style, consisting of nave, aisles, chancel and transepts, and having at
the west end a lofty square tower, terminated with a pinnacle at each
angle. The new fane was soon adorned by the insertion of a number of
stained glass windows; the large east window was presented by Mr. R. D.
Gough; others were given by the Lords of the Manor of Stow Heath
(emblazoning the arms of Leveson-Gower and Giffard); by the Earl of
Lichfield and the Rev. Charles Lane (also heraldically distinguished);
one was put in as a memorial to members of the Clemson family; and
another to commemorate Mrs. Anwell, a connection of the Gough family.
The work of enlarging the church was undertaken in 1897 in memory of the
late Incumbent, Mr. Fisher; and a fine organ was installed in celebration
of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. Also at the same time choir stalls
were introduced, the choristers being brought from the gallery, which
latter feature was rightly removed altogether. Among the improvements
promoted by the Incumbent and his energetic churchwardens, Dr. John T.
Hartill and Mr. H. H. Walker, of Bentley Hall, were the enlargement of
the churchyard and the scheme for providing a church house.
As the new incumbent, Mr. Rosedale, was a nephew of Mrs. Gough, the
generous contributor to the rebuilding fund of 1865-7, just mentioned, it
was suggested that the house she occupied might fittingly be transformed
to serve as a Parsonage.
* * * * *
Almost from the time pews were first put into churches, seats became
appurtenant to certain family mansions, and by custom descended from
ancestor to heir, without any ecclesiastical concurrence. Instances of
such proprietary pews having been bequeathed by will have occurred in
Willenhall within comparatively recent times. Here is an extract from
the will of Thomas Hartill, dated June 5th, 1777:--
I give and bequeath to my Son, Abraham Hartill, the fourth part of a
seat in the Chapel, No. 4 in B row an all so one 4 part of a seat in
F row near the Dore. . . . and I bequeath to my Daughter, Phoebe
Read, one Fourth part of a seate No. 4 in B row and also one Fourth
part of a seate in the Chapel in F row near the Dore.
Similar testamentary disposals appear in the will of Isaac Hartill, dated
27 May, 1818:--
I give and devise to my Son, Isaac Hartill, all that my moiety or
half part of the seat or pew, being No. 10 in the South Aisle within
the Church or Chapel of Willenhall aforesaid, to hold to him my said
son, Isaac, his heirs and assigns tor ever. . . .
I give and devise unto my said Son, Ephraim Hartill, one moiety or
equal half part of, and in my seat, or pew, being number 4 in the
South Aisle within the Church or Chapel aforesaid, to hold to my said
Son, Ephraim, his Heirs, and assigns for ever. And I also give and
devise unto my daughter, Mary Atkins, the other moiety or equal half
part or share of the said last mentioned seat or pew, to hold to my
said Daughter Mary Atkins, her heirs and assigns for ever.
Of like purport is the following extract from codicil to the will of
Samuel Hartill, dated June 9, 1821; probate Nov. 12, 1821:--
I give devise and bequeath to my nephew Henry Bratt, all that my seat
or pew or part or share thereof being number eleven in A in
Willenhall Church, to hold to him his heirs, executors administrators
or assigns according to the tenure of the said property. I give
devise and bequeath to my Brother-in-law, Isaac Hartill in my Will
named all my other Seats or Pews or parts or shares of seats or pews
in Willenhall Church aforesaid to hold to him his heirs executors
administrators or assigns according to the tenure of the said
property.
Thus much in witness of the heritable nature of Church Pews; now for
documentary evidences of the trafficking in such properties (all relating
to Willenhall Church):--
19, Jan., 1750. Recd. of Tho. Harthil, John Parker and Joseph Wood
three pound one and sixpence for the seat behind ye Dore in F,
sixteen shillings and sixpence being allow'd them for 6s. 8d. of
ground by
RICHD. WILKES.
A 12.
6 Jan, 1750.--Recd. of Jos. Clemson, Jos. Chandler. Jo'n Buttler,
Jo'n Turner, Jno. Smith, Stephen Perry, the Sum of two Ginnies for
Wainscots and for 2ft. 3in. of Ground five and sevenpence halfpenny
by
RICHD. WILKES.
2 pounds 7s. 7.5d.
"I hereby acknowledge that I have this day had and received from
Abraham Hartill . . . the sum of One Pound Fifteen Shillings for the
full and absolute purchase sale value and Consideration of all those
my sittings kneelings Parts or shares of and in two different seats
or pews and standing and being on the left-hand side in the first Ile
and numbered with the figures 11 and 12 in the Church or Chapel of
Willenhall aforesaid, and which said sittings kneelings Parts or
shares of the said seats or pews I do hereby Warrant unto the said
Abraham Hartill his Heirs Exors Admors and Assigns against me, my
Heirs Exors Admors and Assigns and that I my Heirs Exors, Admors or
Assigns shall and will at any time or times hereafter upon the
request and Costs of the said Abraham Hartill His Heirs &c. . . .
execute any further or other Conveyances and Assurance of the said
sittings, &c. . . . unto and to the use of the said Abraham Hartill .
. . free from all manner of Incumbrances whatsoever and the said
Abraham Hartill Doth hereby agree for Francis Chandler and Ann his
wife to use and enjoy that part or share of the above seat or pew
numbered 11 for and during the term of their Natural lives and for
the longest survivor of them without expence, but for no other
privilege to be allowed to any other person Whatsoever. In Witness
whereof the said Francis Chandler the seller of the above sittings
kneelings parts or shares of the seats or pews above mentioned hath
set his hand this nineteenth day of February 1790.
Witness
FRANCIS CHANDLER.
Wm. Perkin.
Saml Hartill."
"Received January 24 1783 of Isaac Hartill The Sum of Two Pounds in
full for Halfe a Seat Number 10 in E In Willenhall Chappell
By mee The Mark X of RICHD. HARTILL.
Witness Jonah Hartill."
"Willenhall April 26th 1791 Received then of Abrm Hartill Thirteen
Shillings For my Whole Right in a seat in the Chapel No. 12 in A Row.
STEPHEN PERREY.
Willenhall April 26th 1791 Received then of."
Of this last voucher there is a duplicate copy bearing a twopenny receipt
stamp.
XXIV.--Dissent, Nonconformity, and Philanthrophy.
Inasmuch as Bentley Hall lies within the confines of Willenhall, this
place must always be associated with the rise and early history of
Wesleyanism. The episode of John Wesley being haled by the Wednesbury
rioters before Justice Lane at Bentley Hall (1743) belongs to the general
history of the denomination, and there is no need to repeat the story
here.
The reader may be referred to "The History of Methodism in the Wednesbury
Circuit," by the Rev. W. J. Wilkinson, published by J. M. Price,
Darlaston, 1895; and for ampler detail to "Religious Wednesbury," by the
present writer, 1900.
That the evangelical missioning of John Wesley was peculiarly suited to
the religious and social needs of the eighteenth century, and nowhere
more so than among the proletariat of the mining and manufacturing
Midlands, is now a generally accepted truism. There is no direct
evidence that the great evangelist himself ever preached in Willenhall,
but the appearance on the scene of some of the earliest Methodist
preachers may be taken for granted. For were not the prevailing sins of
cockfighting and bull-baiting, and all the other popular brutalities of
the period, to be combated in Willenhall as much as in Darlaston or
Wednesbury? And where the harvest was, were not the reapers always
forthcoming?
According to Mr. A. Camden Pratt, in his "Black Country Methodism," the
earliest Methodist services were open-air meetings held round a big
boulder at the corner of Monmore Lane. Then the nucleus of a Willenhall
congregation was formed at a cottage in Ten House Row; outgrowing its
accommodation here, a removal was next made to a farmhouse with a
commodious kitchen at Hill End.
The leaders and preachers came from Darlaston, and it was not till 1830
that Willenhall was favoured with a resident "travelling preacher," and
the provision of a Wesleyan Chapel--it was on the site of the present
Wesleyan Day Schools. The cause flourished and grew mightily; chapels
were established at Short Heath and Portobello, on the Walsall Road
(1865), and on Spring Bank.
Mr. Pratt pays a high tribute to the efforts of the Tildesleys and the
Harpers, but with a sense of justice he does not forget the mead of
gratitude always due to those early pioneers from Darlaston, placing on
the same bright scroll of fame the names of Foster, Wilkes, Rubery,
Silcock, Bowen, and Banks.
In the earlier history of local Wesleyanism, one of its chief supporters
was James Carpenter, founder of the existing firm of Carpenter and
Tildesley. Another pillar of Wesleyanism was Jonah Tildesley, followed
later in the good work by his two sons, Josiah and Jesse, his grandson
Thomas, George Ley Pearce, and Isaac Pedley; and in a lesser degree by
James Tildesley (who married Harriet Carpenter), and the late John
Harper, founder of the Albion Works, now the largest place of employment
in the town.
One outcome of the Wesleyan spirit was seen about the year 1820, when
James Carpenter, George Pearce, William Whitehouse, and other leading
inhabitants made a determined effort to put down some of the coarser
sports by which the annual Wake was celebrated. Through their
instrumentality many of the ringleaders in the brutal sports were
summoned and brought to justice. The reformers dared to go even
further--they lodged a complaint with the bishop of the diocese against
"Parson Moreton" for encouraging these barbarous pastimes among the
people. The bishop, however, professed that he was powerless to deal
with the delinquent, owing to the exceptional manner in which he was
appointed to the living. But the parson on his part was very wroth, and
from his pulpit he solemnly forbade any one of the name of Carpenter,
Pearce, or Whitehouse ever to enter the portals of Willenhall Church.
It cannot be said the injunction was enforced; but it is a fact that from
that time many church-goers were driven into the Methodist fold.
The romantic side of the evangelisation of the Black Country has been
idealised by Mr. J. C. Tildesley in his "Sketches of Early Methodism," a
series of short stories founded on fact, and giving most graphic pictures
of the moral and social condition of the neighbourhood at that time.
This little volume may be regarded almost as one of the classics of the
Wesleyan Book Room.
A short history of local Methodism, it may be mentioned, was deposited in
the memorial stones of Wednesfield Chapel in 1885.
The existing Wesleyan Chapels, now under the direction of the Rev. A.
Hann and the Rev. Walter Fytche, are five in number, namely, Union
Street, Walsall Road, Monmer Lane, Short Heath, and High Street,
Portobello. Though the denomination may be as strong as ever
numerically, it can scarcely hope to rival its old-time membership in
verve and vigour. In England fighting days never fail to produce
fighting men.
Primitive Methodism first established itself at Monmer Lane, and then
removed to Little London, but did not meet with much success at the
outset, though it has now four flourishing chapels in the township. They
are all at present under the direction of the Rev. C. L. Tack, and
situated respectively at New Invention, Spring Bank, Lane Head, and
Russell Street.
Nonconformity was first brought into Willenhall from Coseley, the
brethren of the famous Darkhouse Chapel establishing a colony at Little
London, where eventually they erected a pioneer Baptist Chapel. Of this
chapel the Rev. A. Tettmar is now in charge; a second chapel in Upper
Lichfield Street, at which the Rev. D. L. Lawrence ministers, and a third
Baptist Chapel in New Road testify to the growth of the denomination in
Willenhall. At one time the Baptists had day schools in the town.
The Roman Catholics first made their appearance in modern Willenhall some
sixty years ago, when they established a small mission at the bottom of
Union Street, afterwards building their resent chapel, which is dedicated
to St. Mary, and of which the Rev. Walter Poulton (in succession to the
Rev. W. P. Wells) is priest.
A mission of the Catholic Apostolic Brethren, served from Wolverhampton,
completes the list of religious agencies now at work in Willenhall.
In the religious and social history of the place mention cannot be
omitted of some few names which have earned the respect of the
townspeople. Among them, James Tildesley, a large employer of labour,
whose amiability, and kindness of heart exemplified that patriarchal
relationship which once existed between master and men, anterior to the
days of modern limited liability companies; George Ley Pearce, a Wesleyan
of marked personality, and an eminently good man, whose memorial in the
old Cemetery is thus inscribed:--
ERECTED
by voluntary subscription in memory of
GEORGE LEY PEARCE
(of Willenhall),
who died December 31st, 1873,
Aged 78;
And was buried in the adjacent vault.
* * * * *
For fifty years he zealously devoted himself to the work of visiting
the sick and afflicted of this town, whether rich or poor, and was
made a great blessing to many.
His work was the outward expression of that Christ-like charity which
pervaded his soul.
* * * * *
The opportunity to do good to our fellowmen comes to all, irrespective of
sect or sex. One to embrace it with goodwill was Edith Florence Hartill,
daughter of William Henry Hartill, who worked long and steadfastly in
connection with the Bible Reading Union, never relaxing her efforts for
the uplifting of the very poorest and most helpless of the community.
In the Market Place stands a public clock mounted upon a stone pedestal,
having a watering-trough for cattle at its base. This was erected, as an
inscription upon it testifies, as a memorial to the late Joseph Tonks,
surgeon, "whose generous and unsparing devotion in the cause of
alleviating human suffering" was "deemed worthy of public record." The
memorialised, Mr. Joseph Tonks, M.R.C.S.E., L.A.H., was a native of the
town, being a son of Mr. Silas Tonks, of the Forge Inn, Spring Bank. He
began to practise in Willenhall about 1879, and soon made himself
extremely popular among the working classes, and particularly with the
Friendly Societies, who initiated the movement to provide this public
memorial.
Without sorting into sects and creeds, let it be acknowledged that
Willenhall has been fortunate in the number of its townsmen whose lives
have been usefully and commendably spent in the public service and for
the public good. Among those whose influence on the social and moral
well-being of the place has not been without appreciable benefit, may be
named Joseph Carpenter Tildesley, R. D. Gough, Josiah Tildesley, Clement
Tildesley, Jesse Tildesley, Isaac Pedley, Henry Hall, Thomas Kidson,
Henry Vaughan, W. E. Parkes, and J. H. James. Other appreciations will
occur in our concluding chapters, as the names more fittingly happen
under the topics yet to be dealt with.
Having brought to a conclusion Willenhall's ecclesiastical and religious
history--and the largeness with which the church bulked on the lives of
the people in past times must be held accountable for the lengthiness of
this portion--we may now turn to the further consideration of its civil,
social, and industrial history.
[Picture: Decorative pattern]
XXV.--Manorial Government.
Willenhall is a township of some 1,980 acres in extent, carved out of the
ancient parish of Wolverhampton, and situated midway between that town
and the town of Walsall, being about three miles distant from either.
Strangely enough, Willenhall is included in the Hundred of Offlow,
although Wolverhampton, of which it once formed a part, is in Seisdon
Hundred. Willenhall has never been a civil parish (as previously
explained), nor has it been a market town; the small open market held in
its streets each week-end having grown up by prescription, but never
legally established by grant of charter.
The place grew up as a hamlet on the banks of a little stream, just on
the verge of Cannock Forest. As a village community it seems to have
been subject, so soon as its outer limits had been defined, to three
territorial lords. Reference to Chapter VI. will disclose that at
Domesday (1086) three hides of land in Willenhall belonged to the king,
and were part of the royal manor of Stowheath; two hides were the
property of the Church of Wolverhampton, and constituted the prebendal
manor of Willenhall; and a century or two later, the manor of Bentley,
evidently carved out of the royal forest of Cannock, became included
within this township.
Of STOWHEATH MANOR, the portions lying within Willenhall are a small part
of the modern township, together with Short Heath, New Invention,
Lanehead, Sandbeds, Little London, and Portobello. The remainder of this
manor stretches beyond the Willenhall boundary into Bilston and
Wolverhampton.
To a manor or lordship was usually attached a Court Baron, or domestic
court of the lord, for the settling of disputes relating to property
among the tenants, and for redressing misdemeanours and nuisances arising
within the manor. The business was transacted by a jury or homage
elected by and from the tenants.
How far the customary officers were chosen every year by the Willenhall
Court Baron cannot now be ascertained. Doubtless appointments were made
from time to time of such manorial tears as Hedgers and Ditchers, to look
after the highways and byways, a Common Pinner to impound stray cattle,
and Head boroughs or Petty Constables "to apprehend all vagrom men" whose
room was esteemed more highly than their company.
The present lords of the Manor of Stowheath are the Duke of Sutherland,
and W. T. C. Giffard, Esq., of Chillington; the Steward of the Manor is
Mr. W. E. Stamer, of Lilleshall; and the Deputy-Steward Mr. Frederick T.
Langley, of Wolverhampton. The Court Bailiff is Mr. H. G. Duncalfe, of
Wolverhampton, but none of the ancient customary officers are now
elected; and as most of the copyholds have been enfranchised, no Court
Baron for Stowheath has been held in Willenhall since 22nd December,
1865; till then it had taken place annually for many years at the house
of Mr. George Baker, the Neptune Inn. Subsequently this manorial court
was held at the Bank, Cock Street, Wolverhampton, and now more privately
at the offices of the Deputy-Steward, in that town, which was anciently
within the jurisdiction of two manors, Stowheath and Wolverhampton.
THE MANOR OF WILLENHALL, which, though prebendal, is impropriate,
comprises the rest of the township; of this manor the Baron Barnard is
the present lord, and the sole recipient of all tithes from Willenhall,
Short Heath, and Wednesfield.
A glimpse of the mediaeval village of Willenhall was obtained in Chapters
VIII. and XI.; it is clear the prebendal manor remained always a taxable
area for the mere production of tithes, and it was the royal manor of
Stowheath, when it had passed into the hands of a subject, which
developed into the community in the midst of which the "mansum capitale,"
or manor house, was erected.
By whom or when a manor house was first set up in Willenhall is not
known; but it is not improbable that the lordship of Stowheath, soon
after it passed out of the hands of the King, was acquired by a Leveson,
who seated himself on the estate, reserving to himself the portion which
lay nearest his mansion (demesne lands), and distributing the rest among
his tenants (tenemental lands).
The house in which the Levesons resided, as previously recorded, was
situated on the east side of Stafford Street; the Midland Railway now
runs through the site, but before the line was cut, and whilst the mines
remained ungotten, traces of its ancient moat were clearly discernible.
The residence now known as the Manor House, and occupied by Dr J. T.
Hartill, though it has no connection with the manorial mansion of the
Leveson family, is not without some association with the manorial form of
government. It appears that upwards of half a century ago, when the late
Jeremiah Hartill (uncle of the present occupant of the house) was taking
his full share in the public life of Willenhall, it was most difficult,
if not next to impossible, to get copyhold land in this manor
enfranchised.
At that time there was a very considerable amount of property in
Willenhall held by this old-world tenure, and this induced Mr. Jeremiah
Hartill to take a very prominent part in the local efforts which were
then being made to introduce the principle of compulsory enfranchisement.
As the result of a national movement in this direction an Act was passed
in 1841 to provide a statutory method of enfranchisement; and the matter
was carried still further in 1852 by another Act, which introduced the
principle of compulsory enfranchisement.
Mr. Hartill had at that time recently built himself a new house (1847),
when, as the local leader in a movement which had been brought so far on
the road to success, he was invited to a public dinner in recognition of
his public-spirited efforts. One of the speakers at the banquet, in
proposing the health of the guest of the evening, suggested that as Mr.
Jeremiah Hartill had fought so successfully in helping to overcome the
opposition of the Lords of the Manor to this measure of land reform, his
new house might not inappropriately be dubbed the Manor House. The
suggestion was heartily (no pun intended) approved by all present, and by
that name the house has ever since been known.
The names of the chief residents in Willenhall in 1327 may be gleaned
from the Subsidy Roll given in Chapter IX.; very similar names occur in
another list of the taxpayers to the Scotch War of 1333. Some few held
land under certain specified rents and free services, and from these came
the earliest freeholders; many more held by the baser tenure of the
lord's will, and having nothing to show except the copy of the rolls made
by the Steward of the Lord's Court, were known as copyholders.
The vast importance of these Court Rolls may be gathered from Chapter
XXI. The Court Rolls of the Manor of Stowheath now in existence commence
on 4 January, 1645; but in the chapter referred to mention of a "Leete"
being held in Wolverhampton much earlier will be found.
The residue of the Manor being uncultivated, was termed the lord's waste,
and served for public roads, and for common or pasture to both the lord
and his tenants. Reference to the enclosure of the last remnants of the
"waste" was quoted in the Report of 1825 on the Tomkys and Welch
Charities (Chapter XXII.).
There were two kinds of enclosures, however, all made in the last few
centuries; the enclosure of the open commons or wastes, and the enclosure
of the common fields. "Willenhall Field," mentioned in the "Report on
Prestwood's Dole," as lying along the highway towards Darlaston, was
arable land, not pasture. For anciently there was a common field system
in every parish, and "Willenhall Field" was the area cultivated
co-operatively by the whole of the parishioners or group of individuals.
In 1377 the MANOR OF BENTLEY was held "in capite," that is, direct from
the King, by one who called himself after his estate, William de Bentley.
He held it for rendering to Edward III. the feudal service of "Keeping"
the King's Hay of Bentley within the royal Forest of Cannock--the Forest
was then divided into a number of "hays" or bailiwicks. (See "Chronicles
of Cannock Chase," p. 14.)
The estate seems to have descended to him from his grandfather, to whom
it had been granted in the reign of Edward II.; and it is noteworthy that
his wife, Alianora, was a Leveson.
In 1421 William Griffiths established his right to Bentley, and in 1430
it was conveyed to Richard Lone de la Hide. Of the family of this
Richard Lone of the Hyde there were afterwards two branches; one, the
Hamptons, of Stourton Castle, and the other, the Lanes, of Bentley.