Five miles north-west of Birmingham, is _Blakely-hall_, the manor house
of Oldbury. If we see a venerable edifice without a moat, we cannot from
thence conclude, it was never the residence of a gentleman, but wherever
we find one, we may conclude it was.
Anciently, this manor, with those of Smethwick and Harborn, belonged to
the family of Cornwallis, whose habitation was Blakeley-hall: the
present building seems about 300 years old.
The extinction of the male line, threw the property into the hands of
two coheirs; one of whom married into the family of Grimshaw, the other
into that of Wright, who jointly held it. The family of Grimshaw
failing, Wright became then, and is now, possessed of the whole.
I am unacquainted with the principal characters who acted the farce of
life on this island, but it has long been in the tenancy of a poor
farmer, who, the proprietor allured me, was _best_ able to stock the
place with children. In 1769, the Birmingham canal passing over the
premises, robbed the trench of its water. Whether it endangers the
safety is a doubt, for _poverty_ is the best security against violence.