Chapter 16
Among the old inns and taverns of the town the chief were the Neptune Inn, Walsall Street; the Bull's Head, Wolverhampton Street; the Hope and Anchor, Little London; the Bell Inn, Market Place; and the Waterglade Tavern, Waterglade. The Neptune, situated on the main road between Wolverhampton and Walsall, and almost opposite the church, was formerly a posting-house kept in the 18th and early part of the 19th century by Isaac Hartill, one of those typical hosts of the coaching period; active, genial, and obliging, a man of good conversational powers, and one who instantly made his guests feel at home, and was extremely popular with all the local gentry and regular travellers along the road. With the advent of the railway the character of the Neptune Inn gradually altered--the railway, by the way, was cut through the crescent, overlooking Bentley Hall, a property which had belonged to and had been the residence of the Hartill family since 1704, and part of which is now The Robin Hood Grounds, used for sports and recreations and other out-door assemblies.
It was from the balcony above the entry of the Neptune Inn, over which was then the public drawing-room, that the Right Hon. Charles P. Villiers first addressed the electors of the newly-enfranchised borough of Wolverhampton in 1835, and subsequently made many of his fervent Free Trade speeches; and in fact, from this place all public announcements were wont to be made. The room behind the balcony was formerly used as a Court Room, in which the magistrates administered justice; here too, the Willenhall Court Leet was held, and to this day Lord Barnard's agents receive the tithes there.
The Neptune once served all the purposes of a lending inn as an acknowledged place of public rendezvous; and when the Stowheath farmers were accustomed to ride or drive in to attend church, its spacious stableyard was a scene of animation, even on Sundays.
The Bell Inn, in the Market Place, is perhaps the oldest in the market taverns, though the date 1660 painted upon its sign can scarcely refer to the projecting wing which bears it. The back portion of the house is unquestionably old; in fact, the family of Wakelam who kept the inn 25 years ago, were identified with this house and the Bull's Head Inn for upwards of two centuries.
The Plough Inn, Stafford Street, is less old than the others, and of more doubtful interest. It has been completely altered within recent years; in the old days when prisoners consigned to Stafford Gaol had to walk, it was the place of the final drink before starting, and marked the limits of the town till Little London began.
The Bull's head Inn, Wolverhampton Street, is supposed to be the alehouse referred to in Borrow's romantic tale of Romany life, "Lavengro."
The Waterglade Tavern marked the spot on the road between the two old-world villages of Willenhall and Bilston, where it dipped to the bed of the stream.
The Woolpack Inn, at Short Heath, is one of the oldest licensed houses in that locality.
The First and Last Inn, New Invention, was so dubbed because at one time it was the first licensed house when approaching from Wednesfield, and the last when going the other way out.
The sign rhymes of Willenhall belong to the hackneyed type. The Gate Inn, New Invention, has the well-known couplet:--
This Gate hangs well and hinders none: Refresh and pay and travel on.
The Lame Dog Inn, at Short Heath, is not very original with:--
Step in, my friends, and stop a while, To help a lame dog over the stile.
Enough has been said on the subject to arouse the interest of patriotic Willenhaleans. One reflection in conclusion--in the old days licensed houses were invariably kept by families of position and substance, and it is remarkable to discover the great number of professional and well-to-do men of the present day who were born in public-houses. It is so with regard to Wednesbury and Darlaston, and even more so with regard to Willenhall.
[Picture: Decorative design]
XXXI.--Old Families and Names of Note.
To not a few of the old names of those who have lived their lives in Willenhall, and left their mark indelibly fixed upon its annals, attention has already been paid in treating of the various matters with which their respective life-work was associated. It remains here only to add a few more names to our list of Willenhall worthies, and to supplement a few biographical details to those already mentioned.
The index to the names of landowners would be incomplete without that of Offley. In the year 1555 Alderman Offley, a citizen of London, acquired lands in "Willenhall, otherwise Wilnall." About the same date this opulent merchant became lord of the manor of Darlaston. (See History of Darlaston, pp. 39-40.)
An important old Willenhall family, as may have been gathered in the course of these Annals, was that of Hincks. Their family residence still stands in Bilston Street, near to the Market Place; a descendant, and apparently the only representative of the Hincks family surviving is Mrs. Samuel Walker, of Bentley Hall.
Of Carpenter, Willenhall's most famous inventor, a few more items of local and biographical interest are forthcoming. In early life James Carpenter was a Churchman, but, as many other Willenhall folk did, became a Wesleyan in consequence of the scandals caused by the Rev. Mr. Moreton's mode of life. His remains lie in a vault on the east side of the Wesleyan Chapel in Union Street. He was a keen supporter of the Right Hon. C. P. Villiers when he first became a Parliamentary candidate for Wolverhampton.
John Austin, the tradesman, who first issued the "Willenhall farthings," mentioned in Chapter XXVII., was an enterprising tradesman, a man of handsome presence and of an alert mind. On leaving Willenhall he went to live at Manor House, Allscott, near Wellington, at which town he established artificial manure works, and where he manufactured sulphuric acid very extensively.
The issue of the Willenhall trade farthings was continued by Rushbrooke, his successor in the business (1853), though the original date, "1844" was always retained upon them. They were sold to shopkeepers and traders all round the district at the rate of 5s. nominal for 4s. 9d. cash. When the new national bronze coinage came into circulation in 1860, large quantities of these copper farthing tokens were returned on to Mr Rushbrooke's hands, but he melted them down without sustaining the least loss.
[Picture: Josiah Tildesley, Senr. Prominent Wesleyan and Highly Esteemed Townsman]
The Hartill family has long been settled in Willenhall. George Hartill married Isabel Cross, at St. Peter's Church, Wolverhampton, in 1662. All their nine children were baptised at St. Giles's Church, Willenhall. The present Dr. J. T. Hartill is descended directly from Richard, fifth son of the above, and his grandfather, Isaac Hartill, inter-married with Ann Hartill, a descendant of the said George Hartill's second son.
[Picture: James Tildesley. Large Employer of Labour, Proprietor of Summerford Works]
The social rank of the Hartills since their residence in Willenhall has been that of tradesmen or professional men, manufacturers, or small property owners, but always educated up to the standard of the period in which they lived. In 1826 Jeremiah Hartill established himself in medical practice, joined in 1861 by his nephew, William Henry Hartill, and in 1869 by the latter's brother, Dr. J. T. Hartill. The arms and crest borne by the last-named were formally granted him in 1896; but the same coat without the crest had always been used by his uncle Jeremiah, and that on a claim of inheritance from the ancient lords of the manor of Hartill, in Cheshire, to whom it had been granted by King John. These particular arms have not been officially recorded at the College of Heralds since 1580, but a very similar coat was used by a member of this family in 1703.
[Picture: Jeremiah Hartill, Surgeon. Agitated for Easier Enfranchisement of Copyholds]
The Willenhall Hartills migrated here from the neighbourhood of Kinver, Wolverley, and Kidderminster. There are still Hartills of the old stock resident in the Kinver district, and from them are descended Mrs. Shakespeare, wife of the well-known Birmingham solicitor; and Mrs. Showell, wife of the late Walter Showell, the founder of the eminent firm of Black Country brewers, who was once a Parliamentary candidate for one of the divisions of Birmingham. The Hartills of Kinver are related to the Hartills of Kingsbury, and there has always been a great similarity in the Christian names borne by the old Kingsbury, Kinver, and Willenhall Hartills. The steeple of Polesworth church was built by the last Sir Richard Hartill, 1377-1379, and below the tower battlements is carved upon a large shield the arms of this benefactor, which are identical with those of the late Dr. Jeremiah Hartill of Willenhall.
[Picture: John Austin of the Albion Mill, who issued the Farthing Tokens]
Mr. Henry Vaughan, the founder of the largest business concern in the town, has done a large amount of public work in various capacities, but chiefly as a magistrate, a member of the defunct School Board, and more recently as a County Councillor.
[Picture: George Ley Pearce. Prominent Wesleyan and Philanthropic Worker]
Among the justices who have sat on the Willenhall Bench and possessed other connections with the place may be mentioned the late N. Neal Solly, ironmaster, two water-colour drawings by whom hang on the walls of the Free Library; the late Rev. G. H. Fisher, who was chairman; R. D. Gough, a brother of the late Colonel Foster Gough, and who married the rich and benevolent Mary Clemson, daughter of John Clemson, a corn miller, of this township; while among the most recent appointments are Clement Tildesley, Thomas Vaughan, and Thomas Kidson. The present Clerk to the Willenhall Bench is Samuel Mills Slater, in succession to his father, the late James Slater, of Bescot Hall.
A memorial tablet to the local men who fell in the Boer War has been erected at the gateway to the Old Cemetery.
[Picture: Decorative design]
XXXII.--Manners and Customs.
The Manners and Customs of the people of Willenhall have been those held in common with the populace of the surrounding parishes, and which have been dealt with too fully in the published writings of Mr. G. T. Lawley to need more than a brief review here.
The seasonal custom of Well Dressing has been alluded to in Chapter XVII., and of Beating the Bounds in Chapter V. Other ancient customs of minor import existed, but space cannot be found to treat them in a general history.
The social calibre of the people a century or so ago may be gauged by a local illustration of the custom of Wife Selling.
This practice was once common enough everywhere, and amongst the ignorant and illiterate in some parts it is still held to be a perfectly legitimate transaction. From the "Annual Register" this local instance has been clipped:--
"Three men and three women went to the Bell Inn, Edgbaston Street, Birmingham, and made the following singular entry in the toll book which is kept there: August 31, 1773, Samuel Whitehouse, of the Parish of Willenhall, in the county of Stafford, this day sold his wife, Mary Whitehouse, in open market, to Thomas Griffiths, of Birmingham, value one shilling. To take her with all her faults.
(Signed) Samuel Whitehouse. Mary Whitehouse.
Voucher, Thomas Buckley, of Birmingham."
The parties were all exceedingly well pleased, and the money paid down for the toll as for a regular purchase.
So much for the moral status of the people; now to consider them from the industrial side.
The older generation of Willenhall men were accustomed, ere factory Acts and kindred forms of parental legislation had regulated working hours and otherwise ameliorated the conditions of labour, to slave for many weary hours in little domiciliary workshops. Boys were then apprenticed at a tender age, and soon became humpbacked in consequence of throwing in the weight of their little bodies in the endeavour to eke out the strength of the feeble thews and bones in their immature arms.
In those days men worked when they liked, and played when it suited them; they generally played the earlier days of the week, even if at the end they worked night and day in the attempt to average the weekly earnings. In this connection it has been suggested that in pre-Reformation times Willenhall folk duly honoured St. Sunday and well as St. Monday, consecrating both days to the sacred cause of weekly idleness. Or was Willenhall's Holy Well dedicated to St. Dominic, and came by grammatical error to be called St. Sunday? As thus--Sanctus Dominicus abbreviated first to Sanc. Dominic, and then extended in the wrong gender to Sancta Dominica, otherwise Saint Sunday? Who shall say? It may have been so.
It is perhaps in their pleasures, more than in their pursuits, that the character of a people is to be best seen. Allusion has been made to the obsolete Trinity Fair in Chapter XII.; but the Wake has remained to this day, less loyally observed perhaps, but rich in traditions of past glories.
Willenhall Wake falls on the first Sunday after September 11th, the Feast of St. Giles, to whom the old church is dedicated.
Among the wakes of the Black Country none are richer in reminiscence of the old time forms of festivity than that of Willenhall. Although in later times the outward and visible sign of its celebration has dwindled down to an assemblage of shows and roundabouts, shooting galleries, and ginger-bread stalls, it was once accompanied by bull-baitings and cock-fighting, and all the other coarse and brutal sports in which our forefathers so much delighted.
At Wednesfield at one village wake The cockers all did meet At Billy Lane's, the cock-fighter's, To have a sporting treat.
For Charley Marson's spangled cock Was matched to fight a red That came from Will'n'all o'er the fields, And belonged to "Cheeky Ned."
Two finer birds in any cock-pit Two never yet was seen. Though the Wednesfield men declared Their cock was sure to win.
The cocks fought well, and feathers fled All round about the pit, While blood from both of 'em did flow Yet ne'er un would submit.
At last the spangled Wedgefield bird Began to show defeat, When Billy Lane, he up and swore The bird shouldn't be beat;
For he would fight the biggest mon That came from Will'n'all town, When on the word, old "Cheeky Ned" Got up and knocked him down.
To fight they went like bull-dogs, As it is very well known, Till "Cheeky Ned" seized Billy's thumb, And bit it to the bone.
At this the Wednesfield men begun Their comrade's part to take, And never was a fiercer fight Fought at a village wake.
They beat the men from Will'n'all town Back to their town again, And long they will remember This Wednesfield wake and main.
The site of the Willenhall Bull Ring, it may be added for the information of future generations, was opposite the Baptist Chapel, Little London, where Temple Bar joins the Wednesfield and Bloxwich Roads.
Among other Wake observances of the last century were the "Club Walkings" or processioning of the Friendly Societies, whose members first attended a brief service in the church, and then spent the rest of the day in feasting at the Neptune Inn opposite. Tradition hath it that further back, well into the Georgian era, and certainly before Mr. Fisher's time, another Wake custom was that of "kissing the parson," a privilege of which the women were said to be very jealous.
In the year 1857 the Right Hon. C. P. Villiers, Member of Parliament for the Borough of Wolverhampton, of which this township was part, inaugurated in Willenhall one of the first exhibitions of fine art and industry ever held in the Black Country. It was opened on the Monday in the Wake week, and Mr. Villiers alluded to the fact that "they met in the midst of one of those old-fashioned wakes which it was the humour of their ancestors to establish and be pleased with," and the right hon. gentleman proceeded to contrast the present with the past conditions of Willenhall Wake-time.
A flourishing Free Library--founded like many another in the face of great local opposition and prejudice--is one of the legacies of that exhibition, from the date of which may be traced the more rational observance of Wake-time.
With the advance of science and art and the spread of popular education, the future prosperity of an ingenious community, like that of the skilled mechanics and deft craftsmen of this township, is assured. Impressed with such certitude it is all but a work of supererogation to echo the patriotic sentiment of the old-time townsfolk--
"LET WILLENHALL FLOURISH!"
* * * * *
THE END.
INDEX
Ablow Field 7, 10
Agmund 8
Aldhelm 18
Ames 75, 77, 137
Anlaf 8
Annes, St. 110-2, 134
Anson (Lichfield) 128, 139, 152
Arley 14, 18, 27-8
Aston 34
Austin 165, 184
Badland 62-4, 95-6
Baker 106, 149
Barnard 128
Barr 114
Bate 132
Beating Bounds 24-6, 187
Beaumont 46, 58-9, 60-1
Beneting 8
Bentley 17, 25, 27-8, 31, 39, 44, 65, 67, 70, 72, 77, 81-82, 109, 110, 120-1, 125, 127-8, 126, 140, 143, 151-2, 175, 182, 184
Beogitha's Stream 29
Bescot 17
Bilbrook 28, 93
Bilston 12, 14, 18, 26-8, 34, 37, 40, 51, 56, 66, 77-81, 85, 93, 135, 137-8, 156, 161
Blakenhall 14
Bloxwich 14, 17-8, 25, 30, 39, 134, 189
Booth 137
Boscobel 69-70
Bradford 74
Bradley 26, 175
Brewood 4, 93, 162
Brideoak 73
Bromehall 51, 95
Browning 34, 95
Burnell 40
Burton 21
Bushbury 4, 9, 14, 24, 27, 38, 46, 56, 66, 68-9, 71, 98, 113
Callendine 74
Canals 127, 133, 155, 157
Cannock 2, 19, 24-5, 38-9, 41, 45, 135, 148, 151
Carpenter 144, 147, 158, 161-3, 165, 178, 184
Carter 96, 164
Catchem's Corner 26
Chartley 83
Chatterton 175
Chillington 14, 84, 121, 149
Chubb 160
Churchwardens 26, 79, 105, 112, 129, 130, 132, 153
Clarke 114
Clement 42, 72
Clemson 139, 186
Clent 37, 64
Cleveland 107, 128
Codsall 14, 30, 56, 93-4, 137
Coseley 145
Cote 28
Courts (Leet, &c.) 23, 148-153, 156, 182
Coven 38
Cozens 175
Cuddlestone 27-8
Darlaston 14, 38, 40, 45, 65, 82, 92, 98, 103, 106, 137, 143-4, 156, 164, 172, 174-5, 180, 184
Davies 114, 125
Dean (of Wolverhampton) 22-4, 28, 30, 34-6, 39, 49, 50-1, 55, 72-9
Delves 2
De Willenhall, John 37, 42
,, Roger 37
Dudley 39, 46, 51-2, 58, 64-6, 69, 90, 137, 172
Duignan 2, 3, 9, 19
Dunstall 14, 17, 21, 39, 93
Ecwills 8
Elfthryth 19
Essington 14, 18, 25, 27, 38, 71, 154, 157
Ettingshall 14
Etymologies 1-5, 9, 11, 13-4
Fairs, Wakes, &c. 57-61, 163, 188, 190
Featherstone, 6, 14, 18, 23-5, 28, 30, 74-6, 80
Fellows 22-3
Fisher 102, 104, 106-111, 125, 127, 134, 139, 186, 189
Fletcher 132-2, 134
Foster 144
Franchises 30
Fytzherbert 52
Garrick 88-9
Gerveyse 32-3, 116
Giffard 30, 52, 69, 71, 97, 112, 121, 123, 139, 149
Giles, St. 36, 57, 103, 105, 110-1, 133, 139, 141, 188
Gilpin 96-7
Goldthorn Hill 20, 26
Goscote 66
Gospelling 25, 26, 93
Gough 46, 66, 137, 139, 140, 147, 186
Gower 30, 47, 97, 139
Graisley 7, 20
Grosvenor 69
Guthferth 8
Halesowen 75
Haling 46-7
Hall 72, 86, 147
Hammerwich 40
Hampton 34, 39, 40, 113
Harper 42, 44, 59, 144, 164, 166
Hartill 102, 107, 111, 114, 125, 133-4, 140-2, 146, 150, 154, 163, 181, 185-6
Hascard 74
Haswic 28
Hatherton 14, 18-9, 23-4, 28, 30, 34, 72, 74-6, 80
Healfden 8
Heath Town 10, 11
Hilton 18-9, 23-4, 28, 30, 38-9, 74-6, 80, 98, 103
Hincks 105, 125, 184
Hind Brook 90
Hinton 74-5
Hobbart 76
Hocintun 28
Holbrooke 97-137
Holyoake 108
Horsley 7-10
Huntbach 6, 7, 10
Industries, Trades 31, 41, 45, 92, 106, 175, 178
Jennings 46
Johnson 88, 101, 114
Kempson 71, 161
Kenwolf 8
Kidson 147, 186
Kinvaston 14, 18, 23-5, 28, 30, 74, 76, 80
Kinver 9, 51, 185-6
Lane, Lone 30, 44, 52, 66-7, 70, 77, 95, 119, 120, 136-7, 139, 152, 175
Lawley 37, 93, 175, 177-8, 187
Leek 37
Lees 114
Leigh 66-7, 119
Leper House 94
Levison 34, 36, 39, 41-52, 55-6, 59, 60-1, 66, 68, 71-4, 97, 121, 123, 149, 150-1
Lewis 98
Lilleshall 46, 49
Little London 145, 148, 189
Little Low 7, 10
Lowhill 4, 9
Lows 6, 7, 9, 10
Loxton 177
Lutley 30, 75
Manlove 83, 85
Manningham 77
Marshall 59, 60
Matilda 37
Maxey 72
Mercia 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 21, 27, 37
Monmore 11, 16, 23-4, 30, 75-6, 93, 143, 145, 156
Moreton 98, 100-4, 106, 110, 184
Moseley 14, 19, 69, 70-1, 136
Mounsell 55, 95
Mumper's Dingle 172, 174
Nechells 9
Neptune Inn 102, 106, 149, 181-2, 189
Neve 96, 98, 103, 138
Newbolds 14
Newbrigge 38
New Invention 145, 148, 154, 183
Nicholls 114
North Low 7, 9, 10
Oakeswell 67
Ocstele, le 39
Odyes 39, 42-3
Offlow 12, 21, 27-8, 148
Ogley Hay 14, 19
Ohter 8
Oldbury 63
Oliver 1, 24, 50, 76, 89, 93, 96
Osferth 8
Padmore 95
Patent Rolls 32-3, 44
Pearce 144, 146
Pedley 130-1, 133, 144, 147
Pelsall 4, 15, 18, 25, 27, 30, 32, 55, 66, 81
Pendeford 15, 38, 40, 162
Penderel 69
Penkhull 37
Penkridge 2, 178
Penn 56, 82
Pensnett 90
Perry 161
Phillips, Claudius 88-9
Pipe Rolls 37
Pitt 67
Podmore 120-1
Portobello 134, 144-5, 148, 181
Prestwood 34, 40, 71, 113, 120, 129, 132, 151
Prosser 162
Pype 40
Railways 127, 150, 156
Rollason 64, 117, 122
Rosedale 111-2, 114, 134, 140
Rowley 37
Rubery 144
Rushall 4, 66-9
Rushbrooke 166, 185
Ryes 73
Sampson 28
Sandbeds 134, 148, 154
Scotland 15
Sedgley 13, 39, 92, 167
Seisdon 6, 12, 15, 27-8, 148
Sewall, Showells, &c. 6, 15, 93-4
Shakespeare 185
Shenstone 40
Shepwell Green 128, 132, 134
Short Heath 110-2, 133-4, 144-5, 148, 155, 164, 183
Sigeric 20-1
Slater 113, 116, 186
Soldier's Hill 9
Solly 178, 186
South Low 7, 9, 10
Spa, Holy Well, &c. 57, 90-4, 179, 187-8
Spring Vale 92
Stephen's, St. 110, 112, 133-4
Stow Heath 12, 15, 17, 30, 99, 112, 116, 122-4, 139, 148-9, 155, 182
Stowman Hill 9
Stretton 81
Sunday, St. 90-1
Sutherland 47, 112
Swynnerton 38
Symmonds 68
Tame 1, 29, 93
Tettenhall 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 15, 17-8, 21, 28, 40, 51, 56, 137
Therferth 8
Thorneycroft 107, 165, 176-7
Tildesley 114, 144, 147, 154, 158, 163-6, 177-8, 186
Tipper 164-5
Tipton 65, 136
Tithes 48, 50, 75, 95, 107
Tomkys 44, 121, 131-2, 151, 161
Tonks 146-7, 164
Tramways 156
Trollesbury 32, 95
Tromelow 7, 10, 15
Tumuli 4, 6, 7, 9, 10
Turton 47
Twyford 19
Unett 85-6, 161
Vaughan 114, 147, 164, 166, 186
Vestry 17, 26
Villiers 182, 184, 189, 190
Wakelam 182
Walker 24, 26, 61, 114, 184
Walsall 2, 4, 5, 9, 17-9, 57-9, 60-1, 68, 137, 140
Wednesbury 1, 2, 5, 12-3, 17, 27, 38, 41, 46, 57-61, 65, 67, 137, 152, 167, 180
Wednesfield 2, 5-13, 18, 31, 38-40, 66, 72, 80, 132, 135, 145, 155, 162, l67, 172, 181
Welch 131, 133, 151, 179
Wergs 8, 15
Wesley 57, 143, 145, 152, 175, 177
West Bromwich 113
White 103-4
Whitehouse 105, 107, 144, 187
Whitegreaves 70-1
Willis 89
Wilkes 6, 7, 40, 59, 80, 82-92, 120-1, 138, 141, 144, 160, 164, 179
Willoughby de Broke 75
Windsor 19, 23, 35, 49, 51, 57, 74-5, 99
Wobaston 15, 23, 28, 30, 74-6
Woden Stone 13
Wolfric 12
Wolstanton 37
Wombourn 6, 9, 10, 15, 56
Wren 73
Wrottesley 4, 6, 7, 40, 52, 84,-5
Wulfgeal 19
Wulfruna 12, 17, 22, 92, 94
Wyndefield 39
Young 162
Footnotes: