Part 17
“In Memory of the Rev. JOHN WHITRIDGE, this Tablet is affectionately inscribed by the Church over whom for 35 years he was the devoted Pastor. An example—in word—in conversation—in charity—in spirit—in faith—in purity. ‘Whose praise is in the Gospel throughout all the Churches.’ He was born 23rd March, 1760. Died 11th October, 1826. His body reposes in a tomb beneath, waiting the spirit’s union at the resurrection of the just.”
Dr. Jenkyn, of Wem, succeeded to the pastoral office, and afterwards the Rev. W. Reeve. The Rev. J. Davies was followed by the present able pastor, the Rev. James Matheson (son of the Rev. Dr. Matheson, the indefatigable Secretary of the Home Missionary Society), who entered upon his ministerial labours in September, 1851, and who, by his distinguished talents, great urbanity, and ardent zeal for the spiritual prosperity of his people, has succeeded in greatly increasing the number of his hearers, and in commending himself to the good opinion of all classes of his fellow-townsmen.
[Picture: The Old Chapel]
The present Chapel (of which we give a sketch) was built during the ministry of the Rev. Dr. Jenkyn. The old Chapel having become too small for the increased number of hearers, it was pulled down, with the exception of part of one wall, and the present one was erected. It is a substantial and commodious place of worship, and capable of containing, when closely seated, about eight hundred persons.
THE BAPTIST CHAPEL,
Situated on the English Walls (opposite the Cattle Market), was erected by voluntary contributions, in the year 1805, and enlarged in 1818. It contains two galleries, and will accommodate between 300 and 400 persons. The Baptist Church in Oswestry was formed September 6th, 1806, and then consisted of a few members dismissed from the Baptist Church, at Shrewsbury, at that time under the pastoral care of the late Rev. John Palmer, who, with other Baptist Ministers, preached the Gospel in Oswestry and its neighbourhood some time prior to the erection of the Chapel. The Rev. William Pain was the first Pastor, and was succeeded by the Rev. Thomas Cooke, in the year 1817, who, for twenty years, honourably sustained the office to which he had been chosen. In 1838 the Rev. Robert Clarke (late of Bridgnorth) became the Pastor; and his successor was the late Rev. H. G. Grainger, who settled in Oswestry, in the year 1846. The present Pastor, the Rev. David Crumpton, took the oversight of the Church in the year 1852. There is a Sabbath-School connected with this congregation. The Chapel is free from debt, as is also the Baptist Chapel at Sweeney, erected by this Church and congregation in the year 1831.
THE WESLEYAN-METHODIST CHAPEL
Is a plain brick building, situated in the Coney Green, and was erected in the year 1813. The interior is without galleries, but will accommodate on the ground floor about 500 persons. The Wesleyan body in Oswestry is included in the Wrexham Circuit, the present Superintendent being the Rev. Samuel Atkinson.
ZION CHAPEL.
Throughout the Principality the Calvinistic Methodists are the most numerous body of dissenters, and their annual meetings, or associations, are seasons of much interest and excitement. In 1814 a small chapel was erected on the Welsh Walls for the accommodation of persons of this persuasion resident in Oswestry, and this was occupied as a place of religious worship until 1836, when the great increase of the congregation rendered the erection of a larger chapel necessary. Accordingly the present building was commenced in Gatacre Place, and opened for public worship on the 6th of July, 1836.
It is a substantial stone structure, of rather imposing appearance, and affords accommodation for upwards of 500 persons.
THE PRIMITIVE METHODIST CHAPEL.
The first chapel erected by this body was on the site of the Bath in Upper Willow Street, and was opened in 1825. So rapid has been the increase of the members of this denomination, that from the summer of 1825, when their first travelling preacher visited Oswestry, to the present time, they have built in this circuit no fewer than sixteen chapels; and the number of preachers on their quarterly plan amounts to 120. Their place of worship in Willow Street having become incapable of accommodating their increasing numbers, the present chapel and chapel-house were erected in 1840, in Castle Street. It is a neat and convenient building, and will seat about 450 persons. The Superintendent is the Rev. Thomas Parr.
BETHESDA CHAPEL
Is a small neat building in Castle Street, erected in the year 1844, for the use of the Welsh Congregationalists, or Independents. The Rev. Robert Thomas is the present Minister.
THE INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHAPEL
Stands below the Horse-Market, and was built in 1848 by a body of seceders from the Primitive Methodists. It is a plain brick building, and capable of seating about 300 persons.
* * * * *
Besides the above, there is a small but highly-respectable body of Christians who hold their meetings in the Assembly Room at Osburn’s Hotel, under the ministry of the Rev. J, Stewart; and also a congregation of Welsh Wesleyan-Methodists, who assemble in a school-room at Black Gate.
Municipal and Civil Government.
The Corporation of Oswestry is of great antiquity. Its civic honours, primitively, flowed from its Barons or Lords, who, exercising themselves the power of petty sovereigns, appointed Bailiff’s and other officers to superintend the civic affairs of the borough. Its first assumption of civic dignities appears to have been in the reign of Henry II., when William, Earl of Arundel, granted to the town a short charter (called by the Welsh “_Siarter Cwtta_”), denominated also a Charter of Protection. A clause in this ancient document sets forth that “I (the Earl of Arundel) have received in Protection my Burgesses of Blanc-Minster” (Oswestry). Richard de Chambre was Constable at this period. Here was subsidiary power given to the inhabitants of Oswestry, for the government of the town; but in the reign of Richard II., August 14th, 1399, that monarch granted to Oswestry its first royal charter, incorporating the Burgesses by the name and title of “The Bailiffs and Burgesses of Oswestry, _infra Palatinatum Cestriæ_, _in marchia inter Angliam et Walliam_.” In 1407, as heretofore noticed, Thomas, Earl of Arundel, granted a comprehensive and valuable charter, showing that still the exercise of power, in his lordship or barony, for the good government of the burgesses, &c., was fully recognized by the crown.
The rights and privileges granted by Richard II. seem to have been strictly guarded and maintained by the inhabitants down to the reign of Elizabeth, when they were confirmed by that sovereign. It would appear, however, that subsequently “divers doubts and ambiguities” arose concerning the ancient liberties, franchises, &c., of the borough, and in the reign of James I., 1616, the king granted a charter to the town, extending its liberties and privileges, and confirming the Bailiffs, Burgesses, &c., as a body corporate, by the name of “The Bailiff and Burgesses of Oswestry, in the countie of Salop.” The charter of Charles II., granted January 13th, 1673, to “the ancient borough and corporation of Oswestry, alias Oswaldstrey, in the county of Salop,” enacted “That they be incorporated by the name of the Mayor, Aldermen, Common-Councilmen and Burgesses of Oswestry.” This charter, it will be seen, was the instrument which first called into existence the offices of Mayor, Aldermen, Common-Councilmen, and Recorder. That charter was immediately acted upon, and Mr. Richard Pope was elected _the first Mayor of Oswestry_. Sir John Trevor, Knight (afterwards speaker of the House of Commons, and Master of the Rolls), Morgan Wynne, Esq., Edward Owen, Richard Edwards, Richard Lloyd, the before-mentioned Richard Pope, gentleman; Gabriel Edwards, woollen-draper; Hugh Price, woollen-draper; John Jones, mercer; Richard Jones, John Blodwell, gentlemen; and John Lloyd, mercer, were chosen as _the first Aldermen_. Richard Price, brewer, Richard Jones, mercer, John Glover, tanner, Richard Jones, glover, Edward Evans, apothecary, John Jones, glover, John Muckleston, shoemaker, Thomas Edwards, gentleman, Thomas Edwards, baker, Nathaniel Jones, brewer, Hugh Edwards, shoemaker, Timothy George, mercer, Thomas Vaughan, chandler, William Price, butcher, and Thomas Felton, brazier, were _the first Common-Councilmen_. Morgan Wynne, Esq., was _the first Recorder_ of the town, and John Worral, Esq., first Common Clerk of the Borough, and Clerk of the Court. It may be mentioned as a fact worth knowing, that Sir John Trevor was the _second_ Mayor of Oswestry, under the charter of Charles II. Sir John was an eminent man, and his history, connected as he was with the borough of Oswestry, is worthy of brief record in these pages. He was the second son of John Trevor, Esq., of Brynkinalt, in the county of Denbigh, by an aunt of Sir George Jeffreys. He was born about the year 1637, and it is supposed never received educational advantages beyond those furnished by a village school. He was sent to London to his uncle, Arthur Trevor, a leading barrister, who employed him as his clerk in his chambers in the Inner Temple. The Rev. Robert Williams, in his careful and elaborate “_Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Welshmen_,” says of him, that—
“On his first arrival he displayed very lively parts, although his manners were rather uncouth, and he could not speak a sentence of correct English. His diligence, however, was so great, that being entered a student of the Inner Temple, he rendered himself well versed in all branches of his profession, and soon acquired extensive practice. Through the interest of his cousin, Sir George Jeffreys, he was made a king’s counsel, in 1678, and he obtained a seat in the House of Commons. Here he acquired considerable influence among the members, and such was his reputation as a high prerogative lawyer, that at the meeting of James II’s. parliament in May, 1685, he was elected Speaker. In October of the same year he was appointed Master of the Rolls, and in July, 1688, he was sworn a Privy Councillor. On the accession of William and Mary, Sir John Trevor was dismissed from the office of Master of the Rolls. In the Convention Parliament he sat for Beraldstone, and opposed by every means in his power the measures of the Government. In the next Parliament, called in 1690, he made his peace with the Court, and was unanimously elected Speaker. In May, 1691, he was made first Lord Commissioner of the Great Seal, which office he held until May 2nd, 1693, and in January, 1693 he was restored to his office of Master of the Rolls. Such was his talent for managing party, and of recommending himself to the Government by his bold and dexterous measures, that had it not been for his great indiscretion, he would probably have reached the great object of his ambition, which was to become Lord Chancellor, and to be created a peer. In 1695 a violent outcry was raised against bribery, and a committee was appointed by the House of Commons, to inquire into the charges, which were made against members, and it reported that Sir John Trevor had received a bribe of a thousand guineas for furthering a bill called the ‘Orphan’s Bill,’ promoted by the City of London. Accordingly, March 12th, 1695, he was subjected to the unparalleled humiliation of putting the resolution from the chair, and declaring himself guilty. He then resigned the chair, and was expelled from the House. Receiving money for voting in parliament was in those days so common, that his offence was not regarded in a very serious light, and he was permitted to retain his high judicial office of Master of the Rolls, for the long period of twenty-two years after his expulsion from the House of Commons. By the death of his elder brother he succeeded to the paternal estates of Brynkinalt, which, with large possessions of his own acquisition, have descended through his only daughter Anne to the present Viscount Dungannon. Sir John Trevor died May 20th, 1717, being nearly eighty years of age, at his house in Chancery Lane, and was buried in the Rolls Chapel.”
Yorke, in his “_Royal Tribes of Wales_,” relates a droll anecdote of Sir’ John, which is worthy of transplantation.
“Among his other virtues,” says Yorke, “Trevor was an economist. He had dined by himself one day at the Rolls, and was drinking his wine quietly, when his cousin Roderic Lloyd was unexpectedly introduced to him from a side door. ‘You rascal,’ said Trevor to his servant, ‘and you have brought my cousin Roderic Lloyd, Esquire, Prothonotary of North Wales, Marshal to Baron Price, and so forth, and so forth, up my _back stairs_. Take my cousin Roderic Lloyd, Esquire, Prothonotary of North Wales, Marshal to Baron Price, and so forth, and so forth; take him instantly back, down my _back stairs_, and bring him up my _front stairs_.’ Roderic in vain remonstrated, and whilst he was conveyed down one, and up the other stairs, his Honor removed the bottle and glasses.”
Trevor had an obliquity of vision, or, in plainer words, he squinted abominably! When he was expelled from the House of Commons for bribery, pasquinades were issued against him, in one of which it was wittily said, that “Justice was blind, but Bribery only squinted.”
The charter of the 25 Charles II. (which was the governing charter previous to the passing of the Municipal Reform Act,) granted to the Borough of Oswestry a general Court of Quarter Sessions, to be held before the Mayor, the Steward, and the Recorder, or any two of them, of whom the Mayor was to be one. On the passing of that Act the Government refused to renew the grant of a separate Quarter Sessions, although strong and unanimous petitions from the town were presented in favour of this privilege. In 1842, however, when the Ministry of Sir Robert Peel was in office, Sir James Graham being Secretary of State for the Home Department, the application was renewed, and was ultimately complied with. The grant is dated the 27th May, 1842, and under it John Robert Kenyon, Esq., was appointed Recorder. The first Quarter Sessions, under this grant, were held on July 8th in the same year. Mr. Kenyon has ably and impartially discharged the duties of Recorder since that period; and to his legal acumen and zealous interest for the borough the inhabitants are indebted for many advantages.
The Corporation are chosen from the respectable and enterprising classes of the borough, so that all men who by perseverance and success in trade or commerce, in the learned profession of the law, or medical science, or who move in the quieter and more elevated ranks of life, where the _otium cum dignitate_ is to be seen in perfection,—if to be seen anywhere,—are in the legitimate path to Magisterial authority and Aldermanic greatness.
The Municipal Act came into operation in Oswestry in January, 1836. James Edwards, Esq., was elected Mayor of the borough in 1834, and held office, pursuant to the new Act, until January 1st, 1836, on which day John Croxon, Esq., was elected the _first Mayor_ under the Municipal Reform Act, and continued in office till November 9th, 1836, when Francis Campbell, Esq., was elected as the _second_ Mayor of the borough under the same Act.
The Hon. Thomas Kenyon (second son of the celebrated Lord Kenyon, and father of the present Recorder of Oswestry) was appointed High Steward of the Borough in the year 1823. Mr. Richard Jones Croxon (who had succeeded Mr. Lewis Jones to the Town-Clerkship in 1834) was appointed Town-Clerk under the Municipal Act, and has continued to perform the duties of that office to the present time, with great credit to himself and satisfaction to the town.
Under the New Corporation Act the borough was divided into two Wards, viz., the _East Ward_, comprising 148 burgesses, and the _West Ward_, numbering 166 burgesses.
THE CORPORATION OF OSWESTRY, for the year 1854–5, consists of the following gentlemen:—
G. H. WILLIAMS, MAYOR.
_Aldermen_:
THOMAS LONGUEVILLE LONGUEVILLE, THOMAS ROGERS,
PEPLOE CARTWRIGHT, EDWARD MORRIS,
THOMAS HILL, THOMAS MINSHALL.
_Councillors_:
WILLIAM HODGES, THOMAS EDWARDS,
WILLIAM EDWARDS, JAMES THOMAS JONES,
EDWARD WYNNE THOMAS, WILLIAM ISAAC BULL,
DAVID LLOYD, WILLIAM MORRIS,
GEORGE MORRALL BICKERTON, RICHARD KYRKE PENSON,
WILLIAM HAYWARD, JOHN LACON,
FRANCIS ROBERTS, JOHN MINSHALL,
GEORGE JAMES SAUNDERS, JOHN PHILLIPS,
JOHN ROBERTS.
_Town-Clerk_:—R. J. CROXON. _Clerk of the Peace_:—ROBERT SIMON. _Coroner_:—JOHN MILES HALES. _Treasurer_:—GEORGE COOPER,
We subjoin a full List of the MAYORS OF OSWESTRY, from the earliest period, with the names also of the entire body of other Corporate Officers, Aldermen, and Common-Councilmen, elected under the Municipal Reform Act:—
1673 Richard Pope, first Mayor 1674 Sir John Trevor, Master of the Rolls 1675 Richard Edwards 1676 Richard Lloyd, Ford 1677 John Blodwell 1678 John Lloyd
Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Edward Owen 1679 Richard Price 1680 John Glover 1681 Peter Griffiths 1682 Humphrey Foulks 1683 William Price
Appointed instead of Thomas Edwards, who died before he was sworn 1684 Hugh Jones 1685 Phillip Ellis 1686 Sir Robert Owen, Porkington 1687 Roger Edwards 1688 Morgan Powell 1689 Thomas Jones 1690 Thomas Powell, Park 1691 Thomas Pritchard 1692 John Muckleston 1693 John Price 1694 David Lloyd 1695 Richard Jones 1696 Sir Robert Owen (second time) 1697 John Skye 1698 Nathaniel Edwards 1699 Peter Jones, Llanfyllin 1700 Francis Tomkies 1701 William Jones 1702 Humphrey Davenport, Hayes-Gate 1703 Roger Green 1704 Thomas Powell, Park (second time) 1705 Robert Lloyd, Aston 1706 John Davies 1707 Edward Lloyd, Trenewydd 1708 Thomas Tomkies 1709 Thos. Kynaston, Maesbury 1710 John Price (second time) 1711 Richard Jones 1712 John Skye (second time) 1713 Roger Green (second time) 1714 John Davies (second time) 1715 Thomas Warter 1716 George Edwards 1717 Robert Lloyd, Aston (second time) 1718 Owen Hughes 1719 Thomas Edwards 1720 John Evans 1721 Richard Payne 1722 Richard Maurice 1723 Nathaniel Price 1724 Peter Povall
Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Owen Hughes 1725 John Kyffin 1726 Richard Thomas 1727 Edward Lloyd, Llwynymaen 1728 Watkin Williams Wynn 1729 Charles Lloyd, Trenewydd 1730 William Owen, Porkington 1731 John Huxley 1732 John Mytton, Halston 1733 Nathaniel Kynaston 1734 Richard Powell 1735 Robert Williams 1736 Robert Barkley 1737 Thomas Jones 1738 John Burgess 1739 Corbett Kynaston
Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Thomas Tomkies 1740 William Price 1741 John Jones 1742 John Hughes 1743 John Mort 1744 Peter Williams 1745 David Morris 1746 Richard Lloyd 1747 Richd. Williams, Penbedw 1748 Vincent Phipps 1749 Nathaniel Jones 1750 John Griffiths 1751 John Williams 1752 John Griffiths 1753 Edward Price 1754 Thomas Jones 1755 John Jones 1756 Thomas Rathbone 1757 Edward Evans 1758 John Basnett 1759 Nathaniel Price 1760 Edward Evans 1761 Robert Lloyd 1762 Richard Price 1763 John Edwards 1764 Richard Jones 1765 John Gregory 1766 William Griffiths 1767 Richard Morrice 1768 John Evans 1769 John Lloyd 1770 Watkin Williams, Penbedw 1771 John Mytton, Halston 1772 Robert Godolphin Owen, Porkington 1773 E. Thornes 1774 Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, Bart., Wynnstay 1775 William Griffiths 1776 Francis Chambre 1777 Joseph Richardson 1778 John Croxon 1779 Noel Hill, Shrewsbury 1780 Edward Brown
Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Nathaniel Price 1781 Thomas Vernon 1782 Edward Wynn Evans 1783 John Kynaston, Hardwick 1784 Richard Bickerton 1785 Thomas Howell 1786 Richard Salisbury 1787 Wm. Mostyn Owen, Woodhouse 1788 Lewis Jones 1789 John Gibbons 1790 John Lovett 1791 John Probert 1792 John Mytton, Halston 1793 Rev. Turner Edwards 1794 Arthur Davies 1795 Rev. John Robert Lloyd 1796 Owen Ormsby 1797 Thomas Lovett 1798 Robert Lloyd 1799 John Jones 1800 Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart. 1801 Richard Croxon 1802 Lawton Parry 1803 Richard Jebb 1804 Thomas Skye 1805 Rev. James Donne 1806 Robert Cartwright 1807 Thomas Longueville Jones 1808 William Lloyd 1809 Robert Roberts 1810 John Sheppard
Dying in his mayoralty, succeeded by Thomas Hilditch 1811 Edward Edmunds 1812 John Croxon 1813 Rev. Charles Arthur Albany Lloyd 1814 Hon. Thomas Kenyon 1815 Thomas Morris 1816 S. Leach (R. Salisbury, Deputy) 1817 Rev. George Lloyd, Selattyn (Mr. Cartwright, Deputy) 1818 Thomas Netherton Parker 1819 H. W. W. Wynn (Mr. Salisbury, Deputy) 1820 W. Lovett (J. V. Jones, Deputy) 1821 John Bonnor, Brynygwalia (Robert Roberts, Deputy) 1822 Henry Pinson Tozer Aubrey 1823 W. Ormsby Gore 1824 John Mytton (Thomas Hilditch, Deputy) 1825 John Jones (second time) 1827 Rev. Turner Edwards 1827 Roger Mercy Cockerill 1828 Robert Morrall 1829 Peploe Cartwright 1830 Thomas Lovett 1831 Sir W. W. Wynn, Bart. (second time) (Dr. Donne, Deputy) 1832 Thomas Longueville Longueville 1833 John Jones, jun. 1834 James Edwards 1835 John Croxon 1836 Francis Campbell 1837 Charles Thomas Jones 1838 G. Dorset Owen 1839 Griffith Evans 1840 Thomas Penson 1841 John Hayward 1842 W. Williams 1843 W. Williams (re-elected) 1844 W. Price 1845 Thomas Rogers 1846 John Miles Hales 1847 Thomas Hill 1848 John Jones 1849 Edward Morris 1850 Edward Morris (re-elected) 1851 Thomas Minshall 1852 William Hodges 1853 Thomas Edwards 1854 George Harvey Williams
ALDERMEN AND COMMON-COUNCILMEN.
ALDERMEN—1835: John Jones Peploe Cartwright
Richard Croxon T. L. Longueville
Thomas Morris John Jones, jun. COUNCILLORS—1835: EAST WARD. WEST WARD.
John Croxon John Hayward
Francis Campbell Thomas Rogers
George D. Owen Edward D. Bennion
Francis Lucas Charles Thomas Jones
Griffith Evans John Jones, jun.
James Howell Charles Sabine
Richard Bill William Williams
William Price James Williams