THAT the elections had caused considerable change in the constitution of

the House of Commons was made apparent by their coming, early in the

session, to a vote adverse to the Catholic claims—the votes of the Lower

House on this question having for many years past been favourable to

their consideration. A motion of Sir Francis Burdett to remove penalties

from the Catholics, though warmly supported by Mr. Canning, was lost by

276 votes to 272. Lord Liverpool’s illness requiring the reorganisation

of the cabinet, so much difficulty was experienced in the choice of a

prime minister that the country was virtually without a ministry for some

weeks. The Catholic question was put forward as the principal

difficulty—the chief members of Lord Liverpool’s administration refusing

to take office under a Premier who was favourable to the Catholic claims.

Immediately that Mr. Canning—whose talents unequivocally marked him out

for the position—kissed hands, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Eldon, Mr.

Peel, and others of the old cabinet resigned, and Mr. Canning could only

hold office by an unprincipled coalition with the Whigs—unprincipled

because such a ministry could only be carried on by one party or the

other totally belieing their previous political creed. Mr. Canning had

always avowed himself the determined foe of Parliamentary Reform and the

repeal of the Test Acts, but was popular because of his adhesion to the

Catholic claims and the policy he had adopted as Foreign

Secretary—separating this country from the Holy Alliance, recognising the

South American States, and interfering in defence of the independence of

Portugal. Earl Grey was the only member of the Whig party who openly and

honestly stood aloof from the new ministry. Immediately after the close

of the session, Mr. Canning—irritated, perplexed, exhausted, by the

forsaking of all his former friends—died. The new ministry was then

reorganised under the leadership of Viscount Goderich—formerly Mr.

Robinson. Three per Cents. averaged 84; wheat, 58s. 6d.

JANUARY—The celebrated “Horace Bentley” controversy originated in a

paragraph which appeared this month in _Berrow’s Worcester Journal_,

stating that the Roman Catholics in Cavan, Ireland, were renouncing the

errors of their Church in considerable numbers. In the _Journal_ of

February 7, a person signing the initials “W. L.” begged, as an English

Catholic, to be informed what were the errors that the Catholics of Cavan

were renouncing, and pledged himself that, if any one would point out to

him only one error, either in morals or doctrine, which the Catholic

Church taught, he would, as soon as possible after, publicly read his

recantation in the parish church of B—. In a fortnight after W. L.’s

letter had appeared, one was inserted in reply, signed “Horace Bentley,”

offering, if the Bible was accepted as the test, to prove that the Church

of Rome taught “several fundamental and fatal errors.” W. L. replied

that he would “leave Mr. B. to take his own course. He might prove his

allegations from the Holy Scriptures, or from any source he might deem

expedient—he was ready to join the issue with him.” This, Horace Bentley

contended, was an evasion of the requirement—that an absolute test of

truth and error should be agreed upon; but, nevertheless, proceeded to

prove the existence of what are considered by Protestants to be the

principal errors of the Roman Church, by an extraordinary array of

quotations from Catholic authors and authorities themselves. The letters

were, on all hands, admitted to display singular ability. W. L., at

first, questioned the correctness of the quotations, and was evidently

astonished at their production. An offer was made by the Catholic party

to change their champion, on the ground of W. L.’s incompetence; and,

though this was not accepted, yet the last two letters under that

signature were plainly from another hand. In these, endeavour was made

to show that the doctrines of the Church of England were, in many

respects, identical with those of the Church of Rome, and that “every

consistent Protestant must be an infidel.” The Protestant party were so

delighted with their disputant, that a proposal was made to purchase a

piece of plate by subscription. The _incognito_ was, for a long time,

most admirably preserved, and the letters of Horace Bentley were pretty

generally ascribed to the Rev. Dr. Hook, then Dean of Worcester. It has

now, however, long been known that they were written by the Rev. G.

Redford, D.D., LL.D., minister at Angel Street Chapel, Worcester. The

original W. L. was a machine manufacturer at Bromsgrove.

MARCH 3—A duel took place on Kempsey Ham between John Somerset Russell,

Esq., of Powick Court, and Mr. John Parker, master of the Worcestershire

Fox Hounds. They fired at each other, but neither of the balls took

effect; and the seconds then interfered and effected a reconciliation.

An officer came on the ground, armed with a warrant, to arrest the

disputants, but of course he was “too late.” The quarrel arose about

some matter connected with the hunt.

MARCH 27—Colonel Davies voted in a minority of nineteen on an amendment,

moved by Mr. Hume, to admit wheat at all times at a fixed duty of 10s. a

quarter. Colonel Davies also succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a

committee to inquire into the mode of taking the poll at elections for

cities and boroughs.

MARCH—An eccentric fellow at Droitwich cut his throat, having previously

left some most singular instructions respecting his funeral, which were

obeyed to the letter. He was buried with his shoes on, with a penny in

one hand and a halfpenny in the other. Some of the earth surrounding his

mother’s coffin was put into his, and his body was wrapped in the sheet

on which she had been laid out. The carriers of the coffin and mourners

ran, as soon as the funeral was over, at their topmost speed, to a public

house, where they sang _one_ song and _two_ psalms, afterwards drinking

peace to the soul of the departed till they were all drunk.

JUNE 29—At a meeting of the Worcester Corporation, on the motion of Henry

Clifton, Esq., the freedom of the city was unanimously voted to the Right

Hon. Robert Peel, “late principal Secretary of State for the Home

Department, in testimony of the high sense they entertained of his

consummate abilities and inflexible integrity as a statesman, and his

unshaken fidelity and attachment to the Constitution in Church and

State.”

NOVEMBER 29—Mr. T. A. Knight, only son of T. A. Knight, Esq., of Downton

Castle, accidentally shot by John Barneby, Esq., of Brockhampton, while

they were both sporting on Mr. Knight’s demesne.

DECEMBER—The Worcestershire Yeomanry disbanded by order of Government, in

common with all those corps which had not been engaged in actual service

of any kind for the previous ten years. The regiment was first raised in

1794, by the Hon. Somers Cocks. The Kidderminster troop, which was a

separate body, raised in 1798 and commanded by Captain Boycot, was also

disbanded.

1828.

THE discordant materials of which the Canning ministry was composed after

his death, soon brought it to an end: before Parliament met this year

Lord Goderich had resigned, and the Wellington and Peel cabinet was

formed. The most important measure of the year was the repeal of the

Test and Corporation Acts; the principle of which having been affirmed in

the House of Commons, on the motion of Lord John Russell, by a majority

of 237 to 193, was adopted by the Government, and they carried through

the bill as their own measure. Consols averaged 86; wheat 60s. 5d.

JANUARY 1—The tolls on carriages and horsemen passing over Worcester

bridge discontinued—the bridge having been erected forty-six years, and

the trustees having now paid off the debt, and laid by a fund yielding a

revenue of £125 a year to be applied in the repairs of the bridge and its

approaches.

JANUARY 3—Holt Fleet bridge opened to the public. Its extreme length is

226 feet, and consists of one arch of 150 feet span; the centre being 35

feet above the river at ordinary periods. The design was furnished by

Telford. The entire cost was £8,300.

FEBRUARY 26—Four elegant silver corner dishes and covers, weighing nearly

300 ounces, presented to the Rev. George Turberville of Hanley Castle,

for his long and valuable services as an active magistrate of the county.

The presentation took place at a dinner at the White Lion, Upton, at

which Sir Anthony Lechmere, Bart., presided.

SEPTEMBER 3—The Rev. Mr. Ketley, appointed by the London Missionary

Society to take the place of the ill-treated Smith, of Demerara, whose

case had occupied so large a share of public attention, was publicly

ordained at the Independent Chapel, Worcester.

SEPTEMBER 26—A sumptuous silver vase, presented to Viscount Eastnor by

the Yeomanry, “as a farewell token of the cordial and lasting esteem

which is felt for him by all ranks of the corps.”

OCTOBER 29—The inhabitants of Bewdley, following _suite_ with the Kentish

Brunswickers on Penenden Heath, declared in public meeting that “the

Protestant constitution shall not be changed.” John Williams, Esq., the

High Bailiff, was in the chair; and the petition against the Catholic

claims was moved by the Rev. John Cawood, and seconded by John Nichols,

Esq. There was no opposition. The Mayor and Corporation of Evesham

forwarded a similar petition.

1829.

THE ministry—supposed by all England to be determined to resist, _a

l’outrance_, the claims of the Catholics to emancipation—astounded the

country by making the King recommend, in his speech at the opening of

Parliament, that these claims should be immediately taken into

consideration. The Catholic Association and Mr. O’Connell’s election for

Clare were supposed to have been the causes immediately compelling

ministers to give way; but the Emancipation Act really owed its existence

to the continuous efforts of the great Liberal party and the weight of

public opinion in England. The measure was passed in the Commons by a

majority of 173, and in the Lords of 105. The circulation of small notes

came to an end in the early part of this year, and although so much time

had been afforded for preparation for this step, and it had been so

repeatedly postponed, it nevertheless produced much straitness in

commercial transactions, and had its effect in reducing both the price of

the provisions and the wages of labour. Three per Cents. averaged 88;

wheat averaged 66s. 3d.

JANUARY—A subscription entered into for the relief of the Worcester poor.

FEBRUARY—The petitions against Catholic Emancipation, got up by the

Brunswick Club, received about 6,000 signatures in this county. On the

presentation of the petition in the House of Lords, Lord Lyttelton

characterised the manner in which it was got up as “anomalous and

irregular.”

FEBRUARY 9—The WORCESTER LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION established

at a public meeting held at the Guildhall, presided over by Mr. Daukes of

Diglis House. It was for some years warmly supported by Lord Lyttelton

and most of the literati of the county.

FEBRUARY 17—An alarming fire in the outbuildings of Mr. Joseph Ross of

Sneachill, White Lady Aston, consuming altogether about four thousand

pounds’ worth of property, and wholly uninsured. Three hundred guineas

were offered as a reward for the discovery of the incendiary, no doubt

being entertained that it was wilful.

MARCH 24—Meeting of the clergy of the diocese, with Archdeacon Onslow in

the chair, to petition against the Catholic Relief Bill. The tone of the

proceedings and petition was very moderate. The Hon. H. B. Lygon was the

only member for this county who voted against the Bill.

MAY 29—Presentation of plate (a massive silver vase) to Archdeacon

Onslow, having been Vicar of Kidderminster for twenty-eight years, by

general subscription of the inhabitants there.

JUNE 17—The Duc de Chartres visited Worcester, with its manufactories and

Cathedral.

JUNE 22—Ombersley Church consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese.

This very elegant little church is built of white stone from the

Ombersley quarries, in the decorated English style. Its extreme length

is 117 feet, and the spire is 154 feet high; and the church will

accommodate about 1,000 persons. The Marchioness of Downshire gave the

stone, the additional land to extend the churchyard, the organ, and the

stained windows, &c.

JULY 16—The new Catholic Chapel, Sansome Street, Worcester, opened. The

Rev. Dr. Walsh, Bishop of the Midland District, officiated; and the Very

Rev. Dr. Weedall, President of St. Mary’s College, Oscot, preached. The

chapel is capable of containing about 800 persons. The collection at the

door on this occasion amounted to about £48.

AUGUST 26—Silver Street Chapel (Baptist), Worcester, reopened, after

enlargement, on which occasion a sermon was preached by the celebrated

Robert Hall of Bristol.

DECEMBER 10—The Marquis of Anglesey visited Worcester, and was

entertained by the Corporation in great style; the freedom of the city

being presented to him in common hall by Lord Deerhurst.

1830.

MINISTERS, having alienated their old friends by their conduct on the

Catholic question, held office by support of the Whigs, but towards the

close of the session these also deserted them. The revolutions at Paris

and Brussels, the demise of George IV, and the distress amongst the

agricultural labourers giving rise to fearful incendiarism through the

whole of the south of England, imparted extraordinary interest and

importance to the question of Parliamentary Reform. Public meetings were

everywhere held upon the subject, and at the elections which took place

in August, Reformers were returned for all those towns where the

constituency was at all on a popular basis. The result was a loss of

more than fifty members to ministers; and they managed to involve

themselves in still more unpopularity and dislike by their unqualified

declarations against all Reform, and by dissuading the King from

accepting an invitation to dine at Guildhall on Lord Mayor’s Day, on the

ground of apprehended disturbance. The new Parliament met on the 2nd of

November, and on the 15th Sir Henry Parnell moved for a committee to

revise the civil list. A division took place, and ministers were left in

a minority of 29—233 votes being given for the motion, and 204 against

it. Ministers immediately resigned, and Earl Grey was called to His

Majesty’s Councils, with the understanding that Parliamentary Reform was

to be a cabinet measure. Thus, after twenty-three years’ exclusion from

office, the Whigs found themselves in power, and their principles

triumphant. Consols averaged 98½; wheat averaged 64s. 3d.

JANUARY—Subscription for the relief of the poor again entered into at

Worcester, and £1,108 raised. Distributed in soup and bread. £200

raised with a like object at Bewdley, and a subscription at Droitwich.

JULY 2—Petitions from various towns of the county against the Beer House

Bill, which was also strongly opposed by Colonel Davies.

AUGUST 6—The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria arrived at

Malvern, for the purpose of making a considerable stay there.

AUGUST 25—Most serious riots at Kidderminster. The carpet weavers,

instigated by the “Society of Workmen,” attacked, almost without notice,

the factory of Mr. Cooper, because he employed a number of men upon a

particular description of light work at three halfpence per yard less

than the customary price. In the evening the mob again assembled, and

broke the windows not only of Mr. Cooper’s house, but those of Mr. Simcox

Lea, Mr. Best, Mr. Brinton, Mr. Dobson, and Mr. Gough, manufacturers; of

George Constance, Esq., High Bailiff; Messrs. Hallen and Talbot,

solicitors; Mr. Boycot; Mr. Russell, coal merchant; the Town Hall; and

the Black Horse Inn—nor was the town restored to quiet till a troop of

the 14th Dragoons arrived at six o’clock on Wednesday morning. The

property stolen and destroyed was valued at £3,000. Eight men were

immediately afterwards apprehended, and committed by the magistrates for

the part they had taken in the disturbances. Rewards amounting to £1,000

were offered for the conviction of the ringleaders.

SEPTEMBER 7—The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria visited

Worcester, accompanied by Sir John and Lady Conroy and the Baroness de

Lehzen, and received the Mayor and Corporation at the Deanery. They

inspected the three china manufactories; and the young Princess, then

twelve years of age, displayed the greatest interest in the ingenious

processes to which the porcelain clay is submitted.

SEPTEMBER 18—Frightful accident to the Aurora, day coach from London,

which was crammed with passengers inside and out, bringing persons to the

ensuing Worcester Musical Festival. The coachman neglected to put the

drag on the wheel in coming down Severn Stoke hill, and the speed which

the vehicle gained as it came down, upset it shortly after rounding the

turn at the bottom. Mr. Bennett, organist of Christ Church, Oxford, was

killed on the spot; and Mr. Hughes, glover, of Sidbury, Worcester, died

next morning. Several other passengers were most seriously hurt. The

jury upon the inquest refused to return a verdict of manslaughter against

the coachman, although directed to do so by the coroner; but put a

deodand of £30 upon the coach and horses, in each case.

SEPTEMBER 9—Date of the death of the celebrated Mr. Huskisson, who was

born at Birtsmorton in this county.

OCTOBER 26—St. George’s Chapel, Barbourne, a chapel of ease to Claines

Church, consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. The sermon was

preached by Prebendary Benson, and the collection afterwards realised

£60. The presentation of the chapel is vested in the incumbents of

Claines. The total cost of the building was £3,500; of this, Sir H.

Wakeman, Bart., contributed £500. £1,200 was raised by private

subscriptions, &c. The Church Building Commissioners contributed the

remainder. The painted window at the east end was the gift of James

Wakeman, Esq. It will accommodate 750 persons, 400 of the sittings being

free.

OCTOBER 29—The WORCESTER MENDICITY SOCIETY formed at a meeting at the

Guildhall, with H. B. Tymbs, Esq., Mayor, in the chair. This Society

still continues to exist, and has acted most beneficially both in

discovering cases of imposture and in aiding the truly unfortunate. It

is only a pity that it is not more generally supported and confided in.

DECEMBER—Riots at Tardebigg amongst the needle makers, who thought

themselves aggrieved by the introduction of machinery to stamp the eyes

of the needles. They commenced an attack on the machinery and house of

Mr. Baylis of Tardebigg, but were interrupted by the arrival of

constabulary from Redditch, and six men were committed by the magistrates

for trial. Five agricultural labourers were also committed to gaol for

breaking a thrashing machine, which had been left on the road side at

Hanley William. A thatched cattle shed, with two cows, a hay rick and

stubble rick, the property of Mr. Nind of Dumbleton, burnt down by an

incendiary fire.

LOCAL ACT—For enclosing lands at Hagley.

1831.

THE measure of Reform, introduced by the Grey ministry a few days after

the meeting of Parliament, so much exceeded general expectation in extent

and boldness, that the people immediately adopted it with enthusiasm; and

the cry was, “The Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill.” After

a debate of seven nights’ duration, leave was given to bring it in

without a division, and the trial of strength was reserved for the second

reading, which was carried by a majority of one only; the numbers

being—for, 302; against, 301. The ministers, however, persevered with

it; but, in committee, General Gascoyne moved that the number of members

for England and Wales should not be diminished, and this was carried

against ministers by a majority of eight. The consequence was, that the

bill was for a while abandoned, and another appeal made to the country.

The elections, which now took place in the midst of unparalleled

excitement, gave ministers such a decided majority in the Commons, that

the second reading of the bill was carried by a majority of 136, and it

went through committee without any material alteration. The Lords,

however, had not the prudence quietly to pass a measure which the people

had so unequivocally demanded, and the second reading was negatived in

the Upper House by a majority of 41. Riots and disturbances everywhere

ensued; and none can understand, except those who actually took part in

the year’s events, how near the nation was to convulsion and revolution.

The cholera made its appearance in the country on the 26th October, and

was very fatal in many places. Consols averaged 81; wheat averaged 66s.

6d.

JANUARY 10—The Vice Chancellor gave his decision in the case of the St.

Oswald’s Hospital property, Worcester, declaring that the leases which

had been granted by the governors were illegal, and must be set aside.

This decision affected large properties in the Tything, which, having

been held for leases of forty years at a nominal rent, and these renewed

at a fine only amounting to about one year’s rent, had been treated in

the market as little inferior to freehold. The proceedings were based on

an act passed at the instance of the celebrated Dr. Fell, Bishop of

Oxford in 1660, and who was then master of this hospital. This act

expressly provided that, in the leases granted of the property belonging

to the hospital, “the best improved value that the lands and houses

should be yearly worth should be reserved for the respective yearly rents

thereof.” The solicitor, on the part of the information, was Mr. S.

Godson of Worcester.

JANUARY 21—Graves opened in Hanley Castle churchyard, and two recently

interred bodies taken away. They had been sent in packing cases from the

Anchor Inn, Upton-on-Severn, to London, but, parties following them

immediately, the cases were recovered, and the bodies restored to their

resting places, but the disturbers of the grave’s quiet were not caught.

MARCH 9—The Kidderminster carpet weavers presented Mr. Godson with a very

handsome hearth rug, for his exertions in their behalf at the sessions of

the previous August.

MARCH 23—On the first division on the Reform Bill, on Sir R. Vyvyan’s

amendment, “That the Bill be read a second time that day six months,” all

the members for Worcestershire were present. The Hon. T. H. Foley,

Colonel Davies, Mr. Robinson, Mr. J. H. H. Foley, and Earl of Sefton

voted against the amendment; and Hon. H. B. Lygon and W. A. Robarts,

Esq., for it.

JUNE—The Worcester Militia reorganised; and ten troops of Yeomanry raised

by the Earl of Plymouth.

AUGUST 25—In the Marquis of Chandos’s celebrated amendment to the Reform

Bill, giving farming tenants at will, to the amount of not less than £50,

votes for counties, Colonel Davies and Mr. Robinson voted in the majority

against ministers, and the Hon. T. H. Foley, Captain Spencer, and Mr.

Godson in the minority for them. Colonel Davies, in the progress of the

bill, moved several amendments, which were discussed at length, and only

defeated by small majorities: one was to prevent persons, having votes in

boroughs, from voting at county elections.

SEPTEMBER 14—Presentation of colours to the Worcestershire Yeomanry.

This took place at Hewell, the Countess of Plymouth presenting the

cornets with the colours. The ceremony was performed in the presence of

an immense concourse of spectators. A dinner was afterwards given on the

ground, by the Earl of Plymouth, to the nobility of the county and

officers of the regiment.

OCTOBER 19—The Worcester Society of Artists opened an exhibition in the

rooms of the Old Library in Angel Street, containing altogether some 164

pictures, from the easels of professional artists and amateurs in the

city and county.

NOVEMBER 5—Worcester Riots.—The ferment which the rejection of the Reform

Bill by the Lords had created having spread generally through the

country, and much terror caused by the Bristol anti-Wetherell riots, the

Mayor and magistrates of Worcester swore in a number of special

constables this week; and, at the request of the Mayor, the Home

Secretary directed a troop of the 7th Hussars to take up their quarters

at Droitwich. It was thought possible that the ill disposed might make

the county Reform meeting, held this day, a _point d’appui_, and the 400

special constables had express orders to hold themselves in readiness for

action at any moment. However, the proceedings passed off very quietly,

and the day closed without any disturbance; but unfortunately a small and

purely accidental fire broke out in the back premises of Mr. Woakes in

High Street. A great number of people were gathered to the spot, and a

squabble occurred in the crowd, during which the hose of the fire engines

was cut, and the mob seemed to regard this as the signal for disorder.

Some rascals harked them on to mischief, and they first of all made an

incursion into Foregate Street, where they broke all the windows in the

house of Mr. France, solicitor, and on their return smashed those of Sir

Anthony Lechmere and other individuals known to belong to the unpopular

party. The Mayor and magistrates were already at the Hall, with a large

body of special constables, and the bells of the city churches were set

tolling to collect the remainder. This roused the whole town, and all

the bad characters it contained were speedily enrolled amongst the mob.

The special constables at the command of the Mayor sallied out of the

Town Hall and engaged the rioters, and some smartish encounters took

place in various directions. Several of the mob were captured and

carried off to prison; but none of the specials were much hurt. The

tumult still continuing, the Mayor sent off expresses to Pershore and

Droitwich for the military; but, in the interim, he addressed the

rioters, and attempted to induce them to disperse. Some of the leaders

said they would do so if he would release the prisoners who had been

taken. The Mayor, hereupon, went down to the gaol, and, amidst the

huzzas of the mob, liberated the captives; but they then wanted the

release of the other prisoners confined in the gaol. This the Mayor

positively refused, and returned to the Guildhall. At a quarter after

one Captain Bathurst, with a troop of the 7th Hussars, rode up to the

Guildhall, and the mob threw some stones at them; and, as they showed no

disposition to disperse, the Mayor read the Riot Act, but had no sooner

done so than a stone was hurled at him, which struck him on the head. He

immediately ordered the military to clear the streets, which they did in

a very short time. A great number of stones were thrown at them; but the

resistance speedily ceased, and many parties were again taken into

custody and conveyed to the gaol. Several of the mob were cut, though

not seriously, by the sabres of the military. A detachment of the 91st

Infantry arrived from Pershore about three a.m., but their services were

not then required. The city, for two or three nights afterwards, wore an

unquiet aspect, and desultory mobs were collected, but no further harm

was done. The magistrates examined the prisoners afterwards—amounting,

in all, to about thirty persons. Most of them were liberated on entering

into their own recognizances to keep the peace, and a few of the worst

were fined or sent to the treadmill.

LOCAL ACTS—For erecting a County Hall and Courts of Assize at Worcester;

for better repairing the road from Bromsgrove to Birmingham.

1832.

THE ministers, calling Parliament together again almost immediately,

proposed another Reform Bill, differing from the former one in the

apportionment of boroughs in the schedules, in preserving the rights of

freemen by birth and servitude, and in giving freeholders in boroughs the

right to vote in county elections. The second reading was carried, on

the morning of Sunday, the 18th of December, 1851, by a majority of 324

to 162; the majority being thus much larger than before. The bill passed

a second reading in the Lords by a majority of 9; seventeen peers who

voted against the bill in 1831 voted for it in 1832, and others absented

themselves. Immediately on going into committee, however, Lord Lyndhurst

proposed to postpone the disenfranchising to the enfranchising clauses,

and this was carried against ministers by a majority of 35. Earl Grey

then applied to the King for powers to carry the bill as it stood; and,

on the King’s refusing a _carte blanche_ for the creation of peers,

ministers resigned _en masse_. Lord Lyndhurst was sent for by the King;

but the Commons pledged themselves, by an overwhelming majority, to

support only the former ministers, and, in the face of such a resolution,

no ministry could be formed. Then came the thunders of the _Times_,

declaring that “the Queen had done it all,” the threatened run upon the

Bank, and symptoms of disaffection among the soldiery. At last the King

found himself obliged to put into Earl Grey’s hands all the powers he

required, and he returned to office on the 15th of April. The opposition

peers then, at the King’s request, absented themselves from the House,

and the bill passed with little further discussion. It received the

royal assent on the 7th of June. Parliament was soon afterwards

dissolved; and the new constituencies, of course, returned a very large

preponderance of Whig or Reform members. Three per Cents. averaged 83½;

wheat averaged 58s. 8d.

JANUARY—Several attempts made to fire carpet manufactories in

Kidderminster. The trade of the town in a deplorable condition; 779

heads of families receiving out-door relief weekly.

FEBRUARY 1—Colonel Davies moved, in the House of Commons, for a committee

of inquiry on the glove trade. He stated that not one-third of the

number of gloves were made in Worcester that there were formerly, when

120 masters each manufactured 100 dozen a week. He attributed this

distress and loss of trade entirely to the free trade in French gloves.

Mr. Poulett Thomson contended, on behalf of Government, that the general

manufacture of gloves in this country had increased, for the kid skins

imported in the last five years had been 3,679,000, to 2,600,000 in the

five years prior to the duty being taken off gloves. The distress he

believed to be owing to the late increase in the importation of skins, to

the use of Berlin gloves instead of kid, and to overtrading. The numbers

were—against the committee, 223; for it, 168: majority against the

motion, 55.

FEBRUARY 28—A petition from the operative glovers of Worcester, having

2,206 signatures, and praying that the “system, falsely called free

trade,” may be abandoned, forwarded to the Earl of Coventry for

presentation.

APRIL 2—The freedom of the city presented to the Earl of Plymouth and

Lieutenant Colonel Elrington by the hand of the recorder, the Earl of

Coventry. To the former, principally in approval of his raising the

Yeomanry corps; and to the latter, for his public services in the east.

Colonel Elrington presented the Corporation with arms and armour, taken

by him from pirates in the Persian Gulf.

APRIL 5—At a dinner given at the Guildhall, Dr. Malden in the chair, a

very handsome service of plate was presented to the Mayor, Henry Clifton,

Esq., in remembrance of the vigilance and energy he had shown in

repressing the Worcester riots.

APRIL 17—On the memorable second reading of the Reform Bill in the House

of Lords, by a majority of nine, the Earl of Coventry, Lord Northwick

(both of whom had voted against the former bill), Earl Somers, Lord

Foley, Lord Lyttelton, and the Bishop of Worcester voted in its favour;

and Earls Plymouth and Beauchamp and the Bishop of Rochester against it.

MAY 23—The Mayor of Worcester, Henry Clifton, Esq., was presented at

_levée_ by the Bishop of Worcester, and thanked by His Majesty for the

“important services he had rendered on a late occasion.”

MAY 29—The trade on the Severn stopped by the general resistance of the

bow-halliers to the use of horses in towing barges up the river. They

nailed the gates up along the towing path, and assembled in great numbers

to prevent any horses being attached to the vessels. The magistrates

made several attempts to convince them of the unreasonableness and folly

of their proceedings, but to no purpose. At last the Riot Act was read,

and a troop of Scotch Greys marched into Worcester from Kidderminster.

Under this escort the gates were opened and several vessels taken up the

river, but not without determined opposition and much disturbance. Eight

men were committed for trial to the sessions.

JUNE 11 AND 12—Celebration of the passing of the Reform Bill, in

Worcester. On the Monday the Worcester Political Union, with a great

number of lodges and friendly societies, paraded the streets with banners

and music, and in the evening dined at various public houses. On the

Tuesday evening the city was illuminated—the lighting up being almost

universal, and costly transparencies and devices in many instances

adopted.

JUNE 15—A Reform festival at Evesham, 700 persons dining at tables set

out along the open street—Vine Street. In the space between the tables

were raised twelve casks of ale, inscribed—“The King,” “Reform,” “Grey,”

“Brougham,” &c. Mr. Workman presided. Dinners also at Droitwich,

Redditch, &c.

JULY 14—The cholera first made its appearance in Worcester: most of the

cases occurring in the Pinch, at the back of Bridge Place, Hylton Street,

a most dirty and close locality. It continued to rage till the middle of

October: 293 cases having occurred in the whole; and the deaths amounted

to 79. The medical men, forming the Board of Health, had been most

indefatigable in their labours and attentions to the sick in the Cholera

Hospital at Henwick. A very handsome subscription was entered into for

the relief of cholera sufferers and their families, and the proceeds of a

collection after a sermon by the Rev. Canon Benson, and of a concert at

the College Hall (£156), were devoted to the same good object. The

cholera visited every town in the county with more or less severity. It

raged most fearfully at Droitwich, Redditch, and Dudley; the cases in the

latter town amounting to 1,132, with a proportion of 250 deaths. Warm

salt baths were found very beneficial at Droitwich. The Yeomanry, this

year, assembled at Warwick, because of the prevalence of the disease in

Worcester.

JULY 19—The PROVINCIAL MEDICAL AND SURGICAL ASSOCIATION formed, at a

meeting held in the board room of the Worcester Infirmary. More than

fifty medical men were present; and the venerable Dr. Johnstone, of

Birmingham, was called to the chair. The opening address was read by Dr.

Hastings, the founder of the association; another on the objects and

modes of medical investigation by Dr. Barlow; with various medical papers

by Dr. Milligan, Dr. Malden, Dr. Jeffery, and others; with “A proposal to

establish County Natural History Societies” by Dr. Conolly. The value

and importance of this association are now fully established.

OCTOBER 9 AND 10—Musical Festival at Kidderminster, in St. George’s

Church, for the benefit of the National Charity Schools. _The Messiah_

was performed one morning, and a selection of sacred music the other.

There was also a grand miscellaneous concert on Tuesday evening, and a

ball on Wednesday evening. The result was highly satisfactory. The

receipts were—for tickets, £853; collections, £209; donations, £180:

total, £1,242. The expenses amounted to £792, and £450 was thus left as

a balance in favour of the charity.

OCTOBER 27—The revising barristers having completed the inquiry into the

first registration of the voters of the city of Worcester under the

Reform Act, there were left upon the list 1,521 freemen and 721 £10

householders in addition, making a total of 2,242. Under the old state

of things there were about 1,600 resident and 800 non-resident freemen,

so that the Reform Act somewhat lessened the number of voters. It was

stated, incidentally, that from the year 1760 to 1832 (seventy-two years)

the Corporation of Worcester had admitted 5,092 freemen—viz., 2,625 by

right of servitude, 1,222 by birth, 1,103 by purchase, and 142 had been

honorarily admitted. The constituency of the county, after revision of

the lists, amounted to 8,283—viz. 3,122 for the western and 5,161 for the

eastern division. Total population, 110,348. The voters for the city

and various boroughs numbered 4,235.

NOVEMBER 5—The Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria passed through the

county, escorted by the Worcestershire Yeomanry, who in reward for this

service have since received the appellation of the “Queen’s Own.” The

royal party passed through Tenbury, Witley, Worcester, and Bromsgrove to

Hewell, where they stayed for the night, being welcomed at each of these

places with the utmost loyalty and enthusiasm. At Hewell, the

townspeople of Bromsgrove and Redditch presented addresses, and the

nobility of the county assembled in the evening to pay their respects to

their Royal Highnesses.

1833.

MEASURES called for by the state of Ireland occupied the first session of

the Reformed Parliament. The Coercion Bill, for the repression of crime,

was easily passed, and then came the Irish Church Bill, to abolish the

Church cess or rate, in that country, to impose a graduated tax on

clergymen, instead of taking first-fruits, and to abolish ten out of

twenty-two bishoprics. The bill passed with little opposition; but a

most important alteration was made in the Lords, as to the appropriation

of the revenues of the suppressed sees. A motion, made in the Commons,

for a repeal of half the Malt Tax, was carried by 162 to 152; but

ministers, a few days afterwards, got the vote rescinded. Consols

averaged 88; wheat averaged 52s. 11d.

JANUARY 25—A police force, organised by the Worcester City Commissioners,

with Inspector Sharpe at their head.

JANUARY—The Worcester Philharmonic Society, just formed, gave their first

concert.

MARCH 26—Mr. G. R. Robinson moved for a committee to revise the taxation

of the country, and to inquire into the propriety of substituting a

property tax in lieu of a great portion of it. The motion was defeated

by the opposition of Government: 155 members, however, voted in its

favour; amongst the minority being the Hon. H. B. Lygon and Sir Thomas

Winnington.

APRIL 8—THE WORCESTERSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY formed, at a meeting

held at the Guildhall, Worcester, with Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., in the

chair.

MAY 1—The Hirondelle coach, passing through Worcester, was driven from

Liverpool to Cheltenham, a distance of 136 miles, in 9 hours and 33

minutes—14 miles an hour, including stoppages.

MAY 17—On Mr. W. Whitmore’s motion to substitute a fixed duty on corn for

the alterative duties then in force, Mr. G. R. Robinson and Mr. R. Godson

voted in the minority. Colonel Davies also paired off in favour of the

motion.

JUNE 6—Colonel Davies moved a vote of confidence in ministers, with

reference to their conduct towards Portugal, which was carried by a

majority of 263.

JULY 22—Funeral of the Earl of Plymouth, in Tardebigg Church. The whole

of the Yeomanry were assembled on the occasion, and great crowds gathered

to witness the procession. The burial service was performed by the Lord

Bishop of Worcester, assisted by the vicar of Tardebigg, the Right Hon.

and Rev. Lord Aston.

SEPTEMBER 9—The Government Commissioners made their inquiries at

Worcester into the Charter and Corporation of the city. The forty-eight

members of the old Corporation were, of course, self-elected, and the

nomination virtually rested with a few of the body. They rigidly

excluded all professional men and all Dissenters. The income of the body

was stated to the Commissioners to be £2,100 per annum, and the

expenditure about £2,000; this included subscriptions and donations for

charitable purposes, amounting to about £300 a year. It was accidentally

discovered, during the inquiry, that the sword bearer charged one penny

per pot on all fruit brought into the market, though the toll was only

one farthing. A complaint was made that the £20 charged upon persons,

not freemen, who wished to trade within the limits of the city, had the

effect of discouraging young men from entering upon small businesses.

OCTOBER—The _Bridgwater Treatises_ presented to the Rev. George Redford,

by some members of the Worcester Literary and Scientific Institution, for

“his just castigation of their scandalous libeller, ‘O. S.,’ for his

refutation of the assertion ‘That the diffusion of useful knowledge leads

to atheism,’ and for his defence of the anti-sectarian principles upon

which the London University is founded.”

OCTOBER 25—A prisoner, named M‘Kenzie, confined in the City Gaol for

robbery, made his escape—slipping out of his cell just as the turnkey was

locking up. He had to make a jump of eleven feet from the top of one

building to another; and he afterwards said that, before making it, his

courage failed him, so he knelt down and asked God to assist him, and, by

God’s help, he succeeded! A truly curious instance of superstitious

profanity. He was retaken at Bridgnorth.

NOVEMBER 14—Mr. Cockburn, the Government Commissioner for inquiring into

Municipal Corporations, attended at Bewdley. The burgesses and capital

burgesses of the borough were all elected, or chosen by the Corporation,

and, before the passing of the Reform Act, the privilege of voting was

thus confined to some thirty or forty persons. Previous to Mr. Robarts

being elected the member, it was customary for the candidate who found

favour to give some £300 or £400, and then there never was any opposition

to his taking his seat. It was said that these “compliments” had always

been applied to public purposes. Fifty guineas were allowed annually,

out of the Corporation funds, for the bailiff’s feast. No satisfactory

account was rendered of the Corporation property and receipts; and the

corporate officers refused to answer any questions about the Bridge

Trust, or the tolls taken thereat. The toll on foot passengers, it

appeared, had been discontinued for eighteen years; but £400 a year was

raised from the toll on carriages and horses.

LOCAL ACT—To enable the Stratford and Moreton Railway Company to make a

branch to Shipston-on-Stour.

1834.

ON the 1st of August in this year slavery ceased to disgrace the British

colonies. The Irish Church continued to be the principal subject of

discussion in Parliament; and on the 27th of May, Mr. Ward moved that the

temporalities of that church ought to be reduced; and as a majority of

the cabinet had resolved so far to accede to the motion as to appoint a

commission of inquiry, Mr. Stanley, Sir James Graham, the Duke of

Richmond, and the Earl of Ripon resigned their offices. The other

measures of the ministry with regard to Ireland were equally embarrassing

in their results. The unadvised disclosures of Mr. Littleton to Mr.

O’Connell, respecting the supposed intentions of the cabinet as to the

Coercion Bill, led to the retirement of Earl Grey, and Viscount Melbourne

became Prime Minister in his stead. The measures proposed for the relief

of Dissenters were withdrawn from the opposition of Dissenters

themselves; and the only act passed this session, of great public

importance, was that for the amendment of the Poor Laws, which received

the assent of almost all parties. Mr. Hume’s motion for a gradual repeal

of the Corn Laws was negatived by 312 to 155—Sir James Graham being the

principal speaker against it. In November, when the death of Earl

Spencer removed Lord Althorpe to the Upper House, and so further weakened

the Whigs, the King dismissed them, and called the Duke of Wellington to

his councils. Sir Robert Peel was then appointed Prime Minister, and

Parliament was dissolved. Three per Cents. averaged 90½. wheat, 46s. 2d.

JANUARY—Mr. G. R. Robinson, M.P. for Worcester, elected chairman at

Lloyds.

FEBRUARY—Lord Foley made strenuous endeavours to get Worcester created a

bonded port.

APRIL 8—The “Athenæum,” Foregate Street, a building erected for the

accommodation of the Worcester Literary and Scientific Institution,

opened by an inaugural address from C. H. Hebb, Esq., the president. A

dinner, of the members and supporters of the institution, afterwards took

place at the Bell Inn, Broad Street, with Colonel Davies, M.P., in the

chair.

MAY 9—Paganini performed in Worcester.

MAY 15—The first stone of the Monument on the Lickey, erected to the

memory of the Earl of Plymouth, laid by Lord Lyttelton—the gentry of the

neighbourhood, the Cavalry, and a large concourse of spectators being

present. It was raised by public subscription. It is a simple obelisk

of Anglesea marble, raised on a pedestal 17 feet high and 20 feet square;

the top of the pillar is 91½ feet from the ground, and it is so situated

as to be seen at a distance of many miles.

MAY 16—The first anniversary of the Worcestershire Natural History

Society held in the Guildhall, Edward Holland, Esq., the newly elected

president, in the chair. Dr. Streeten read the report of the committee.

In the evening the members dined together at the Crown Hotel, Broad

Street.

JUNE 2—The first general exhibition of paintings opened in Worcester, in

the lecture room of the Athenæum, Foregate Street. It contained 195

pictures, and was a most admirable selection. Amongst others were—“Cupid

interceding for Psyche,” by Etty; Constable’s “Barge on the Stour;” David

Roberts’s “Antwerp Cathedral;” two from the easel of Alexander Frazer;

and others by Stanfield, Danby, Pickersgill, Chalon, Jackson, Howard,

Creswick, &c.; while the local artists were also very fairly represented.

The pictures were very ably criticised in the _Worcester Herald_, by a

gentleman named Cary, who, for this purpose, adopted the sobriquet of

“Lorenzo.”

JULY—Petitions sent up to Parliament, from various parishes in the city

and county, expressing confidence in the Established Church, and praying

that Dissenters might be kept out of the Universities.

AUGUST 1—The first number of _The Analyst_, a monthly journal of

literature and natural history, principally devoted to the midland

counties, published in Worcester. It was edited by William Holl, Esq.,

and reached a tenth volume. It was a clever and readable publication.

AUGUST 17—The Bishop of Exeter preached at Hallow Church on behalf of the

Sunday schools. Next day the Rev. Prelate visited Worcester, and was

presented by the Mayor with a handsomely bound copy of _Green’s History

of Worcester_, as a token of admiration of his zealous defence of the

establishment.

SEPTEMBER 1—Lord Deerhurst, while shooting in Sir Charles Cockerell’s

covers, at Sezincote, received the contents of a gun in his face, and

lost the sight of his right eye.

SEPTEMBER 25—Church rate contest at Dudley, carried on with all the zeal

witnessed at a general election. The anti-rate party had a few weeks

before defeated the church party in vestry, but another meeting was

called for this day, when a rate of 10d. in the pound was proposed by Mr.

Isaac Badger, and carried on a poll by 474 to 390 votes.

LOCAL ACT—For better supplying the town of Dudley with water.

1835.

As the Reform enthusiasm had passed away, the elections resulted

unfavourably for the Whigs—the great majority of the counties returning

Conservative members. The Whigs, however, finding that they still

possessed a majority in the new house, set themselves to oppose Sir

Robert Peel’s Government on every point. They carried Mr. Abercromby, as

Speaker, by a majority of 10, and an amendment on the address by a

majority of 7. Sir Robert, however, continued to bring forward his

measures, some of which were generally approved of, and he bade fair to

gain the confidence of the country even under such disadvantageous

circumstances. But on the introduction of the Tithe Bill for Ireland,

Lord John Russell moved that no settlement of Irish Church affairs would

be satisfactory on any other basis than that of appropriating its surplus

revenues to educational purposes; and this was carried by a majority of

27. Sir Robert Peel and his colleagues then retired from office, and

Lord Melbourne again became Prime Minister. The rest of the session was

almost wholly spent in passing the Municipal Reform Bill, and an attempt

to carry a Bill for regulating the Irish Church, which was so mutilated

in the Lords that ministers abandoned it. Consols averaged 91; wheat,

39s. 4d.

FEBRUARY 19—In the well-remembered division on the choice of Speaker for

the new House of Commons under Sir R. Peel’s ministry, Sir T. Winnington,

Bart., Sir C. Cockerell, Captain Winnington, Mr. G. R. Phillips, and Mr.

Cookes voted in the majority of 316 for Mr. Abercrombie—and Mr. Holland,

Mr. Robinson, Colonel Lygon, Mr. Borthwick, Mr. Hawkes, Mr. Bailey, and

Mr. Barneby in the minority of 306 for Sir C. M. Sutton. Thus the whole

12 county members were present, and 5 voted for Mr. Abercrombie and 7 for

Sir C. Manners Sutton.

MARCH 10—On the Marquis of Chandos’s motion for a repeal of the Malt Tax,

which was defeated by a majority of 158, T. H. Cookes, Esq., E. Holland,

Esq., Captain Winnington, J. Bailey, Esq., G. R. Robinson, Esq., Sir T.

Winnington, and Mr. Hawkes voted in the majority—and Col. Lygon, Mr. G.

R. Phillips, Mr. Borthwick, and Mr. Barneby in the minority.

APRIL 20—The East Worcestershire Conservative Association formed at a

meeting at Droitwich, over which John S. Pakington, Esq., presided; the

object being to rescue the Eastern Division from the hands of the Whigs.

The annual subscription was fixed at 5s., but large donations were given

by Lord Redesdale, Lord Eastnor, and others.

APRIL—Addresses sent to Sir Robert Peel—requesting him to continue to

hold office, and expressing confidence in his administration—from

Worcester, Droitwich, Evesham, Hagley, and Oldswinford. A public meeting

was held at Kidderminster, for the purpose of sending an address to His

Majesty—the chair taken by Thomas Bradley, Esq., the High Bailiff—praying

the King to continue the Government in Sir Robert Peel’s hands. The

address received 1,473 signatures.

MAY 25—The first stone of the Worcestershire Natural History Society’s

Museum and Lecture Room, Foregate Street, Worcester, laid by Lord

Lyttelton.

JUNE 12—Petition presented by Mr. Robinson, from Worcester, in favour of

the Municipal Corporation Bill, to which 4,300 signatures were attached.

JUNE 15—The second exhibition of modern paintings opened at the Athenæum,

Foregate Street, containing 228 pictures. Amongst them was M‘Clise’s

fine picture, “The Installation of Captain Rock;” Danby’s “Enchanted

Island” and “Solitude;” five of Constable’s; two of Creswick’s; with

others by Copley Fielding, Lee, &c. The Worcester artists were well

represented.

JULY 30—The first stone of St. Paul’s Church, Blockhouse, Worcester, laid

by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese; the Recorder, Earl Coventry, the

Corporation, and a large concourse of spectators attending. The church

was built entirely by voluntary subscription, being intended to meet the

spiritual wants of the population living in the extra-parochial district,

and consequently not formally under the charge of any particular

clergyman.

AUGUST 4—Mr. Sidebottom, as Town Clerk of Worcester, examined before the

House of Lords, as one of the witnesses against the Municipal

Corporations Reform Bill. His testimony went to say that the

Corporation, as it was, was very good—that there was never any

jobbing—that the freemen had held their rights ever since 1540—that the

freemen were become such by servitude or birth, saying nothing about

purchase—and that any alteration must be for the worse.

OCTOBER 4—The clergy and Dissenting ministers generally, throughout the

county, celebrated the third centenary of the Reformation, and the

printing of the first entire English Protestant Bible by Coverdale, by

preaching appropriate sermons on this day.

OCTOBER 6, 7, AND 3—Mr. John Constable, R.A., the celebrated painter,

lectured at the Athenæum, Worcester, on landscape painting.

OCTOBER—Pershore and Upton Poor Law Unions incorporated.

DECEMBER—Election of the Municipal Corporations—At Kidderminster the

Conservatives had a decided majority; and W. B. Best, Esq., was chosen

Mayor. At Evesham, also, they preponderated; William Barnes, Esq., the

former Mayor, was here reëlected. At Bewdley the new body were all

Conservatives; Slade Baker, Esq., chosen Mayor. At Droitwich they were

all liberals; and E. B. Penrice, Esq., was elected chief magistrate.

LOCAL ACT—For improving the turnpike roads leading into and from the city

of Worcester.

1836.

THE Tithe Commutation Act and the Dissenters’ Marriage Act were the two

principal measures carried this year; the other bills proposed by

Government, respecting the Irish Church, Irish Corporations, and

Charitable Trusts, being so altered in the Lords, that the Commons

refused to agree to their amendments, and they were dropped. Consols

averaged 90; wheat averaged 48s. 6d.

JANUARY 19—Evesham first lighted with gas.

JANUARY 26—THE WORCESTER DIOCESAN CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY formed at a

meeting at the Guildhall, Worcester.

FEBRUARY—The Kidderminster Town Council having sent up a list of six

gentlemen (all Conservatives) as magistrates for the borough, Lord John

Russell refused to approve it, and substituted three other parties (two

being Whigs) for three of the names on the list.

APRIL—The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the revenues of the

Established Church presented their report, from which it appeared that

the total number of benefices in the see of Worcester was 223; gross

total income per annum £73,255: 111 curates were employed at a gross

stipend of £9,002; average, £81 per annum. The incomes of the incumbents

varied from £20 to £1,500 a year. The gross income of the see of

Worcester was set down at £6,916, and of the Dean and Chapter at £12,088.

The eight minor canons received £34 a year, the precentor £14. 15s., the

schoolmaster £39. 19s. 6d., the under master £28. 1 s. 5d.

APRIL 11—Dinner given at the Star Hotel to T. C. Brock, Esq., by the Hunt

Committee, on his resignation of the mastership of the hounds into the

hands of Captain Candler. The Hon. W. J. Coventry took the chair; and J.

S. Pakington, Esq., was vice president.

APRIL 26—The first stone of Hartlebury New Church laid by Mrs. Baker,

wife of the rector, and daughter of the Bishop of the Diocese.

JUNE 30—A splendid silver vase presented, at the George Hotel, Droitwich,

to Mr. T. G. Curtler, “in gratitude for his long services as Town Clerk

of the borough, and as a tribute of respect and esteem for his high

professional integrity and private character.” J. S. Pakington, Esq.,

was called to the chair by the meeting, and presented the plate in a

highly eulogistic speech.

JULY 8—_The Kidderminster Messenger_ started by Mr. Arthur Brough, a

bookseller in that town, and also carrying on a similar business at

Stourport. It at first professed to be a neutral newspaper, and, as

such, had an extensive circulation amongst men of all parties in

Kidderminster and the neighbourhood. Mr. Brough afterwards thought he

could, as a commercial speculation, improve the paper by making it a

thorough going Tory print, and he gave it the name of the _Ten Towns’

Messenger_, alluding to ten towns round Kidderminster in which it

circulated. From this time it was furious in its politics and in the

language employed to advocate its principles. It reached its greatest

circulation when it extended its labours to Birmingham; the news of which

town was given at much length, and it assumed, consequently the

additional title of _The __Birmingham Times_. This was in 1839–40; and

from 1,700 to 1,800 copies, weekly, were sold at this time. In 1841,

however, Mr. Brough started the _National Advertiser_, by which he

expected to make much more money than by the _Ten Towns_, and in June,

1842, he sold it to the Rev. Charles Eckersall. The Tractarian

principles which it now advocated were, however, by no means palatable to

the majority of its readers, and the circulation of the paper gradually

declined, till Mr. Eckersall—like most other amateur newspaper

proprietors, having lost much money by it—got rid of it. The paper then

became the property of Mr. Friend, bookseller, of Kidderminster, but,

from various causes continued to fall off in circulation; and when it had

sunk to some 400 weekly, it was at last altogether discontinued on the

30th of June, 1849.

AUGUST 25—Two superb pieces of plate—a silver vase and salver, weighing

together 286 ounces—presented to the Rev. J. Topham, M.A., of Droitwich,

by J. H. H. Foley, Esq., on behalf of the parishioners and friends of Mr.

Topham, who had purchased them by subscription, “as a token of respect to

his general character, and a testimony of the sense entertained by them

of his services in the cause of civil and religious liberty.” The

ceremony of presentation took place at the Court House.

SEPTEMBER 26—St. Peter’s Church, Malvern Wells, consecrated.

SEPTEMBER 31—Mr. Macready performed at Worcester Theatre in _Ion_.

DECEMBER 14—Worcester Union incorporated under the New Poor Law, and the

guardians elected by the several city parishes. H. B. Tymbs, Esq., was

elected chairman of the new board, and Mr. Alderman R. Evans

vice-chairman.

DECEMBER 24—The Lord Chancellor appointed, as trustees of the Worcester

charities, the gentlemen nominated by the Town Council, in preference to

those named by the old Corporation. The trustees thus appointed were—the

Mayor (C. H. Hebb, Esq.), Alderman R. Evans, John Dent, Esq., Mr.

Alderman Hall, Robert Berkeley, jun., Esq., Alderman W. Corles, William

Shaw, Esq., John Nash, Esq., George Allies, Esq., Mr. Thomas Grainger,

Humphrey Chamberlain, Esq., J. P. Lavender, Esq., Mr. Alderman Howell,

Francis Thomas Gibb, Esq., John Williams, Esq. The charities under the

management of the six masters were exempted from the operation of the

seventy-first section of the Municipal Reform Act. The Rev. E. Crane

resigned the chaplaincy of Berkeley’s Hospital, and the Rev. Edwin

Faulkner elected in his stead. Mr. E. Corles was chosen solicitor to the

trust.

LOCAL ACT—For making the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway.

1837.

THE subjects which occupied the attention of the legislature this year

were many and important, but no measures of great public polity actually

passed. Ecclesiastical matters formed the prominent topic, and a bill to

abolish church rates, and provide for the reparation of churches, by

putting the property of bishops, deans, and chapters into commission, was

read a second time, but the majority was so small, five votes only, that

ministers could not proceed with it. King William IV died on the 20th of

June; and, in the elections which followed the accession of the young

Queen, the Whigs with difficulty maintained their majority. Consols

averaged 91½; wheat averaged 55s. 10d.

SEPTEMBER—Great excitement in Bromsgrove over politico-parochial matters.

Two parties were appointed by the Conservative party at the usual

time—Easter week; but this appointment, on an appeal to Dr. Phillimore,

the Chancellor of the Diocese, was declared informal and illegal. There

was, consequently, a fresh election in this month, when the whole parish

was routed up to vote. The result was, the choice of the two

liberals—Messrs. Ellins (who had 945 votes) and Hill (who had 915). The

Conservatives were Messrs. Edwards and Penn, who obtained 381 and 372

votes respectively. A scrutiny was demanded, and it dragged out a weary

length with all sorts of expenses, but left the result of the election

unaltered.

SEPTEMBER 13—Bazaar at Evesham, for the restoration of St. Lawrence’s

Church, producing £250.

OCTOBER 30—Public meeting of the burgesses of Worcester at the Bell Inn,

to consider the best means of declaring their grateful sense of Mr.

Hebb’s constant endeavours in the behalf of civil and religious liberty,

and their approval of his conduct during the two years he had filled the

office of chief magistrate. It was determined that he should be

requested to sit for his portrait, and that the Council should be asked

to place it in the Assembly Room, where it now hangs.

LOCAL ACTS—For amending and enlarging the powers of the act for erecting

a County Hall and Courts of Assize; the New Cattle Market Act; Birmingham

and Gloucester Railway Amendment Act, with powers to make branches to

Worcester and Tewkesbury.

1838.

IRISH Tithes and Corporations—Church Rates—Jamaica and the Negro

Apprenticeship System, and the Canadas—formed the subjects of discussion

in Parliament. In the year previous had commenced that series of

deficits which contributed so much to the weakness and ultimate downfall

of the Melbourne administration: for finance is, after all, the

life-blood of a ministry. The Whigs could not, however, fairly be blamed

for the state of the national exchequer, which, in truth, was the

unavoidable consequence of the measures of former years. Immediately

after the restriction of small notes, in the year 1829, the prices of

merchandise and the amount of mercantile transactions rapidly declined;

though as the seasons were unfavourable, speculators managed, by aid of

the sliding scale, to keep up the price of corn till 1833, when it fell

to less than 40s. a quarter. Speculation in the American trade gained

for a time the appearance of prosperity; but on the failure of the United

States Bank in 1836, affairs were brought to a crisis, and our

manufacturers and merchants were plunged into extreme distress—trade was

utterly stagnated—and when the scarcity of 1839 necessitated large

importations of corn, and a drain of gold to pay for it, the Bank of

England was well nigh brought into the peril of 1825. Consols averaged

93; wheat averaged 64s. 7d.

JANUARY—The _Worcestershire Chronicle_ established by a joint stock

company, at the head of which were some of the leading Reformers of the

city and county. It was designed to supply a want, then beginning to be

generally felt by this party, of an organ for the advocacy of their

opinions, and the advancement of their interests through the medium of

the press. The first number was published on the 3rd of January, 1838.

In the year 1842 the concern passed into private hands, and was

transferred to the present proprietors.

JANUARY 22—Mr. Pakington made his Parliamentary _debût_ in a speech on

Canadian affairs, which was very well received.

JANUARY—Subscriptions at Evesham, Redditch, and Pershore, for the relief

of the local poor during an inclement season.

FEBRUARY—George Williams, Esq., surgeon, of Bewdley, nominated by Lord

John Russell as a magistrate of that borough, and the Town Council

thereof very indignant at not having been consulted. The Liberals

afterwards _fêted_ Mr. Williams at a dinner at the George Inn.

MARCH 27—Celebration of Lord Ward’s majority at Himley, Sedgley, Dudley,

&c., by a succession of dinners and donations to the poor. The barrel of

ale called “Big Ben,” which had been brewed on Lord Ward’s natal day, and

reserved especially for this occasion, was tapped and distributed. His

lordship layed the first stone of a new church at Gornal, and afterwards

entertained a party of fifty gentlemen to a sumptuous feast at Himley

Hall. He declared himself a Conservative.

JUNE 28—Celebration of Her Majesty’s coronation in Worcester and other

county towns. In Worcester the Yeomanry and Militia, the Town Council,

5,000 Sunday school children, and the various trade companies made up a

procession to the Cathedral, where a sermon was preached by Dr. Faussett.

2,100 poor people dined at the public expense in the Guildhall, Market

House, and Sansome Walk. 200 gentlemen dined together at the Shire Hall;

George Allies, Esq., Mayor, in the chair. Fireworks in the evening; and

a public breakfast for the ladies next morning in the Shire Hall.

OCTOBER 4—At the annual assembly of the Yeomanry this year, Colonel Clive

presented Captain Emmott with a splendid service in silver, which had

been subscribed for generally by the regiment. The officers this year

gave a grand ball in the New Shire Hall.

OCTOBER 27—A man named George Burrows committed from Droitwich for

stealing hay, made his escape from the County Gaol, having managed to

secrete himself in the yard until all the rest of the prisoners were

marched into the chapel to attend service. All his gaol clothes were

found returned one morning, being thrown into the court yard of the

prison.

DECEMBER 4—Consecration of the church of St. Peter the Great, Worcester,

by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. The sermon was preached by the Rev.

C. Benson. The old building would only accommodate 350 persons; the

present church contains 408 appropriated, and 624 free sittings. The

total cost was £3,600. £169 were collected after the services this day.

DECEMBER 6—Consecration of Christ Church Chapel, Catshill, near

Bromsgrove, by the Lord Bishop of Rochester. This chapel, built for the

accommodation of a populous district, contains 520 sittings. £45 were

collected after a sermon by the Bishop.

DECEMBER 16—Great excitement created at Bromsgrove and its neighbourhood,

by the supposed murder of a Redditch needle pointer, named Joshua

Hollier. He went to the Malt Shovel public house at Burcott, and was

drinking, quarrelling, and fighting there during the whole of this

(Sunday) afternoon, with “navvies” who worked on the Birmingham and

Gloucester line then making in the neighbourhood. He went out of the

house about eight o’clock, and was soon after found lying on the ground

insensible. His shoes had been taken away. He was brought into the

house, and shortly afterwards died without having spoken. The coroner’s

jury, after six days’ examination of witnesses, returned a verdict of

wilful murder against John Rose, a “navvie” who went to the house with

him, and was supposed to have kicked the deceased as he lay on the

ground, and so caused his death. He was heard afterwards to say he “had

given him enough,” and such like expressions. The grand jury before whom

the case came threw out the bill.

1839.

THE Whigs being reduced to an extremity of weakness, resigned office in

May, when the measures they proposed to take with regard to Jamaica were

only carried by a majority of five. Sir Robert Peel, however, was unable

to form a Government, because Her Majesty would not consent to change the

ladies of her bedchamber, and Lord Melbourne once more assumed the

Premiership. The Chartist disturbances at Newport and elsewhere were the

most notable occurrences of the year. The Corn Law question began to

secure increased attention. Consols averaged 92½; wheat averaged 70s.

8d.

JANUARY—Discussions on Socialism rife in Worcester. Robert Owen having

been propounding his plans, John Brindley, head master of the Oldswinford

hospital, delivered a series of lectures to refute him. A public

controversy between them at the Guildhall attracted great crowds. Dr.

Malden took the chair, and Brindley spoke first. Owen afterwards at

great length gave a rambling account of his opinions, till he at last

gave utterance to a very gross sentiment, at which a general yell arose,

and the proceedings terminated in the utmost confusion. A vote of

censure was passed on Owen in dumb show, and the people were so excited

that he narrowly escaped some very rough treatment.

JANUARY 15—Bewdley first lighted with gas.

JANUARY—The gaol fever raged in the county prison, in which, though only

built for 90, no less than 209 prisoners were confined.

FEBRUARY 18—The members for this county who voted against Mr. Villiers’s

motion that parties should be heard at the bar of the House against the

Corn Laws, were Mr. Bailey, Mr. Hawkes, General Lygon, Mr. Pakington, Mr.

Horace St. Paul, Captain Rushout, Sir T. Winnington, and Captain

Winnington. Colonel Davies and Lord M. Hill voted for it, and Mr. Godson

was absent. The motion was negatived by 361 to 172.

MAY 7—Public meeting of the citizens of Worcester to sanction the newly

formed CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, as an association simply intended to promote

the commercial interests of the city without reference to politics. Mr.

Alderman Allies filled the chair, and gentlemen of all parties spoke

warmly in support of the Chamber.

1840.

PARLIAMENT was engaged for a great part of the session with the question

of privilege arising out of the Stockdale and Hansard case. The Whigs

continued to hold office on most precarious tenure, being defeated in

their proposal to allow Prince Albert £50,000 a year. A want of

confidence motion, however, proposed by Sir J. Yarde Buller, resulted in

a majority of 21 in their favour. The happy marriage of the Queen with

Prince Albert of Saxe Coburg and Gotha was celebrated on the 10th

February. Consols averaged 91; wheat averaged 66s. 4d.

FEBRUARY 4—The Board of Guardians for the Pershore Union petitioned the

House of Lords for the dismissal of the assistant poor law commissioners,

as a useless and expensive body of men. The Rev. F. Best opposed the

motion, but it was carried by 25 to 5. The Droitwich Guardians did the

same.

FEBRUARY 10—Her Majesty’s marriage kept in Worcester as a general

holiday—dinners given to operatives by their employers—and a ball in the

evening at the Guildhall. Public dinners at Great Malvern, Droitwich,

and Evesham; and at the latter place a subscription was entered into for

the poor, which amounted to 100 guineas.

MARCH 28—The Worcestershire Agricultural Society held a general meeting

of members to petition against any alteration of the Corn Laws. Sir A.

Lechmere, Bart., was in the chair; and the petition, which was proposed

by Mr. John Williams and seconded by Mr. John Dent, was unanimously

adopted.

APRIL 18—A rule granted by the Court of Queen’s Bench, calling upon E. B.

Penrice, Esq., Mayor of Droitwich, to show cause why a writ of _quo

warranto_ should not be issued against him for having held the office of

Mayor of that borough for three successive years. This discreditable

proceeding was taken under an obsolete statute of Queen Anne’s time.

Though the proceedings were abandoned, Mr. Penrice resigned the office,

and Mr. Alderman Tombs was elected in his stead.

MAY—The PRISONERS’ RELIEF SOCIETY first established. This association,

with very limited means, has done much good, and that of a very necessary

kind, in assisting well behaved prisoners to go to their homes and escape

from temptation on their release from confinement. The credit of

suggesting it is wholly due to the Rev. Thomas Pearson.

MAY—The _Paul Pry_ made its appearance in Worcester, filled with

scurrilous lampoons upon individual character, and the agent in that city

received a sound horsewhipping in his own back parlour from one of the

parties libelled.

JUNE 11—An excited church rate contest in the parish of St. Martin,

Worcester; the numbers at the close of the poll being—for a rate of

four-pence in the pound, 185; against it, 183. A similar contest took

place in St. Peter’s parish a few days afterwards, which ended in a

majority of 66 for the rate—185 votes for and 119 against it.

JULY 22—Great dinner of the operatives of Bromsgrove, in an immense tent

on the bowling green of the Bell Inn. G. F. Iddins, Esq., filled the

chair, and nearly 1,200 persons sat down at the tables. William Acton,

Esq., Mr. Twamley, Rev. T. Ashwell, Mr. J. B. Crane, Mr. F. T. Elgie, and

the Rev. Mr. Blakeman were the chief speakers, and the obnoxiousness of

church rates (a subject of great agitation at Bromsgrove) the chief

theme.

JULY 31—Silver bread basket and waiter, pair of snuffers and tray

presented to Captain Rayer of Hillworth, by the tithepayers and

titheowners of Castlemorton, for the upright manner in which he had acted

as agent for the great tithes of that parish for twenty years.

AUGUST 7—The Beer House Bill, introduced by Mr. Pakington, received the

royal assent.

AUGUST 10—The Worcester Bridge Trustees having determined to widen the

bridge, and offered a premium of ten guineas for the best plan, awarded

the same to Mr. E. L. Williams, in preference to the plans of Mr. Daukes

and Mr. Varden, by a majority of five. The bridge has been widened in

accordance with Mr. Williams’s plan, and the alteration proves to be both

elegant and durable.

SEPTEMBER 23—Several bodies of dead infants found in an old house at

Droitwich, where Mary Hall, an aged crone of very eccentric habits,

resided. Her husband had been sexton of the parish of St. Peter’s,

Droitwich, and during his last illness the woman had pretended to see his

duties properly performed. These bodies, however—instead of taking the

trouble to have them buried—she had stowed away amidst a variety of

remnants of food and other odds and ends. The whole house was in a state

of most disgusting filth. Mr. Hughes held an inquest on the skeletons,

and verdicts of “Died by the visitation of God” were returned. Mr. W. H.

Ricketts protested against all such proceedings, as unnecessary, and said

that at the Michaelmas Sessions he should move for the disallowance of

the expenses.

NOVEMBER 10—The boiler of a new locomotive, which had been brought on the

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway for trial, exploded while standing in a

shed at the Bromsgrove Station, and two men in the Company’s employ,

named Rutherford and Scaife, were killed. The boiler plates were

supposed not to have been of sufficient thickness.

NOVEMBER 13—Lord Lyttelton became a candidate for the office of High

Steward of Cambridge, in opposition to Lord Lyndhurst. Lord Lyndhurst

had 973 votes, to 487 given for Lord Lyttelton.

LOCAL ACT—For the establishment of a Court of Requests for the parishes

of Kingsnorton and Northfield.

1841.

THE Government having determined to seek an escape from the exigencies of

their financial position by a reduction of the custom duties on articles

of general consumption, the party in the country, who had for some time

been seeking the abolition of all such duties, immediately assumed a much

greater importance. The article first chosen for operation was

sugar—Lord John Russell at the same time giving notice that he intended

to propose a fixed duty of 8s. upon corn. The ministers, however, were

defeated in their proposal to reduce the sugar duties, by a majority of

36; and a vote of want of confidence moved by Sir R. Peel, was carried by

a majority of one. Ministers then dissolved Parliament, avowedly

appealing to the country on their free trade measures. The elections,

however, were decidedly against them. On the reassembling of Parliament

an amendment was carried on the address, by a majority of 91, and the

Whigs resigned. Sir Robert Peel then took office, but nothing more was

done this year in the way of legislation—the finances being made to

square by adding the £2,100,000 deficiency in the revenue to the National

Debt. Consols averaged 89; wheat, 64s. 4d.

JANUARY 20—Accident on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, at Bredon.

A train, in passing through a deep cutting, had shaken down a large

quantity of earth, in which the engine became embedded, and ran off the

line. The chain connecting the engine and tender snapped, and so no harm

occurred to the passengers; but the stoker fell between the two, and his

legs being cut off in a most dreadful manner, he soon afterwards died.

JANUARY 26—The body of a respectable young female, named Mary Anne

Patrick, found in Salwarpe Brook, under what at first appeared to be very

suspicious circumstances. She had been visiting relations at Wichbold,

and went out on the Wednesday morning for a walk by herself, but no

tidings were afterwards heard of her. When nearly a week had elapsed,

the Bromsgrove fire engine was passing through the brook, and the body

suddenly came to the surface. There appeared to be some severe wounds on

the head, which of course originated the belief that she had been

murdered; but when a _post mortem_ examination came to be made, it was

clear that she had fallen a victim to the pernicious practice of tight

lacing, and had fallen into the brook in an apoplectic fit. The

coroner’s jury returned an open verdict.

JULY 25—The fatal affray between Mr. Emanuel Maiden, of the Shakspere

Inn, and John Fisher, ostler at the Star Hotel, which caused so much

excitement in Worcester, occurred this evening. Maiden and Fisher had

long been upon bad terms, and this night, about half-past twelve o’clock,

they unfortunately met in Angel Street, and a furious quarrel took place.

Maiden broke away from Sergeant Chipp, who was trying to keep him back,

and ran after Fisher. Several witnesses said they saw Maiden strike

Fisher on the back of the head, and he fell across the pavement. From

the effects of the blow, or the fall, Fisher died on the succeeding

Wednesday; and after several days’ inquiry, the coroner’s jury returned a

verdict of manslaughter against Maiden. He was admitted to bail on

Judge’s order, and tried at the ensuing Lent Assizes, when he was found

guilty, with a recommendation to mercy, and sentenced to a month’s

imprisonment without hard labour.

SEPTEMBER 12—Bazaar and concert at Evesham, for raising funds towards

building new national school-rooms, by which about £200 were obtained.

NOVEMBER—John Hill Clifton, Esq., T. G. Curtler, Esq., William Dent,

Esq., Francis Hooper, Esq., Matthew Pierpoint, Esq., and R. Yapp, Esq.,

all Conservatives, put in the commission of the peace for the city of

Worcester.

DECEMBER 6—The WORCESTER OPHTHALMIC SOCIETY formed, and a sharp contest

for the assistant surgeonship between Mr. T. Walsh and Mr. Everett, the

former of whom had 162, and the latter 130 votes.

DECEMBER 18—Several daring robberies committed on the road between Severn

Stoke and Tewkesbury, and a locksmith named Richard Kington found

dead—robbed, and apparently murdered—at Clifton, about midway between

Severn Stoke and Kempsey. The coroner’s jury returned a verdict of

“wilful murder” against a man of bad character living at Severn Stoke.

Kington’s knife and tobacco were found in Tippin’s small clothes, and the

waggoner’s whip, which he had been carrying, in an outhouse adjoining to

Tippin’s abode. Tippin was tried at the ensuing assizes, but was

acquitted of the murder because there was some doubt whether the hurts on

the person of the deceased might not have been caused by a cart wheel

passing over his body; but he was found guilty of robbing the deceased,

and sentenced to transportation for life.

LOCAL ACTS—For better assessing and collecting the poor rates in

Kidderminster. For repairing the road from Hagley to Birmingham. To

extend the jurisdiction of the Kingsnorton Court of Requests.

1842.

SIR ROBERT PEEL’S measures, which he would not disclose “till he was

regularly called in,” proved to be a three per cent. income tax, a

sliding scale of duties on corn, intended to keep the price at 56s., and

a new tariff—all of which, in spite of many dissentients on both sides of

the house, he carried by large majorities. Consols averaged 92; wheat,

57s. 3d.

JANUARY—New magistrates added to the commission of the peace at

Kidderminster and Evesham. At Kidderminster, John Sutton Barber, George

Hooman, James Morton, John Welch, and Thomas Bradley, Esquires. At

Evesham, E. T. Perrott, Robert Blayney, and John Thomas, Esquires. Of

course all were Conservatives.

FEBRUARY 16—In the division on Lord John Russell’s amendment to Sir

Robert Peel’s proposal to alter the sliding scale, Mr. Bailey, Mr.

Borthwick, Mr. Barneby, Mr. Godson, Mr. Hawkes, Mr. Pakington, Mr.

Taylor, General Lygon, and Mr. F. W. Knight, voted in the majority of 351

against the amendment, and Lord M. Hill and Sir T. Winnington, Bart., in

the minority of 228 in its favour. Sir Thomas Wilde paired off in its

favour.

APRIL 1—The Worcester glove manufacturers met and discussed Sir Robert

Peel’s proposal to reduce the duty on gloves in the new tariff, and said

that they should be obliged to cease to employ any men at all if it was

adopted. A deputation of the glovers afterwards waited on Lord Ripon,

and Sir Thomas Wilde very ably stated their case—a plea _ad

misericordiam_.

APRIL 26—Riots in Dudley, in consequence of a reduction of wages amongst

the nailors. Several people hurt by the Enniskillen Dragoons, in

clearing the streets, and others committed to gaol.

JUNE 27—The Mayor of Worcester (Edward Evans, Esq.), Mr. Alderman

Hastings, Mr. Alderman Lilly, and Mr. E. Webb, added to the Worcester

Charity Trustees, to fill up vacancies. The Conservatives presented a

petition, praying that the number of trustees might be increased from

fifteen to twenty-one, of course expecting that the additional names

would be appointed from their party, and so they might obtain a

preponderance in the body; but this was opposed by the existing trustees,

and the Lord Chancellor refused to sanction it.

JULY 2—Sir Thomas Winnington brought home his amiable bride (eldest

daughter of Sir Compton Domville) to Stanford Court, and was greeted by

his tenantry and neighbours in a very enthusiastic manner—triumphal

arches, music, strewing flowers, long processions, and other modes of

welcome being adopted to exhibit the feeling entertained towards the

honourable baronet.

JULY 25—First stone of Wittington Church laid by the Rev. W. R. Holden.

AUGUST 6—The colliers near Dudley struck for an increase of wages, and

the Dudley troop of Yeomanry being called out, came upon them as they

were proceeding to violence at the Cotsall pits, and took ten men

prisoners.

AUGUST 23—St. Michael’s Church, Worcester, consecrated by the Lord Bishop

of the Diocese.

OCTOBER 15—Military _fêtes_ at Hewell. The usual permanent duty of the

Worcestershire Yeomanry was this year dispensed with, as many of the

troops had been engaged in harrassing service in the collieries during

the strikes; but the review was held in Hewell Park—the inspecting

officer being Colonel Thorne. The whole regiment was afterwards invited

by their colonel to dinner in an immense tent near the hall—900 persons

sitting down to the feast. Amongst the company at the principal table

were Colonel Clive (chairman), Lord Lyttelton, Lord Foley, Earl Somers,

Viscount Eastnor, Lord Ward, Lord Sandys, Earl of Dartmouth, Colonel

Thorne, Sir William Clinton, Sir O. Wakeman, Sir C. Throckmorton, J. H.

H. Foley, Esq., J. S. Pakington, Esq., Hon. and Rev. W. W. C. Talbot, &c.

Colonel Clive’s health was proposed by Lord Lyttelton, and drank with the

greatest enthusiasm.

LOCAL ACTS—For the Improvement of the River Severn; Stourbridge Roads

Act; Bromyard Roads Act.

1843.

DISTRESS in the manufacturing districts gave increased force and vigour

to the anti-corn law agitation; but Lord Howick’s motion for a committee

of inquiry into the causes of that distress was negatived by a majority

of 306 to 191, and Mr. Villiers’s annual motion for a committee of the

whole House upon the corn laws was supported by only 125 members, while

381 voted against it. The defeat of Sir James Graham’s educational

measure by the opposition of the Dissenters was the most remarkable

feature in the Parliamentary year. In Scotland the year was most

signally marked by the secession of the non-intrusionist ministers from

the Established Church, carrying with them the bulk of the laity—in

Ireland, by the violence of the repeal agitation, and the arrest of Mr.

O’Connell—and in Wales, by the singular outbreak against turnpike gates,

known as the Rebecca riots. Consols averaged 95; wheat averaged 50s. 1d.

FEBRUARY 21—The WORCESTER CITY MISSION, a Christian society which has

been, and continues to be, the means of doing a great deal of good

amongst the poor, with a very small income, established at a meeting held

at the Natural History Society’s room, over which the Mayor presided.

APRIL 4—The Worcester magistrates, at their quarter sessional meeting,

appointed Mr. Herbert Budd as surgeon to the City Gaol, in the room of

Mr. F. Walter, retired. The Council had claimed the right to see to all

the expenses of the gaol, and not leave the supply of provisions in the

hands of the visiting magistrates; and the magistrates claimed the right

of appointing all officers, under the 38th clause of 1st Vict., cap. 78.

APRIL 17—Dinner to the Dudley magistrates, to express approval of their

conduct during recent disturbances. Lord Ward presided, and Lord

Lyttelton and about one hundred other gentlemen were present. The

magistrates had refused to accept as bail for Chartists persons of the

same political opinions, and the matter had been made subject of severe

comment in the House of Commons.

MAY—The Dissenters throughout the county petitioned urgently against the

educational measures proposed by Government.

JUNE 20—A meeting held at Bromsgrove, with the view of alleviating the

distress of the nailors, whom low wages, and a strike in consequence, had

reduced to a condition of grievous wretchedness. The Right Hon. and Rev.

Lord Aston took the chair, and a subscription was entered into, and a

goodly sum raised, to be laid out under the management of a committee.

AUGUST 1—A Commission of Inquiry opened at the Angel Inn, Pershore, into

the conduct of the Rev. William Smith, Vicar of Overbury. The

commissioners appointed by the Bishop were Dr. Phillimore, Chancellor of

the Diocese; Archdeacon Timbrill; Rev. F. D. Gilby; Rev. T. A.

Strickland; and Rev. W. Parker. The charges preferred by the

parishioners were twenty-two in number, and were supported by Mr.

Elgie—Mr. Foley appearing for the vicar. The inquiry lasted four days,

and a great number of witnesses were examined _pro._ and _con._ On the

18th, the chancellor pronounced the decision of the Commission in the

Lady Chapel at the Cathedral, Worcester. Many of the charges were

abandoned; and of those that remained, the chancellor said that on six a

_prima facie_ case had been made out for the Bishop to institute further

proceedings. These were, the removal of tombstones without a faculty;

thrice forcibly expelling the clerk during the service; placing persons

in the singing gallery to “read him down;” refusing to ask the prayers of

the congregation for a parishioner; and interfering in the election of

churchwardens. There was also a special presentment as to his general

conduct. As the Rev. gentleman refused to submit the matter to the

Bishop, further proceedings were referred to the superior courts, but

none were taken. The Bishop afterwards addressed an admonitory letter to

the Rev. gentleman, which was published, and drew from him a very

singular reply.

AUGUST 2—A porter on the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway, named John

Killcash, having been drinking in the evening, laid himself down upon the

rails and fell asleep. The next train which came up severed his head

from his body.

AUGUST 8—The Queen Dowager took up her abode at Witley Court. Triumphal

arches, and other methods of welcome, were adopted at Droitwich. On the

following Monday week Her Majesty visited Worcester, and attended divine

service in the Cathedral. Her return was to have been a public progress,

but the torrents of rain which descended spoilt the whole affair; so that

all the civic dignitaries could do was to rush down the Guildhall steps

in their scarlet robes, just as Her Majesty passed, and bow their

acknowledgments at the carriage door. On the evening after, the

tradesmen honoured by Her Majesty’s patronage illuminated their houses.

The Queen Dowager afterwards sent a cheque for £100 to the funds of the

Worcester Infirmary.

AUGUST 19—The first stone of a new Chapel of Ease laid at Barnard’s

Green, by the Lady Emily Foley.

AUGUST 30—The SEVERN AND TEME FISHERIES ASSOCIATION formed at a public

meeting held in the Guildhall, Worcester; Matthew Pierpoint, Esq., in the

chair.

OCTOBER 7—Messrs. Cobden and Bright visited Worcester, in furtherance of

the anti-corn law agitation, and addressed an audience of about 1,200

people in the Guildhall. The High Sheriff refused to call a county

meeting; therefore Edward Holland, Esq., took the chair. But a small

proportion of the meeting were farmers. There was a show of opposition

on the part of the Chartists, but it was very feeble and soon put down.

The corn law repealers afterwards had a dinner at the Bell Inn; W. B.

Collis, Esq., in the chair, and Robert Hardy, Esq., vice-president.

OCTOBER 29—The new parish church at Oldswinford opened for divine

service, with two sermons by the Lord Bishop and the Rev. T. L.

Claughton. The collections amounted to £207. This church cost about

£5,000, and it contains 1,457 sittings—781 of which are free.

OCTOBER 27—The Chapel of Ease at Headless Cross consecrated. The Lord

Bishop preached, and £60. 11s. were collected. The building will seat

about 250 persons, and most of the sittings are free.

DECEMBER 10—Earl Beauchamp’s cash box, containing about £120, stolen

during the night from his dressing-room, at Madresfield Court. The thief

was never discovered.

DECEMBER 18—A Winter Assizes before Mr. Baron Rolfe, occupying three

days. None of the cases tried were of much importance.

LOCAL ACTS—To enable the Worcestershire and Staffordshire Canal Company

to lend money to the Severn Navigation Commissioners; to enable the

Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Company to raise a further sum of

money, and to amend the acts relating thereto.

1844.

THE legislature was this year occupied with many exciting subjects;

especially the state of Ireland, then agitated by the proceedings on Mr.

O’Connell’s trial; restrictions on labour in factories; and the

Dissenters’ Chapel Bill. The financial measures of the year were

likewise very important; including, as they did, the reduction of the

Three-and-half per Cents., and the passing of the Bank Restriction Act—an

act, the wisdom of which is yet to be determined. Mr. Villiers’s annual

motion for repeal of the Corn Laws was negatived by 328 to 124. Consols

in October reached 100⅞, and averaged throughout the year, 99; wheat

averaged 51s. 3d.

FEBRUARY 16—The OMBERSLEY LABOURERS’ FRIENDLY SOCIETY, for granting

allotments in that parish, set on foot by the Hon. and Rev. W. W. C.

Talbot.

APRIL 12—The WORCESTERSHIRE LABOURERS’ FRIENDLY SOCIETY formed at an

influential meeting of landowners and farmers at the Shire Hall, over

which Lord Lyttelton presided. The object of the society was to

ameliorate the condition and standing of the agricultural labourers, by

giving them allotments.

JULY 29—A silver tankard, weighing fifty ounces, presented to T. C.

Hornyold, Esq., by his tenantry, at their audit dinner.

OCTOBER 5—Great festivities at Eardiston, on Sir William Smith attaining

his majority.

DECEMBER 1—The Lord Bishop of the Diocese, in delivering an ordination

charge, expressed very decidedly his disapproval of Tractarianism and the

revival of obsolete customs in the Church, such as preaching in the

surplice.

DECEMBER 28—An illicit still, which had been for some time quietly at

work in Worcester, discovered and seized by the police.

LOCAL ACT—To alter and extend the provisions of the Severn Improvement

Act.

1845.

SPECULATION and wild schemes, such as England had not seen since the

hey-day of South Sea projects, signalised the earlier part of the year.

The railway mania, indeed, continued till November; and then came a

sudden collapse, of which it is only to be wondered that its effects were

not more serious and lasting. In Parliament, the most important measures

were the re-imposition of the Income Tax, with an amended tariff, and the

increase of the Maynooth Grant from £9,000 to £26,360 per annum,

henceforth to be paid out of the Consolidated Fund, instead of being an

annual Parliamentary grant. A large number of petitions were presented

against the measure, but the second reading was carried by 323 to 176.

Consols, which stood at 100⅝ in January, sunk in December to 94⅝; wheat

averaged 50s. 10d.

APRIL 19—In the division on the second reading of the Maynooth Grant

Bill, when ministers had a majority in favour of the Bill of 147 in a

House of 503, Mr. Barneby, Mr. Godson, Mr. J. S. Pakington, Sir Thomas

Wilde, and Sir Thomas Winnington, voted with the majority; and Mr. F. W.

Knight and Mr. J. A. Taylor with the minority. General Lygon, Lord

Marcus Hill, Mr. Borthwick, and Mr. Benbow were absent.

MAY 24—Festivities at Hewell, continuing during several days, to

celebrate the attainment of Mr. Robert Clive’s majority. Several dinners

in the tennis court, dancing parties among the labourers, treats to the

school children, &c.

JULY 3—Mr. Pierpoint brought forward a motion, at the meeting of the

Worcester Turnpike Trustees, for an amalgamation of the different

districts, so as to enable the poorer roads to get out of debt. This was

opposed by the gentlemen who lived in the more lightly taxed districts,

and lost on a division by 18 to 10.

AUGUST 11—The first Worcester regatta.

AUGUST 30—A fearful collision occurred at the Defford station; first in a

luggage train dashing against another that was being moved to a siding,

and then in the down train dashing into the wreck of the luggage train,

and becoming itself a mass of confusion. Three passengers lost their

lives, and several others were injured; one engine was smashed, and

several carriages were set on fire. The coroner’s jury laid a deodand of

£1,500 upon the engine, because there appeared to have been much

negligence on the part of the officials.

NOVEMBER 7—A brick maker, named Humphrey Willis, having become

intoxicated, wandered on to the railway at Stoke Prior, and was killed by

the night mail train.

DECEMBER 25—Abberley Hall, the residence of Mrs. Moilliett, destroyed by

fire.

LOCAL ACTS—The Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway Act. To

enable the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Company to make a branch at

Stoke Prior, and for other purposes. To make and maintain a road from

Stanford bridge to Ham bridge, Clifton-on-Teme.

1846.

SIR ROBERT PEEL having, from the failure of the potato crop and the

imminence of famine, become convinced that the Corn Laws could no longer

be maintained, resigned office in December, 1845, and resumed it again

for the purpose of carrying Free Trade measures when Lord John Russell

had failed to form a Government. His measure for a gradual reduction of

the duties on corn was ordered to go into committee, after twelve nights’

debate, by a majority of 337 to 240. After the settlement of the new

commercial policy, the Government was defeated by a union of the Whigs

and Protectionists, in a proposal to carry a bill for the repression of

outrage in Ireland; and this was followed by Sir Robert Peel’s retirement

from office, which had for some time been foreseen as unavoidable. Lord

John Russell then became Premier. Consols averaged 95½; wheat, 54s. 8d.

JANUARY 13—St. Matthias’ Church, Malvern Link, in the parish of Leigh,

consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. £130 were collected after

a sermon by his lordship. The total cost was £1,700, and it will seat

350 persons.

FEBRUARY 27—In the first division on Sir Robert Peel’s Free Trade

measures, the majority included Mr. Benbow, Hon. R. Clive, Viscount

Eastnor, Mr. R. Godson, Lord Marcus Hill, Mr. Robert Scott, Sir Thomas

Wilde, and Sir Thomas E. Winnnington. Mr. Borthwick, Mr. F. W. Knight,

General Lygon, Mr. Pakington, Mr. R. Spooner, and Mr. J. A. Taylor voted

with the minority.

MARCH 21—The Queen Dowager took her final leave of Witley Court.

MAY 11—The Worcester New Gas Company’s Bill went into committee. The

Marquis of Granby, as chairman, suggested an amicable arrangement between

the New and Old Companies. The committee accordingly adjourned for two

days, and an agreement was then effected, principally by the zealous

endeavours of Sir Thomas Wilde. The New Company consented to become

purchasers of the Old Company’s plant, works, and stock at a valuation by

arbitrators, and to pay £1,000 over and above the valuation, but to give

nothing for “goodwill;” this being the point which had been the principal

difficulty in the way of an arrangement.

JULY 3—Blowing-up of the Droitwich Patent Salt Company’s Works by the

sudden explosion of the steam pipes. Two men named Carter, father and

son, were so severely scalded that they died in a few hours after the

accident.

AUGUST 4—First meeting of the Worcestershire Archery Society at Strensham

Court. The Dowager Lady Winnington was Lady Paramount. The first prizes

were won by Miss Clive and Miss Marion Bearcroft, Captain Clowes and J.

H. Galton, Esq.

AUGUST 21—The Catholic Church at Hanley opened. A sermon preached on the

occasion by Dr. Wiseman.

DECEMBER 26—The last number of the _Worcestershire Guardian_ published,

the interest of the paper being afterwards identified with the _Worcester

Journal_. It was one of the many Tory papers started by influential

parties in London, during the years 1833 and 1834, for the purpose of

regaining the power which the Conservative party lost in the Reform Bill

agitation. It fought the battles of the party with much fidelity; and

during the years in which Mr. George Hyde was editor, its attacks upon

the Liberals were distinguished by a good deal of smartness and ability,

though too highly seasoned with personality.

LOCAL ACTS—For paving, cleansing, and improving the town of Bromsgrove;

Worcester New Gas Company’s Act; Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton

Railway Amendment Act; Severn Navigation Commissioners’ Amendment Act;

for making a railway from the Birmingham and Gloucester line at

Kingsnorton to Halesowen; Birmingham, Wolverhampton, and Dudley Railway

Act.

1847.

THE terrible condition of Ireland, and the decimation of its inhabitants

by famine, occupied the greater share of the attention of Parliament.

The Corn and Navigation Laws were entirely suspended until towards the

close of the year; in spite of which, the average price of wheat in May

was 100s. 5d. The issuing of the Minutes of the Council on Education,

which have since been acted upon, and the increase of the grant to

£100,000 per annum for the purpose of carrying them into effect, may be

regarded as the most important measure of the year. Parliament was

dissolved in July, and the elections tended to confirm the predominance

of Free Trade principles. Parliament met again on the 18th November.

Consols averaged 87; wheat, 69s. 9d.

JANUARY 26—An elegant silver salver, with appropriate inscription,

presented to the Rev. Thomas Pearson by the honorary members of the

Worcestershire Friendly Institution, in testimony of the value of the

services by which, as chairman of the board of directors, he had so

greatly increased the efficiency and usefulness of the society.

FEBRUARY 4—A massive silver tureen and four corner dishes presented to

Captain Candler on his retirement from the mastership of the fox

hounds—which he had held for ten years—at a splendid banquet given at the

Star, Lord Lyttelton in the chair.

APRIL—Petitions presented from various of the Dissenting bodies

throughout the county against the new Educational Minutes of the Privy

Council.

APRIL 22—The first County Court held in Worcestershire, under the

presidency of Benjamin Parham, Esq., then recently appointed the Judge of

the Worcester District.

AUGUST 6—Shelsley Beauchamp Church reopened, after some costly

alterations. The Rev. T. L. Claughton preached on the occasion, and £566

were collected; Lord Ward being a donor of £500.

AUGUST 6—An engine running off the rails on the Birmingham and Gloucester

Railway at Kingsnorton, the driver, named John Warburton, was dashed to

pieces.

AUGUST 16—The allottees took possession of the O’Connorite Lowbands

settlement at Redmarley. The National Land Scheme, under which this

estate, with others in different parts of the country, was purchased, set

out into lots, and divided to the few drawers of prizes in a lottery to

which thousands of others had subscribed, was one of the hugest delusions

to which the working men of this country ever lent themselves under

demagogue leadership. They allowed themselves to be persuaded, not only

that to leave their manual handicraft and become squatters on an acre or

two of ground would be the climax of independence and happiness, but that

by some legerdemain of compound interest, their money and estates would

be so reproductive that all the subscribers would in a few years get

allotments, which, being freehold, would give them immense political

power, and be the regeneration of the land. The fortunate allottees soon

found that they did not hold the fee simple of their acres, but were

called upon by O’Connor to pay a large rent, and being unaccustomed to

husbandry were speedily reduced to the condition of ruined paupers,

subsistent on the charity of the farmers among whom they were located.

The affairs of the company are now being wound up under an Act of

Parliament.

AUGUST 17—A Provincial Grand Lodge of Freemasons established in the

county. Dr. Roden of Kidderminster was appointed Deputy Provincial Grand

Master of Worcestershire.

AUGUST 17—Grand Bazaar in Mr. J. H. H. Foley’s grounds at Prestwood, in

aid of the funds of the Stourbridge Mechanics’ Institute. It continued

open for three days, and realised £1,117.

SEPTEMBER 14—At the annual assembly of the Queen’s Own Yeomanry Cavalry,

the portrait of the gallant Colonel of the regiment, which had been

purchased by a general subscription of the officers and privates, and

painted by Pickersgill, R.A., was presented to Lady Harriett Clive in the

Shire Hall, Worcester. The pleasing duty of presentation was performed

by Major Martin, as senior officer, and Colonel Clive acknowledged the

compliment at length.

OCTOBER 7—A meeting held at Dee’s Hotel, Birmingham, to take steps for

the establishment of a WORCESTER DIOCESAN TRAINING SCHOOL. The Right

Rev. The Lord Bishop took the chair. The resolutions were moved by Lord

Lyttelton, Archdeacon Spooner, Viscount Lifford, and Sir John Pakington,

Bart., M.P., and a large sum was subscribed upon the spot. The first

stone of the new school was laid by Sir John Pakington, October 10, 1850.

LOCAL ACTS—For rating, to the relief of the poor, the owners instead of

the occupiers of certain property in the parishes of Kingsnorton,

Northfield, and Beoley.

1848.

THIS year is to be gratefully remembered on account of the happy escape

which our country had from the confusion and revolution which raged over

the ill-governed kingdoms of the continent. A proposal of Government to

increase the Income Tax was defeated by the general expression of popular

disapprobation. Consols averaged 85; wheat, 50s. 6d.

FEBRUARY 12—On the second reading of the Jewish Disabilities Bill, J. H.

H. Foley, Esq., O. Ricardo, Esq., and Lord M. Hill voted in the majority

for their removal—and R. Godson, Esq., T. J. Ireland, Esq., Hon. General

Lygon, Sir J. S. Pakington, Bart., F. Rufford, Esq., Captain Rushout, and

Sir H. Willoughby in the minority.

FEBRUARY—The Corn Exchange dispute now raged in Worcester, being made in

great measure a question of politics; the Protectionists supporting the

proposal to build a new exchange in Angel Street, and the Free Traders

insisting on the old site, from which they contended it could not be

removed without much injustice to the shopkeepers and owners of property

in the Corn Market. The Mayor, Mr. Webb, made many strenuous efforts to

effect an amicable arrangement between the parties, but without success;

and the silly result was, that instead of uniting the funds to build a

handsome hall that would have been a credit to the city, two were built.

The erection in Angel Street entailed great loss upon the subscribers;

and the handsome room in the Corn Market, though left without many

embellishments which had been intended to be added, was a ruinous affair

both to the shareholders and the contractor. As the agriculturists all

steadfastly attended the Angel Street room, the one in the Corn Market

was at last obliged to be closed as a corn exchange, and was sold under

the Joint Stock Company’s Winding-up Act for £1,710—the price to the

shareholders being upwards of £4,000. It is now transformed into a very

handsome Music Hall.

APRIL 22—The Worcestershire Agricultural Protection Society dissolved

itself, and voted its funds in hand, amounting to £500, towards the

erection of the Angel Street Corn Exchange. The Messrs. Dent, with Mr.

Francis Hooper and Mr. Lucy, protested against the appropriation of the

money to the building of the Angel Street Corn Exchange.

JUNE 19—Sir John Pakington moved an amendment on Lord John Russell’s plan

for gradually reducing the duties on colonial sugar, and was only

defeated by a majority of 15—260 members voting with ministers, and 245

with Sir John Pakington. Mr. Benbow, Mr. Godson, Viscount Mandeville,

Mr. Rufford, Captain Rushout, Sir H. Willoughby, and Sir J. Pakington

voted in the minority, and Mr. J. H. H. Foley, Mr. O. Ricardo, and Lord

M. Hill with the majority.

JULY 31—Several Worcester theatrical amateurs performed Sheridan

Knowles’s _Hunchback_ with great success and excellence of acting. The

proceeds of this and another night’s performance were devoted to the

establishment of a gloving school.

AUGUST—The British Archæological Association, under the presidency of

Lord Albert Conyngham, held their annual congress in Worcester. They

were received by the Mayor and Corporation—held morning and evening

sederunts, at which papers were read and antiquities exhibited—visited

Sudeley Castle and other places of interest in the neighbourhood—unrolled

a mummy at the County Courts, &c. The meeting was concluded by a

_soirée_ at the Guildhall, given by Lord and Lady Conyngham, at which Mr.

Silk Buckingham delivered a lecture on Thebes, &c.

SEPTEMBER—After a lapse of ten years an EXHIBITION OF PAINTINGS was again

opened in Worcester, and proved upon the whole very successful. The

catalogue numbered 200 pictures, amongst which were Constable’s

“Salisbury Cathedral,” and works by Etty, Sidney Cooper, Müller, &c.

LOCAL ACTS—Worcester New Gas Company’s Amendment Act; to authorise the

Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway to raise a further sum of

money; to authorise an alteration in the Oxford, Worcester, and

Wolverhampton Railway; to enable the Worcester Turnpike Trustees to make

alterations in roads, &c.

1849.

THE extreme distress in Ireland caused by the continuance of the potato

blight—the repeal of the Navigation Laws, carried on second reading by

266 to 210—and the admission of Jews to Parliament, refused by the

Lords—were the chief topics of Parliamentary discussion. Consols

averaged 92½; wheat, 44s. 3d.

FEBRUARY 3—Mdlle. Jenny Lind gave a concert in the College Hall,

Worcester, in aid of the funds of the Infirmary, to compensate for the

disappointment which had been felt by her non-appearance at the Festival

in the previous year. The band of the 5th Dragoon Guards and the

Worcester Harmonic Society took part in the concert. Thirteen hundred

persons attended. The total receipts were £1,100, and £840 were cleared

for the Infirmary.

APRIL—The WORCESTER MADRIGAL SOCIETY, recently formed, gave their first

concert. This society, which executes the quaint music of the old

madrigalists in excellent style, has already extended its fame far beyond

the limits of the “faithful city.”

JUNE 29—The cholera broke out in Worcester, and continued fitfully to

seize upon its victims till the middle of October, when it altogether

disappeared. There were altogether eighty-nine cases, out of which

forty-three were fatal. The expenses of the Cholera Hospital amounted to

£832. Dr. Stevens’s saline treatment, only partially put in practice

there, seemed to be successful, so far as opportunity was allowed for its

trial.

AUGUST—The seventeenth anniversary of the Provincial Surgical and Medical

Association was this year held at Worcester—Dr. Hastings, the founder of

the association, being president. Many interesting discussions, on

topics connected with medical science and the status of the profession,

took place, and valuable papers were read at the different sittings. The

meeting closed with a dinner at the Guildhall, at which the principal

county gentlemen attended.

SEPTEMBER 21—St. Peter’s Church, Cookley, consecrated. William Hancocks,

Esq., was the principal contributor to the expense of this handsome

building, which cost some £3,400, and will accommodate upwards of 400

persons.

NOVEMBER 15—This day was very generally and religiously observed

throughout the county as one of thanksgiving for the abatement of the

cholera in the land.

DECEMBER 10—Rejoicings at Prestwood, Stourbridge, Stewponey, &c., in

celebration of Mr. Henry Wentworth Foley’s coming of age.

LOCAL ACT—For better assessing the poor rates on small tenements in

Kidderminster.