Part 25

THE estimates for the year amounted to seventy millions, and to meet this great demand the sinking fund was trenched upon, for it was found impossible to raise new taxes, though the rise of prices and the extended circulation of bank notes had, hitherto, enabled the country to meet the extraordinary demands upon it without difficulty. Mr. Vansittart, in his financial statement this year, said he thought the sinking fund had reached a point beyond which its operations ought not to go; it would be very prejudicial to pay off too much of the National Debt at once! The war which had now broken out with America was of course very injurious to our commerce. A bill for the relief of the Catholics was brought in this year by Mr. Grattan, and its general principle affirmed by a considerable majority, but an amendment, excluding Catholics from a seat in Parliament, being carried, by a majority of four, the bill was abandoned. Three per Cents. stood at 59; wheat averaged 109s. 9d.

JANUARY 1—A novel species of amusement took place in the Hundred House meadow, Witley. Five wild rabbits were singly turned off at an assigned distance before a dog fox, trained for the purpose by Mr. Charles Tearne of Stockton; and after an excellent course of about 400 yards, were severally killed by Reynard in capital style. A large concourse of people were assembled to witness this singular sport.

JANUARY 2—The clergy of the diocese met in the audit room, and agreed to a petition against the Catholic claims. This was the occasion of a series of letters between Mr. T. Hornyold, who accused the clergy of illiberality, and the Rev. J. J. Denham Cookes. Mr. Hornyold distinctly disclaimed the temporal authority of the Pope.

JANUARY 8—The Worcester Corporation voted the sum of 100 guineas for the relief of the Russians in their contest with the French, and a general subscription list was opened at the banks. At the same meeting it was unanimously resolved to instruct the representatives of the city to oppose the Catholic claims.

JUNE 23—An auxiliary to the Bible Society formed for the city and county of Worcester. Several attempts had been made to effect this before, but it was said that it would be in opposition to the Christian Knowledge Society; and other obstacles were thrown in the way. Only four or five clergymen of the Church of England were present at the first meeting. It was, however, very warmly taken up in the first instance by the resident gentry, the Earl of Coventry accepting the presidency; and Lord Deerhurst took the chair at the preliminary meeting, held in the Guildhall, at which the High Sheriff of the county and the Mayor of the city were also present, and took part. The Rev. Mr. Burns, Rev. Mr. Steinkopff, and Rev. Mr. Hughes were the deputation from the Parent Society.

AUGUST 8—The fine Wesleyan chapel in Pump Street, Worcester, opened, with sermons by Dr. Adam Clarke. The collections amounted to £412.

OCTOBER 12—A meeting of freeholders at the White Lion, Upton-upon-Severn, with Lord Somers in the chair, to deliberate on the propriety of inclosing Malvern Chace. The meeting agreed to a petition in favour of such a scheme.

LOCAL ACTS—For paving, cleansing, lighting, and watching the town of Kidderminster; for effecting an exchange of lands belonging to the Bishopric and the Dean and Chapter of Worcester; for enclosing lands at North Piddle, Salwarp, and Flyford Flavell.

1814.

PEACE was at last announced, and its advent was hailed with the utmost enthusiasm by the whole nation, who expected that it would bring with it unnumbered blessings; but its immediate effects seemed to be only disastrous. The reduction of our military forces threw great numbers of men into the labour market, and wages were reduced. While the renewed freedom of navigation brought abundance of all kinds of raw produce to our ports, it did not bring any corresponding increase of our foreign trade and exports to reimburse us, for British merchants had pushed their speculative supplies to the continent, beyond prudential limits, in spite of the Berlin and Milan decrees. For instance, tea and other goods had been sent to Germany, from the port of Salonichi, in Greece, whence they were carried two thousand miles on the backs of mules. The war too had impoverished our customers. Three per Cents. fluctuated in April from 72 to 62, and averaged throughout the year 67. The harvest this year was abundant, and corn fell to 74s. 4d.

JANUARY 19—A subscription set on foot for the relief of the poor of Worcester. About £700 raised and distributed in coals.

APRIL 10—The populace burned an effigy of Buonaparte on occasion of the Allies entering Paris. Great rejoicings in other towns of the county. On the 7th and 8th of June there was a general illumination at Worcester on account of the proclamation of Peace. Rejoicings at the various county towns, and at many gentlemen’s seats—particularly at Stanford.

MAY 6—The Grand Duchess of Oldenburgh, sister to the Emperor of Russia, visited Worcester with her suite. Inspected Messrs. Flight, Barr, and Barr’s royal porcelain manufactory, and Mr. John Knapp’s glove manufactory.

AUGUST 17—The first steam boat made its appearance below Gloucester, intended for the conveyance of passengers and light goods between Gloucester and Worcester. It made the return voyage to Gloucester in four hours and a half.

SEPTEMBER 5—Prince Frederick of Orange visited Worcester.

SEPTEMBER 18—Mr. Kean performed at Worcester Theatre this (Saturday) evening as _Richard III_, and on the following Monday morning as _Hamlet_.

DECEMBER 26—A splendid silver vase, valued at two hundred guineas, and the freedom of the city presented to Colonel Henry Walton Ellis, of the 23rd Fusiliers, a native of Worcester, who had most honourably distinguished himself in Holland, Egypt, America, the West Indies, and the Peninsular War. The Earl of Coventry was the presentee. Colonel Ellis fell in the following June at Waterloo.

LOCAL ACTS—For enclosing lands at Bayton, Ombersley, Inkberrow, Abberley, Norton, and Strensham; for vesting in Lord Somers the right of presentation to the perpetual curacy of Stoulton; for taking down Ombersley Church, erecting a new one, enlarging the churchyard, and building a workhouse at Ombersley.

1815.

THE enactment of a new and more stringent Corn Law was the most important proceeding of our Parliament this year. In the early years of our commercial history, prohibitions were laid upon the exportation of corn, but these were gradually relaxed, and in 1688 a bounty of 5s. per quarter was offered, on exportation, till the home price had reached 48s., while a duty of 6s. to 8s. per quarter was levied on imported wheat, while the price ranged between 53s. 4d. and 80s. a quarter. In 1766, on the apprehension of scarcity, this was entirely reversed, exportation was prohibited, and importation was free. In 1774 a duty of 6d. a quarter was levied on all imports of wheat, which were not permitted till the price had reached 48s. in the home market. In 1791 this duty was raised to 2s. 6d. a quarter, and in 1804 the importation price was fixed at 63s. a quarter, instead of 48s. Such is a brief history of English Corn Laws down to this period. In the session 1812–13, when prices were beginning to decline, a committee was appointed to inquire into the working of the Corn Laws, and though their report was very meagre in information, it yet created great alarm throughout the country, and meetings were everywhere held to petition against any alteration of the existing law, which might prevent the people enjoying that which they had looked forward to as one of the greatest blessings of peace—cheap bread. In May, 1814, Sir Henry Parnell succeeded in carrying a resolution permitting the free exportation of corn, be the price what it might; and it was intended to have fixed an import duty of 24s. 3d. upon wheat until it rose to 63s., and a sliding scale from that price to 86s.; but the opposition it evoked in the country was so strong that the project was abandoned. The House of Commons resumed the discussion of the Corn Laws on February 22, 1815, and after two evenings’ debate it was resolved, by a majority of 209 to 65, that wheat should not be imported till the price was 80s. a quarter. Immediately the country was in arms; on the very next day a petition was presented from the Corporation and liverymen of London, which had received 40,000 signatures in ten hours, praying that no alteration might take place. On the 3rd of March Mr. Vansittart moved the second reading of the Corn Bill; and an attempt to delay it till the following week, to allow time for the country to petition, was rejected by a majority of 171. On the 6th of March the House went into committee, but that evening the populace of the metropolis had surrounded the House, and insisted on stopping every member, and sought to make them pledge themselves to vote against the obnoxious measure; a Mr. Croker was in particular very ill-treated, and the Speaker sent for a detachment of the Life Guards, who continued to surround the House for the rest of the evening. A very high debate upon this matter took place in the House itself, but nothing availed to stay the progress of the measure, and it was carried through committee that evening by majorities varying from 120 to 180. The Bill was read a third time, and passed on the 16th of March. It was carried rapidly through the Lords by large majorities, and on the 23rd it received the royal assent. The principal opponents of the measure were Mr. Baring, Mr. Phillips, Sir R. Peel, Mr. Protheroe, &c. It did not however answer the purpose of keeping up prices, for they gradually sank lower and lower till they were considerably below 60s. per quarter, and farmers, holding their lands on lease, constantly appeared in the _Gazette_. The average price of wheat this year was 65s. 7d.; and Consols stood at 60. For an account of the meetings held, and the steps taken, in this county to protest against the enactment of the Corn Laws, see ante, pp. 61, 63.

JANUARY 19—Lord Somers addressed the lords of manors and proprietors of freeholds on Malvern Chace, announcing his intention of giving up all further attempts to bring about an enclosure of the same. He found it impossible to reconcile so many conflicting interests.

JANUARY 26—Mr. Charles Matthews gave his celebrated entertainment, called “Mail Coach Adventures,” at Worcester Theatre.

JUNE 18—On the glorious field of Waterloo, Lieutenant Colonel Lygon commanded the Life Guards. Lord Sandys, then Lord Arthur Hill, was an A.D.C. to the Duke of Wellington.

DECEMBER 4—The Worcester and Birmingham Canal opened. The first act for the cutting of this canal was passed on the 9th June, 1791. From the Severn to Tardebigg (15 miles) there is a rise of 428 feet, with 71 locks. From Tardebigg to the Birmingham Canal (14 miles) is level. At West Heath it passes through a tunnel 2,700 yards long. In the first and subsequent acts power was taken to raise no less a sum than £657,500; the original number of proprietors being only 1,800. It has throughout been an unfortunate concern; for the first act is filled with guarantees to other canals and opposing interests, which have hung like a millstone round the necks of the proprietors. From Tardebigg to Birmingham the canal is of greater capacity than in the part nearer the Severn. The company is now, however, about to be absorbed into the Old Birmingham Canal Company, and matters will, probably, henceforth wear a different aspect.

DECEMBER—The celebrated Elliston opened Worcester Theatre for one season. There being amongst his company the Misses Brunton, Mr. and Mrs. Keeley, &c.

LOCAL ACTS—For taking down and rebuilding the parish church of St. Thomas, Dudley; for enabling the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Company to complete and extend their works.

1816.

THIS was a truly gloomy year. Agriculturists, manufacturers, and tradespeople all alike experienced the depression resulting from the sudden change from war to peace; and it was felt the more, as it was so totally unexpected. The harvest was exceedingly unproductive, and the farmers got no relief by the high prices which corn fetched—for the quality of home-grown corn was poor in the extreme. The sudden reduction of paper money in circulation had much to do with this untoward state of things; the understanding that the Bank was to return to cash payments immediately, had compelled them to reduce the quantity of notes in circulation, and the metallic currency had either been bought up privately and converted into bullion, or sent abroad. The ministry proposed to continue the property and income tax, but such was the feeling of the country against it, on the score of its being only a war tax, that it was rejected by a majority of 238 to 201, and the ministers were obliged to borrow to make up the year’s deficit. Three per Cents. averaged 61; wheat averaged 78s. 6d.

JANUARY 22—Henry Wakeman, Esq., of Perdiswell, at his audit for Claines, made a reduction in his tithes of £20 per cent., an example which was pretty generally imitated by the large titheowners throughout the county. The reason alleged was “the great declension in value of all farming produce.” Wheat now selling at 6s. a bushel in Worcester market.

JANUARY 29—A Worcestershire Agricultural Society established, at a meeting held at the Hoppole; Lord Viscount Elmley in the chair. Lord Foley, Sir Thomas Winnington, Sir William Smith, &c., were among its first supporters. Its first exhibition of stock took place in June, when £40 was distributed in prizes (which were all carried off by five persons); but, after languishing for a year or two, it was given up for want of support.

MAY—The Messrs. Chamberlain ordered to attend at Warwick House, with specimens of porcelain for the Princess Charlotte, who gave them a large order in anticipation of her approaching marriage. Messrs. Flight, Barr, and Barr were afterwards honoured with an order.

AUGUST 12—Miss Foote performed in _The Honeymoon_ at Worcester Theatre.

NOVEMBER 18—A subscription entered into for the relief of the poor of Worcester. The gross amount collected was £1,900, the greater part of which was distributed in coals. The apparatus for making soup by steam first set up in the Bull Entry.

DECEMBER 20—A dinner given at the Lion Inn, Kidderminster, to the Right Hon. Earl Beauchamp, in acknowledgment of the undeviating attention which his lordship had uniformly paid to the interests of that town while he had been the representative of the county.

LOCAL ACTS—For better repairing the roads leading into and from the city of Worcester; for enlarging the powers of the acts for repairing the roads from Bromsgrove to Dudley; for enclosing lands at Rock, Feckenham, and Minith Wood.

1817.

THE distress which still continued in the early part of this year occasioned many tumultuous meetings in different parts of the country, and loud outcries for Parliamentary Reform. The ministry, taking advantage of some of the excesses of the populace, obtained the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act, and the passing of an act for repressing “seditious meetings.” Sir Francis Burdett’s motion for a committee to inquire into the state of the representation, was negatived by 205 to 77. Three per Cents. averaged 74; wheat averaged 96s. 11d.

FEBRUARY 26—Lord Deerhurst presented the Worcester petition for Parliamentary Reform and Retrenchment, which had been signed by 3,000 freemen and inhabitants. He gave it a modified support in a maiden speech of considerable length.

MARCH 25—A second subscription commenced for the relief of the Worcester poor—the £1,900 subscribed in the previous November having been all spent in coal, soup, and bread; 1,500 penny loaves and 1,500 quarts of soup were given away daily, and 1,300 tons of coal distributed. The second subscription realised about £300; and when the committee, at the end of April, announced that they must discontinue giving bread with the soup, Miss Stillingfleet of College Green requested that it might be furnished at her expense, which was done for some time, at a total cost to that lady of £150.

APRIL 18—A person exposing elvers for sale fined in the mitigated penalty of 10s., at the instance of the Worcester Fisheries Association.

APRIL 24—The Hon. W. H. Lyttelton presented a petition to the House of Commons from the parish of Oldswinford, complaining of the pressure of the poor rates. The rate there assessed on houses amounted to 29s. in the pound; on the rent of land employed in farming, to 32s.; and on several other kinds of land, to 61s. in the pound! The population was 4,381, of whom 1,868 received parish relief, and only 158 persons were able to contribute to the rates.

MAY 8—An elegant silver cup presented to Robert Felton, Esq., at a dinner at the Star and Garter, on his leaving the neighbourhood, “In testimony of the admiration of the donors of his ardent devotion to the public welfare, and of their esteem for the disinterested friendship and generous zeal which distinguished his social character.”

AUGUST 5—Viscount Sidmouth visited Worcester, and was presented with the freedom of the city.

NOVEMBER 19—The whole of the shops closed in Worcester during the time appointed for the funeral of the Princess Charlotte. The Mayor and Corporation attended divine service at the Cathedral, where a pathetic discourse was delivered by the Rev. Dr. Forester, one of the Prebendaries, from _Luke_ viii, 52—“She is not dead, but sleepeth.”

LOCAL ACTS—For amending the act of last session as to repairing the Worcester roads; for enclosing lands at Cofton Hackett.

1818.

TRADE began to revive and agriculturists again to be hopeful—principally as the result of the favourable exchanges bringing us large quantities of the precious metals from the continent, which gave ease to the banks and encouraged the liberal use of money in various undertakings. Thus employment became abundant, and the working classes were contented. The gradual disappearance of the precious metals for several years past had been a source of much disquietude to our statesmen, and was no doubt one cause of the great fall in prices which took place on the advent of peace; but it must principally be attributed to the absence of that demand by Government for men and money which, during the war, was so great. Consols averaged 79; wheat averaged 86s. 3d.

JANUARY—The Worcester Fire Office dissolved in favour of the Phœnix Fire Office.

JANUARY—The price of hops at this time averaged from £26 to £31 per cwt.

MARCH 29—At the County Quarter Sessions, Earl Beauchamp, the chairman, severely lectured the farmers, through the grand jury, on paying their labourers such miserably low wages—as breaking down all independence of spirit, and necessarily tending to the increase of crime.

APRIL 7—The WORCESTER GAS COMPANY formed at a meeting held at the Guildhall, William Wall, Esq., in the chair. The share list, subscribing £12,000, was filled up in a few hours, and the shares—on the deposit of 20s.—were, in two days, at 50s. premium.

MAY 14—The WORCESTER SAVINGS BANK established at a meeting held at the Guildhall, with Earl Beauchamp in the chair. It was opened in June, at a temporary office in Foregate Street, and £745 were paid in, in small sums, the first day. It has ever since continued to be a flourishing and most useful institution.

AUGUST—Six men charged before the magistrates of Worcester with garden robbing, were ordered to be publicly whipped in the several parishes where the offences were committed.

AUGUST 31—The WORCESTER SOCIETY OF ARTS exhibited their pictures—the first exhibition of the kind in Worcester—at the Town Hall. The paintings principally consisted of landscapes by Thornycroft, Smith, Doe, and Young; animals by Pitman; some Scripture subjects by Bacon; portraits by Millichap; and several contributions by amateurs.

SEPTEMBER 2—Twenty-seven illegal fishing nets and three large wheels, found in use at a mill near Worcester, were seized by order of the Worcester Severn Association committee, and publicly burnt in the Corn Market.

SEPTEMBER 7—The Grand Duke Michael, brother to the Emperor of Russia, visited Worcester, for the purpose of inspecting porcelain manufactories, and ordered a large service of Messrs. Chamberlain.

SEPTEMBER 25—Eight men killed by an explosion of fire-damp in the Buffery Colliery, Dudley.

OCTOBER 19—A bull baited on Pitchcroft. The poor animal was most barbarously mangled, and, after the “sport,” was driven through the principal streets to the slaughter house, writhing in torture.

LOCAL ACTS—For lighting Worcester and Kidderminster with gas; for enclosing lands at Great Comberton.

1819.

THE hopes of a speedy return to prosperity which the previous year had excited were again overcast, and all classes were feeling the pinchings of distress. This renewed again the outcries for Parliamentary Reform; and the people, exasperated by the stringent measures of the ministry, began to exhibit some alarming symptoms of discontent. The crowning scene was the meeting at Manchester, and the “Peterloo Massacre,” which formed an exciting topic for Parliament. Lord John Russell made his first motion for Parliamentary Reform, which only amounted to the disfranchisement of a few of the rotten boroughs, and a transfer of their franchise to the large towns; and it was withdrawn on the ministry promising to disfranchise Grampound, where Sir M. M. Lopez, member for Evesham in May, 1807, had bribed voters at £35 apiece. But by far the most important measure of the year was the Cash Payments Bill, which is generally known as “Peel’s Bill,” but is rather to be ascribed to Mr. Huskisson and Mr. Ricardo. This provided for a gradual return to cash payments, and the withdrawal of all bank notes under £5. The result of this measure, in contracting the circulation of the country, and in depressing prices, was far greater than had been anticipated. In anticipation only of such a measure, the circulation of the Bank of England had been reduced, since 1815, by two millions; and since 1814, two hundred out of seven hundred country banks had entirely disappeared. Three per Cents. averaged 71; wheat averaged 74s. 6d.

JANUARY—The WORCESTER HUMANE SOCIETY, which had been first of all established in 1786, but suffered to die out, revived, under the auspices of Lord Beauchamp.

FEBRUARY 26—Meeting at Stourport, the Rev. Reginald Pyndar in the chair, to protest against any duty or tax being imposed upon coals at the pit’s mouth.

MARCH 3—A silver cup, value 100 guineas, transmitted to Sir William Duff Gordon, by those of his former constituents who had been his supporters.

APRIL 3—Two parcels, from the bankers of Worcester to the bank of Sir William Curtis and Co., being incautiously left for a few minutes, by the guard of the old Fly coach, in the bar of the Bull and Mouth, Aldersgate, were stolen. They contained about £4,000 in unnegociable bills of exchange, and about a like amount in provincial and Bank of England notes.

APRIL 10—The wife of Joseph Richardson, a day labourer, living at Cooksey, near Bromsgrove, and in receipt of 10s. a week wages, was delivered of four children at a birth, all of whom lived and throve heartily. Being deserving people they were subsidised by many of the neighbouring gentry, and the four children proved a pretty stroke of fortune to them. A ball was given on behalf of the four younglings at the Talbot Inn, Stourbridge; and they were all christened at Upton Warren Church, having sixteen godfathers and godmothers.

APRIL 30—Petitions presented from various towns in Worcestershire against a proposed New Settlement Act, which would have given a settlement to a pauper by three years’ residence only.