Part 29

NOVEMBER 14—Mr. Cockburn, the Government Commissioner for inquiring into Municipal Corporations, attended at Bewdley. The burgesses and capital burgesses of the borough were all elected, or chosen by the Corporation, and, before the passing of the Reform Act, the privilege of voting was thus confined to some thirty or forty persons. Previous to Mr. Robarts being elected the member, it was customary for the candidate who found favour to give some £300 or £400, and then there never was any opposition to his taking his seat. It was said that these “compliments” had always been applied to public purposes. Fifty guineas were allowed annually, out of the Corporation funds, for the bailiff’s feast. No satisfactory account was rendered of the Corporation property and receipts; and the corporate officers refused to answer any questions about the Bridge Trust, or the tolls taken thereat. The toll on foot passengers, it appeared, had been discontinued for eighteen years; but £400 a year was raised from the toll on carriages and horses.

LOCAL ACT—To enable the Stratford and Moreton Railway Company to make a branch to Shipston-on-Stour.

1834.

ON the 1st of August in this year slavery ceased to disgrace the British colonies. The Irish Church continued to be the principal subject of discussion in Parliament; and on the 27th of May, Mr. Ward moved that the temporalities of that church ought to be reduced; and as a majority of the cabinet had resolved so far to accede to the motion as to appoint a commission of inquiry, Mr. Stanley, Sir James Graham, the Duke of Richmond, and the Earl of Ripon resigned their offices. The other measures of the ministry with regard to Ireland were equally embarrassing in their results. The unadvised disclosures of Mr. Littleton to Mr. O’Connell, respecting the supposed intentions of the cabinet as to the Coercion Bill, led to the retirement of Earl Grey, and Viscount Melbourne became Prime Minister in his stead. The measures proposed for the relief of Dissenters were withdrawn from the opposition of Dissenters themselves; and the only act passed this session, of great public importance, was that for the amendment of the Poor Laws, which received the assent of almost all parties. Mr. Hume’s motion for a gradual repeal of the Corn Laws was negatived by 312 to 155—Sir James Graham being the principal speaker against it. In November, when the death of Earl Spencer removed Lord Althorpe to the Upper House, and so further weakened the Whigs, the King dismissed them, and called the Duke of Wellington to his councils. Sir Robert Peel was then appointed Prime Minister, and Parliament was dissolved. Three per Cents. averaged 90½. wheat, 46s. 2d.

JANUARY—Mr. G. R. Robinson, M.P. for Worcester, elected chairman at Lloyds.

FEBRUARY—Lord Foley made strenuous endeavours to get Worcester created a bonded port.

APRIL 8—The “Athenæum,” Foregate Street, a building erected for the accommodation of the Worcester Literary and Scientific Institution, opened by an inaugural address from C. H. Hebb, Esq., the president. A dinner, of the members and supporters of the institution, afterwards took place at the Bell Inn, Broad Street, with Colonel Davies, M.P., in the chair.

MAY 9—Paganini performed in Worcester.

MAY 15—The first stone of the Monument on the Lickey, erected to the memory of the Earl of Plymouth, laid by Lord Lyttelton—the gentry of the neighbourhood, the Cavalry, and a large concourse of spectators being present. It was raised by public subscription. It is a simple obelisk of Anglesea marble, raised on a pedestal 17 feet high and 20 feet square; the top of the pillar is 91½ feet from the ground, and it is so situated as to be seen at a distance of many miles.

MAY 16—The first anniversary of the Worcestershire Natural History Society held in the Guildhall, Edward Holland, Esq., the newly elected president, in the chair. Dr. Streeten read the report of the committee. In the evening the members dined together at the Crown Hotel, Broad Street.

JUNE 2—The first general exhibition of paintings opened in Worcester, in the lecture room of the Athenæum, Foregate Street. It contained 195 pictures, and was a most admirable selection. Amongst others were—“Cupid interceding for Psyche,” by Etty; Constable’s “Barge on the Stour;” David Roberts’s “Antwerp Cathedral;” two from the easel of Alexander Frazer; and others by Stanfield, Danby, Pickersgill, Chalon, Jackson, Howard, Creswick, &c.; while the local artists were also very fairly represented. The pictures were very ably criticised in the _Worcester Herald_, by a gentleman named Cary, who, for this purpose, adopted the sobriquet of “Lorenzo.”

JULY—Petitions sent up to Parliament, from various parishes in the city and county, expressing confidence in the Established Church, and praying that Dissenters might be kept out of the Universities.

AUGUST 1—The first number of _The Analyst_, a monthly journal of literature and natural history, principally devoted to the midland counties, published in Worcester. It was edited by William Holl, Esq., and reached a tenth volume. It was a clever and readable publication.

AUGUST 17—The Bishop of Exeter preached at Hallow Church on behalf of the Sunday schools. Next day the Rev. Prelate visited Worcester, and was presented by the Mayor with a handsomely bound copy of _Green’s History of Worcester_, as a token of admiration of his zealous defence of the establishment.

SEPTEMBER 1—Lord Deerhurst, while shooting in Sir Charles Cockerell’s covers, at Sezincote, received the contents of a gun in his face, and lost the sight of his right eye.

SEPTEMBER 25—Church rate contest at Dudley, carried on with all the zeal witnessed at a general election. The anti-rate party had a few weeks before defeated the church party in vestry, but another meeting was called for this day, when a rate of 10d. in the pound was proposed by Mr. Isaac Badger, and carried on a poll by 474 to 390 votes.

LOCAL ACT—For better supplying the town of Dudley with water.

1835.

As the Reform enthusiasm had passed away, the elections resulted unfavourably for the Whigs—the great majority of the counties returning Conservative members. The Whigs, however, finding that they still possessed a majority in the new house, set themselves to oppose Sir Robert Peel’s Government on every point. They carried Mr. Abercromby, as Speaker, by a majority of 10, and an amendment on the address by a majority of 7. Sir Robert, however, continued to bring forward his measures, some of which were generally approved of, and he bade fair to gain the confidence of the country even under such disadvantageous circumstances. But on the introduction of the Tithe Bill for Ireland, Lord John Russell moved that no settlement of Irish Church affairs would be satisfactory on any other basis than that of appropriating its surplus revenues to educational purposes; and this was carried by a majority of 27. Sir Robert Peel and his colleagues then retired from office, and Lord Melbourne again became Prime Minister. The rest of the session was almost wholly spent in passing the Municipal Reform Bill, and an attempt to carry a Bill for regulating the Irish Church, which was so mutilated in the Lords that ministers abandoned it. Consols averaged 91; wheat, 39s. 4d.

FEBRUARY 19—In the well-remembered division on the choice of Speaker for the new House of Commons under Sir R. Peel’s ministry, Sir T. Winnington, Bart., Sir C. Cockerell, Captain Winnington, Mr. G. R. Phillips, and Mr. Cookes voted in the majority of 316 for Mr. Abercrombie—and Mr. Holland, Mr. Robinson, Colonel Lygon, Mr. Borthwick, Mr. Hawkes, Mr. Bailey, and Mr. Barneby in the minority of 306 for Sir C. M. Sutton. Thus the whole 12 county members were present, and 5 voted for Mr. Abercrombie and 7 for Sir C. Manners Sutton.

MARCH 10—On the Marquis of Chandos’s motion for a repeal of the Malt Tax, which was defeated by a majority of 158, T. H. Cookes, Esq., E. Holland, Esq., Captain Winnington, J. Bailey, Esq., G. R. Robinson, Esq., Sir T. Winnington, and Mr. Hawkes voted in the majority—and Col. Lygon, Mr. G. R. Phillips, Mr. Borthwick, and Mr. Barneby in the minority.

APRIL 20—The East Worcestershire Conservative Association formed at a meeting at Droitwich, over which John S. Pakington, Esq., presided; the object being to rescue the Eastern Division from the hands of the Whigs. The annual subscription was fixed at 5s., but large donations were given by Lord Redesdale, Lord Eastnor, and others.

APRIL—Addresses sent to Sir Robert Peel—requesting him to continue to hold office, and expressing confidence in his administration—from Worcester, Droitwich, Evesham, Hagley, and Oldswinford. A public meeting was held at Kidderminster, for the purpose of sending an address to His Majesty—the chair taken by Thomas Bradley, Esq., the High Bailiff—praying the King to continue the Government in Sir Robert Peel’s hands. The address received 1,473 signatures.

MAY 25—The first stone of the Worcestershire Natural History Society’s Museum and Lecture Room, Foregate Street, Worcester, laid by Lord Lyttelton.

JUNE 12—Petition presented by Mr. Robinson, from Worcester, in favour of the Municipal Corporation Bill, to which 4,300 signatures were attached.

JUNE 15—The second exhibition of modern paintings opened at the Athenæum, Foregate Street, containing 228 pictures. Amongst them was M‘Clise’s fine picture, “The Installation of Captain Rock;” Danby’s “Enchanted Island” and “Solitude;” five of Constable’s; two of Creswick’s; with others by Copley Fielding, Lee, &c. The Worcester artists were well represented.

JULY 30—The first stone of St. Paul’s Church, Blockhouse, Worcester, laid by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese; the Recorder, Earl Coventry, the Corporation, and a large concourse of spectators attending. The church was built entirely by voluntary subscription, being intended to meet the spiritual wants of the population living in the extra-parochial district, and consequently not formally under the charge of any particular clergyman.

AUGUST 4—Mr. Sidebottom, as Town Clerk of Worcester, examined before the House of Lords, as one of the witnesses against the Municipal Corporations Reform Bill. His testimony went to say that the Corporation, as it was, was very good—that there was never any jobbing—that the freemen had held their rights ever since 1540—that the freemen were become such by servitude or birth, saying nothing about purchase—and that any alteration must be for the worse.

OCTOBER 4—The clergy and Dissenting ministers generally, throughout the county, celebrated the third centenary of the Reformation, and the printing of the first entire English Protestant Bible by Coverdale, by preaching appropriate sermons on this day.

OCTOBER 6, 7, AND 3—Mr. John Constable, R.A., the celebrated painter, lectured at the Athenæum, Worcester, on landscape painting.

OCTOBER—Pershore and Upton Poor Law Unions incorporated.

DECEMBER—Election of the Municipal Corporations—At Kidderminster the Conservatives had a decided majority; and W. B. Best, Esq., was chosen Mayor. At Evesham, also, they preponderated; William Barnes, Esq., the former Mayor, was here reëlected. At Bewdley the new body were all Conservatives; Slade Baker, Esq., chosen Mayor. At Droitwich they were all liberals; and E. B. Penrice, Esq., was elected chief magistrate.

LOCAL ACT—For improving the turnpike roads leading into and from the city of Worcester.

1836.

THE Tithe Commutation Act and the Dissenters’ Marriage Act were the two principal measures carried this year; the other bills proposed by Government, respecting the Irish Church, Irish Corporations, and Charitable Trusts, being so altered in the Lords, that the Commons refused to agree to their amendments, and they were dropped. Consols averaged 90; wheat averaged 48s. 6d.

JANUARY 19—Evesham first lighted with gas.

JANUARY 26—THE WORCESTER DIOCESAN CHURCH BUILDING SOCIETY formed at a meeting at the Guildhall, Worcester.

FEBRUARY—The Kidderminster Town Council having sent up a list of six gentlemen (all Conservatives) as magistrates for the borough, Lord John Russell refused to approve it, and substituted three other parties (two being Whigs) for three of the names on the list.

APRIL—The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the revenues of the Established Church presented their report, from which it appeared that the total number of benefices in the see of Worcester was 223; gross total income per annum £73,255: 111 curates were employed at a gross stipend of £9,002; average, £81 per annum. The incomes of the incumbents varied from £20 to £1,500 a year. The gross income of the see of Worcester was set down at £6,916, and of the Dean and Chapter at £12,088. The eight minor canons received £34 a year, the precentor £14. 15s., the schoolmaster £39. 19s. 6d., the under master £28. 1 s. 5d.

APRIL 11—Dinner given at the Star Hotel to T. C. Brock, Esq., by the Hunt Committee, on his resignation of the mastership of the hounds into the hands of Captain Candler. The Hon. W. J. Coventry took the chair; and J. S. Pakington, Esq., was vice president.

APRIL 26—The first stone of Hartlebury New Church laid by Mrs. Baker, wife of the rector, and daughter of the Bishop of the Diocese.

JUNE 30—A splendid silver vase presented, at the George Hotel, Droitwich, to Mr. T. G. Curtler, “in gratitude for his long services as Town Clerk of the borough, and as a tribute of respect and esteem for his high professional integrity and private character.” J. S. Pakington, Esq., was called to the chair by the meeting, and presented the plate in a highly eulogistic speech.

JULY 8—_The Kidderminster Messenger_ started by Mr. Arthur Brough, a bookseller in that town, and also carrying on a similar business at Stourport. It at first professed to be a neutral newspaper, and, as such, had an extensive circulation amongst men of all parties in Kidderminster and the neighbourhood. Mr. Brough afterwards thought he could, as a commercial speculation, improve the paper by making it a thorough going Tory print, and he gave it the name of the _Ten Towns’ Messenger_, alluding to ten towns round Kidderminster in which it circulated. From this time it was furious in its politics and in the language employed to advocate its principles. It reached its greatest circulation when it extended its labours to Birmingham; the news of which town was given at much length, and it assumed, consequently the additional title of _The __Birmingham Times_. This was in 1839–40; and from 1,700 to 1,800 copies, weekly, were sold at this time. In 1841, however, Mr. Brough started the _National Advertiser_, by which he expected to make much more money than by the _Ten Towns_, and in June, 1842, he sold it to the Rev. Charles Eckersall. The Tractarian principles which it now advocated were, however, by no means palatable to the majority of its readers, and the circulation of the paper gradually declined, till Mr. Eckersall—like most other amateur newspaper proprietors, having lost much money by it—got rid of it. The paper then became the property of Mr. Friend, bookseller, of Kidderminster, but, from various causes continued to fall off in circulation; and when it had sunk to some 400 weekly, it was at last altogether discontinued on the 30th of June, 1849.

AUGUST 25—Two superb pieces of plate—a silver vase and salver, weighing together 286 ounces—presented to the Rev. J. Topham, M.A., of Droitwich, by J. H. H. Foley, Esq., on behalf of the parishioners and friends of Mr. Topham, who had purchased them by subscription, “as a token of respect to his general character, and a testimony of the sense entertained by them of his services in the cause of civil and religious liberty.” The ceremony of presentation took place at the Court House.

SEPTEMBER 26—St. Peter’s Church, Malvern Wells, consecrated.

SEPTEMBER 31—Mr. Macready performed at Worcester Theatre in _Ion_.

DECEMBER 14—Worcester Union incorporated under the New Poor Law, and the guardians elected by the several city parishes. H. B. Tymbs, Esq., was elected chairman of the new board, and Mr. Alderman R. Evans vice-chairman.

DECEMBER 24—The Lord Chancellor appointed, as trustees of the Worcester charities, the gentlemen nominated by the Town Council, in preference to those named by the old Corporation. The trustees thus appointed were—the Mayor (C. H. Hebb, Esq.), Alderman R. Evans, John Dent, Esq., Mr. Alderman Hall, Robert Berkeley, jun., Esq., Alderman W. Corles, William Shaw, Esq., John Nash, Esq., George Allies, Esq., Mr. Thomas Grainger, Humphrey Chamberlain, Esq., J. P. Lavender, Esq., Mr. Alderman Howell, Francis Thomas Gibb, Esq., John Williams, Esq. The charities under the management of the six masters were exempted from the operation of the seventy-first section of the Municipal Reform Act. The Rev. E. Crane resigned the chaplaincy of Berkeley’s Hospital, and the Rev. Edwin Faulkner elected in his stead. Mr. E. Corles was chosen solicitor to the trust.

LOCAL ACT—For making the Birmingham and Gloucester Railway.

1837.

THE subjects which occupied the attention of the legislature this year were many and important, but no measures of great public polity actually passed. Ecclesiastical matters formed the prominent topic, and a bill to abolish church rates, and provide for the reparation of churches, by putting the property of bishops, deans, and chapters into commission, was read a second time, but the majority was so small, five votes only, that ministers could not proceed with it. King William IV died on the 20th of June; and, in the elections which followed the accession of the young Queen, the Whigs with difficulty maintained their majority. Consols averaged 91½; wheat averaged 55s. 10d.

SEPTEMBER—Great excitement in Bromsgrove over politico-parochial matters. Two parties were appointed by the Conservative party at the usual time—Easter week; but this appointment, on an appeal to Dr. Phillimore, the Chancellor of the Diocese, was declared informal and illegal. There was, consequently, a fresh election in this month, when the whole parish was routed up to vote. The result was, the choice of the two liberals—Messrs. Ellins (who had 945 votes) and Hill (who had 915). The Conservatives were Messrs. Edwards and Penn, who obtained 381 and 372 votes respectively. A scrutiny was demanded, and it dragged out a weary length with all sorts of expenses, but left the result of the election unaltered.

SEPTEMBER 13—Bazaar at Evesham, for the restoration of St. Lawrence’s Church, producing £250.

OCTOBER 30—Public meeting of the burgesses of Worcester at the Bell Inn, to consider the best means of declaring their grateful sense of Mr. Hebb’s constant endeavours in the behalf of civil and religious liberty, and their approval of his conduct during the two years he had filled the office of chief magistrate. It was determined that he should be requested to sit for his portrait, and that the Council should be asked to place it in the Assembly Room, where it now hangs.

LOCAL ACTS—For amending and enlarging the powers of the act for erecting a County Hall and Courts of Assize; the New Cattle Market Act; Birmingham and Gloucester Railway Amendment Act, with powers to make branches to Worcester and Tewkesbury.

1838.

IRISH Tithes and Corporations—Church Rates—Jamaica and the Negro Apprenticeship System, and the Canadas—formed the subjects of discussion in Parliament. In the year previous had commenced that series of deficits which contributed so much to the weakness and ultimate downfall of the Melbourne administration: for finance is, after all, the life-blood of a ministry. The Whigs could not, however, fairly be blamed for the state of the national exchequer, which, in truth, was the unavoidable consequence of the measures of former years. Immediately after the restriction of small notes, in the year 1829, the prices of merchandise and the amount of mercantile transactions rapidly declined; though as the seasons were unfavourable, speculators managed, by aid of the sliding scale, to keep up the price of corn till 1833, when it fell to less than 40s. a quarter. Speculation in the American trade gained for a time the appearance of prosperity; but on the failure of the United States Bank in 1836, affairs were brought to a crisis, and our manufacturers and merchants were plunged into extreme distress—trade was utterly stagnated—and when the scarcity of 1839 necessitated large importations of corn, and a drain of gold to pay for it, the Bank of England was well nigh brought into the peril of 1825. Consols averaged 93; wheat averaged 64s. 7d.

JANUARY—The _Worcestershire Chronicle_ established by a joint stock company, at the head of which were some of the leading Reformers of the city and county. It was designed to supply a want, then beginning to be generally felt by this party, of an organ for the advocacy of their opinions, and the advancement of their interests through the medium of the press. The first number was published on the 3rd of January, 1838. In the year 1842 the concern passed into private hands, and was transferred to the present proprietors.

JANUARY 22—Mr. Pakington made his Parliamentary _debût_ in a speech on Canadian affairs, which was very well received.

JANUARY—Subscriptions at Evesham, Redditch, and Pershore, for the relief of the local poor during an inclement season.

FEBRUARY—George Williams, Esq., surgeon, of Bewdley, nominated by Lord John Russell as a magistrate of that borough, and the Town Council thereof very indignant at not having been consulted. The Liberals afterwards _fêted_ Mr. Williams at a dinner at the George Inn.

MARCH 27—Celebration of Lord Ward’s majority at Himley, Sedgley, Dudley, &c., by a succession of dinners and donations to the poor. The barrel of ale called “Big Ben,” which had been brewed on Lord Ward’s natal day, and reserved especially for this occasion, was tapped and distributed. His lordship layed the first stone of a new church at Gornal, and afterwards entertained a party of fifty gentlemen to a sumptuous feast at Himley Hall. He declared himself a Conservative.

JUNE 28—Celebration of Her Majesty’s coronation in Worcester and other county towns. In Worcester the Yeomanry and Militia, the Town Council, 5,000 Sunday school children, and the various trade companies made up a procession to the Cathedral, where a sermon was preached by Dr. Faussett. 2,100 poor people dined at the public expense in the Guildhall, Market House, and Sansome Walk. 200 gentlemen dined together at the Shire Hall; George Allies, Esq., Mayor, in the chair. Fireworks in the evening; and a public breakfast for the ladies next morning in the Shire Hall.

OCTOBER 4—At the annual assembly of the Yeomanry this year, Colonel Clive presented Captain Emmott with a splendid service in silver, which had been subscribed for generally by the regiment. The officers this year gave a grand ball in the New Shire Hall.

OCTOBER 27—A man named George Burrows committed from Droitwich for stealing hay, made his escape from the County Gaol, having managed to secrete himself in the yard until all the rest of the prisoners were marched into the chapel to attend service. All his gaol clothes were found returned one morning, being thrown into the court yard of the prison.

DECEMBER 4—Consecration of the church of St. Peter the Great, Worcester, by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. The sermon was preached by the Rev. C. Benson. The old building would only accommodate 350 persons; the present church contains 408 appropriated, and 624 free sittings. The total cost was £3,600. £169 were collected after the services this day.