_To the Editor of the_ DUDLEY TIMES AND EXPRESS.
SIR,--It will be in the recollection of the gentlemen who
attended the late Court Leet dinner in Dudley, that amongst a
variety of anticipated improvements and amendments that were
required for the social, moral, and architectural advancement
of our good old town of Dudley, "that another public effort
should be made to get rid of that unneccessary building, the
Old Town Hall." Now, sir, we have great veneration for the
doings of the past, and believe that our forefathers meant
well in all their undertakings; but when that building was
erected more than one hundred years ago, standing as the "head
and front" of two narrow streets called Queen street and High
street, it necessarily made a finish to that angle of the block
of buildings then existing, known as the "Middle Row," and was
not an inappropriate object from the "Over Church."
But our grand-dads are gone to their rest, and peace be
with them, and the times are changed, also, sir; for their
scions, feeling the rapid advance made in trade, commerce,
civilisation, and sanitary improvements, have long since deemed
the "Middle Row" an encumberer of the ground, have demolished
its once ancient visage, and secured to us our fine open Market
Place (save the neck end of it) as a suitable spot in which the
people may congregate, and the trader expose for sale his wares.
The noble owner of the Old Town Hall (Lord Ward) would appear
to have anticipated long ago the removal of that building,
from the fact that, with his Lordship's accustomed liberality,
he erected at his own cost the New Town Hall, for Magisterial
and other public purposes required by this important town.
Surely, then, its removal need not now be considered as an act
of sacrilege to the feelings of even the oldest inhabitants;
for the Board of Guardians will shortly quit its hoary portals
for their new and more suitable Board room at the New Union
Workhouse.
Irrespective of these reasons, sir, its acknowledged nuisance
as a public urinal, its shameful use as a hiding place for
juvenile obscenity and adult immorality, and its general
inutility, demand at the hands of public morality its speedy
removal. Let, then, our newly elected, energetic Mayor
inaugurate his year of office by instituting some mode of
acting by which public opinion may be brought to bear upon
this local nuisance; and whilst the Old Town Hall removal
question is brought to the bar of public investigation, _let
it not be forgotten_ that the Russian guns, (those emblems of
our sanguinary strife with the Great Power of the North), _are
still unmounted, uncared for_, and left "all alone in their
fallen glory."
The Russian gun-mountings in neighbouring towns point with the
finger of shame to the prolonged lukewarmness with which Dudley
has followed up the lofty demonstrations exhibited when those
guns were publicly escorted into the Castle Court Yard, amid
the din of arms and the enthusiastic plaudits of the people.
If there is some doubt as to whether these trophies can be
_publicly mounted_ in the Castle grounds, pray let that doubt
be dissipated at once, by the proper authorities initiating the
necessary steps to obtain a subscription, and then petition
the Lord of the Manor for permission to mount the guns in a
handsome style in the centre of the Market Place, at once an
object worthy of the site, and as a lasting memento of our
national sympathy for the oppressed and heroic.
Were there no sons of Dudley, or the neighbourhood, sir, who
fell gloriously battling for the cause of liberty and the
rights of nations in that memorable campaign, whose names might
not with great justice be appropriately handed down to our
children's children, as objects for their especial regard, and
subjects for our local pride and approbation?
Trusting that these matters may not be allowed to slumber on
in their present unsatisfactory condition, and craving a space
amongst your list of correspondents,
I am, your obedient servant,
C. F. G. CLARK.
_Dudley, Nov. 24th, 1858._
1858. The New Town Hall was built about this time by Lord Ward, to
secure the necessary Magisterial accommodation for the administration
of justice for the Borough, arising from the demolition of the Old
Town Hall, situate in the Market Place. On November 18th, 1870, the
Corporation bought the New Town Hall for the sum of £2500, and utilised
it in such a judicious way as to make the Police force arrangements
most complete.
THE MAYOR begs to apprize his fellow-townsmen that the remains
of their formerly much respected Member, THOMAS HAWKES, Esq.,
will be conveyed through the Town for INTERMENT AT HIMLEY, on
FRIDAY Morning next, and, as he thinks it may be desirable that
some mark of respect should be shewn towards his memory by
the PARTIAL CLOSING of their respective Establishments on the
Morning of that day, he will be happy to meet those who accord
with this desire at the OLD TOWN HALL, on THURSDAY Evening
next, at SEVEN o'clock, to arrange accordingly.
_Signed_,
E. HOLLIER, MAYOR.
_Dudley, Wednesday, December 8th, 1858._
This request of the Mayor was very generally observed on this
melancholy occasion, for Mr. Hawkes was very much esteemed by a large
circle of friends, and his early death and many (both political and
commercial) misfortunes had always awakened great sympathy for him;
for in his early days he had been a large and liberal employer of a
lucrative labour in this town in the glass trade.