CHAPTER XV.
THE WILLEY SQUIRE AMONG HIS NEIGHBOURS.
The Squire among his Neighbours—Roger de Coverley—Anecdotes—Gentlemen nearest the Fire in the Lower Regions—Food Riots—The Squire quells the Mob—His Virtues and his Failings—Influences of the Times—His Career draws to a Close—His wish for Old Friends and Servants to follow him to the Grave—That he may be buried in the Dusk of Evening—His Favourite Horse to be shot—His Estates to go to his Cousin, Cecil Weld, the First Lord Forester.
LIKE Addison’s Sir Roger de Coverley, the Willey Squire lived a father among his tenants, a friend among his neighbours, and a good master amongst his servants, who seldom changed. He feasted the rich, and did not forget the poor, but allowed them considerable privileges on the estate; and there are a few old people—it is true there are but few—who remember interviews they had with the Squire when going to gather bilberries in the park, or when sent on some errand to the Hall. An old man, who brightened up at the mention of the Squire’s name, said, “Remember him, I think I do; he intended that I should do so. I was sent by my mother to the Hall for barm, when, seeing an old man in the yard, and little thinking it was the Squire, I said, ‘Sirrah, is there going to be any stir here to-day?’ ‘Aye, lad,’ says he, ‘come in, and see;’ and danged if he didn’t get the horse-whip and stir me round the kitchen, where he pretended to flog me, laughing the while ready to split his sides. He gave me a rare blow out though, and my mother found half-a-crown at the bottom of the jug when she poured out the barm.” “Did you ever hear of his being worsted by the sweep?” said another. “He was generally a match for most, but the sweep was too much for him. The Squire had been out, and, being caught in a storm, he called at a public-house to shelter. Seeing that it was Mr. Forester, the customers made way for him to sit next the fire, and whilst he was drying himself a sweep came to the door, and looked in; but, seeing the Squire, he was making off again. ‘Hollo,’ said Mr. Forester, ‘what news from the lower region?’ ‘Oh,’ replied the sweep, ‘things are going on there, Squire, much as they are here—the _gentlemen are nearest the fire_!’” A third of our informants remarked: “He was one of the old sort, but a right ’un. Why, when there was a bad harvest, and no work for men, after one of them war times, and the colliers were rioting and going to break open the shops, to tear down the flour mill, and do other damage, the old Squire was the only man that could stop them—he had such influence with the people. The poor never wanted a friend whilst old George Forester lived. There were plenty of broken victuals to be had for the fetching, a tankard of right good ale, with bread and cheese, or cold mutton, for all comers.”
[Picture: Willey Church]
The years 1774–1782 were periods of local gloom and distress, when haggard hunger and ignorant force banded together to trample down the safeguards of civil rights, and armed ruffians took the initiative in violent scrambles for food. The cavalry were called out, and fierce battles were fought in the iron districts, where the rioters sometimes took refuge on cinder heaps, which supplied them with sharp cutting missiles. In 1795 the colliers and iron-workers being in a state of commotion, were only prevented from rising by assurances that gentlemen of property were disposed to contribute liberally to their relief, and thousands of bushels of Indian corn were obtained by the Squire and others from Liverpool to add to the grain procurable in the neighbourhood to meet immediate necessities. A meeting of gentlemen, farmers, millers, and tradesmen was held at the Tontine Hotel, on the 9th of July in that year, to consider the state of things arising out of the scarcity of corn and the dearness of all other provisions, at which a committee was formed for the immediate collection of contributions and the purchase of grain at a reduction of one-fourth, or 9_s._ for 12_s._ Mr. Forester at once gave notice to all his tenants to deliver wheat to the committee at 12_s._, whilst he himself gave £105, and agreed to advance £700 more, to be repaid from the produce of the corn sold at a reduced price. Such were the wants of the district, the murmurs of the inhabitants, and the distinctions made between those who were considered benefactors, and others who were not, that fear was entertained of a general uprising; and application was made to Mr. Forester, both as a friend and a magistrate. He assumed more the character of the former, and his presence acted like magic upon the rough miners, who by his kindness and tact were at once put into good humour. Having brought waggons of coal, drawn with ropes, for sale, the first thing the Squire did was to purchase the coal: he then bought up all the butter in the market, and purchased all the bread in the town, he emptied the butchers’ shops in the same way, and advised the men to go home with the provisions he gave them.
We are quite aware that it might be said that Squire Forester was not a model for imitation; and it might be replied that no man ever was, altogether, even for men of his own time, much less for those of one or two generations removed, always excepting Him whose name should never be uttered lightly, and in whom the human and divine were combined. He had sufficient inherent good qualities, however, to make half a dozen ordinary modern country gentlemen popular; still his one failing, shared among the same number, might no less damn them in the eyes of society.
Some would, no doubt, have liked Dibdin’s heroes better if he had been less truthful, by making the language more agreeable to the ear, by substituting, as one writer has said, “dear me” for “damme,” and lemonade for grog; but such critics are what Dibdin himself called “lubbers” and “swabs.” In the same way, some would be for toning down the characters of Squire Forester and Parson Stephens; but this would be a mistake: an artist might as well smooth over with vegetation every out-cropping rock he finds in his foreground. We might say a great deal more about the old Squire, and the Willey Rector too, but there is no reason why we should say less. If we err, we err with the best and gravest writers of history, who, without fear or favour, wrote of things as they found them; and those who are familiar with the writings of men of the past—such as the Sixth Satire of Juvenal, will admit that men like Squire Forester were examples of modesty. Men of all grades, every day, are brought in contact with much that might more strongly be objected to in the public Press; and there is no reason why the veil should not be raised in order that we may view the past as it really was.
The fact is, the Squire found the atmosphere of the times congenial to his temperament. A very popular Shropshire rake and play writer, Wycherley, had done much to lower the tone of morality by representing peccadilloes, not as something which the violence of passion may excuse, but as accomplishments worthy of gentlemen,—his “Country Wife” and “Plain Dealer” being examples. Congreve followed in his wake, with his “Old Bachelor,” which may be judged by its apothegm:—
“What rugged ways attend the noon of life; Our sun declines, and with what anxious strife, What pain, we tug that galling load—a wife!”
A fair estimate of the looseness of the time may be formed from another representation:—
“The miracle to-day is, that we find A lover true, not that a woman’s kind;”
and from the fact that even Pope, in his “Epistle to a Lady,” out of his mature experience could write—
“Men some to business, some to pleasure take, But every woman is at heart a rake.”
The Squire had been jilted, and breathing such an atmosphere, no wonder he cast lingering looks to the time
“Ere one to one was cursedly confined,”
or that he never married. It is fortunate he did not, for Venus herself, we fancy, could not have kept him by her side. His amours were notorious, and some of his mistresses were rare specimens of rustic beauty. Two daring spirits who followed the hounds were regular Dianas in their way, and he spent much of his time in the rural little cottages of these and others which were dotted over the estate at no great distance from the Hall. As rare Ben Jonson has it:—
“When some one peculiar quality Doth so possess a man that it doth draw All his effects, his spirits, and his powers, In their confluction all to run one way, This may be truly said to be a humour.”
Such a humour the old Squire had. Towards the last he found that some of his mistresses gave him a good deal of trouble; for in carrying out his desire to leave them comfortably provided for, his best intentions created jealousy, and he found it difficult to adjust their claims as regarded matters of income, Phœbe Higgs, who survived the Squire many years, and lived in a cottage with land attached, on the Willey side of the Shirlot, being the most clamorous. She set out one night with the intention of shooting the Squire, but was unnerved by her favourite monkey, who had stealthily gone on before, and jumped unobserved on her shoulder as she opened a gate. On another occasion she succeeded in surprising the Squire by forcing her way into his room and pointing a loaded pistol at him across the table, vowing she would shoot him unless he promised to make the sum left for her maintenance equal to that of Miss Cal—t. He had his children educated; they frequently visited at the Hall, and some married well. He speaks of them as his children and grandchildren in his letters, and manifested the greatest anxiety that everything should be done that could be done, by provisions in his will for those he was about to leave behind him. Indeed the same characteristics which gave a colouring to his life distinguished him to the last; and if the old fires burnt less brightly, the same inner sense and outward manifestations were evident in all he did.
One thing which troubled him was the chancel of Barrow Church, as will be seen by the following characteristic letter to his agent, Mr. Pritchard, asking him to procure a legal opinion about certain encroachments upon what he conceived to be his rights, and those of the parishioners:—
“DEAR SIR,—
“You must remember Parson Jones has oft been talking to me about the pews put up, unfairly, I think, in the chancel of Barrow church. The whole of the chancel is mine as patron, and I am always obliged to do all the repairs to it, whenever wanted. There is a little small pew in it of very ancient date, besides these other two; in this, I suppose, it is intended to thrust poor me, the patron, into; humble and meek, and deprived of every comfort on my own spot, the chancel. The parson, you know, has been saucy on the occasion, as you know all black Toms are, and therefore I’ll now know my power from Mr. Mytton, and set the matter straight somehow or other. I can safely swear at this minute a dozen people of this parish (crowd as they will) can’t receive the Sacrament together, and therefore, instead of there being pews of any kind therein, there ought to be none at all, but a free unencumbered chancel at this hour. Rather than be as it is, I’ll be at the expense of pulling the present chancel down, rebuilding and enlarging it, so as to make all convenient and clever, before I’ll suffer these encroachments attended with every insult upon earth. Surely upon a representation to the bishop that the present chancel is much too small, and that the patron, at his own expense, wishes to enlarge it, I cannot think but it will be comply’d with. If this is not Mr. Mytton’s opinion as the best way, what is? and how am I to manage these encroaches?
“Yours ever, —
“P.S.—If the old chancel is taken down, I’ll take care that no pew shall stand in the new one. Mr. Mytton will properly turn this in his mind, and I’ll then face the old kit of them boldly. The old pew I spoke of, besides the other two in the chancel (mean and dirty as it is to a degree), yet the parson wants to let, if he does not do so now, to any person that comes to church, no matter who, so long as he gets the cash. It’s so small no one can sit with bended knees in it; and, in short, the whole chancel is not more than one-half as big as the little room I am now seated in; which must apparently show you, and, on your representation, Mr. Mytton likewise, how much too small it must be for so large a parish as Barrow, and with the addition of three pews—one very large indeed, the next to hold two or three people abreast, and the latter about three sideways, always standing, and totally unable to kneel in the least comfort.”
Years were beginning to tell upon the old sportsman, reminding him that his career was drawing to a close, and he appeared to apprehend the truth Sir Thomas Brown embodied in the remark, that every hour adds to the current arithmetic, which scarce stands one moment; and since “the longest sun sets at right declensions,” he looked forward to that setting and made arrangements accordingly, which were in perfect keeping with the character of the man. He felt that his day was done, that night was coming on; and it was his wish that those who knew him best should be those chosen to attend his funeral, that his domestics and servants who had experienced his kindness should carry him to the tomb. And let it be when the sun goes down, when the work of the day is done; let each have a guinea, that he may meet his neighbour afterwards and talk over, if he likes, the merits and demerits of his old master, as none—next to his Maker—know them better. The provisions in the will of the old Squire, in which he left his estates to his cousin Cecil, afterwards Lord Forester, father of the present Right Hon. Lord Forester, made about five years before his death, were evidently made in this spirit.
He became ill at one of his cottages on Shirlot, was taken home, attended by Dr. Thursfield (grandfather of the present Greville Thursfield, M.D.), and died whilst the doctor was still with him, on the 13th of July, 1811, in the seventy-third year of his age.
* * * * *
EXTRACTS _from the last Will and Testament_ (_dated the_ 3_rd_ _day of November_, 1805) _of George Forester_, _late of Willey_, _in the County of Salop_, _Esquire_.
“I desire that all my just debts and funeral expenses, and the charges of proving this my Will, may be paid and discharged by my Executors hereinafter named, with all convenient speed after my decease, and that my body may be interred in a grave near the Communion table in the Parish Church of Willey aforesaid, or as near thereto as may be, in a plain and decent manner. And it is my Will that eight of my Servants or Workmen be employed as Bearers of my body to the grave, to each of whom I bequeath the sum of One Guinea, and I desire my Cousin Cecil Forester, of Ross Hall, in the County of Salop, Esquire, Member of Parliament for the Town and Liberties of Wenlock, in the same County, the eldest son of my late uncle, Colonel Cecil Forester, deceased, to fix upon and appoint six of those of my friends and companions in the neighbourhood of Willey aforesaid, whom he knew to have been intimate with, and respected by, me, to be Bearers of the Pall at my funeral, and I request that my body may be carried to its burial-place in the dusk of the evening.
“And I do hereby direct that my chestnut horse, commonly called the Aldenham horse, shall be shot as soon as conveniently may be after my decease by two persons, one of whom to fire first, and the other to wait in reserve and fire immediately afterwards, so that he may be put to death as expeditiously as possible, and I direct that he shall afterwards be buried with his hide on, and that a flat stone without inscription shall be placed over him. And I do hereby request my Cousin Cecil Forester and the said John Pritchard, as soon as conveniently may be after my decease, to look over and inspect the letters, papers, and writings belonging to me at the time of my decease, and such of them as they shall deem to be useless I desire them to destroy.”
His wishes, we need scarcely say, were carried out to the letter. He was buried by torchlight in the family vault in Willey Church, beneath the family pew, to which the steps shown in our engraving lead. Founded and endowed by the lords of Willey at some remote period, this venerable edifice has remained, with the exception of its chancel, the same as we see it, for many generations past. It stands within the shadow of the Old Hall, and might from its appearance have formed the text of Gray’s ivy-mantled tower, where
“The moping owl does to the moon complain;”
being covered with a luxuriant growth of this clinging evergreen to the very top. Standing beneath, and peering through the Norman-looking windows, which admit but a sober light, glimpses are obtained of costly monuments with the names and titles of patrons whose escutcheons are visible against the wall. The Squire’s tomb remains uninscribed; but in 1821 Cecil Weld, the first Lord Forester, erected a marble tablet near, with the simple record—“To the memory of my late cousin and benefactor, George Forester, Esq., Willey Park, May 10, 1821.”
THE SQUIRE’S CHESTNUT MARE.
A NEW HUNTING SONG.
_Written for the present Work by_ J. P. DOUGLAS, ESQ.
AWAY we go! my mare and I, Over fallow and lea: She’s carried me twenty years or nigh— The best of friends are we. With steady stride she sweeps along, The old Squire on her back: While echoes far, earth’s sweetest sound, The music of the pack. Ah! how they stare, both high and low, To see the “Willey chestnut” go.
Full many a time, from dewy morn Until the day was done, We’ve follow’d the huntsman’s ringing horn, Proud of a gallant run. Well in the front, my mare and I— A good ’un to lead is she; For’ard, hark for’ard! still the cry— In at the death are we. My brave old mare—when I’m laid low Shall never another master know.
The sailor fondly loves his ship, The gallant loves his lass; The toper drains with fever’d lip, His deep, full-bottom’d glass. Away! such hollow joys I scorn, But give to me, I pray, The cry of the hounds, the sounding horn, For’ard! hark, hark away! And this our burial chant shall be, For the chestnut mare shall die with me!
APPENDIX.
A.—_Page_ 10.
STRUTT, quoting from the book of St. Alban’s the sort of birds assigned to the different ranks of persons, places them in the following order:—
The eagle, the vulture, and the melona for an emperor. The ger-falcon and the tercel of the ger-falcon for a king. The falcon gentle and the tercel gentle for a prince. The falcon of the rock for a duke. The falcon peregrine for an earl. The bastard for a baron. The sacre and the sacret for a knight. The lanere and the laneret for an esquire. The marlyon for a lady. The hobby for a young man. The gos-hawk for a yeoman. The tercel for a poor man. The sparrow-hawk for a priest. The musket for a holy-water clerk. The kesterel for a knave or a servant.
Of some of the later and milder measures taken to protect the hawk, it may be remarked that the 5th of Elizabeth, c. 21, enacts that if any person shall unlawfully take any hawks, or their eggs, out of the woods or ground of any person, and be thereof convicted at the assizes or sessions on indictment, bill or information at the suit of the king, or of the party, he shall be imprisoned three months, and pay treble damages, and after the expiration of three months shall find sureties for his good abearing for seven years, or remain in prison till he doth, § 3.
The last statute concerning _falconry_ (except a clause in 7 Jac. c. 11, which limits the time of hawking at pheasants and partridges) is that of the 23rd Eliz. c. 10, which enacts that if any manner of person shall hawk in another man’s corn after it is eared, and before it is shocked, and be therefore convicted at the assizes, sessions, or leet, he shall pay 40_s._ to the owner, and if not paid within ten days he shall be imprisoned for a month.
B.—_Page_ 41.
Mr. Eyton, to whose learned and valuable work on the “Antiquities of Shropshire” the author again acknowledges his obligations, as all who follow that painstaking writer must do, with regard to the holding at the More, says, “The earliest notice of this tenure which occurs in the Roll of Shropshire Sergeantries, is dated 13th of John, 1211, and merely says that Richard de Medler holds one virgate of land, and renders for the same annually, at the Feast of St. Michael, two knives (knifeulos). A second contemporary roll supplies the place of payment, viz., the Exchequer; a third writes the name, Richard le Mener. In 1245 Nicholas de More is said to pay at the Exchequer two knives (cultellos)—one good, the other very bad—for certain land which he holds of the King in capite in More. In 1255 the Stottesden Jurors report that Nicholas de Medler holds one virgate in More, in capite of the Lord King, rendering at the Exchequer two knives, one of which ought to cut a hazel rod, and he does no other service for the said land. In that of 1274 Jurors of the same Hundred say at length that Nicholas de la More holds one virgate in that vill of the Lord King, in capite, by sergeantry, of taking two knives to the King’s Exchequer, at the feast of St. Michael in each year, so that he ought to cut a hazel rod with one knife, so that the knife should bend (plicare) with the stroke; and again, to cut a rod with the other knife. The record of 1284 describes Nicholas de la More as holding three parts of a virgate and two moors, by sergeantry, &c. The Jurors of Oct. 1292 say that William de la More, of Erdington, holds one virgate in the More, by sergeantry of taking two knives to the King’s Exchequer on the morrow of St. Michael, and to cut with the same knives two hazel rods.”
C—_Page_ 49.
This bold projecting rock is called, from Major Thomas, “Smallman’s Leap,” from a tradition that the major, a staunch Royalist, being surprised by a party of Cromwell’s horse, was singly and hotly pursued over Westwood, where, finding all hope of escape at an end, he turned from the road, hurried his horse into a full gallop to the edge of the precipice, and went over. The horse was killed by falling on the trees beneath, but the major escaped, and secreted himself in the woods. Certain historical facts, showing that the family long resided here, appear to give a colouring to this tradition. Thus, in the reign of Henry III. (57th year) William Smallman had a lease from John Lord of Brockton par Shipton, Corvedale, of 17½ acres of land, with a sytche, called Woolsytche, and two parcels of meadow in the fields of Brockton. John Smallman possessed by lease and grant, from Thomas de la Lake, 30 acres of land in the fields of Larden par Shipton, for twenty years from the feast of St. Michael, living 4th Edward II. (1310) 41st Edward III. (1367), Richard Smallman, of Shipton, granted to Roger Powke, of Brockton, all his lands and tenements in the township and fields of Shipton, as fully as was contained in an original deed. Witnesses—John de Galford, Sir Roger Mon (Chaplain), Henry de Stanwy, John Tyklewardyne (Ticklarton), of Stanton, John de Gurre of the same, with others. 1st Henry VI. (1422), John Smallman was intrusted with the collection of the subsidies of taxes payable to the Crown within the franchise of Wenlock. Thomas Smallman, of Elton, co. Harford, and Inner Temple, barrister-at-law, afterwards a Welsh judge, purchased the manor of Wilderhope, Stanway, and the teg and estates, and had a numerous grant of arms, 5th October, 1589. Major Thomas Smallman, a staunch royalist, born 1624, compounded for his estate £140.
Underneath this bold projecting headland, sometimes called “Ipikin’s Rock,” is Ipikin’s Cave, an excavation very difficult of approach, where tradition alleges a bold outlaw long concealed himself and his horse, and from which he issued to make some predatory excursion.
The term _hope_, both as a prefix and termination, is of such frequent occurrence here that it is only natural to suppose that it has some special signification; and looking at the positions of Prest_hope_, East_hope_, Millic_hope_, Middle_hope_, Wilder_hope_, _Hope_say, and _Hope_ Bowdler, that signification appears to be a recess, or place remote between the hills. Easthope is a rural little village about two miles beyond Ipikin’s Rock, pleasantly situated in one of these long natural troughs which follow the direction of Wenlock Edge.
It appears to have been within the Long Forest, and is mentioned in Domesday as being held in Saxon times by Eruni and Uluric; it was afterwards held by Edric de Esthop, and others of the same name. There was a church here as early as 1240, and in the graveyard, between two ancient yews, are two tombs, without either date or inscription, in which two monks connected with the Abbey of Wenlock are supposed to have been interred.
Near Easthope, and about midway between Larden Hall and Lutwyche Hall, is an enclosure comprising about eight acres, or an encampment, forming nearly an entire circle, surrounded by inner and outer fosses. The internal slope of the inner wall is 12 feet, and externally 25, while the crest of the parapet is 6 feet broad. The relief of the second vallum rises 10 feet from the fosse, and is about 12 feet across its parapet. There is also a second ditch, but it is almost obliterated. It is supposed to have been a military post, forming an important link in the chain of British entrenchments which stretched throughout this portion of the county. Near it a mound resembling a tumulus was opened some years since by the Rev. R. More and T. Mytton, Esq., and in or near which a British urn of baked clay was discovered, on another occasion, while making a drain.
D.—_Page_ 66.
“Proavus meus Richardus de isto matrimonio susceptus uxorem habuit Annam Richardi dicti Forestarii filiam qui quidem Richardus filius erat natu minor prænobilis familiæ Forestariorum (olim Regiorum Vigorniensis saltûs custodum) et famoso Episcopo Bonnero a-Secritis Hic Suttanum Madoci incolebat, et egregias ædes posuit in urbicula dicta Brugge, sive ad Pontem vel hodie dictas Forestarii Dementiam,”
E.—PEDIGREE OF THE FORESTER FAMILY, _Page_ 69.
In his “Sheriffs of Shropshire,” Mr. Blakeway in speaking of the Forester family, says: “They were originally Foresters, an office much coveted by our ancestors, which latter seems probable, from the fact, that on the Pipe Rolls of 1214, Hugh Forester accounts for a hundred merks that he may hold the bailiwick of the forest of Salopscire, as his father held it before him.” King John, however, remits thirty merks of the payment in consequence of Hugh having taken to wife the niece of John l’Estrange, at _His Majesty’s request_. It does not seem clear, however, that Hugh, the son of Robert, can be traced to have been in the direct line of the Willey family, he having been ancestor to Roger, son of John, the first of the king’s six foresters. The other, Robert de Wellington, the late Mr. George Morris, in his “Genealogies of the Principal Landed Proprietors,” now in the possession of T. C. Eyton, Esq., to whose kindness we are indebted for this extract, says was the earliest person that can certainly be called ancestor of the present family of Forester. His sergeantry is described as the custody of the King’s Hay of Eyton, of which, and several adjoining manors, Peter de Eyton, lineal ancestor of the present Thomas Campbell Eyton, of Eyton, and grandson of Robert de Eyton, who gave the whole of the Buttery estate to Shrewsbury Abbey, was the lord.
Thomas, a son of Robert Forester of Wellington, in the Hundred Rolls, in 1254, is said by the king’s justices itinerant to hold half a virgate of the king to keep the Hay of Wellington. Roger le Forester of Wellington, who succeeded Robert, appears to have died 1277–8, and to have left two sons, Robert and Roger. Robert had property in Wellington and the Bailiwick of the forest of the Wrekin, and is supposed to have succeeded his father, whom he did not long survive, having died the year following, 1278–9. Roger his brother succeeded to his possession, and held also the Hay of Wellington, of which he died seized in 1284–5. Robert, the Forester of Wellington, Mr. Blakeway says, occurs in the Hundred Roll of Bradford in 1287, and is shown to have held the Hay of Wellington till 1292–3, when Roger, son of Roger, proving himself of age, paid the king one merk as a relief for his lands in Wellington, held by sergeantry, to keep Wellington Hay, in the forest of the Wrekin, &c. This is the Roger de Wellington before-mentioned, as one of King Edward’s foresters by fee, recorded in his Great Charter of the forests of Salopssier, in the perambulation of 1300. He died 1331.
John le Forester, as John, son and heir of Roger le Forester de Welynton, succeeded to the property, and proved himself of age in the reign of Edward III., 1335. With John de Eyton he attested a grant in Wellington, and died 24th of Edward III., 1350.
William le Forester succeeded his father, John, in 1377, and died 19th of Richard II., 1395.
In 1397 Roger Forester de Wellington is described as holding Wellington Hay and Chace. He died in 1402.
Roger, his son and heir, was in 1416 appointed keeper of the same haia by the Duchess of Norfolk and the Lady Bergavenny, sisters and co-heiresses of the great Thomas Fitz-Alan, Earl of Arundel.
His son and successor, John, died 5th of Edward IV. 1465, seized of the lands, &c., in Wellington, and the custody of the forest of the Wrekin. He had two sons, William and John, also a son Richard; and William, son of the above, appears to have been the father of another John, the former John having died without issue. John, in 1506, witnesses a deed of Thomas Cresset, as John Forester the younger; he married Joice Upton, the heiress of Philip Upton, of Upton under Haymond, and obtained the estate of that place, which is still inherited by his descendants.
This John Forester first resided in Watling Street, where his ancestors for several generations had lived, in the old timbered mansion, now occupied by Dr. Cranage, but he afterwards removed to Easthope, whilst his son William resided at Upton; and Richard Forester, alias Forster of Sutton Maddock, secretary to Bishop Bonner, who built the old mansion in Bridgnorth, called “Forester’s Folly,” which was burnt down during the siege of the castle, when the high town became a heap of ruins, appears to have been a son of John Forester, of Easthope; and Anthony Forester or Foster of Sir Walter Scott’s novel, who was born about 1510, was a son of his.
In the 34th of Henry VIII., 1542–3, Thomas Foster and Elizabeth his wife, account in the Exchequer for several temporalities in connection with the monastery of St. Peter’s, Shrewsbury. Sir William Forester, KB., married Lady Mary Cecil, daughter of James, third Earl of Salisbury. He was a staunch Protestant, and represented the county with George Weld, as previously stated, with whom he voted in favour of the succession of the House of Hanover, and the family came into possession of the Willey estates by the marriage of Brook Forester of Dothill Park, with one of the Welds, the famous George Forester, the Willey Squire, being the fruit of that marriage. George Forester left the whole of his estates to his cousin, Cecil Forester, of Ross Hall, who was allowed by George the Fourth, whose personal friendship he had been permitted to enjoy for many years, to add the name of Weld in 1821. Cecil Weld Forester, Esq., was ennobled the same year by George the Fourth, who, when Prince of Wales, honoured him with a visit at Ross Hall. He married Catherine, daughter of His Grace the fourth Duke of Rutland, and was not less renowned than his cousin, as a sportsman. His eagerness for the chase was happily characterised by the late Mr. Meynell, who used to say, “First out of cover came Cecil Forester, next the fox, and then my hounds.” A famous leap of his, thirty feet across a stream, on his famous horse Bernardo, has been recorded in some lines now at Willey which accompany the portrait of the horse. He is supposed to have been one of the first who instituted the present system of hard riding to hounds, and a horse known to have been ridden by him, it is said, would at any time fetch £20 more than the ordinary price. Speaking of the classic proportions of a horse, and the perfection of the art of riding in connection with his lordship as a sportsman, Colonel Apperley, remarked some years ago, “Unless a man sits gracefully on his horse, and handles him well, that fine effect is lost. As the poet says, he would be incorporated with the brave beast, and such does Lord Forester appear to be. His eye to a country is also remarkably quick, and his knowledge of Leicestershire has given him no small advantage. On one occasion he disregarded the good old English custom of ‘looking before you leap,’ and landed in the middle of a deep pool. ‘Hold on,’ a countryman who saw him, shouted to others coming in the same direction. ‘Hold your tongue—say nothing, we shall have it full in a minute,’ said Lord Forester.” The Colonel added, “In consequence of residing in Shropshire, a country which has been so long famous for its breed of horses, he has a good opportunity of mounting himself well. He always insisted on the necessity of lengthy shoulders, good fetlocks, well formed hind legs and open feet; and knowing better than to confound strength and size, his horses seldom exceeded fifteen hands. On anything relating to a hunter his authority has long been considered classic, and if Forester said so it was enough. Lord Forester will always stand pre-eminent in the field, whilst in private life he is a very friendly man, and has ever adhered to those principles of honour and integrity which characterise the gentleman.” He died on the 23rd of May, 1828, in his 61st year. He had, as we have said, ten children, the gallant Frank Forester, as Colonel Apperley styles him, being one. The oldest was the present Right Hon. J. G. W. Forester, whose popularity in connection with the Belvoir Hunt is so well known.
His lordship, whose portrait we give at the commencement of this work, and who is now in the 73rd year of his age, has added very much to the Willey estates, both by purchase and by improvements, and is very much esteemed by his tenantry.
The Right Hon. General Forester, who succeeded his brother in the representation of Wenlock, has sat for the borough for forty-five years, and is now the Father of the House of Commons. Whether out-door exercises, associated with the pleasures of the chase, to which the ancestors of the Foresters have devoted themselves for so many centuries, have anything to do with it or not we cannot say; but the Foresters are remarkable for masculine and feminine beauty, and the General has frequently been spoken of by the press as the best looking man in the House of Commons. Neither he nor his elder brother, the present Rt. Hon. Lord Forester, are likely to leave behind them direct issue. The younger brother, the Hon. and Rev. O. W. W. Forester, has one son, Cecil, who has several sons to perpetuate the name of Forester, which we hope will long be associated with Willey.
INDEX.
Abbot of Leicester, 15 ,, Salop, 6 „ Tavistock, 15 Addison, 80 Albrighton red-coats, 30 Aldenham, 32 Alfred, 19 Algar, 19 Apley, 32 Apperley, Col., 84 Arrows, 22 Atterley, 22, 32
* * * * *
Bachelors’ Hall, 104 Badger, 52 Barons’ War, 25 Barrow, 32 Battle of Worcester, 26 Baxter, 65 Beacons, 168 Beaver, 4 Bellet’s, Rev. George, Antiquities of Bridgnorth, 66 Belswardine, 32 Benson, M., Esq., 48 Benthall, 32 Benthall Edge, 53 Bernard’s Hill, 23 Bishop Bonner, 66 ,, Percy, 65 Bittern, 5 Black Toms, 182 Bold, 32 Boney, 167 Bowman’s Hill, 26 Bow, the weapon of sport and of war, 22 Brock-holes, 52 Broseley, 32, 40 Brown Clee, 96 Brug, 40 Buck, 16 Buildwas, 100
* * * * *
Cantreyne, 32 Castellan, 23 Castillon, 14 Cask of wine, 24 Castle, 22 Caughley, 32 Chace of Shirlot, 31 Chaucer, 46 Chesterton, 18 Chester, Earl of, 25 Chetton, 31 Childers, 88 Christmas Day, 38 Claverley, 25 Clee Hills, 39 Cliffords, 40 Coalbrookdale, 40 Coed, 19 Colemore, 32 Collars of gold, 9 Constable, 45 Coracle, 6 Corbett, 24 Corve Dale, 51 Cox Morris, 115 Craft of Hunting, 16 Cressage, 49 Creswick, 45
* * * * *
D—n the Church, 116 Danesford, 19 Dastardly devils, 157 Dawley, 58 Dean, 32 Deer, 31, 36, 37, 39 Deer Leap, 36 Dibdin, 141 Ditton, 39 Dodos, 4 Domesday, 71 Dothill, 65 Druids, 46, 50 Drury Lane, 144 Duke’s Antiquities, 28 Duke of York, 171
* * * * *
Early features of the country, 8 Earl of Derby, 26 Earl Dundonald, 171 Easthope, 49 Egret, 5 Elk, Gigantic, 11 England, The, of our ancestor, 79 Evelith, 66 Eyton, 58 Eyton, Sir H, 63 Eyton, T. C, 63
* * * * *
Falcon, 9 First iron barge, 170 Fishing a recreation for the sick, 7 Fishing an attractive art, &c., 6 „ practised by primitive dwellers, 5 Forest Lodge, 28 Forest Roll, 58 Forester, Brook, 76 „ George, 76 ,, Hugh, 58 „ John, 63 „ Robert, 58, 60, 63 „ Roger, 63 „ Squire, 76 „ William, 73 Forester’s Folly, 66 Forster, Richard, 64 Foster, Anthony, Lord of the Manor of Little Wenlock, 64 Foster, Anthony, a different character to what Sir Walter Scott represents him, 67, 68 Fox-holes, 52 Fox-hunters’ Christening, 120 Fox-hunting Moll, 121
* * * * *
Gammer Gurton’s Needle, 26, 29 Gatacre, 26 Gentlemen nearest the fire, 175 George Earl of Shrewsbury, 29 Goats, 25 Grant, singular, to John Forester, 63
* * * * *
Hangster’s Gate, 145 Harold, 48 Harpswood, 33 Hay Gate, 59 Haye, 60 Haye of Shirlot, 40 ,, Wellington, 58 Hawking, 10 Hermitage, 26, 27 Heron, 10 Hill Top, 49 Hinton, 115 Honest old Tom, 89 Hope Bowdler, 49 Hughley, 49 Hugh Montgomery, 39 Hunting as old as the hills, 1 Hunting-matches, 61
* * * * *
Imbert, 40 Incledon, 143 Ipikin’s Rock, 49 Iron, 41
* * * * *
Kennels, 86 King Canute, 12 „ Edward I., 24 ,, „ VI., 29 „ Henry I., 13 „ „ III. in Shrewsbury, 14 ,, ,, III., 28 ,, ,, VII., 29 „ „ VIII., 10, 63 „ John, 10 ,, Richard I., 13 „ „ II., 28 „ William I., 12
* * * * *
Lacon, 73 Lady Oak, 49, 50 Larden, 48 Larry Palmer, 109 Latimer, 15 Legend, 20 Leland, 41 Lilleshall, 5 Linley, 42 Little Wenlock, 10 Lodge Farm, 36 Long runs, 96 Lutwyche, 48
* * * * *
Major Forester and his Volunteers, 159 Marsh and forest periods, 8 Maypoles, 86 Merrie days, 16 Mog Forest, 49 Moody, 11 Moody’s Horn, 127 Morfe Forest, 17 „ Volunteers, 172 Morville, 31 Mount St. Gilbert, 57 Muckley Row, 34 Needle’s Eye, 56
* * * * *
Oaks, 51 Offenders in forests, 14 Old boots, 138 Old Hall, 73 „ Lodge, 29 „ names, 27 „ records, 96 „ style of hunting, 84 ,, Simkiss, 96 „ tenures, 41 ,, Tinker, 96 „ trees, 50, 55 „ Trojan, 130 Ordericus Vitalis, 13, 18 Original letters, 90, 91
* * * * *
Parson Stephens in his shirt, 111 Parson Stephens and the poacher, 119 Pendlestone Mill, 57 Phœbe Higgs, 95 Pigmy, 88 Pilot, 88 Piers Plowman, 14 Prince Rufus, 13
* * * * *
Quatford, 21
* * * * *
Red deer, 30 Robin Hood, 23 Roger de Montgomery, 21
* * * * *
Savory, 92 Seabright, 130 Second Wenlock Loyal Volunteers, 165 Shade of Tom Moody, 146 Sherwood, 47 Shirlot, 34 Shipton, 51 Smallman’s Leap, 49 Smith, Sidney Stedman, Esq., 66 Smithies, 42 Sore sparrow-hawk, 9 Spoonhill, 48 Sporting priors, 37 Sporting visitations, 38 Sportsmen attend, 136 Squire Forester’s gift to Dibdin, 143 Squire Forester among his neighbours, 173 Squire Forester and the rioters, 177 Squire Forester in Parliament, 151 Squire Forester not a model for imitation, 177 Squire Forester notorious for his amours, 180 Squire Forester, Death of, 185 ,, „ Extracts from the will of, 185 Stoke St. Milburgh, 40 Stubbs, 89 Sutton Maddock, 65 Swainmote, 24, 37 Swine, 20 Sylvan slopes, 47
* * * * *
Tasley, 32 Taylor, the water-poet, 60 Tevici, huntsman to Edward I., 12 Thursfield, Thomas, 44 „ William, 84 Tickwood, 100 Tom Moody, 122 Tom Moody’s last request, 135 Trencher hounds, 130 Tumuli, 18 Turner, 114
* * * * *
Venison, 35 Vivaries, 5 Volunteers, 158, 166
* * * * *
“Walls,” The, 18 Wastes, 25 Weirs, 5 Welds, The, 73 Wenlock (Loyal Volunteers), 159 Wenlock, 38, 152 Wheatland, 45 Who-who-hoop, 129 Wild boar, 29 Wilkinson, 114 Willey, 70 ,, Church, 173, 186 „ rector, 118 ,, Wharf, 170 Williley, 72 Wilton, 79 Windfalls, 35 Woodcraft, 14 Worf, 18 Wrekin, 55
* * * * *
* * * * *
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HANDBOOK
TO THE
SEVERN VALLEY RAILWAY,
With Twenty-five Illustrations.
BY J. RANDALL, F.G.S.
Author of “The Severn Valley,” “Old Sports and Sportsmen,” “Villages and Village Churches,” &c.
[Picture: Illustration of from Severn Valley Railway book]
VIRTUE & CO., 26, IVY LANE, LONDON; J. RANDALL, MADELEY, SHROPSHIRE.
* * * * *
TENT LIFE
WITH
ENGLISH GIPSIES IN NORWAY.
BY HUBERT SMITH,
Member of the English Alpine Club; Norse Turist Forening; and Fellow of the Historical Society of Great Britain.
_With Five full-page Engravings_, _Thirty-one smaller_ _Illustrations_, _and Map of the Country_, _showing Routes_.
* * * * *
The following is a recent Review of the Book:—
“We do not know any similar kind of work, and we believe that it will stand alone in the speciality of its interest.
“In addition to much adventure resulting from a nomadic life in a foreign country, it contains descriptions of scenery, besides information which may instruct the philologist. A carefully prepared map shows the routes and camp grounds of the Author’s nomadic expedition.
“The work, in consequence of the death of his late Majesty, Carl XV., on the 18th Sept., 1872, is dedicated by permission of his present Majesty, Oscar II., ‘_In Memoriam_.’
“The work has clearly been undertaken at considerable cost, and the scenes of travel described extend over nearly 2,000 miles of sea and land traversed by the Author with tents, gipsies, animal commissariat, and baggage, independent of any other shelter or accommodation than what he took with him. In the course of the expedition one of the highest waterfalls of Norway was visited, ‘Morte fos,’ and the highest mountain in Norway, the ‘Galdhossiggen’ was ascended. The book is cheap at a guinea, being illustrated with five full-page engravings, all of which are taken from the Author’s original sketches, or photographs specially obtained for the purpose; they are beautiful works of Art, and are admirably executed by the celebrated Mr. Edward Whymper, Author of ‘Scrambles amongst the Alps.’”
* * * * *
LONDON: S. KING & CO., 63, CORNHILL; AND 72, PATERNOSTER ROW.
* * * * *
[Picture: Decorative graphic with letters C S N on it, underneath which is written Coalport]
JOHN ROSE & CO.,
_PORCELAIN MANUFACTURERS_,
COALPORT, SHROPSHIRE.
_Five minutes’ walk from Coalport Station on the Severn Valley and_ _Shropshire Union Railways_.
* * * * *
MEDAL OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS, 1820. FIRST CLASS MEDAL, EXHIBITION, 1851. First Class Medal, Paris Exhibition, 1855. FIRST CLASS MEDAL, EXHIBITION, 1862.
* * * * *
The _Court Journal_, speaking of the productions exhibited by William Pugh, Esq., May, 1871, says—
“We do not think that any porcelain productions would equal those of the Coalport works. The show-case that the owners exhibit independently, and their manufactures, displayed by various firms, have, in all instances, the highest merit. We are well aware we shall be informed that our praise is but a stale echo, as this firm is renowned of old for producing the finest china, having some process of blending or applying chemical agencies known only to themselves, and being celebrated over Europe for the beautiful colour of the gold—a matter of course of very considerable consequence, as it is used so bounteously in the ornamentation of china.”
In an article on the “world’s great show,” as the Viennese were pleased to call it, the same Journal remarked—
“We have latterly challenged the continental world to compete with us and to contend for equality in many branches of manufacture into which art excellence and refinement of taste enter, and we have carried off the palm. Neither Sèvres nor Dresden has of late years compared with the best English productions. There is no doubt of this; and most especially we might instance as successful rivalry the progress that the Coalport Works have made. The marked patronage of Royal circles on the Continent and at home for their productions is, perhaps, the best proof of the truth of our statement. . . . They have been especially practical in their catering for the Vienna Exhibition, and met the foreigner at his weak point rather than courted rivalry at his strongest. No nation on the Continent can compete with the French as regards the painting, though Coalport could and will challenge with every hope of success for the first place when it comes to the question of rivalry in design, exquisite form, graceful ornamentation, brilliancy of colour, bright burnish of gold, and tenderness of glaze in merely decorative porcelain works. The specimens of this character which are sent will, we are sure, worthily maintain the reputation of Coalport.”
* * * * *
The _Standard_ also, May 23, 1873, in an article on the “Ceramic Art,” had the following:—
“Messrs. Daniell have so many good things from Coalport Works that it would be difficult to present even a brief mention of them all. There is one beautiful pair of vases in imitation Cashmere ware which Sir R. Wallace has already purchased, and the same gentleman has also secured a number of plates delightfully painted by Faugeron with exotic leaves. Two portrait vases of the Emperor and Empress of Austria are of old Sèvres shape, the bodies being of turquoise and gold, and the paintings by Palmere, almost miniatures in their fine detail. Two gros bleu vases, with raised and chased gold ornamentation and panels, choicely painted with birds by Randall, are as elegant as a pair of jardinières, with a cobalt ground and gold ferns and grasses in relief, butterflies touched up in bright enamel, toning the otherwise too great richness of the dark gold and blue. These are only a few of the attractions of one of the finest, though not largest, cases in the section. Messrs. Pellatt exhibit some Coalport ware, which is in every respect worthy of the high repute of that renowned manufactory.”
* * * * *
MARBLE AND STONE WORKS, SWAN HILL, SHREWSBURY.
* * * * *
R. DODSON
Respectfully begs to intimate that the Show Rooms contain a large collection of
MARBLE, STONE, & ENAMELLED SLATE CHIMNEY PIECES,
MARBLE AND STONE MURAL MONUMENTS,
CEMETERY AND CHURCHYARD MEMORIALS,
FONTS, FOUNTAINS, VASES, SLATE CISTERNS, &c. &c. &c.
_Designs forwarded for inspection_; _and communications by letter will_ _receive immediate attention_.
* * * * *
THE COALBROOKDALE CO.
MANUFACTURERS OF ALL KINDS OF
BRICKS AND TILES,
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FIRE BRICKS, SQUARES, CHIMNEY TOPS, &c.
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FOR FACING STRING COURSES,
And other Architectural Purposes, in Blue, White, and Red.
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FOR WINDOWS AND OTHER OPENINGS, IN THE ABOVE COLOURS.
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FLOWER POTS, BOXES, PENDANTS, &c.
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ALL MATERIALS OF THE BEST AND MOST DURABLE DESCRIPTION.
* * * * *
CRAVEN, DUNNILL, & CO. (LIMITED),
Encaustic & Geometrical Tiles,
JACKFIELD WORKS,
NEAR IRONBRIDGE, SHROPSHIRE.
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PATTERN SHEETS, SPECIAL DESIGNS, AND ESTIMATES,
ON APPLICATION TO THE WORKS.
* * * * *
Elementary Geological Collections, at 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, to 100 guineas each, and every requisite to assist those commencing the study of this interesting branch of Science, a knowledge of which affords so much pleasure to the traveller in all parts of the world.
A collection for Five Guineas, to illustrate the recent works on Geology, by Ansted, Buckland, Lyell, Mantell, Murchison, Page, Phillips, and others, contains 200 specimens, in a plain Mahogany Cabinet, with five trays, comprising the following specimens, viz.:—
MINERALS which are either the components of Rocks, or occasionally imbedded in them—Quartz, Agate, Chalcedony, Jasper, Garnet, Zeolite, Hornblende, Augite, Asbestos, Felspar, Mica, Talc, Tourmaline, Spinel, Zircon, Corundum, Lapis Lazuli, Calcite, Fluor, Selenite, Baryta, Strontia, Salt, Sulphur, Plumbago, Bitumen, &c.
NATIVE METALS, or METALLIFEROUS MINERALS; these are found in masses or beds, in veins, and occasionally in the beds of rivers. Specimens of the following Metallic Ores are put in the Cabinet:—Iron, Manganese, Lead, Tin, Zinc, Copper, Antimony, Silver, Gold, Platina, Mercury, Titanium, &c.
ROCKS: Granite, Gneiss, Mica-slate, Clay-slate, Porphyry, Serpentine, Sandstones, Limestones, Basalt, Lavas, &c.
PALÆOZOIC FOSSILS from the Cambrian, Silurian, Devonian, Carboniferous, and Permian Rocks.
SECONDARY FOSSILS from the Rhætic, Lias, Oolite, Wealden, and Cretaceous Groups.
TERTIARY FOSSILS from the Plastic Clay, London Clay, Crag, &c.
In the more expensive collections some of the specimens are rare, and all more select.
JAMES TENNANT, Mineralogist (by Appointment) to Her Majesty, 149, Strand, London, W.C.
* * * * *
THE OLD HALL SCHOOL, WELLINGTON, SALOP.
* * * * *
RESIDENT MASTERS:
Principal.
J. EDWARD CRANAGE, M.A., Ph.D. of the University of Jena; Author of “Mental Education;” Lecturer to the Society of Arts, &c., &c.
* * * * *
Head Master.
DAVID JOHNSTON, Esq., M.A., Aberdeen.
Second Master.
THOMAS WILLIAMS, Esq., B.A., (In Mathematical Honours) Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge.
Modern Languages Master.
MONSIEUR VIDAL, of the University of Louvain.
* * * * *
TERMS FOR BOARD AND LODGING.
(EXCLUSIVE OF SCHOOL FEES, FOR WHICH SEE SEPARATE CIRCULAR.)
PER QUARTER. £ _s._ _d._ Private pupils above 18 years of age, with separate 42 0 0 bedroom, horse riding, and other privileges Ditto, without horse exercise, under 18 26 5 0 Boarders 12 12 0 Ditto, under 10 years of age 10 10 0 Separate bedroom for one boy 5 5 0 Ditto, for two boys (each) 4 4 0 Ditto, for three boys (each) 3 3 0 Washing, according to clothes used, generally 0 15 0
DR. CRANAGE’S undeviating aim is to train the boys committed to his care, not only in mental acquisitions, but in their whole moral and physical being; believing, that as much pains and unremitting attention are required for the latter as the former. Attention is given not only to the studies which the boys pursue, but to their recreation, games, and amusements—upon the principle that almost every incident affords materials for improvement, and opportunities for the formation of good habits.
His main object in the intellectual culture is to teach the boy to think; without omitting the positive work and hard study to brace “the nerves of the mind” for the making of a scholar.
The system of rewards and punishments is peculiar, with the general absence of corporal punishment; but the experience of more than twenty-four years has fully proved its efficiency.
Above all, his desire is to bring them to Christ as their Saviour, and then to help them to walk like Christ, as their example.
Dr. Cranage finds the most wonderful difference in the progress and conduct of the boys committed to his care according to the measure of moral support he receives from the parents and guardians of the boys. He earnestly solicits their hearty and constant co-operation in his anxious labours.
The skeleton Report will give a succinct view of the subjects of study. The aim is to give a thoroughly liberal education, without too exclusive attention to Latin and Greek. In the study of languages the system of Arnold is considered admirable, but not perfect; the grammar is therefore supplied, and iteration and reiteration of declensions, conjugations, and rules to impress indelibly, by rote even, all the fundamentals are resorted to. Latin, as the basis of most of the modern European languages, is considered—even to boys not going to college—very important; it is deemed also very desirable for _all_ boys to be able to read the Greek Testament before leaving school.
Some objects are taught by familiar Lectures only, illustrated by extensive apparatus; while many other subjects are occasionally thus exemplified.
A report of each boy’s improvement and conduct is sent to his parents or guardians eight times in each year.
At the end of each year the School is examined by the authority and direction of the Syndicate appointed by the University of Cambridge, and a copy of the Report is sent to the parents or guardians of each boy. There is also an examination at midsummer by the masters of the school on the work of the previous half-year; a report of which is sent to the parents.
The boy’s Reading Room is furnished with good Periodicals and a well-selected Library.
There is a well-furnished Laboratory for the study of Chemistry, Photography, &c.; Dr. Cranage himself instructing in science in the school.
A Museum is established for collecting specimens to illustrate natural history, arts, and sciences, together with articles of virtû and antiquity—the boys themselves being the principal collectors and contributors.
There are three orders of distinction in the school conferred for proficiency, combined with good conduct:—1st, Holder of a Certificate; 2nd, Palmer, or Holder of the Palm; 3rd, or highest, Grecian.
The School-house is delightfully situated within a mile of the railway-station of Wellington; it is well adapted for its purpose, and fitted up with the necessary appliances. The school-room, reading-room, dining-room, lavatory, bath-room, and dormitories are spacious, airy, and convenient; the playgrounds very extensive, and well fitted for healthy recreation.
There is a swimming-bath on the grounds.
* * * * *
BUNNY AND EVANS
(LATE J. D. SANDFORD),
25, HIGH STREET, SHREWSBURY,
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PRINTING.
This branch includes the production of Maps and Plans of Estates, &c., in Lithography; and the Letter-press Printing that of Pamphlets, Sermons, Reports of Societies, Particulars of Sales, Posters and Handbills, Billheads, Memorandum Forms, &c.
STAMPING,
in colours or plain, in the best London fashion.
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plain and ornamental.
STATIONERY.
Note Papers from 2s. to 10s. per ream, Envelopes from 4_s._ per 100 upwards. Ledgers, Journals, and Cash Books in stock, or made to any pattern.
* * * * *
_Bibles_, _Church Services_, _Prayers_, _and devotional books in great_ _variety_.
MAGAZINES AND NEWSPAPERS SUPPLIED.
* * * * *
URICONIUM.
Mr. W. Wright’s valuable and comprehensive work on this ancient Roman city is still on sale at 25_s._
* * * * *
_ESTABLISHED_ 1772.
* * * * *
THE SHREWSBURY CHRONICLE, AND SHROPSHIRE AND MONTGOMERYSHIRE TIMES.
THE COUNTY NEWSPAPER,
And LEADING JOURNAL for Shropshire and North Wales, has the GREATEST CIRCULATION through a most extensive district and possesses a wide-spread influence amongst the most important classes of the community.
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Best Medium for Advertisers.
* * * * *
Published every Friday morning by the Proprietor, JOHN WATTON, at the Offices, St. John’s Hill, Shrewsbury.
* * * * *
EDDOWES’S SHREWSBURY JOURNAL, AND SALOPIAN JOURNAL,
(Established 1794.)
Advertiser for Shropshire and the Principality of Wales.
Published every Wednesday morning at the Offices,
MARKET SQUARE.
PRICE 2d.
* * * * *
EDDOWES’S JOURNAL is the only Conservative Paper published in the County of Salop and is the recognised organ of the CHURCH OF ENGLAND, and the Constitutional Party in the district.
It has a guaranteed circulation throughout the county of Salop and the whole principality of Wales, and also an Advertising patronage amongst Capitalists, Solicitors, Auctioneers, Merchants, Land Agents, and Traders, SUPERIOR TO THAT OF ANY OTHER NEWSPAPER published in the district. It also circulates extensively in the neighbouring Counties, and will be found at the principal hotels and commercial offices in London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, and other important towns. It is thus UNQUESTIONABLY THE BEST MEDIUM FOR ADVERTISING, and affords a safe and widely-spread means of publicity amongst all those classes most likely to be useful to advertisers.
_Annual Subscriptions_, _free by post_, 13_s._; _if paid in advance_, 11_s._
* * * * *
_VALUABLE MEDIUM FOR ADVERTISING_.
* * * * *
THE IRONBRIDGE WEEKLY JOURNAL
AND
Borough of Wenlock Advertiser, Published every Saturday. Price One Penny.
* * * * *
SCALE OF CHARGES FOR ADVERTISING.
Not exceeding 24 Words 1s. 0d. Ditto 40 Words 1s. 6d.
The Charges above apply to the class of Advertisements enumerated below and are strictly confined to those that are _paid for in advance_.
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PUBLISHED AT JOSEPH SLATER’S STEAM PRINTING OFFICE, THE MARKET SQUARE, IRONBRIDGE, SALOP.
* * * * *
BRIDGNORTH.
* * * * *
CROWN AND ROYAL HOTEL. FAMILY, COMMERCIAL, AND POSTING HOUSE.
_Every attention paid to the Comfort and Convenience of Visitors_.
BILLIARD-ROOM.
Post Horses and Carriages. Omnibus to and from each Train, and Refreshment Rooms at Station.
T. WHITEFOOT, Proprietor.
N.B.—RAILWAY PARCELS OFFICE.
* * * * *
WREKIN HOTEL COMPANY, LIMITED. WELLINGTON, SALOP.
* * * * *
FAMILY AND COMMERCIAL HOTEL.
* * * * *
EXTENSIVE LOCK-UP BAIT AND LIVERY STABLES, COACH HOUSES, LOOSE BOXES, &c.
Posting in all its Branches—Billiards—Hot and Cold Baths.
* * * * *
FOOTNOTES.
{10} Appendix A.
{28} Inquis. Henry III., incerti temporis, Nu. 6, 156.
{41} For additional particulars respecting this interesting tenure we refer the reader to the Appendix B.
{49a} There is a legend that Major Smallman, a staunch royalist, surprised by some of Cromwell’s troopers, hotly pursued over Presthope, turned from the road, spurred his horse at full gallop to the edge of the precipice, and went over. The horse is said to have been killed on the trees, whilst the Major escaped, and secreted himself in the woods. Facts and local circumstances concur in giving a colouring to the tradition, and deeds extant show that the family resided here from the reign of Henry III. to the time mentioned. See Appendix C.
{49b} See Appendix.
{63} In 1390, Sir Humphrey de Eyton, an ancestor of T. C. Eyton, Esq., of Eyton, was ranger of this forest.
{64} The Old Hall, which we suppose to have been the old hunting lodge, the residence of Dr. Cranage, Watling Street, is another interesting specimen of the residences of the Forester family, and of the style of building and profusion of wood used therein during the great forest periods. Dothill, now the residence of R. Groom, Esq., is another of the old family residences of the Foresters.
{66} Appendix D.
{69} For a more complete account of the Forester family, we refer the reader to the Pedigree given in the Appendix E.
{171} Lord Dundonald, who lived in the old mansion, still standing, at the Tuckies, was an excellent chemist, and constructed some ingeniously contrived ovens, by which he extracted from coal a tar for the use of the navy, and which also became an article of general commerce.