Chapter XI: Part 11

JUNE 28—A meeting of the Worcester glovers, with Mr. J. Knapp in the chair, to resist a combination of the “grounders, stoners, and white leather parers” to obtain an advance of wages. The names of fifty-six firms were appended to the resolutions—“John Dent and Son” standing sixth.

AUGUST 10—The North Worcester Volunteers, commanded by Colonel Villiers, assembled in a field near Bromsgrove, and were presented with a pair of colours by the Right Hon. Lady Beauchamp.

AUGUST 19—H.R.H. The Duke of Gloucester visited Worcester, and proceeded to Witley Court. Next day, accompanied by Lord and Lady Foley, the Dean of Worcester, &c., he inspected the porcelain manufactory of Messrs. Barr, Flight, and Barr, and ordered a superb service.

SEPTEMBER 23—The Prince of Wales, Duke of Sussex, and a large party of other nobility visited the Marchioness of Downshire at Ombersley Court. The Mayor and Justices of Worcester, with the Town Clerk and several of the Council, waited on H.R.H. there, and presented an address to him.

SEPTEMBER 25—The Prince of Wales and a large party this day visited Worcester, were met by the Recorder, Earl of Coventry, and partook of a collation at the Town Hall. The streets were lined by the Worcester and Birmingham Volunteers. A visit was paid, and orders given, at both china manufactories. Messrs. Chamberlain and Co. appointed porcelain manufacturers to H.R.H.

LOCAL ACTS—For enclosure of lands at Aldington and Broughton Hackett.

1808.

MATTERS at home remained quiet, and much as in the preceding year, the public mind being taken up with the expedition to Spain, discussing the battle of Vimiera, and Convention of Cintra. Three per Cents. stood as high in June as 70⅜, and averaged throughout the year 65½. This was the only year during this century in which our exports of wheat exceeded our imports: average price, 81s. 4d.

MARCH 2—The mail from Birmingham to Bristol took on two passengers only from Worcester, a young lady named Capper and a little child. On getting to Severn Stoke the horses became restive, and at Ripple altogether ran away. The reins broke, and both coachman and guard got down to stop the horses, but were unable to do so, and the coach was soon out of their sight. The young lady, while the vehicle was at its utmost speed, became so alarmed that she threw herself out of the coach door, and her neck was broken by the fall.

MAY 26—The Mayor of Worcester committed two journeymen bootmakers to prison for combining with others against their master, Mr. J. Garner, to demand an increase of wages. It was shown that industrious men could obtain at that trade from 30s. to 50s. a week.

JUNE 24—A society formed in Worcester for the prevention of vice—such as Sabbath breaking, &c.

JULY 6—The Rev. Rowland Hill preached in the Countess of Huntingdon’s Chapel, Worcester, this (Wednesday) evening.

JULY 28—The Prince of Wales and Duke of Sussex again visited Ombersley Court.

OCTOBER 21—A new double-bodied post coach advertised to run from Worcester to London three days a week, starting from Worcester at twelve at noon and arriving in London at eight next morning.

DECEMBER 6—Lieutenant Carden, of the Worcester militia, on his return from Ombersley was stopped close to the Barbourne turnpike by three recruits, and forced to deliver up his gold watch and money. They afterwards beat a girl, and attempted to rob the Bewdley post boy; but Mr. Carden having raised an alarm as soon as he got into the town, a number of people started after them, and two out of the three were apprehended the same night.

LOCAL ACTS—To amend and enlarge the acts relating to the Worcester and Birmingham Canal Navigation; for enclosure of lands at Bredon.

1809.

PARLIAMENT was principally occupied with the inquiry which led to the Duke of York’s resignation of the commandership of the army. Money was so plentiful that a loan of eleven millions was raised at a lower rate of interest than the public creditor had ever before consented to receive. Consols stood at 68; harvest indifferent; wheat averaged 97s. 4d.

JANUARY—The first steps taken to establish a Lancastrian school in Worcester. Up to this time there had been no day school at which it was possible for the children of the poor to obtain an education. Sunday schools had only been established a few years—that at Angel Street Chapel (Independent), opened in 1797, being the first. In April, Mr. Lancaster lectured on education, at the Hoppole Inn; and a meeting was held at the Unicorn, John Williams, Esq., in the chair, at which resolutions were come to to open a Lancastrian school immediately—all religious parties uniting in its support on the common basis of the scriptures; the Apostles’ Creed and Dr. Watts’s hymns being taught to all the children, and the Church Catechism to those only whose parents requested it.

APRIL 26—A fire broke out, about eleven p.m., in the china manufactory of Messrs. Grainger, Wood, and Co., Lowesmoor, Worcester, which in the course of two hours reduced the whole premises to ruins. The property was insured, but not by any means to its full amount.

MAY 5—In the _Worcester Herald_ of this date the Rev. Thomas Foley, rector of Oldswinford, published, as an advertisement, a long vindication of Joanna Southcote. The charge of her having sold her “seals” for half-a-crown a piece he declared to be “an infamous falsehood;” as she gave them away without money and without price “to all that had faith to believe in her inspired writings.” He concluded by giving a summary of her doctrines in most enthusiastic language.

JUNE 31—The toll on foot passengers passing over Worcester bridge discontinued, as the flourishing state of the receipts had reduced the debt to £5,000. The first stone of the present bridge was laid in 1771, and it was opened to the public in 1781. The bridge and quays cost £29,843.

JUNE 22—A young woman, named Harris, most inhumanly murdered at Honeyborne, near Evesham. She was called up from bed, and, on opening the door, was attacked by some person with a pitchfork, and at last dragged to a horsepond and drowned in it. Suspicion fell on a young man by whom she was pregnant, but the coroner’s jury returned a verdict of “Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown.” The murderer was never discovered.

OCTOBER 25—The celebration of the National Jubilee—fiftieth year of His Majesty’s reign. At Worcester a subscription was raised for the relief of the poor instead of illuminations. Dinner at the Guildhall—Earl of Coventry in the chair—and 252 guests were present; and a ball at the College Hall. A great number of benefactions throughout the county from the rich to their poorer brethren. Meetings in all the towns of the county to present addresses to the King. The debtors in the County Gaol were released by subscriptions, and with the aid of the High Sheriff and Lord Somers.

NOVEMBER 13—Thomas Freeman, glove manufacturer, fined £50 by the magistrates of Worcester, for having in his possession four oil leather skins and eleven pairs of gloves, which had been purloined from other masters’ warehouses, and of which he could not give a satisfactory account. A moiety of the penalty given to the Infirmary (a public charity), in compliance with the terms of the act of Parliament.

LOCAL ACTS—To amend the road from Teddington to the turnpike road between Evesham and Pershore; for enclosure of lands at Iccomb.

1810.

CONSIDERABLE commercial embarrassment was experienced this year; not, however, arising from the unprecedented situation in which England found herself placed—in having almost single handed to oppose the growing power of Buonaparte—but from speculative trading in the markets of South America. The depreciation of bank paper procured the appointment of a bullion committee. The early part of the year was occupied with the affair of Sir Francis Burdett; and the latter with the appointment of the Prince of Wales as Regent, in consequence of the increasing incompetence of the King to attend to business. Consols stood at 68. The imports of wheat this year amounted to 1,491,300 quarters; average price, 106s. 5d.

MARCH 10—At the Lent Assizes, Francis Morris—for stealing a quantity of unwinnowed barley, the property of Mr. G. Thomas of Hanbury—was sentenced to be publicly whipped for the space of 100 yards on the next market day at Worcester.

MARCH 21—R. Ellins, post boy, carrying the bag from Bewdley to Stourbridge, was detected opening the bag and stealing out of it two letters containing upwards of £3,000 in bank notes.

APRIL 6—The Mansion House at Glasshampton, Astley, the residence of the Rev. J. J. Denham Cookes, burnt to the ground.

JUNE 3—(Sunday)—Dreadful fire in Kidderminster, consuming three dwelling houses, a large carpet manufactory, barns, stables, waggons, carts, implements, timber, &c. Believed to have been the act of incendiaries.

JUNE 11—A Sir Francis Burdett riot at Kidderminster. Two persons were brought prisoners to the County Gaol for being concerned in it, and the mob in Worcester attempted their rescue, and broke to pieces the carriage in which they were being conveyed. They also broke the windows of several obnoxious persons; but the magistrates, with the help of the Yeomanry and Militia then on duty in the city, very speedily repressed the tumult.

JULY 6—The Boys’ Subscription Free School opened in Worcester.

JULY 28—Advertisements in this day’s _Worcester Herald_ of a project to open a “Bristol and Severn Canal,” in which the merchants of Worcester were conceived to be much interested, and therefore invited to take shares. And another of twelve acres of growing flax to be sold by private contract.

LOCAL ACTS—For enclosure of waste lands at Holt, Sedgeberrow, Pensham, Bonehill, Tibberton, and Eckington.

1811.

OUR military operations on the continent, and the large amount of specie sent abroad in the previous year for the purchase of corn, continued and increased the depreciation in the value of bank paper; and upon Lord King giving notice to his tenants that he should require his rents paid in guineas—or, if in notes, at an increase of £17. 10s. per cent. upon their nominal value—a bill was hastily passed which made it illegal to give more money for gold coin than was authorised by the mint, or to take Bank of England notes for less than their ostensible value! The other Parliamentary event of the year was the signal defeat of Lord Sidmouth’s attempt to abrogate the Toleration Act, by requiring that Dissenting ministers should find six householders to answer for their respectability, before a license could be granted to them to preach. Consols stood at 64; wheat averaged 95s. 3d.

APRIL 27—A prisoner, named Elizabeth Townshend, made her escape from the County Gaol, having worked a hole in the wall.

MAY 9—Mr. Barr of Worcester, and three gentlemen from Burslem, had an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer to represent to him the impolicy of imposing a pottery tax as he proposed. The minister appeared to be convinced, and no more was heard of it.

MAY 31—Lucien Buonaparte came to reside at Thorngrove House.

AUGUST 12—The Mayor and Corporation of Worcester dined at Croome. A most sumptuous entertainment was provided for them.

NOVEMBER 3—The Worcester Association for the Severn Fisheries established a fish market in Worcester—none having before existed. They took very active steps in preserving the river from illegal and injurious fishing, and a great number of condemned nets and wheels were publicly burnt in the Corn Market.

NOVEMBER 8—The Directors of the Worcester House of Industry issued a considerable number of copper tokens, which were much in demand on account of the great want of small change in the country. The exchange was immediately vested in the funds, and the interest applied to the assistance of the poor rates. A meeting of tradesmen was afterwards held (Mr. W. Beeken in the chair) at which resolutions were unanimously passed to resist the introduction of any other copper tokens into the trade of the city excepting those issued by Government and the Worcester House of Industry. They asserted that there was a sufficiency of copper coinage in the country. A counter meeting of manufacturers was held at the Star and Garter immediately afterwards, asserting that the business of the city could not be carried on without more change, and they, therefore, determined to continue the issue of their own penny and halfpenny tokens, which they declared to be equal in weight to the legal coin of the realm, and that they always paid twenty shillings in the pound for them.

LOCAL ACTS—For enclosure of lands at Astley, Overbury, North, Middle, and South Littleton, and Churchill.

1812.

MR. PERCIVAL’S ministry was continuing to increase in power and in popularity, principally on account of the warm support which they had given to the Spanish cause, when Mr. Percival himself was suddenly assassinated in the lobby of the House of Commons, by Bellingham. After the Prince Regent, by the Earl of Moira and Lord Wellesley, had unsuccessfully, and to all appearance insincerely, negociated for the formation of a new ministry, in which Lords Grey and Grenville should have a part, the Earl of Liverpool was appointed First Lord of the Treasury, and the rest of the old ministry remained as before. The Regent henceforth forsook the Whig friends of his youth, and became a good Tory. The orders in council respecting navigation, which had been so obnoxious to the Americans were repealed under Lord Liverpool. A motion, pledging Parliament to an early consideration of the Catholic claims, was carried in the Commons by 300 to 215, but defeated in the Lords by 174 to 103. The Parliament, having nearly run out its term, was dissolved in October; but the elections did not produce much excitement, or change in the position of parties. Considerable disturbances took place in the manufacturing districts, on the introduction of new machinery. The Three per Cents. did not average 60 throughout the year; wheat averaged 126s. 6d.

JANUARY 19—The coming of age of T. C. Hornyold, Esq., celebrated at Blackmore Park, by a series of splendid dinners, balls, and other entertainments.

MARCH 27—An anonymous letter having been sent to Sir William Smith, Bart., one of the commissioners of taxes for the hundred of Doddington, threatening him with vengeance if he confirmed surcharges, a reward of £100 was offered in the _Gazette_ for the discovery of the writer.

APRIL 26—The Worcester Church of England School, conducted on Dr. Bell’s principles, first opened in Frog Lane.

APRIL—Wheat again risen to 18s. and 20s. per bushel, and the price of potatoes also exorbitant, so that the poor had the greatest difficulty in procuring the necessaries of life—in some places there had been riots. In Kidderminster £500 was raised by subscription to purchase potatoes and sell them to the poor at a reduced price.

AUGUST 7—The coachman of M. Lucien Buonaparate, now staying at Thorngrove, stabbed by a fellow servant named Luigi Vespasiani, in the heat of a dispute on some trifling subject. The coachman for a long while remained in a very dangerous state.

AUGUST 24—A _fête_ on the occasion of the opening of the Severn Horse Towing Path from Worcester bridge to the Lower Parting.

OCTOBER—The Hon. Lieutenant Colonel Cocks, eldest son of Lord Somers, fell at the siege of the Castle of Burgos—Peninsular War. An address of condolence was sent to Lord Somers from the Mayor, magistrates, and citizens of Worcester. Lieutenant Cocks had been frequently noticed in the Marquis of Wellington’s despatches in a most gratifying manner.

LOCAL ACTS—For enclosure of lands at Holdfast (Ripple), Shipston-on-Stour, and Badsey.

1813.

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.

MAY 4—The Hon W. H. Lyttelton moved a resolution, in the House of Commons, for the abolition of lotteries; but the Chancellor of the Exchequer thought them very good things, and the Government could not spare the £30,000 of revenue which they annually produced. The motion was negatived by 133 to 84.

MAY 9—An association formed, at a meeting at the Crown Inn, called “The Worcestershire Association for the Protection of Agriculture.” Agriculture, the promoters said, ought to be the predominant interest in the state, and they conceived that, from a want of union, they had suffered many important privileges to be wrested from them.

MAY—T. C. Hornyold, Esq., and F. L. Charlton, Esq., endeavoured to reëstablish a pack of fox hounds in this county, but failed.

AUGUST 5—The first anniversary dinner of the Worcestershire Medical and Surgical Society, held in Worcester. Dr. Hastings, president; Mr. J. P. Sheppard, vice president; Mr. C. H. Hebb, secretary. The Provincial Medical and Surgical Association may be said to have had its origin with this society.

AUGUST 9—The city of Worcester first lighted with gas.

SEPTEMBER 23—The freemen of Evesham entertained their representative, Sir Charles Cockerell, Bart., to a dinner at the Guildhall, in commemoration of his success in confining the franchise of the borough to the freemen only. A handsome bronze medal was after dinner presented by Sir Charles to each of the freemen present, as a mark of his favour and esteem.

NOVEMBER 19—The Duke of Gloucester, being on a visit at Croome, was invited by the Corporation to visit Worcester. The Earl of Coventry, as recorder of Worcester, presented H.R.H. with the freedom of the city; and he afterwards partook of a collation provided by the Mayor, and then visited the china manufactories.

NOVEMBER 30—Colonel Davies seconded Lord Althorpe’s motion for referring the papers laid before the House, on the subject of the Manchester massacre, to a select committee of inquiry, in a speech of considerable power. For the motion, 150; against, 323: majority for ministers, 173.

LOCAL ACTS—For enlarging the powers of acts to repair the road from Evesham to Alcester; for repairing the road from Bromsgrove to Birmingham.

1820.

THE country was this year in a ferment with the proceedings on the Queen’s trial. Trade still languid, but the harvest was uncommonly abundant; and the price of corn and country produce was thus materially reduced, to the relief of the mechanics and lower ranks of the town populations. Consols at 68; wheat averaged 67s. 10d.

JANUARY—Subscription in Worcester for the relief of the poor, realising £1,250, and distributed in coal and soup.

JANUARY—The Worcestershire Hunt reorganised, under the management of T. C. Hornyold, Esq., of Blackmore Park.

APRIL 25—Elizabeth Waterson strangled in bed by her husband, Joseph Waterson, a miller, living at Bromsgrove. It was quite clear that the man had been some time insane; and the coroner’s jury returning a verdict to that effect, he was at once removed to the Lunatic Asylum at Droitwich.

MAY 16—Colonel Davies moved for a select committee to investigate the military expenditure, in a very spirited speech. Motion negatived by 125 to 45.

MAY 29—The walking of the trades was this year revived in Worcester.

JULY—Hartlebury Common enclosed.

AUGUST 10—A splendid service of china, from the manufactory of Messrs. Grainger, Lee, and Co., presented to Colonel Davies, in “testimony of the high sense entertained by his electors of his truly patriotic and distinguished conduct during the whole of his Parliamentary career.”

OCTOBER 5—The Worcester and London Fly coach upset at Stoughton bridge on its return from town. There were fourteen passengers, exclusive of the coachman and guard, and all were hurt. A lady had her arm broken; a poor woman her arm broken, and various contusions; a gentleman had his hip dislocated, &c., &c. No explanation of the cause. The Aurora and the Royal Sovereign, both day coaches to London, were upset the next week, and some passengers hurt.

NOVEMBER 1—A quantity of unseasonable salmon seized in Worcester market by the committee of the Worcester Severn Association, and ordered by the magistrates to be burnt.

NOVEMBER 13—Worcester illuminated on the Queen’s acquittal. Illuminations also at Kidderminster, Bromsgrove, Droitwich, Evesham, Upton, &c. At Evesham also a public dinner took place at the Cross Keys, with C. E. Hanford, Esq., in the chair, and a subscription set on foot for the poor by Mr. Nathaniel Hartland, by which 1,200 families were supplied with bread and meat.

NOVEMBER 27—At a meeting held at the Rein Deer, Worcester, a petition to the King praying him to dismiss his ministers, and a congratulatory address to the Queen on her acquittal, were agreed on, and afterwards received about 2,000 signatures. A counter address to the King, from the Mayor, magistrates, clergy, and others, declaring their attachment and loyalty, &c., &c., begging him to maintain the rights of the crown, otherwise the country would be involved in ruin, &c., &c., received about 500 signatures. The first was presented by Lord Foley and Mr. Hobhouse; the second by the Earl of Coventry. Loyal addresses, denouncing a licentious press, sent from Evesham and Stourbridge. An address for the county was also drawn up by the Lord Lieutenant, and being approved of by the High Sheriff was sent to the different towns in the county for signatures, as the promoters could not have convened a public meeting with any hope of success to their cause. A counter address, headed by Lord Foley’s signature, was immediately got up. Counter addresses sent from Droitwich, &c.

1821.

THE low price of agricultural produce caused such an outcry from the farmers, that a committee was appointed on agricultural distress, whose report, however, did not tend much to enlighten Parliament as to the means of relieving them. Tenants farming with borrowed capital, and landowners whose estates were mortgaged, must of course, the committee said, feel heavily the increased value of money occasioned by the recent changes in the currency; and they could only hope for relief from a reduction of the rate of interest—such as did actually take place shortly afterwards. The Bank resumed cash payments, and called in all its £1 notes, on the 1st of May. The Catholic Emancipation Bill first passed the Commons this year, by small majorities, but was rejected by the Lords. Consols averaged 75; wheat averaged 56s. 1d.

JANUARY 31—Petitions presented from Kidderminster and Evesham praying that the Queen’s name might be inserted in the liturgy.

MARCH 15—Dinner given at Stourport to the Rev. R. Pyndar of Arley House, on his removal from the neighbourhood, to testify the respect the inhabitants felt for his character and their gratitude for the services he had rendered to the town. Richard Jukes, Esq., presided.

MARCH 27—The Dean, Archdeacon, and clergy of Worcestershire met in the Chapter House and agreed to a petition against the Catholic Emancipation Bill, in which they said that “the projected alteration in the laws affecting Roman Catholics is a measure so hazardous in the experiment as to afford just ground for alarm,” and they considered that “the qualifying of Roman Catholics to possess political power will tend to injure the Protestant Establishment, which they are bound to transmit, unimpaired, to posterity.”

MAY 15—The operatives of Kidderminster presented the Queen with a carpet of very beautiful workmanship and ten yards square; to defray the expense of manufacturing which, 3,000 weavers and others had contributed 1s. each.

MAY 29—The ancient pageant and procession of the Corporation, trades, clubs, man in armour, &c., revived in Worcester with great gaiety and show, under the conduct of the Mayor, Mr. Hooper.

JUNE 4—Lord Deerhurst and Colonel Davies both voted with the minority in favour of Sir J. Macintosh’s motion for the abolition of the punishment of death in cases of forgery.

JUNE 6—Colonel Davies brought in a bill for the better preventing the adulteration of clover seed.

JULY 29—The coronation of His Majesty George IV celebrated in Worcester by subscription, procession, and dinner. The procession to service in the Cathedral comprised about 2,000 charity school children, Worcester Militia, Corporation clothiers’ company, bakers’, smiths’, tailors’, fishermen’s, butchers’, carpenters’ and masons’ companies, Druids’ Lodge, Lodge of Odd Fellows, and the Orange Lodge. Festivities at Bromsgrove, Bewdley, Evesham, Kidderminster, and Stourbridge, particularly noticeable.

AUGUST 27—The new tower of St. Helen’s Church, Worcester, completed, and the bells, which had so long remained mute, in consequence of the dilapidation of the old tower, were once more roused into harmony. These bells were cast in 1706, and bear the names of Queen Anne, her principal commanders and their victories.

SEPTEMBER 8—A meeting of yeomanry, connected with the Agricultural Association, held at the Crown Inn, Sir Thomas Winnington in the chair, at which a series of resolutions were agreed to, tracing “agricultural distress” to a depreciated paper currency, _doubling_ the prices of produce labour and rents; and while the proposed return to the bullion standard was reducing these to their former level, the charges to the farmholder, sinecurist, and placeman were not reduced. They were also still of opinion that the admission of foreign grain, duty free, [that is after wheat was 80s. a quarter] added grievously to the difficulties of the landed interest. Mr. George Webb Hall was the chief speaker.

LOCAL ACTS—For making a tramroad from Stratford-on-Avon to Moreton-in-Marsh, with a branch to Shipston-on-Stour; for repair of Stourbridge roads; for repair of Bewdley roads; for repair of Kidderminster roads; for repair of Bromyard roads.

1822.

THE year commenced with the same heavy complaints from the agriculturists, and in most counties meetings were held to declare their distress, and to call for retrenchment and reform. In some cases Mr. Cobbett procured the addition of a rider to these agricultural petitions, praying for a reduction of interest on the National Debt. Such a reduction, indeed, was actually made, by the conversion of the Five per Cents.; and this, with the retrenchments forced upon ministers by the representatives of the counties constantly voting with Mr. Hume and other economists, allowed of considerable relief in the shape of remission of taxes. The Bank of England also reduced its rate of discount from five to four per cent. on the 20th of June. A most important measure, too, was that which extended permission to the banks to issue notes under the value of £5 until 1833, which was likewise forced upon ministers by the Parliamentary landlords; and it produced an immediate rise in prices, but led also to a plethora of paper money most disastrous in its consequences. Consols averaged 80; wheat averaged 44s. 7d.

FEBRUARY—Discovery of mineral waters at Evesham—a saline spring; containing 23.06 of sulphate of soda in every 100 parts.

FEBRUARY 7—The WORCESTER DISPENSARY established.

MARCH 4—Colonel Davies moved reductions in the army estimates, and was supported by a minority of 58.

APRIL 17—At a respectable meeting held in Worcester, presided over by William Wall, Esq., a petition was agreed to, praying for a revision of the criminal code.

MAY—Collections made in Worcester, and at the parishes adjoining, on behalf of the starving peasantry in the west of Ireland. More than £1,100 was collected in this district.

JUNE—A PENITENTIARY established in Worcester. It did much good for years, and was then suffered to die for want of support.

JUNE 25—A road maker at Eckington, named Pickerill, only thirty-three years of age, having obtained from his wife a confession of her infidelity, mixed half an ounce of arsenic with as much sugar and ate it before her face. Assistance was immediately obtained, but he died in a few hours.

OCTOBER 10—An attempt was made to carry away a newly buried corpse from Grimley churchyard. A reward of £50 was offered for the conviction of the resurrectionists, who had evidently only desisted from carrying away the body by finding it too much decomposed for their purpose.

OCTOBER—The penny loaf, as fixed by the magistrates at what was called the assize of bread, varied from 4 oz. 14 dr. to 9 oz. 14 dr. between October, 1821, and October, 1822.

LOCAL ACT—For repair of Evesham roads.

1823.

THE great abundance of monied capital produced its customary effects in leading persons to engage in various works and undertakings, which produced a demand for labour and renewed the feeling of confidence. Consols averaged 81; wheat 53s. 4d.

MARCH 13—Consecration of St. Clement’s New Church by the Bishop of the Diocese. Sermon preached by the rector, the Rev. John Davies; and a collection, realising £95. 10s., afterwards made at the doors—and this, with donations and collections the next Sabbath, was increased to £174. 10s. The church is built in the Saxon style, and contains 807 sittings, 407 of which are free. The old church was situated on this side the river, on the North Quay. It was in a most dilapidated condition, and often unapproachable in flood time.

APRIL 25—Messrs. Flight, Barr, and Barr completed a very handsome service of Worcester porcelain, in Saxon green and gold, with heraldic devices, for Lord Amherst, then going out as Governor General to India.

MAY 13—At the Newmarket meeting, Lord Foley challenged for the whip, naming his horse Sultan, by Selim. No acceptance of the challenge being made, he got the whip by default.

MAY 20—The weight of the penny loaf altered in one week from 6 oz. 9 dr. to 10 oz. 11 dr.; the price of wheat having fallen from 8s. 9½d. to 5s. 2½d. per bushel.

MAY 23—The New Worcester Bridge Act received the royal assent. Reduced tolls levied henceforth on the horses instead of the carriages.

MAY 31—The Worcester Paving and Lighting Act received the royal assent—better known as the City Commissioners’ Act. Its provisions it is now unnecessary to allude to, as the Commissioners themselves are now numbered with the things that have been. It is curious to notice, however, that it took power to pull down the houses in front of All Saints’ Church; but, after a lapse of thirty years, this improvement was effected not by act of Parliament or a public body, but by voluntary and private efforts. At their first meeting, Mr. Welles was appointed clerk; Mr. Edward Hooper, head surveyor; and Mr. Henry Rowe, surveyor of buildings. Their first efforts were directed to the cleansing of the streets, preventing waggons carrying over-weights through the city, removing obstructions from the highways, &c.