complied with that advice— - - ‘Give to all something: to a good poor man, - Till thou change hands, and be where he began.’ - - “I have heard him say that when he lived alone in his house the tears - have come into his eyes when five or six insignificant letters have - been brought him, at three or four pence a-piece; and perhaps he had - only a single shilling in the house to distribute among the poor to - whom he was going. He frequently said to me—’O, Polly, can we not do - without beer? Let us drink water, and eat less meat. Let our - necessities give way to the extremities of the poor.’ - - “But with all his generosity and charity he was strictly careful to - follow the advice of the apostle, _Owe no man any thing_. He - contracted no debt. While he gave all he had he made it a rule to - pay ready-money for everything, believing this was the best way to - keep the mind unencumbered and free from care. Meanwhile his - substance, his time, his strength, his life, were devoted to the - service of the poor. And last of all he gave _me_ to them. For when - we were married he asked me solemnly ‘whether I was willing to marry - his parish?’ And the first time he led me among his people in this - place he said—‘I have not married this wife only for myself, but for - _you_. I asked her of the Lord for _your_ comfort as well as my - own.’” - - - -MR. FLETCHER’S LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. - - -Mr. Fletcher’s wish was to live as he would be likely to wish he had -lived when he came to die, a holy life rather than a triumphant death -being his main object. A Godly life was the way to a happy death, he -stated in one of his sermons; nevertheless, he continued, this rule like -many others might have exceptions, as the partial or entire derangement -of the human machine, or the self-chastisement of a tender conscience on -account of former infidelities might determine. - -During the ravages of an infectious fever in the parish he reproved a -portion of his flock who from fear of death refrained from rendering -assistance to the sick and the dying. “Use every precaution prudence can -suggest,” he said, “and meekly but confidently commit yourselves to the -gracious Power in whom you live, and then without fear stand firm to the -calls of duty. . . . For myself, whenever I shall have numbered the days -He may appoint, I shall deem it an additional honour and blessing if He -should appoint me to meet my death while I am engaged in the kind offices -of humanity and mercy.” - -Mr. Fletcher may be said to have had his wish, for he was engaged in -visiting the sick and duties of a like kind on the Thursday, (August 4, -1785), from three in the afternoon till nine at night, when on returning -home he found he had taken cold. On Friday and Saturday he suffered from -fever, and on Sunday he began the service apparently with his usual -strength; but he soon faltered. The congregation was alarmed, and Mrs. -Fletcher earnestly entreated him to discontinue a task clearly beyond his -strength. He recovered on the windows being opened, and preached with -remarkable energy and effect. “As soon as he had finished his sermon,” -one of his biographers says, “he walked to the communion-table. Here the -same affecting scene was renewed with additional solemnity. Tears -started from every eye and sighs escaped from every breast, while his -people beheld their minister offering up the last languid remains of a -life that had been lavishly spent in their service. In going through -this last part of his duty he was frequently exhausted, but his spiritual -vigour triumphed over his bodily weakness. At length, after having -struggled through a service of some hours’ continuance, he was supported, -with blessings in his mouth, from the altar to his chamber, where he lay -some time in a swoon, and from whence he never walked into the world -again. Mr. Fletcher’s friends entered so entirely into his devotional -feelings that, they were spared the bitter pang which they would -otherwise have experienced from the reflection that these imprudent -exertions exasperated his disorder, and proved an acceleration of his -death.” - -He lingered till the following Sunday, at times greatly edifying his -friends with accounts of his experience. Mr. Cox says:— - - “After evening service several of the poor who came from a distance, - and were usually entertained under his roof, lingered about the - house, and at length expressed an earnest desire to be permitted once - more to behold their expiring pastor. Their request was granted. - The door of his chamber was set open, directly opposite to which he - was sitting upright in bed, unaltered in his appearance; and as they - slowly passed along the gallery, one by one, they paused at the door, - with a look of mingled supplication and anguish. - - “A few hours after this affecting scene he breathed his last, without - a struggle or a groan. At the moment of his departure Mrs. Fletcher - was kneeling by his side; a domestic, who had attended him with - uncommon assiduity, was seated at his head; and his respected friend, - Mr. Gilpin, was sorrowfully standing near his feet. Uncertain - whether he had actually expired, they pressed near, and hung over his - bed in the attitude of listening attention. His lips had ceased to - move, and his head was gently sinking upon his bosom. They stretched - out their hands: but his warfare was accomplished, and his happy - spirit had taken its everlasting flight. Such was the end of this - eminently holy and laborious servant of God, who entered into rest on - the evening of Sunday, August 14, 1785, in the fifty-sixth year of - his age. - - “Mr. Fletcher had frequently expressed an earnest desire that he - might be buried in the plainest manner possible. ‘Let there be no - pomp,’ he would say, ‘no expense, no ceremony, at my funeral. The - coffin of the parish poor will suit me best.’ To these instructions - his affectionate widow religiously adhered. A plain oak coffin, with - a brass plate, conveyed his honoured remains to their long home, - without a pall, pall-bearers, scarf, or hat-band. But two thousand - of his parishioners followed him to the grave, who manifested by all - the signs of unaffected sorrow their affliction for their irreparable - loss.” - - - -TESTIMONIES OF THE LIFE AND CHARACTER OF THE REV. JOHN FLETCHER. - - -Posthumous literature usually carries little weight. It often assumes -virtues to which the deceased were strangers, and not unfrequently libels -the dead. The simple epitaph on the plain iron plate which covers Mr. -Fletcher’s remains in the Madeley churchyard is not of this class, but is -so modest an expression of facts that it requires to be read by the light -which the records of contemporaries throw upon it, and which will be -found to be more on a level with the merits and virtues of the deceased. - -The _Shrewsbury Chronicle_ of August, 1785, in recording the death of Mr. -Fletcher had the following:— - - “On the 14th instant, departed this life, the Rev. John Fletcher, - Vicar of Madeley, in this county, to the inexpressible grief and - concern of his parishioners, and of all who had the happiness of - knowing him. If we speak of him as a man, and a gentleman, he was - possessed of every virtue and every accomplishment, which adorns and - dignifies human nature. If we attempt to speak of him as a Minister - of the Gospel, it will be extremely difficult to give the world a - just idea of _this great Character_. His deep learning, his exalted - piety, his never-ceasing labours to discharge the important duties of - his function, together with the abilities and good effect with which - he discharged those duties are best known, and will never be - forgotten, in that vineyard in which he laboured. His charity, his - universal benevolence, his meekness, and exemplary goodness, are - scarcely equalled amongst the sons of men. Anxious, to the last - moment of his life, to discharge the sacred duties of his office, he - performed the service of the church, and administered the holy - sacrament to upwards of two hundred communicants, the Sunday - preceding his death, confiding in that Almighty Power, which had - given him life, and resigning that life into the hands of Him who - gave it, with that composure of mind, and those joyful hopes of a - happy resurrection, which ever accompany the last moments of the - just.” - - “Fletcher is a seraph who burns with the ardour of divine love; and - spurning the fetters of mortality, he almost habitually seems to have - anticipated the rapture of the beatific vision.”—_Robert Hall_. - - “A pattern of holiness, scarce to be paralleled in a - century.”—_Minutes of Wesleyan Conference_, 7, 183. - - “I was intimately acquainted with him for above thirty years. I - never heard him speak one improper word, nor saw him do any improper - action. So unblamable a character, in every respect, I have not - found, and I scarce expect to find such another on this side of - eternity.”—_John Wesley_. - - “Fletcher, I conceive to be the most holy man who has been upon earth - since the apostolic age.”—_Dr. Dixon_. - - “No age or country has ever produced a man of more fervid piety, or - more perfect charity; no Church has ever possessed a more apostolic - minister.”—_Robert Southey_. - - “He was a saint, a saint such as the Church of every age has produced - a few samples, as unearthly a being as could tread the earth at - all.”—_Isaac Taylor_. - - “Almost an angel in human flesh, prayer, praise, love, and zeal were - the element in which he lived. His one employment was to call, - entreat, and urge others to ascend with him to the glorious Source of - being and blessedness.”—_Joseph Benson_. - -The following is a copy of the entry in the parish register:— - - “John Fletcher, clerk, died on Sunday evening, August 14th, 1785. He - was one of the most apostolic men of the age in which he lived. His - abilities were extraordinary, and his labours unparalleled. He was a - burning and shining light, and as his life had been a common blessing - to the inhabitants of this parish, so the death of this great man was - lamented by them as a common and irreparable loss. This little - testimony was inserted by one who sincerely loved and honoured him. - Joshua Gilpin, vicar of Wrockwardine.” - - - -EPITAPH ON GRAVESTONE. - - - “Here lies the Body of - the REV. JOHN WILLIAM DE LA FLECHERE, - Vicar of Madeley. - He was born at Nyon, in Switzerland, - September 12th, MDCCXXIX, - and finished his Course in this Village, - August 14th, MDCCLXXXV, where his - unexampled labours will be long remembered. - He exercised his Ministry for the Space - of Twenty five Years in this Parish, - with uncommon Zeal and Ability. - Many believed his Report and became his Joy - and Crown of Rejoicing: - While others constrained him to take up - the Lamentation of the Prophet, - ‘All the Day long have I stretched out my Hands - unto a disobedient and gainsaying People; - yet surely my Judgment is with the Lord, - and my Work with my God. - (He being dead yet speaketh.’)” - - - -MRS. FLETCHER, -OF MADELEY. - - -Long before the question of woman’s mission came to be debated, there -were useful and pious women who quite came up to the standard modern -champions of the sex have raised. History brings before us the names of -many whose thoughts and doings had a vital influence upon the society in -the midst of which they moved. The fidelity, zeal, and usefulness of -some appear as a silver-thread woven into the past, showing that there is -no sex in piety or in intellect. When the down trodden vine of -Christianity had to be raised, tended, and made to entwine around the -sceptre of the Cæsars, there were “fellow-helpers” of the apostles, -“honourable women, not a few,” who distinguished themselves. So in the -days of the Wesleys and Fletcher, there were women who greatly aided in -the work of christian revival. Mrs. Fletcher was one of these. She was -born at Forest House, once the residence of the Earl of Norwich, on the -1st September, 1739. The Cedars, another fine old mansion in -Leytonstone, built by Charles II., was her property. She was therefore a -Lady by birth and fortune; and she chose to be useful in her day and -generation. She was the subject of early religious impressions, which -gave tone and character to her life. The first use she made of her -wealth and influence upon coining into possession of her property was to -convert the spacious building she inherited into an Orphanage, and her -income was devoted to the support of this and similar institutions. She -held religious meetings, and exhorted among the Wesleyans, of which body -she became a member. She heard frequently of Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. -Fletcher of her, through the Wesleys; and a presentiment seems to have -been felt by each that they were designed for each other. Twenty-six -years however elapsed before proposals were made or an intimacy sprung -up. They were married on the 12th of November, 1781, at Batley church, -near Cross Hall, at that time the residence of Miss Bosanquet, and in -January, 1782 she says in one of her letters:— - - “On January 2nd, 1782, we set out for Madeley. But O! where shall I - begin my song of praise! What a turn is there in all my affairs! - What a depth of sorrow, distress, and perplexity, am I delivered - from! How shall I find language to express the goodness of the Lord! - Not one of the good things have failed me of all the Lord my God hath - spoken. Now I know no want but that of more grace. I have such a - husband as is in everything suited to me. He bears with all my - faults and failings, in a manner that continually reminds me of that - word, ‘Love your wives as Christ loved the church.’ His constant - endeavour is to make me happy; his strongest desire, my spiritual - growth. He is, in every sense of the word, the man my highest reason - chooses to obey. I am also happy in a servant, whom I took from the - side of her mother’s coffin, when she was four years old. She loves - us as if we were her parents, and is also truly devoted to God.” - -Married life however with them was a short one. The seeds of disease -which had previously shewn themselves became in course of time more fully -developed, and in three years and nine months she was left a widow. She -survived her husband 30 years; and was permitted to continue to live at -the vicarage; and she frequently held meetings at the Rough Park, at -Coalbrookdale, Madeley, and Madeley Wood; having first taken counsel of -Mr. Wesley, who approved of the steps she had taken. - -“The Old Barn” was one of the places long associated with her labours and -her name, and was a place long endeared to Mr. Wesley’s early ministers, -who used it for preaching and exhortation. It was a heavy half-timbered -building, in the fashion of former times, a lithograph representation of -which by a friend of ours, Mr. Philip Ballard, may be seen in the houses -of many of the inhabitants of Madeley. - -Sarah Lawrence, whom Mr. Fletcher took as a child from the side of her -mother’s coffin, and adopted as a daughter, was a faithful friend, and of -considerable assistance in visiting and conversing with the sick; but she -died some years before Mrs. Fletcher, who built a chapel at Coalport to -her memory, in consequence of a dream Miss Lawrence had had, that great -good would result from the erection of a place of worship there. The -lease, we believe, has now expired. - -Miss Tooth, another adopted daughter, survived Mrs. Fletcher, and for -many years continued the Sunday morning meetings in a large upper room of -her house, which is now converted into a public house. The Rev. George -Perks who now holds a distinguished position among the Wesleyans, the -present writer, and many others, attended these meetings. Miss Tooth -took care that they did not interfere with the services of the -Established church, which she set the example of attending punctually. -She usually read one of Mrs. Fletcher’s papers, such as she had formerly -read herself at her meetings. Speaking of Mrs. Fletcher, soon after her -death Miss Tooth said: - - “Her whole life was one of self-sacrificing endeavour to do good to - the souls and bodies of men. She lived not for herself but for - others. She was one of a thousand, as of mercy, so of economy; - always sparing of expense upon herself, that she might have more to - give to ‘the household of faith.’ She would often say, ‘God’s - receivers upon earth are Christ’s Church and His poor.’ When I have - proposed the purchasing of some article of clothing for her, she - would ask, ‘Is it quite necessary? If not do not buy it: it will be - much better to give the money to some of our poor neighbours than to - lay it out upon me.’ Nor was this once only; it was invariably her - conduct; and with great truth it might be constantly said of her - also, that - - “‘What her charity impairs, - She saves by prudence in affairs.’ - - “She was remarkably exact in setting down every penny she expended. - She kept four different accounts, in which all she spent was - included. These four were the house, sundries, clothes, and poor. - We have often at the end of the year been astonished to find the - house expenses so small, considering how many had shared with us. At - such times she has said, ‘It is the Lord who has blessed our bread - and water.’” - - - -RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF MADELEY IN MR. AND MRS. FLETCHER’S DAY. - - -Having given sketches of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher at some length, we now -proceed to notice the religious aspect of Madeley at that period. In -order to do this more fully we notice, first, that Mr. Fletcher during -the three years which elapsed between his ordination and presentation to -the living at Madeley, in 1760, occasionally visited the parish and -officiated for Mr. Chambers, the then vicar, as his curate. He was -therefore acquainted with the nature of the charge he was about to -undertake, and with the character of the people among whom he was about -to labour, a tolerable estimate of which may be gleaned from the -description given by one of Mr. Fletcher’s biographers, the Rev. J. -Benson, who says:— - - “Celebrated for the extensive works carried on within its limits, - Madeley was remarkable for little else than the ignorance and - profaneness of its inhabitants, among whom respect to man was as - rarely to be observed, as piety towards God. In this benighted place - the Sabbath was openly profaned, and the most holy things - contemptuously trampled under foot; even the restraints of decency - were violently broken through, and the external form of religion held - up as a subject of ridicule. This general description of the - inhabitants of Madeley, must not, however, be indiscriminately - applied to every individual among them: exceptions there were to this - prevailing character, but they were comparatively few indeed. Such - was the place where Mr. Fletcher was called to stand forth, as a - preacher of righteousness, and in which he appeared, for the space of - five-and-twenty years as a burning and shining light.” - -How he laboured is best described by the same writer, who says:— - - “Not content with discharging the stated duties of the Sabbath, he - counted that day as lost, in which he was not actually employed in - the service of the church. As often as a small congregation could be - collected, which was usually every evening, he joyfully proclaimed to - them the acceptable year of the Lord, whether it were in the place - set apart for public worship, in a private house, or in the open air. - And, on these occasions, the affectionate and fervent manner in which - he addressed his hearers, was an affecting proof of the interest he - took in their spiritual concerns. As the varying circumstances of - his people required, he assumed a different appearance among them: at - one season he would open his mouth in blessings: and, at another, he - would appear, like his Lord amid the buyers and sellers, with the - lash of righteous severity in his hand. But, in whatever way he - exercised his ministry, it was evident that his labours were - influenced by love, and tended immediately, either to the extirpation - of sin, or the increase of holiness.” - -And Mr. Wesley, speaking of his friend’s conduct and labours to spread -the truth and to repress vice in every possible way, says:— - - “Those sinners, who endeavoured to hide themselves from him, he - pursued to every corner of his parish: by all sorts of means, public - and private, early and late, in season and out of season, entreating - and warning them to flee from the wrath to come. Some made it an - excuse for not attending the church service on a Sunday morning, that - they could not awake early enough to get their families ready. He - provided for this also. Taking a bell in his hand, he set out every - Sunday for some months, at five in the morning, and went round the - most distant parts of the parish, inviting all the inhabitants to the - house of God.” - -So stubborn and unyielding were the materials, that for some time he saw -so little fruit of his labours that he tells us he was more than once in -doubt, whether he had not mistaken his place, and that he was violently, -as he tells Mr. Charles Wesley, tempted to quit the place. After a -little time his church became crowded; excitement then died away, and -strong opposition sprang up; but there was an energy about his preaching -and exhortations which was irresistible, and he succeeded in his work. -The change effected in the whole tone and character, of thought and -feeling among the inhabitants was obvious, and perceptible to the most -prejudiced. That a life of surpassing purity and self-sacrifice to the -highest ends should produce such effects shewed that even low and carnal -nature when honestly appealed to is not wholly insensible to true and -genuine piety. He laboured and others entered into his labours. - -Under the fostering care of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher Methodism, planted on -ground watered by them, found a congenial soil, on which it has -flourished to the present day. As early as May, 1767, as we find from a -letter to the Rev. George Whitfield, dated Madeley, Mr. Fletcher had -invited Captain Scott, then a great preacher among the Wesleyans, to -preach to his congregation, and that he had done so from his horse-block, -for Mr. Fletcher adds, that his sermon did more good than a hundred -preached by himself from his own pulpit. In this letter we find him -inviting Whitfield to follow the Captain’s example, and to come down and -preach too. Others succeeded, whose ministrations, aided by the meetings -of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher, meetings which were attended by the piously -disposed from the Broseley side of the Severn, from Wellington and -neighbouring parishes, raised up a pious and efficient body of men who -became prayer leaders, class leaders, local preachers, and centres of -societies which spread far and wide. Fortunately, that good man Melville -Horne, who succeeded Mr. Fletcher, and who after labouring in Madeley for -some years went out to Africa and founded the Mission of Sierra Leone, on -being appointed curate after the death of Mr. Fletcher favoured this -state of things, which continued for some years, with the sanction of the -vicar. Mrs. Fletcher in her Journal, August 3, 1815, says, “I have been -joined to the people united to Mr. Wesley for threescore years, and I -trust to die amongst them. The life of true religion is amongst them, -and the work increases.” At the same time she says, “I have always -considered myself a member of the church, and so have the united friends -in Madeley.” When Mr. Horne left to go out as a missionary to Africa, -the vicar, Mr. Burton, desirous of promoting the same kind of harmony, -left it to Mrs. Fletcher to recommend a successor. Writing to the one -who succeeded Mr. Horne, she says:—“Those who are religious in the -parish, as well as those who attend from a distance, go to hear the -Wesleyan ministers, and also attended the Church Services.” - - - -RELIGIOUS ASPECT OF MADELEY IN 1777 AND 1877. - - -It is, of course, difficult to arrive at strictly accurate statistics by -which to determine the complete state of religious feeling at any given -time; but taking well ascertained facts for our guide we may at least get -an approximate result. The moral ground and receptacle of religious -truth upon which Mr. Fletcher had to work was the same as now; but that -ground may be, and is, we imagine, in a more favourable condition for the -reception of the seed now than it was in Mr. Fletcher’s day: facts also -tend to shew that men are less indifferent and supercilious now than -then, and that the means of influencing them are vastly increased, -probably as a natural consequence whilst the fruits are in proportion. -The channel of truth is wider and deeper, and the climate of thought and -feeling is more favourable, and although diversities may have increased, -there are collateral benign and ameliorating influences in operation, -producing mutual reverence for the good and the true, and a growing -tolerance of opinion where such diversity exists. - -In Mr. Fletcher’s time, Protestantism, as represented by the Church of -England, and Catholicism as represented by a small body which does not -seem, so far as Madeley itself is concerned to have increased, stood -alone, if we except the Friends or Quakers, also small as regards -numbers. From the time of the Reformation, a few Catholic families of -influence lingered here. They worshipped first in a room fitted up as a -Chapel in the house of Mr. Wolfe, who gave shelter to King Charles. -Afterwards the Giffards of Chillington, gave some ground on which was -erected a house and chapel about the year 1760. Mr. Fletcher in one of -his letters mentions the disquietude the erection of this Chapel gave -him, and describes it as the new mass-house. The present Church of St. -Mary was not built till 1853. It consists of nave, side aisles, and -gallery, and will accommodate 500 persons, but if we except those who -attend from other parishes we question whether the congregation is -greater now than in Mr. Fletcher’s time. This however is not to be taken -as shewing the state of Catholicism in the neighbourhood, inasmuch as -missions have been established from this in Bridgnorth, Shifnal, -Wellington, and other places. - -On the other hand, the Church of England has made great progress. It has -more than kept abreast of the increasing population, whether we consider -the accommodation it affords or its efficiency, its activity, or the -varied machinery by which it works. Not only has the mother church been -enlarged to twice the size of the one in which Mr. Fletcher preached, but -two others have been added in other parts of the parish, each of which -has become a separate ecclesiastical division. The population of Madeley -in the time of Mr. Fletcher may be judged of from the fact that there -were 900 families which, upon the usual calculation of five to a family, -would give 4,500 inhabitants. In 1801, when the first census was taken, -it had only increased to 4,758; and in 1831 to 5,822. In 1841 it was -7,267; in 1857, 8,524, in 1861 it was 9,461; and in 1871 it was 9,475; of -which number 4,345, are in the electoral and ecclesiastical division of -Madeley. The population therefore of the entire parish has little more -than doubled itself during the past century. - -In Mr. Fletcher’s time, then, if we except the out places then being -opened for the convenience of small societies, there was church -accommodation only for 500, leaving 4,000 unprovided for. We have now a -church capable of holding 1000; and a chapel of Ease at the Aqueduct -holding 200; in addition to places of meeting at Lower Madeley, Blissers -Hill, Coalport, and the Lloyds. - -In addition to this, a church has been erected at Ironbridge capable of -holding 900; and one at Coalbrookdale seating 850 persons. We thus get -Church accommodation alone for over three thousand, or nearly one third -of the population, as against 500 formerly. But the best criterion is -the activity and co-operation of workers and helpers, the machinery -called into play by those who, having themselves been indoctrinated, come -willingly forward to carry on the work of benevolence, education, and -religion, and who give evidence to their faith by their works. - -At least one hundred more persons than the old church would hold now -attend service at 11 a.m. and 300 more than it could have held attend at -6 p.m. A Service is also held on the 1st Sunday in every month at 3-15 -p.m. at which children are catechised, and the Sacrament of Baptism -administered. - -At the Aqueduct Church, which was built in the year 1851, and enlarged in -1864, there is a service every Sunday evening, at which from 150 to 200 -persons attend. - - - -IRONBRIDGE CHURCH. - - -We are not so well informed with regard to the Church at Ironbridge. It -was built in 1836, and consists of nave, chancel, and side aisles, with a -tower in which is a clock and one bell; it has a fine east window of -stained glass, with full length figures of St. James and St. John. It -will accommodate about a thousand hearers, but at present the number -attending is small. In addition to the cost of the erection, which was -defrayed chiefly by local subscriptions, £1000 was contributed towards -the endowment by one firm, that of Madeley Wood; the great, or rectorial, -tithes have since been added, and the rector receives an income of £250 -per annum. - -There are Sunday Schools and other institutions but we are without the -precise information as to the amount of money raised. The population in -the year 1871 was 3,605. - - - -COALBROOKDALE. - - -A beautiful little Church dedicated to the Holy Trinity was erected here -by the munificence of the Darby family, who endowed it, and gave to the -Incumbent a handsome house as a residence. It is in the Decorated Gothic -style. It consists of nave, chancel, and aisles, and has a handsome -tower, with illuminated clock, and a peal of eight fine-toned bells. It -will accommodate 850 persons, and is generally well filled. - -The number of communicants averages 60. The Sacrament is administered -monthly, and on the usual festivals. The offerings for the poor are -about £25 yearly; for the expenses of the Church, somewhere about £2 -weekly, i.e., £104 annually. There is a good state of religious feeling. - - - -WESLEYAN METHODISM. - - -In Mr. Fletcher’s day Wesleyan Methodism was but struggling into -existence. Societies were formed at Madeley, Madeley Wood, -Coalbrookdale, and other places in adjoining parishes, and Mr. Fletcher, -and his curate subsequently, preached there alternately with the -preachers of Mr. Wesley. These societies were attached to the Shrewsbury -Circuit, and preachers came fortnightly, travelling on horseback. In or -about the year 1764 we find him inviting the Rev. A. Mather, then an -eminent preacher in Mr. Wesley’s connection, and his fellow labourer to -call at the Bank, Coalbrookdale, and other places. He adds:—“And I hope, -that my stepping, as Providence directs, to any of your places, (leaving -to you the management of the Societies,) will be deemed no encroachment. -In short, we need not make two parties: I know but _one_ heaven below, -and that is Jesus’s love; let us both go and abide in it, and when we -have gathered as many as we can to go with us, too many will still stay -behind.” May 27, 1766, he says to a friend, “The coming of Mr. Wesley’s -Preachers into my parish gives me no uneasiness. As I am sensible that -every body does better, and of course, is more acceptable than myself, I -should be sorry to deprive any one of a blessing; and I rejoice that the -work of God goes on by any instrument or in any place.” - -It was under auspices such as these that the early preachers of Methodism -commenced their labours. It had an able lay agency in its local -preachers, like William Smith, Samuel Onions, Thomas Owen, Thomas -Mollineaux, Richard Williams, and others, with class leaders, like the -Smiths, Robertses, Milners, and Joneses, men and women who lived lives of -faith and purity, and laid a firm substratum on which to erect the -general edifice. - -For many years the “Old Barn” and “Miss Tooth’s Room” sufficed for the -Wesleyans in Madeley. They then erected the building now used as the -Infant School by the Church party. This proving too small, they built in -1841, the present place of worship in Court Street, which will hold 800 -persons or more. It is calculated that Madeley Wood chapel will hold 900 -persons, Coalbrookdale chapel about 400, and Coalport about 200, or 2,200 -altogether. The usual number of hearers at these places is over 1,500, -and the number of members 300. Collections are made at each chapel for -pretty much the same purposes, such as colleges, and schools for training -young ministers, ministers sons, and teachers for day schools. For home -missions and circuit purposes there is raised altogether £447. In -addition to this there is raised for Foreign Missions a further sum of -£100; thus making a total of £547. - - - -PRIMITIVE METHODISTS. - - -The Primitive Methodists established themselves in Madeley about 50 years -ago. They have a chapel at Madeley with an attendance upon an average of -220. - -Members 53 -Sunday School scholars 136 -Monies raised for various purposes during the year £131 19 0 -Ironbridge Chapel attendance 150 -Members 37 -Sunday School scholars 93 -Monies raised for various purposes during the year £50 12 4 -Aqueduct Chapel attendance 60 -Members 6 -Sunday School scholars 43 -Monies raised for various purposes during the year £31 10 7 - TOTAL £211 11 0 - -THE NEW CONNEXION. - - -This body established themselves in Madeley about half a century ago, and -they have two chapels, one at Madeley and another at Madeley Wood, each -capable of holding 200 hearers. At the Bethesda chapel, Madeley, about -60 attend, and there are 18 members. There is a Sunday School, with 60 -scholars and 8 teachers. For Home objects, including the Sunday School, -£26 is raised yearly and for Foreign Missions a further sum of £2. TOTAL -£28 0 0. - -At Zion chapel, Madeley Wood, there is an average attendance of 70, and -about 20 members. There is a Sunday School, with about 60 scholars. We -are without definite statistics as to the amount of monies raised, which -probably amount altogether to £20, or upwards. The Connexion has 8 -chapels, nine societies, 25 local preachers, and 136 members. - - - -BAPTISTS. - - -The Baptists erected a chapel here in 1858 at a cost of £650, which holds -250 persons. There are 30 members, and the congregation averages 100. -There is a Sunday School, with 60 children. The sum raised for various -objects amounts to £60. - - - -CONGREGATIONALISTS. - - -The Congregationalists erected a church here in 1874, at a cost of -£1,400. It was opened in January 1875, and has an average -congregation—Morning, 50; Evening 100. Sunday School 80 on the books. -Mothers service 20 attend. Two weekly services; average attendance 30. -Amount raised for all purposes in connection with the Church £130. - -Besides these well recognised institutions in connection with various -religious bodies there are other useful institutions, some of a -religious, and others of an educational but unsectarian character, such -as Union Prayer Meetings at Ironbridge, the Severn side School, various -Literary Societies and Reading Rooms, in connection with which large sums -are annually raised; and by means of which at Madeley, and Coalbrookdale -more particularly, a large amount of information is disseminated. - - - -THE MADELEY WOOD WORKS. - - -William Reynolds having at his death left a share in the Madeley Wood -works to his nephew, William Anstice (father of the present William -Reynolds Anstice) whom he also appointed one of his executors, and by -whom, in partnership with William Reynolds’s surviving son, the late -Joseph Reynolds, the works were carried on until the decease of Mr. -Anstice in the year 1850. - -Mr. Anstice was a young man, not more than twenty-one, when he succeeded -to the management of these works, and although he possessed little -practical knowledge gained in connection with this branch of industry, he -possessed a mind well stored with knowledge. He was a fair amateur -chemist of the school of Dr. Black and his contemporaries, under whom Mr. -Reynolds had previously studied, and the friend of the tale Sir Humphrey -Davy, then a young man, with whom he spent some time with Dr. Beddows, at -one time of Shifnal, but then of Bristol, assisting him in a course of -experiments he was conducting on pneumatic chemistry and galvanism. He -was also a fair amateur geologist, and his early studies led him, on -succeeding to the management of the works, to observe, and to apply his -knowledge to account. The old hearths and “bears,” as accumulations in -the blast-furnaces were called, on occasions of renewal, were carefully -scrutinized and searched by him for metallic substances and salts not -usually known to exist in iron-ores; and we remember him giving us some -remarkably fine cubes of titanium, taken from one he had had blown to -pieces. He inherited the very fine collection of fossils Mr. Reynolds -had collected, and added thereto by encouraging his men to bring anything -they found of a rare character in the clay ironstones. Sir R. Murchison, -Mr. Buckland, and Mr. Prestwich occasionally came down to Madeley Wood -Hall to study this collection, and derived much information. Mr. -Buckland pronounced them at that time the finest collection of fossils of -the coal-measures in the kingdom, and nearly the whole of the figures -found in Mr. Prestwich’s paper, prepared with great care and research, on -the coalfield, were from specimens in this collection. - -In consequence of the mines being exhausted on the Madeley Wood side of -the field he had new shafts sunk to the east, the first of importance -being the Hills Lane pits. The Halesfield pair of pits followed, and the -mines having been thus proved on that side, the idea first suggested by -William Reynolds, of removing the works to that place, was acted upon by -Mr. William Anstice, who built his first furnace at Blisser’s Hill, in -1832. A second was built in 1840 and a third in 1844. - -The offices of the Madeley Wood Works were at the Lloyds, but a -land-slip, or series of slips rather, which have been going on for years, -bringing down rocks and trees from the high ground, have swept away -these, and also some houses and orchards near them. In these offices on -one occasion an explosion took place, occasioned by recklessness on the -part of a youth entrusted with the task of giving out powder for -blasting, candles, &c., for the pits. A lad named Brown had filled a -horn of powder and was crossing the office to go to play at marbles, when -finding the fire did not burn brightly, he stooped to poke out the ashes -with the horn under his arm, and some grains igniting, he was blown a -black and apparently lifeless mass against the door, whilst the windows -went flying as far as the water-engine. Although shorn of his arms above -the elbows, and with only two short stumps remaining, “Stumpy Brown,” as -the boys still call him, managed to learn to write a good clear hand, -became a schoolmaster, a Sunday-school teacher, a preacher, and a capital -wood-turner of bedsteads and children’s dolls, which at the present -moment are in great request in very many towns in the Midland Counties, -where they are well known as “John Brown’s Dolls.” {175} - -Upon the death of Mr. Anstice he was succeeded by his son John, who, -having been brought up under his father, in close proximity to the works, -was in every respect well qualified for the task; and to him his partner, -Joseph Reynolds, at his death left his shares of the works, and the -general residue of his property. John Anstice at once generously -transferred to his brother, William Reynolds Anstice, a share in the -Madeley Wood concern, but retained the sole management of the works -during his life. He entered on no great new enterprise beyond sinking a -new pair of pits to the east of the field, an enterprise on which he -several times consulted the writer long before the men had headed to -prove the mines in that direction. He was a man whose amiable qualities -and generous nature won for him general admiration. - -As an employer Mr. Anstice was on good terms with his workpeople. He -aimed at being so, and in bad times he kept his men employed whether -others did or not. He had a fellow-feeling with them, and tried to -understand and to be understood by them; he knew them by their names, and -generally had a joke, a kind word, or a cheerful recognition for each. -We believe he spared no expense to secure the safety of life and limb in -his works; and if by some unforeseen circumstances, or some act of -carelessness on their part, accidents did occur, his grief knew no -bounds, and he would often weep like a child with the bereaved. Equally -liberal with his means and time, he was accessible to all those who -sought aid, counsel, or protection; and his good sense and timely aid -availed in lightening many cares, in drying many tears, and in allaying -many sorrows. The county though benefited by his philanthropy, but -daily-occurring acts of kindness and usefulness less widely known taxed -still more his talents and his means. Nor did his acts partake of -ostentation, or seem selfishly aimed to win the tribute of applause. On -the contrary he dedicated his energies less to the service of his peers -than to those in a condition to require them. - -Mr. Anstice was seldom free for long periods from that physical suffering -which fills up so large a space in human experience; but he knew how to -enjoy life, and did so more than most men, but he never quailed before -its sternest duties. His sun may be said to have gone down at noon: he -died in the zenith of his fame, and people mourned as for a father or a -friend; for with that great tenderness and Christian generosity which -distinguished him, he made many his debtors. Others at a riper age, not -less laden with the goods of life, whose cup equally overflowed with -prosperity, have lived and passed away, and as the grave closed over them -the little world in which they moved scarcely missed them or thought of -them after the funeral-bell had ceased to toll; but it was felt that such -a man could not pass away without his memory being perpetuated in some -form, and the present handsome building called the Anstice Memorial -Institute was the result of a deep and wide-spreading feeling to do -honour to his name. A brother ironmaster, the present Mr. W. O. Foster, -who presided at the inauguration, said they had erected that building to -one very much respected and beloved amongst them, but who had been -removed from their midst. He would not attempt to pourtray the many -virtues of his character in the presence of his family, nor dwell upon -his many merits. He enjoyed his acquaintance for many years. He must -say to know him was to love him, and whilst his virtue was fresh in their -recollection it was their high privilege to dedicate that building to his -memory, and to hand down to posterity his name in association with it. - -The Madeley Wood works are now carried on by William Reynolds Anstice and -two of John Anstice’s sons, Captain John Arthur Anstice, J.P., and Lieut. -Edmund Anstice. - -With regard to William Reynolds, previously alluded to, it may be well to -add the following, together with some interesting notes and additions, -kindly supplied by his nephew, William Reynolds Anstice, Esq., the senior -partner in the Madeley Wood Works. - -William Reynolds, the proprietor of these works, died at the Tuckies -House, in 1803, and was followed to his grave in the burial-ground -adjoining the Quakers’ chapel, in the Dale, by a very large concourse of -friends and old neighbours, thousands lining the way and following in the -procession. - -It may here be mentioned that the first use to which Watt’s fire engine -as it was called, was put at Bedlam, as at Coalbrookdale, Benthall, -Ketley, and many other places, was not to blow the furnaces direct, but -to pump water to drive the water-wheel, which at Bedlam, worked a pair of -leather-bellows, which themselves supplied the blast. The race in which -the old wheel worked is still observable, as also are the arches which -supported the reservoir into which water was pumped from the Severn. - -With regard to the prophetic utterances of Mr. Reynolds, already given, -we have received the following from W. Reynolds Anstice, Esq. - - “The exact words, as I have often heard them repeated by my father, - were ‘The time will come, &c: when all our principal towns will be - lighted with Coal Gas—all our main roads will be railroads worked by - steam locomotive engines, and all our _coasting_ navigation will be - performed by steam vessels.’ He had no idea, evidently that steam - navigation would extend beyond this, but steam locomotion was an idea - at that time not unfamiliar to engineers. William Murdock, Watt’s - right-hand man, had made a working model of a road-locomotive as - early as 1784. Trevithick had constructed working models much - resembling modern locomotives in construction, in and before the year - 1800. In 1802, the Coalbrookdale Company were building for him a - _railway-locomotive_, the engine of which was tried first in pumping - water, and its performance astonished everyone. In a letter of his - to Mr. D. Giddy, dated from Coalbrookdale, 22nd August, 1802, he - says: ‘The Dale Company have begun a carriage at their own cost _for - the railroads_, and are forcing it with all expedition. There was a - beautifully executed wooden model of this locomotive engine in my - Uncle, William Reynolds’ possession, which was given me by his Widow, - the late Mrs. Reynolds, of Severn House, after his death. I was then - a boy, fond of making model engines of my own, and I broke up the - priceless relic to convert it to my own base purposes, an act which I - now repent, as if it had been a _sin_.’ - - “The Coalbrookdale engine is, I believe, the first locomotive engine - on record, intended to be used _on a railroad_. The boiler of it is - now to be seen in use as a water tank, at the Lloyds’ Crawstone Pit, - and the fire-tube and a few other portions of it are now in the yard - at the Madeley Wood Works. I never heard how it came to be disused - and broken up.” - -Shortly before William Reynolds’s decease, he had had a large pleasure -boat built, which was intended to be propelled by steam, and the -cylinders of the engines intended for it, beautifully executed by the -late James Glazebrook of Ironbridge, are now at the Madeley Wood Offices, -but the engines were not finished at his (W. Reynolds’s) death, in 1804, -and I never saw any drawing or model of them. The boat lay within my -recollection, moored in the river Severn, just above Mr. Brodie’s Boring -Mill, at the Calcutts, in a state of much disrepair, and I believe, -ultimately fell to pieces or was carried away by a flood. - -William Reynolds had a very complete private Laboratory at his residence, -at Bank House, which was lighted with gas. William Murdock had, however, -as early as 1794, applied gas to the lighting of his own house, in -Cornwall, and in 1798, a portion of the Soho Works were lit with gas of -his making.—In 1803, the whole of the Works were thus lighted, and from -that time its use gradually extended. - -Mr. Miller, of Darswinton, had a steam pleasure boat at work in 1788, and -in 1801, the “Charlotte Dundas” steam boat was built at Glasgow by -Symmington, and this is the first authentic case of steam-boat navigation -on record. - - - -THE CLAY INDUSTRIES OF THE DISTRICT. - - -The very excellent coal-measure clays found on both banks of the Severn, -and turned to such good account by the Coalbrookdale Co., by Mr. Legge at -the Woodlands, by neighbours too on the opposite bank of the Severn, as -well as the celebrity attained by the Coalport works, renders it -necessary that we should take a somewhat comprehensive view of the -subject. Bricks and tiles and pottery of various kinds appear to have -been made from a very early period, but the manufacture of Salopian -porcelain dates from the latter end of the last century. The sites of -the old pot works were at the outcrops of the coal-measure clays; and it -was the advantages the fire-clays and accompanying coals afforded which -led to the manufacture of porcelain. The former were situate at Benthall -and Jackfield, where advantage is still taken of them, flourishing works -being still carried on in places where these very excellent materials are -readily procurable; and before noticing the introduction and very -successful manufacture of the former at Caughley and Coalport, it may be -desirable to devote a few pages to a description of the old pot-works, at -Haybrook, the Pitchyard, and at Jackfield. - -The art of moulding a plastic substance like clay is, of course, as old -as the world, and on the banks of the Severn, as shewn by specimens -ascribed to early British and Roman periods, it must not only have -existed but been carried to some perfection there. These clays are said -to have been used by the Romans, as evinced by the red and grey pottery -and tiles discovered at Uriconinum. Jacquemart, in his “History of -Ceramic Art,” says that Jackfield is the most ancient site of pottery in -Shropshire. And it is added that from a period so early as 1453, the -valley of the Severn was famous for ornamental tiles, many specimens -bearing that date having been found in Cathedrals and Churches. We have -no reliable authority however for fixing the date at which the art was -first practised in Shropshire, but it appears tolerably clear that the -articles made were of the simplest kind, being almost uniformly domestic: -those in daily use, such as milk-pans, dishes, tea-pots, jugs, and mugs. -The latter were substitutes for the drinking horns, which later -improvements in the plastic and ceramic arts have driven out of use. We -have an ancient specimen of one made at the Pitchyard, and a drawing of -another made at Haybrook, well _potted_, and elegant in shape. The -latter is the best manipulated, and probably it was from this -circumstance that the latter work was called “The Mug-House.” - -In evidence adduced sometime since in an Election Scrutiny at Bewdley, a -public-house referred to was called the “Mughouse,” which house is -situated on the Severn, at a point where the bargemen, who formerly drew -the vessels up the river instead of horses, were in the habit of stopping -to get mugs of ale. “Tots” were made out of the same kind of clay, but -smaller, and were used when the men drank in company; hence a person who -had drank too much was supposed to have been with a convivial party, and -was said to have been “totty,” a word often found in old works. Tots had -no handles, and some of the old drinking cups, more particularly those of -glass of Anglo Saxon make, were rounded at the bottom that they should -not stand upright, and that a man may empty them at a draught,—the custom -continuing till later times gave rise to our modern name of tumbler. The -small tots had no handles; the mug had a “stouk,” as it is called, -consisting of a single piece of clay, flattened and bent over into a -loop. The ware was similar to the famous “Rockingham ware” made on the -estate of Earl Fitzwilliam, near Wentworth. - -The discovery of a salt glaze took place in 1690, and the manufacture of -that kind of ware must have commenced here soon after, as traces of works -of the kind are abundant. This method consisted in throwing salt into -the kiln when the ware had attained a great heat, holes being left in the -clay boxes that contained it in order that the fumes may enter and -vitrify the surface. Evidences of the manufacture of these old mugs and -tots, together with milk-pans and washing-pans, having been made at an -early period, are numerous; and the old seggars in which they were burnt -often form walls of the oldest cottages in Benthall and Broseley Wood. - -A considerable number of old jars, mugs, and other articles, have from -time to time been found in places and under circumstances sufficient to -indicate great antiquity; as in mounds overgrown with trees, and in old -pits which for time immemorial have not been worked. One large earthern -jar, with “George Weld,” in light clay, was found in an old drain at -Willey, and is now in the possession of Lord Forester. Mr. John -Thursfield, who lived at Benthall hall, was at one time proprietor of -these works. - -Three quarters of a century ago these works were carried on by a Messrs. -Bell & Lloyd; afterwards by Mr. John Lloyd, one of the best and most -truly pious men we ever knew, who some time before his death transferred -them to a nephew, Mr. E. Bathurst. His son succeeded him, and after a -time sold them to the present proprietor, Mr. Allen, who to the ordinary -red and yellow ware, which finds a ready sale in North and South Wales, -has added articles of use and ornament in other ways, including forcing -pots, garden vases, and various terra cotta articles. - -Of the Pitchyard works we know little, only that they stood where the -late Mr. E. Southorn carried on his Pipe Works, and where we remember -them in ruins more than fifty years ago; but the numerous seggars, now -found in cottage garden walls, shew that they must have been continued -for some considerable time. - -But, besides the manufacture of bricks, tiles, and pottery, these clays -have been raised to a trade within the past few years in this district -which is every day increasing, and which is capable of much further -expansion: we refer now to the important department of encaustic or -inlaid tiles and mosaics. The art of producing tiles of this description -is only recently revived in this country, and is one which in point of -antiquity is not to be compared with its sister branches. The first -attempt, so far as we are aware, to revive the art in Shropshire, was at -Jackfield; but the first designs were crude, quaint, and spiritless, and -altogether wanting in those nicer distinctions and qualities which, not -being perceived by the mind of the producer, could not be wrought by the -hand. In this as in many other branches of fictile art _insight_ into -the principles as well as eyesight is required, and the mistake—as in -many other instances—was committed of attempting something which, with -the expenditure of thought and time, might catch the uneducated eye—the -object being to produce _quantity_ rather than _quality_. But the call -made upon the art by the enlightened demands of the age soon gave a -wonderful impetus to the improvement, and men of educated artistic -taste—like the Mintons and the Maws—soon called to their aid the -assistance of the greatest genius and the highest designing talent at -command; at the same time that they directed their efforts to definite -points in which utility might be made the instrument of beauty, and by -which originality and intelligible design might be made to rise out of -the most common-place wants. But although the modern manufacture of -geometric and encaustic tiles is recent, it already far surpasses the -ancients in variety and arrangement, in geometric patterns, and in beauty -of design in encaustics as well as in mechanical finish; although it may -be doubted whether the same breadth of general effect is studied as in -many ancient examples. Mintons, of Stoke, Maw and Co., of Benthall, -Hargraves and Craven, of Jackfield, and Mr. Bathurst, of Broseley, have -each produced beautiful encaustic tiles for pavements—both for -ecclesiastical and domestic use; and there is yet a large field for -development of the use of similar tiles to colour and enrich the details -of our street architecture, as well as in that of more elaborate and -important structures. - -The Coalbrookdale Co., have recently manufactured some admirable -terra-cotta entablatures, with historical subjects for costly buildings -in the metropolis. The erection of the Literary and Scientific -Institution also, of different coloured clays shews their adaptation to -works of great architectural beauty. - - [Picture: Decorated fireplace] - - - -MAW AND CO’S TESSELATED, MOSAIC, AND MAJOLICA WORKS. - - -It was the excellency of the Broseley and Benthall clays, above referred -to, which attracted the Messrs. Maw to the spot and led them to remove -from Worcester, to where they had been in the habit, first of all, of -having them conveyed by barges on the river, to the present site of their -works, fashioned out of the old Benthall Iron Works, carried on a century -ago by Mr. Harries, then owner of the Benthall estate. Notwithstanding -the additions made by them, the trade has so wonderfully developed itself -that after building upon or in some way occupying every inch of ground, -they are cramped for room, and are on the look out for more commodious -premises. In addition to those classical and other adjuncts of -architectural comfort and embellishment, embracing encaustic tiles—the -reproduction of an art limited in mediæval times to church decoration, -but now having a much more extended application, and the manufacture of -tesseræ, used in the construction of geometrical mosaic pavements, -similar in character to those found in the mediæval buildings of Italy, -also moresque mosaics, like those occurring in Roman remains in this -country and on the continent, they now manufacture a superior majolica, -and faience of great purity, in both of which departments they have -recently received first class medals at the Philadelphia exhibition. The -accompanying engraving will convey an idea of the adaptation of faience -to articles of domestic utility. - - - -JACKFIELD POTTERY AND PORCELAIN. - - -Older even than the Haybrook Mug House are the Pot Works of Jackfield, -which, according to the parish register of Stoke-upon-Trent, quoted by -Mr. Jewitt and Mr. Chaffers, supplied a race of potters to that great -centre of early pot-making in the year 1560. Excavations made too, soma -years ago, brought to light on a spot near which the present works of -Craven, Dunnill & Co., now stand, an oven, or kiln, with unbaked ware, -which appeared to have been buried by a land-slip; and in an old pit, -which it was said had not been opened for two centuries, a brown mug was -discovered, which had upon it the date 1634. If Jackfield supplied early -potters for Stoke, Stoke sent pot masters to Jackfield. One of these was -Mr. Richard Thursfield, an ancestor of Greville T. Thursfield M.D., who -took these works and carried them on in 1713. He was succeeded by his -son John, of whom we have spoken as afterwards living at Benthall and -carrying on works there. The late Richard Thursfield, Esq., had in his -possession some good examples of Jackfield ware. Among them was a -handsome jug, gilt, having on it, we believe, the name of one of the -family. - -In 1772, or soon after, Mr. Simpson carried on the works; and he appears -to have further improved the manufacture, for in addition to the “black -decanters,” as his mugs were called, he made various articles of superior -quality, which prior to the breaking out of the war with America found a -ready sale there. The old mill turned by the waters of the Severn, where -he ground his materials, has just been taken down. - -Mr. Blakeway afterwards carried on the works, and was joined by Mr. John -Rose, upon leaving Caughley, and, after carrying them on a short time by -himself, he removed them, as he did the Caughley Works, to Coalport, on -the opposite bank of the river. - -The site of the old pottery was on the ground which is now occupied by -the Jackfield Encaustic Tile Works, the clays of which are specially -adapted for geometrical and encaustic tiles; and such tiles have been -made here for a number of years; but since the old works came into the -possession of the present firm of Messrs. Craven Dunnill and Co., great -changes have taken place. The firm took a lease of about four acres of -ground, and adjoining the old works built a large and commodious -manufactory, which has been in operation for nearly two years. They have -since taken down all the buildings of the old works, and have erected on -their site and joining up to the new works, large warehouses, show room, -offices, and entrance lodge. The plan of the works is very complete, so -as in every way to economise in the process of manufacture, and they are -now among the most complete works of the kind. - - [Picture: Craven Dunhill & Co. Works] - -As shewn in the accompanying engraving, the buildings consist of four -blocks, one detached and the others connected, each block accommodating a -separate branch of the manufacture. - -In the detached block the raw materials are reduced to a state ready for -the workman. - -The second block contains the damping places, where the clays are kept in -a certain degree of moisture; pressers’ shops for the various colours of -geometrical tiles, and the encaustic tile makers’ shops, with their -stoves. - -The next block provides for the drying and firing of the goods and -decorating shops. - -On the first floor are workshops employed for painting, printing and -enamelling, or other decorative purposes. - -The fourth block provides for the sorting and stocking of goods and for -packing them for despatch; also the offices and showroom. - -Near to the detached block first described a small gas-works has been -erected, which supplies the whole of the buildings. - - - -COALPORT PORCELAIN WORKS. - - -The first works at Coalport were we believe founded and carried on by -William Reynolds, Thomas Rose, Robert Horton, and Robert Anstice; the -former William Reynolds, being then Lord of the Manor. The buildings, or -a good portion occupied by them are still standing. - -Mr. Thomas Rose, and Mr. John Rose, were sons of a respectable farmer -living at Sweeney. The latter was a clerk under Mr. Turner, at Caughley, -and left him to take the Jackfield works about the year, it is said, -1780. Having carried them on for a few years, in conjunction with Mr. -Blakeway, during which time he greatly improved the quality of the -article manufactured there, he established the present Coalport works on -the side of the canal, then recently opened, and opposite to those of -Reynolds, Horton, Thomas Rose, and Robert Anstice. On Mr. Turner -retiring from the Caughley works in 1799, Mr. Rose and the new company he -had formed purchased them, and by means of increased capital shortly -afterwards removed both plant and materials from Caughley and Jackfield -to the more advantageous position they now occupy, on the banks of the -canal and the Severn. Even the buildings were pulled down and the bricks -and timber removed to the opposite side of the Severn, where they were -used in constructing the cottages now standing opposite to the present -Coalport Works. - -A staff of excellent work-people had been obtained from Caughley and -Jackfield works combined, but an accident occurred on the night of the -23rd of October in that year by the capsizing of the ferry, as the -work-people were crossing the Severn, by which twenty-eight were drowned, -some among them being the best hands employed at the works. It was a -dark night, the boat was crowded, and the man at the helm, not having -been accustomed to put the boat over allowed the vessel to swing round in -the channel where, with a strong tide running, it was drawn under by the -rope which went from the mast to a rock in the bed of the river. Some -managed to scramble out on the Broseley side of the stream; but the -following were lost, notwithstanding the efforts of those who rushed to -the river side on hearing the despairing cries raised to save them. Jane -Burns, Sarah Burns, Ann Burns, Mary Burgess, Elizabeth Fletcher, Mary -Fletcher, Elizabeth Beard, Jane Boden, Elizabeth Ward, Sarah Bagnall, -Sophia Banks, Mary Miles, Elizabeth Evans, Catherine Lowe, Jane Leigh, -Charles Walker, George Lynn, James Farnworth, George Sheat, John Chell, -Robert Lowe, William Beard, John Jones, Benjamin Gosnall, Benjamin Wyld, -Richard Mountford, Joseph Poole. - -The event, as may be expected, created a great sensation at the time, and -was thus commemorated by Mr. Dyas, one of the Coalport workmen. - - Alas! Alas! the fated night - Of cold October twenty third, - In seventeen hundred ninety-nine; - What cries, what lamentation heard, - The hour nine, when from yon pile, - Where fair porcelain takes her form, - Where energy with genius joins, - To robe her in those matchless charms, - A wearied band of artists rose, - Males and females, old and young, - Their toil suspend, to seek repose, - Their homes to gain, they bent along. - Sabrina’s stream was near to pass, - And she her frowning waves upraised, - Her mist condensed to darksome haze - Which mocked the light; no star appeared. - Yon boat, which o’er her bosom rides, - Enveloped in the heavy gloom, - Convulsive stretch’d along her sides, - To snatch the victims to their doom. - Soon e’er on board their faltering feet - A monster fell who grasped the helm, - Hove from the shore the distressed crew, - And so the dreadful overwhelm, - Swift horror’s wings o’er spread the tides, - They sink! they rise! they shriek! they cling! - Again they sink; alarm soon flies, - Along their shores dread clamours rise, - But Oh, the bleakest night preventing - Every means to save their breath, - Helpless, hopeless, life despairing - Twenty-eight sunk down in death. - Alas small time for Heaven’s implorings, - Quick sealed their everlasting state, - Or, in misery, or in glory. - The last tribunal will relate, - Here fold, O muse thy feeble wings, - Hope where thou canst, but not decide, - Dare not approach those hidden things, - With mercy, justice, these abide. - Return with sympathetic breath, - See yon distracted mother stands, - Three daughters lost, to heaven she lifts - Her streaming eyes and wringing hands, - Hark! from those dells how deep the wailings, - Fathers, Mothers, join their moans, - Widows, orphans, friends and lovers, - Swell the air with poignant groans; - Recluse in grief, those worthy masters - Silent drop the mournful tear. - Distress pervades surrounding hamlets, - Sorrow weeps to every ear, - Sleepless sighings hail the morning, - Morning brings no soothing ray. - -The author of these verses, Mr. Dyas, was a very clever carver on stone -and on wood. He engraved the blocks for a work printed by Mr. Edmonds at -Madeley, entitled “Alexander’s Expedition down the Hydaspes and the Indus -to the Indian Ocean.” He was the author too of an invention world-wide -in its benefits, that of the printers’ roller; an invention second only -to the art of printing itself, and infinitely superior to thousands of -others out of which vast fortunes have been made. - -In 1804 the company consisted of Cuthbert Johnson, William Clarke, John -Wootton, and John Rose. In 1811 it was John Rose, William Clarke and -Charles Maddison. In 1820 they bought the famous Swansea works and -entered into an agreement with Messrs. Billingsley and Walker to make a -superior kind of porcelain made by them, first at Nantgarw in -Glamorganshire, and afterwards at the Cambrian Pottery, Swansea, in the -same county. This was a pure soft paste porcelain, superior to any at -present produced in the kingdom, and second only to the famous _pate -tendre_ of Sevres at the very best period of its manufacture. This china -was first made in 1813 by Billingsley, who went from Derby to Worcester, -and from there to South Wales. He was an artist, and understood the -manufacture in all its branches. He produced a fret body, by mixing the -materials, firing them in order to blend them together, then reducing the -vitrified substance into clay—a process which was carried on at Old -Sevres during the reign of Louis XV.—and thereby produced an article fine -in texture, beautifully transparent, and of a delicate waxy hue, very -superior to the dingy blue tinge given to much of the best china of that -day. Connoisseurs were at once attracted by it, and Mr. Mortlock went -down and entered into an engagement to purchase all that Billingsley and -his son-in-law could make. Mr. John Rose finding he had lost a customer, -whilst orders he was wont to receive were going to South Wales, went -over, bought the plant, moulds, and everything, and entered into an -agreement with Walker and Billingsley for a period of seven years to make -the same quality of china at Coalport. The process however was an -expensive one, from the difficulty of working the clay, which wanted -plasticity, and also from the loss in the burning, as being a soft body -it was apt to melt or warp, and to go out of shape, if it had a little -too much fire in the biscuit kiln. About that time, too, Mr. Ryan -discovered a very pure felspar in the Middleton, one of the Briedden -hills, the true _Kaolin_, to which the Chinese were indebted for the -quality of their egg-shell and other first class china. The fret body -was therefore abandoned, the _pate tendre_ for a _pate dure_, as the -French say, and by adding pure felspar to the Cornish stone and clay -which contains a large percentage, a good transparent body was obtained -at a less cost than by using a _fret body_. About this time also the -Society of Arts offered a prize to any one who should find a substitute -for lead in the glaze, the deleterious effects of which told upon the -dippers, and produced paralysis; and Mr. Rose by applying felspar to the -glaze succeeded in obtaining it. He was awarded the Gold Medal of the -Society; and from that time following, for some years, a badge was either -attached to the ware or engraved upon it as follows:—“Coalport Felspar -Porcelain, J. Rose & Co: the Gold Medal awarded May 30, 1820; Patronised -by the Society of Arts.” The Devonports and other manufacturers competed -for the prize. - -The felspar porcelain however never equalled the original Nantgarw fret -body ware for purity and transparency, a white plate of which would at -the present time fetch a couple of guineas. It cannot be said that any -new element was introduced by using felspar, because the kaolin, -contained in Cornish stone and day, as discovered by Cookworthy in 1768, -had been, and was now used at Plymouth, Derby, Worcester, Caughley, and -Coalport; and by a judicious admixture of this and a free use of bone -(phosphate of lime) a good serviceable china was produced. The former -gave mellowness, and the latter whiteness, which approached in a degree -the qualities of old and Oriental china. In fact Mr. Rose, who had the -sole management of the works, spared neither pains nor expense in raising -the character of the productions of the Coalport Works, which were now by -far the largest porcelain works in the kingdom, if not in the world. -Like Minton, he was a man of wonderful energy, being strong in body, -having a clear head, a cool judgment, and gifted with remarkable -perseverance. - -The works were now in a state of prosperity; warehouses were opened in -Manchester, London, Sheffield, and Shrewsbury, and a large trade was -being done with dealers all over the kingdom. There was plenty of -employment, and a good understanding generally prevailed between masters -and their work people. Both before and after the strike there were at -Coalport, as at other works of the kind elsewhere, an intelligent class -of men, among potters and painters, as well as in other departments. -Painters, especially, had good opportunities for mental culture and -obtaining information. Numbers worked together in a room, one sometimes -reading for the benefit of the others, daily papers were taken, -discussions were often raised, and in politics the sharp features of -party were as defined as in the House of Commons itself. The rooms were -nicely warmed, and a woman appointed to sweep up, to bring coals, to keep -the tables clean, to wash up dishes, peel potatoes, and fetch water for -those who, not living near, brought their meals with them. It is not -surprising, therefore, that men, having such advantages, should sometimes -rise to higher situations. Some became linguists, some schoolmasters, -engineers, and contractors; one, breakfasting with a bishop, whose -daughter he afterwards married, saw upon the table, some time since, a -service painted by himself when a workman at Coalport. Some were -singular characters: old Jocky Hill kept his hunter; John Crowther, a -very amiable fellow, exceedingly good natured, and always ready to do a -favour to any one who asked him, lived quite a recluse, studying algebra -and mechanics. He has suggested many improvements in locomotives, steam -paddles, breaks, &c., &c., and had the honour of submitting to the -Government the plan of terminating annuities, by which money at that time -was raised to carry on the war, and by which we have been saved the -burden—so far—of a permanent debt; also of making other suggestions, -which have been likewise adopted. He also invented a most ingenious -almanack applicable to all time. - -Coalport men were usually great politicians; Hunt, Hethrington, Richard -Carlile, Sir Francis Burdett, and Cobbett, had their disciples and -admirers; and such was the eagerness to get the Register, with its -familiar gridiron on the cover, that a man has been despatched to -Birmingham for it from one of the rooms, his shopmates undertaking to do -his work for him whilst he was away. - -The works themselves are ill designed and badly constructed, the greater -portion of them having been put up at the latter end of the past and -beginning of the present centuries, whilst other portions were added from -time to time, with no regard to ventilation or other requirements of -health. Consequently there are the most curious ins and outs, dropsical -looking roofs, bulging walls, and drooping floors, which have to be -propped underneath, to support half a century’s accumulations of china, -accumulations amounting to hundreds and hundreds of tons in weight. In -entering some of these unhealthy _ateliers_ and passages strangers have -to look well to their craniums. Some work-rooms have very stifling -atmospheres, charged with clay or flint; the biscuit room notably so. We -have said that a good understanding prevailed generally between masters -and workmen. There was one notable exception, the great “strike” as it -was called, which occurred somewhere in November, 1833; a memorable event -in the history of the works, so much so that in speaking of occurrences -it is usual to the present time to ask in case of doubt if it happened -before or subsequent to the strike. The men had their “Pitcher,” a well -conducted sick society; and a “Travelling Society,” for assisting those -in search of employment, with branches in all centres of the trade. -Trades unions, however, were just then coming to the front. The -Combination Laws had been repealed eleven years previously; otherwise, -such was the temper of the Shropshire magistrates, and the feeling -generally in relation to the trades unions, that had they existed on the -statute book not a few would have had to have experienced the penal -consequences of their acts. With the men who still adhered to the -masters the works continued to be carried on to a limited extent; after -much suffering and privation some of the hands returned, whilst some -obtained employment elsewhere. The course taken by Mr. John Rose, in -resisting the men was warmly approved of by his neighbours, who -subscribed for a handsome silver cup, which is now in the possession of -Mr. Charles Pugh, who married Miss Martha Rose, daughter of Mr. Thomas, -and niece of Mr. John Rose. It is a large and massive piece of plate. A -vine stem entwines around the foot and forms the handles, a vine border -with grapes also forms a border round the rim of the cover. On one side -is the following inscription: - - Presented to John Rose Esqr., - of - Coalport China Manufactory, - By his - Friends and Neighbours - March 3rd - 1834. - -On the reverse side is the following: - - Tribute of respect - to his - Public and Private Character - and to the - uncompromising firmness - with which - he has recently resisted the - demands of an illegal - conspiracy. - -We have lived to see trades unions legalized, and trade combinations -adopted by masters as well as men. - -Mr. Walker had invented a maroon colour dip for grounds, which was used -with much success. A good deal was done too about this time in imitation -of the _Sevres_ style of decoration, and thousands of pounds were spent -in endeavouring to make the famous torquoise of the French; but a pale -imitation, called celest, only was obtained; some years afterwards -however a much better colour was produced, first by Mr. Harvey, secondly -by Mr. Bagshaw, thirdly by Mr. Hancock. - -In 1839 the late William Pugh became one of the firm, it then being John -Rose, Charles Maddison, and William Pugh. In 1841 it was Charles -Maddison, William Pugh, Thomas Rose, and William Frederick Rose. In 1843 -William Pugh, and William F. Rose were the proprietors. In 1845 the -Messrs. Daniell received the command of the Queen to prepare a dessert -service as a present by herself to the Emperor Nicholas, and it was -manufactured at the works. It was a magnificent service of _bleu de -roi_, and had the various orders of the Russian Empire enamelled, in -compartments, with the order of St. Nicholas, and the Russian and Polish -eagles in the centre. In 1850 the famous Rose-du-Barry was discovered. -The attempt to do so had been suggested by the Messrs. Daniell, in 1849; -and after repeated experiments by Mr. George Hancock, who is still the -colour-maker at the works, it was produced. This colour, so named after -Mdme du Barry, one of the mistresses of Louis XV, had been formerly made -at the Sevres Works, but the art had been lost, and its reproduction -created a demand for very rich dessert services and ornaments of the -colour. Very costly services of it were produced for the Messrs. -Daniell, Mortlock, Phillips, Goode, and other London dealers, which -attracted considerable attention at the Exhibition of 1851. One splendid -dessert service of it was purchased by Lord Ashburton; others also, after -special models and designs, of this colour were subsequently produced for -the head of the State, for the Emperor of the French, and for noblemen -like the duke of Northumberland, the Marquis of Lansdowne and others. - -The following are the remarks of the Jurors on that occasion:—Rose J., -and Co., Coalbrook Dale, Shropshire (47, p. 727), have exhibited -porcelain services and other articles, which have attracted special -attention of the Jury. A dessert service of a rose ground is in -particular remarkable, not only as being the nearest approach we have -seen to the famous colour which it is designed to imitate, but for the -excellence of the flower-painting, gilding, and other decorations, and -the hardness and transparency of glaze. The same observation applies to -other porcelain articles exhibited by this firm. The Jury have awarded -to Messrs. Rose and Co. a Prize Medal. The company also attained medals -at the French Exhibition in 1855, and at that of London in 1862. - -A good deal has been done of late years in the Sevres style of decoration -on vases, the moulds of which came direct from Sevres manufactory. It is -a pleasing incident, and one worth mentioning, that some years ago Mr. W. -F. Rose in company with Mr. Daniell visited Paris, and of course went to -Sevres. Mr. Daniell was at once taken round the works, but Mr. Rose -feeling some delicacy remained outside. Mr. Daniell mentioned the -delicacy of his friend, and the manager at once sent for him in, and -shewed him the greatest respect. He told him he might send his best -artists to copy any thing he saw, or employ theirs to do so: and sometime -after he sent over the moulds themselves to Coalport. - -In 1862 Mr. Pugh became sole proprietor of the works, and continued so to -his death, in June 1875. Mr. Charles Pugh, brother of the deceased, and -Mr. Edmund Ratcliff, brother-in-law, were left executors; and for an -adjustment of claims by them and others the estate was thrown into -Chancery and a receiver and manager, Mr. Gelson was appointed. The stock -which is immense and had been accumulating for half a century is being -brought into the market. Hundreds of dozens of one pattern, “India -tree,” for example, which had remained out of sight for forty years, are -being brought to light. In some instances a hundred dozen or so of -saucers, (printed,) are found stowed away, without cups to match; whilst -scores of piles of plates and dishes, sixteen or eighteen feet high, may -be seen (white) in others, which had been sorted and put on one side from -some defect or other. It speaks well for the quality of the china that -the biscuit and glazed are both sound and good. In some cases the floors -are literally giving way from the immense weight of stock they have to -sustain. In one place a quantity of old Caughley China was discovered; -whilst in another were found a number of Caughley copper plates engraved -by the late Herbert Minton’s father. - -It may excite surprise that so large a stock should have been allowed to -accumulate, but much was the result of a wish to keep the men employed. -The fact of a number of copper plates being found with his name on, -confirms what we have previously said about Thomas Minton, who founded -the important commercial house bearing his name and that of his son at -Stoke, having been employed as an engraver at Caughley. M. Digby Wyatt, -also, in his paper read before the Society of Arts and reported in the -Society’s Journal, May 28th, 1858, on the influence exercised on ceramic -art by the late Herbert Minton, says:—“Mr. Thomas Minton was a native of -Shropshire, and he was brought up at the Caughley works, near Broseley, -as an engraver. He then went to town and worked for Spode, at his London -House of business.” In 1788 he went to Stoke, bought land, and built the -house and works which have since become so celebrated. Up to 1798 -however he only made earthenware which was printed and ornamented in -blue, similar to that at Caughley. - -Mr. Wyatt, in the paper just quoted, speaking of John Rose and of the -late Herbert Minton admitted that in the excellent, rapid, and cheap -production of porcelain for Mr. Minton to have stood still for a moment -would have been to have lost his lead in the trade. And Mr. Daniell, in -the discussion which followed, said:— - - “With reference to Mr. Minton’s predecessors in this branch of art, - he might remind the society of one whose name was upon their records - as the recipient of the society’s gold medal for china and porcelain - manufactures long before Mr. Herbert Minton’s time. He referred to - John Rose, of Coalport, who made more china in his day than all those - who were mentioned in the paper.” - -It will be seen from what we have written that Thomas Turner, of -Caughley, and J. Rose, of Coalport, were the creators, so to speak, of -new industries which drew around them large populations and gave -employment to thousands who otherwise might have sought for it in vain, -or have found it under less advantageous circumstances. It will be seen -also that not only were they benefactors contributing materially to the -common stock of national prosperity themselves, but that their energies -and abilities inspired others who in turn became industrial organisers, -and through various channels carried on the work of progress. - - - -MADELEY CHINA WORKS. - - -Excepting to the trade, and to some of the old inhabitants, it is not -generally known that Martin Randall established China Works at Madeley, -and made porcelain similar to that of Nantgarw and little if at all -inferior to old Sevres porcelain. He and his brother Edward were -Caughley men; he left there to go to Derby. He afterwards went to -Pinxton, and thence with Mr. Robins, a Pinxton man, to London, where they -entered into partnership and carried on business. They were supplied -with Nantgarw white china by Mr. Mortlock, till Mr. Rose cut off the -supply from the Welsh Works, by engaging Billingsley and Walker to make -it for himself alone at the Coalport Works. They still continued to -carry on business at Islington, where they erected buildings suitable, -and fired the ware in box kilns with charcoal. - -About this time the demand was great with connoisseurs among the -aristocracy for old Sevres china; and the London dealers, finding that it -was not obtainable in sufficient quantities to meet the demand for highly -decorated specimens, hit upon the expedient of employing agents in Paris -to buy up Sevres china in white for the purpose of having it painted in -London, as Nantgarw had been, and selling it to their customers as the -bona fide productions of Sevres. Slightly painted patterns too were -procured, and the colours got off with fluoric acid, and rich and -expensive paintings, grounds, and gilding substituted. - -About the year 1826 they dissolved partnership and Mr. Randall came to -Madeley, where he occupied a house in Park Lane, now the residence of the -Wesleyan minister. He then took more commodious premises at the lower -end of Madeley, where he erected enamelling, biscuit, and other kilns, -and made and finished his own ware. Thomas Wheeler, William Roberts, and -F. Brewer, were his potters; Philip Ballard, Robert Grey, and the present -writer, were painters there, and Enos Raby was ground layer. John Fox of -Coalbrookdale, William Dorsett, of Madeley, also were with Mr. Randall -for a short time. Not having had experience in the making of china, -great mistakes were committed, and heavy losses sustained. We have known -a biscuit kiln fired till tea-pots and cups and saucers were melted into -a mass before a trial was drawn, crow bars being necessary to remove -them; in some instances they assumed the most fantastic forms. At other -times the ware would be short fired in the biscuit kiln and would take up -so much glaze that on coming out of the glaze kiln it would fly off in -splinters. These wastrels were buried, broken up, or thrown into the -canal, to be out of sight. - -Mr. Randall however, as the result of repeated and persevering -experiments, succeeded in producing a fret body with a rich glaze which -bore so close a resemblance to old Sevres china that connoisseurs and -famous judges failed to distinguish them. He refused however, from -conscientious motives, to put the Sevres mark, the initials of Louis -Louis, crossed at the bottom, which was done with less hesitation at -Coalport with much more feeble imitations. When introduced on one -occasion to a London dealer, of the name of Frost, who had a shop in the -Strand, as Mr. Martin Randall’s nephew, the dealer in old china observed -that the old Quaker made the best imitation of Sevres that ever was made, -but added, “he never could be got to put the double L on it, and we -cannot sell it as Sevres.” We remarked that he was “too conscientious to -do so,” upon which he replied, “O, d—n conscience; there is no conscience -in business.” - -Mr. Randall had less hesitation however in putting the Sevres mark on -what was known to be Sevres; and he did very much for Mortlock, Jarman, -and Baldock, who had agents in Paris, attending all sales where old -Sevres was to be sold, in redecorating it in the most elaborate and -costly manner. The less scrupulous London agents however did not -hesitate to pass it off as being really the work throughout of Sevres -artists. Indeed they have been known to have boxes of china going up -from Madeley, sent on to Dover, to be redirected as coming from France, -inviting connoisseurs to come and witness them being unpacked on their -arrival, as they represented, from Paris. A little entertainment would -be got up, and supposing themselves to be the first whose eyes looked on -the rich goods after they left the French capital, where it would be -represented, perhaps, that they had been bought of the Duc-de—or of -Madame some one, after having been in the possession of royalty, they -would buy freely. - -Sevres porcelain fetched high prices then, but it has risen higher in the -market, even since, and has gone on rising to the present time. In 1850 -cups and saucers fetched from £25 to £30 each, and bowls £66 or £70. -Three oval vases and covers at Lord Pembroke’s sale fetched £1020. -Prices have however since gone up; and at Mr. Bernal’s sale a pair of -rose Dubarry vases sold for 1850 guineas; and cups and saucers for £100. -Single plates have since sold for £200; vases for 500 or 600 guineas -each, and cups and saucers for 150, guineas. A year ago a set of three -Jardiniers fetched at Christie’s, by auction, £10,000! - -We remember seeing an ornament at the Marquis of Anglesey’s at _Beau -Desert_ which we were assured was old Sevres, and had been purchased at a -great price on the continent, but which we recognised as one of our own -painting at Madeley. A man can always tell his own painting; but it is -not an easy matter for another however experienced sometimes to do so. -An amusing instance occurred at Coalport. Mr. F. W. Rose who had been -conversant from a child with china, on one occasion bought a vase, -painted with birds, believing it to be old Sevres, but which was made at -the Coalport Works and painted by the present writer at Madeley. Mr. -Rose, sending for us down to the office said, “here, Randall, is a vase I -have given a good price for, which is the right thing; can you do -anything like it?” Our reply was, it would be strange if we could not, -as we did that when a lad, adding that it was made at his own -manufactory, that it was modelled by George Aston, and purchased out of -the warehouse, in the white, by T. Martin Randall. We need scarcely say -that he was very much astonished on finding he had been duped by a London -china dealer with a piece of his own ware. It was put out of sight; but -the late Mr. Pugh did not forget occasionally to remind his partner of -the incident. - -Mr. Randall removed from Madeley to Shelton, in the Potteries, for the -greater convenience of carrying on his works. He was invited by the late -Herbert Minton to become a partner, and to make his ware for the benefit -of both at his extensive works at Stoke. Age however, and a longing for -retirement led him to decline, and he soon afterwards retired to a -cottage at Barleston, where he died, and was buried, in a sunny spot of -his own choosing, within sound of the murmuring waters of the Trent. He -was a good man; one holding large and liberal views, and one who took an -active part in various social and religious movements of the day, being -an active promoter more particularly of Temperance Societies, when first -established in this country. Specimens of his ware are much prized and -sought after by collectors. A fine specimen with torquoise ground is in -the possession of Henry Dickinson Esq. - -The chief beauty of Mr. Randall’s porcelain, like that of other fret -bodies, or _pate tendre_ china, was that it admitted of a complete -amalgamation of the painting with the glaze, and also of a richness and -depth of colour, as in the case of torquoise, not to be produced on -ordinary china. It had too that waxy whiteness and mellow transparency -for which old porcelain was distinguished. - - - -MADELEY CHURCH. - - -Much interest attaches to the old church in which Mr. Fletcher preached, -but little that is definite and satisfactory appears to be known. In one -of the topographies of Shropshire it is said to have been in the Norman -style of architecture, but nothing so early is shewn in the engravings of -the windows and tower. It was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, and a -Chantry is said to have been added in the 11th of the reign of Richard -II. It was small, damp, and dilapidated, in 1794, when it was taken -down. It appears to have contained some handsome altar-tombs and other -mural monuments, some of which we have already noticed as having been in -part removed at the building of the present edifice, as the well -sculptured figures representing the Brooke family. A number of tablets -were again placed in position in the present church, which, as they refer -to old Madeley families, some of which have either died out or removed, -we give, together with others of a later date. - -The following occur on the Eastern side of the church:— - -On the left hand side is the following:— - - In memory of Walter and Lucy Astley, - who died of the small-pox. - He died Dec. 11th, 1721, aged 30 years. - She died Dec. 30th, 1721, aged 24 years. - - Also of - Matthias Astley, brother to the above, - Who died June 23rd, 1747, aged 53 years. - -In the chancel - - Near this place - lye the bodys of William Ashwood, - late of this parish, Esqr., - And Elizabeth his wife, - daughter of William Adams, - of Longden, in this county, Esqr. - - To whose memory John, their son - and heir, erected this monument, - in testimony of his duty to such - affectionate parents. - - He died October 27, 1730, in his 47th year; - She March 22nd, 1740, - in her 50th year. - -Another is as follows:— - - In memory of - John Ashwood of this parish, Esq., - Who died 31st Jan., 1750, - In the 30th year of his age. - And of Thomas Porter Ashwood, - His only son, by Dorothy his wife, - second daughter of Henry Spron, - late of the Marsh in this county, Esq., - Who died 31st March, 1769, in his 19th year. - Also - In memory of the said - Dorothy, wife of the above - John Ashwood Esq., - Who died 13th May, 1785, - In the 59th year of her age. - -This family lived in the old hall, the remains of which now form part of -the stabling of Joseph Yate, Esq. - -In the chancel is a handsome monument, surmounted by the arms of the -Smitheman and Brooke families, as follows:— - - In this chancel are interred the remains of - Catherine - The wife of John Unett Smitheman Esq., - late of Little Wenlock, in this county, - By whom she had five children, (viz.) - Catherine, Catherine, Brooke, John, and Rose, - of whom, one daughter - Catherine, and John, only survived her. - The other 3 children died in their infancy. - - CATHERINE - - Died Oct. 1, 1741 at Willey in this county, - where she was buried. - She was the daughter and co-heir of - Cumberford Brooke Esq., - Of this parish and Cumberford in Staffordshire, - By Rose his wife, daughter of Sir John Austin Bart. - of Boxley in Kent. - - She was descended from - Sir Robert Brooke Knight, - Speaker of the House of Commons and afterwards - Chief Justice of the Common Pleas in the reign of - Queen Mary, - And through a long line of ancestors was allied to - many a noble and illustrious family in this kingdom - She departed this life May 1st, 1737. - To whose memory - Her son John Smitheman erected this - little monument. - -At the top of this monument is the following coat of arms:— - - QUARTERLY: first chequy arg. and sa. - - Second arg. a chevron gu. between Three Helmets - - Third gu. a Talbot passant, arg. - - Fourth az. a lion rampant, between six fleur-de-lis, or, - Crest, an Eagle with two heads, displayed, arg. collared, or. - -In the chancel is the following:— - - In a vault - near this place are interred the remains - of Mr. George Goodwin, - late of this parish, - who died Nov. 3rd 1773, - in the 54th year of his age. - - He was a man of great worth, good sense and integrity, was most - deservedly esteemed and respected by all who knew him, more - particularly by the industrious inhabitants of this populous and - extensive parish. - - To perpetuate the remembrance of so worthy a man, his son William - Goodwin hath with gratitude and respect erected this little monument. - - “An honest man’s the noblest work of God.” - - Also in the same vault is interred the body of - Mr. John Goodwin, - (son of the above) who died Feb. 21st, 1774, - In the 28th year of his age. - - Likewise in the same vault is interred - the body of - Mr. Edward Reding, - (brother-in-law to the above Mr. Wm. Goodwin) - who died Jan. 19th, 1797, aged 39. - And also the remains of - Mr. William Goodwin, - who departed this life Feb. 25th, 1797, - in the 48th year of his age. - -Here is another. - - Near this place lie the remains of - Benjamin Nicholls, late of this parish, - who died 27th May, 1775, - in the 75th year of his age. - - He was a good husband, a tender father, - A good neighbour and sincere friend. - - Also - Elizabeth his wife who died 27th Dec., 1779, - in the 73rd year of her age. - And also of - Benjamin, son of William and Lydia Nicholls, - of the parish of Stirchley, - who died 7th Sept., 1761, - in the 4th year of his age. - -Near the entrance are the following:— - - Mary Yate, - aged 45, - Died 20th May, 1779. - Prœivit. - Fanny Yate, - relict of Timothy Yate, Esq., of this parish, - died August 21st, 1834, - aged 53 years, - and was interred in the family vault in this - church yard. - -The sad affliction which befel the family of the Rev. J. H. A. Gwyther -when vicar of Madeley, by the successive illness and death of his -children, has been commemorated by sympathising friends and neighbours by -means of a white marble tablet, on which are a group of well executed -crushed lilies, at the base, and another erected by the family of Mr. -Gwyther. The following are the inscriptions:— - - As - A Solemn - Memorial - Of the affecting death within nine days - of five children - of the Rev. J. H. A. Gwyther, M.A., - Vicar of this parish, - And in testimony of respectful sympathy - with the bereaved parents - This tablet is erected by - friends and neighbours, parishoners of Madeley. - - Hephzibah Mary, born Nov. 28th, 1845, - died April 12th, 1856. - Emily Maria, born August 17th, 1847, - died April 13th, 1656. - Phœbe Catharine, born August 10th, 1848, - died April 14th, 1856. - James Bulkley Phillips, born Aug. 7th, 1850, - died April 16th, 1856. - Clara Artemisia, born Oct. 10th, 1852, - died April 21st, 1856. - - “The voice said cry, and he said what shall I cry? all flesh is - grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. - The grass withereth, the flower fadeth, but the word of our God shall - stand for ever.” - - ISAIAH XL. 6–8. - - It is the Lord: let him do what seemeth him good. - - I. SAMUEL III. 18. - - Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right? - - GENESIS XVIII. 25. - - In Affectionate Memory of - Richard Cecil Henry, - The second beloved son of - James Henry Gwyther, M.A., Vicar of this Parish, - And Mary Catharine his wife. - Born Sep. 21st, 1851. Died April 4th, 1855. - - Yes, Thou art fled and saints a welcome sing, - Thine infant spirit soars on angels’ wing, - Our dark affection might have hop’d thy stay, - The voice of God has called his child away. - Sweet Rose of Sharon, plant of holy ground, - Like Samuel early in the temple found; - Oh; more than Samuel blest, to thee ’tis given, - The God he served on earth, to serve in heaven. - - - -BENEFACTIONS. - - -1706. May 28th, Basil Brooke, Esq. of Madeley gave by will £40, to which -an addition of £60 was made by unknown Benefactors, wherewith certain -Cottages and Premises were purchased and conveyed to Trustees for the -benefit of the Poor of this Parish. - -1800. The yearly sum of five shillings was given to the Poor of this -Parish to be paid out of the Rates of the Premises lately belonging to -Mr. Richard Beddoes, but now in the possession of Walter Bowdler, of -Madeley. - -1825. Joseph Reynolds, Esq., of the Bank House, presented a Service of -Communion Plate for the use of this Church, of the value of £100. - -1810. Sept. 6th, Mr. William Yate, of this Parish, gave by will to the -Churchwardens for the time being in Trust, four kneelings in his Pew, No. -13 in the Gallery, for the benefit of the Sunday Schools of this Parish. - -1852. Thomas Lister, Esq., of Broseley, gave £100 to the Sunday and -National Schools connected with the Parish Church of Madeley, which sum -was invested in the three per cent Consolidated Annuities, on the 19th -day of January, 1853, in the names of Rev. J. H. A. Gwyther, John -Anstice, and Thomas Smith, Vicar and Churchwardens, Managers of the said -Schools. - - The Foundation Stone of this Church - was laid by the Rev. George Pattrick, L.L.B., - September 22nd, 1794. - -Divine Worship first performed therein by the Rev. Samuel Walter, A. M., -Curate of this parish, on Easter Day, being - - April 16th, 1797. - - William Purton, Thomas Wheatly, } Churchwardens. - - - -MADELEY. -EXTINCT AND ANCIENT NAMES. - - -An old book containing tithe charges has names of places now no longer -known. In 1786, for instance, Mr. Botfield is stated to occupy under the -family of the late Sir Joseph Hawley some pieces of land called the Hoar -Stones. The Rev. Charles Hartshorne in his Salopia Antiqua describes -hoar stones at some length and quotes passages from sacred and profane -writers to shew that they were in some cases memorial, and in others -division marks between property. They occur at a place called Hoar, or -“Whure Edge,” on the Titterstone Clee, and in several other places in -Shropshire and neighbouring counties, whilst in Wales, both north and -south, they are still more numerous. - -Among old names of places applying to portions of Madeley Court property -we find the Hopyard, adjoining “the slang,” a piece of 11 acres, 2 -perches, and 16 roods, formerly in the occupation of Mr. W. Purton, and -belonging to Richard Dyott Esq.; and the Coneberry, and Coneygrey; Deer -Close, and Battlefield, all belonging to the same in 1787. - - - -MADELEY MARKET. - - -Grants of markets and fairs appear to have been made by kings in former -times by way of favour to the holders of manors, rather than from a wish -to accommodate the people who shared the privileges. Madeley market was -granted by the necesstous king, Henry III., to the Prior of Wenlock, July -6, 1269. He also granted an annual fair, to be held on three days; -namely, on the vigil, the day, and the morrow of St. Matthew the apostle. -The market was to be held on Tuesdays, but it fell into disuetude, and -was either removed to or revived in another portion of the same manor; -and the inhabitants of the village for many years, had no market nearer -than Ironbridge or Dawley. The old market was at one time held at Cross -Hill, in an open space where a group of cottages now divide the roads. -It was also held at one time in a building which served as a market hall, -now the property of Mr. Legge, adjoining the barn in which king Charles -was lodged. Subsequently it was removed to Madeley Wood; and afterwards -to Ironbridge, which was at that time a rising place. Ineffectual -attempts were made in 1857 to re-establish a market, but nothing -effectual was done till 1869, when an energetic committee was appointed, -of which Mr. Legge was Treasurer and the writer of this article was Sec., -which succeeded in establishing the market, first in the open street and -secondly in treating with the lord of the manor, through his agent, W. R. -Anstice, Esq., for the erection of a suitable building, on condition that -a scale of tolls was adopted sufficient to cover the outlay. The market -has proved of great advantage to the town; not only to purchasers but to -tradesmen, by causing more ready money to be spent in the town than -formerly. - - - -MADELEY AS A PART OF THE FRANCHISE OF WENLOCK. - - -Madeley for the last 900 years has been associated with Wenlock. It -formed part of the possessions of the Church of St. Milburgh in the time -of King Edward (son of the Great Alfred) at the commencement of the tenth -century, and is mentioned as such in Domesday. It shared the privileges -which the many franchises obtained by the Prior of Wenlock conferred. -These privileges and exemptions from taxation gave, Mr. Eyton observes, -to each acre of land a two-fold value. On the other hand it suffered -from the occasional extortions of the Priors, and inconveniences from -being subject, as all lands of the Borough were, to the Mother Church of -Holy Trinity, Wenlock. It was subject to the Courts of Wenlock, and as -early as 1267 a case is mentioned in which the Provost of Wenlock and the -Prior were engaged in _disseizen_ one of the tenants of the Prior at -Madeley. - -The Bailiff and his peers, together with the Recorder, were Justice of -the Peace, with a Jurisdiction co-extensive with the Borough. - -These officers had Constables in the several divisions of the Borough, -termed Allotments, sometimes Constablewicks. The men selected for the -office appear to have been men of substance, standing, and integrity; and -upon them devolved the duties of maintaining the laws, of collecting -monies for the king &c. - -Here, for instance, are the “Articles which the constables” of Madeley -and Little Wenlock were called upon “to present upon oath.” - - 1.—What felonies have been committed and what default . and by and - in-whom. - - 2.—What vagrant p’sns. and sturdy beggars have passed through yo’r. - limitts unpunished, and whether the same and impotent poor of yo’r. - p’ share provided for, and poor children bound apprentices according - to Law. - - 3.—What Recusants of about the age of sixteen are in yo:e limitts, - and who absent themselves from church on ye Lord’s Day, and how many - sabbaths. - - 4.—Who have profaned the Sabbath by swearing, labouring or otherwise. - - 5.—What Ingrossers, forestalled, or . . . of the market, of cow or - cattle, or other dead victuals are within yo’r limitts, or any - Badgers or Drovers of cow or cattle. - - 6.—Who make mault to sell of corn or grain or tythe or tylth not - being their own . and are not licensed thereunto. - - 7.—What Masters or Servants give or take greater wages than is - appointed by Justices of the Peace according to Law. - - 8.—What cottagers or inmates are evicted, removed or maintained, and - by whom, and how long. - - 9.—What unlawful games, drunkenness, tipling other evil rule or - disorder hath been in Inns, ale houses &c. and by whom. - - 10.—What Servants have departed from their masters, and what masters - have put away their servants within the compass of their time. - - 11.—Who use gunns, or take or destroy hawks or hawk’s eggs, of - pheasants, partridges, younge deer, hares, snipes, fish, or fowl, - with snares or other engines whatsoever for that purpose against the - Law. - - 12.—Who use unlawful weights or measures or buy by a greater and sell - by a lesser weight or measure. - - 13.—Whether watch and ward be duly observed and kept according to ye - statute; that is to say, between Ascension Day and Michaelmas in - convenient places, and who has made default therein. - - 14.—What highways have been repaired and what have been neglected. - - 15.—Who have sold beer, or syder, or perry, &c. unlicensed, or who - hath evaded ye assize of bread and drink unlawfully, either the - bakers or assizers. - - 16.—What butchers have killed or sold meate on the Lord’s Day, or - sold any unwholesome flesh at any other time. - - 17.—Who have any assault, battery, or bloodshed. - - 18.—Who have profanely sworn or cursed, and how often. - - 19.—What common brawlers, drunkards, scoulds, eavesdroppers, - talebearers, and such disordered p’sns are within y’re limits. - - 20.—Who have sold ale or beer on the Sabbath day, or who have been - drinking or tipling in any alehouse on that day. - -As the reader may surmise, from references to recusants and others who -refused or neglected to attend church, or to acknowledge the supremacy of -the King as the head, these instructions were drawn up and submitted by -the Bailiff to the Constables of Madeley, Little Wenlock, Beckbury, and -Badger, in the early part of reign of William and Mary. - -Vagrants and sturdy beggars, it appears, were to be strictly looked -after; they swarmed through the country, giving themselves up to -pilfering; the women breeding children whom they brought up to the same -idle way of living, so that, according to a writer about that period, -(1677) there were 100,000 paupers in England. Harsh measures were -therefore resorted to: the law of Settlement was passed, and once more -the poor were reduced to bondage to the soil from which they had been -emancipated a century or two before. By this law, which remained in -force 130 years, and which was not repealed till the close of the last -century, the poor were imprisoned within their allotments; and upon the -complaints of the Churchwardens or Overseers, any two Justices of the -Peace had power to lay hold of the new comer and within forty days remove -him to the Parish in which he was last settled, unless he could prove -that he was neither a pauper nor a vagabond, or that he rented a tenement -of the value of £10 per annum. - -Here, for instance, is a copy of a letter addressed to the constables of -Madeley. - - Wenlock - - To the Constables of the p sh. of Madeley, - Greeting. - - Whereas I have been informed yt. Thomas Richasson doth endeavour to - make a settlement within the s’d p’ish of Madeley, contrary to the - laws &c. I am therefore in the King and Queen’s Ma’ties names, of - England that now are, to will and require you the said Constables, or - one of you that you bring before me or some other of their Ma’ties - Justices of the Peace for the said Town and lib’ties, the body of the - said Thomas Richasson, to the Serjeant’s House in Much Wenlock, upon - Tuesday the tenth day of this instant month of March, to answer to - such matters as shall be objected against him by the overseers of the - poor of the parish of Madeley. And you, the said constables, are - required to give notice to John York of yo’r p’sh, Smith, that he be - and appear before me &c. at the time and place above said, by nine - o’clock in the morning, to put in sureties for his and his wife’s - good behaviour towards Elinor Alnord, Widdy, and all their Ma’ties - loyal people. And you are to make due returns of this warrant at the - time above stated &c. Given under my hand and seal this second day - of March, Anno domini 1690. - - You must give notice to Thomas Cope, Anne Cludd, and Elizabeth Morris - to appear to testify the truth of their knowledge. - - Lan. Stephens. - -Probably there were other reasons for these strict enquiries, as the -feudal bondage to which the poor were reduced was closely interwoven with -another evil, the thriving-traffic of Shipping likely young paupers to -American Plantations, as was done by the Bristol Corporation, which held -out to the poor wretches the alternative of leaving England or being -flogged or imprisoned. - -It may perhaps be a redeeming feature in the character of that “ermined -iniquity and prince of legal oppressors,” as Judge Jeffreys, who was not -unconnected with Shropshire, was called, to say that as Lord -Chief-Justice he exerted himself successfully to put down this -abomination. - -Another summons from Wenlock to the constables requires them by virtue of -an Act of Parliament (fifth of William and Mary) to give notice to all -householders, and to all others they may believe to be disaffected, -inhabiting within their “Constablewick,” being sixteen years of age and -above sixteen, to appear at the house of, Humphrey Powell, -Sergent-at-mace, at Wenlock &c. to take the oaths of allegiance and -supremacy to their Ma’ties, and to subscribe the declaration in the Act -&c. Dated 16th June, 1692. - - Signed Thos. Crompton, Bailf. - Chas. Rindar. Recorder. - Lan. Stephens. - John Mason. - -This summons does not appear to have brought the parties to book, for we -find a large number charged with contempt, and again summonsed under a -fine of 40s. to appear before the Sergeant-at-mace. - -In 1693, William Hayward, Roger Brooke, Gent., and John Smytheman, Gent., -and others are applied to, as assessors for Madeley, Beckbury and Little -Wenlock, in carrying out the Act passed in the fifth year of the reign of -William and Mary, entitled “an Act for granting to their Majesties an aid -of Four Shillings in ye pound for one year, for carrying on a vigorous -War against France.” After giving the nature of the property to be -taxed, the Bailiff and his Officers call upon the assessors to levy a -double tax upon “every papist, or reputed papist, of ye age of 16 years -or upwards, who hath not taken the oath mentioned and required to be -observed in an Act of Parliament passed in the first year of that reign, -entitled an Act for abrogating the oaths of Supremacy and allegiance,” -unless they then take the oath they shall administer. The papists -however were not alone in this respect; others who had not taken the -oaths, or who refused to take those tendered, were to be similarly rated -or assessed. - -In some cases the Constables were required to look after and to report -upon all young men of a certain age and height, likely to be of use to -his Majesty in war times, &c. - -Here is a specimen. - - (To the Constables of Madeley.) - - “We whose names” &c., His Ma’ties Justices of the Peace, having - received a summons from the Deputy Lieutenant of the county, together - with a copy of a letter from the Lords of the Privy Council &c., - Command you to make diligent search for all straggling seamen, - watermen, or seafaring men, and to impress all such, giving each one - shilling, impressment money, and to bring the same before us, to the - intent that they may be sworn and provided for, as by the said letter - directed; and You, the sd. Constables are not to impress any very - old, crazy, or unhealthy men, but such as are younge, and of able - healthy bodies, fit for se’vice; and herein you are to use yo’e: best - endeavours as you and any of you will answer the contrary. Given - under our hands &c. - - “You are to take notice that what monye you shall lay out of yo’e: - purse upon this service we will take care the same shall be speedily - repaid you according to the order of their Majesties Privy Council.” - - Jas: Lewis, Balf. - Geo: Weld. - Tho: Compton. - -Turning back to the period when great political, religious, and moral -changes were taking place in the country, when Royalists and Republicans -had been struggling for the mastery, and the latter were victorious, to -ascertain their reflex and influence upon the little local parliaments -sitting in the Guildhall at Wenlock, we found some characteristic -presentments by those then important officers the constables, from the -several constablewicks within the franchise, with other matters coming -before the bailiffs and Justices of the Peace, and instructions issued by -them such as may be of interest in shewing the intermeddling spirit of -Puritanism in its then rampant attitude, when the neglect of public -worship, and the walking out of sweethearts, and even husbands and wives, -during sermon time, was punished with fines, imprisonments or the stocks. -The stocks in fact appear to have been in frequent requisition, and fines -as frequently imposed for such trivial offences as hanging out clothes on -a Sunday, being seen in an ale house on the Sabbath, and for the very -mildest form of swearing, or for the least utterance of disaffection or -disrespect of the Commonwealth. Here, for instance, is the presentment -of - - “Articles of evil behaviour of Edward Jeames, of Long Stanton Clee, - in the Liberties of Much Wenlock, xiiiith day of September, 1652, - John Warham, gent., Bailiff. - - “First, that the said Edward Jeames is a common disturber of the - Publike Peace, of this Commonwealth, by stirring up strife and - sedition among his neighbours.” - -The presentment then proceeds to state that the said Edward Jeames doth -often quarrel with his owne wife and family. - - “Secondly That the said Edward Jeames doth take abroade wh. him a - Welsh servt. Lad wch. he keepeth, to the end yat if any neighboure - being by him abused by opprobvious and unseemely language and word of - provocation, doe make any answeare or reply to him, out of which any - advantage may be taken, the said Lad shall verify ye same upon oath - on purpose to vex and molest the same neighboure and to gaine revenge - against him. Thirdly that the said Edward Jeames, in September, - 1651, when the titular king of Scotte invaded yis land wh. an army, - saied openly in ye heareing of divse persons yt he was glad yt ye - kinge was comen into ye land, for if he had not come he thought yt ye - pesent. government would have altered religion & turned all unto - Popery.” - -We did not turn to other old parchments containing the decisions of the -Justices to see what punishment, if any, was meted out to Mr. Jeames for -his evil behaviour, but turned to note some of the Informations laid -against ale house keepers, and persons frequenting ale houses on the -Sabbath. Here is one from Barrow, not from the Constable, or from one -living within the franchise; but from a gentleman who first proclaims his -own goodness by telling us that he himself had attended service twice on -the Sunday, but who, like many others just then, felt it to be his duty -to look after others. He commences by saying - - “that yesterday, being Lord’s Day, I was at Wenlock morning and - evening prayer, and going home by the house of John Thompson of - Barrow, ale seller, both the doors being open I saw both hall and - parlour full of people, both men and women drinkeinge and some - drinkeinge forth of dores. There is a private house standing farr - from any rode and hath the report to bee a verye rude house on ye - Lord’s Day. I am Louth to be the informer, because I doe nott live - wthin ye franchise, but leave yt to ye worshps. consideration hoping - you will take som course whereby God may bee better honoured, and his - Sabbathes less defamed in that house. What I can speke of that man - further I forbear, for ye pesent. - - Yours to command, - WILLIAM LEGG, senr.” - - “Sworn before the Bailiff, John Warham, gent.” - -The above John Thompson appeared, and we find - - “& is ordered to appear at any tyme hereafter when Mr. Bailiff shall - requyer. - - 6th September, 1652.” - -The next is an information against John Aston, of Madeley, in the county -of Salop, in which the said John is summonsed to appear before the -Bailiff, John Warham, gent., and Justices of the Peace of the said town -and liberties. The information appears to have been sworn to by Thomas -Smytheman, of Madeley, husbandman, who states that Lawrence Benthall, and -William Davies, of Madeley, were seen drinking on the Lord’s Day, at -Aston’s ale-house. The summons appears to have been issued by John Weld -the younger, of Willey. The case is now brought before the Bailiff who -says: - - “Let a warrant issue forth to the officers for the leviing of the - monies forfeited for the said offence, according to the Act of - Parliament in that behalf; signed, John Warham, Bailiff.” - -We find similar informations as to ale-houses from Broseley and other -parts of the franchise about the same time. - - - -SHEEP STEALING IN SHIRLETT: CUNNING DEVICE. - - -“The information upon oath of John Eabs of Shurlett, taken upon oath the -xxvth day of May, 1648, conserninge some Sheepe stolne from him of late. - -“Deposeth that upon ffriday night last he had a Lamb feloniously stolne -from him either out of his yearde or out of the pasture, and alsoe upon -Wensday night he had likewise a weather sheepe stolne, and upon search -made for the same yeasterday being Saturday he wh. Edward Buckley the -Deputy Constable, found in the house of Willm. Wakeley in Shurlett a -qter. of lambe hyd in a Milkepan, wh. a brest and halfe a brest, a neck -not cutt from the brest of lambe, all covered upon wh. flower, yis said -Edward Wakeleye’s Wife denynige soundly yat there was any Mutton or lambe -in the house or whin. yat Milkepane, and desieringe ye searchers not to -shead her flower in ye pan wh. ye meate was hyd in, and indeavouringe to -obscure ye place, beinge a Cobard, in wh. ye lambe was, and further -cannot informe but yat he verily beleiveth in his conscience ye said -meate was feloniously stolne by ye said Wakely or his people. - - Sworn before Audley Bowdler. - -Edw. Wakeley upon being examined says that the lambe was one of his own -which he killed on _Friday_ night, and that parte of it was eaten by his -own people before search was made next morne; “being demanded why it was -hid and hid over with flower in such obscurity in his house, he says he -knoweth not whether it was hid or not, but if it was it was wht. ye -privity of ye said Examind, and done by his people unknown to him.” - -This puts us in mind of another famous old sheep stealer of Shirlett, who -having stolen a sheep hid it in the baby’s cradle, and when the -Constables called to search his house, with the greatest _nonchalance_ -told them they might search away; but added, “don’t make a noise or else -you’ll wake the baby”; and he continued to smoke his pipe and rock the -cradle till the search was completed, and the officers departed _without_ -finding any “meate.” - -The Constables appointed by the Corporation of Wenlock, were officers who -within the Constablewicks or allotments into which the Borough was -divided, were entrusted, under the Bailiffs with very many important -duties, such as collecting monies for the king, and carrying into -execution acts of parliament, as well as executing summonses and bringing -up defaulters. They were a superior class of men, selected from such as -held land, or were persons of property. Later on quite a different class -of men were appointed; still, sometimes from small tradesmen, but at -others from men who sought the office for the sake of its emoluments, and -who often became the tools of unscrupulous men in office, whether -Bailiffs or Justices of the Peace; as in the case of Samuel Walters, a -broken-down tradesman, whose doings at last, together with that of the -Justices, attracted the attention of parliament. Walters, was the son of -the Rev. Mr. Walters, incumbent of Madeley, and it may serve to give an -idea of the estimation in which he was held in the parish to mention, -that he on one occasion attempted to enlist his own father, by giving him -the shilling in the dark. - -The powers exercised by the borough justices were often most arbitrary, -especially when the individual who came within their power happened to be -a dissenter, or “a dangerous radical.” On the merest pretence blank -warrants were issued, which unscrupulous constables, like “Sammy -Walters,” as he was called, carried in their pockets, and filled as -occasion required. One notorious instance was that of three Dutch girls, -(Buy-a-Brooms, as they were called), whom Walters overtook in his -“Teazer,” between Wenlock and Shrewsbury, and invited to ride with him. -Calling at a public-house on the road he went in, filled up three of his -warrants, and then drove them straight to Shrewsbury gaol. This case -came before the House of Commons, and was inquired into by the Home -Secretary, and the system of granting blank warrants was abolished -throughout the kingdom. Madeley is one of the three Wards into which the -borough is divided. For parliamentary purposes Beckbury and Badger are -included, these having been, like Madeley, part of the extensive -possessions of the church of St. Milburgh. Madeley also formed part of -the wide extending parish of Holy Trinity of Wenlock, a parish which -embraced Broseley, and was not limited even by the Severn. The words of -the charter granted by Edward IV. to Sir John Wenlock were these:— - - “That the Liberty of the Town or Borough shall extend to the Parish - of the Holy Trinity, and through all the limits, motes, and bounds of - the same parish, and not to any other Towns or Hamlets which are not - of the Parish aforesaid.” - -The charter granted by Charles I., in the seventh year of his reign, -added somewhat to the privileges previously possessed, and either gave or -confirmed the right of the burgesses to send _one_ member to parliament. -Originally it seems to have been the prior who had the right of attending -parliament; for we find in 1308 Sir John Weld holding Willey by doing -homage to the prior by “carrying his frock to parliament.” How the -burgesses obtained the further privilege of sending two members to -parliament no one seems to know, and there is no document, we believe, in -the archives of the corporation tending to throw light on the subject; -but they appear to have enjoyed that privilege as far back as Henry -VIII’s time. - -The burgesses of Madeley were not numerous, we fancy; some well known -Madeley names, however, occur, both as burgesses and as bailiffs, like -those of Audley Bowdler and Ffosbrooke de Madeley; the former was -“Bailiff of the town and liberties” in 1655 and 1678. In 1661 Thomas -Kinnersley de Badger, Armiger, was bailiff, which would seem to indicate -that the burgesses of Badger at that time shared in the municipal duties -and privileges of the borough. In 1732 Mathew Astley de Madeley, Gent, -was bailiff. The Astleys lived in the old hall, a stone building partly -on the site of Madeley Hall, now the residence of Joseph Yate, Esq., a -portion of which building is supposed now to form the stable. The names -of the Smithemans, one of whom married the co-heir of Cumberford Brooke, -Esq., of Madeley Court and Cumberford in Staffordshire, occur among the -bailiffs. Later on we get that of George Goodwin, of Coalbrookdale and -the Fatlands. - -At the passing of the Municipal Reform Act in 1835–6 mayors were -substituted for bailiffs; the last elected under the old title and the -first elected as chief magistrate under the new title was likewise a -Madeley gentleman, William Anstice, Esq., father of the present William -Reynolds Anstice, Esq., of Ironbridge. Mr. Anstice was elected bailiff -in 1834; in 1835 there appears to have been no election, but in 1836 he -was the first gentleman elected, as we have just said, under the new -title. Subsequently the names of other parishioners, as Henry Dickinson, -Charles James Ferriday, John Anstice, Charles Pugh, John Arthur Anstice, -and Richard Edmund Anstice, Esquires, occur. The present (1879) Aldermen -and Councillors for the Ward are Egerton W. Smith, first elected Alderman -1871, and John Fox elected Alderman 1879; John Arthur Anstice first -elected Councillor 1869; Alfred Jones 1873; John Randall 1874; Richard -Edmund Anstice 1876; Andrew Beacall Dyas 1878; {235} and William Yate -Owen 1879. - -The electors for parliamentary purposes prior to the passing of the -Reform Rill in 1832 were few in number so far as Madeley was concerned. -They consisted of freemen, men who acquired the right to vote for members -of parliament either by birth, servitude, or purchase. Such freemen -however could live many miles distant; they were often brought at a -closely contested election even from the continent, at considerable -expense; and the poll was kept open for weeks. - -The Act of 1832, 2 William IV., limited this right to persons resident -within the borough for six calendar months, or within seven statute miles -from the place where the poll was taken, and this was uniformly taken at -Wenlock. It limited the right of making freemen to those whose fathers -were already burgesses, or who were entitled to become such prior to the -31st March, 1831. The twenty-seventh clause of the act, which conferred -the right to vote upon ten-pound occupiers of houses or portions of -buildings, added greatly to the franchise in Madeley as compared with -other portions of the borough. The alterations effected by the act of -1867 in the borough franchise were, of course, very much greater, as it -gave the right of voting to every inhabitant occupier as owner or tenant -of any dwelling house within the borough, subject to the ratings and -payment of poors rates; also to occupiers of parts of houses where rating -was sufficient and separate. - -Contests were not very frequent under the old state of things; when they -did occur they arose more out of rivalry or jealousy on the part of -neighbouring families than from anything else. The most fiercely fought -contests that we remember, under the old limited constituency, were those -of 1820 and 1826; when Beilby Lawley and Beilby Thompson put up. The -most memorable under the ten pound franchise were those when Bridges put -up in 1832; and on a subsequent occasion Sir William Sommerville, in -1835. Bridges and Sommerville came forward in the liberal interest, and -the numbers polled from Madeley, were— - -Sommerville 111 -Forester 67 -Gaskell 45 - -Among Sommerville’s supporters were many plumpers. - -The more recent contests under the extended franchise were when C. G. M. -Gaskell, Esq. came forward, and only polled 846 votes against 1,708 -polled by the Right Hon. General Forester, and 1,575 by A. H. Brown, -Esq., and the more recent of 1874, when Sir Beilby Lawley came forward. - - - -PETTY SESSIONS. - - -Madeley with its two sister wards has Petty Sessions once in six weeks, -which are held in the large room built for that purpose over the Police -Office at Ironbridge. In the lower story are cells for prisoners, very -different indeed as regards cleanliness and conveniences of all kinds to -the old Lock-up, which many may remember near the potato market. The -justices for the borough generally sit here, the Mayor being chief -magistrate presiding. The first batch of magistrates, in the place of -the borough justices, took place in the 6th year of the reign of William -IV., those for Madeley being William Anstice, Esq., of Madeley Wood, and -John Rose, Esq., of the Hay. Others have been appointed from time to -time as circumstances seemed to require. - -The borough from the first period of incorporation had its General -Sessions, and its Recorder, who, being a lawyer or other fit person, was -chosen by the burgesses to sit with the Bailiff to be justices of the -peace, to hear and determine felonies, trespasses, &c., and to punish -delinquents therein; and King Charles’s Charter fixed this court to be -held once in two weeks. There was also a General Sessions. The same -charter states - - “That there shall be a General Sessions of Peace to be holden by the - said Bailiff and Justices in any place convenient within the Borough - aforesaid, from time to time for ever; so that they do not proceed to - any matter touching the loss of life or member in the said Borough, - without the presence, assistance, and assent of the Recorder of the - said Borough. That they shall have all fines, &c., imposed as well - in the said Sessions aforesaid as in all other Courts to be held - within the said Borough.” - -In our “History of Broseley,” p.p. 38 and 39, we have given the names of -the bailiff, recorder, justices of the peace, those of the constables, -and grand jury, who sat in cases heard at Wenlock July 21st, 1653. The -right to hold such Sessions was originally granted by Edward IV. in 1468. -When the reconstruction of the borough courts took place in consequence -of the changes effected by the passing of the Municipal Act in 1836, this -institution of General Sessions appears to have been overlooked: but the -privilege was afterwards granted upon petition by the council, in the 6th -year of the reign of her present majesty. - -The magistrates resident in the parish at present are— - - Appointed. -John Arthur Anstice, Esq. 1869 -William Gregory Norris, Esq. 1869 -Charles Pugh, Esq. 1871 -Richard Edmund Anstice, Esq. 1877 - -COURTS FOR THE RECOVERY OF DEBTS, COUNTY COURT, &c. - - -A County Court or sciremote was instituted by Alfred the Great, and -gradually fell into disuse after the appointment of Justices of Assize in -the reign of Henry II. Courts of Request were afterwards created. The -charter already quoted, for instance, speaking of the burgesses says:— - - “That they may have a Court of Record upon Tuesday for ever, once in - two weeks, wherein they may hold by plaint in the same court all - kinds of pleas whatsoever, whether they shall amount to the sum of - forty shillings; the persons against whom the plaints shall be moved - or levied, to be brought into plea by summons, attachment, or - distress.” - -This court was held at Broseley, before Commissioners, of whom there were -eight chosen, to represent the eight parishes over which it had -jurisdiction. It was held at the Hole-in-the-Wall public house, and -Jeremiah Perry (Jerry the Bum as he was called) was bailiff, and after -him Henry Booth, when we remember it. It was abolished when the Act for -the recovery of small debts was passed and the present system of County -Courts established in 1847. The books and documents, three tons in -weight, were transferred to the court at Madeley, afterwards to London, -and were sent to the Government paper mills, we believe. - -The County Court at Madeley was formerly held in the Club Room of the -Royal Oak Inn; but a county court house was erected in 1858. The -building is in the Grecian style, and comprises a large court room, -registrar’s and bailiffs office, and dwelling house for the court keeper. -The present judge of the circuit, which comprises twelve courts, is -Arundel Rogers, Esq.; Registrar and High Bailiff, E. B. Potts, Esq.; -Chief Clerk, Mr. E. A. Hicks, with an efficient staff of bailiffs. The -court has jurisdiction in ordinary cases up to £50, in equity to £500; -and divides with Shrewsbury the whole bankruptcy business of the county. -A bill has already passed the House of Lords proposing to greatly -increase the jurisdiction of all county courts. Scale of fees: summary— - -Under £2 1s. in the £. -Above £2 1s., and 1s. extra. -Hearing Fees 2s. in the £. -Executions 1/6 do. do. - -There are between 2000 and 3000 new cases annually. - - - -MANORIAL COURT. - - -This court was originally held at the Court House, by the Prior of -Wenlock, as lord of the manor of Madeley, as shewn on page 9, where the -pleas and perquisites of the said court are mentioned as being entered in -1379 at 2s. The right to hold such court, a Court Leet, as it was -called, was transferred, together with other privileges, by Henry VIII. -to Robert Brooke when he sold the manor. It passed to John Unett -Smitheman, Esq., who married Catherine Brooke, daughter and co-heir of -Cumberford Brooke, Esq., of Madeley, and Cumberford in Staffordshire. -The Smitheman’s sold the manor to Richard Reynolds, from whom it passed -to his son William. The property belongs now to the devisees of the late -Joseph Gulson Reynolds, and those of his brother William Reynolds, M.D.. -Esq. - -The Court Leet has not been held of late years. It had jurisdiction over -various offences, extending from nuisances, eaves dropping, and various -irregularities and offences against the public peace. - - - -THE DISPENSARY. - - -This useful and valued institution was established in 1828. At its -fiftieth anniversary, held July, 1878, the president was the Right Hon. -Lord Forester. The vice-presidents: the Hon. and Rev. Canon Forester; W. -O. Foster, Esq.; the Rev. G. Edmonds; C. T. W. Forester, Esq., M.P.; A. -H. Brown, Esq., M.P.; C. G. M. Gaskell, Esq.; and the treasurer, John -Pritchard, Esq. The surgeons include E. G. Bartlam, Esq., Broseley; T. -L. Webb, Esq., Ironbridge; C. B. H. Soame, Esq., Dawley; J. Procter, -Esq., Ironbridge; Dr. Thursfield, Broseley; H. Stubbs, Esq., Madeley; and -J. J. Saville, Esq., Cressage. - -At this meeting the following subscribers, together with the president, -vice-presidents, and treasurer, were appointed a committee for the -ensuing year:— - - William Reynolds Anstice, Esq. - - Mr. Alexander Grant. - - Mr. Edward Burton. - - Mr. Egerton W. Smith. - - W. Gregory Norris, Esq. - - Arthur Maw, Esq. - - John Arthur Anstice, Esq. - - Richard Edmund Anstice, Esq. - - Edward Roden, Esq. - - Rev. Frederick Robert Ellis. - - Rev. George Fleming Lamb. - - Mr. Francis G. Yates, (since deceased). - - George Burd, Esq. - - John Pritchard, Esq., Chairman. - - - -MADELEY UNION. - - -Prior to the passing of the New Poor Law in 1836 each parish maintained -its own poor, a system which had been acted upon, we suppose, from the -time of Queen Elizabeth. But how the Madeley poor were housed or treated -prior to the erection of the Old “House of Industry,” or “Workhouse,” -which stood on the hill overlooking the valley of the Severn, now in -course of demolition and conversion into cottages, we are unable to say. -{242} In all probability out-door relief alone was administered. At all -times there have been kind and open hearted men of means who out of their -worldly store have taken care to make some provision for their less -fortunate brethren, either during their lifetime or by way of devise at -their death. In this way, as we have seen on page 217, there were two -principal charities, called the Brooke and Beddow charities which -amounted altogether to £100. At the latter end of the last century the -trustees appear to have invested this in the purchase of several small -leasehold cottages and lands, chiefly at Madeley Wood. When it was -resolved to build a house of industry in 1787 these properties were sold -by the trustees for that purpose. They consisted of two messuages and 15 -perches of land situate at the Foxholes, which produced £45. One -messuage and garden containing 6¼ perches in the possession of Samuel -Hodghkiss, which produced £24. An old messuage and garden in Madeley -Wood containing 17 perches and a piece of garden ground containing 2½ -perches, which produced £53 10s. A stable in Madeley Wood which produced -£10. And two messuages and gardens in Madeley Wood containing a quarter -of an acre, and a piece of garden ground containing five perches, which -produced £83; also another which fetched £23; making a total of £235 10s. - -The investment itself seems to have been so far a good one; the value of -the property having increased, owing to the works springing up in the -neighbourhood; and it was resolved to raise a subscription in the parish -to be added to this £235. The further amount of £806 13s. 6d. was thus -raised, making altogether £1,042 3s. 6d., which sum was applied in the -erection on a part of the charity land of a house of industry, the cost -of which was £1,086 13s. 7¼d.; and a lease of that piece of land, with -the house so erected upon it, containing 3r. 12p. or thereabouts, was at -the 2nd of January, 1797, granted by the vicar and the major part of the -trustees to the then churchwardens and overseers for the use of the -parish for a term of 999 years, at the yearly rent of £18. The Charity -Commissioners say that the premises described in the leases do not appear -to tally exactly with the parcels contained in the two deeds of purchase; -and add:— - - “Nor are we able to trace the variations of the property which have - taken place; as far as we can judge, however, nothing has been lost - to the charity. It appears indeed to us that in former times there - must have been considerable inattention in the trustees of the - affairs of the charity, for we find that previously to the leases - granted in 1797, the holders of the tenements claimed the property in - them on payment of the interest of the £100 which had been vested in - the purchase, and the trustees were obliged to establish their right - by an action of ejectment, a state of things which could scarcely - have taken place without much previous remissness on their part. - Whether the trustees were strictly justified in making the disposal - of the property which they did in 1797 may be questionable. In - effect they have sold original property of the charity, and have - purchased a rent-charge on the house of industry. Under the - circumstances of the case, however, it does not at present appear to - us that they could have made a more beneficial arrangement. The - income of these premises, amounting to £18 4s. 6½d., together with - 5s. a year derived from another fund, has been for many years applied - in providing clothing for the poor. At Christmas 1818, tickets of - 5s. value were distributed to 71 poor persons, which were received in - payment by the different tradesmen for such articles of clothing as - were wanted. In 1817 the distribution was wholly suspended, and in - the preceding year partially, in order to raise a fund for defraying - the expense of a new trust deed. This had occasioned a balance in - hand at the time of our inquiry of £23 15s. The deed was prepared - and paid for, and it was intended that the whole of the remaining - balance with the accruing rents should be given away at the ensuing - Christmas.” - -For some years the proceeds of the charity were given away to the -poor—blankets were bought and distributed; but for over forty years, -prior to the last distribution in 1879, it had been accumulating, -excepting that on the first and second visitations of the cholera, it was -made use of for the purpose of alleviating the distress then existing; -and it had been thought advisable to permit its accumulation for the -purpose of forming a reserve fund on which to fall back in times of -urgent distress, whether arising from contagious disease or depression of -trade. - -The charge of £18 per annum upon the old poor-house was transferred to -the new, and is still paid to the trustees; and to the sum accumulated -has been added the £750 which the old workhouse sold for, and it was out -of the interest of the whole that the last distribution of the funds of -the charity took place in 1879, when blankets to the value of £70 or -thereabouts were given away. - -The union of parishes was formed in 1836, and Wm. Anstice, Esq. was -chosen chairman. He held office for fifteen years, and was succeeded by -G. Pritchard, Esq. who held it for eleven years. At his death W. Layton -Lowndes, Esq. was elected, and held the office for seventeen years. John -Arthur Anstice, Esq., who succeeded Mr. Lowndes on his retirement in -April 25th, 1879, now discharges the duties of the office. - -A building erected and designed for the poor of one parish was scarcely -likely to be suited to the wants of a number of parishes, like Barrow, -Benthall, Broseley, Buildwas, Dawley, Linley, Little Wenlock, Madeley, -Posenhall, Stirchley, and Willey, which formed the new Union; and -although additions were made from time to time the building was evidently -inadequate for the accommodation of the number of paupers, tramps, &c., -who sought aid or refuge within its walls. It was some time however -after the subject was broached before anything was decided. Some -Guardians advocated the further enlargement of the old building, whilst -others were for a new one entirely; but these even differed among -themselves, some being in favour of a new building on the old site, -whilst others advocated another site and a new plan altogether. The Poor -Law Commissioners at Somerset House accelerated the issue by threatening -to close the old building, as unfit for the uses to which it was put; the -result being that a site was purchased and the present extensive and well -arranged suite of rooms, wards, &c., with their various conveniences, -were erected. The original loan of £6,000 obtained in 1870 towards the -purchase of the site and the erection of the building was to be paid back -by instalments out of the rates levied in the several parishes of the -Union, according to the proportions of the rating. The loan altogether -has been £10,000, and, with interest, the cost of the erection may be -said to have been £13,800; but a further sum of £600 is required for the -erection of tramp wards. The building stands upon 7¾ acres, which was -purchased at a cost of £1,700; and six acres, previously very rough -ground, is under cultivation, and made productive, and in part highly -ornamental, by the judicious labour of the inmates of the house. -Altogether the grounds and building have a pleasing rather than that -forbidding appearance such institutions sometimes have. The building -consists of a front range, with central entrance, with master’s sitting -room, board room, and clerk’s offices, on the right; whilst on the left -are the visitor’s rooms, and one for the porter, with male and female -receiving wards, bath room &c. - -Inside the quadrangle we get central offices of various kinds, cooking -and dining rooms, pantry, clothing room, master and matron’s offices. On -the right are the laundry, the washhouse, work rooms, able bodied women’s -rooms, children’s room, old infirm women’s room, and three small -apartments for married couples. There is also a dormitory on the ground -floor for old and infirm women; and over the whole of the offices and -rooms mentioned are bedrooms. On the left are similar arrangements to -those we have mentioned for the men, but with workshops for carpenters -and tailors. On the east is the infirmary, a detached building, with -male and female apartments, nurses, &c.; and below this a fever hospital. -The whole building is capable of giving accommodation to 225 inmates; but -at the time we write 88 are the total number, notwithstanding the very -depressed state of trade; and 90, we learn, is about the average. - -We visited many of the rooms, that in describing the building we may be -able to give our own impressions of the appearance of the inmates. The -bedrooms were tenantless, but clean, well lighted and airy; we could not -say however what they would be from the breath of so many sleeping in -them at night time. Many of the old people we saw in the day rooms were -very old, and a large number imbecile, several having been recently -brought here from Bicton Heath Asylum. And although this was the case -with the women there seemed something about the internal domestic -arrangements, which, in giving them employment, seemed to create -interest. There was a cheerful alacrity among the female workers, in -washing, ironing, mending, making, and scrubbing, and a readiness in -replying to questions put by the matron which seemed to speak favourably -of the way in which she discharges her duties amongst them. In the -“day-rooms” of the men too, although we saw feebleness and age, we saw -little of that torpid inanimateness, helplessness, and hopeless looking -withered faces one is apt to look for in workhouses. Some were dim-eyed -with age, but others were reading books, and more would read no doubt if -they had something to read which was interesting. And why should they -not have? Here were old men 75, 80, and “going of 85,” sitting round a -good cheerful fire in a snug room to whom a few illustrated books or -newspapers, which everybody could spare, would be a godsend. If all -cannot read some can, and they would be pleased to amuse or interest -their fellows. We suggested as much to Mrs. Hayes, the matron, who -approved of the suggestion of these and of a few prints hung up in the -bedrooms, as well as the day and school rooms; as also did the Rev. H. -Wayne, one of the Guardians, who wished we had been in time to make the -suggestion to the board. We mention it here that it may be acted upon by -others, if the board, or to the master, to whom all such books, prints, -or papers should be submitted, approve. Age and infirmity require as -much commiseration as childhood, and in very many respects the same means -will comfort and solace the aged and impotent as the young child. We -ought at any rate to try to make old age endurable. If we do not do this -we but add to the weight of old age already bent down with infirmities, -and— - - ‘We furnish feathers for the wing of death.’ - -One thoughtful lady had, we found, kindly furnished the school-room with -some really good prints and drawings. On sunny and suitable days Mr. -Hayes employs the men in the grounds, and by the growth of vegetables -contributes to the maintenance of the establishment, of which we might -say much more if space permitted. - -The amount administered in out-door relief at present is a little over -that of in-door maintenance, which for the half year ending Michaelmas, -1878, was £544 11s. 2¼d - -We have already mentioned Master and Matron: Clerk to the Board Mr. H. -Boycott; Chaplain Rev. G. Wintour. Relieving officers Mr. W. Morris and -Mr. W. T. Jones. - - - -THE CHOLERA. - - -If some memorable occurrences in local history may be termed ‘red -lettered,’ the fearful visitations of this epidemic in 1832 and 1848 may -be said to have been black, and very black lettered events indeed. The -steady march of this dire disease from Asia over the continent of Europe -towards our shores in 1831 created the utmost alarm of approaching -danger, and led to precautionary measures being taken. Medical science -however was at fault; contradictory advice was given; orders in council -were issued and withdrawn; and people were at their wits’ end what steps -to take. A rigid system of quarantine was at first enforced; and when -the enemy did arrive it was ordered that each infected district or house -was to be isolated and shut up within itself, and the inhabitants cut off -from communication with other parts of the country; and ‘all articles of -food or other necessaries were to be placed in front of the house, and -received by the inhabitants after the person delivering them had -retired.’ It was in fact the exploit over again of the gallant gentleman -who proposed, as Milton says, to ‘pound up the crows by shutting his park -gate.’ Clinging to the belief that the disease was imported and spread -by contagion, few really remedial measures founded on the hypothesis of -the low sanitary condition of the population—as bad drainage, -ill-ventilated and overcrowded dwellings, offensive sewers, unwholesome -water, and the thousand other kindred abominations which afflict the -poor, were suggested. But feelings and sympathies were naturally with -the patient and against the unchristian edict which said to him—‘Thou art -sick, and we visit thee not; thou art in prison, and we come not unto -thee’. Gradually too it dawned upon the minds of the authorities—as the -result of observation and experience—that it was not so much from direct -communication that persons were affected, as from bad sanitary -conditions;—for persons were not consecutively affected who lived in the -same house or slept in the same bed with the sick; and that children even -suckled by mothers labouring under the disease escaped. On Wednesday, -the 21st of March, 1832, there was a general fast for deliverance from -the plague, as it was called, but it was pretty much the same as Æsop’s -case of the carter who prayed Jupiter to get his cart wheel out of the -rut; and the answer vouchsafed by Providence was similar—‘put your own -shoulder to the wheel’, do what you can first to make the people clean -and wholesome. We have no statistics or recorded facts to fall back -upon, but so far as our knowledge and experience serves us we should say -that the first victims in this neighbourhood were among men and women who -led irregular lives, and who lived in dirty ill-ventilated homes, and in -the decks and cabins of barges going long voyages, in which men slept and -ate their meals; and persons on the banks of the Severn, who drank the -polluted water of the river. A case occurred at Coalport, on the 21st of -July, 1832, on board a barge on the Severn, which belonged to owner -Jones; and it was thought prudent to sink the vessel to destroy the -contagion. A man named Richard Evans also was taken with the cholera on -board a Shrewsbury barge, and was removed to the “Big House,” as it was -called, at the Calcutts, which had been hired and set apart by Mr. George -Pritchard and others for the reception of victims. On the 23rd, Thomas -Oakes, son of John Oakes, died on board Dillon Lloyd’s vessel, and during -that month and the next the plague continued its ravages by the Severn. -From an old diary we learn that a man named Goosetree, his wife, and -three children, were seized on the 14th of August at the Coalport -Manufactory, and died the same day; as also did a Mrs. Baugh and her -mother. - -The more ignorant of the people were suspicious of the doctors; Mr. -Thursfield on the 23rd of July visited a house at Coalford, and offered a -draught to a woman whom he suspected of shewing symptoms of the disease, -but was beaten off by her daughter Kitty, who said her mother wanted food -and not medicine. The doctor does not appear to have been popular -judging from doggrel lines in circulation at the time— - - ‘The cholera morbus is begun - And Dr. Thursfield is the mon - To carry the cholera morbus on.’ - -A man named William Titley, whilst drinking, dancing, and singing this to -a public house company, was taken with the disease, and died next day. -William Fletcher, a carpenter, whilst employed in making the coffin -intended for Titley, was seized, and died next day, and was buried in the -coffin he had made for another. A few days after, on the 14th of -September, Israel Weager, a barge block-maker, who wore dirty and greasy -clothes, who was grimy and dirty also in his person, and worked in a -wretched shed by the Robin Hood public house, was another taken about the -same time who died. During the remainder of the same month, and those of -October, November, and December, the cholera continued to find victims. -Men drank hard to ward off the disease and sowed the seeds which brought -it on. Men and women were taken ill, died, and were buried the same day; -and some were probably buried before they were dead. One man, a well -known cock-fighter at Broseley, was attacked with the disease, and so -stupefied by brandy that he was supposed to be dead. He was taken to the -cholera ground adjoining Jackfield church on the hill, and the rattle of -the soil upon the coffin which accompanied the words “ashes to ashes” -&c., roused him from his stupor, when the bystanders hearing a noise -lifted the lid and the old cocker came forth. {253} We believe his name -was William Roberts, judging from the diary before mentioned, and that -the event occurred on the 14th of September; and that on the 1st of -October his wife and two children died of the plague, and were buried the -same day. At many places it was much worse than it was here. At -Bilston, for instance, it raged so fiercely that forty-five victims died -in one day; and not less than twenty for several days running; and their -neighbours at Birmingham presented a waggon load of coffins, as being the -most acceptable present they could make. It was bad enough here; church -bells were tolling, hearses and cholera carts were in motion often, and -at untimely hours, early and late, by torch light, or accompanied by the -feeble light of a lantern; and a melancholy sadness settled upon all. -Many journeys were made by the “cholera cart from the Workhouse” to -Madeley church-yard, with just sufficient of the inmates of the house to -convey the corpse to the hole dug for it. It must not be supposed -however that the victims to this terrible plague were confined to the -lower classes, many of the well-to-do were stricken and died: the sister -of the present Lord Forester, we are informed by the diary referred to, -died on the 23rd of July of cholera in London. At last the evil spent -itself and subsided; it was a fearful curse, but it had the effect of -convincing us that something more than fasts and well-seasoned sermons -were needed to prevent or remove the epidemic: and so much was done by -public attention being called to the effects bad sanitary conditions had -on the physical causes of sickness and mortality, by Dr. Southwood Smith -in 1838, and by evidence by Mr. Slaney, M.P., for Shrewsbury, who -obtained a select committee to enquire into the circumstances affecting -the health of the inhabitants of large towns, with a view to improved -sanitary regulations for their benefit, in 1840, that the knowledge -gained enabled medical men successfully to grapple with the epidemic when -it again threatened to spread itself over the country in 1848. - - - -THE SEVERN. - - -The Severn at present is of little service to the parishioners of -Madeley, either as a source of food or a means of transit, compared with -what it was in former times. Yet washing as it does the whole of the -western side of the parish, from Marnwood brook to the brook which -separates Madeley and Sutton parishes, it deserves notice. There was a -time when it supplied a considerable portion of food to those living upon -its banks; and when, whilst other parts of the country, less favoured, -were labouring under the disadvantages of land conveyance, over roads -scarcely passable, and by machines but imperfectly constructed, its -navigation conferred superior privileges; both by the importation of hay, -corn, groceries &c., and the exportation of mines and metals produced -along the valley through which it runs. The river, inconsiderable in its -origin, is indebted for its navigable importance to physical -peculiarities of country that constitute its basins. An extensive -water-shed of hills, whose azure tops court the clouds, brings down a -large amount of rain to swell the volume of its stream. From its source -to its estuary in the Bristol Channel it gathers as it rolls from rivers -and brooks, which, after irrigating rich pasture lands along their banks, -pour their waters into its channel. The Teme, augmented by the Clun, the -Ony, the Corve, the Avon, and the Wye, having each performed similar -pilgrimages through flower-dotted fields, also pay tribute of their -waters. Here weaving its way through a carpet of the richest green it -visits sheep-downs, cattle-pastures, orchards, hop-plantations, and -hay-producing fields, as it sweeps along, conferring benefit upon the -soil, increasing the fertility of fields, aiding in the development of -mines, linking important wealth producing districts, bringing materials -for manufacturing purposes together, and transporting their products to -the sea. - -This formerly more than now, so that Agriculture, and commerce felt its -quickening influence and bore witness to its sway. Feeders, which -capital with talismanic touch opened up by cuttings on the plain, -aqueducts or embankments across the vale, tunnels, locks, and other -contrivances among the hills to overcome inequalities of surface ran -miles through inland districts to collect its traffic. The Shropshire, -the Shrewsbury, and the Ellesmere Canals, united the Severn, the Mersey, -and the Dee, and the rival ports, Liverpool and Bristol. Shrewsbury, -Coalbrookdale, Coalport, Bridgnorth, Bewdley, Stourport, Worcester, and -Gloucester, were centres from which its traffic flowed; iron crude and -malleable, brick and tile, earthenware and pipes, were sent, the former -in large quantities from wharfs at Coalbrookdale, and from others between -Ironbridge and Coalport. The Shropshire trade was carried on by means of -vessels from 40 to 78 and 80 tons burthen, drawing from three to four -feet, which went down with the stream, and were drawn back by horses, or -men or both. In consequence of the rapidity of the current over the -fords not more than 20, 30, or 40 tons were usually carried up the river. -About 20 voyages in the year were usually made by regular traders, but -vessels carrying iron made more. The time occupied for full cargoes to -get down to Gloucester was about 24 hours. - -In 1756, there were at Madeley-Wood, 21 owners of vessels of 39 vessels. -But many more than these came to the Meadow, and Coalport wharves. -Hulbert, writing about half a century ago says: “standing upon Coalport -bridge I have counted seventy barges standing at Coalport Wharf, some -laden and others loading with coal and iron.” Madeley-Wood supplied -fire-clay and fire-bricks for many years to the porcelain and other works -at Worcester. Originally, when Fuller speaks of coals being exported by -barges, and when during the Civil Wars the Parliamentary forces planted a -garrison at Benthall to prevent the barges carrying coal down the river, -vessels were drawn against the stream by strings of men linked to ropes -by loops or bows, who were called bow-haulers. It was slavish work; and -Richard Reynolds was so struck with the hardship and unfitness of the -practice that he exerted himself to obtain an Act of Parliament for the -construction of a road by the side of the river, now called the towing -path, by which horses were substituted. Sometimes, when a favourable -wind blew against the stream, vessels with all sails set would make good -progress without further assistance; and it was a pleasing sight to see -these and the larger ones, the trows, sailing along the valley. Had -means been taken to improve the channel of the Severn, this noble river, -navigable for 180 miles, may have been in a much more flourishing -condition than at present. - -Like opposing interests for and against improvements in the channel, -between which the battle of locks and weirs was fought, two opposing -forces have been striving for mastery in the tideway of the channel. One -contending for an estuary, the other for a delta. Draining a district -six thousand square miles in extent, having a fall of two hundred and -twenty feet in its descent from its source on Plynlymmon, (1,500 feet -above the sea line), to its tideway in the Bristol Channel, and being fed -by boisterous brooks and precipitous streams that cut their way through -shales and clays and sand-rocks, it is not surprising that the Severn -should bring down a vast amount of silt to raise its bed. To correct -these irregularities along a portion of the river, improvements, -projected by Sir William Cubitt, some years since, were completed at very -considerable outlay, after an expenditure of £70,000 before the sanction -of Parliament could be obtained. Above Stourport, where these -improvements terminate, the river is still in a state of nature. Except -some pedling attempts by means of earth, loose stones, or sinking some -dilapidated boats along the side, nothing has been done to improve the -channel. The scouring action of the stream constantly undermines the -banks. These give way after every flood, and come down to choke the -river, or to change the channel, and every newly-formed shoal sends the -stream at right angles to its bed to make fresh attempts upon its banks. -Fords that served our painted ancestors to make incursions beyond their -boundaries, bends almost amounting to circles around which they paddled -their canoes, impede navigation still. Attempts to overcome these -natural obstacles to its navigation were made as early as 1784, when Mr. -Jessop proposed to render the river navigable for vessels drawing four -feet at all seasons of the year from Worcester to Coalbrookdale. He -proposed to obtain a sufficient depth for that purpose at all seasons of -the year by the erection of 13 or 14 weirs between those places; he also -recommended that that depth should be obtained below Diglis by dredging -and correcting the natural channel of the river, and the Stafford and -Worcester Canal Company, joined by the iron manufacturers of Shropshire, -applied in the year 1786 to parliament for powers to carry out Mr. -Jessop’s recommendations, so far as they related to the portion of the -river described in the title of the bill, as from Meadow-wharf, -Coalbrookdale, to the deep water at Diglis, below the city of Worcester. -The bill was lost owing to the objections on the part of the public to -the erection of locks and weirs, and owing to the dislike of the carriers -to pay toll at all seasons of the year. As it is, there are often three, -four, and five months when barges cannot navigate the river with a -freight equal to defray the expenses of working them; indeed, instances -have occurred in which in only two months of the twelve the river could -be advantageously worked. Besides the additional wear and tear, more -strength is required to work the vessel, and it takes treble the time to -convey 15 tons at low water as it does four times that weight at other -times. - -To improvements that affect only a portion of the river, and that the -lower portion, the Shropshire traders very naturally took objection. -They saw that for any benefit to be derived from navigating the lower -portion of the Severn they would be taxed, without being able themselves -to participate in it, and at a meeting of iron and coal masters, Severn -carriers, and others, held at the Tontine Inn, Ironbridge, on the 2nd of -December, 1836, for the purpose of taking into consideration the -propriety of opposing the project of the Worcester Severn Navigation -Company, for the introduction of locks and weirs upon the river, Richard -Darby, Esq., in the chair, it was resolved, - - “That having attentively considered the plan proposed by the - Worcester Severn Navigation Company, for effecting alterations in the - channel of that river, it is of opinion that, whilst the execution of - that plan affords no stable prospect of extensive advantage to the - public at large, its effects upon a variety, of important local - interests, and particularly upon the trading community of this - neighbourhood, will be in the highest degree injurious. That the - introduction of these works, even if Shropshire vessels were - permitted to pass them free of any impost, would be injurious to the - traders of this county, but that the exaction from that body of a - toll or tonage for such passage would inflict on them a burden of the - most unjust and oppressive character. That a petition or petitions - in opposition be accordingly at the proper stage presented, and - supported by evidence, according to the course of Parliamentary - proceeding, and that every exertion be used to obtain the support of - members of both houses to the prayer of such petitions.” - -The following gentlemen were appointed a committee:—Mr. Botfield, Mr. -Mountford, Mr. John Horton, Mr. Richard Darby, Mr. Abraham Darby, Mr. -Alfred Darby, Mr. Anstice, Mr. Hombersley, Mr. Rose, Mr. William Pugh, -Mr. William James, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. George Pritchard, Mr. John Owen, -Mr. Samuel Roden, Mr. John Burton, Mr. John Anstice, Mr. Francis Yates, -Mr. John Dyer Doughty, Mr. Edward Edwards, Mr. Samuel Smith, Mr. George -Chune. The agitation proved so far successful that a clause was inserted -in the bill exempting the Shropshire traders coming down with full -cargoes from toll. This exemption was subject to the qualification that -if in descending the river they took in, or in ascending it they took out -any goods whatever within the improved portions of the river, their whole -cargoes should be subject to toll. This concession cost the Shropshire -interest a long and expensive opposition before a committee of the House -of Commons. At subsequent periods the Shropshire iron and coal masters -and Severn traders have had similar battles to fight in order to maintain -the exemption clause. The commissioners appointed by the act of 1842, -who, in 1847, sought powers to erect the weir at Tewkesbury, claimed the -repeal of the qualified exemption from toll granted to the Shropshire -trade, on the ground that the system of dredging below Worcester had been -ineffectual in maintaining an uniform depth of six feet of water. This -was complained of as an act of injustice and bad faith on their part -towards the Shropshire interest. The slight assistance which, in certain -states of the river, they derived from the diminished force of the stream -in ascending, was more than neutralised by the loss of aid on their -downward voyage and by the detention of the locks. Again the Shropshire -traders, through the indefatigable exertions of W. R. Anstice, Esq., were -successful in maintaining the free navigation of the river, so far as -they were concerned, and subject to conditions above stated. - -Traffic upon the Severn, it as been said, costs less than on any other -river in the kingdom; and at the present time, notwithstanding the -facilities railways afford, the river is preferred for some kind of -goods, as for the fine castings of Coalbrookdale, such as grates, which -are still carried cheaper and better by means of barges, than by any -other. - - - -THE SEVERN AS A SOURCE OF FOOD. - - -So much importance has been attached to the Severn as the means both of -supplying food and innocent recreation, that many Acts of parliament have -at various times been passed for its protection. One sets forth that: - - “The King our Sovereign lord James, &c., &c. Having certain - knowledge that in his stream and river of Severn and in other rivers, - streams, creeks, brooks, waters and ditches thereinto running or - descending, the spawn and brood of trout, salmon and salmon-effs and - other fish is yearly greatly destroyed by the inordinate and unlawful - taking of the same by the common fishers useing and occupying unsized - and unlawful nets and other engines,” &c., &c. - -We have already said in our “History of Broseley” that— - - The earlier acts of parliament were designed with a view to - discourage rod-and-line fishing, anglers, who, according to - Holinshead ranked third among the rogues and vagabonds, being subject - to a fine of £5; and although recent legislation has been intended to - encourage this harmless amusement, and to increase the growth of - fish, the best efforts of both legislators and conservators have been - frustrated hitherto by the Navigation Company, whose locks and weirs - turn back the most prolific breeding fish seeking their spawning - grounds. The first of these were erected in 1842; and four more have - since been added. By the 158th and 159th sections of the Severn - Navigation Act the Company were to construct fish passes; and - although attempts have been made at various times to do this, no - efficient means have been adopted. Not only salmon decreased since - their erection but shad, flounders, and lampreys, never now visit - this portion of the river. Formerly Owners of barges and their men, - when they were unemployed, could spend their time profitably in - fishing, and could half keep their families with what they caught. - -Of the one hundred and fifteen tons of salmon taken in the Severn in -1877, 16,000 fish were supposed to have been taken in the lower or tidal -portion of the river, and 1.800 in the upper or non tidal portions; but -the latter proportion was larger that year than usual. Salmon in the -Severn have been still further reduced by the too common practice of -taking samlets, on their downward course to the sea, and we are glad to -find that more stringent measures are being taken by the conservators and -the water-bailiffs to prevent this. Amateur fishermen, gentlemen of -intelligence, have not only contributed to this by their own acts but by -encouraging others to do likewise under the pretence or excuse that they -were not the young of salmon. It is a well ascertained fact, however, -not only that they are young salmon, but that when grown to a proper size -they come up the river they go down. We heard the Duke of Sutherland -say, in his grounds at Dunrobin, where he rears hundreds of thousands of -young salmon to turn into the Brora and other rivers, that he had marked -their fins and found that they invariably came up the same river they go -down, and the author of “Book of the Salmon,” says:— - - “Take a salmon bred in the Shin, (one of the duke’s salmon rivers) in - Sutherland, and set it at liberty in the Tweed, at Berwick, and it - will not ascend the Tweed, but will if not slain in transitu, return - to its native river, the Shin, traversing hundreds of miles of ocean - to do so. Is this wonderful! No more wonderful than,— - - “The swallow twittering from its straw-built shed,” - - migrating, on the first appearance of winter from these shores, to - the warm atmosphere, yielding insect food, of Africa, and returning - to its natal locality in the spring, to live and give life in the - temperate summer of a temperate zone.” - -It is owing to this unconquerable instinct we are indebted for the few -salmon we get in the upper Severn. At the spawning season they make -their appearance in the estuary, and, so long as they meet with no -insurmountable obstruction to their progress, will traverse miles for the -deposition of their ova. Slight obstacles in the way will not deter -them, and it is only after repeated failures they give up; they swim -through rapids, leap from seven to ten feet high, and push on to their -destination through powerful floods of descending water; and it is only -at insurmountable barriers to their progress that they fall a prey to the -rapacity of poachers, who have been known at one time to have taken cart -loads with spears. - -Since the above was in type Mr. Frank Buckland and Mr. S. Walpole, as -Inspectors of Salmon fisheries, have issued their report, wherein we -learn that the Severn is much polluted in its upper waters by refuse from -mines, and in the middle and lower waters by the refuse from -manufactories and town sewage; and that out of the 290 miles of spawning -ground which the Severn possesses, only 75 are accessible to the fish. -Mr. Willis Bund, the chairman of the Severn Board, supplied Mr. Buckland -with the following figures as to the value of the Severn salmon -fisheries. The figures show the value of the fish caught: - -1869 £8,006 -1870 13,000 -1871 11,200 -1872 8,000 -1873 10,000 -1874 10,500 -1875 10,590 -1876 14,560 -1877 12,880 -1878 8,978 - -As regards the future prospects of the Severn, Mr. Buckland confesses he -does not feel quite happy, but adds that the exact cause of the -non-increase of the produce of the river during recent years may possibly -depend upon the peculiar conditions of the river between the first -navigation weir and the sea. The fish having such a long estuary to -traverse before they can get beyond the tidal nets are often unable to -pass the lower weirs, and being obliged to fall back with the tide, run a -_second chance_ of being caught by the nets. The fish taken in the -Severn are usually very large. For the last five years the average has -been over 14 lbs. each; last year a great many varying between 30 and 40 -lbs. were captured, and some even exceeding the latter weight. The -largest recorded, weighing 50 lb., was taken in a draft net on the 18th -March, 1878, by Mr. Browning, of Longney, Gloucestershire. The fish -spawn in the Severn as early as, if not earlier than, in any other river. -During the past year, 1878, Mr. Buckland says fishing was not prosperous, -and he gives the number of salmon taken as 12,450, and the weight as 86 -tons, against the 16,000 fish, weighing 115 tons, given on a former page, -as being the take in 1877. Mr. Buckland adds that the Severn is the -largest salmon river in England, and he enumerates the weirs which -greatly obstruct the lower part of the river. - -Shad were formerly taken in considerable numbers at the fords, by -bargemen chiefly, who caught more than they could consume, and sold them -to others; and in a commercial point of view, in this portion of the -river, they were even more important than salmon. They were caught at -night, generally by moonlight, by men who stood at the fords, watching -for them as they ascended the river. Their approach was marked by a -phosphorescent light, or “loom” in the water. They were difficult to -catch in the daytime, as they would either go over or under the net, and -fix themselves with their heads in the bed of the river, tail upwards. -When in proper condition they were well flavoured fish, and attained a -large size, sometimes two and three feet in length. - -The flounder was another fine fish, and was as abundant as any in the -Severn, affording good sport to “bottom fishers,” with rod and line. -Since the locks and weirs were made they have, like the shad, ceased -altogether. Lampreys too, which formerly were considered even of more -importance than salmon, and which also were caught in this part of the -Severn, are fish which have altogether ceased to visit us since the -erection of the first weir in 1842. - -Again, the rich and oily flesh of the eel formed the staple diet of -dwellers along the river banks; and even the well-to-do, whose roomy -chimney corners were hung with salted swine flesh, and on whose tables -fresh meat appeared only at intervals, esteemed eels a luxury. Eels, -like shad, were migratory, and before locks and weirs were placed upon -the river myriads of minute eels in spring made their way from the -brackish waters of the estuary of the Severn, keeping close to the shore. -They formed a dark dense mass, like a sunken rope, and were called -Elvers, a word said to be of Saxon origin, and a corruption, it is -supposed, of Eelfare, meaning to travel, as in wayfare, thoroughfare, and -seafaring. In this state they were caught, bushels of them, and sold at -a small sum, whilst the remainder were used for manure or pig-wash. Vast -numbers of these eels, when left to their instinct, found their way into -the upper Severn and its tributaries. - -An Act of the 30th of Charles II. for the preservation of fishing in the -river Severn, imposed a penalty on all persons taking elvers; an Act of -George III., but repealed so much of the former, as related to the -penalty on persons taking elvers for their own use only, and not for -sale; whilst the Salmon Act of 1861, repealed the 30th of Charles II. -altogether; and left no law to prevent the destruction of young eels, -which was carried on in Gloucestershire in what was called the elver -season on a large scale. - -The Severn Board of conservators, under the powers granted by Mr. -Mundella’s Fresh Water Fishing Act, (41 and 42 Vic. Cap. 39) passed a -resolution in March, 1879, making it the duty of eel fishermen to pay a -sum of ten shillings for an annual license to use their lines. -Considerable opposition was offered to this on the part of the Ironbridge -and other fishermen; a memorial was drawn up and signed at a meeting of -these and others from Bridgnorth and Shrewsbury, and a deputation -appointed to present it to the Severn Board of Conservators at their -meeting at Shrewsbury. - - Mr. Yale who presented the memorial said: One complaint was in regard - to the license put upon the rod-and-line. It was only 1s., it was - true, and that was not much, but it involved a principle which they - thought might be carried further at some future day, and to a very - oppressive extent. The greatest grievance, however, was the - imposition of licenses upon the use of night lines. He did not - believe that the scarcity of fish was owing to the anglers or to the - netters, for it was a matter of experience that when men were allowed - to go and catch as many as they thought proper there were plenty of - fish, but it was not so now. He used to think it a very bad day if - he could not catch 20 lbs. of fish, and now, perhaps he would not - take 10 ozs. That was not caused by the rod-and-line, or by the use - of nets, upon which it is now sought to place these restrictions. He - believed, as Mr. George had told him the other day, that the scarcity - of fish was owing to the pollutions, and not to the taking of fish. - - SAMUEL SANDALS, made a statement to the effect that he worked all the - hours he could at his usual work and spent the rest in fishing, and - he thought it very hard to put a license upon the night lines. As to - the trout taken with night lines, it was very rare indeed that they - could take a trout in that way, except in the spring when the water - was muddy: he believed the ducks destroyed “a sight” of the spawn on - the fords. - - Mr. WATTON said he did not for a moment dispute what the last speaker - had said with respect to his not catching trout on night lines. - There might possibly be some very good local reasons for his - non-success, but, speaking from his own observation, he knew well - enough that the night lines were the destruction of the trout. They - were laid zig-zag fashion for a great distance down the river, and - swept every trout off the fords at night, and they were most - destructive engines. - - Mr. H. SHAW said he quite agreed with what Mr. Watton had said, and - he could bring evidence to prove that an immense quantity of trout - was taken upon night lines, and a very large number of small fish - were destroyed in baiting the lines. To take these baits stones were - rooted up and the young salmon were frequently disturbed and got - devoured by large fish. No less than 3,000 or 4,000 bait were caught - each day in and around Shrewsbury to supply the night lines, and that - must be a very serious drawback to the stock of fish in the river. - - The CHAIRMAN said it seemed to him that the gentlemen who had - attended the meeting of the Board objected to the principle of - issuing licenses, and if it was so, so far as he understood the - matter, that Board could do nothing. - -Petitions were also presented to the Home Secretary; one from the -fishermen themselves and another from the inhabitants. Of course these -were from fishermen’s point of view. Those who are anxious that fish in -the river should be increased, who think the protective provisions of the -Act favour such increase, and who follow fishing more by way of sport and -pastime, take very different views; they naturally look upon professional -fishermen, men who lay night lines, and fish as a means of obtaining a -livelihood, as enemies of legitimate sport. The object of protection is -a laudable one, namely, that the means of innocent recreation, and the -food of the people, may be increased; and eels are, there is no question, -a more important article of food, so far as the people on the banks of -the Severn are concerned, than Salmon, and that ten times over. Salmon -can never be multiplied so as to come within the reach of the people -generally. Eels, on the contrary, are an article of food with the poor, -the middle classes, and the rich themselves. Moreover, they will bear -comparison with any well-flavoured fish the Severn produces. - -It is chiefly for eel fishing, by means of night lines, but sometimes -also for fly-fishing for trout and other fish, that the coracle, that -ancient British vessel, is still retained on the Severn. The men go down -with the stream to lay their lines, and then carry their coracles over -their heads and shoulders; so that looking at them from behind they look -like huge beetles walking along the road. - -Of fish unaffected by the obstructions enumerated may be mentioned the -river’s pride— - - “The crimson spotted trout - And beauty of the stream.” - -But it must be sought for higher up or lower down the river, generally at -the fords, and the embouchers of streams which come down to join the -Severn, as Cound and Linley brooks. In deeper parts of the river too, -near these places, good sized chub are found. But the chub is not much -esteemed, although a fine fish, and, according to Izaak Walton, “proves -excellent meat.” It grows to a large size, and may be caught in holes -near Sweyney, where the bushes overhang such holes. Pike too are found -here, but are more common about Buildwas and Cressage. - -That handsome fish the roach, known by the dusky bluish green on head and -back, with lighter shades on sides, its silvery white belly, and dorsal -and caudal fins tinged with red, is also to be caught. - -Dace, grayling, and perch, are met with, the latter congregating in holes -of the river, or seen herding together hunting its prey. As Drayton says -of— - - “The dainty gudgeon, loche, the minnow, and the bleak, - Since they are little, I little need but speak.” - -The former makes up for its small size by the daintiness of “meat.” Its -favourite haunts are the swift flowing portions of the river, with pebbly -and sandy bottoms. It is a ground feeder, greedy, and rushes at once to -seek its prey, if you stir up the bed of the river. The bleak is about -the size of the gudgeon, and is a quick biter. - -From the peculiarities of its watershed the Severn is subject to sudden -and unlooked for - - - -FLOODS. - - -To quote from our “History of Broseley”:— - - In modern times these can to some extent be guarded against, as the - news of any sudden extraordinary rise in the upper basin may be - communicated to those living lower down. Formerly this could not be - done; a flood would then travel faster than a letter, and coming down - upon the villagers suddenly, perhaps in the night time, people would - find the enemy had entered their households unawares. It was no - unusual thing to see haystacks, cattle, timber, furniture, and, in - one instance, we have heard old people tell of a child in a cradle, - floating down the stream. Many of these floods are matters of - tradition; others being associated with special events have been - recorded. Shakespeare has commemorated one called “Buckingham’s - Flood,” in his Richard III., thus:— - - “The news I have to tell your majesty - Is,—that, by sudden floods and fall of waters - Buckingham’s army is dispersed and scatter’d - And he himself wandered away alone, - No man knows whither.” - - Proclaimed a traitor, and forsaken by his army, he concealed himself - in the woods on the banks of the Severn and was betrayed and taken in - Banister’s Coppice, near Belswardine. - - The newspapers of 1785 record a sudden rise in the Severn and its - disastrous results. It appears that on the 17th of December, 1794, - the season was so mild that fruit-trees were in blossom, whilst early - in January, 1795, so much ice filled the Severn after a rapid thaw as - to do great damage. The river rose at Coalbrookdale 25¼ inches - higher than it did in November, 1770. The rise in the night was so - rapid that a number of the inhabitants were obliged to fly from their - tenements, leaving their goods at the mercy of the floods. The - publicans were great sufferers, the barrels being floated and the - bungs giving way. In the Swan and White Hart, Ironbridge, the water - was several feet deep. Two houses were washed away below the bridge, - but the bridge itself stood the pressure, although Buildwas bridge - blew up, the river having risen above the keystone in the centre of - the main arch. Crowds visited the locality to see the flood and the - ruins it had made. - - On the Coalbrookdale Warehouse, and on a house by the side of the - brook, the height of these floods are to be seen recorded. At - Worcester, a little above the bridge, a brass plate has the following - inscription:—“On the 12th February, 1795, the Flood rose to the lower - edge of this plate.” The lower edge measures just three feet from - the pavement level. Another plate at the archway opposite the - Cathedral bears the following:—“On the 18th November, 1770, the Flood - rose to the lower edge of this Brass Plate, being ten inches higher - than the Flood which happened on December 23rd, 1672.” This measures - seven feet from the ground immediately underneath. - - There are three other marks which have been cut out the stonework on - the wall adjacent to the archway referred to, which are as follows:— - - “Feb. 8th, 1852. - Nov. 15th, 1852. - Aug. 5th, 1839.” - - The one in February measures from the ground six feet two inches; - November, 1852, eight feet two inches; and the one August 5th, 1839, - six feet two inches. - - - -COALBROOKDALE. - - -As an important part of the parish of Madeley, still more as a locality -famous on account of its fine castings and other productions, -Coalbrookdale is deserving of a much further notice than has incidentally -been given on previous pages in speaking of the Darbys and Reynoldses. -There are few people perhaps in the kingdom who have not heard or who do -not know something of Coalbrookdale; and there are none, probably, who -pass through it by rail who do not peer through the windows of the -carriage to catch a passing glimpse of its more prominent features. -These may be readily grouped, for the benefit of those who have not seen -them, but who may read this book, as follows. In the trough of the -valley lie the works, stretching along in the direction of the stream, -formerly of more importance to the operations carried on in the various -workshops than it is at present. Upon the slope of the hill on the -south-eastern side the Church, the palatial looking Literary and -Scientific Institute, built for the benefit of the workmen, meet the eye, -and the more humble looking Methodist chapel. On both sides are goodly -looking houses and villa-like residences, where dwell the men of -directing minds; whilst here and there are thin sprinklings of workmen’s -cottages—few in number compared with the hands employed. A few strips of -grass land intervene, whilst above are wooded ridges with pleasant walks, -and to the west some curiously rounded knolls, between which the -Wellington and Craven Arms branch railway runs, sending down a siding for -the accommodation of the works. - -These are the chief features which strike the eye, and which would come -out into prominence in photographic views taken to shew what -Coalbrookdale now is. The buildings are comparatively of modern -construction, but quaint half-timbered houses, rejoicing in the whitewash -livery of former times, suggest a phase of Coalbrookdale history much -anterior to that other buildings indicate. It is not difficult indeed to -depict the earlier stages of the progress the little valley has passed -through from its first primitive aspect to the present; there are, for -instance, in some of its many windings green nooks and pleasant corners -where nature yet reigns, and where lovers of a quiet ramble may feast -their eyes and indulge their imaginations, undisturbed by the hammering, -and whirl of wheels, lower down. Such a spot is that to which the -visitor is led by following the stream above the pool, crossed by a -footbridge. To the left of the path is Dale House, Sunnyside, the -Friends Meeting House, and the road to Little Wenlock. Little is seen of -the brook on the right of the path, but its presence on the margin of the -slope is made known beneath over-hanging bushes by prattlings over -stones, and a waterfall from some ledges of rock. Following it higher up -it is found to be partially fed by droppings from rocks dyed by mineral -colours of varying hue, and to present curious petrifactions, rarely -permitted however to attain any great proportions. The place is -variously called _La Mole_ and Lum Hole, and speculations have been -indulged in as to each derivation. The former would, of course, suggest -a French origin. Lum is Welsh, and signifies a point, as in Pumlummon, -now ordinarily called Plinlimmon, or the hill with five points. It is -quite certain that the valley here terminates in a point, but whether -this has anything to do with it or not we cannot say. All we say of it -is that it is a quiet little sylvan retreat, with wooded heights, green -slopes, and precipitous yellow rocks, at the foot of which the stream is -treasured up and forms a glassy lakelet. But this stream, in which six -centuries since “Lovekin” the fisherman set his baited lines, long ago -was made to do other service than that of soothing the listening ear, or -paying tribute of its trout to the abbot of Wenlock. The choice of the -situation for manufacturing operations was no doubt due to woods like -these, which supplied the needed fuel; but much more to the motive power -furnished by the stream, for turning the great wheels required to produce -the blast, and work the ponderous hammers which shaped the metal. - -Brave and strong as these Dale men were, their muscles were too weak for -the work demanded. As Vulcan found he needed stronger journeymen than -those of flesh and blood to forge the thunderbolts of Jove, so an -imperative necessity, a growing demand, led men here to seek a more -compelling force to blow their leathern bellows, to lift their huge forge -hammers, than animal force could supply. Woods were no longer estimated -by _pannage_ yielded for swine, but by the fuel supplied for reducing the -stubborn ore to pigs of another kind. Brooks were pounded up, streams -were turned back upon themselves, and their treasured waters husbanded as -a capital of force to be disposed of as occasion required. Dryads now -fled the woods and Naiads the streams,—as beams and shafts and cranks -were reared or creaked beneath the labours they performed. - -The presence of coal and iron ore could not have been inducements for the -first ironworkers to settle here; neither tradition nor facts warrant the -supposition that either were ever found in the valley. The first -syllable of the name is deceptive, and the probability is that it was -neither _Coal_ nor _Cole_-brook originally, although coal appears to have -been brought here for use more than five centuries ago from places just -outside. Wood fuel seems to have been growing scarce as far back as the -first quarter of the fourteenth century, judging from an application on -the part of a Walter de Caldbrook to the Prior of Wenlock, to whom the -manor belonged, for a license to have a man to dig coals in “Le -Brockholes” for one year. It is not unlikely that this Walter de -Caldbrook had a forge or smithy in the Dale; a situation chosen on -account of the stream, which served to furnish him with motive power for -his machinery. This seems all the more probable from the fact that -distinct mention of such smithy is made in Henry the Eighth’s time, and -that it is called “Smithy Place,” and “Caldbrooke Smithy,” {277} in the -deed or grant by which the manor was conveyed by the King to Robert -Brook, signed at Westminster and dated July 23, 1544. (See page 59). -The fact too that this smithy was still called Caldbrook Smithy -strengthens the suppositious, both as to the name and as to the fact that -the Caldbrookes used the Brockholes coal for their smithy in the Dale. -For smith’s work coal has always been preferred to wood; but the word -smithy did not then strictly mean what it now does; that is a smith’s -shop; but a place where iron was made in blooms. Thus the “Smithies,” -near Willey, at present so called, was a place where there were small -iron-making forges, as heaps of slag there now testify; which forges were -blown with leathern bellows, by means of water power, a man having to -tread them to increase the pressure. - -Again, the word “Place,” which is a Saxon term for locality, situation, -or a particular portion of space, itself indicates an establishment on a -scale greater than a modern smithy. The words in the deed are “Smithy -Place and New House.” And again, “the rights and privileges attached to -the whole of the place and buildings that go under the name of The Smithy -Place, and Newhouse, called Caldbrooke Smithy, with its privileges” &c. -This Newhouse long ago, no doubt, had become an old house. At any rate -we know of no house answering to this description at present, unless it -is the half-timbered house near the Lower Forge; and if so this house -must be about 100 years older than the one which has the date upon it at -the forge higher up, shewing it to have been built a century later, or in -1642: and both forges no doubt were then in existence. The latter would -be about the period when the flame of Civil War was bursting forth in -various parts of the kingdom, and when Richard Baxter, whose old house -still stands at Eaton Constantine, was witnessing the battle of Edgehill -and others. This old house is such a fair specimen of the half-timbered -structures of two centuries and a half or three centuries ago that we add -a representation. - -There are a number of square iron plates at the Lower Forge supposed to -have been hearth-plates, with the following dates and initials:— - - I. H. T. K. W. I. E. R. - 1602. 1609. 1627. - T. A. I. A. B. S. - 1653. 1654. 1693. - T. E. - 1706. - -The one with the date 1609 has a head cast upon it, and the ‘W’ was for -the surname of one of the early proprietors or partners named Wolfe, a -member of the same family that gave shelter to King Charles at Madeley: -and ‘B’ may have signified Brooke, the family who resided at the Court -House, Madeley, and to whom the manor belonged at that time. There is -too a beam with the date 1658, being a bearer in an old blast furnace, -which is known to have been renewed by Abraham Darby in 1777. This is -supposed to have been brought from Leighton, where there was a furnace in -blast in 1707. Thus for long periods, during deadly feuds and troubled -times, absorbed in the simple arts of industry, these men appear to have -toiled on. During the Civil Wars, when Cromwell and his Ironsides were -preparing for the pages of history one of its most striking passages, -they worked their bloomeries, taking no part, save that a clerk in the -Shropshire Ironworks was found to bear to the Protector news of the -successes of his troops. - - [Picture: Baxter’s House as it is, slightly renovated] - -It may therefore be supposed that when the first Abraham Darby came to -the Dale he found works already in existence. Mr. Smiles says “he took -the lease of a little furnace which had existed at the place for over a -century”; and, fortunately, since his time, the commencement of the 18th -century, (1709), records of the proceedings have been carefully kept, so -that there is little difficulty in tracing the progress of the art, or in -giving prominence to important points which may serve to mark such -progress. On page 60 are enumerated some of these discoveries, one being -the successful use of coal in iron-making, another the adaptability of -iron in bridge making, and a third to railroads. To these three starting -points in the history of the iron trade was added that of the discovery -of puddling by means of pit coal, by the Craneges; a discovery which -preceded that of Henry Cort by seventeen years. It will be seen also -from what has been already stated, that whilst Richard Reynolds laid down -the first iron rails his son William and the Coalbrookdale Co. as early -as 1800 were engaged upon locomotives to run on railways. - -These stages in the history of the works down to the commencement of the -present century have been enumerated thus:— - - “Abraham Darby. 1707. Letters patent for a new way of casting iron - pots, and other iron ware, in sand only, without loam or clay.” - - “Ditto. 1712. First successfully superseded the use of charcoal by - that of coke in the blast furnace.” - - “Abraham Darby (son of above). 1737. First used coal instead of - charcoal for converting pig iron into bar iron at the forge.” - - “Ditto. 1760–63. First laid down rails of cast iron, with carriages - having axles with fixed wheels.” - - “Abraham Darby (the third). The first _iron_ bridge erected over the - Severn in 1777.” - - “Richard Reynolds. Letters patent to Thomas and George Cranage, for a - method of puddling, 1766.” - -William, son of Richard Reynolds, invented a locomotive, upon the plans -for which the Coalbrookdale Company were engaged in 1800. This was a -_locomotive_ for _railroads_, as we have shewn on page 179. We have also -on a previous page spoken of Mr. W. Reynolds as a chemist, a fact which -is borne out by an original letter of James Watt to his friend William -Reynolds, a copy of which, being too long to insert here, will be given -on a subsequent page. Facts like these, recorded in various -publications, added to the intrinsic merits of the high class productions -of the works, naturally served to give to the establishment in the Dale a -very high position in the trade. To these too were to be added the high -integrity of the proprietors and managers of the works, a guarantee of -which was to be found in the fact that they were Quakers. In our -“History of Broseley” page 219, we have shewn that the Friends had -established themselves there as early as 1673; that a Meeting house was -erected there in 1692; and that the Darbys, the Roses, the Reynoldses, -the Fords, the Hortons and others were buried there, prior to the Meeting -house at Sunnyside being built. The fact of a man being a Quaker was a -tolerable guarantee of his being a fair dealer; and the utterance of the -name of Darby or Reynolds was sufficient to command respect. - -Speaking of these works at an early stage, Mr. Smiles in his “Industrial -Biography” says:— - - “By the exertions and enterprise of the Darbys, the Coalbrookdale - Works had become greatly enlarged, giving remunerative employment to - a large and increasing population. The firm had extended their - operations far beyond the boundaries of the Dale: they had - established foundries at London, Bristol, and Liverpool, and agencies - at Newcastle and Truro for the disposal of steam-engines and other - iron machinery used in the deep mines of those districts. Watt had - not yet perfected his steam-engine; but there was considerable demand - for pumping-engines of Newcomen’s construction, many of which were - made at the Coalbrookdale Works.” - -One of these engines having the date 1747 was seen at Bilston in 1812. -Castings for Watt’s engines also were made here; but the first use to -which the steam-engine itself was put was the undignified one of pumping -the water which had once gone over the water-wheel back, that it may go -over it a second time. - -It is not our intention to give a detailed description of the present -productions of the Coalbrookdale Works; modern castings like those of the -Albert Edward bridge, and those high art ornamental ones of a lighter -kind with which the public are familiar by means of various international -exhibitions, afford sufficient evidence that the firm occupy a position -not unworthy of their ancient renown. - -It will be seen from what has been said that the religious no less than -the inventive element seems to have distinguished these men, who, so far -as we have gone were Quakers; but the brothers Cranege, who anticipated -Cort in the discovery of puddling were Wesleyans. Little seems to be -known of these men or of their families; but Dr. Edward Cranage, of the -Old Hall, Wellington is, we believe, of the same family. Another -descendant of the family writes us to say that— - - “George Cranage, one of the patentees, and Thomas his brother, the - other, both married daughters of John Ward, of Eye Manor Farm, near - Leighton; the writer’s grandfather on his mother’s side. Thomas and - his wife died without issue, but George Cranage who married Ann Ward, - left two sons and five daughters; William, the elder of the sons, was - manager or in some such position at Coalbrookdale, and was concerned - in the construction of the Iron Bridge. From a small manuscript - volume of religious verses and paraphrases into verse of the Psalms - composed by him, and now in my possession, he appears to have had - some taste for literature. I have his copy of _Coke and Moore’s life - of Wesley_, _and Paradise Lost_, the latter containing his autograph. - He was, I have heard, a Wesleyan of the true type; worshipping at his - chapel regularly, but always communicating at Madeley Parish Church - on Sacrament Sundays. He lived in the house where Mr. Moses now - lives, opposite the church, which house, we believe was built for - him. He died in 1823, one son having died previously. The following - notice appeared in a Shrewsbury paper of his death: - - “Suddenly, at Coalbrookdale, aged 63, Mr. Wm. Cranage, a man whose - truly benevolent nature and friendly disposition secured him the - respect and esteem of all who knew him, and whose loss as a member of - society will be much felt by his neighbours. In him the poor man - recognised a friend, the world an honest man, and the church a steady - and useful member.” - -John the younger, and only other son of George, died in infancy, while -the five daughters all married in Bridgnorth or the neighbourhood. - -Whilst upon the subject of old workmen at the Dale it may be well here to -introduce a notice of the Luccucks, some of whom were Quakers, but two of -whom, Benjamin and Thomas, became clergymen of the church of England. -Benjamin was apprenticed at Coalport, where he painted a set of china, -which whilst breakfasting with an English prelate he was surprised to see -produced at table. When a lad he was of a daring disposition. He would -lie down, for instance, between the rails of the Incline Plane and allow -the carriage and a boat with five tons of iron in it to pass over him, -notwithstanding the risk run of being caught and drawn over the rollers -by the hook dangling at the end of the carriage. The mother of Mr. W. G. -Norris, the present manager, and one of the proprietors, was a Luccock; -and other members of the same family are still employed in the works. -The grandfather of the former was apprenticed to the first Abraham Darby -soon after he came to the Dale. A copy of the indenture or agreement -between the parties may not be without interest at the present day. It -commences thus: - - “Abraham Darby and Thomas Luccuck, concluded and made this 13 day of - June, 1714, between Abraham Darby, of the city of Bristol, Smith, in - behalf of himself and rest of his co-partners in the ironworks of - Coalbrookdale, in the County of Salop, on the one part; and Thomas - Luccuck, of the parish of Norfield, in the County of Worcester, who - agrees to serve in the art and mystery of making or casting of iron - pots and kettles, &c.” - -It then proceeds to state that - - “Abraham Darby promises to pay the said Thomas Luccuck the _sum of_ - 6_s._ _per week_ during the said term of the year. Thomas Luccuck - also covenants not to divulge or make known the mystery of the art of - moulding in sand, tools, or utensils, belonging to the said works; - and that if he divulges he will agree to pay the sum of £5 for every - pot or kettle made by another, &c., through him.” - -The mystery alluded to, and which it was deemed then so important not to -divulge, was an improvement introduced by one of the Thomases, an -ancestor of the Bristol merchants of that name, which consisted in the -substitution of _green sand_ for the more expensive and laborious method -of using clay and loam in the manufacture of cast pots. By this means, -not only was the article cheapened, and the number multiplied, but a more -suitable and economical form was obtained; the old one being now rarely -seen, except in museums, or as an antiquated heir-loom in some remote -cottage. One of the old pots with a neat border has the date 1717. -These domestic utensils appear to have formed the staple manufacture at -the time that the first Abraham Darby removed here from Bristol, in the -year 1709. - -One member of this old family of Dale workmen lived to the extraordinary -age of 103; and an allusion to the venerable patriarch may serve to -introduce at this stage of our history a notice of two local -circumstances: the extreme age of an old Coalbrookdale workman of the -above name, and the “Great Land Flood” of the Dale. An account of the -latter appeared in the Philosophical Transactions of the time; but we -prefer following the example of Southey who on an occasion we remember -makes use of an old man’s memory to set forth his views of certain -changes which had taken place; but at the same time with such toning down -as becometh the thoughts of more sober age. Every village has incidents -and events associated with it, which some old inhabitant is usually -privileged to expound. - -Beyond the venerable grey-beards and wrinkled grand-dames there is the -village sage—vested with the dignity of a last appeal, and whose version -of matters local is deemed truthful as the current coin. Age as a rule -commands respect; and the wider the span that measures intervening space -between the present and the past the greater the esteem. Coalbrookdale -within our recollection boasted, not an octogenarian merely, or one whose -claim to the honour was weakened by that of half-a-dozen others—but one, -the “oldest inhabitant,” by being a quarter of a century in advance of -the whole of the Coalbrookdale elders. He not only lived to celebrate -the centenary of his natal day but—like a tree blanched by the storms of -ages yet putting forth its leaves afresh—as showing the stamina that -still remained—cut, at a still riper age his second set of wisdom teeth. -Envy never sought to dim the lustre of his fame. At local festivals, -when, unfettered for the day, the members of a club with flags and band -met in gay summer time, he was brought to crown the presidential chair. -Old Adam—such was his name—a name truly suggestive of the past and well -fitted for a village sage—old Adam Luccock was widely known. He was a -specimen of archæology in himself—the solitary link of a patriarchal -chain that had fallen one by one—he the only one remaining. And old -Adam’s cottage—perched upon a rock beneath the Rotunda, quaint, ancient, -and impressed by the storms of passing time,—odorous from a narrow strip -of garden sheltered by a grey limestone pile, catching the last lingering -rays of the setting sun as it mantled with deep shadow the Dale below, -and flooded with mellow light the uplands of the river’s western bank—was -a counterpart of himself. Like the little vine that girdled its frail -and wattled walls—tapping with wiry fingers at the diamond leaded -window-panes—old Adam clung to the place long after his friends began to -fear the two would disappear together. White as were these white-washed -walls, Adam’s locks were whiter, and the accessories of dress and minor -details of person and of place were in perfect keeping. A curious -net-work of wrinkled smiles accompanied the delivery of one of the old -man’s homilies; and amusing enough were the landmarks which memory set up -for giving to each event its place in point of time. Of red-lettered -ever-to-be-remembered occurrences in the village the more prominent were -the phenomena of the land-slip at the Birches, and the land-flood at the -Dale. We still see the old man drawing slowly from his mouth a long -pipe, still more slowly letting out a wreath of fragrant smoke, as -speaking of the latter he would say:— - - “I remember well; it was autumn, the berries were ripe on the hedge, - and fruits were mellow in the field; we had a funeral that day at - Madeley, it was on the 6th of September, 1801. The air was close. A - thin steamy vapour swam along the valley, and a dense, fog-looking - cloud hung in the sky. The mist spread, and drops like ripe fruit - when you shake a tree came down suddenly. The leaves on every tree - trembled, we could hear them quake; and the cattle hung down their - heads to their fetlocks. The wind blew by fits and starts in - different directions, and waves of cold air succeeded warm. Dull - rushing sounds, sharp crackling thunderclaps were heard, and streams - of fire could be seen—like molten iron at casting time—running in and - out among the clouds. Up the valley, driving dust and sticks and - stones, came on a roaring wind with pelting rain. Another current - moved in a different direction; they met where the black cloud stood, - and striking it both sides at once, it dropped like a sponge filled - with water, but large as the Wrekin. In a moment houses and fields - and woods were flooded by a deluge, and a rushing torrent from the - hills came driving everything before it with a roar louder than the - great blast or the splash of the great wheel. Lightnings flashed, - thunders roared, and before the echo of one peal died you heard - another—as if it were the crack of doom. Down came the brooks, the - louder where they met, snapping trees, carrying bridges, stones, and - stacks of wood. Houses were inundated in an instant, gardens were - swept away, and women and children were carried from windows through - the boiling flood. Fiercer came the rush and higher swelled the - stream, forcing the dam of the great pool; timber snapped like glass, - stones were tossed like corks, and driven against buildings that in - turn gave way. Steam then came hissing up from the furnace as the - water neared and sought entrance to the works. The elements met; it - was a battle for a time; the water driven with great force from - behind was soon brought into contact with the liquid iron, and then - came the climax! Thunders from below answered to those above; water - converted into gas caused one loud terrific explosion that burst the - strongest bars, shattered the stoutest walls, drove back the furious - flood, and filled the air with heated cinders and red-hot scoria. - The horrid lurid light and heat and noise were dreadful. Many said - ‘The day of God’s wrath is come;’ ‘Let us fly to the rocks and to the - hills.’” - -After a pause, and re-lighting his pipe, he added: - - “I think I forgot to say it was Sunday, and that the Darbys were at - meeting; the Meeting-house was in Tea-kettle-row, it was before the - neat little chapel at Sunnyside was built. It was a silent - meeting,—outside among the elements there was noise enough—I mean - among the members there had been no speaking, and if there had they - may have heard plain enough what was going on outside. Well, when - the furnace blew up they broke up and came down to see what was the - matter. They never appear in a hurry, Quakers don’t, and did not - then, though thousands of pounds of their property were going to rack - every minute. ‘Is any one hurt?’ that was the first question by Miss - Darby; she is now Mrs Rathbone. She was an angel of a woman; indeed, - every one of the Miss Darbys have been. ‘Is there any one hurt, - Adam;’ she said. I said ‘no, ma’am, there’s nobody hurt, but the - furnace, and blowing mill, the pool dam, and the buildings are all - gone.’ ‘Oh, I am so thankful,’ she said; ‘never mind the building, - so no one’s hurt’; and they all looked as pleased—if you’ll - believe—as if they had found a new vein of coal in the Dawley Field, - instead of having lost an estate at Coalbrookdale.” - -Old age sat as fittingly on Adam as glory upon the sun, or as autumnal -bloom upon the mellow fruit ripened by the summer’s heat. Nature, in the -old man, had completed her work, religion had not left him without its -blessings; and, while lingering or waiting, rather, upon the verge of -another world, he liked to live again the active past, and to amuse -himself by talking of scenes with which he had been associated. He had -none of the garrulous tendencies of age; and when once upon his favourite -topic, he was all smiles immediately. - - “We used,” he said, “to bring the mine for the Dale on pack-horses; - and Horsehay being one of the halting places, was, as I believe, - called Horsehay in consequence. We used, also, to take minerals on - horse-back all the way to Leighton, where there was plenty of wood - and charcoal, and water to blow the bellows. Strings of horses, the - first having a bell to tell of their coming, used to go; they called - them ‘Crickers’—and a very pretty sight it was to see them winding - through upland, wood, and meadow, the little bells tinkling as they - went.” - - “Aye, aye, sir,” said our ancient friend, “Pedlars and pack-horses - were the means of locomotion and the medium of news in my day; and if - we travelled, it was in the four-wheeled covered waggon, over roads - with three or four feet ruts. Lord, sir, I remember, in good old - George the Third’s time, when turnpike gates were first put up, there - was a great outcry against them. Before that, roads went just where - they liked, and there was a blacksmith’s shop at every corner to - repair the damage done in bumping over the large stones. Why, sir, - in this ere Dale, I can remember when there was no road through it - but the tram-road. The road then was over rocks and along the brow - of the hill—a bridle road only. There never was such a thing as a - one-horse cart seen in the Dale till just before the road was made to - Wellington; and then, as I can remember, the road was so narrow that - every carter carried a mattock to stock the road wider, in order to - pass, if he met another.” - -The old man described the construction of those primitive forerunners of -that iron network which now spreads its meshes over the entire kingdom, -one of which, much worn on the one side by the flange of the wheels is -before us. It has a square hole at the end, for the purpose of being -pegged to the sleeper. Down the steep banks that enclose the Dale -inclined planes were laid with rails of plain oblong pieces of wood, six -feet in length, eight inches in width, and four inches in depth, and down -these, by means of ropes, waggons by their superior gravity brought up -the empty ones to be refilled with minerals which were conveyed for the -use of the works. The speed was regulated by a brake made to press, not -as now upon the barrel at the top, but upon the wheels of the descending -waggons. The man thus regulating their speed, was the jigger, and the -hill leading from Coalbrookdale to Wellington, where one of these -inclines was situate, became “The Jigger’s Bank.” (Sometimes called the -Jig-house Bank, because, of a house there.) In addition to this railway -for the purpose of supplying the furnaces, there was another, by which -the furnaces at the top were connected with the foundry at the centre; -and rails, first of wood, and then of iron, continued for many years to -be used, facilitating the transport of heavy materials from place to -place. - -On the last occasion on which we saw him we were sent by a good old aunt, -a Quaker lady who loaded us with presents for the old man, when he had -gone to live in “Charity Row,” as it was called. Speaking upon matters -connected with the history of the Dale—more particularly in reference to -the Darbys and Reynoldses—the old man would grow eloquent; and the effect -of a little present—a basket of strawberries or a packet of tobacco—had a -wonderful effect in stimulating memory. Nothing was “open sesame,” -however, like a drop of “Barnaby Spruce’s old Beer.” {292} Say you had -sent for half-a-gallon of Spruce’s best October brewing, and he grew -loquacious at once. - - “Remember him,” speaking of Richard Reynolds, he would say, arching - his eye-brows, and growing animated, as recollections of the past - came tripping upon the heels of each other. “I knew him well; all - the poor knew him; the robins and the sparrows knew him, for he would - carry crumbs a hundred miles in his pockets ‘for his robins.’ He - made a vast fortune, and then everybody knew him; books, and tracts, - and newspapers all talked about him. He was a Quaker—not a thin, - withered, crotchety disciple of George Fox, but a full-fed Quaker, - fair and ruddy, with eyes of blue that gave back the bright azure of - the sky and lighted up a fine and manly face. I see him now—his - light hair flowing in curls beneath his broad brimmed hat upon his - shoulders. He yielded to every man his own, not only as concerned - money, but in demands upon his respect. I have known him when in a - fit of temper he thought he had spoken harshly or slightingly to any - one, follow him home and apologise for his warmth. He loved - everybody and was beloved by everybody in return. There’s my - neighbour, she will tell you how when she was a child he would run - into their shop in a morning, put half-a-crown into her hand, saying, - ‘There, thee be a good child all day.’ He could not do with the - colliers, though; he built schools for their children, but the - mothers would not let them go unless he would pay them so much a day - for allowing them to attend. They were curious schoolmasters in my - day. Old John Share made nails and kept a school in the Dale; he was - one of the most learned about these parts for a schoolmaster, but he - never would believe that the earth turned round, because, as he said, - the Wrekin was always in the same place. Then, there was old Carter, - the chairmaker, of Madeley Wood; he always spelt bacon with a ‘k,’ - and I remember him giving Charles Clayton a souce on the side of the - head that sent him reeling, because he insisted upon it that it - should be bacon. The Wrekin, sir, was always an object of admiration - to Mr. Reynolds. He had an arbour made from which he could see the - sun going down behind it (he used to revel in a good sunset), and - with no companion but his pipe was often used to watch it. Every - year he treated his clerks and most of the members of the Society of - Friends to the Wrekin. Benthall Edge was another favourite resort, - and he would revel at such times in the scene.” - - “I could tell you many more anecdotes (the old man continued) of the - Quakers; I mean the Darbys. They all liked a joke right well; and as - for kindness, it seemed as if they thought it a favour to be allowed - to assist you. They allow me a weekly pension, have done for years, - and pay a woman to wait upon me. They are people that never like to - be done, however.” - - “You knew old Solomon, the Sexton. Well he once went to the haunted - house, as they call it, for an Easter offering. The servants were - ordered to attend him, and he sat for some time and eat and drank, - and smoked his pipe—but not a word was said about Easter dues. He - knocked the ashes out of his third pipe, and feeling muddled a bit - about the head thought it time to be moving. At last Mr. Darby - entered the room, and Solomon made bold to ask for the Easter - offering. ‘Friend,’ said Mr. Darby, throwing up the sash, and - assuming a determined attitude, ‘thou hast had a meat-offering and a - drink-offering; thou hast even had a burnt offering—as I judge from - the fumes of this room, and unless thou choosest to go about thy - business, thou shalt have an _heave_-offering.’ As Solomon had no - wish to be pitched head-foremost out of the window, you may imagine - (said the old man) that he quickly disappeared.” - -The old village sage, whose venerable form and long white locks rise -before us like some vision of the past—is gone; he died, as his friends -assert, at the advanced age of 107, or, as his headstone more modestly -states (and modesty is not a fault common with posthumous records) at the -age of 103. He died January 27, 1831, and his gravestone may be seen -near the southwest door of Madeley Church, under the wall; but as the -inscription is near to the grave, being below those of the Parkers, and -that of Samuel Luckock, it will, we fear, be soon obliterated by the damp -acting on the stone. - -Among other servants of the Darbys who succeeded each other and held -important positions in the works were the Fords. Richard married Miss -Darby, daughter of Abraham, and was manager of the works in 1747. He -also was a Quaker; and to him really is due the credit ascribed to Mr. -Darby, of the successful use of coal in iron smelting. In the -Philosophical Transactions for 1747, for instance, the year Mr. Ford was -manager, it is stated that— - - “Several attempts have been made to run iron-ore with pit-coal: he - (the Rev. Mr. Mason, Woodwardian Professor at Cambridge) thinks it - has not succeeded anywhere, as we have had no account of its being - practised; but Mr. Ford, of Coalbrookdale in Shropshire, from - iron-ore and coal, both got in the same dale, makes iron brittle or - tough as he pleases, there being cannon thus cast so soft as to bear - turning like wrought-iron.” - -A son or grandson of this Richard Ford was foreman and manager in the -engine department of the works, which flourished greatly till he resigned -his office, nearly half a century since. The late John Cox Ford was a -son, and A. J. Ford, recently of Madeley, a grandson. - -Of later members of the Darby family we may speak in part from personal -knowledge. Like their ancestors, they were members of the Society of -Friends, although not by any means the straitest of the sect. Whilst -adhering to the grand cardinal doctrine of the Inner Light, they indulged -their own ideas of the extent to which the strict discipline of the body -should control their tastes. They were birth-members, but lax in their -opinions, and did not live by strict Quaker rule. On one occasion, when -a disciple of the old school got up as was his wont to deliver himself in -meeting, one of the younger and more lax of the members rose and said, -“Friend N—y, it would be more agreeable to this meeting if thou wouldst -sit down.” - -Francis Darby, of the White House, had great taste, loved high art, and -filled his rooms with costly paintings, which he felt a pride in shewing -to his friends. Others indulged a forbidden love of music and luxury, -contrary to the faith and discipline of their fathers, without otherwise -breaking through bounds or committing faults to justify the advocates of -the truest code of Quaker rule to disown them. - -Richard Darby, like his brother Francis, did not adhere to the Quaker -style of dress, either in the cut of his coat or the shape of his hat, -the latter being usually a white one of the most approved fashion. He -was a popular public man; one whose services were sought, and whose -sympathies were readily enlisted in public movements of the day, such as -the emancipation of the slaves, and others relating to questions of civil -and religious progress. His name was well known through the length and -breadth of the borough, and we have seen small farmers and labourers -around the Clee Hills brighten up at the mention of his name. William -Henry and Charles Darby, the sons of Richard, are proprietors of the -Brymbo iron works, and their sister, Miss Rebecca Darby, who resides at -the house her father lived in, is the only one of the name now living in -the Dale. - -The late Abraham and Alfred Darby, sons of Edmund, and cousins of Francis -and Richard, were young when their father died. We have elsewhere said -that they became managers of the extensive and important works of -Coalbrookdale, Horsehay, Lighmnoor, and the Castle, at critical periods -of their history, and when, to maintain their existence, it was essential -to do battle with lax discipline, old customs, and deep-rooted -prejudices. They found men resting on their oars, trusting to the -_prestige_ of a fame won by a former generation, and standing still while -others around them were advancing. They determined to prove themselves -worthy of their predecessors by advancing to the front of the foremost in -the rise. Surrounding themselves by energetic agents, intelligent -operatives, and introducing new modes of manufacture, they succeeded. -With clear views of political economy, they zealously aided in battering -down barriers to a free exchange of the world’s productions, which -misconceived interest had erected. Penetrated with a lofty sense of -duty, and comprehending their positions rightly, they pursued the even -tenor of their way, sowing seed and scattering blessings which refreshed -and brightened the scenes of their labours. They worked harmoniously -together, in their studies, in the laboratory, in their works, and at -their books, making themselves acquainted with every detail and minutiæ -of their great undertakings. Order and regularity everywhere were -observable, others under them being embued with the spirit of their -employers. The church on the hill side, and its sweet and silvery bells -as their music floats along the valley and over the wooded boundaries of -the Dale, tell of their large-hearted benevolence and open handed -munificence, and that of their sister, Miss Mary Darby, and their mother, -Mrs. Lucy Darby. - -Abraham, the elder, married his cousin, Miss Darby, daughter of Francis -Darby, on the 8th of August, 1839, on which occasion a kindly -demonstration was made, and 1,000 work-people dined at his expense. He -removed from the Dale to Stoke Court, near Slough; and afterwards to -South Wales, to be near the extensive works of Ebbw Vale, which he, and -some of his partners, purchased for the sum of £360,000. He died, was -brought to the Dale and buried in the cemetery of the church which he -chiefly had built and endowed, amid deep demonstrations of feeling on the -part of thousands of spectators. - -Alfred, the younger brother, married Miss Christy, sister to the -well-known collector of pre-historic relics of man in an uncivilized -state, with which he stored his mansion at Westminster, and afterwards -bequeathed to the British Museum. Alfred died in the golden meridian of -age and usefulness, and his loss was deeply felt by all who knew him. He -left issue, and his son Alfred, of Ness, to which place his mother -removed from Stanley Hall, is a magistrate, and is now old enough to -discharge the duties of a country gentleman. - -Of other partners in the works we may mention Mr. Henry Dickinson, who -married a sister of Abraham and Alfred Darby, for some years chairman of -the Shropshire Banking Company, and who in a most distinguished and -disinterested way lent (but on such terms as amounted to a gift) the -princely sum of £100,000 at a critical period of its existence, to save -it from falling, and numbers dependent upon it from ruin. But for -extending our remarks too far, we might say something of men like Mr. -Thomas Graham, a former cashier in the works, of Mr. William Norris, who -succeeded him in that office; men useful in their day and generation, -being foremost in good works and words, as many now living will remember. -For the same reason we refrain from speaking of the late Mr. C. Crookes, -formerly the enterprising manager of these works; and of the gentleman -who has succeeded him, and is himself a proprietor of these extensive -works, and in the commission of the peace for the borough. For similar -reasons, but much more because of the difficulty of rightly -discriminating and equally awarding a just meed of praise where so much -is due, we find ourselves prevented from speaking of many trustworthy and -clever men now engaged in various departments of these important works, -whose names occur to our minds, but whose merits we commend not less -heartily to some future local historian, for whose labours the present -work will, we flatter ourselves, smooth the way. - -It would be unpardonable not to say something here of the means of -education and mental culture provided by the proprietors of the -Coalbrookdale works for their workpeople. Before the present system of -national education was established, and whilst hostile sects and parties -were indulging in bitter feuds {300} as to the kind of education to be -given, this Company under the direction of Abraham and Alfred Darby in -the most noble and generous way came forward and at great cost erected -roomy and capacious Schools here and at Horsehay, with every convenience -and appliance possible to further education. - -We purpose speaking of education, with respect to the schools, in -connection with others at Madeley, Ironbridge, and Madeley Wood; and will -only add here a word or two on the subject of other and more advanced -institutions provided for the use of the men and inhabitants generally of -the Dale. First and foremost amongst them comes, of course, the Literary -and Scientific Institute, with its library, its reading room, its school -of art, its high class lectures and entertainments, so judiciously -arranged and carried on under the management of Mr. E. L. Squire, Hon. -Secretary, and Mr. Isaac Dunbar, the librarian. The School of Art too, -of which Mr. Squires is also Hon. Secretary, and Mr. Gibbons master, is -admirably adapted for developing and furthering a taste for drawing and -decoration, so essential among artizans engaged in the more ornamental -and decorative portions of the company’s productions. Nor are the -benefits of this admirable institution limited either to the works or to -the Dale: the day classes are attended by ladies of the neighbourhood, -desirous of pursuing an æsthetic course of study, and who, following the -examples of ladies whose works merit such high approval in the Art -Galleries of London and Paris, have really achieved great success in -painting birds, flowers, and figures, in enamel colours, on plaques, -tazzas, &c., both for use and for drawing room decoration. - -Nor must we omit, whilst on the subject of this institution, to mention -the splendid collection of British and foreign birds lent by Mrs. Alfred -Darby, which have adorned the lecture room for so many years; or the very -fine collection of coal-measure fossils, which the late Dean Buckland -pronounced in his time the finest private collection of the kind in -England, and so liberally given by the late John Anstice, Esq. - -Recently a “British Workman” has been added to other institutions, at the -room formerly occupied as a British School, under the patronage of Mrs. -Norris, who is ever active in promoting similar works, and the present -incumbent, the Rev. H. S. Wood, who, it is only justice to say, spares no -pains to make himself useful to the inhabitants of the Dale. - - - -COALBROOKDALE BRICK, TILE, AND TERRA COTTA WORKS. - - -Under the management of Mr. John Fox the clay-works of the Coalbrookdale -Company have become so expanded and improved, that they now form an -important department of the Company’s undertakings, and are at the -present juncture, no doubt, among the more profitable of their -industries. Since sanitary science has so successfully called public -attention to the importance of the use of good bricks impervious to damp, -the productions from these excellent coal-measure clays have been more in -demand. Clays, as commonly understood, mean earth of sufficient -ductility to allow of being kneaded into some useful shape or form, and -rank as raw materials. Some are soft, others are indurated, or hard and -rocky; but all have in one sense been prepared by certain poundings, -grindings, washings, and mixings, carried on by Nature on a larger scale -than that on which they are now still further fitted for use. They -differ in quality, in degree of fineness, and in colour, and show certain -relationships by which it is clear that they are descended from sand, -just as sands are descended from a hardy race of pebbles, which in turn -bear close relationship to rocks, from which undoubtedly they have been -derived. Surface clays used for making inferior bricks and tiles, whose -earthy odour gives evidence of alumina, are generally derived from red -sandstone rocks, ground down into mud by the machinery of waves or -streams whilst our deeper coal-measures clunches, and clays were -originally the sediment thrown by rivers at their embouchures into inland -lakes or seas, and are usually much more free from lime, iron, grit, and -other foreign substances and impurities. - -When brought to the surface, these clays are hard as a rock. Formerly -they were allowed to lie during the winter to weather, as it is called; -and a statute now obsolete required, under a heavy penalty, that bricks -should not be made unless the clay for making them had been turned over -at intervals, three times at least before the first of March. But -brickmakers, not having patience to wait for the action of the weather, -have invented machinery to do the work, and the clay is taken direct from -the pit to be crushed by iron rollers, and then conveyed by coarse -canvas-screens to tanks to be moistened, and afterwards to the pug mill. -This is an upright cylinder, with a revolving vertical shaft, fitted up -with horizontal knives following each other at an angle so as to cut, -amalgamate, and temper the material, and which also acts as a screw to -deliver it. - -Ornamental bricks of elaborate design for architectural purposes require -more delicate manipulation, and the clays for these undergo a more -careful preparation. Machines in some instances are used, which take the -clay, temper, thoroughly amalgamate it, and convert it into the finished -article, and at the brick-yards of the Coalbrookdale Company presses have -been erected by which bricks may be stamped at once from the semi-dry -clay. - -This company, too, have been at great pains to turn their clays to -account by copying the Italian and Lombard style of making bricks of -various forms and colours; and the buildings erected with these bricks, -and others, with white facings of the same material, of which the present -Literary and Scientific Institute is an example, possess great -architectural beauty. Still further examples of the æsthetic treatment -of these admirable clays were made a short time ago by Monsieur Kremer, -who modelled and prepared at the company’s Lightmoor clay works, in -relief, and on a large scale, an historical subject, connected with -Scottish history in the time of King James, as a facade for a house in -London; also some noble groups, life size, of figures representing the -four seasons, for a gentleman’s grounds and park near London. The reader -may judge of the adaptability of these clays for such purposes by -inspecting a group of a similar kind in front of the Institute. - -We exhibited ourselves in 1851 specimens of these and other coal-measure -clays, with articles manufactured from them on both sides the river, and -we had the satisfaction of hearing from distinguished judges, familiar -with their merits, such as presidents of foreign Academics of Science, -speak of them as superior to any they had ever seen. {306} - - [Picture: Swamp] - - - -COALBROOKDALE COALFIELD. - - -The works of the company in the Dale, at Lightmoor, Horsehay, the Castle, -and other parts of Dawley, are so intimately connected and so entirely -dependent upon the mineral resources of the district, that some further -notice is needed to complete this stretch. We said at the commencement -that neither iron nor coal were found here, but in the quotation from the -Philosophical Transactions it is stated that Mr. Ford made iron either -hard or soft from ore and coal got in the dale; and it may perhaps -without being considered a sketch of language be said that the opening -into the Lightmoor valley, where coals were undoubtedly worked at an -early period, is a northern lip or extension of the Dale itself. Indeed -the whole of the rich mineral tract extending from Broseley to the -extreme limits of the Lilleshall Company’s works, some seven miles in -length, and terminating in a Symon Fault on the south-east of Madeley -parish, about four miles in breadth, is universally known as the -Coalbrookdale Coalfield; but the Dale proper is a hollow scooped out of -soft Silurian shale, which shews itself at the railway station, by the -viaduct, on the road to Lightmoor, and in various other places. Here two -great faults or rents in the coalfield meet; one coming down from the -Dunge at Broseley, and the other from the direction of Lilleshall, -causing a difference of level varying from fifty to seven hundred feet. -The coal-measures approach the northern extremity of the Dale on three -sides, forming a fringe which rises from a few feet above the Dale to -three hundred feet above the Severn at Ironbridge, and to over seven -hundred feet at the highest points. It was this outside fringe of lower -coals which tempted early miners, who by means of levels in the hill -sides got their “Smith’s Coal,” leaving others, which they did not then -need for house fuel. Interesting instances of the outcrops of these -coals are to be seen at the surface on high grounds overlooking the Dale, -also on the side of the railway opposite to Black Rock quarry, where an -instructive section of the Best, Middle, and Clod Coals are visible, with -a slight fault displacing them. They crop out on the side of the Lincoln -Hill walks; and on sinking a trial pit at Castle Green near there, many -years ago, it was found that the Middle and Clod coals had been removed, -and the space filled up with gob. The upper coals here, and also the -pennystone, as at the Lodge Pit, remained; but at the latter the clod -coal, the best coal for iron-making purposes, was removed, and the space -filled up with refuse. - -When quarrying stone at the Black Rock, on the right hand side of the -tramroad leading to Lightmoor, for the purpose of constructing the -viaduct for the Wellington and Severn Junction Railroad, an interesting -discovery was made of a number of fossil trees. Some were still clinging -to the soil from which they originally derived their nourishment, as here -shewn, somewhat imperfectly, by the accompanying engraving. One was -twelve feet in circumference at the point at which the roots, which were -eight in number, and two feet ten inches in their thickest part, diverged -and spread, at a distance of eighteen inches from the trunk, and divided -into two, and at a distance of four feet dipped into ground. The tree -appeared to have been buried in mud before decay commenced, and to that -circumstance was due probably its preservation from further decay, -portions of trunks and branches were strewed around. We obtained a -photograph and forwarded it to the Illustrated London News, in which -paper an engraving appeared at the time. It was, we believe, a -sigillaria, but was smooth, and shewed few of the marks common to the -genus, such as appear on the accompanying enlarged section of the upper -part of trees of a like kind. The roots also were smooth as far as -exposed. The rock in which the roots were embedded was the Crawstone -crust, and the sandrock which surrounded it was highly charged with oil -or petroleum, derived from the vegetation which had produced the seam of -coal, (the little flint coal) above, or from the decaying trees and -branches of trees which now lie prostrate, and are embedded in the rock -itself. There is one of considerable size at the time we write, five -feet of which is exposed to view, the other part is obscured by the rock; -and at the upper end where it enters the rock is a soft brown substance, -about an inch thick, with impressions of the woody fibre of the tree -itself. It is just that kind of fleshy substance one would suppose to -belong to such trees, and one can scarcely resist the impression that it -is the bark. Examined by the lens it appears to be thickly studded with -small white crystals, strewed about. - - [Picture: Fossil tree] - - [Picture: Fossil bark] - -Interlacing each other are Calamites, the giant representatives of our -mares-tail which still flourishes near in damp places on the surface. -The following representation will afford an idea of the gigantic -proportions they then attained. They are to be found at all stages of -growth; sometimes with their central pith, surrounded by a ligneous -cylinder, divided by medullary rays, and having a thick bark. These -reed-like plants were of course suited to the moist condition then -prevailing, and assumed magnificent proportions. - - [Picture: Calamites] - -The following is the section as it now appears, commencing at the surface -and taking the measures in a descending order. - -Below the turf,— - - ft. in. - 1 Yellow clay 4 0 - 2 Coal Smut; (might represent Sill, coal) 1 0 - 3 Clunch 1 0 - 4 Vigor coal 0 10 - 5 Ganey coal rock (shale) 1 0 - 6 Ganey coal 1 3 - 7 Linseed earth (A brown soapy kind of clay) 1 0 - 8 Best coal and middle coal (These are 2 0 - separated by a parting which diminishes - from 10 inches on the west to 2 in. on the - east.) - 9 Fine clunch 1 0 - 10 Clod coal 2 0 - 11 Clunch with roots and plants, and nodules 5 0 - of ironstone at bottom - 12 Little flint coal 2 0 - 13 Little flint rock (with prostratetrees and 27 0 - petroleum) - 14 Crawstone crust, with upright trees and - roots embedded. - Total 49 11 - -Beds of underclay so invariably accompany seams of coal that some have -come to the conclusion that there was no exception to the rule. Here -however is one, in the case of the Little Flint coal, which lies -immediately upon a sand rock. Evidently it was not formed like peat from -vegetation which grew and accumulated on the spot. There is no underclay -to support the roots of ordinary coal-measure plants, but the coal -follows closely the contour of the rock on which it lies; as though it -had flowed over it and had been laid down upon it like a sheet of -bituminous matter. And there is not the least doubt but that this was -the case. Sigillarias, Lepidodendrons, Calamites, and tree-ferns -flourished on the slime now hardened into shale, and which shows -sun-cracks, and worm-burrowings, indicative of the then surface, with -tracks of locomotive mullusca, as they dragged their shells along the -soft impressionable slime. Heavy tropical rains then falling upon some -upraised and exposed Caradoc or perhaps Millstone grit lands, the latter -scarcely yet consolidated, brought down and held in suspension a quantity -of sand which, as it settled down, formed a bed varying from three to -thirty feet in thickness. The body of water which contained so much sand -must, of course, have been much greater, and would probably cover the -whole of the vegetation. The result was that the lower parts of the -largest trees which were buried first were preserved in situ. The upper -parts toppled over and lay embedded in the sand, as we find them. In -both cases the vegetable matter decayed and was replaced atom by atom -with fine sand; but the vegetable tissues, oil, and seeds, being -lightest, rose above the sand, forming a pulpy bituminous plastic bed, -which first fermented, and then crystalized into coal. Even the little -disc-like seeds of the sigillaria, which make up a considerable portion -of the coal, and which floated with other matter, lie flat and parallel -with the lamina of the coal itself. - -Nor is this the only instance of the kind. The Top coal of Halesfield -and Kemberton shews signs of liquefaction; portions of fish, such as -teeth, bones, and scales being embedded in the coal. - -We ought to add in connection with the Black Rock section that the five -feet of clunch over the Little Flint Coal is the underclay for the Clod -Coal, and is full of roots and rootlets. - - [Picture: Trees, fens, swamp] - -The descent from the Crawstone crust to the Silurian shale of the Dale -cannot be traced. As passed through at the Limestone pit at Lincoln -Hill, it was as follows:— - - Ft. In. -1. Crawstone Measure Crust 1 8 -2. Rock 10 6 -3. Coal Smut 0 9 -4. Clunch with balls of Sandstone 12 0 -5. Lancashire Ladies’ Coal 0 6 -6. Strong Clunch with Sandstone balls 19 0 -7. Sandstone Rock 10 6 -8. Chalkstone 12 0 -9. Limestone (Silurian) 28 6 - Total 95 5 - -This then may be considered a fair representation of the remainder of the -measures which occur below those seen on the surface at the Black Rock -Quarry; but the passage from the carboniferous to the Silurian formations -is _no where conformable_, and no mention is made of the Millstone grit, -a portion of which certainly intervenes, and which is to be seen in small -patches near, but which might possibly be represented by the three or -four last measures in the section of the Lincoln Hill Limestone Shaft. - -Excellent opportunities occur in this immediate neighbourhood of studying -the junction of the Silurian and Carboniferous formations, and of the -evidences afforded of the denudation of the one prior to the formation of -the other. To the general reader these words may convey little meaning, -but the scientific student who studies the evidences here made clear -cannot fail to comprehend the fact that he has before him not only an old -sea-bed, rich in relics of the fauna which inhabited its waters, but a -sea-bed which had become a cliff, and had in turn been gradually cut down -and wasted during successive ages prior to that at which a carboniferous -flora had begun to flourish. Two series of rocks are here in -juxtaposition, yet so widely separated by time, as to indicate a gap in -the consecutive history of the earth as great as if we were to blot out -the intermediate history of this country from the close of the Heptarchy -to the reign of George III.; only that the period of time in the latter -case would bear no manner of comparison with the former. If we suppose -the Wenlock limestone to have been once covered at these points by the -Ludlow limestone, and this again by the old red sandstone—as is the case -to the south, to say nothing of the carboniferous limestone and millstone -grit, we are forced to the conclusion that thousands of vertical feet, -and hundreds of cubic miles of solid ground were first piled up and then -cut down and carried away by the sea. Creation itself in the interval of -their formation passed through many phases, during which new species came -slowly into being and disappeared, and were again replaced by others. To -fill up the gap that succeeds this great silurian flooring of the -coal-measures, to study the intermediate links of the missing strata we -must go to the millstone grit in its undenuded or partially denuded -state, as it occurs beneath the coal-measures of Little Wenlock, or at -the bend of the road, called “The Turn,” in going from Coalbrookdale to -Wellington. - -The first thing striking the attention is a buff coloured shale, -weathered on the surface to clay, at the base of the bold bluff cliff of -gritty sandstone so conspicuous on the brow of the hill. Whilst -examining this member of the Silurian series a man from a neighbouring -cottage remarked, “That is fuller’s earth; persons fetch it when they are -galled, and it is good for the eyes; large quantities are fetched away -and sent to Manchester.” - -The fossils it contains show that it belongs to the lowest member of the -Ludlow group, and that the whole of the Aymestry and Upper Ludlow have -been stripped off and washed away before either the millstone grit or the -coal-measures were formed. - -Among the fossils yielded by this shale, in addition to bivalves and -corals, are those interesting forms of crustaceans called pen fossils, -from their resemblance to a quill pen. The species we found was -Graptolithus priodon, described in the early works of Murchison as -Graptolithus Ludensis. The trilobites, from the fineness of the -material, are so sharply and beautifully preserved that the visual organs -of the little creatures are clearly discernible, even to the optical -tubes, elongated cones, or crystaline lens such as are to be seen so -marvellously distinct on the eyes of the dragon-fly of the present day. -The beautiful markings too on the shield of these wondrous little -creatures which flourished in these seas, in such numbers that they may -be got out in groups—forms which died out and perished before the close -of the carboniferous formation represented above it—are so delicate and -fine as to equal if not to defy imitation in ordinary materials in use at -the Dale Works; and it is we fancy at least worth the experiment whether -with this shale reduced to powder it might not be made to produce -delicate impressions after the example here set by nature. We also found -here some beautiful Lingula, a Patella, an Orbicula, a Leptæna, a -Lituites, a Fienestella, and other fossils. To inhabitants of the Dale, -here is a field of research open which they may make their own, close to -their own doors. - -This fine earth is known by various names where it occurs in Shropshire -and the adjoining county of Herefordshire. In the latter county it is -said to be used by country people for cleansing purposes, in which case -it is called “Walker’s earth or soap.” - -If the reader will follow this soft soapy shale, as we did, higher up -into the coppice, he will find large masses of rock which have been -toppled over through the shale giving way. A slip on the side of the -narrow path discloses a bed of it, and immediately above it, consequent -upon a former slip, we come upon a sandstone rock from twelve to fourteen -feet thick, with quartz pebbles, representing the millstone-grit. Then a -bed of black shale occurs, about six inches thick, which is chiefly made -up of coal-plants, some of which are converted into charcoal. These -plants do not appear to have grown on the spot, but to have been drifted -into their present position. They were evidently in a soft and yielding -state, some of them being pressed quite flat. {318} One good sized slab -opened with a cast of a Lepidodendron, and we met with another cast, -clearly of the same tree, a short distance west of it. Another, a -Sigillaria, was much more distinct, the leaf scars being quite sharp, and -the fibres of the inner bark very clear. This interesting band of coal -shale is succeeded by another of yellowish clay, of about equal -thickness; and these are followed by a second and a third band of black -shale, with alternate ones of yellowish clay. Above these are thick -sandstone rocks, some white, and some coloured red by iron, which here -and there occurs in the form of hematite. - - [Picture: Fossil tree?] - -The whole of these rocks, from the surface to the soft Lower Ludlow shale -here described would better represent the series of connecting links -conducting us down from the Crawstone Crust at the Black Rock Quarry than -any shaft section we could find described, and the whole may properly be -classified as Millstone grit, which is known to attain a thickness of 80 -feet in this locality, and to increase to 120 and 150 at a short distance -from here, whilst in Derbyshire it thickens to 350 feet, and elsewhere to -a maximum of 1,000 feet, and includes, as here, shales and thin coals. -Colliers recognise the ironstone which crops out here as the Poor Robin -of the Dawley Deep field pit, which occurs 60 feet below the Little Flint -Coal; which affords another key to the series of measures which underlie -the same coal at the Black Rock Quarry. The Poor Robin however here -described must not be confounded with the one of the same name in south -Staffordshire, which occurs higher up in the series. - -We have given a few, and those the lower coals only, such as are found in -the vicinity of Coalbrookdale; it would require more space than we can -devote to it to enter upon a description of the measures occurring higher -up in the series, in what is called the Coalbrookdale Coalfield. The -ideal representation given of coal producing plants at the head of this -article and in subsequent pages, and the one given p. 213, will convey a -tolerable idea of the surface as it occurs to the minds of geologists -during successive periods of the coal formation, and upon which we -purpose offering some remarks, condensed and as brief as is consistent -with a due explanation of the circumstances. We have already spoken of -the oil which exudes from the rock described. It is the same which oozed -from a similar rock at the “Tar Tunnel” at Coalport, at the rate, it is -said, of 1,000 barrels per week. We extract from it naptha, rectified -naptha, gas to illumine our houses, and those magnificent colours derived -from the sun’s rays when the earth was young and green, mauve, magenta -and a hundred medium tints. - -Coal itself rarely contains well preserved specimens of plants, but -Sporangia (_Flemingites gracilis_) may be found in the Lancashire -Ladies’, the Flint coal, and most if not all others, the tough little -seed cases having resisted the effects of fermentation and -crystallization, which destroyed the cellular tissues of plants, but -which may sometimes be seen in a carbonised state. If the reader will be -at the trouble to split open a piece of coal where he finds brown streaks -at the edge, he may detect with the naked eye thousands of little discs -clustered and heaped together so thick as to constitute one third at -least of the coal; and if he applies a lens he will find some open, with -bright amber coloured matter inside; and others closed and imbricated. -We have found them in all the coals we have yet examined. Let any one -doubtful of the vegetable origin of coal take a bass burnt white from the -grate, tap it on the edge, and he will find between the laminated plates -numerous impressions of plants. Lindley and Hutton, from experiments -instituted by them, state that plants such as are represented on pages -305 and 313, were peculiarly adapted for preservation under water. - - [Picture: Alethopteris lonchitica] - -Many hundreds of species of plants have been made out, two thirds being -ferns. Very beautiful and clear impressions of the accompanying one, -Alethopteris lonchitica, or true fern, are obtained, the finest -impressions being generally in the Ballstone. It was in fact the great -age of ferns: as many as 250 having been described, according to form, -structure, &c. Thus, we get:—Asterophyllites (star leaf fern), -Cyclopteris (round fern) chiefly in the Ballstone, Caulopteris (star -fern); Sphenopteris (wedge shape fern); also Newropteris, or nerved -winged fern, which are given on the two following pages:— - -Many bear strong resemblances at a first glance to others cultivated in -our greenhouses, or growing wild in their favourite habitats, and some -approximate so closely to living forms as to make it a question whether -they should be classified with different genera or not. The number is -remarkable, considering that not more than sixty distinct species are at -present indigenous to Europe. The tree ferns of modern horticultural -gardens, with their scar-marked trunks and branching fronds, like those -from the Mauritius, Brazil, and the Isle of Bourbon, convey tolerable -ideas of those of the coal-measure period. We have already spoken of the -mare’s-tail of antediluvian times; it is seen in the full page -representation, with its glorious head towering high, and the young -shoots peering above the slime. Deep in the forest is a species sending -forth silky streamers; and prostrate is a species of Lepidodendron, or -scaly tree, with branches feathered to the end and bearing cones as scaly -as the tree. Others also shoot out their leaves; the Ulodendron staggers -beneath its large arm-bearing cones, whilst the seal-impressioned -Sigillaria towers high and overtops the whole with its noble crown of -foliage. The roots of the latter lie by thousands on our coal-banks, -showing distinctly whence the smaller fibres started; some are still -connected, being protected by a matrix that formed the sandy soil in -which they grew. Water-reeds and forest trees, green parasitic plants, -ribbed and jointed, sending forth long-entangling feelers, must have -woven a mantle of vegetation rank, matted, and dense in shadow, over the -marshy platform where reptiles lurked at intervals. Of the inhabitants -of those newly-formed forest lands, scorpions, beetles, flies, and a few -reptiles, are all that have yet been found among the relics of the -Shropshire coalfields. Saving the buzzing of a beetle and the whirring -flight of a scorpion, the shaking of great fronds and fruits, and the -sighings of the forest as hot breezes shook the giant pines and rung the -pendant catkins, or the sudden splash of some strange fish seizing upon -its prey, no sounds were heard. Unlike our woods and copses, all was -silence: no songs of birds, no carolling of larks, no warbling of -thrushes, no lowing of cattle, no bleating of sheep, and no human voice -to break the stillness. - - [Picture: Fern with wide leaves] - - [Picture: Fern with gapped leaves?] - - [Picture: Feathered fern] - -There were inequalities of surface then as now. The country had its -uplands and its valleys, its rivers and its lakes, its dry and damp -soils, its cool and sunny spots, but with one general genial climate -reigning over all. - - * * * * * - -We have said on page 284 that Mr. Cranege lived in the house Mr. Moses -now lives in. It should have been, where Mr. W. Hughes now lives, -opposite the Wesleyan chapel. - -In mentioning this chapel we might add that the Rev. John Fletcher -assisted in its erection, working and carrying stones like another man, -with his coat off. - -The lease for the ground was obtained by John Share from Mr. Reynolds. -Mr. Reynolds told Share he might make out the lease for 99 years. Share -made it out for 99 years and added “and one year more.” Mr. Reynolds -said “Share thou art deep, but I’ll sign it.” The lease has recently -expired and the building has been handed over to the Conference. - - - -IRONBRIDGE. - - -Ironbridge is a part of Madeley which, like Coalbrookdale, has risen to -an independent ecclesiastical division, and its church now enjoys the -unmerged rectorial tithes, valued at about £115 yearly, which formerly -belonged to the mother church. In other respects also it enjoys -privileges which formerly belonged to Madeley proper, such as markets and -fairs. When the grants of these privileges were made, and indeed for -centuries afterwards, the slopes now covered with houses, and the streets -which show a busy population, not only had no existence but the germs, -even, which were to call them forth did not exist. The Fox had not -become the object of sport it now is, but reared its young undisturbed in -holes and burrowings on the hill side which bears its name; and the Brock -or Badger shared with its brother burrower undisturbed dominion along the -face of the same slope. There was indeed higher sport just then on this -side of the Severn. Madeley-Wood was in reality what its name implied. -It stretched its green unbroken mantle in front of the river from -Coalbrookdale to the Lees or Lay, where the young wood was beat down and -an open space kept for grazing. {325} It then followed the declivity -where Madeley-Wood Hall now stands, and swept round the high ground of -the Haye, where it joined on to Sutton-Wood, which continued a wood till -a century or three quarters of a century ago. The Hay, opposite and on a -level with the Lay, was another clearing, but one fenced round, into -which deer or swine were driven. They could not well be hunted along the -rough ground on the slope, but men with dogs rose early and drove them to -the enclosures. High up at Lincoln Hill is Lodge Farm, formerly the -keeper’s, or the Hunting Lodge— - - “Where with puffed cheek the belted hunter blew his wreathed bugle - horn.” - -Any one who examines the building for himself will at once see that it -was erected for some very different purpose than that to which it has -been devoted of late years. On approaching it you find substantially -built old stables covered by thick heavy tiles, and an ancient barn, with -thick walls and heavy timber. The house is of stone, and the windows -appear to be of the same date and style as those at the Court. On going -inside and ascending by winding stairs to what is called the watch-tower, -you find four projections, at the extremity of each of which was a -circular opening for a look-out; and beams inside, which are supposed to -have formed seats for the watchmen or warders. These are now stopped up, -and one, which is said to have had a date is also plastered over. The -view would embrace the forest to the point where it united with that of -Sutton in one direction, to the Severn in another, the country in the -direction of Madeley in a third, and fourthly that reaching beyond -Leighton to beyond the Breidden Hills, as you see over the high ground of -Lincoln Hill. The thick oak doors and their middle age hinges shew that -it has been intended as a place of some strength. The distance from the -Park, the Rough Park, and the Court House, render it probable that it was -erected for the protection of the forest in this direction. And if its -walls could speak they might tell of the visits of many a noble steward -or forest-ranger, who whilst hunting the wild boar or stag, here rested -and hung up his spear and horn, and received refreshment. Dukes in his -Antiquities says that when many of the tenures dependent upon the forest -grew useless and obsolete, the king appointed stewards and rangers to -take care of the deer. Drayton has thus described these forest-keepers: - - “I am clad in youthful green, I other colours scorn, - My silken bauldrick bears my bugle or my horn, - Which, setting to my lips, I wind so loud and shrill, - As makes the echoes shout from every neighbouring hill; - My dog-hook at my belt, to which my thong is tied, - My sheaf of arrows by, my wood-knife by my side, - My cross-bow in my hand, my gaffle on my rack, - To bend it when I please, or if I list to slack; - My hound when in my thong, I, by the woodman’s art, - Forecast where I may lodge the goodly hie-palm’d hart.” - -Drayton then describes how by the loftiest head he chooses his deer, -unherds him from the rest, and either hunts him down with dogs, or stalks -it underneath his horse to strike or take alive. - -Hawking too must have been a favourite sport among the gentle-born long -after this Lodge was built. - -[Picture: Peregrene falcon] The Peregrene falcon, the Gerfalcon, and the -Goshawk were used (of the former we give a representation) as well as -dogs, and King John’s Forest Charter allowed all freemen the privilege of -using them. One old writer says “every degree had its peculiar hawk, -from the emperor down to the holy-water clerk.” This probably applied to -river-hawking, pond-hawking and field-hawking. At any rate in 1267, the -then rector of Madeley, Richard de Castillon, found it necessary to -obtain from Henry III., then at Shrewsbury, a license “to hunt in the -Royal Forest of Madeley,” then reaching to the Severn; and in 1283 we -find the rector’s superior, the Prior of Wenlock, obtaining permission to -have a park there; to fence out a portion of the forest, and to have a -Haia (Hay) for his deer. The Prior had no doubt by this time learnt a -lesson, for he had been fined in the heavy sum £126 13s. 4d. in 1250 for -three trespasses within the forest; and again in 1259, as shewn p. 8, he -was again fined £100 for building houses within the forest boundary, and -ordered to pull them down; but having the following year paid another -£100, a grant was made that he and convent may have their houses in -peace. The first perambulation of Edward the I.’s time shews that “the -Vill. of Madeleye, with its bosc (wood) and two plains,” with “the bosc -of Little Caldebroc” were disaforested, and so freed from the severe -forest laws of the period. And again, the final perambulation of 1300 in -speaking of the jurisdiction abandoned, again mentions Madeley, Capsi, -and Caldebrok. Where Capsi was, and to what place the name applied is a -puzzle. - - [Picture: Gateway and Court House] - -Capsi or Capsey is still the surname of families in Wellington, and it is -the christian name of a man in Bridgnorth, Capsey, Cristie or Cristey. -It is mentioned after Madeley and before Coalbrookdale; might it not have -been what is now called the Castle, and Castle Green. This seems -probable enough, as there are no traces or traditions of anything -approaching to a castle having existed there since the Conquest. - -In a survey of the Lordship of Madeley in 1772, we find no mention of -Capsi; but we do of Conygray, Dove House Meadow, Doer close, &c. The -lords of the manor after the woods were disaforested succeeded to all -absolute authority to hunt, course, hawk, fish, and fowl; and to -authority to grant power to others at their will and pleasure to do the -same. Before altogether quitting this forest it may be well to notice a -circumstance which goes to illustrate what we sometimes hear of places of -sanctuary in former times. There were poachers then as now; and at the -forest assizes in 1209 it is stated that two men, named Hugh le Scot, and -Roger de Welinton had taken a doe. Hugh took refuge in a church, and -lived a month there; but admitted to the Foresters and Verderers his -guilt. He escaped at last, having disguised himself in woman’s clothes; -and both were then declared fugitives. In 1235, the bosc of Madeley, -with those of Kemberton, Sutton, Stirchley, and Dawley were said to be in -the Bailiwick, of Wombridge: subject to officers such as Foresters, -Verderers, or Stewards there. It is not improbable therefore that the -chief officer of Wombridge may have had a Lodge where we find one. It -might have been one of the houses which the Wenlock Prior had built, and -which he was only permitted to retain by payment of £100 fine to the -king; or again, it might have been built by him when, as Dukes says, he -obtained leave of Edward I., in the 11th year of his reign, to “convert -Madeley-Wood, within the perlieu of the forest of Mount Gilbert,” as the -Wrekin then was called in honour of a monk resident there, into a park. - -Any way, if the reader compares the styles of architecture and the -materials of which this Lodge and the Gateway or Lodge of the Court are -built he will find strong reasons for coming to the conclusion that the -latter are from the same quarry, and that the former also correspond. -Both have unglazed circular openings at the top; but the one is covered -with heavy shelly limestone slabs, and the other with thick old fashioned -tiles. The windows of the Madeley-Wood Lodge are smaller, for -protection; the doors are of thick oak, studded with nails driven in when -the wood was green; portions of the old oak floors only remain. A paved -yard has at one time extended beyond and under the stables, if not the -barn, we are told by one of the occupants. Domesday also says there was -a wood capable of fattening 400 swine, so that there must have been a -good many beeches, ancestors of those near the Lodge, to supply mast, or -oaks to furnish acorns. - -The Old Court and these Lodges, almost the last relics of the feudal -times in Madeley and Madeley Wood, have had their ends hastened by rents -and cracks made by undermining, in search of minerals, and will soon -disappear. But for iron cramps and strong buttresses of bricks the old -Lodge would have gone down long ago. - -There is one other relic, and one even of greater antiquity. - -The oldest building of all in the parish is the old Mill by the Court -house. It is mentioned in Domesday; and looking at the thickness and -hardness of some of the beams they seem calculated to last as long as -they have done; and even they seem to have done duty in some former -building. The old wheel is gone and the one which succeeded it, and the -pool, originally a fishpond, which supplied water power has gone too; it -was, when we remember it on the upper side the old granary or barn. - -The Hay House also must be ranked among the oldest buildings of its -class, as one which comes down to us from forest times, and in connection -with this _bosc_ or Madeley-Wood we have been describing. The house -stood here no doubt in forest times, and in its capacious cellars good -venison and wine have ere now been stored. - -Among the oldest houses in Madeley now standing must be mentioned that -belonging to and occupied by Mr. George Legge, where Mr. Wolfe -entertained King Charles. Also the house belonging to Mr. John Wilcox. -Mr. Wilcox informs us that in the writings it was originally called -“Little Hay;” having been built for the son of the proprietor of the Hay -house; and that in front was the fold-yard, with a house or two at the -outside for farm servants. The interior of the house bears marks of -great antiquity; and one room appeals to have been used as a chapel. In -what was originally a field was found a well formed with circular stones; -on the top ranges are figures, 12 in number, probably representing saints -of the Roman Calendar. - -Some of the old heavily timbered cottages have been pulled down to make -way for modern structures. Freed from exacting forest laws openings in -woods began to be made; and during the next two centuries houses of -timber, half timber, and wattle-and-dab, and timber and bricks, began to -rise up here and there, at Madeley, along the Severn side, and at the -Lloyds. Some houses were fitted together, so far as their frame-work was -concerned, in woods where the timber grew, and the parts being afterwards -removed were pegged together: among them may have been the New house -mentioned in Henry the VIII’s grant of 1544, that bearing the date 1612, -in the Dale, Bedlam Hall, and the Blockhouse. {333} - -Nothing whatever is known, so far as we could learn, about the history of -Bedlam Hall; and little beyond conjecture concerning the Block-house, -which formerly meant a place to defend a harbor, a passage, or station -for vessels. That the ford above was a passage at a very early time -there can be no doubt; and it might have been erected by the lords of the -manor to protect such a pass. (The date upon the old house nearly -opposite is 1654; and this was built by Adam Crumpton, who owned the -ferry and paid duty to the lords of the manor (we presume) on each side.) -Some say it was a store for barge tackle; and others that it owes its -name to the fact that bargemen here put on a block and reeved their lines -to get up the ford. It is quite certain that Madeley Wood bargemen had -now begun to carry coals, got by levels driven into the hill side under -the Brockholes and Foxholes, and to export them, as old Fuller speaks of -more than 200 years ago. The monks of Buildwas however had vessels in -the 13th century, as we have shewn in “our History of Broseley” (p.p. 14 -and 15); and as early as 1220 obtained a giant of a right of road, -through Broseley-Wood to the Severn, over which to carry stone to their -barges, which they loaded near what is now Ironbridge. - -In 1756 there were 39 barges belonging to 21 owners at Madeley-Wood; now -there are not half a dozen. From an early period there seems to have -been a ferry here; probably boats were kept on either side by the owners -of the two old houses which existed near. At any rate there were means -of crossing the river when king Charles came down for that purpose and -found the passage guarded, during the progress of his flight after his -defeat at Worcester. Of roads on this side we fancy there were none, -excepting the beds of brooks up which the Wenlock monks scrambled to -reach their granary, their mill, their park, and fishponds at Madeley, -but of these we shall speak presently. - -The present town may be said to owe its creation to the construction of -the far-famed iron bridge which here spans the Severn, and from which it -derives its name. The iron works established at Madeley Wood, together -with the flourishing works of Coalbrookdale, and the communication the -bridge opened up with those of iron and clay at Broseley, so fostered its -trade that it soon sprang into importance as a town. John Locke, the -well-known author of the work on “The Understanding,” has somewhere said -that he who first made known the use of iron “may be styled the father of -arts and the author of plenty.” Next to the discovery of the material, -in point of importance, is its adaptation to the uses and conveniences of -mankind. No bridge crossed the river between Buildwas and Bridgnorth, -and to the noble arch which crosses the Severn the place is indebted -alike for its population, its importance, and its name. It has the -credit of having been the first of its kind, and in design and -construction was a triumph of engineering skill rarely witnessed at the -period at which it was built. A great advance upon the rickety wooden -structures, affected by wind and rain, it was no less so upon those -clumsy-looking ones of stone higher up and lower down the river, which, -choking up the stream and impeding navigation, caused apprehensions at -every flood for their safety. The design originated at a period -interesting from the expansion of the iron trade and the progress of road -making; and was opposed by the ferry men, who thought boats a sufficient -accommodation in connecting both banks of the river. But as stone -succeeded more primitive formations—logs, single or planked, thrown -across a stream—so iron from its strength and lightness triumphed over -other materials. It may add to the triumph of the achievement to remark, -that both French and Italian engineers who, during the last century took -the lead in engineering works of this kind, had made attempts in this -particular department, but failed—chiefly from the inability of their -iron founders to cast large masses of metal. The first attempt, we -believe, was made at Lyons, in 1775. One of the arches was put together, -but the project was afterwards abandoned as too costly, timber being -substituted in its stead. - -The second Abraham Darby had looked at the place and thought how it was -to be done. The third Abraham Darby, who on arriving at man’s estate -showed himself possessed of the same spirit of enterprise as had -distinguished his father and grandfather, resolved to carry out the idea, -and to erect a bridge which should unite the parishes of Broseley and -Madeley, the former then in the full tide of its prosperity as an iron -making, pot making, and brick making district. The time was favourable -for the experiment, not only on account of the expansion of the iron -trade, but from the progress just then taking place in road making; and -the owners of the adjoining land as well as those at the head of local -industries were found favourable to the scheme. A company was formed, -and an Act of Parliament was obtained, the provisions of which were so -drawn as to provide against failure, the terms being that the bridge -should be of “cast iron, stone, brick, or timber.” Like some members of -the company, the architect, Mr. Pritchard, of Shrewsbury, does not seem -to have had full faith in the new material, as in the first plans -prepared by him iron was to be used but sparingly, and in the crown of -the arch only. This did not satisfy Abraham Darby, John Wilkinson, and -others; and Mr. Darby’s principal pattern maker, Thomas Gregory, made -other plans. - -Wilkinson had made and launched his iron barge down at the Roving, he had -made “iron men” to get the coal, he had made an iron pulpit, he had made -himself an iron coffin, which he kept in his greenhouse, besides one or -two to give away to his friends. He had faith in iron, in iron only, and -he insisted upon the employment of his favourite metal. - -Telford described him as the king of Ironmasters, in himself a host; the -others said he was iron mad, but submitted; and the bridge was commenced. -The stone abutments were laid in 1777, during which time the castings -were being made at the Dale. The ironwork took but three months to -erect. The following particulars may be interest. - - On the abutments of the stone works are placed iron plates, with - mortices, in which stand two upright pillars of the same. Against - the foot of the inner pillar the bottom of the main rib bears on a - base plate. This rib consists of two pieces connected by a dovetail - joint in an iron key, and fastened by screws; each is seventy feet - long. The shorter ribs pass through the pillar, the back rib in like - manner, without coming down to the plate. The cross-stays, braces, - circles in spandrils, and the brackets, connect the larger pieces, so - as to keep the bridge perfectly steady, while the diagonal and - cross-stays and top plates connect the pillars and ribs together in - opposite directions. The whole bridge is covered with top plates, - projecting over the ribs on each side, and on this projection stands - the balustrade of cast iron. The road over the bridge, made - generally of iron slag, is twenty-four feet wide, and one foot deep. - The span of the arch is one hundred feet six inches, and the height - from the base line to the centre is forty feet. The weight of iron - in the whole is three hundred and seventy-eight tons, ten - hundred-weight. Each piece of the long ribs weighs five tons, - fifteen hundred. On the largest or exterior rib is inscribed in - capitals—“This bridge was cast at Coalbrookdale, and erected in the - year 1779.” - - [Picture: The Iron Bridge] - -During the construction of the bridge a model was prepared and sent up to -the Society of Arts, who presented Mr. Darby with their gold medal in -recognition of his merits as designer and erector; and a model and an -engraving of the bridge may still be seen in the Society’s rooms, John -Street, Adelphi. Mr. Robert Stephenson has said of the structure: “If we -consider that the manipulation of cast-iron was then completely in its -infancy, a bridge of such dimensions was doubtless _a bold as well as an -original undertaking_, and the efficiency of the details is worthy of the -boldness of the conception.” Mr. Stephenson adds “_that from a defect in -the construction_ the abutments were thrust inwards at the approaches and -the ribs partially fractured.” This was not the case. It arose from the -nature of the land and its exterior pressure which was obviated by -sinking and underbuilding the foundation, and to remedy the supposed -defect, two small land arches were, in the year 1800, substituted for the -stone approach on the Broseley side. While the work was in progress, Mr. -Telford carefully examined the bridge, and thus spoke of its condition at -the time:— - - “The great improvement of erecting upon a navigable river a bridge of - cast-iron of one arch only was first put in practice near - Coalbrookdale. The bridge was executed in 1777 by Mr. Abraham Darby, - and the ironwork is now quite as perfect as when it was first put up. - Drawings of this bridge have long been before the public, and have - been much and justly admired.” - -Mr. Smiles in speaking of the bridge quotes a Coalbrookdale correspondent -who, writing in May, 1862, says that - - “at the present time the bridge is undergoing repair; and, special - examination having been made, there is no appearance either that the - abutments have moved, or that the ribs have been broken in the centre - or are out of their proper right line. There has, it is true, been a - strain on the land arches, and on the roadway plates, which, however, - the main arch has been able effectually to resist.” - -It is a pleasing object in the landscape, and passed its centenary this -year, 1879, with no other display than a few small flags which Mr. Frisby -placed on the balustrades. It has paid for itself over, and over again; -and the excessive toll is at present severely felt. Those sharing the -benefits of the monopoly of course protest against attempts to make it a -free bridge, and being private property there is no other means of -effecting the object than by buying them out, or by obtaining ah Act of -Parliament. There is, it is true, one other: and that the suicidal one -of letting it rust to its own destruction—a course the monopolists seem -resolved to take. {340} - -The Severn formerly was a great liquid highway for heavy goods; people -took their boats to Shrewsbury to the fairs for butter, cheese, and -groceries, and came down with the stream, others were carried on -pack-horses; a strong enduring race now extinct. - -Roads were made pretty much at will, and were repaired at pleasure. -Covered waggons, like Crowley’s, drawn by 4 or 6 heavy horses, crept -along the rough circuitous roads. It was not till 1763 that -turnpike-gates were established, to raise money to keep roads in repair. -Stage coaches then ventured into districts they had not visited before. -Previous to a road being made along the Wharfage, coaches had to toil up -the hill at the back of the Swan, but after the bridge was built they -went under it and turned up by the stables to the front of the Company’s -Inn, the Tontine. Afterwards they ran somewhere at the back and came -into the old road at Lincoln Hill. Ultimately the present road was made -by Styches pit to the top of the bank. At one time four coaches ran -through the town; two from Shrewsbury to Cheltenham, L’Hirondelle and the -Hibernia; and two from Shrewsbury to Birmingham; the Salopian and, we -think, the Emerald. The two latter belonged to the brothers Hemmings, -who drove them; but who afterwards quarrelled and ran in opposition to -each other. Taylor of the Lion started the “Young Salopian” in -opposition; and Hemmings then called his the “Old Salopian.” When the -Birmingham and London railway opened, Taylor got a petition numerously -signed to the Post Master General, asking in an apparently disinterested -way to be allowed to carry the mail bags gratuitously to Birmingham, at -the same time binding himself to forfeit a heavy sum if he failed to be -in time. He obtained his wish and immediately called his coach the Royal -Mail; which not only brought him custom but saved him £1 4s. 0d. per week -at Tern Gate, 18s. at Watling street, £1 4s. 0d. at Priorslee, 12s. at -Shifnal, and tolls at all the other gates to Birmingham. - -John Peters took a fancy for driving the Hibernia, thinking he could take -it down the steep hills between Shrewsbury and Ironbridge without -stopping to have the wheels looked. The first steep descent was the -Wyle-cop, and this he managed to get down without accident; but in trying -the experiment down Leighton Bank, shortly before the first change of -horses, the coach, driver, and passengers came to grief, and were pitched -right over into a field at the bottom of the hill. Peters was seriously -injured, and some of the passengers were badly hurt; but Peters never -tried a similar experiment to the end of his days. - -In those days it was a strange sight for a stranger coming down the bank -towards Bedlam for the first time in the dusk of a winter’s evening, when -the works were in full operation. We remember Hemmings once telling of a -Cockney coming down into the country for the first time, and waking up -from a snooze, unable to conjecture the true character of the scene, and -insisting upon going no farther. To him the mazy river was the Styx; and -had he been able to see the ferry unpaddled moving slowly to and fro in -mid-channel, he might have imagined it was Charon’s boat; and the -bellowing blast-furnaces and coke-fires the entrance to Inferno. These -fires have long been extinguished, and the supply of mineral riches being -exhausted, labour has migrated to places where nature had similar gifts -in store to stimulate wealth-creating industry. You may yet perceive the -crumbling outlines of the ruins, abrupt and massive, like the tottering -walls of some dismantled castle. Mr. Glazebrook, Mr. E. Edwards, and -others horsed some of the coaches from Ironbridge, and the stopping and -changing usually drew a group of tradesmen and others to witness the -sight. L’Hirondelle was horsed from Shrewsbury by Jobson of the Talbot, -who took a special pride in his team. When Hemmings left the road we had -some few attempts at running Omnibuses by the Rushtons, and by Walters; -first to Wolverhampton, and next to Wellington; but railways coming -nearer drove them from the road. - -The tradesmen of Ironbridge naturally took great interest in the various -schemes proposed to bring railways within their reach, and assisted -manfully in meeting the difficulties which for a long time delayed the -execution of the works on the part of interested landowners, and others -who advocated rival schemes; and it may be interesting here to place on -record facts bearing on the subject. - - - -THE SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY WAS AUTHORIZED IN 1853. - - -FIRST by the 16th and 17th Vict. Ch. 227, entitled “An Act for making a -Railway from the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway near -Hartlebury, in the County of Worcester, to the Borough of Shrewsbury, in -the County of Salop, WITH A BRANCH to be called the Severn Valley -Railway, and for other purposes.” - -2NDLY, in 1855. By the 18th. and 19th. Vict. Ch. 188 entitled “An Act -for making and maintaining the Severn Valley Railway, and for other -purposes.” - -3RDLY. in 1856. By the 19th. and 20th. Vic. Ch. 111 entitled “An Act for -authorizing deviations from the authorized line of the Severn Valley -Railway, and for making further provisions with respect to Shares in the -Capital of the Severn Valley Company, and for facilitating the completion -of their undertaking, and other purposes.” - -4THLY in 1858. By the 21st. and 22nd. Vic. Ch. — entitled “An Act for -making further provisions with respect to the Severn Valley Railway in -order to the completion thereof, and for other purposes.” - -5THLY in 1860. By the Severn Valley Railway Leasing Act 1860 to the -West-Midland. - - - -THE WELLINGTON AND SEVERN JUNCTION RAILWAY - - -Was authorized in 1853, but a portion only of this Railway (from -Wellington to Lightmoor) was constructed and the powers of the Act -lapsed. It was worked by the Great Western Company in connexion with -their line from Lightmoor to Shifnal and Wolverhampton. - -The Great Western Company and the West Midland and Severn Valley Railway -Companies promoted Bills for Leasing this Railway in the Session of 1861. -The Great Western Bill also proposed for the extension of their existing -Line ending at Lightmoor, from Lightmoor to Coalbrookdale. The West -Midland and Severn Valley (joint) bill in addition to its provisions for -leasing the Wellington line to Lightmoor provided for the construction of -a Railway from the Ironbridge Station on the Severn Valley Railway over -the river Severn through Coalbrookdale to the Lightmoor Station of the -Wellington line at Lightmoor. There were in fact three Bills before -Parliament for constructing Railways from Lightmoor to Coalbrookdale, two -crossing the river Severn, one joining the Severn Valley Railway at -Ironbridge, and the other joining the Severn Valley and the Much Wenlock -and Severn Junction Railway at New Barn. The Much Wenlock & Severn -Junction Railway was authorized in 1859 by 22nd. and 23rd. Vict. entitled -“An Act for making a Railway from Much Wenlock, in the County of Salop to -communicate with the Severn Valley Railway and the River Severn in the -same County.” - - * * * * * - -These railways conferred great advantages upon the town of Ironbridge -both as a means of sending and receiving goods, and also as enabling -tradesmen to economise time in attending markets or fairs, and in -bringing men of business into the neighbourhood. - -They also bring numerous visitors in summer time, who are attracted by -the scenery in the neighbourhood. It may indeed be taken as a fact, as -we have said before, that there are nooks and corners just outside and -along the Severn Valley now better known to strangers than to the -inhabitants; and which natives themselves have never seen. With eyes to -watch the till and see their way along the beaten track of business, men -not unfrequently lose sight of intellectual pleasures within their reach; -in their hurry to secure gain they forget items that might serve much to -swell the sum of human happiness at which they aim. Like Wordsworth’s -clay, cold, potter; to whom - - A primrose by a river’s brim, - A yellow primrose was to him, - And it was nothing more,— - -so, insensible to the life that is within them and the glories which -surround them, they feel not that flow of which Milton speaks, that— - - Vernal joy, able to drive - All sadness but despair! - -Coleridge too has said, - - In Nature there is nothing melancholy. - -And some one else, speaking lovingly of the Author of Nature, has -written: - - “Not content with every kind of food to nourish man, - Thou makest all Nature beauty to his eye - And music to his ear.” - -There are no bolts, bars, or boundary walls, and there need be - - “No calling left, no duty broke,” - -in making ourselves more acquainted than we are, by holiday rambles and -dignifying investigations, with wonders which constantly surround us. - - [Picture: Valley of the Severn as seen from the hill near Coalport - Incline Plane] - -Few more interesting spots could be chosen than Ironbridge, with its -woods, and cliffs, and river, which from tourists, and all lovers of the -beautiful, never fail at once to secure attention and admiration. You -may travel far and not meet a page so interesting in nature’s history. -Many are the occasional visits—many are the stated pilgrimages, made from -distances—by devotees of science, desirous of here reading the “testimony -of the rocks.” To such, this natural rent in the earth’s crust; this -rocky cleft, the severed sides of which, like simple sections of a -puzzle, afford the clue to its original outline and primæval features, -and prove full of interest. Like some excavated ruin, flooring above -flooring, there are platforms and stages where in rearing the old world’s -structure the workers rested. Coins of that far off period are plentiful -where human habitations now stand, terrace above terrace. Other than -these, the little town has no antiquities older than its bridge; other -than the hunting lodge and half-timber-houses previously mentioned; there -are no castle keeps, cathedral aisles, or moss-crowned ruins; no -suggestive monuments of the past save those already noticed and such as -nature furnishes. ’Tis rich in these; these it has mature and undecayed: -and in such mute eloquence as no work of man can boast. Massive and -motionless there are around the most interesting and instructive -specimens of the world’s architecture. Not a winding path threads the -hill side but conducts to some such memorial, but opens some page written -within and without. Take the favourite summer’s walk of the inhabitants, -that leading to the Rotunda, on the crest of the hill; and you stand upon -the mute relics of a former world! Beneath is the upturned bed of a -former sea, and around is the storied mausoleum where hundreds of the -world’s lost species lie entombed. Few places boast a more suggestive or -more romantic scene. Lower still, just at - - “The swelling instep of the hill,” - -winds the silvery thread woven by the Severn through the valley, -interlacing meads, woods, upland swells, and round-topped grassy knolls. -Amid pasture land sloping to the water’s edge and relieved by grazing -cattle, rise the ivy-topped ruins of Buildwas Abbey; beyond is a pleasing -interchange of land and water, the whole bounded by hills scarcely -distinguishable from the azure sky. Mingled sounds of birds and men and -running water strike strangely on the ear; and often in the calm twilight -fogs move slowly on the river. How these rocks and caverns echo and -reverberate during a thunder-peal, when loud and long-continued. The -inhabitants tell, too, of curious acoustic effects produced along the -valley; how in under tones from one side the river to a point of equal -elevation on the other neighbours may whisper to each other, the -atmosphere acting as a sounding-board for the voice. This is so in a -rent in the rocks above the Bower-yard, known to natives as the Bower -_Yord_. - - “Up the bower, and through the Edge, - That’s the way to Buildwas bridge,” - -is a local ditty with no other merit than antiquity; but it has served as -a lullaby to generations cradled long ere the bridge below was reared. -Over-looking the Bower is Bath-wood—minus now the bath. Tych’s-nest -comes next, where the kite formerly squealed, and had its eyrie; and -still later—as the oldest inhabitant is ready to testify—where badgers -were caught, and made sport of at Ironbridge Wake. - -Ironbridge abounds in pleasant walks and sunny spots; and right pleasant -’tis to view from some eminence on the opposite bank—Lady-wood or -Benthall-edge, the prospect spread out before you. Clustering cottages -are seen to perch themselves on ridges, or to nestle pleasantly in shady -nooks half hid by rocks and knolls and trees; while bits of nature’s -carpet, garden plots and orchards, add interest to the scene. On points -commanding panoramic sweeps of country, of winding dales and wooded -hills, have sprung up villa-looking residences and verandahed cottages -that tell of competence, retirement, and those calm sweet joys that -fringe the eventide of prosperous life. There are no formal streets or -rigid red brick lines to offend the eye: but that pleasing irregularity -an artist would desire. Looking east or west, fronting or turning their -backs upon each other, many gabled, tall chimneyed, just as their owners -pleased; there is a freedom and rusticity of style that gratifies the -sight and harmonises well with the winding roads that meets the poet’s -fancy and goes beyond the limner’s skill. To mention severally these -suburban hill or tree-embosomed retreats would be sufficient by the name -itself to indicate the faithful picture we have drawn. From the Severn -to the summit, the hill is dotted over with villas, Gothic and fanciful, -fronted by grottoed gardens, flanked by castellated walls and orchards, -with ornamental hedge-rows and shady sycamores; whilst in mid-air, lower -down, like a gossamer on a November morn, appears the iron net-work of -the bridge. We have written so much and so often of these scenes that we -are tempted here to hand in _copy_ to the printer of what we have -previously said on the subject. - -However beautiful these rocks and hills are by day, the view of -Ironbridge assumes a character equally sublime when the glare of the sun -is gone, when the hills cast their shadows deep and the river gathering -the few rays left of the straggling light gives them back in feeble -pencils to the eye. At sunset when the hills are bathed in purple light, -and the god of day before his final exit between Lincoln Hill and -Benthall-edge a second time appears; by moonlight, when rosy tints have -given way to hues of misty grey, when familiar objects grow grotesque and -queer, and minor features melt away amid the deep calm quiet that reigns -below, serial pictures of quaint perspective and inspiring beauty present -themselves. To the stranger entering the valley at night for the first -time the scene is novel and impressive. Silence, - - Faithful attendant on the ebon throne, - -sways her sceptre over dim outlines which imagination shapes at will, and -the river, toned down to the duskiest hue, whispers mournfully to each -smooth pebble as it passes. - - - -ST. LUKE’S CHURCH. - - -The church occupies a picturesque situation on the side of the hill, -opposite to the bridge, from which it is approached by a long flight of -steps on one side, and a circuitous path winding round the hill on the -other. It was built in 1836, and like the bridge, is of a material with -which the district abounds. It would however have been equally in -character with the place, and more pleasing to the eye, had it been built -of stone. It has a tower, a nave, a chancel, and side aisles, and a -richly stained glass window, with full length figures of St. Peter, St. -James, and St. John. The endowment has been augmented very much of late -years through the munificence of the Madeley Wood Company, who subscribed -£1,000, and the liberality of the late Rev. John Bartlett, and others. -Also by the purchase of the unredeemed rectorial tithes. The sum of -upwards of £1,000 was raised too for better school accommodation for the -place. - - * * * * * - -Ironbridge is one of the polling districts for municipal and -parliamentary purposes; and has about 450 electors for the borough -franchise. The Mayor and Borough Magistrates hold here alternately with -Broseley and Wenlock Petty Sessions, every six weeks. Its central -position gives it advantages which outside towns cannot lay claim to; -both in point of trade, and as the seat of various local institutions. - -It is the head quarters of the Sixth Shropshire Rifle Corps, of which -John A. Anstice, Esq., is Captain, and R. E. Anstice, Esq., Lieutenant, -and Searj. Johnson drill instructor. - -The corps was first formed on the 20th of February, 1860, when the first -batch of recruits (fifty in number) were sworn in, in the Guildhall at -Wenlock, by Mr. Nicholas, of Broseley, (then Mayor for the borough), -Captain Lowndes, Lieutenant Blakeway, and Ensign W. R. Anstice were -amongst that number. Only three of the old hands now remain in the -corps, Cr. Sergeant W. Y. Owen, Sergeant W. Roberts, and Sergeant Walton. -Up to the present time 453 men have passed through the ranks: the last -recruit that joined in 1879 being No. 453. - -The company stands well in the battalion as a shooting company, having -won the county challenge cup twice, viz: in 1876 and 1878. Cr. Sergeant -Owen has also twice placed himself in the first sixty at Wimbleton, and -consequently has two Queen’s Badges, as well as the St. George’s Cross. -He has also been the winner of the Martin’s Challenge Cup. The company -are in possession of four of Major Owen’s Memorial Cups out of nine that -have been shot for at Berwick since 1870. - -William Reynolds Anstice, Esq., uncle of the present captain, on the -retirement of W. L. Lowndes, Esq., commanded the corps, and his name is -still revered among the men. - - * * * * * - -The Shropshire Banking Company, which was formed by the union of the -Coalbrookdale, Wellington, and Newport Banks, for many years had an -office here in the Market Square. The Dale Bank was in the hands of the -Coalbrookdale Company. The Wellington Bank stood in the names of -Reynolds, Charlton, and Shakeshaft, the former being Joseph Reynolds, -late of Bristol, who received his interest in it from his father, Richard -Reynolds; and Mr. Eyton, grandfather of the present T. C. Eyton, Esq., -was at one time, we believe, another partner. - -The Shropshire Company, which embraced a large number of shareholders, -underwent great strain in consequence of delinquencies to the extent of -£120,000 by the manager, Mr. Allen, of Shifnal. The noble act of Henry -Dickinson, one of the directors at the time, who felt it his duty -personally to stave off the ruin, which threatened so many, has already -been recorded under the head of Coalbrookdale; he first lent and then -gave £100,000. The appalling discovery of these frauds practised by the -absconding manager spread the utmost alarm through the parish, and the -county generally, and gave hundreds of widows, old maiden ladies, and -others, reason to fear that the investments on which they depended were -irretrievably gone. The generous act of Henry Dickinson however—who like -the heroic Roman of old threw himself into the gap—restored confidence; -the bank rallied, soon regained its position, and continued in existence -till the shares and business were purchased by Lloyd’s Banking Company, -Limited, in 1874. This enterprising and wealthy company purchased the -two houses belonging to Mr. William Hartshorne, chemist and druggist, who -for many years carried on business in one, and Mrs. Aston in the other, -and erected the present commodious building, where they do a large -business, half-yearly paying a handsome dividend to shareholders. The -subscribed capital of the company is £2,750,000; in 55,000 shares of £50 -each. Capital paid up (55,000 shares, £8 paid) £440,000. It has -thirty-one other branches, and twelve sub-branches and agencies. - - * * * * * - -Of that valued institution the Dispensary we have spoken ante p.p. 240–1. -The 51st annual meeting has since been held; at which meeting - - “the committee desired to place on record their acknowledgments of - the considerate feeling which prompted the late Edward Edwards, Esq., - of Coalbrookdale, to bequeath the sum of £50 for the general purposes - of the institution, which sum, less legacy duty of £5, has been - invested in the purchase of £42 Midland Railway 4 per cent. - debentures stock, in addition to the sum of £880 of the game stock - already standing in the names of the Rev. W. H. Wayne, W. Nicholas, - W. G. Norris, and B. B. Potts, Esqrs., on behalf of the society. It - was also stated that from the opening of the Dispensary the number of - cases has been 57,105. In the last year the number was 1,019, of - which 843 had been cured, 78 relieved, 32 renewed, 2 sent to the - Salop Infirmary, and 38 remained under treatment.” - -The Temperance Society and Good Templars have branches here and in other -parts of the parish. Members of the former can date back their -conversion to its principles from the commencement of the movement, forty -or more years ago. We have mentioned the “British Workman” at -Coalbrookdale; there is one also at Madeley Wood. And besides the -regular religious services at the various places of worship, and means of -instruction carried on through the established schools, others might be -mentioned, on Sundays and week-days, the active promoters of which are -Mr. D. White, Mr. A. Maw, Mr. W. R. Bradshaw, Mr. G. Baugh, &c., &c. - -Ironbridge too is the head quarters of the Ironbridge and Coalbrookdale -Building and Land Society, which has since its establishment been -uniformly progressive, and led very many to become not only investors but -owners of the houses they live in. - -We may here give details of other means of promoting providence and -thrift, such as Benefit Societies and Sick Clubs, which are numerous in -the parish, and place on record the amounts raised in ways so creditable -to the industrial portion of the population, and which added to those -raised annually for various religious and other purposes reaches a very -large amount indeed. - -Let us take first the Coalbrookdale and Madeley Temperance Benefit -Society.—This Society was founded during the infancy of the Temperance -movement, before total abstinence societies were established. Spirits -were forbidden to members, and beer was only to be taken in moderation, -rules which have not been strictly adhered to. The members at one time -fell away, but they have since increased, and the annual statement just -issued for 1879 shews them to be 123 in number. The amount received in -monthly contributions for the year ending midsummer was £115 13s. 3d. -From interest of money invested £61 5s. 4d., which with the balance of -the previous year £1239 10s. 4d. made £1416 8s. 11d. - -Shropshire Provident Society.—Number of members 74; contributions £92 -18s. 11½d.; Secretary Mr. Walter Sharpe; Surgeons M. Webb, Esq., and H. -Stubbs, Esq.; endowment £10. Annual subscribers to the General Fund: - - £ s. d. -W. R. Anstice, Esq., Ironbridge 1 1 0 -John Arthur Anstice, Esq., Madeley 1 1 0 -George Anstice, Esq., Madeley 1 1 0 -Richard Edmund Anstice, Esq., Madeley 1 1 0 -Charles Pugh, Esq., 1 0 0 - -Meets in one of the rooms of the Anstice Memorial Institute. - -Loyal Royal Oak Lodge, No. 3665, of the Independent Order of Oddfellows, -Manchester Unity, Friendly Society.—The place of business is the Royal -Oak Inn. Number of members 159. Annual subscriptions £137 16s. 0d. -Nett worth of the society £1267 1s. 9½d. Secretary Mr. Joseph Haynes; -Treasurer Mr. Henry Ray. - -Rose of the Vale Lodge.—This lodge is held at the Tontine Hotel, -Ironbridge, and numbers 175 members, who pay into the funds on an average -£360 per annum. They have standing to their credit the sum of £781 12s. -7d. Of this sum £400 has been lent on mortgage; £220 has been invested -in the Building Society, and the remainder is in Lloyd’s Bank and the -treasurer’s hands. Secretary Mr. E. Good; Treasurer Mr. William Skelton. - -The Free Masons also meet at the Tontine; but as this does not strictly -come under the head either of a sick or benefit society it does not come -within the above category. - -Ancient Order of Foresters, Pride of the District, No. 4345.—This lodge -was founded in 1864, and meets in one of the rooms in the Anstice -Memorial Institute on alternate Saturdays. Secretary Mr. T. Beddow, -Bridge Street; Treasurer Mr. J. W. Fletcher. Number of members 265; -average age 31; amount of funds £872. Annual Subscriptions £341 5s. - -Ironbridge, Royal George, meets at the Robin Hood Inn, Madeley Wood, -fortnightly. F. Johnson, Secretary; J. Page, Treasurer. It has 114 -members of the average age of 34; and £444 in the court fund. Annual -Subscriptions £143 2s. - -Honourable Order of Modern Masons.—Meets at the Barley Mow Inn, Court -Street, Madeley. Number of members 75; contributions per month 2s.; -funeral levy per quarter 9d.; sick pay per week 8s.; member’s death £10; -member’s wife £5; amount of sick funds £40 3s. 2d. William Instone, -secretary. - -In addition to these societies there is the United Brothers, but we did -not obtain particulars. Also others in connection with the Coalbrookdale -and Madeley Wood works. The object of the former society, as stated in -the rules, is to secure to its members weekly allowance and medical aid -in sickness, and an allowance at the decease of a member or member’s -wife. The cashier of the company is treasurer, and Mr. John Hewitt is -secretary. Each man and boy employed in the Company’s works at -Coalbrookdale, is required to be a member of this society, and to pay his -contribution through the work’s office. Every member above the age of -eighteen pays one shilling per month; under the age of eighteen, sixpence -per month; and any workman entering this society at the age of forty-five -years, or upwards, one shilling and sixpence per month. Every workman is -considered a member until he has a regular discharge from the -Coalbrookdale Company or their agent, provided that he continues paying -his contribution and resides in the neighbourhood. The number employed -are from 700 to 800; and the income of the society is from £32 to £33 per -month. About 440 of the members pay 9d. per quarter to the surgeon, Mr. -James Proctor. One of the rules is that should the funds of the society -at any time attain £200, the money shall be divided; such divisions of -money took place at Christmas 1868, 1870, and 1872; since which dates the -society has not been so fortunate in its surplus. - -There is a similar society in connection with the Madeley Wood Company’s -Works, from which we get no particulars, but the annual subscriptions to -which may probably be put at about the same as those at Coalbrookdale. - -There is also a similar institution in connection with the Madeley Court -Works, with about 350 members, who pay annually £113 15s. - -Adding all these together we find that, without taking the United -Brothers and a sick society at Coalport called the Pitcher into account, -there are 2985 members of clubs, subscribing a total of £2380 1s. 10d. -annually, and possessing a capital of £4721 6s. 5d.!! - -These facts may be considered as a reply in a great measure to the charge -sometimes made against the working classes of an utter want of thrift and -forethought, and suggest the question whether men making so much -provision for the future for themselves and families ought not to be -excused to some extent the payment of poor rates. - - - -THE SANITARY STATE OF THE PARISH. - - -The sanitary state of Madeley and Ironbridge is far from what it ought to -be. There is not only a sad deficiency of water, but much that is used -is impure. Severn water is carried and sold at Madeley Wood and Lincoln -Hill at 1d., 1½., and sometimes 2d. per pail, or 6d. for a small barrel. -Again, any one who knows the turbid tale of Severn-water after rain, or -is acquainted with the amount of sewage thrown into the river, will -question the quality of such water for drinking purposes. Just above one -of the lading places a sewer comes down near the back of the Police -Office and empties its black sludge into the river. Some use filters; -but high authorities on the subject assert that although mechanical -impurities may be got rid of those which are chemical or organic remain. - -Let persons who undervalue an abundant supply of good water ask their -wives or some medical man as to its importance; or let them beg it or buy -it, and fetch it from long distances, often waiting their turns at the -well, or count the cost which impure water entails. Let them look at the -sickness, the pain and distress of parents watching day by day the -fevered or pallid cheeks and withered forms of their household treasures. -Perhaps the mother herself is struck down, or the bread-winner of the -family; and in case death ensues, added to the crushing force of the -blow, there are doctor’s bills, and excessive funeral expenses, which lie -as a dead-weight from which the family scarcely ever recovers! - - “When,” as the Times newspaper put it some time ago, “it is - considered that water constitutes nearly three-fourths of the entire - weight of the animal body, that it is the basis of all beverages, and - the solvent by means of which all food is assimilated and all - secretion is performed, the importance of obtaining it in a state of - purity would seem to require no further demonstration. - Unfortunately, however, although the facts have for a long time been - universally admitted, the practical conclusions to which they would - lead have comparatively seldom been acted upon. Not only do we - obtain the greater part of our supply of water from that which has - already washed the earth, but we have permitted water flowing in its - natural channels to be everywhere utilised as a carrier of the worst - descriptions of filth.” - -All in fact must see on a little reflection that however excusable -certain things might have been at one time they are no longer so under -the light thrown upon them by deep and long-continued investigations by -scientific men who have devoted much study to the subject. All must know -that no proper supervision has up to the present been taken, and nothing -like proper compulsion has been applied to the removal of glaring evils. - -Let those who are apathetic on this subject ponder the following, taken -from a paper read a short time since before the Society of Arts by J. J. -Pope, Professor of Hygiene to the Birkbeck Institution. The author -said:— - - “it is a startling fact that one-fourth of the children born into - this world to endure for threescore years and ten, die before they - attain the age of five years. This is a sad truth, and the more - lamentable when we know that these deaths mostly arise from causes - that are quite preventible.” - -The same author said, and said truly, that: - - “Very few people, indeed, consider the subject of their own health, - until warned by a present attack of sickness, through failing to - acknowledge the true worth of science and medicine, which is far more - preventive than remedial. Can it be doubted that it is better and - wiser to abolish the cause of disease, to prevent its appearance, - than to wait for its attack and cure the result?” - -As regards houses: some have been built without reference either to -light, air, or dryness. Some have been made out of cattle-sheds, cabins, -and stables, and are far worse than prison cells or workhouse wards. -These damp dark dungeons lower the temperature of the body, decrease the -strength, generate disease, cause rheumatism, and predispose to other -evils, not the least of which is consumption. We have it on the -authority of the highest medical men that with proper sanitary objects -attained a reduction of nearly half the present premature disability from -sickness, and mortality due to conditions about their dwellings may be -obtained. - -Let the people ponder these things; let them balance such heavy items -against the trivial cost a better sanitary state of things would entail. - -Whatever such cost might be it is for them to consider what they would -save by the removal of causes of disease, and the concomitant advantages -arising from improved health and prolonged life. Again, it is only fair -for them to consider the amount they pay and the precautions they take to -mitigate the evils of sickness. - -And the question naturally arises whether whilst providing so liberally -for sickness, it is not worth while paying a slight rate for the -enforcement of such sanitary regulations as may prevent -sickness—especially if the statement made on the highest medical -authority, to the effect that a reduction of nearly half the present -sickness and premature mortality might be prevented, be correct. - - - -THE STEAM ENGINE IN ITS INFANCY. - - -It will be seen from what has already been written how much this parish -has been associated with various improvements and matters connected with -the early history of the steam engine, and although the subject might not -be of universal interest, we might mention here a correspondence between -the Commissioners of Patents and W. R. Anstice, Esq., senior partner of -the Madeley Wood Company. On the 24th of May, 1879, an article appeared -in the _Times_ under the head of - - - -PATENT MUSEUM, - - -Stating that a very interesting old engine, the last of its kind which -remained at work, had been removed from and re-erected in this museum, -having been presented for that purpose to the Commissioners of Patents; -and giving the following description issued by the curator, Colonel -Stuart Wortley.— - - “Heslop’s Winding and Pumping Engine. Letters Patent, A.D. 1790, No. - 1760.—This engine was erected at Kell’s Pit, for raising coals, about - the year 1795, afterwards removed to Castlerigg Pit, in 1847, to - Wreah Pit, all near Whitehaven. At the latter place it continued to - raise coals, also to work a pump, by means of a cast-iron beam placed - above the main beam, until the summer of 1878, when it was removed - here. Presented to the Commissioner of Patents by the Earl of - Lonsdale, through Mr. H. A. Fletcher, M. Inst. C.E. Transmitted from - Whitehaven to the Patent Museum by the London and North-Western - Railway Company, at half rate. It will seem that this engine has two - open-topped cylinders, one on each side of the main centre beam, and - both single acting. The cylinders are respectively the ‘hot - cylinder’ and the ‘cold cylinder.’ The steam, on being admitted into - the first, or ‘hot’ cylinder, raises the piston by its pressure - underneath; the return stroke is then made by the weight of the - connecting rod and by the momentum given to the fly-wheel. The - eduction valve being now open, the steam passes from this cylinder to - the second or ‘cold’ cylinder by means of the connecting pipe, which, - being constantly immersed in cold water, produces sufficient - condensation to ‘kill’ or reduce it to atmospheric pressure as it - enters and fills the cold cylinder. The cold piston having arrived - at the top of its stroke, and its cylinder being thus filled with - steam and the injection valve being now open, a jet of water is - admitted, thus bringing a vacuum into play. By this arrangement of - two cylinders Heslop obtained advantages closely approaching those of - the separate condenser, and effected a signal superiority over the - atmospheric engine of Newcomen, even as it then existed with all the - structural improvements introduced by Smeaton, who was compelled to - admit that, in its best state, 60 per cent, of steam was wasted by - alternate heating and cooling of the cylinder. No other engine of - this type now remains in existence, and it is therefore appropriate - that this one, the last worked, should be preserved.” - -On seeing the above W. E. Anstice, Esq., at once wrote to say they had -three of the same engines now at work, and which had been at work for the -past eighty years in the Madeley Wood Co.’s Field; that they still had -five, and had had eight. This led to an interesting correspondence in -the course of which Mr. Anstice sent up an original drawing, which proved -to be one of an earlier engine even than the one they had, and the one -for which the original specification was taken out. - -The fact is that about Heslop’s time, and whilst Smeaton was at work -effecting improvements in Newcomen’s engines, and whilst Watt, with the -experience of those who went before him, was to some extent endeavouring -to strike out a course for himself and preparing to eclipse the -productions of his predecessors, there were a number of minor geniuses -engaged in carrying into effect their own or others suggestions: men -whose names are little known in consequence of having been thrust aside -by greater or more favoured inventors than themselves. Heslop, Murdock, -and Cartwright appear have been among these; also Avery and Sadler, and -other local schemers and inventors like the Glazebrooks, the Williamses, -and Hornblowers. During the latter half of the last century the -inventive faculty, stimulated by what had already been achieved, appears -to have been in great activity. The iron-making and mining interests -were undergoing great expansion, and men like the Darbys, the Reynoldses, -Wilkinsons, Guests, and others, were just then prepared to avail -themselves of means which would enable them to clear out the water from -their mines, that they might bring up minerals from a greater depth, or -add to the force of the blast in their smelting operations; and several -of these in return rendered Watt and others great services. Wilkinson -gave the order for the first engine Watt made at Soho to blow his -furnaces at Broseley, where it was erected and ready for use early in -1776. Watt’s first rotary engine was made for Mr. Reynolds, of Ketley, -in 1782, to drive a corn mill. The “Philosophical Transactions,” and -Urban’s Magazine seem to have been mediums of correspondence, and the -means of communicating so much of the discoveries and inventions of the -authors as they deemed fit to the public. We have thirty or more volumes -of extracts from original communications in these, commencing about 1736, -which Mr. William Reynolds had written out, most of them beautiful, and -many remarkable specimens of that ornate style of calligraphy so much -cultivated at that time. - -Also a large folio volume of original drawings and designs, admirably -executed. Some by Hornblower, Glazebrook, Sadler, Reynolds, Wilkinson, -Banks, Anstice, Chinn, Price, Rogerson, Emerson, Telford, and others. -The Hornblowers appear to have trodden closely upon the heels of Watt at -one time, and so closely that Watt wrote to Boulton saying, “If they have -really found a prize it will ruin us.” We add a list of these drawings, -with dates attached. - -No. 1 is a small steam engine made by James Sadler which was at work on -the hill at the Dale in 1792. - -No. 2 Drawing shews Sadler’s plan of rotary motion, with crank for -winding engine, dated, 1793. - -No. 3 S. Venables’ drawing of Sadler’s engine as it stood when T. -Griffiths was putting it up at the Bank 1793. - -No. 4 Is a plan of Sadler’s engine sent by Dr. Beddows, May, 1793. - -No. 5 Are Drawings of an engine from J. Sadler’s, but which was never -completed, 1794. - -No. 6 Drawings and description of Thos. Savory’s Engine for raising water -by the help of fire, June 14th, 1799; the description states that the -inventor entertained the Royal Society by shewing a small model which he -made to work before them. - -No. 7 Is a plan of Watt’s steam wheel in all parts, but no date. - -No. 8 Plan of a substitute for ropes, being an iron chain of novel -construction to be used for coal mines, by Bingley, 1795. - -No. 9 Glazebrook’s scheme to effect a perpendicular motion, 1794. - -No. 10 Plan of Adam Hislop’s engine to work without a beam, scale 1 in. -to ft. Drawn by S. Venables. - -No. 11 Side view. - -No. 12 Ground plan of an engine without a beam erected at Wombridge, Dec. -5, 1794. - -No. 13 General section of an engine for winding coal. Scale about ½ in. -to ft. July 23, 1793. - -No. 14 Outside front view of Horsehay forge engine Feb 21, 1793. Scale -one third in. to ft. - -No. 15 Section of Hollins Wood Blast Engine. Scale ¼ in. to the ft. -William Minor No. 84 Sept. 12, 1793. - -No. 16 General section for winding engine, 1 in. to ft. no date. - -No. 17 Samuel Venables, Sept 1, 1793, No. 6 differs in construction from -the former ones, two cylinders. - -No. 18 William Reynolds’ idea of the application of Sadler’s engine to a -rotable motion, the lower cylinder communicating with the boiler; this -method is applicable to rowing boats with circular oars, 1795, drawn by -Venables. - -No. 18 Drawing of blast engine of the same period but no date or -description. - -No. 18 Ditto, winding engine. - -No. 19 One Richard Banks 1796. - -No. 20 Drawing of old incline engine. - -No. 21 Elaborate drawing of an engine for winding coals, sun and moon -motion, 30 strokes per minute, proper speed. - -Nos. 22–34 Thirteen other engines. - -No. 35 Sketch of Hornblowers’ air pump. - -No. 36 Plan of Jinney for conveying wheeled corves down descents. - -No. 38 Calculation of Mr. Anstices’ rotative engine by D. Rose March 17, -1799. - -No. 39 Brick machines April, 1794. - -No. 40 Sketch of a river Mill by W. R. improved by— - -No. 41 A new method of boring as used by T. Price at the Brownhill -Colliery. - -No. 42 Original letter by R. Reynolds describing Blakey’s fire engine for -raising water for furnaces at Horsehay and Ketley, and one of which had -been erected at the Dale, with Sketch. Letter dated Dale 6, 1st month, -1767. - -No. 43 Prospective view of Donnington Wood incline plane and engine by -William Minor Sept. 12 1793 - -No. 44 Engine with crank, Richard Speed, June 4, 1796. - -No. 45 Plan for an Aqueduct over a river, Thomas Telford, March, 1794, -with span of 100 feet. - -No. 46 Copy for Fire engine from Emerson’s Engine for raising water. - -No. 47 J. Wilkinson’s Idea of Chimney Boiler given by him to W. R. -November, 1799. - -No. 48 Drawings of an engine under James Glazebrooks’ patent Feb. 24th, -1799. beautifully drawn and coloured. - -No. 49 Outside front view of Horsehay large Engine Feb. 21, 1793. - -No. 50 Principal arch, 100 ft. for an iron bridge for level crossing (no -date). - -No. 51 Plans and Drawings of ribs &c., for an Aqueduct, by Thomas -Telford. With William Reynolds’ name signed to it. - - And a number of others. - - * * * * * - -CLAY INDUSTRIES.—We have in earlier pages of this work spoken of some of -these. There are still the White Brick-works of the Madeley Wood -Company, near Ironbridge; the red brick-works of the same company at -Blissers Hill; the clay works of W. O. Foster, Esq., at the Court; and -those of Messrs. George Legge & Son at Madeley Wood and the Woodlands; -works which from the excellence of their varied productions, no less than -from the number of persons employed, are of considerable importance to -the district. - - - -CAPTAIN WEBB. - - -We have in the course of these pages given prominence to the names of men -who have in different ways merited distinction, and whose deeds are -deserving of record in a local history of this kind; and we cannot omit a -passing recognition of the unparalleled feats of this distinguished -Salopian, whose early life is so closely associated with this parish. We -had prepared copious extracts from our “Life of Captain Webb,” in which -is detailed his extraordinary performances, but can only give here a -brief summary. - -Before he was seven years old he had learnt to swim in the Severn; and in -his case the adage that “the boy is father to the man” held good, for -when a boy he and his elder brother succeeded in saving from a watery -grave another brother, whose strength, in attempting to cross the Severn, -failed him, so that he had already sunk beneath the surface when he was -rescued. As shewing his pluck and daring it may be mentioned that going -along the Severn banks to Buildwas, where boys usually go to bathe, he -took off his shoes and walked along the top of the bridge, with his hands -in his pockets, his third brother standing by not daring to look up lest -he should fall and be killed; but the chief actor stood calm and unmoved -when they afterwards met. - -His second life-saving feat was performed on the Mersey, when he -succeeded in rescuing a comrade who had fallen overboard into the river. -The services he rendered to the owners of the _Silver Craig_ in the Suez -Canal; but much more his performance on board the _Russia_ in his daring -attempt to save a seaman who fell overboard, shewed him to possess -qualities of the highest order as a man. He swam the English Channel, -Tuesday, August 24th, 1875, at the age of 27. Being weighed and measured -it was found that his height was five feet eight inches; his weight when -stripped, before starting, 14 st. 8 lbs.; and his girth round the chest -40½ in. - -Webb’s subsequent feat in distancing all competitors in his six days swim -adds another laurel to his crown as the champion swimmer of the world! - - - -HOTELS, INNS, PUBLIC HOUSES, AND BEERSHOPS, IN THE PARISH—THEIR SIGNS, -&c. - - -Signboards are scarcely so significant or important now as formerly: yet -an interest attaches to them still, and there is some pleasure in -pondering over their designs, as significant of olden times and -manners—the old ones especially. One easily imagines too the jovial -tenants of taverns in former years, the noisy chafferings, the political -discussions carried on by those who sought recreation and enjoyment in -them. - -THE THREE HORSE SHOES is the oldest Sign in Madeley; it swings over the -door of one of the oldest houses in Madeley, the walls being of rubble, -mud, and plaster: and the Sign itself, no doubt, is one of the oldest in -the kingdom. A horse shoe, when found and nailed over the door was -supposed to bring good luck—hence the single shoe, which is uppermost. -The HORSE SHOES is kept by Mr. J. H. Robinson. - -The HAMMER, in Park Lane, kept by Mrs. Lloyd, is the next in point of -age. It was a trade emblem when the house was much more used than at -present by ironworkers, particularly by forgemen. - -The ROYAL OAK was the first newly-licensed house for many years in -Madeley. The license for it was very adroitly obtained by Mr. Charles -Dyas. The Sign is a universal favourite, as emblematic of our old ships -and seamen. The house is kept by Mrs. Shingler. - -The HEART OF OAK, in Court Street, kept by Mr. Joseph Currier, is another -popular Sign, indicative of character, and illustrative of old national -songs. - -The BARLEY MOW, in Court Street, is kept by Mr. Pitchford. - -The CROWN, Court Street, now void, is one of the oldest English signs. - -ALL NATIONS, kept by Mrs. Baguley, is the only Sign of its name we know -of. - -The SIX BELLS, kept by Mr. Ward, near the Church, is a Sign significant -of the number of bells in the Church tower. - -The ROYAL EXCHANGE, kept by Mr. Goodwin, is a modern house, with an -ancient Sign; whilst the RAILWAY INN, kept by Mr. Taylor, is modern in -both respects. - -The COOPERS’ ARMS is now down, but another house has been built, which -has not yet been christened. - -The PRINCE OF WALES’S FEATHERS, Lower Madeley, kept by Mr. Daniel Adams, -as the name implies, is a royal badge. - -THE MINERS’ ARMS, kept by Mr. Kearsley, is so sufficiently significant, -as not to need comment. Also The TURNERS’ ARMS, kept by Mr. John Brown; -and the THREE FURNACES, kept by Mr. Biddulph. - -The TWEEDALE is kept by Mr. G. Ray. - -The CUCKOO-OAK Inn, by Mr. H. Wilkes, takes its name from the place. - -The BRITANNIA, kept by Mr. E. Hopley, Aqueduct, and the ANCHOR, by Mr. -Evans, Court Street, are modern houses with ancient signs. - -There are also the COMMERCIAL INN, kept by Mrs. Heighway, and a Beershop -in Church Street, kept by Mr. Durnall. - -Then there is the CHESTNUTS, formerly the Red Lion, which fakes it name -from the tree in front, and is kept by Mr. James Hancock. - -The PARK INN, by Mr. Reynolds, and the NEW INN kept by Mr. Jones, Park -Lane, with the PHEASANT, kept by Mr. Francis, complete the list of houses -at Madeley, where, within our recollection, there were formerly but two. - -At Coalport we have the SHAKESPEARE, kept by Mr. Beard, and the JUG, we -presume of Toby Philpot fame, of whom it is said, - - His body, when long in the ground it had lain, - And time into clay had resolved it again, - A potter found out, in his covert so snug, - And with part of old Toby he made this brown jug. - -There is also the BREWERY INN, kept by Mr. George Gough. - -The PIT’S HEAD, formerly a noted house for old beer, kept by Barnabas -Spruce, has long since disappeared; also the TURK’S HEAD. Then there is -the ROBIN HOOD, by Mr. J. Roe; the BLOCK HOUSE, by Mr. Dunbar, come next; -and near to these is the BIRD IN HAND, the motto of which (more truthful -than grammatical) is— - - A bird in the hand far better ’tis - Than two that in the bushes is. - -The LAKE HEAD, by G. Barrat, takes its name from a small reach of the -Severn. - -In Madeley Wood we get the UNICORN, kept by Mr. Fiddler; The Old House by -Astbury, and the GOLDEN BALL (formerly a silk mercer’s sign) by Mr. T. -Bailey. - -The HORSE AND JOCKEY, by Mrs. Davies, and the FOX, by Mr. Curzon, come -next, to remind us of old English sports. - -The GEORGE & DRAGON also, by Mr. Granger, reminding us of still more -ancient times. - -HODGE BOWER, by Mr. Wilson, is a sign which lakes its name from the -place. - -The WHITE HORSE, kept by Mrs. Edwards, at Lincoln Hill is a very old -Sign. - -The CROWN, the QUEEN’S HEAD (by Mr. Nevitt), the OAK by Ketley, the -SEVERN BREWERY and the TONTINE (erected by the Bridge Company), and THREE -TUNS are all well-known Inns, - -The BATH TAVERN, the SETTERS’ INN, the ROEBUCK, and BELLE VUE, are -extinct. - -The WHEAT SHEAF by Aaron Lloyd, the WHITE HART, by Woolstein; the TALBOT, -by Toddington; the SWAN by Bailey; the RODNEY, by Griffiths; the MEADOW -and the COMMERCIAL INN, Coalbrookdale, complete the list of _Houses of -Refreshment_ for the parish. - - - -THE BROOKE FAMILY. - - -From the time that Lord Chief Justice Brooke purchased the manor of -Madeley, the names of members of the Brooke family constantly figure in -the ecclesiastical and civil records of the parish of Madeley. Until the -year 1706 they continued to occupy the Elizabethan mansion known as the -Old Court House, now unhappily fallen into decay, the habitable portions -being converted into cottages, and the chapel in which they once -worshipped being, on the occasion of our last visit, occupied by poultry, -whose cackling takes the place of the chant and psalm, which once rose to -heaven from voices long ago silenced by the grim king Death. In this, -the most important house of the parish, surrounded by a pleasant park, -with moat, pleasure grounds, and fish ponds, dwelt Ann Brooke with John -her husband, performing her duties as a wife and mother, as well as those -social duties pertaining to her station, with honour to herself and -profit to her family and neighbours. She died on the attainment of the -allotted three score years and ten, having been ten years a widow. - -Etheldreda was the daughter-in-law of Mrs. Ann Brooke, being the wife of -Sir Basil Brooke, of whose knighthood we have no account. She was a -woman richly endowed with mental and moral qualities, and had received an -education far in advance of that acquired by most women of her day, -having been conversant with four languages in addition to her mother -tongue, as well as skilled in music. - -The dust of these ladies was laid with that of their husbands in the Old -Parish Church of Madeley, their tombs being adorned with their effigies. -On the erection of the present edifice, they were placed in the niches -they now occupy outside the church. We give below the Latin inscriptions -and the English translations, for which latter we are indebted to the -kindness and courtesy of the Rev. C. Brooke, of Haughton, himself a -descendant of a branch of this honoured family. - - - -MONUMENTAL INSCRIPTIONS. - - -Madeley Church, 1815. - - (British Museum) 21, 181. - - Hic jacet Johannes Brooke, Arm: filius Roberti Brooke: equitis aurati - Justiciarii, capitalis de communi Banco (qui eqregiam reginam Mariam - in obtinendo avito regno contra improborum machinationes navavit - operam, et jus Anglicanum pluribus editis voluminibus mirifice - illustravit) et Elizabethæ filiæ et hæredis Francisci Waring armig: - qui postquam vixerat jurisprudentiæ doctrinæque ceteræ fama insignis, - pluribus beneficus omnibus charus diem sunm sancti pie-que obiit Anno - Dom: 1598, Oct. 20, ætat sua 60. - - Hic jacet Anna uxor Johann: Brooke armig: et familia Shirleyonis - celeberrima et antiquissima oriunda viro suo filios duos Basilium et - Franciscum filias item tres Dorotheam Priscillam et Milburgam - peperit, priscæ disciplinæ matrona, avitæ fideitenacissima, omnis - officii quæ uxor, qua mater singulare exemplum obiit, Anno Dom: 1608, - September 29. Ætat sua 70, viduitatis 10. - - Basilii Brooke equitis aurati fil: Johan: Brooke armig: et Ann uxoris - filiæ Francisci Shirley armigeri de Staunton Harold com. Leicest: et - nepotis Roberti Brooke equitis aurati Justiciarii Capitalis de - Communi Banco, duxit duas uxores (viz) Etheldredam filiam et hæredem - unicam Edmundi Brudenell equitis aurati de Dene com Northam: et - Frances filiam Henrici Baronis Mordaunt et sororem Joannis Comitis de - Peterborough. Obiit Decem. 31. Anno 1646. - - Hic jacet Etheldreda uxor Basilii Brooke equitis aurati, filia et - hæres unica Edmundi Brudenell eq: aurati, fæmina pariten Latina, - Gallica, Hispanica et musica perita, pietate fide et prudentia - maquanimite pudicitiata et mansuetudine instructissima. Reliquit - viro suo inaritissimo filium unicum Thomam, filias quinque—Annam - Wilhelmo Fitzherbert armig: Autonii Fitzherbert eq: aurati - Justiciarii Capitilis de Cummuni Banco legum nostratium interpretis - clarissimi pronepoti. Mariam Tho: Moro armig: illustrissimi et - sancti illius Thomæ Mari summi olim Angliæ Cancellarii (cujus vita et - mors inomnium est ore) abnepoti et hæredi nuptam—Dorotheam Agatham et - Catharinam, singularis materæ indolis (id est) optimam obiit anno - Domini. - -The following is the English translation:— - - Here lieth interred John Brooke, Esquire, the son of Robert Brooke, - Knight Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas (which said Robert - assisted the illustrious Queen Mary in obtaining her rights to the - crown in opposition to the violent factions of that time, and - published an excellent Commentary on the English Law in several - volumes), and of Elizabeth the daughter and heir of Francis Waring, - Esquire. After he had lived, distinguished for his knowledge in the - Science of Law and other learning, being of an extensively liberal - mind, and universally beloved, he made a pious and Christianlike end, - Oct. 20th, in the year of our Lord, 1598, in the 60th year of his - age. - - Here lieth Arm, the wife of John Brooke, Esquire, descended from the - very ancient and renowned family of the Shirleys. She had by her - husband two sons, Basil and Francis, and also three daughters, - Dorothy, Priscilla and Milburga. She was a lady of strict - discipline, a rigid adherent to her ancestral faith, and as a wife - and mother most exemplary in the discharge of every duty. She died - September 19th, in the year of our Lord 1608, in the 70th year of her - age, and in the 10th year of her widowhood. - - Sacred to the memory of Basil Brooke Knight, the son of John Brooke, - Esquire, and Ann, his wife, who was the daughter of Francis Shirley, - of Staunton Harold, in the County of Leicester, Esquire, and the - grandson of Robert Brooke Knight, Lord Chief Justice of the Common - Pleas. He had two wives, Etheldreda the daughter and sole heiress of - Edmund Brudenell, of Dean, in the County of Northampton, Knight, and - Francis, the daughter of Henry, Baron Mordaunt, and the sister of - John, Earl of Peterborough. He departed this life the 31st of - December, in the year 1646. - - Here lieth Etheldreda, the wife of Basil Brooke Knight. She was the - daughter and sole heiress of Edmund Brudenell Knight—a woman not only - well-skilled in the knowledge of the Latin, Italian, French, and - Spanish languages, and in the science of music, but also exemplary - for piety, faith, prudence, courage, chastity, and gentle manners. - She left to lament her loss an husband with an only son, named - Thomas, and five daughters—namely Ann, the wife of William - Fitzwilliam, Esquire, the grandson of Anthony Fitzherbert Knight, - Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, eminent for his Commentary on - the Laws. Mary, the wife of Thomas More, Esquire, a descendant of - that renowned and upright character, Thomas More, formerly Lord High - Chancellor of England, a man in his life and death universally - esteemed. Also Dorothy, Agatha, and Catharine, of dispositions the - most motherly, the best of all. She died in the year of our Lord . . - (the date is defaced). - - - - -INDEX. - - PAGE. -Adams 211 -Addenbrooke 242 -Anstice, J. 176, 234 -„ J. A. 178 -„ Memorial 177 -„ R. E. 178 -,, William 86, 91, 101, 173 -,, W. R 176, 179 -Appendix I -Aqueduct 167 -Ashwood 211 -Assessment for carrying on a vigorous war 57 -,, of Lands and Houses 102, 103 -Astley 211 -Astun 21 - -Badger 21, 234 -Bagnall 192 -Ballard, Phillip 159, 206 -Banking Co. 352 -Banks 192, 364 -Baptists 172 -Bartlam 241 -Battlefield 218 -Baugh 225 -Beard 192 -Beckbury 21 -Bedlam Hall 333 -Benefactions 217 -Benson, Rev. J. 161 -Benthall, Lawrence 230 -Bicton Heath 248 -Billingsley 195 -Billy Holyoake 253 -Bishton 75 -Black Doctor 83 -Black Rock 302, 307 -Bleak 271 -Blisser’s Hill 94, 102 -Block House 333 -Board of Conservators 268 -Boden 192 -Booth 239 -Botfield 75 -Bowdler 34 -Bowlegs Tom 118 -Boycott 249 -Brick and Tile Works 302 -Brewer 206 -Bridges 236 -Brockholes 59, 100 -Brooke, Charity 40 -,, and Beddow Charities 242 -,, Family 10 to 15 -,, Arms of 36 -,, Pedigree of 39 -,, Sir Basil 40 -Brown, A. H., M.P. 236 -Brown, Thomas 105 -Buckland 174, 265, 266 -Buckley 230 -Burd, G. 241 -Burgess 192 -Burial without a Coffin 33 -Bums, Ann, Jane, and Sarah 192 -Burton, E. 241 -Burton, John 260 -Buy-a-Brooms 232 - -Caldbrooke 59, 100 -,, Smithy 277 -Capsi 329 -Carolosa, William 45 -Chapel of Ease 167 -Charities 217 -Charity Commissioners 243–4 -Chell 192 -Cholera and its victims 249 -Chune 261 -Church Accommodation 167 -„ and the Moral and Religious Aspects of the 113 -people of Madeley, The -„ of England 166 -„ of St. Mary 166 -,, Register 53 -Clark 194 -Claverley 12 -Clay Industries 181, 367 -Cludd 224 -Coaches 341 -Coal and Iron Industries Coalbrookdale Co. 59 -,, description of 274 -,, Lum Hole 275 -„ Old Hearth Plates 278 -„ Origin of Name 276 -„ Smithy Place, &c. 277 -Coalfield 94 -Coalport Chapel 159 -Coalport Incline 94 -Coalport Works 191 -Cobbett 198 -Cold October 23rd 19 -Collection of Fossils 174 -Congregationalists 172 -Constables, Instructions to 58, 221 -Constablewicks 220 -Coneberry 218 -Cope 224 -Copper Tokens 94 -Coracles 270 -Cort 61 -Counsells opinion 105 -County Courts 238 -Court House 8, 40 -„ „ Chapel of 43 -,, Farm 106 -„ Leet 240 -Courts for the recovery of debts 238 -Craneges 60 -Crookes 299 -Crowther 198 - -Dace 271 -Daniel, The Messrs. 201 -Darbys, The 60 -„ Abraham, the first 40 -„ ,, uses coke in blast furnaces 281 -„ Abraham, the second first uses coal in the 281 -forge and lays down iron rails -,, Abraham, the third, erects first iron bridge 281 -Davies, William 230 -Dearman, Richard 109 -Deerclose 218 -Devil, the 120 -Dickenson, Henry 210, 260 -Discussion on Education 300 -Dispensary, the 240 -Distress, periods of 74, 95, 108 -Domesday 22 -Dorsett, William 206 -Doughty, J. D. 260 -Dundonald, Earl 95 -Dyas 192, 194 -Dyott 218 - -Easter Dues 38 -Edmonds, Daniel 132 -Edmunds, Printer 194 -Edwards, E. 260 -Eels 266 -Erroneous Tradition 44 -Evans 192 -Events relating to Madeley 102 -Exhibition, 1851 202 -Explosion of Powder 174 -Extinct and Ancient Names 218 -Extract from Old Book in Church Chest 116 - -Farnworth 192 -Ferrars 10, 36 -Firmstone 242 -First Boot Printed at Madeley 194 -Fletcher 192 -„ Rev. J. W., Sketch of 123 to 156 -Fletcher, Mrs. 157 to 160 -Flounders 266 -Ford 306 -Forest of the Wrekin 22, 236 -,, Laws 11 -Forester 236 -Fosbrooke, Roger Appendix -Foster, James 41 -Foster, W. O. 100 -Fossils 86 -Fox, John 266 -Fowler, Matthew, Roger 13 -Fuller 59, 100 - -Gaskell 236 -Gelson, Mr. 203 -George III. 73 -Giffard 40 -Glazebrook, James 180 -Good 262 -Goodin 24 -Goodwin 214 -Goosetree 251 -Gower, Earl 65 -Graham 299 -Grant, Alexander 241 -Gray 206 -Great Fire 54 -Great Land Flood at the Dale 288 -Gwyther 215 - -Hales Farm 106 -Hales field pits 174 -Hancock 201 -Hay 328 -,, house 332 -Hayes 249 -Hayward 225 -Harrington 45 -Hawking 327 -Hawley, Sir Joseph 106–7 -Hemmings 342 -Heslop, Adam 362 -Hibernia, the 341 -Hicks 239 -Hill 132 -Hill’s Lane Pits 174 -Homfray 232 -Hopyard 218 -Hornblower 365 -Horton 242 -House to house visitation 55 -Hunting Lodge 331 - -Idle Tales 117 -Imps 121 -Inclined Planes 92–3–4 -Invention of Printers’ Rollers by Mr. Dyas 194 -Ironbridge 334 to 369 -,, Church 168 and 350 -Ironworks, first 60 - -“John Brown’s Dolls” 172 -Johnson 194 - -King Charles’s Visit to and Concealment at 45 to 54 -Madeley - -Also see Appendix - -Landslips 142, 174 -Law of Settlement 55 -Lawrence, Sarah 159 -Lawson 34 -Legge 219 -Leigh 192 -Lewis 227 -L’Hirondelle 340 -Lincoln Hill 350 -Lister, Thomas 217 -Littlehales 34 -Lloyds, The 333 -Locomotive, the first intended to be used on a 180 -railroad -Lord Chief Justice Brooke 35 -Lord Thurlow 74 -Lowe 192 -Luccock, Benjamin, Thomas, and Adam 284–5–6 - -Madbrook 6 -Maddison 194 -Madeley as part of the Franchise of Wenlock 220 -„ China Works 205 -„ Church 210 -,, Church, subject to mother Church of Wenlock 165 -,, Early History of 6 -,, Church, Rectors of 21 -„ Market 219 -,, Origin of Name 5 -,, Proposed Improvements 259 -,, Religious aspect in Fletcher’s day 161 -,, „ at present time 165 -„ Union 241 -,, Wood 100 -„ Works 173 -,, ,, Number of Vessels on the Severn 251 -Manor House 9 -,, Court 9 -,, Deed of Sale 23 -,, Mill 9 -,, Sold to R. Broke 27 -Market House 53 -Maw, Arthur 24 -Melancholy Event 193 -Melville Home 122, 164 -Methodism 163 -Millstone Grit 314 -Minton 204 -Molyneux 13 -Montgomery 79 -Morris, Mason 225 -Morris, W. 249 -Mountford 192 -Mount St. Gilbert 8 -Municipal Reform Act 234 -Mural Monuments 211 to 216 -Murchison, Sir R. 174 -Murdock 179 - -Nantgarw 190 -Nicholls 214 -Norris, W. G. 241 - -Oaths of Supremacy 56 -Old Barn 152 -Old Beer 292 -Old Book 115 -Old Roberts 98 -Owen, John 260 -Owen, W. Y. 351 - -Paston, William 109 -Pattrick 217 -Perambulation of Forests 22 -Perch 271 -Perks, George 157 -Petty Sessions 236 -Phillips 202 -Pike 271 -Polling District 351 -Poll Tax 56 -Poole 192 -Population 167 -Potts, E. B. 239 -Powell 225 -Press Laws 57 -Prestwich 174 -Primitive Methodists 171 -Proctor, J. 241 -Public Houses Appendix -Pugh, Charles 203 -Pugh, William 201 -Purtron 218 - -Quakers 295 - -Railways 343 -Randall, Martin 206 to 210 -Ratcliff, Edmund 203 -Rathbone 53, 71 -Religious aspect of Madeley 161, 165 -Rent and valuation of lands 58 -Reynoldses the 60 -Reynolds William 81 -,, Anecdotes of 97–8 -,, Death of 101 -,, Predicts Steam Locomotion 91 -,, Prophetic Utterances of 179 -Riffle Corps 351 -Roberts 351, 253 -,, William 206 -Robin Hood 252 -Rock Church 132 -Rogers, Arundel 239 -Rose, John 196 -Rose, Thomas & Fredk. Wm. 201 -Rose, John, Presentation to 200 -Rose du Barry, re-discovered 201 -Rotunda 347 -Royal Dessert Service 201 -Rushton Farm 106 - -Sadler 365 -Salmon 270 -Salopian, young and old 341 -“Sammy Walters” 232 -Saville 241 -Scarcity of Wheat at Madeley 107 -Scott, Captain 168 -Serfs 18 -Severn, the 254 -,, As a source of food 262 -,, Fish which no longer frequent the river 266–7 -,, Fish which now frequent the river 270 -,, No. of vessels 256 -,, Mundella’s fresh water fishing Act 268 -,, Proposed improvements 269 -,, The Coracle 270 -„ Traffic on the 261 -Severn Valley 71 -Shad 266 -Sheat, George 192 -Sheep Stealing 230 -Slang 14 -Smith, Thomas 217 -Smith, W. E. 241 -Smitheman 113, 212, 230 -Smithy Place 31 -Smoke penny 33, 54 -Sniggy Oaks 96 -Soames 241 -Sommerville 236 -Sprott 212 -Spruce, Barnabas 292 -Steam Engine, Infancy of 362 -Stephens 224–5 -Stephenson, Robert 338 -Stringer, John 33 -Stubbs 241 -Sunday Morning Meetings 159 -Superstition 115 -Swinfield 20 - -Tankard, Silver presented by King Charles 53 -Tar Tunnel 94, 320 -Tax upon Births, Marriages, and Burials 57 -Taylor, Jeremy 33 -Telford 365 -Terrier 32 -Tithes 32 -Thursfield, T. G. 241 -Thompson 229 -Tithe Commissioners 106 -Titley 300 -Tooth, Miss 159, 160 -Tramroad subterranean 91 -Trilobites 216 -Trout 270 -Turner, Thomas 205 -Tyche’s Nest 348 - -Urban’s Magazine 364 - -Vagrants and sturdy beggars 56 -Vicar, dispute with 33, 105 -Visit to Paupers 248 - -Wagons covered 340 -Wakeley 230 -Walker 192, 195 -Walters, Rev. S. 218 -Walton 351 -Warham 229 -Washbrook 9 -Wayne, Rev. H. 248 -Weager, Israel 252 -Webb 241 -Webb, Capt. 367, 368 -Weld 230 -Wesley, Charles 163 -„ John 159 -Wesleyan Methodism 169 -,, Places of Worship connected therewith 170 -Wheatley 218 -Wheeler, Thos. 206 -White House 296 -Whitfield, Rev. George 163 -Wilkinson 365 -Willcox 332 -Windmill Farm 106 -Wintour, Rev. G. 249 -Witches 121 -Wolfe’s Barn 45 -Wolfe, Family of 53 -Wood, William 33 -Wootton 194 -Wrekin 67 -Wyley 107 - -Yate 268 -Yate, Joseph 32 -York, Thos. 132 - -APPENDIX. - - -KING CHARLES’S OAK. - - -It is still a matter of dispute whether the oak tree still standing is -the original tree which gave shelter to the king, or one grown from an -acorn planted where the old tree stood. An old work says:— - - “King Charles II. took refuge in the Boscobel Oak in September, 1651. - The tidings of his majesty’s restoration, and of his entry into - London on the 29th of May, 1660, reached this county early in June. - ‘Hundreds of people’ now flocked to see the oak; and such was the - destruction of ‘its young boughs’ during the summer that within six - months after the mischief commenced the proprietor, Mr. Fitzherbert, - judiciously pruned it ‘for its preservation’, and fenced it with a - ‘high’ paling. (Blount’s ‘Boscobel’, printed in 1660.) Thirty years - afterwards it is recorded by the Rev. G. Plaxton, rector of - Donington, that the paling had been superseded—he does not say in - what year—by a handsome brick wall, built also at the charge of Mr. - Fitzherbert (Basil and Jane), which brings us to the year 1690. - Twenty-one years later, in 1711, Dr. Stukeley visited the oak; and - again, thirteen years afterwards, Dr. Stukeley says—‘The tree is now - inclosed with a brick wall,’ bringing the safe custody of the tree - down to 1724. Sixty-three years later we learn from the old - inscription that Basil and Eliza Fitzherbert rebuilt the old wall of - their ancestors, recording that ‘Felicissimam Arborem Muro cinctam - posteris commendarunt Basilins et Jana Fitzherbert,’ bringing us to - the year 1787. This wall was eight or nine feet high, and - injuriously close to the tree; and after thirty years, that is in the - year 1817, the present palisades were erected, freely admitting light - and air to the hole, and affording a clear view of the whole tree, - with the holes in it carefully covered to keep out the wet.” - -The king’s account of his visit to Madeley from “an authentic edition of -Pepys’ narrative,” published from the original MS. in the library of -Magdalene College, Cambridge, as given in the Boscobel Tracts, is as -follows:— - - “As soon as I was disguised I took with me a country fellow, whose - name was Richard Penderell, whom Mr. Giffard had undertaken to answer - for to be an honest man. He was a Roman Catholic, and I chose to - trust them, because I knew they had hiding holes for priests, that I - thought I might make use of in case of need. - - “I was no sooner gone (being the next morning after the battle, and - then broad day) out of the house with this country fellow, but being - in a great wood, I set myself at the edge of the wood, near the - highway that was there, the better to see who came after us, and - whether they made any search after the runaways, and I immediately - saw a troop of horse coming by, which I conceived to be the same - troop that beat our three thousand horse; but it did not look like a - troop of the army’s, but of the militia, for the fellow before it did - not look at all like a soldier. - - “In this wood I staid all day, without meat or drink; and by great - good fortune it rained all the time, which hindered them, as I - believe, from coming into the wood to search for men that might be - fled thither. And one thing is remarkable enough, that those with - whom I have since spoken, of them that joined with the horse upon the - heath, did say that it rained little or nothing with them all the - day, but only in the wood where I was, this contributing to my - safety. - - “As I was in the wood I talked with the fellow about getting towards - London: and asking him many questions about what gentlemen he knew, I - did not find he knew any man of quality in the way towards London. - And the truth is, my mind changed as I lay in the wood, and I - resolved of another way of making my escape; which was, to get over - the Severn into Wales, and so to get either to Swansey, or some other - of the sea-towns that I knew had commerce with France, to the end I - might get over that way as being a way that I thought none would - suspect my taking; besides that, I remembered several honest - gentlemen that were of my acquaintance in Wales. - - “So that night, as soon as it was dark, Richard Penderell and I took - our journey on foot towards the Severn, intending to pass over a - ferry, halfway between Bridgenorth and Shrewsbury. But as we were - going in the night, we came by a mill where I heard some people - talking (memorandum, that I had got some bread and cheese the night - before at one of the Penderell’s houses, I not going in), and as we - conceived it was about twelve or one o’clock at night; and the - country fellow desired me not to answer if any body should ask me any - questions, because I had not the accent of the country. - - “Just as we came to the mill, we could see the miller, as I believe, - sitting at the mill door, he being in white clothes, it being a very - dark night. He called out, “Who goes there?” Upon which Richard - Penderell answered, “Neighbours going home,” or some such-like words. - Whereupon the miller cried out, “If you be neighbours, stand, or I - will knock you down.” Upon which, we believing there was company in - the house, the fellow bade me follow him close, and he run to a gate - that went up a dirty lane, up a hill, and opening the gate, the - miller cried out, “Rogues! rogues!” And thereupon some men came out - of the mill after us, which I believe were soldiers; so we fell - a-running, both of us up the lane, as long as we could run, it being - very deep and very dirty, till at last I bade him leap over a hedge, - and lie still to hear if anybody followed us; which we did, and - continued lying down upon the ground about half an hour, when, - hearing nobody come, we continued our way on to the village upon the - Severn, where the fellow told me there was an honest gentleman, one - Mr. Woolfe, that lived in that town, where I might be with great - safety, for that he had hiding-holes for priests. But I would not go - in till I knew a little of his mind, whether he would receive so - dangerous a guest as me, and therefore stayed in a field, under a - hedge by a great tree, commanding him not to say it was I, but only - to ask Mr. Woolfe whether he would receive an English gentleman, a - person of quality, to hide him the next day, till we could travel - again by night, for I durst not go but by night. - - “Mr. Woolfe, when the country fellow told him that it was one that - had escaped from the battle of Worcester, said that, for his part, it - was so dangerous a thing to harbour any body that was known, that he - would not venture his neck for any man, unless it were the king - himself. Upon which, Richard Penderell, very indiscreetly, and - without any leave, told him that it was I. Upon which Mr. Woolfe - replied, that he should be very ready to venture all he had in the - world to secure me. Upon which Richard Penderell came and told me - what he had done, at which I was a little troubled; but then there - was no remedy, the day being just coming on, and I must either - venture that or run some greater danger. - - “So I came into the house a back way, where I found Mr. Woolfe, an - old gentleman, who told me he was very sorry to see me there, because - there was two companies of the militia foot at that time in arms in - the town, and kept a guard at the ferry, to examine every body that - came that way, in expectation of catching some that might be making - their escape that way; and that he durst not put me into any of the - hiding-holes of his house, because they had been discovered, and - consequently, if any search should be made, they would certainly - repair to these holes; and that therefore I had no other way of - security but to go into his barn, and there lie behind his corn and - hay. So after he had given us some cold meat that was ready, we, - without making any bustle in the house, went and lay in the barn all - the next day; when, towards evening, his son, who had been prisoner - at Shrewsbury, an honest man, was released, and came home to his - father’s house. And as soon as ever it began to be a little darkish, - Mr. Woolfe and his son brought us meat into the barn; and there we - discoursed with them whether we might safely get over the Severn into - Wales, which they advised me by no means to adventure upon, because - of the strict guards that were kept all along the Severn, where any - passage could be found, for preventing any body’s escaping that way - into Wales.” - -In Harrison Ainsworth’s “Boscobel” several inaccuracies occur, so far as -the description of the king’s visit to Madeley is concerned. He speaks -of the Court as the place of retreat, and of a moat and drawbridge, all -of which is incorrect. - -In the old house, now the property of Mr. Eastwick, where Mr. Wolfe -lived, is a portrait of Dame Joan, in the curious head-dress of the -period; and among the tombstones in the chapel of White Ladies, which has -been converted into a burying-place, is, or was, one bearing the -following inscription:— - - “Here lyeth The bodie of a Friende The King did call - Dame Joan But now she is Deceast and gone - Interr’d Anno: Do. 1669.” - -The _Gentleman’s Magazine_ for 1809, p. 809, contains a description of -this headstone at the White Ladies, by the late Rev. T. Dale, who says:— - - “The stone stood on the north side of the chancel of the chapel, on - the left as you entered the chancel door. When, however, I became - curate of Donnington, in the year 1811, it had disappeared. I made - frequent inquiries, afterwards, at intervals, of the cottagers and - others, as to the disappearance of the monument, but without - obtaining any satisfactory information.” - -The writer then describes his researches, and says:— - - “Dame Joan was the wife of William Penderell, one of the five - brethren who, at the time of the King’s escape, lived at Boscobel, - then rather a new house. In the ‘Harleian Miscellany’ (8vo., edit. - 1810, vol. vi., p. 251) it will be seen that William’s wife ‘stripped - off the stockings, cut the blisters, and washed the feet of the - King,’ after his night’s march from Madeley, in company with Richard - Penderell (p. 251), and that whilst the King and Colonel Carless were - in the oak, William and his wife Joan were on the watch, still - freaking up and down, and she commonly near the place with a nut hook - in her hand, gathering up sticks (p. 252), and when Charles awoke - from his nap in the oak, ‘very hungary,’ and wished he had something - to eat, the Colonel plucked out of his pocket a good luncheon of - bread and cheese, which Joan Penderell had given him for provant that - day.” - - - -OLD FAMILY NAMES. - - -It is interesting to notice that as early as 1694 many names of old -Madeley families occur. Ashwood, Easthope, Brooke, Lloyd, Smytheman, -Bowdler, Glazebrook, Boden, Bartlam, Hodgkiss, occur from 1689 to 1711, -either as proprietors, or collectors of the Poll tax, Land tax, Window -tax, or the tax on Births, &c. The following were holders of the 2073 -acres mentioned on p. 58:— - -Tenants’ Names. Quantity. Yearly Value. - A. R. P. £ s. d. -Demesne Lands 547 2 39 294 3 2 -Mr. Purcell 256 0 11 129 0 1 -Mr. Heatherley 149 2 28 87 17 6 -Mr. Wm Ashwood 111 9 24 72 11 11 -Mr. Twyford 109 1 33 45 9 5 -W. Ashwood, Ground 91 1 39 5 2 6 -Stanley’s Old Park 76 3 15 24 2 6 -land -Fra. Knight’s Ten., 38 0 36 13 14 9 -and Old Park Lands -Duddell’s Ten. and 21 2 25 6 13 10 -do. -Mrs. Webb 46 3 13 23 7 3 -Widdow Cooper 31 2 16 11 18 0 -Mrs. Smitheman 38 3 12 22 5 2 -Audley Bowdler 118 0 11 54 18 5 -Thos. Roberts 7 1 14 4 0 9 -Mr. Farmer 112 2 31 46 3 2 -Giles Goodman 27 0 13 14 5 2 -Eliz. Garbett 10 3 39 6 6 5 -Mrs. Evans 7 2 17 5 1 10 -Fra. Glazebrooke 9 3 22 6 15 2 -Jno. Hutchinson 4 0 16 2 11 10 -Hum. Prices 14 0 37 6 14 8 -Wid. Turnars 84 3 3 40 15 0 -Roger Fosbrooke 54 2 8 28 19 1 -Mr. Stanley 92 1 38 36 3 9 -Wid. Roberts 36 0 4 20 7 8 -Thos. Easthope 11 3 1 3 6 11 -Geor. Glasebrache 42 2 11 8 14 1 -Total 2073 2 36 £1021 10 0 - -FOOTNOTES. - - -{35} Did this designation—arising, we presume, from making frequent -attestations—give rise to “Attenbrooke,” “Addenbrook,” and similar -surnames? - -{37} On another page we have spoken of a later member of this family, -who, by indenture, dated 29th of May, 1706, bequeathed a sum of money to -the poor of Madeley, and of Comerford Brooks, who, in consideration of -the said sum, £40, and a further sum of £30 paid him by Audley Bowdler -and others, granted three several cottages in Madeley Wood, the rent and -profits of which were to be devoted to the use of the poor of the parish -of Madeley, in such manner as the grantees, with the consent of the vicar -and parish officers, should think lit. This is the latest notice we have -obtained. The Basil Brooke here spoken of is the one also previously -referred to in our introduction, as fourth in descent from a gallant -knight in the reign of King Charles, and who is said to have secreted his -Majesty in a square hole behind the wainscoating of the chapel, which the -inmates of the Court-house describe as “King Charles’s Hole.” Of the -charity we shall speak under the head of “Benefactions,” later on. - -{40} It was from a subsequent sale of this property that the old -Poor-House was built. - -{54} For further particulars relating to King Charles’s Visit, see -Appendix. - -{121} We have before us an octavo book, of a hundred pages, written as -late as 1820, by James Heaton, entitled “The Demon Expelled.” In his -introduction he laments that Christians have of late years “lightly -ridiculed the existence of apparitions, witches, and demoniacs.” In the -days of our fathers, venerable divines and “learned men, ornaments of the -church and the state,” he tells us, believed in these things, and he -quotes Wesley, Samuel Clarke, and others in support of his views. He -commences by gravely telling us that the boy “had been frightened by -being shut up by himself in a school, that he had been blistered all over -the head, bled repeatedly, and was taking medicines, and that these -produced fainting, profuse perspiration, and sickness. They prayed and -sang around him for four or five hours at a stretch, twenty or thirty of -them at a time, the boy being tied down to prevent him running away, till -at last the lad refused to hold a testament in his hands, and the sight -of a hymn-book put him into convulsions. Although seven preachers and -thirty other people were present, praying and singing did not avail till -they adjured the evil spirit, mentally, telling him to depart, and after -arguing and talking to them for some time through the lad’s nose the -demon finally took his departure.” - -{175} Mr. Brown is an innkeeper; the sign is the “Turner’s Arms,” and -over a glass of his home-brewed the following conversation with the -author ensued. He said, “I turned all the wood-work which required -turning for the Anstice Memorial, both when it was first built and when -it was restored.” Author: “Well, and you tried another art Mr. -Brown,”—this with a look at Mrs. Brown, who sat on the opposite side of -the fire—“You tried the art of match-making; and really Mrs. B. must have -been a courageous woman to allow you to succeed.” - -This remark brought out Mrs. B., who now joined in the conversation, and -under a little gentle pressure, gave us some particulars as to how the -marriage came about, and how after sundry visits of her armless suitor, -to Birmingham, she was wooed and won. - -“But how did you manage to put the ring on, Mr. Brown?” - -“Oh,” said Brown laughing, “I could have managed that if they had given -me time, but the clergyman, mind you, was a good sort of man, and he -said, ‘Allow me to help you,’ and he slipped on the ring.” - -Mrs. Brown, who is a comely-looking woman, proceeded to tell how the -parson called upon her former mistress, and related the circumstance with -great glee. - -{235} Mr. Dyas had previously had a seat at the Board. - -{242} Among the papers met with in the old building was one dated April -29th, 1805, entitled, an assessment of fivepence in the pound for the -purpose of raising part of the sum of £100 levied on this parish of -Madeley for deficiency of the Army of Reserve, and Regiments of the -Militia, 5th of February, 1805. The following names and sums occur:— - -Rev. Mr. Burton (then rector) £2 0 3 -Firmstone, Mrs. -Homfray and Addenbrooke 5 9 0 -Rev. Saml. Walter (then curate) 0 9 0 -Anstice, Horton, and Rose 0 8 4 -Horton, William 0 6 0 -George Pugh 0 1 8 -John Rose & Co. 9 16 8 -J. Luckcock 0 0 6 - -{253} A still greater fright was experienced by the driver of a hearse -from the Tontine. A man named Holyoake, a sort of half-witted fellow, -who had a fancy for attending funerals on both sides the Severn, got into -the hearse after the coffin had been removed, and it being a hot day went -to sleep. Poor “Billy” did not wake till the hearse had been put in the -coach-house, when one of the establishment going in, Billy called out -from his retreat “How go mon,” and the man rushed from the place in a -fright that is said to have turned his hair white. - -{277} Sometimes called Culbrok. - -{292} Barnabas Spruce had been Cashier at the Bedlam Works under William -Reynolds; he kept a public house near the old water engine in the Lloyds, -which was known and patronised for miles round for old beer. William -Reynolds, Benjamin Edge, and others of that class were accustomed to meet -there. The sign was “the Newhill Pit.” Barnabus died Jan. 1833. At the -funeral on the 24th, as a last and fitting tribute to so worthy a brewer -of good beer, a large number assembled. There were 37 horsemen, who had -hatbands and gloves; and 40 gallons of ale were drank before starting to -Madeley Church. - -{300} It would be impossible for those not then old enough to take -cognizance of what was passing around them to conceive the bitterness of -the controversy, or the unfair advantage some of the sects sought to take -of the educational-movement. Among others, the Rev. Mr. Tilley, Baptist -Minister of Bridgnorth, made it his business to make the circuit of this -district to publicly warn the people against what he described as a -Jesuitical scheme on the part of Government to entrap and enslave the -people, by subsidising the teachers. His statements being challenged by -the present writer, at a meeting in the Wesleyan Chapel, Coalbrookdale, a -public discussion was held in the Boys School-room, Mr. Crookes in the -chair. - -{306} These, with their associated fossils, were sold to the Government: -some were exchanged with the representative of a French Museum; others -are still to be seen in the National Museum, Jermyn Street. - -{318} When W. Anstice, Esq., father of the present W. R. Anstice, Esq., -was adding to his collection, one of the men brought him one of these -fossils, remarking, “well measter, I’ve brought something at last.” Mr. -A.—“Well Baugh, what is it?” Baugh, drawing it slowly from his flannel; -“well I dunno know, but I’ll tell you my opinion. My opinion is that it -is a piece of the seat of Noah’s breeches; or else Noah must of sat down -on a soft piece of rock after the Flood and left the impression of his -corduroys!” We need scarcely say that the story excited a roar at the -time, or that its repetition when well told has raised many a broad grin -since. - -{325} It was a lay too in another sense; for some forty years ago the -share of a plough, held by a man named Palmer, drove through the end of a -leaden pipe, which had been closed at each end and which on being opened -was found to contain a number of gold coins piled closely together; the -larger ones, the size of half-crowns, in the centre; others the size of -shillings at each end of them; and others the size of sixpences at each -end of these. Singularly enough there was neither date nor inscription -on either; so that who laid them by is uncertain. - -{333} A chest was found in this house a few years ago with an ancient -date, and is now in possession of Mrs. Beckett, Nee Edge, of Sheffield. - -{340} See appendix. - - - - -***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF MADELEY*** - - -******* This file should be named 62423-0.txt or 62423-0.zip ******* - - -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: -http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/6/2/4/2/62423 - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law 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. 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