Chapter X: Part 10

1818—SEPTEMBER 15—Sermon by the Rev. William Digby. Principal performers—Miss Stephens, Mrs. Salmon, Miss Symonds; Messrs. Braham, Kynvett, Bellamy, and Hawes. _The Messiah_ was the only oratorio performed entire. The contributions to the charity amounted to £936—the largest amount collected up to that time.

1821—OCTOBER 3—Sermon by the Dean, Dr. Jenkinson. Principal performers—Miss Stephens, Madame Camporesi, and Miss Travis; Messrs. Bellamy, Vaughan, Knyvett, Hawes, Master Smith, &c. _The Messiah_ was the only oratorio performed entire. A selection from _The Seasons_ one evening. Sum collected for the charity, £877.

1824—SEPTEMBER 15—One hundred and first meeting of the three choirs. Sermon preached by the Hon. and Rev. Edward Rice, D.D. Principal performers—Mesdames Salmon, Stephens, Travis, and Ronzi de Beguis; Messrs. Braham, Bellamy, Kynvett, Signor de Begnis, &c. _The Messiah_ was the only oratorio performed entire. Receipts for the charity, £828; and for tickets, £2,957.

1827—SEPTEMBER 11—Sermon preached by the Rev. W. F. Hook, M.A., perpetual curate of Moseley. Principal performers—Madame Pasta, Madame Caradori Allan, Miss Stephens, Mrs. W. Knyvett; Messrs. Braham, Phillips, Knyvett, Vaughan, and Signor Zuchelli. _The Messiah_ and _Palestine_ performed. Receipts for the charity, £1,083; for admission, £3,997. This was one of the most successful meetings ever held. The Duchess of St. Albans held one of the plates the first morning.

1830—SEPTEMBER 14—Sermon by the Very Rev. the Dean, Lord Bishop of Rochester. _The Messiah_ was the only oratorio performed. On the first morning the service was opened by a funeral anthem, in commemoration of his late Majesty King George IV. Principal performers—Madame Malibran, Mrs. Knyvett, and Miss Cramer; Messrs. Braham, Phillips, Vaughan, Knyvett, &c. Balls were held every evening at the Town Hall; and a banquet was given by the Bishop of Rochester and Lady Sarah Murray, in the Chapter House, after each morning’s performance. The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria were among the company. The receipts for the charity were £1,005, and for admissions, £3,314; being considerably less than the amount realised in 1827.

1833—SEPTEMBER 24—Sermon by the Bishop of Worcester. Every pains had been taken to make this festival successful; the performances occupying four mornings instead of three, and the orchestra being much enlarged. About 170 performers were engaged, the principal vocalists being—Madame Malibran, Miss Clara Novello, and Mrs. Knyvett; Messrs. Braham, Phillips, Vaughan, and E. Taylor. De Beriot, the violinist, was also a feature of this festival. _The Messiah_ was performed entire; and selections from _The Creation_, _Palestine_, _The Last Judgment_, _The Deluge_ (Schneider), and _Mount Sinai_ (Neukomm)—the last proving a decided failure. Malibran was all in all at this meeting. The receipts for the charity were £981, and for admissions, £3,496. The ball at the College Hall was a most brilliant finale, the company numbering upwards of 700. The expenses were no less than £4,300; so that the stewards were £800 out of pocket.

1836—SEPTEMBER 27—Sermon by the Rev. Prebendary Benson. Principal performers—Madame Caradori Allan, Miss Hawes, Mrs. Knyvett, and Miss Novello; Messrs. Braham, Phillips, Vaughan, Knyvett, &c. The scheme contained many novelties. _The Messiah_ was performed on the first morning; Mozart’s _Redemption_, Bishop’s cantata, _The Seventh Day_, and a selection, the second morning; and _The Last Judgment_, with a selection, on the third. _Acis and Galatea_ was sung at the first concert; the others were entirely miscellaneous. The receipts exhibited a sad falling off, being, for the charity, £828, and for admissions, £2,685. The stewards were about £1,000 out of pocket. An article of _bijouterie_ was presented to Miss Clara Novello, by Colonel Clive and the committee, as an expression of their admiration at her singing, and of thanks for the kind manner in which she had fallen in with the wishes of the committee as to some alterations of the scheme.

1839—SEPTEMBER 10—Sermon by the Rev. W. H. Woodgate, Rector of Bellbroughton. _The Messiah_, _Creation_, and _Palestine_ performed in their entirety. The concerts were all made up of miscellanea. Principal performers—Miss Hawes, Miss Clara Novello, Madame Persiani, Miss Woodyatt, Miss Beale; Messrs. Phillips, Vaughan, Bennett, Machin, Edmunds, &c. The receipts for the charity this year were £932, and for admissions £2,820, which was an increase upon the sum realised at the previous meeting, though the prices of tickets were this year reduced to the sums at which they have ever since remained. The expenses, however, reached £4,089, so that there was a deficiency of £1,270.

1842—SEPTEMBER 20—The sermon was preached by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. This festival was marked by an entire change of system and the great success attending upon it. There were no foreign “stars” engaged in the vocal department, and, consequently, a great deal of expense was saved. The oratorios were conducted, not by the organist of the cathedral, Mr. Clarke, but by Mr. Surman of Exeter Hall, and the performances were held in the nave and not in the choir. The only previous occasion on which the festival had been held in the nave was at the visit of George III, sixty years before. The arrangement of orchestra and seats was that which has been ever since observed. The principal singers were—Miss Birch, Miss Marshall, Miss Dolby, Mrs. Loder, and Miss Davis, our own young townswoman; Mr. Phillips, Mr. Leffler, and Mr. Hobbs. The oratorios performed were—_The Messiah_, _Judas Maccabeus_, and _Engedi_. At the evening concerts _Alexander’s Feast_, Haydn’s _Seasons_, and Schiller’s _Song of __the Bell_ were performed entire. The chorus consisted of 218 singers, and there were 82 instruments in the orchestra. The organ was in the course of being renewed by Hill. The collections for the charity amounted to £1,059. 16s.

1845—Sermon by Canon Wood. Only three morning performances this year, which, for the first time, were under the conduct of Mr. Done. _The Last Judgment_ and a collection of anthems were performed on the Wednesday morning, and _The Messiah_ on the Thursday. In the evenings _Acis and Galatea_ and Mendelssohn’s _Walpurgis Nacht_ were performed entire. The principal vocalists were—the Misses Williams, Miss Rainforth, Miss Whitnall; Herr Staudigl, Mr. Pearsall, Mr. Hobbs, Mr. Machin, and Mr. Young. The amount collected for the charity was £850. 14s.

1848—Sermon by the Very Rev. the Dean of Worcester. Mdlle. Jenny Lind had promised to take a part at this festival, but Mr. Lumley compelled her to break her engagement, and she was actually singing at Birmingham on the first day of the Worcester meeting; notwithstanding this, the festival was one of the most successful, in point of attendance, which has ever been held at either of the three cities. On the first morning at least 1,500 people were present in the nave of the Cathedral, and at the last concert in the College Hall it is computed that 1,100 persons were crammed into the room. There were this year four morning performances; the oratorios performed entire being the _Elijah_ and _Messiah_, with selections from _Palestine_, _Creation_, and _Engedi_. In the evenings parts of Mendelssohn’s _Midsummer Night’s Dream_, Haydn’s _Seasons_, and Weber’s _Oberon_ were performed, with miscellaneous selections. The principal vocalists were—Mdlle. Alboni, Madame Castellan, the Misses Williams, and Miss Dolby; Mr. Sims Reeves, Signor Lablache, Mr. Lockey, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Machin. The amount collected for the charity was £960, and the receipts by sale of tickets reached £3,080; yet the expense attaching to the engagement of the “stars” was so great that the loss was very considerable.

NATURAL PHENOMENA.

IT is altogether beyond the province of this work to enter into any detail of the scientific peculiarities of the county of Worcester; but it would have been very satisfactory to have been able to have recorded here—besides those isolated disturbances of nature’s more ordinary course, which arrest the attention of indifferent spectators—the results of observations made by competent persons which might have formed the basis of a county meteorology. But, in truth, none such exist; excepting in the daily memoranda of one or two gentlemen extending over only a very few years, there are no data for arriving at any conclusions on the subject. As the members of the medical profession and the scientific agriculturist become increasingly alive to the important part which atmosphere and electricity play in the conditions of animal and vegetable life, the want of such tables will be severely felt. The city of Worcester itself stands but thirty-six feet above the level of the sea; and, from its peculiar position, its temperature is generally higher than that of the surrounding country or of the kingdom generally. Though Worcestershire may be considered as the central county of England, and consequently the most inland, yet we have our fair share of rain, and perhaps even more than an average quantity. Such observations as could be procured on this point will be found in the Appendix. The principal part of our rain, and the greater number of storms that visit us, come from the S.W., and the prevailing wind is also from that quarter. In some parts of the year it may be matter for every day observation to notice the vapours, gathered apparently in the Bristol Channel, attracted by the Malvern range, and spreading out a fan-like nimbus towards the N.E., which distributes its fertilising showers over Worcester and the lands lying between Bredon Hill on the one hand and the upper Severn on the other—often over a much more limited tract of country—while the lands beyond seem to lie under a dry and cloudless sky. The following are memoranda of the more remarkable natural phenomena which have excited notice within the county during this century.

1802—JANUARY 20—A hurricane occurred, doing great damage to the houses in and round Worcester. The windmill at Kempsey was set on fire by the sails being whirled round with so great rapidity.

1804—JANUARY 20—Violent gale from S.W., doing great damage. A stack of chimneys falling through the roof of the house of Mr. E. Harris, attorney, in Edgar Street, Worcester, killed the nursemaid, who was in bed with two children, who were but little hurt.

1805—JANUARY 25—The London mail to Worcester stopped by a heavy fall of snow.

1807—NOVEMBER 10—A violent storm occurred, which raged pretty generally over the whole country. A barge laden with coal, moored near Worcester bridge, was sunk. At Hanley Castle, and Stanford Park, a great many trees were blown down, and several houses unroofed.

1808—JULY 15—A most awful tempest from the S.W. The thunder continued in one unbroken roar for an hour and a half; and the hailstones which fell were like fragments of a vast plate of ice broken into pieces, being broad, flat, and ragged. Many of them were perfect and unmelted the next morning.

1809—JANUARY 29—Great flood upon the Severn, the water rising to within nineteen inches of the level of the extraordinary flood of 1795.

1810—SEPTEMBER 22—A storm, described as “a dreadful whirlwind,” commencing at Fearnal Heath, and taking a direction due north, through Salwarp, Ombersley, Doverdale, and to the extremity of Hampton Lovett; and its effects were felt as far as Chaddesley Corbett. The principal sufferers were Sir John Pakington, Mr. Silvester of Doverdale, and Mr. Saunders of Mayeux. Mr. Silvester had two hundred trees on his farm, either torn up by the roots, or shattered at mid-trunk. Most of them were pear trees in full bearing.

1810—NOVEMBER 10—A tempest from the N.E. visited Worcester and its environs. Great numbers of trees torn up by the roots. The lightning struck the house of Mr. Harris of Edgar Street, came down the chimney of the room in which he was sitting, burnt his hand and eyebrows, his stockings and papers, and tore down a wainscot on the opposite side of the room.

1811—MAY 27—The famous Worcester hailstorm happened this day. It was indeed a tempest, such as had been scarcely ever known in this country before. Between four and five o’clock p.m., clouds of a horrible blackness came up from the S.E., accompanied by a hideous noise. Shortly hail began to fall, which almost immediately became a storm of ice, and fell furiously in flakes of about five or six inches in circumference. The windows of almost every house which faced the S.E. were wholly demolished in a few minutes—gardens were laid utterly waste—and fields, both of grass and corn, sustained irreparable damage. The ice-storm was succeeded by heavy torrents of rain, with all the terrors of a tropical tempest. The river Severn _in one hour rose six feet_, and continued gradually to swell its torrent till it had reached the height of _twenty feet_; and the flood, rapid and wide-spreading, swept away in its impetuous career whole herds of cattle from the adjacent fields. 1,200 panes of glass were broken in Messrs. Barr’s china manufactory, 500 in the Workhouse, and 2,000 in Messrs. Chamberlain’s factory. Messrs. Freame’s cabinet warehouse, Goose Lane, lost 1,000 panes, and all the public buildings suffered severely. 150 rooks were killed in the rookery at the White Ladies, and a vast many other birds were also afterwards found dead. At Henwick and Hallow the crops were miserably injured. The cost of replacing the glass broken in the city, alone, was estimated at £5,000; and there being neither sufficient materials nor workpeople at hand to repair it, the inhabitants for weeks had to suffer the inconvenience of exposure to the weather. One glazier, who started off to Stourbridge and purchased all the glass he could lay his hands on, is said to have laid the foundation of a fortune by this calamity. We have no record of the state of the atmosphere previous to this storm.

1814—JANUARY 12—The Severn frozen over at Worcester, so as to admit of parties walking across it, and the weather in every respect most severe. JANUARY 20—The frost continued with such severity that the Severn was frozen over at Tewkesbury, and several persons going to Tewkesbury market rode over it at the Lode. The roads, also, were so blocked up by snow as to render traffic of every description almost impossible.

1817—JUNE 21—The neighbourhood of Stanford visited with a tremendous tempest. From seven to ten p.m., the roar of the thunder was incessant; the lightning one continued sheet of fire; and the rain descended in such torrents that the whole country was inundated. The brook running from Hanley William through Orleton rose to an enormous height, and carried away fences, trees, and other obstacles, lodging them at great distances. Many hop yards destroyed, and the soil almost wholly washed away. The thermometer stood at 112° Fahrenheit in the sun, on the day before this storm, and at 82° in the shade.

1818—MARCH 4—A very furious storm from the S.W. experienced at Worcester, continuing for about six hours. A great deal of damage done to the roofs of houses. The Bristol mail was detained eleven hours by the floods.

1818—APRIL 11—Great flood on the river Severn, the water rising to within three feet of the height which it reached in February, 1795.

1820—JANUARY 14—The Severn frozen over.

1820—MAY 12—A thunderstorm occurred, which was very terrific in several parts of the county. A rick of hay at Mr. Coucher’s, Woodmanton, Clifton-on-Teme, was set on fire and wholly burnt; and four deer were killed by the lightning in Hagley Park.

1821—JANUARY 20—The Severn frozen over.

1821—MAY 2—A very fearful thunderstorm occurred, which was general throughout the kingdom. It did not do much damage in Worcestershire. At Northwick Park five deer were killed, and their bodies were found floating in the large sheet of water there. Four out of the five were six-year-old bucks; and it was surmised that, blinded by the lightning, they ran into the water; and though deer customarily swim well, yet they were now unable to exert themselves and so were drowned.

1821—DECEMBER 24—Great floods upon the Severn, which entirely cut off the communication between Worcester and the lower parts of the county. The cellars of all the houses near the Severn were flooded for some days.

1822—MAY 20—A destructive thunderstorm in the neighbourhood of Worcester. The hailstones, which were unusually large, smashed great quantities of glass—particularly about Spetchley, where six hundred panes were broken in the hothouses of R. Berkeley, Esq. Hailstones were picked up measuring four inches in circumference.

1822—DECEMBER 5—A terrific hurricane from the S.W., which raged with more or less violence throughout the whole of England. In Worcester, the roofs of several houses were almost uncovered, and the gable end of a newly-erected building near the House of Industry was blown in. Five boats were sunk at Diglis; and at Upton bridge one was capsized with three men in it, one of whom was drowned. The coachman of the Holyhead mail was twice blown off the box, and one of the horses dropped down dead, on arriving at Chester, from excessive fatigue.

1825—JULY 19—A tempest in the neighbourhood of Tenbury and Cleobury Mortimer. The electric fluid struck an oak tree at Kinlet, and killed nine sheep sheltering beneath it; set fire to the wooden steeple of Neen Savage Church, melting the bells which it contained, and threatening the destruction of the entire edifice.

1825—DECEMBER 14—A fearful storm of wind, hail, rain, and lightning, passed over Worcester from the S.W., and the electric fluid displaced a stone about half way up St. Andrew’s spire. Mr. G. Parry, farmer, of Hanbury, lost thirty-two ewes, heavy with lamb, and valued at £100.

1826—JANUARY 14—A storm of wind, which blew a perfect hurricane about noon. A stack of chimneys at Mr. Sidebottom’s house, at Worcester, fell through the roof and two floors, severely injuring a servant. Trees in the neighbourhood were torn up by the roots, walls and fences laid flat, and corn and hay ricks unthatched and scattered. A considerable part of the spire of Cleobury Mortimer Church was broken off during divine service, and the congregation rushed out of the edifice in terror. A barge, heavily laden with coal, was sunk in the Severn.

1828—JULY 8—A tempest of considerable violence, during which the lightning struck a house in Newdix Court, High Street, Worcester, and a cottage near Merriman’s Hill—not, however, doing much damage in either case. Vehement gusts of wind stripped old roofs of their tiling, and blew down several trees in the neighbourhood.

1830—JANUARY 20—A very heavy fall of snow, blocking up all the roads, so that no coaches reached Worcester at all from the west, and the London coaches came in a day after their time.

1831—JULY 10—A tempest which raged throughout the county, doing much damage. The lightning struck Hales, a watchman of Worcester, while sitting at the door of a house at Spetchley, and he was for a time paralysed, while the blood flowed from his ears and mouth. At Wick a cottage was burnt down, and the nephew of the widow who occupied it was affected by the electric fluid, much in the same manner as Hales. On Defford Common the hailstones lay in hillocks nine inches high, and some of the stones were as large as pigeon’s eggs. A great deal of glass was broken, birds killed, crops destroyed (the heads of the wheat being separated from the straw, and the pods of beans laid open), and fencing laid low.

1836—DECEMBER 28–30—An extraordinary snowstorm, which extended over the greater part of the country, and continued for several days, till all the roads were blocked up and communication almost at an end. The Worcester mail was blocked up in the snow at Enstone, and could not be got out. The mails for three days were thirty-six hours behind time. In some places the snow was said to have drifted to a height of twenty feet.

1839—JANUARY 9—A fearful gale of wind, general throughout the country, and doing great damage to houses and plantations in this county. At Burlish Common, near Stourport, a stack of chimneys fell through the roof of a cottage on to the bed where a young woman was lying, and she sustained such injuries as to cause her death shortly afterwards.

1839—JUNE 13—A very violent hailstorm raged chiefly in the northern part of the county. At Hagley, several hundred pounds’ worth of glass were destroyed; and in Mr. G. B. Lea’s spinning mill, at Drayton, near Kidderminster, 580 small panes were broken. At Hartlebury, &c., great damage was done to the growing crops—many fields of barley being totally destroyed; and at Harvington the hailstones were reported to lie six feet deep on the ground: fifty rooks were killed in that neighbourhood.

1839—JULY 31—In consequence of unintermittent rains for several days together, a flood occurred in all the running streams, which rose higher than had been known for many years. Of course, great damage was done to the pastures and crops. On several roads communication was cut off. The Ludlow and Aberystwith mails to Worcester were both stopped. The guard of the Ludlow mail attempted to get on in a two-horse fly; but, at Newnham, the fly was fairly floated, and the guard himself narrowly escaped drowning. The Aberystwith coach was stopped at Knightsford bridge, and had to be lashed to a tree: the bags were brought away in boats.

1843—JULY 5—An alarming tempest visited Worcester and the neighbourhood, killing several sheep, shivering fine trees, and the subsequent hail destroying much glass in greenhouses.

1843—JULY 13—A very severe thunderstorm again occurred, igniting some farm buildings at Abberton, killing a mare at Redditch, and doing other damage. The wife of a labourer at Eastnor was struck by the lightning, and the whole of her apparel was reduced to tinder; the steel busk of her stays was heated to a red heat! and her body, in consequence, frightfully burnt—nevertheless she recovered. The wife of a gardener at Inkberrow, named Hopkins, was sitting at the fireplace, when the electric fluid came down the chimney, and striking the woman, passed along her spine, killing her on the spot. The damage done to the crops along the eastern border of the county was very great.

1843—AUGUST 9—A most violent thunderstorm, whose chief fury seemed to be spent immediately over the city of Worcester. Wind in S.W. For two hours the thunder pealed incessantly, and the electric fluid struck at least ten houses in the city, but without doing any material damage at either place. At one house which the lightning entered, in the Shambles, a boy was standing with an awl in his hand, and the electric fluid severed the blade from the haft, leaving the latter in the hand of the boy!

1845—JULY 6—A terrific thunderstorm, extending over all the S.W. and midland counties of England, broke this evening over Worcester, just as the several congregations were leaving their respective places of worship. Just before the hurricane of rain commenced, the whole clouded sky was covered with a lurid glare, as if from the reflection of a distant conflagration. A great number of fine trees were uprooted, especially near Bewdley. At Witley Court, great damage was done to the windows and conservatories; at Pershore the hailstones were, in fact, large pieces of ice, and some 2,000 panes of glass were broken.

1846—AUGUST 1—A violent thunderstorm, which did considerable damage in some parts of England, but not much in this neighbourhood. Two lambs, belonging to J. Lea, Esq., of The Shrubbery, Kidderminster, were killed by the lightning.

MISCELLANEOUS OCCURRENCES.

1800.

THE present century opened in a tempest of war and confusion, which gave little prospect of soon exhausting its fury. Mention will be found below of several serious riots on account of the high price of provisions, which may be thus accounted for: The exemption from cash payments in 1797 had given great relief to the merchants and tradespeople generally, but had little effect upon the condition of the working classes; and the war had not yet withdrawn so many men from productive industry as materially to raise the rate of wages. The total number of levies for the army, from the commencement of the war to the end of 1800, was but 208,388. It had, however, continued sufficiently long to raise the price of all provisions enormously, and the very deficient harvests of 1799 and 1800 greatly increased this evil, and added to the distress. So much disquiet was excited by these causes that Parliament was called together for a second sitting in November, and all sorts of expedients were resorted to to increase the supply of food—bounties were granted on the importation of foreign corn—the use of corn in distilleries, or for making starch, was prohibited—the manufacture of fine flour, or the use of it in making bread, was forbidden, while the use of oats and barley was permitted and encouraged—bakers were prohibited from selling bread that had not been baked twenty-four hours—and, lastly, in the month of December His Majesty issued a proclamation exhorting the strictest economy in families on the use of every kind of grain, recommending that people should abstain from pastry, and on no account allow the consumption of bread in their households to exceed one quartern loaf for each person in a week. Statutes against “engrossing and regrating,” that had almost become obsolete, were also raked up and eagerly put in force against speculators, whether great or small, both by country magistrates and chief justices, though the great Holt had long ago laughed at them. The average price of wheat this year was 119s. 6d. per quarter; and Three per Cent. Consols averaged 63½.

JANUARY—A subscription entered into for the relief of the poor in Worcester, in consequence of the “high price of bread, butter, and other necessaries of life.” The parties at the public meeting, called to promote the subscription, pledged themselves “to reduce the consumption of flour and butter in their own families as much as possible, and earnestly recommended the same to all ranks of persons within the city and suburbs.” The subscription, in the whole, amounted to more than £700. The soup kitchen was opened before this time.

JANUARY 7—The post boy, carrying the mail with the letter bags from Worcester, for Bewdley, Kidderminster, and Stourbridge, was stopped about six in the morning, two miles only from Worcester, by a man on foot, who presented a pistol—cut the straps of the portmanteau and carried the mail away. A reward of £200 was offered by Government, but the offender was never apprehended.

JANUARY 14—The County Magistrates, at Quarter Sessions, ordered that “no makers of bread for sale, shall make, or sell, any superior quality of bread at a higher price than the standard wheaten bread; and that every peck loaf should weigh 17 lbs. 6oz., and every quartern loaf 4 lbs. 5 oz. 8 drams.” Price of wheat in Worcester market, 13s. 4d. to 15s. 6d. the bushel. Hops, £14 to £16 per cwt.

JANUARY 17—The “Worcester Fencible Light Dragoons,” retiring to England from service in Ireland, were thanked by Lord Cornwallis, Adjutant General of the forces in Ireland, for their services in that kingdom.

JANUARY 25—The magistrates of Worcester offered ten guineas reward for the discovery of the writer of “several inflammatory papers, reflecting upon their conduct,” which were found in the Foregate Street.

JANUARY 25—A labouring man robbed at Barbourne, Worcester, by footpads; and, two days after, a farmer, on horseback, was stopped at the same spot.

FEBRUARY 21—A man apprehended in Worcester market for “forestalling,” and committed to the assizes for trial.

MARCH 9—A “Worcester Fire Office” established, with a capital of £100,000.

APRIL 4—Disturbances in the Worcester markets, on account of the high price of provisions. The magistrates issued a notice that sellers would be protected. The consumption of butter greatly reduced in consequence of its enormous price.

APRIL 7—The Corporation of Worcester offered premiums of 1s. 6d. for the first 100 bushels of potatoes brought into the market before the 1st July; 1s. for the second 100; and 9d. for the third. Claimants upon 240 bushels were paid. Wheat at 14s. 6d. to 18s. per bushel. Beef at least 9d., and mutton 10d. per lb.

APRIL 25—The colliers of Stourbridge in a state of great disturbance from the scarcity. A squadron of the 7th Dragoon Guards sent into the neighbourhood.

MAY 2—Meeting of the gentry and inhabitants of Stourbridge; the Hon. Edward Foley in the chair; at which resolutions were passed, begging the farmers to bring wheat into that market to sell at 15s. per bushel, and barley at a price not exceeding 8s.

MAY 9—Disturbances at Redditch, which threatened to be very serious, but quelled by the Bromsgrove Volunteers, who stood a furious attack made on them by the mob with great firmness and prudence. Several of the rioters were apprehended, but discharged on finding sureties for their good behaviour.

MAY 15—Attempt on the King’s life in Drury Lane Theatre by Hadfield. Addresses from the Worcester Corporation were sent to the Right Hon. the Earl of Coventry for presentation, as recorder of the city.

MAY 30—Accounts of “Internal Defence Subscription” published, from which it appeared that £4,550 had been subscribed by the county, and £532 by the city of Worcester: spent equally in the augmentation of the Militia and the Yeomanry Cavalry.

JUNE 10—Visitation and address by the Bishop, in which the scarcity was attributed to the war and inclement seasons. Use of “Church Catechism,” in the instruction of children, urgently enforced.

JUNE 26—Honorary degree of M.A. conferred on Lord Foley, at the Oxford Commemoration of Founders and Benefactors of the University.

JULY 9—A further subscription entered into in Worcester for the relief of the poor, who had been constantly subsidised from the fund ever since the winter; 96,000 quarts of soup having been distributed amongst them, besides great quantities of potatoes and much money.

JULY 21—Lord Dudley and Ward purchased a large quantity of imported wheat at Liverpool, to retail to the poor at a reduced price. Price of wheat in Worcester market, 21s. to 22s. 6d. per bushel.

AUGUST 10—The price of wheat in Worcester market having fallen to 10s. and 13s. per bushel, the relief committee discontinued their labours. The promise of a plenteous harvest produced this change for the better.

AUGUST 15—The Mayor and magistrates of Worcester attempted to enforce sanitary regulations—such as cleansing “the kennels,” for they considered “all stagnate water injurious to health, and the exhalations from it the forerunners of contagious disorders.”

AUGUST—A great number of houses between Stourport and Worcester searched for unlawful nets, used for the taking of small fish in the Severn. Many such being found they were all publicly burned at Bewdley.

AUGUST 25—This evening, because the bakers in Worcester were unprovided with bread to sell, the populace assembled as soon as it was dark and began to demolish their windows, but the disturbance was soon put a stop to by the magistrates. A sudden rise in the price of flour on the previous Saturday had prevented the bakers from supplying themselves with the necessary quantity for the week.

SEPTEMBER 12—The Mayor, magistrates, &c., of Worcester met “to ensure a more regular supply of the necessaries of life, at reasonable prices,” to their fellow citizens, and determine to erect a corn mill to be worked by steam.

SEPTEMBER 19—A mare, belonging to Mr. Tully of St. John’s, ridden seventy miles on the London Road, from Worcester to Benson, in eleven hours and forty-nine minutes.

SEPTEMBER 21—Meeting of farmers, &c., at Bromsgrove, when they agreed to supply that market, for three months, with wheat at 11s. 6d. a bushel.

NOVEMBER 21—“John Bunn, jun., flax dresser,” advertised his address. Sales of flax crops occasionally advertised.

NOVEMBER 27—£2,350 subscribed to the Flour and Bread Institution, for the benefit of the industrious poor. The institution bought foreign wheat largely, and sold to the poor at reduced prices. It was said in its results “greatly to exceed the expectations of its most sanguine promoters.”

DECEMBER 1—Lord Valentia and Mr. Child supplied the Bewdley market with grain, at 12s. a bushel, to be sold to the poor, under the direction of the bailiff.

DECEMBER 5—Mr. Burrow, saddler, of Worcester, purchased a large quantity of potatoes to sell again to the poor under the market price.

DECEMBER 10—John Beet, of Rowley Regis, butcher, was convicted by the Droitwich magistrates, in the full penalty of 50s. for “cutting and gashing two cow hides and a calf skin, and for slaying them below the gambrel or knee.”

LOCAL ACTS PASSED THIS YEAR—For continuing and enlarging powers of Bewdley Turnpike Trust; ditto Kidderminster Turnpikes; Act for repairing roads leading to and from the Hundred House.

1801.

IN February, this year, Mr. Pitt unexpectedly retired, and Mr. Addington was called to the King’s Councils, a fact principally to be attributed to the ill success of the war which had been entered into with France, and continued at a cost of blood and treasure totally disproportionate to its advantages. The new ministry, from the moment of entering office, declared peace to be their aim, and the preliminary articles were signed in London in October. This war, which had lasted for eight years, cost us £427,000,000, and at the end of it the only additional possessions we retained were Trinidad and the Dutch holdings in Ceylon. In consequence of the harvest in 1800 being almost an entire failure, the high price of provisions continued to create much distress amongst the poor, and the bounties on flour imported from America were increased. The Three per Cents. fluctuated between 54¾, in January, and 69½, in October: average price about 61. Wheat averaged 69s. 10d.

JANUARY—Price of grain in Worcester market 20s. to 24s. a bushel.

MARCH 28—Riot amongst the Worcester women, on account of the high price of provisions—20d. being asked for a pound of butter; 2s. a peck for potatoes; and 9d. a pound for meat. The mob of women prevented the Birmingham “badgers” from carrying off their purchases, and then, assembling before a baker’s shop in Broad Street, compelled his wife to throw out to them all the bread she had in the house. Special constables were at last sworn in and tranquillity restored.

MAY 27—Price of the quartern loaf fixed by the Mayor of Worcester at 1s. 7d., though selling the same day in London at 1s. 4½d. Constant complaints that the markets at Worcester were higher than elsewhere, and as this continued to be the case, a Mr. B. Lloyd purchased, in June, 1,000 barrels of American flour at Liverpool, and sold them here in single barrels.

JUNE 20—Two vagrants, confined in the County Bridewell, forced out a window, and, dropping themselves over a wall twenty feet high, made good their escape.

JULY 17—The committee of the Worcester Flour and Bread Institution reported, that since the previous October, 100,000 loaves had been sold to the poor by its means at one third less than the average market price. During the same period 140,000 quarts of soup had been distributed.

JULY 30—The Directors of the Worcester House of Industry, which was established in 1795, published a statement apologising for the increase of rates. The average number of poor relieved in and out of the house, during the previous twelve months, had been 583 weekly! while in 1795 it was only 235. The Directors attributed this increase to the high price of food and the sickliness of the season, and said it was not greater than in other manufacturing towns.

AUGUST 5—Miss Mellon performed at Worcester Theatre to crowded houses.

OCTOBER 14—Dinner at the Crown Hotel, Worcester, “to celebrate the Peace.” Illumination, &c.

OCTOBER 15—Ball at the Guildhall, for the benefit of the Infirmary, attended by 300 persons. Net profits £102.

NOVEMBER 10—Lord Foley met with a severe accident while hunting, one of his horse’s legs dropping into a deep hole and falling back upon his lordship.

NOVEMBER 10—An advertisement having been inserted in the Worcester papers, by the Hon. Mr. Ward, stating that he intended to offer himself as a candidate for Worcester at the next general election, the Corporation met and voted unanimously that “as there is no vacancy in the representation of the city, the Corporation considered that an insuperable bar to their countenancing a contest from any quarter whatever, having had woful experience how destructive it is of peace and good neighbourhood, which happily has prevailed among all ranks of citizens for a long time.”

DECEMBER 14—Both the Worcester members, Mr. Wigley and Mr. Robarts, voted in a minority of 22 to 80, to continue the restrictions on the use of barley in distilleries.

DECEMBER 18—General collection made throughout the city by the parish officers on behalf of the Infirmary, instead of further illuminations on account of the Peace.

DECEMBER 21—Considerable festivities at Witley Court, on Lord Foley attaining his majority. A very large sum distributed amongst the poor of the neighbourhood.

1802.

THE confirmation of the Peace of Amiens diffused universal joy, and the harvest of 1801 having been tolerably abundant, much less pressure was experienced on account of the price of bread. Three per Cents. stood at about 70½. Wheat averaged 69s. 10d.

JANUARY 9—C. Thellusson, Esq., M.P. for Evesham, distributed one hundred guineas amongst the poor freemen of that borough.

JANUARY 11—William Smith publicly whipped in the corn market, Worcester, according to sentence of sessions, for stealing a bag.

FEBRUARY 1—Lord Foley appeared at the bar of the Court of Common Pleas, and suffered recoveries of estates of considerable value. He took his seat in the House of Lords on the 22nd April.

APRIL 16—The Worcester Militia, under Colonel Newport, called together and disembodied.

MAY 5—A private in the 5th Dragoons, immured in Worcester gaol for desertion, and daily expecting exemplary punishment, received an account of the death of a distant relation in Ireland, bequeathing him a property of £4,000 per annum.

JUNE 1—General Thanksgiving for the Peace. An address of congratulation was voted on the occasion by the Corporation of Worcester, and forwarded to the Earl of Coventry, as recorder of the city, for presentation.

JUNE 9—The Hon. Mr. Ward attained his majority, and the event was celebrated at Himley with great rejoicings. A barrel of beer, called “Big Ben,” containing 1,000 gallons, which had been brewed at the birth of Mr. Ward, was tapped on the occasion.

JUNE 8—The Yeomanry assembled on the _Sunday_, as requested, and received the thanks of His Majesty and the Parliament. Each troop, henceforth, reduced to forty rank and file.

AUGUST 29—Lord Nelson, accompanied by Sir William and Lady Hamilton, visited Worcester, on their return from a tour through South Wales. He was met on the road by a great number of people, who drew his carriage into the city: visited the china manufactory; was received by the Mayor and Corporation at the Town Hall; entertained at a collation; and the Earl of Coventry, the recorder, presented him with the freedom of the city in a china vase from Messrs. Chamberlain’s manufactory. [The visit is recorded by the mosaic of stones in front of the Guildhall.]

SEPTEMBER 10—The price of coals being raised, Lord Dudley and Ward directed that the poor inhabitants of Worcester should be supplied from his pits at nearly half the ordinary cost.

SEPTEMBER 27—H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge visited Worcester, his regiment being then quartered in this county, and was presented with the freedom of the city.

DECEMBER 10—The magistrates of Worcester published a correct list of fairs, &c., because the difference between the Old and New Styles being then thirteen days instead of twelve, great uncertainty prevailed respecting the days on which they actually took place, and people frequently arrived “a day after the fair.”

PRIVATE ACT PASSED THIS YEAR—For enclosure of waste lands at Ripple.

1803.

THE hollow peace proved very short-lived. Buonaparte being evidently bent on the subjugation of the entire continent, and the British refusing to evacuate Malta till they had satisfaction as to his designs, war was again declared in May this year. The return to hostilities seemed as much to please the nation at large as the peace had done only the year before. On the threat of invasion arose that unparalleled volunteer enthusiasm to which many of the following memoranda have reference. Consols fluctuated from 73 in January to 52 in October; average price, about 60. Price of wheat, 58s. 10d.

JANUARY 10—A. Robarts, Esq., M.P. for Worcester, “with his accustomed liberality,” presented half a guinea to each of the poor freemen of the city who chose to accept it, and the gift was “gratefully received” by upwards of 500 persons—the total sum distributed being 270 guineas.

JANUARY 24—The new member, Joseph Scott, Esq., entertained 500 of the freemen at a dinner, and next day invited 123 of his more respectable friends to dine at the Hoppole, in celebration of his election. One of the toasts given was, “The pious and revered memory of the late Mr. Alderman Mather.”

FEBRUARY 1—The Venerable Bishop Hurd completed the select and valuable library at the Episcopal Palace, Hartlebury, which he has since bequeathed as an heir-loom to his successors in the see.

MAY 18—The Worcestershire Militia, under Colonel Newport, set out, by forced marches, for Gosport, in consequence of the renewal of war with France.

MAY 26—The Messrs. Chamberlain sent, in pursuance to order, a superb set of porcelain to court, for the use of His Majesty on the ensuing birthday.

JUNE 6—The Droitwich Road Bill received the royal assent, after a very severe opposition in Parliament.

JUNE 22—Meeting of the hop planters of Worcester and Hereford at the Talbot, Tything, Worcester, the Hon. James S. Cocks in the chair, to petition that the use of quassia may be prohibited.

AUGUST 12—The enthusiastic citizens of Worcester form themselves into a corps of “Loyal Worcester Volunteers;” and similar corps were formed in every town and many of the rural districts in the county. The subscriptions for clothing and arms for the city corps amounted to £2,500.

AUGUST 19—The Worcester Loyal Volunteers, amounting then to 722 men, met on Pitchcroft, and elected the Hon. George Coventry their Lieutenant Colonel, and Samuel Wall, jun., Esq., their Major.

SEPTEMBER 21—Lord Foley formed a rifle corps of 100 men, to be added to the extraordinary defences of the country “at the present crisis.”

OCTOBER 9—(Sunday)—General muster and exercise of the Loyal Volunteer Infantry on Pitchcroft. Almost all the drills took place on the Sunday—the members of the corps being, from business, unable to attend on any other day. Hon. George Coventry commandant of this district.

DECEMBER 3—The ladies bought up every particle of flannel that they could lay their hands on, to make flannel dresses for the volunteers!

DECEMBER 16—William Sturges, Esq., of Acton Hall, Worcestershire, M.P. for Christchurch, Hants, received permission to take the additional name of Bourne. This gentleman gave name, in turn, to a very well known act of Parliament.

LOCAL ACTS—For continuing and enlarging powers of acts for repair of road from Worcester to Bromsgrove; for making horse towing path from Bewdley to Diglis; for inclosure of lands at Little Comberton.

1804.

MR. PITT, having strengthened his hands by the addition of Addington, now Viscount Sidmonth, and his friends, returned to office; the war with Buonaparte was carried on with fresh vigour, and the volunteers at home were fired with an increase of patriotic ardour. The number of men withdrawn from productive industry amounted already to at least 400,000; and that remarkable rise in prices, which continued throughout the war, now commenced. Consols averaged 57. Bad harvest; wheat averaged 62s. 3d.

FEBRUARY 12—(Sunday)—General inspection, on Pitchcroft, of the Loyal Worcester Volunteers under Colonel Coventry, by Colonel Houston. The St. John’s, Bewdley, Stourport, Kidderminster, Evesham and Pershore, and Elmley corps also reviewed this week.

MARCH 10—The towns of Bewdley and Kidderminster alarmed very early by the beating of the Volunteer drums, in consequence of a report that the French had landed, 50,000 strong. The Volunteers immediately assembled, shouldered their muskets, and set off towards Worcester with immense alacrity and amid the enthusiastic cheers of their wives and sweethearts. After marching some three or four miles they were informed, that it was a false alarm, intended merely by way of proof and exercise. So they marched back again, in ire and chagrin.

APRIL 10—Colours, worked by the young ladies of Evesham, were presented to the Evesham and Pershore Volunteers by Mrs. Perrott.

APRIL 17—A similar presentation was made to the Worcester Volunteers by Lady Deerhurst. Colours afterwards consecrated in the Cathedral.

MAY 29—The ancient custom, of the different companies walking in procession with the Mayor and Corporation of Worcester to the Cathedral, revived.

AUGUST 1—The Tenbury Volunteers (Captain Edward Wheeler) received colours from Mrs. Pytts of Kyre House.

SEPTEMBER 6—A meeting of the trustees of the Upton roads to rebut the statement of “certain interested innholders who, to serve their own private ends, make a practice of falsely representing to their customers that the road from Upton to Gloucester is so greatly out of repair as to endanger the safety of travellers, and that there are no proper accommodations for persons travelling in carriages, either at Upton or Corse Lawn.”

SEPTEMBER 17—The South Worcester Volunteers presented with colours on Hanley Common by Mrs. Lygon, who also presented the privates with a purse of 100 guineas to drink the King’s health.

NOVEMBER—The Directors of the Worcester House of Industry gave notice, that they intended to obtain for all incorrigibly vicious females twelve months’ hard labour in Bridewell; therefore they had better keep clear of the united parishes and the workhouse beadles.

LOCAL ACT—For continuing and enlarging the powers of the Upton Turnpike Trustees.

1805.

THE discussion of the Catholic claims was the principal domestic matter occupying the attention of Parliament and the public; while the death of Nelson, and Trafalgar, filled all men’s hearts and mouths towards the close of the year. The war was fast becoming popular; for though the taxes were enormous, our taxable income, which in 1792 appears not to have exceeded £130,000,000, had increased to £220,000,000. A great proportion of the vast war outlay was, in fact, but a circulation amongst ourselves. Consols averaged 59; wheat averaged 89s. 9d.

JANUARY 4—The Vice Chancellor and Mayor of Oxford issuing a notice, forbidding all stage carriages to pass through that city between nine a.m. and four p.m. on Sundays, the times of the carriers leaving Worcester on the Friday were obliged to be altered. They afterwards set out for London at five p.m. on Friday, reaching London on Tuesday morning.

FEBRUARY—A dispute between the physicians and surgeons of Worcester, the former (Dr. Cameron, Dr. Wilson, and Dr. Barnett) declaring that they would not meet the surgeons in consultation in any medical cases unless the surgeons would refrain from acting as consulting physicians. They defined the department of the surgeon to be—any external or local disease unaccompanied by any general affection of the system but what the local disease itself produced and requiring manual assistance in its treatment. Messrs. Yeomans, Rayment, Nash, Hill, Hebb, and Romney consented to the physicians’ terms; Messrs. Cole, Sandford, and Carden refused them.

FEBRUARY 25—The Hon. Mr. Ward presented a petition to the House of Commons from the freeholders and rackrenters of Worcestershire and Herefordshire, praying to be allowed to employ five horses in narrow wheeled waggons.

MARCH 29—The following advertisement appeared in the _Worcester Herald_ of this date:

“COCKING: A main of cocks will be fought at the house of Mr. John
Lloyd, the sign of the Pheasant, New Street, Worcester, between the
gentlemen of Worcestershire and the gentlemen of Gloucestershire, to
show and weigh thirty-one cocks on each side in the main, for four
guineas a battle and fifty guineas the odd battle; and twenty cocks
on each side in the byes, for two guineas a battle. To weigh on
Saturday the 18th of April, 1805, and fight on Monday, Tuesday, and
Wednesday, the following week, being Easter week.

FEEDERS: GOSLING, Worcestershire. HAYNES, Gloucestershire.”

MAY 1—The Loyal Worcester Volunteers inspected by General Bingham, and afterwards marched to Gloucester, there to remain twenty-one days on permanent duty.

MAY 6—The Worcester Yeomanry Cavalry, under the command of the Hon. Colonel Cocks, marched to Hereford, there to remain on fifteen days’ permanent duty.

MAY 20—The Volunteers return from Gloucester laden with honours and encomiums. The officers of the regiment invited to a dinner at the Crown Inn by the Mayor and Corporation.

JULY 22—The Young Roscius performed in Worcester Theatre with the same success as elsewhere. The exorbitant prices which the manager, in the first instance, wished to charge for admission caused considerable excitement and a sort of O. P. riot, and the manager was obliged to yield.

SEPTEMBER 25—A boy, gathering nuts in a wood at Crowle, accidentally removed a piece of turf, and found beneath it a trap door and chimney. He called several men to the spot, who immediately descended through the door, and discovered a subterranean cave divided into several apartments with much care and ingenuity. In one of the rooms there was a quantity of cold meat, and in another a number of skins with entrails, &c. It had evidently been the retreat of sheepstealers and general thieves, though none happened to be there at the moment of discovery.

DECEMBER 11—An address presented to the King from the Corporation of Worcester, congratulating him upon the glorious victory of Trafalgar, and lamenting the death of Nelson. As much as £400 collected in Worcester for the wounded marines, and the widows and orphans of those who fell in the action.

LOCAL ACTS—For building a chapel of ease at Redditch; for enclosure of waste lands at Rushock.

1806.

THIS year Pitt and Fox both passed from the scene. Pitt was only in the forty-seventh year of his age; and though he had conducted the affairs of the kingdom during a longer period, and with greater popularity, than perhaps any other statesman in modern times, yet he may be said to have died of chagrin at the defeat of all his favourite schemes. Grenville and Fox succeeded him at the helm of affairs, and the general election which then took place furnished them with a strong body of supporters in the House of Commons. The new ministry were pacifically inclined, but found it impossible to negociate with Buonaparte. A loan of twenty millions was negociated to carry on the war, and the property tax increased from 6¼ to 10 per cent. Consols stood at about 60; wheat averaged 79s. 1d.

FEBRUARY 19—A Malvern carrier, returning to Worcester, drove his horse and cart over the side of Powick bridge, at a place where the wall had fallen down and the road broken in. He was carried a considerable distance down the stream, but help came in time to save his life. The dangerous state of the bridge was accounted for by there being a dispute between the Earl of Coventry and the parish of Powick, as to who was liable to the repairs. The matter had been tried at Gloucester Assizes in 1802, and a verdict given for the parish; nevertheless, his lordship had not repaired it.

APRIL 7—A man stopped by footpads on the road between Droitwich and Worcester (about two miles from the former place), and robbed of all the money he had, about 8s.

MAY—The Worcester Lying-in Charity established.

JULY 29—At the Summer Assizes, Michael Crockett found guilty of a fraud at Bromsgrove, was ordered to be pilloried in that town on the succeeding market day, and afterwards to be imprisoned for two years.

SEPTEMBER 5—The Prince of Wales and the Duke of Clarence visited Evesham and Kidderminster.

LOCAL (PRIVATE) ACTS—For enclosure of lands in Wick and St. Andrew, Pershore; ditto in Crowle.

1807.

THE abolition of the slave trade, under the short Grenville ministry, must ever be remembered as the feature of this year. Lord Howick having brought in a bill for securing to all His Majesty’s subjects the privilege of serving in the army or navy without regard to religious opinions, the King’s “scruples” were aroused, and he called a new administration, with the Duke of Portland at its head, to his councils. They dissolved Parliament, and the elections were attended with great excitement. By means of the cry of “the Church in danger,” a remarkable reaction was effected, and the ministry found themselves commanding large majorities in the new House. One of the first acts of the new ministry was one which marked by how long an interval they were separated from the minister in whose steps they professed to follow. At the request of our merchants, whose ships were under various disadvantages from which those of neutral states were free, they issued Orders in Council that neutral vessels, _whithersoever bound_, should put into some port connected with England, and there obtain a license to continue their trade! A general suspension of American navigation and trade consequently took place, and these orders eventually led to the war with America in 1812. They contributed also in various ways to the depreciation of our bank paper, and their folly was thus terribly and speedily avenged upon ourselves. Consols averaged 63; wheat averaged 75s. 4d.

FEBRUARY 25—A woman, named Mary Davies, publicly whipped at Kidderminster by order of the magistrates, for embezzling a quantity of yarn.

APRIL 2—Captain Bund appointed to the Colonelcy of the Worcestershire Militia, _vice_ Colonel Charlton, deceased.

APRIL 27—Mr. Robarts, member for Worcester, offered to erect a steam engine for supplying the city with water. The waterworks which have ever since been made to serve for that purpose, were erected in consequence of this generous offer.

MAY 1—Sir Thomas Winnington fell from his horse, near Bromyard, while accompanying Colonel Foley to his canvass in Herefordshire, and broke his leg.

JUNE 23—A riot in Worcester between the mob and the military in barracks there, and several parties taken into custody. A recruit, for aiding and abetting the populace, was sentenced to receive 500 lashes!