Chapter XII: Part 12

OCTOBER 7—Great fight at Welland, between Jordan of Worcester and Wheeler of Gloucester, which was attended by at least 1,500 persons. Jordan came off an easy winner, and without any great punishment being inflicted on either pugilist. The stakes were thirty guineas a side.

LOCAL ACTS.—For building bridges over the Severn at Haw Passage and Mythe Hill; for repair of Tenbury roads; for altering and enlarging the powers of the Worcester Bridge Trustees; the Worcester City Commissioners’ Act.

1824.

A CONTINUOUS advance in prices—the result, partly of the over issue of small bank paper, and partly of the reduction in the rate of interest, and ease in the money market—gave the appearance of the most unbounded prosperity to every department of business and commerce. Everything that men touched turned to gold under their hands, and the greatest wonder was felt at the sudden disappearance of that distress which the agricultural interest, especially, had, but a few months before, been complaining of so bitterly. This year the Four per Cents. were converted into Three-and-half Stock, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer was thereby enabled still further to reduce the taxes—the principal one removed being that on silk. Three per Cents. in November were done at 96½, and averaged throughout the year 92. Wheat averaged 63s. 11d.

JANUARY 7—The great fight between Spring and Langan for the championship, which is to be found commemorated by a print hanging up in almost every inn and public-house in England, took place in Pitchcroft, the ring being formed just opposite to the Grand Stand. Considerably more than 150 guineas were paid to the managers of the fight to ensure its taking place at Worcester. The stakes were 300 guineas a side; and the betting two to one on Spring, who was a native of Warwickshire; while Langan was an Irishman. Not less than 40,000 people thronged Pitchcroft as spectators, many being perched upon sheds and booths, erected temporarily, and let out as standing places at considerable prices. During the second round one of these erections gave way, and a number of persons were precipitated to the ground, a distance of twenty feet, amidst the broken timber, and trampling upon each other. At least thirty people were carried to the Infirmary with serious fractures of the limbs or ribs, and one unfortunate fellow died of a compound fracture of the leg. Spring came on the ground at half-past twelve, but Langan could not be found for some time. He was, in fact, making off, and his backers brought him back with some difficulty. Lord Deerhurst and Sir James Musgrave kept time; and Colonel Berkeley acted as umpire. Spring was exceedingly cautious, and Langan impetuous, and the greater part of the rounds ended in wrestling, in which Langan often succeeded in throwing his antagonist. By the eighteenth round the ring was broken in by the crushing of the mob, and not ten feet of space was left for the men to fight in. After an hour and a half’s fighting the affair seemed as little near conclusion as at its commencement. At the eightieth round, Langan planted a tremendous blow on Spring’s head; but, at the eighty-fourth, Spring knocked Langan down with such terrific hits, that he fell as weak as a child. The cry then became general to take him away, but, although covered in his gore, he refused to give in, and was at last only removed by force. The battle lasted two hours and thirty-two minutes—a most unheard of length of time. At the next assizes Mr. Justice Park, in his charge to the grand jury, administered a severe rebuke to the county and city magistracy for winking at, and permitting, this affair.

MARCH 6—James Jones and John Brown were publicly whipped in front of the County Gaol (in addition to three months’ imprisonment with hard labour), for stealing an old tea kettle.

MARCH—The proposition to admit the importation of French gloves, hitherto altogether prohibited, created great consternation amongst the manufacturers at Worcester. Mr. Huskisson, in replying to some questions of Colonel Davies about the matter, in the House, said—“He trusted to the eloquence of the gallant Colonel for satisfying his constituents of the reasonableness of those views of open trade in which he had the honour to agree with the gallant Colonel. As to the particular article of gloves, there must be time to determine what proportion of duty they were to bear. The prohibitions, however, must be done away, and a high protecting duty substituted.” The duty was afterwards fixed at 4s. per doz. on habits, 5s. on men’s, and 7s. on women’s gloves.

MARCH 17—Mrs. Fry attended the quarterly meeting of the Friends in Worcester, and addressed the congregation who were assembled at their Meeting House. She afterwards visited both City and County Prisons with Samuel Gurney, and at the latter addressed the prisoners in plain and forcible language.

MAY 24—The Worcestershire Yeomanry, under the command of Viscount Eastnor, assembled for their annual six days’ training. They, this year, mustered 180; and the helmet they had hitherto worn was exchanged for the cap.

JUNE—The Cesarean operation performed by Mr. Waldron, surgeon, of Malvern, on Mary Hunt, of Leigh, with complete success. The child was a very fine healthy child.

OCTOBER 17—A man named Thomas Smith, who had been convicted at the City Midsummer Sessions of a robbery, and sentenced to seven years’ transportation, made his escape from the City Prison (the new one was then building) by working out the bricks in the wall of his cell, unlocking a padlock, and filing through two large nails in the doorpost.

DECEMBER—Projects on foot for the removal of the Corn Market, and erecting a suitable building for the accommodation of the farmers in Sansome Street, Worcester, but the magistrates decided that matters must remain as they were.

LOCAL ACTS—For repair of the road from Broadway to Stratford; for repair of the road from Worcester to Bromsgrove; for paving, lighting, &c., the town of Evesham, and improving the bridge over the Avon; for repair of the road from Evesham to Bishop’s Cleeve.

1825.

NEVER in so short a period of time did a nation experience such a transition from the confidence of commercial prosperity, to the despair and panic of general bankruptcy, as did Britain in the twelve months of 1825. The year opened with a flow of trade and ease in making money which had never been equalled, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer declared that the prosperity of the country was fixed on a firm and immutable basis—for which speech, Mr. Cobbett nicknamed him Mr. Prosperity Robinson. Yet before the year closed all was in confusion: a run upon all the banks throughout the kingdom took place—seventy three country banks were totally insolvent—the Bank of England itself was only saved from a complete drain of its gold, which was reduced to under £1,300,000, by the fortunate discovery of a box of one pound notes—bankruptcy and ruin spread amongst traders of every class—and the country was within forty-eight hours of barter. To account for this disastrous state of things is not difficult. The enhancement of prices, and the recklessness of the country bankers in pushing their paper money, had begot a spirit of speculation and gambling, not equalled since the South Sea Bubble. Between 1822 and 1825, twenty-six foreign loans were negociated, of which only ten are now paying dividends; and companies were started for all imaginable purposes, the nominal capital of which amounted in the whole to more than four hundred millions sterling. Soon after midsummer, this year, the tables began to turn—foreign markets were glutted with British fabrics, and a drain of gold took place to pay for the imports, as foreigners would no longer take our goods. Besides this, gold and silver coin chained down to a certain standard of value, while all other things had enormously risen in price, was of course a profitable speculation for the foreigners; and in 1822–3 and 4, thirty-three millions and a half of ounces of silver were exported, and the known export of gold exceeded 1,270,000 ounces. It will be seen that, to the credit of this county, not a single bank here was actually insolvent, and only one closed its doors even for a short period. Three per Cents. averaged 89; wheat averaged 68s. 6d.

JANUARY 25—The lady of Sir Edward Mostyn, Bart., then residing at Spring Bank, Red Hill, near Worcester, was returning home in her carriage, when the horses took fright and set off at a gallop. She jumped out, and received such severe contusions on the head that she died in two days afterwards. Her remains were interred in the parish church of Llannas, Flintshire, in which county Talacre, Sir Edward’s paternal seat, was situated.

SEPTEMBER—The long brass French six-pounder and nine suits of black armour which now adorn the walls of the lower hall, in the Guildhall, Worcester, presented to the Corporation by Colonel Wall of Hallow Park. They all belonged to Charles II, and were left by him after the fatal battle of 1651.

OCTOBER 26—The Worcestershire Militia inspected upon Pitchcroft. At the dinner of the officers in the evening, a handsome silver salver was presented to Colonel Newport Charlett as a tribute of the respect and esteem in which he was held by the regiment.

OCTOBER 11—The Worcestershire Fox Hounds, lately reorganised under Mr. Parker, had their first run. The pack consisted of about thirty couples of hounds.

DECEMBER 19—At a public meeting at the Guildhall, of tradesmen and others, with the Mayor in the chair, a resolution of confidence in the different banks of the city was passed, and afterwards published with upwards of 500 signatures.

At a public meeting at Kidderminster, a similar vote of confidence was passed as to Messrs. Wakeman and Turner’s bank. At Bewdley, the inhabitants also met and expressed their reliance in the banking establishment of Messrs. Pardoe, Nichols, and Baker. Bromsgrove—in the house of Messrs. Rufford and Biggs. Stourbridge—Messrs. Hill, Bate, and Robins, and Messrs. Rufford and Biggs. Dudley—in the houses of Messrs. Dixon, Dalton, and Co., and Messrs. Hordern, Molineux, and Co. The bank of Messrs. Hartland, having branches at Tewkesbury, Cheltenham, and Evesham, was compelled to suspend payment; but this was the only concern, connected with this county, unable to sustain the run which the terrible panic of this year caused on every bank throughout the kingdom.

LOCAL ACTS—Stourbridge Commissioners Act; for making and maintaining a road from Birmingham to Pershore; for repair of Upton roads; to amend the Stratford and Moreton Tramroad Act; for enclosure of land at Stock and Bradley.

1826.

To prevent the occurrence of such dire disasters as the previous year had witnessed, a bill was brought in the moment Parliament met, to prohibit the English banks from circulating notes under £5, after February, 1829—thus allowing them three years to recall their present issue. The loss by the panic of the previous December is estimated at £40,000,000 sterling; but matters soon began to right themselves, and the elasticity of British resources never was more signally displayed. At Midsummer a dissolution took place, the Parliament having sat for nearly seven years. The questions which principally agitated the public mind were the Corn Laws and Catholic Emancipation. The Corn Law of 1815 had dissatisfied all parties, and the populace generally entertained the greatest hostility to it. In Ireland the priests now first openly interfered in the elections to procure the return of members pledged to the Catholic cause; while in England a strong counter feeling was evoked, and in many places Whig candidates were rejected, in spite of family influence, because of their leaning towards Catholic Emancipation. The harvest being a failure, as regarded oats and rye, peas and beans, the Government issued an Order in Council to admit these kinds of food at a duty of 2s. a quarter; and Parliament was called together in November to pass an Act of Indemnity. Three per Cents. averaged 79; wheat averaged 58s. 8d.

JANUARY 23—A silver salver, two waiters, and two decanter stands, weighing in the whole 320 ounces, presented to J. Simpson, Esq., LL.D., who for many years kept school in Worcester, by his former pupils.

FEBRUARY—The glovemakers of Worcester made several ineffectual remonstrances against the proposed alteration of the laws touching the admission of foreign manufactured articles. They were told that gloves would certainly be admitted in the ensuing July, though with the protective duties already mentioned. These being considered insufficient, the trade was brought to an entire stand-still. By the exertions of Colonel Davies, however, the importation was limited to the port of London only, and confidence was gradually restored to the business.

FEBRUARY 21—Messrs. Hartland and Co. resumed payment.

JULY 1—A party of pleasure, consisting of the two sons and four daughters of Mr. Joseph Hill, farmer, of Lintridge, near Dymock, and Miss Helen Woodyatt, daughter of a Hereford confectioner, ascended Malvern Hills, and being overtaken by a thunderstorm, took refuge in an alcove, on the Worcestershire Beacon, which was roofed with iron. This attracted the electric fluid, and in one discharge of lightning the whole party were laid prostrate on the ground: three of the Misses Hill and Miss Woodyatt were killed, and the others were seriously injured.

JULY—Captain Brace, R.N., presented to the Corporation of Worcester the second brass gun which now stands in the Guildhall—one which was taken from a French battery near Toulon, in 1813, by H.M. ship Berwick, of which Captain Brace was then Commandant.

AUGUST 21—Lord Foley laid the foundation stone of Holt Fleet bridge.

AUGUST—The growing importance and populousness of the town of Dudley induced the Lord Chancellor to order an additional coroner to be elected for that part of the county. Mr. W. Robinson, solicitor, of Dudley, who had been very instrumental in obtaining the order, was elected to the office without opposition.

SEPTEMBER 26—Mr. Cobbett, the “lion” of the day, visited Worcester, and spent a short time with some agriculturists in the neighbourhood, afterwards staying with Sir Thomas Winnington, Bart., at Stanford Court, for one night. Mr. Cobbett’s opinion of Worcester and Worcestershire people may be found in the account which he gives of this trip in his _Register_ for October 7 of this year.

LOCAL ACT—For building Holt Fleet bridge.

1827.

THAT the elections had caused considerable change in the constitution of the House of Commons was made apparent by their coming, early in the session, to a vote adverse to the Catholic claims—the votes of the Lower House on this question having for many years past been favourable to their consideration. A motion of Sir Francis Burdett to remove penalties from the Catholics, though warmly supported by Mr. Canning, was lost by 276 votes to 272. Lord Liverpool’s illness requiring the reorganisation of the cabinet, so much difficulty was experienced in the choice of a prime minister that the country was virtually without a ministry for some weeks. The Catholic question was put forward as the principal difficulty—the chief members of Lord Liverpool’s administration refusing to take office under a Premier who was favourable to the Catholic claims. Immediately that Mr. Canning—whose talents unequivocally marked him out for the position—kissed hands, the Duke of Wellington, Lord Eldon, Mr. Peel, and others of the old cabinet resigned, and Mr. Canning could only hold office by an unprincipled coalition with the Whigs—unprincipled because such a ministry could only be carried on by one party or the other totally belieing their previous political creed. Mr. Canning had always avowed himself the determined foe of Parliamentary Reform and the repeal of the Test Acts, but was popular because of his adhesion to the Catholic claims and the policy he had adopted as Foreign Secretary—separating this country from the Holy Alliance, recognising the South American States, and interfering in defence of the independence of Portugal. Earl Grey was the only member of the Whig party who openly and honestly stood aloof from the new ministry. Immediately after the close of the session, Mr. Canning—irritated, perplexed, exhausted, by the forsaking of all his former friends—died. The new ministry was then reorganised under the leadership of Viscount Goderich—formerly Mr. Robinson. Three per Cents. averaged 84; wheat, 58s. 6d.

JANUARY—The celebrated “Horace Bentley” controversy originated in a paragraph which appeared this month in _Berrow’s Worcester Journal_, stating that the Roman Catholics in Cavan, Ireland, were renouncing the errors of their Church in considerable numbers. In the _Journal_ of February 7, a person signing the initials “W. L.” begged, as an English Catholic, to be informed what were the errors that the Catholics of Cavan were renouncing, and pledged himself that, if any one would point out to him only one error, either in morals or doctrine, which the Catholic Church taught, he would, as soon as possible after, publicly read his recantation in the parish church of B—. In a fortnight after W. L.’s letter had appeared, one was inserted in reply, signed “Horace Bentley,” offering, if the Bible was accepted as the test, to prove that the Church of Rome taught “several fundamental and fatal errors.” W. L. replied that he would “leave Mr. B. to take his own course. He might prove his allegations from the Holy Scriptures, or from any source he might deem expedient—he was ready to join the issue with him.” This, Horace Bentley contended, was an evasion of the requirement—that an absolute test of truth and error should be agreed upon; but, nevertheless, proceeded to prove the existence of what are considered by Protestants to be the principal errors of the Roman Church, by an extraordinary array of quotations from Catholic authors and authorities themselves. The letters were, on all hands, admitted to display singular ability. W. L., at first, questioned the correctness of the quotations, and was evidently astonished at their production. An offer was made by the Catholic party to change their champion, on the ground of W. L.’s incompetence; and, though this was not accepted, yet the last two letters under that signature were plainly from another hand. In these, endeavour was made to show that the doctrines of the Church of England were, in many respects, identical with those of the Church of Rome, and that “every consistent Protestant must be an infidel.” The Protestant party were so delighted with their disputant, that a proposal was made to purchase a piece of plate by subscription. The _incognito_ was, for a long time, most admirably preserved, and the letters of Horace Bentley were pretty generally ascribed to the Rev. Dr. Hook, then Dean of Worcester. It has now, however, long been known that they were written by the Rev. G. Redford, D.D., LL.D., minister at Angel Street Chapel, Worcester. The original W. L. was a machine manufacturer at Bromsgrove.

MARCH 3—A duel took place on Kempsey Ham between John Somerset Russell, Esq., of Powick Court, and Mr. John Parker, master of the Worcestershire Fox Hounds. They fired at each other, but neither of the balls took effect; and the seconds then interfered and effected a reconciliation. An officer came on the ground, armed with a warrant, to arrest the disputants, but of course he was “too late.” The quarrel arose about some matter connected with the hunt.

MARCH 27—Colonel Davies voted in a minority of nineteen on an amendment, moved by Mr. Hume, to admit wheat at all times at a fixed duty of 10s. a quarter. Colonel Davies also succeeded in obtaining the appointment of a committee to inquire into the mode of taking the poll at elections for cities and boroughs.

MARCH—An eccentric fellow at Droitwich cut his throat, having previously left some most singular instructions respecting his funeral, which were obeyed to the letter. He was buried with his shoes on, with a penny in one hand and a halfpenny in the other. Some of the earth surrounding his mother’s coffin was put into his, and his body was wrapped in the sheet on which she had been laid out. The carriers of the coffin and mourners ran, as soon as the funeral was over, at their topmost speed, to a public house, where they sang _one_ song and _two_ psalms, afterwards drinking peace to the soul of the departed till they were all drunk.

JUNE 29—At a meeting of the Worcester Corporation, on the motion of Henry Clifton, Esq., the freedom of the city was unanimously voted to the Right Hon. Robert Peel, “late principal Secretary of State for the Home Department, in testimony of the high sense they entertained of his consummate abilities and inflexible integrity as a statesman, and his unshaken fidelity and attachment to the Constitution in Church and State.”

NOVEMBER 29—Mr. T. A. Knight, only son of T. A. Knight, Esq., of Downton Castle, accidentally shot by John Barneby, Esq., of Brockhampton, while they were both sporting on Mr. Knight’s demesne.

DECEMBER—The Worcestershire Yeomanry disbanded by order of Government, in common with all those corps which had not been engaged in actual service of any kind for the previous ten years. The regiment was first raised in 1794, by the Hon. Somers Cocks. The Kidderminster troop, which was a separate body, raised in 1798 and commanded by Captain Boycot, was also disbanded.

1828.

THE discordant materials of which the Canning ministry was composed after his death, soon brought it to an end: before Parliament met this year Lord Goderich had resigned, and the Wellington and Peel cabinet was formed. The most important measure of the year was the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts; the principle of which having been affirmed in the House of Commons, on the motion of Lord John Russell, by a majority of 237 to 193, was adopted by the Government, and they carried through the bill as their own measure. Consols averaged 86; wheat 60s. 5d.

JANUARY 1—The tolls on carriages and horsemen passing over Worcester bridge discontinued—the bridge having been erected forty-six years, and the trustees having now paid off the debt, and laid by a fund yielding a revenue of £125 a year to be applied in the repairs of the bridge and its approaches.

JANUARY 3—Holt Fleet bridge opened to the public. Its extreme length is 226 feet, and consists of one arch of 150 feet span; the centre being 35 feet above the river at ordinary periods. The design was furnished by Telford. The entire cost was £8,300.

FEBRUARY 26—Four elegant silver corner dishes and covers, weighing nearly 300 ounces, presented to the Rev. George Turberville of Hanley Castle, for his long and valuable services as an active magistrate of the county. The presentation took place at a dinner at the White Lion, Upton, at which Sir Anthony Lechmere, Bart., presided.

SEPTEMBER 3—The Rev. Mr. Ketley, appointed by the London Missionary Society to take the place of the ill-treated Smith, of Demerara, whose case had occupied so large a share of public attention, was publicly ordained at the Independent Chapel, Worcester.

SEPTEMBER 26—A sumptuous silver vase, presented to Viscount Eastnor by the Yeomanry, “as a farewell token of the cordial and lasting esteem which is felt for him by all ranks of the corps.”

OCTOBER 29—The inhabitants of Bewdley, following _suite_ with the Kentish Brunswickers on Penenden Heath, declared in public meeting that “the Protestant constitution shall not be changed.” John Williams, Esq., the High Bailiff, was in the chair; and the petition against the Catholic claims was moved by the Rev. John Cawood, and seconded by John Nichols, Esq. There was no opposition. The Mayor and Corporation of Evesham forwarded a similar petition.

1829.

THE ministry—supposed by all England to be determined to resist, _a l’outrance_, the claims of the Catholics to emancipation—astounded the country by making the King recommend, in his speech at the opening of Parliament, that these claims should be immediately taken into consideration. The Catholic Association and Mr. O’Connell’s election for Clare were supposed to have been the causes immediately compelling ministers to give way; but the Emancipation Act really owed its existence to the continuous efforts of the great Liberal party and the weight of public opinion in England. The measure was passed in the Commons by a majority of 173, and in the Lords of 105. The circulation of small notes came to an end in the early part of this year, and although so much time had been afforded for preparation for this step, and it had been so repeatedly postponed, it nevertheless produced much straitness in commercial transactions, and had its effect in reducing both the price of the provisions and the wages of labour. Three per Cents. averaged 88; wheat averaged 66s. 3d.

JANUARY—A subscription entered into for the relief of the Worcester poor.

FEBRUARY—The petitions against Catholic Emancipation, got up by the Brunswick Club, received about 6,000 signatures in this county. On the presentation of the petition in the House of Lords, Lord Lyttelton characterised the manner in which it was got up as “anomalous and irregular.”

FEBRUARY 9—The WORCESTER LITERARY AND SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTION established at a public meeting held at the Guildhall, presided over by Mr. Daukes of Diglis House. It was for some years warmly supported by Lord Lyttelton and most of the literati of the county.

FEBRUARY 17—An alarming fire in the outbuildings of Mr. Joseph Ross of Sneachill, White Lady Aston, consuming altogether about four thousand pounds’ worth of property, and wholly uninsured. Three hundred guineas were offered as a reward for the discovery of the incendiary, no doubt being entertained that it was wilful.

MARCH 24—Meeting of the clergy of the diocese, with Archdeacon Onslow in the chair, to petition against the Catholic Relief Bill. The tone of the proceedings and petition was very moderate. The Hon. H. B. Lygon was the only member for this county who voted against the Bill.

MAY 29—Presentation of plate (a massive silver vase) to Archdeacon Onslow, having been Vicar of Kidderminster for twenty-eight years, by general subscription of the inhabitants there.

JUNE 17—The Duc de Chartres visited Worcester, with its manufactories and Cathedral.

JUNE 22—Ombersley Church consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. This very elegant little church is built of white stone from the Ombersley quarries, in the decorated English style. Its extreme length is 117 feet, and the spire is 154 feet high; and the church will accommodate about 1,000 persons. The Marchioness of Downshire gave the stone, the additional land to extend the churchyard, the organ, and the stained windows, &c.

JULY 16—The new Catholic Chapel, Sansome Street, Worcester, opened. The Rev. Dr. Walsh, Bishop of the Midland District, officiated; and the Very Rev. Dr. Weedall, President of St. Mary’s College, Oscot, preached. The chapel is capable of containing about 800 persons. The collection at the door on this occasion amounted to about £48.

AUGUST 26—Silver Street Chapel (Baptist), Worcester, reopened, after enlargement, on which occasion a sermon was preached by the celebrated Robert Hall of Bristol.

DECEMBER 10—The Marquis of Anglesey visited Worcester, and was entertained by the Corporation in great style; the freedom of the city being presented to him in common hall by Lord Deerhurst.

1830.

MINISTERS, having alienated their old friends by their conduct on the Catholic question, held office by support of the Whigs, but towards the close of the session these also deserted them. The revolutions at Paris and Brussels, the demise of George IV, and the distress amongst the agricultural labourers giving rise to fearful incendiarism through the whole of the south of England, imparted extraordinary interest and importance to the question of Parliamentary Reform. Public meetings were everywhere held upon the subject, and at the elections which took place in August, Reformers were returned for all those towns where the constituency was at all on a popular basis. The result was a loss of more than fifty members to ministers; and they managed to involve themselves in still more unpopularity and dislike by their unqualified declarations against all Reform, and by dissuading the King from accepting an invitation to dine at Guildhall on Lord Mayor’s Day, on the ground of apprehended disturbance. The new Parliament met on the 2nd of November, and on the 15th Sir Henry Parnell moved for a committee to revise the civil list. A division took place, and ministers were left in a minority of 29—233 votes being given for the motion, and 204 against it. Ministers immediately resigned, and Earl Grey was called to His Majesty’s Councils, with the understanding that Parliamentary Reform was to be a cabinet measure. Thus, after twenty-three years’ exclusion from office, the Whigs found themselves in power, and their principles triumphant. Consols averaged 98½; wheat averaged 64s. 3d.

JANUARY—Subscription for the relief of the poor again entered into at Worcester, and £1,108 raised. Distributed in soup and bread. £200 raised with a like object at Bewdley, and a subscription at Droitwich.

JULY 2—Petitions from various towns of the county against the Beer House Bill, which was also strongly opposed by Colonel Davies.

AUGUST 6—The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria arrived at Malvern, for the purpose of making a considerable stay there.

AUGUST 25—Most serious riots at Kidderminster. The carpet weavers, instigated by the “Society of Workmen,” attacked, almost without notice, the factory of Mr. Cooper, because he employed a number of men upon a particular description of light work at three halfpence per yard less than the customary price. In the evening the mob again assembled, and broke the windows not only of Mr. Cooper’s house, but those of Mr. Simcox Lea, Mr. Best, Mr. Brinton, Mr. Dobson, and Mr. Gough, manufacturers; of George Constance, Esq., High Bailiff; Messrs. Hallen and Talbot, solicitors; Mr. Boycot; Mr. Russell, coal merchant; the Town Hall; and the Black Horse Inn—nor was the town restored to quiet till a troop of the 14th Dragoons arrived at six o’clock on Wednesday morning. The property stolen and destroyed was valued at £3,000. Eight men were immediately afterwards apprehended, and committed by the magistrates for the part they had taken in the disturbances. Rewards amounting to £1,000 were offered for the conviction of the ringleaders.

SEPTEMBER 7—The Duchess of Kent and the Princess Victoria visited Worcester, accompanied by Sir John and Lady Conroy and the Baroness de Lehzen, and received the Mayor and Corporation at the Deanery. They inspected the three china manufactories; and the young Princess, then twelve years of age, displayed the greatest interest in the ingenious processes to which the porcelain clay is submitted.

SEPTEMBER 18—Frightful accident to the Aurora, day coach from London, which was crammed with passengers inside and out, bringing persons to the ensuing Worcester Musical Festival. The coachman neglected to put the drag on the wheel in coming down Severn Stoke hill, and the speed which the vehicle gained as it came down, upset it shortly after rounding the turn at the bottom. Mr. Bennett, organist of Christ Church, Oxford, was killed on the spot; and Mr. Hughes, glover, of Sidbury, Worcester, died next morning. Several other passengers were most seriously hurt. The jury upon the inquest refused to return a verdict of manslaughter against the coachman, although directed to do so by the coroner; but put a deodand of £30 upon the coach and horses, in each case.

SEPTEMBER 9—Date of the death of the celebrated Mr. Huskisson, who was born at Birtsmorton in this county.

OCTOBER 26—St. George’s Chapel, Barbourne, a chapel of ease to Claines Church, consecrated by the Lord Bishop of the Diocese. The sermon was preached by Prebendary Benson, and the collection afterwards realised £60. The presentation of the chapel is vested in the incumbents of Claines. The total cost of the building was £3,500; of this, Sir H. Wakeman, Bart., contributed £500. £1,200 was raised by private subscriptions, &c. The Church Building Commissioners contributed the remainder. The painted window at the east end was the gift of James Wakeman, Esq. It will accommodate 750 persons, 400 of the sittings being free.

OCTOBER 29—The WORCESTER MENDICITY SOCIETY formed at a meeting at the Guildhall, with H. B. Tymbs, Esq., Mayor, in the chair. This Society still continues to exist, and has acted most beneficially both in discovering cases of imposture and in aiding the truly unfortunate. It is only a pity that it is not more generally supported and confided in.

DECEMBER—Riots at Tardebigg amongst the needle makers, who thought themselves aggrieved by the introduction of machinery to stamp the eyes of the needles. They commenced an attack on the machinery and house of Mr. Baylis of Tardebigg, but were interrupted by the arrival of constabulary from Redditch, and six men were committed by the magistrates for trial. Five agricultural labourers were also committed to gaol for breaking a thrashing machine, which had been left on the road side at Hanley William. A thatched cattle shed, with two cows, a hay rick and stubble rick, the property of Mr. Nind of Dumbleton, burnt down by an incendiary fire.

LOCAL ACT—For enclosing lands at Hagley.

1831.

THE measure of Reform, introduced by the Grey ministry a few days after the meeting of Parliament, so much exceeded general expectation in extent and boldness, that the people immediately adopted it with enthusiasm; and the cry was, “The Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill.” After a debate of seven nights’ duration, leave was given to bring it in without a division, and the trial of strength was reserved for the second reading, which was carried by a majority of one only; the numbers being—for, 302; against, 301. The ministers, however, persevered with it; but, in committee, General Gascoyne moved that the number of members for England and Wales should not be diminished, and this was carried against ministers by a majority of eight. The consequence was, that the bill was for a while abandoned, and another appeal made to the country. The elections, which now took place in the midst of unparalleled excitement, gave ministers such a decided majority in the Commons, that the second reading of the bill was carried by a majority of 136, and it went through committee without any material alteration. The Lords, however, had not the prudence quietly to pass a measure which the people had so unequivocally demanded, and the second reading was negatived in the Upper House by a majority of 41. Riots and disturbances everywhere ensued; and none can understand, except those who actually took part in the year’s events, how near the nation was to convulsion and revolution. The cholera made its appearance in the country on the 26th October, and was very fatal in many places. Consols averaged 81; wheat averaged 66s. 6d.

JANUARY 10—The Vice Chancellor gave his decision in the case of the St. Oswald’s Hospital property, Worcester, declaring that the leases which had been granted by the governors were illegal, and must be set aside. This decision affected large properties in the Tything, which, having been held for leases of forty years at a nominal rent, and these renewed at a fine only amounting to about one year’s rent, had been treated in the market as little inferior to freehold. The proceedings were based on an act passed at the instance of the celebrated Dr. Fell, Bishop of Oxford in 1660, and who was then master of this hospital. This act expressly provided that, in the leases granted of the property belonging to the hospital, “the best improved value that the lands and houses should be yearly worth should be reserved for the respective yearly rents thereof.” The solicitor, on the part of the information, was Mr. S. Godson of Worcester.

JANUARY 21—Graves opened in Hanley Castle churchyard, and two recently interred bodies taken away. They had been sent in packing cases from the Anchor Inn, Upton-on-Severn, to London, but, parties following them immediately, the cases were recovered, and the bodies restored to their resting places, but the disturbers of the grave’s quiet were not caught.

MARCH 9—The Kidderminster carpet weavers presented Mr. Godson with a very handsome hearth rug, for his exertions in their behalf at the sessions of the previous August.

MARCH 23—On the first division on the Reform Bill, on Sir R. Vyvyan’s amendment, “That the Bill be read a second time that day six months,” all the members for Worcestershire were present. The Hon. T. H. Foley, Colonel Davies, Mr. Robinson, Mr. J. H. H. Foley, and Earl of Sefton voted against the amendment; and Hon. H. B. Lygon and W. A. Robarts, Esq., for it.

JUNE—The Worcester Militia reorganised; and ten troops of Yeomanry raised by the Earl of Plymouth.

AUGUST 25—In the Marquis of Chandos’s celebrated amendment to the Reform Bill, giving farming tenants at will, to the amount of not less than £50, votes for counties, Colonel Davies and Mr. Robinson voted in the majority against ministers, and the Hon. T. H. Foley, Captain Spencer, and Mr. Godson in the minority for them. Colonel Davies, in the progress of the bill, moved several amendments, which were discussed at length, and only defeated by small majorities: one was to prevent persons, having votes in boroughs, from voting at county elections.

SEPTEMBER 14—Presentation of colours to the Worcestershire Yeomanry. This took place at Hewell, the Countess of Plymouth presenting the cornets with the colours. The ceremony was performed in the presence of an immense concourse of spectators. A dinner was afterwards given on the ground, by the Earl of Plymouth, to the nobility of the county and officers of the regiment.

OCTOBER 19—The Worcester Society of Artists opened an exhibition in the rooms of the Old Library in Angel Street, containing altogether some 164 pictures, from the easels of professional artists and amateurs in the city and county.

NOVEMBER 5—Worcester Riots.—The ferment which the rejection of the Reform Bill by the Lords had created having spread generally through the country, and much terror caused by the Bristol anti-Wetherell riots, the Mayor and magistrates of Worcester swore in a number of special constables this week; and, at the request of the Mayor, the Home Secretary directed a troop of the 7th Hussars to take up their quarters at Droitwich. It was thought possible that the ill disposed might make the county Reform meeting, held this day, a _point d’appui_, and the 400 special constables had express orders to hold themselves in readiness for action at any moment. However, the proceedings passed off very quietly, and the day closed without any disturbance; but unfortunately a small and purely accidental fire broke out in the back premises of Mr. Woakes in High Street. A great number of people were gathered to the spot, and a squabble occurred in the crowd, during which the hose of the fire engines was cut, and the mob seemed to regard this as the signal for disorder. Some rascals harked them on to mischief, and they first of all made an incursion into Foregate Street, where they broke all the windows in the house of Mr. France, solicitor, and on their return smashed those of Sir Anthony Lechmere and other individuals known to belong to the unpopular party. The Mayor and magistrates were already at the Hall, with a large body of special constables, and the bells of the city churches were set tolling to collect the remainder. This roused the whole town, and all the bad characters it contained were speedily enrolled amongst the mob. The special constables at the command of the Mayor sallied out of the Town Hall and engaged the rioters, and some smartish encounters took place in various directions. Several of the mob were captured and carried off to prison; but none of the specials were much hurt. The tumult still continuing, the Mayor sent off expresses to Pershore and Droitwich for the military; but, in the interim, he addressed the rioters, and attempted to induce them to disperse. Some of the leaders said they would do so if he would release the prisoners who had been taken. The Mayor, hereupon, went down to the gaol, and, amidst the huzzas of the mob, liberated the captives; but they then wanted the release of the other prisoners confined in the gaol. This the Mayor positively refused, and returned to the Guildhall. At a quarter after one Captain Bathurst, with a troop of the 7th Hussars, rode up to the Guildhall, and the mob threw some stones at them; and, as they showed no disposition to disperse, the Mayor read the Riot Act, but had no sooner done so than a stone was hurled at him, which struck him on the head. He immediately ordered the military to clear the streets, which they did in a very short time. A great number of stones were thrown at them; but the resistance speedily ceased, and many parties were again taken into custody and conveyed to the gaol. Several of the mob were cut, though not seriously, by the sabres of the military. A detachment of the 91st Infantry arrived from Pershore about three a.m., but their services were not then required. The city, for two or three nights afterwards, wore an unquiet aspect, and desultory mobs were collected, but no further harm was done. The magistrates examined the prisoners afterwards—amounting, in all, to about thirty persons. Most of them were liberated on entering into their own recognizances to keep the peace, and a few of the worst were fined or sent to the treadmill.

LOCAL ACTS—For erecting a County Hall and Courts of Assize at Worcester; for better repairing the road from Bromsgrove to Birmingham.

1832.

THE ministers, calling Parliament together again almost immediately, proposed another Reform Bill, differing from the former one in the apportionment of boroughs in the schedules, in preserving the rights of freemen by birth and servitude, and in giving freeholders in boroughs the right to vote in county elections. The second reading was carried, on the morning of Sunday, the 18th of December, 1851, by a majority of 324 to 162; the majority being thus much larger than before. The bill passed a second reading in the Lords by a majority of 9; seventeen peers who voted against the bill in 1831 voted for it in 1832, and others absented themselves. Immediately on going into committee, however, Lord Lyndhurst proposed to postpone the disenfranchising to the enfranchising clauses, and this was carried against ministers by a majority of 35. Earl Grey then applied to the King for powers to carry the bill as it stood; and, on the King’s refusing a _carte blanche_ for the creation of peers, ministers resigned _en masse_. Lord Lyndhurst was sent for by the King; but the Commons pledged themselves, by an overwhelming majority, to support only the former ministers, and, in the face of such a resolution, no ministry could be formed. Then came the thunders of the _Times_, declaring that “the Queen had done it all,” the threatened run upon the Bank, and symptoms of disaffection among the soldiery. At last the King found himself obliged to put into Earl Grey’s hands all the powers he required, and he returned to office on the 15th of April. The opposition peers then, at the King’s request, absented themselves from the House, and the bill passed with little further discussion. It received the royal assent on the 7th of June. Parliament was soon afterwards dissolved; and the new constituencies, of course, returned a very large preponderance of Whig or Reform members. Three per Cents. averaged 83½; wheat averaged 58s. 8d.

JANUARY—Several attempts made to fire carpet manufactories in Kidderminster. The trade of the town in a deplorable condition; 779 heads of families receiving out-door relief weekly.

FEBRUARY 1—Colonel Davies moved, in the House of Commons, for a committee of inquiry on the glove trade. He stated that not one-third of the number of gloves were made in Worcester that there were formerly, when 120 masters each manufactured 100 dozen a week. He attributed this distress and loss of trade entirely to the free trade in French gloves. Mr. Poulett Thomson contended, on behalf of Government, that the general manufacture of gloves in this country had increased, for the kid skins imported in the last five years had been 3,679,000, to 2,600,000 in the five years prior to the duty being taken off gloves. The distress he believed to be owing to the late increase in the importation of skins, to the use of Berlin gloves instead of kid, and to overtrading. The numbers were—against the committee, 223; for it, 168: majority against the motion, 55.

FEBRUARY 28—A petition from the operative glovers of Worcester, having 2,206 signatures, and praying that the “system, falsely called free trade,” may be abandoned, forwarded to the Earl of Coventry for presentation.

APRIL 2—The freedom of the city presented to the Earl of Plymouth and Lieutenant Colonel Elrington by the hand of the recorder, the Earl of Coventry. To the former, principally in approval of his raising the Yeomanry corps; and to the latter, for his public services in the east. Colonel Elrington presented the Corporation with arms and armour, taken by him from pirates in the Persian Gulf.

APRIL 5—At a dinner given at the Guildhall, Dr. Malden in the chair, a very handsome service of plate was presented to the Mayor, Henry Clifton, Esq., in remembrance of the vigilance and energy he had shown in repressing the Worcester riots.

APRIL 17—On the memorable second reading of the Reform Bill in the House of Lords, by a majority of nine, the Earl of Coventry, Lord Northwick (both of whom had voted against the former bill), Earl Somers, Lord Foley, Lord Lyttelton, and the Bishop of Worcester voted in its favour; and Earls Plymouth and Beauchamp and the Bishop of Rochester against it.

MAY 23—The Mayor of Worcester, Henry Clifton, Esq., was presented at _levée_ by the Bishop of Worcester, and thanked by His Majesty for the “important services he had rendered on a late occasion.”

MAY 29—The trade on the Severn stopped by the general resistance of the bow-halliers to the use of horses in towing barges up the river. They nailed the gates up along the towing path, and assembled in great numbers to prevent any horses being attached to the vessels. The magistrates made several attempts to convince them of the unreasonableness and folly of their proceedings, but to no purpose. At last the Riot Act was read, and a troop of Scotch Greys marched into Worcester from Kidderminster. Under this escort the gates were opened and several vessels taken up the river, but not without determined opposition and much disturbance. Eight men were committed for trial to the sessions.

JUNE 11 AND 12—Celebration of the passing of the Reform Bill, in Worcester. On the Monday the Worcester Political Union, with a great number of lodges and friendly societies, paraded the streets with banners and music, and in the evening dined at various public houses. On the Tuesday evening the city was illuminated—the lighting up being almost universal, and costly transparencies and devices in many instances adopted.

JUNE 15—A Reform festival at Evesham, 700 persons dining at tables set out along the open street—Vine Street. In the space between the tables were raised twelve casks of ale, inscribed—“The King,” “Reform,” “Grey,” “Brougham,” &c. Mr. Workman presided. Dinners also at Droitwich, Redditch, &c.

JULY 14—The cholera first made its appearance in Worcester: most of the cases occurring in the Pinch, at the back of Bridge Place, Hylton Street, a most dirty and close locality. It continued to rage till the middle of October: 293 cases having occurred in the whole; and the deaths amounted to 79. The medical men, forming the Board of Health, had been most indefatigable in their labours and attentions to the sick in the Cholera Hospital at Henwick. A very handsome subscription was entered into for the relief of cholera sufferers and their families, and the proceeds of a collection after a sermon by the Rev. Canon Benson, and of a concert at the College Hall (£156), were devoted to the same good object. The cholera visited every town in the county with more or less severity. It raged most fearfully at Droitwich, Redditch, and Dudley; the cases in the latter town amounting to 1,132, with a proportion of 250 deaths. Warm salt baths were found very beneficial at Droitwich. The Yeomanry, this year, assembled at Warwick, because of the prevalence of the disease in Worcester.

JULY 19—The PROVINCIAL MEDICAL AND SURGICAL ASSOCIATION formed, at a meeting held in the board room of the Worcester Infirmary. More than fifty medical men were present; and the venerable Dr. Johnstone, of Birmingham, was called to the chair. The opening address was read by Dr. Hastings, the founder of the association; another on the objects and modes of medical investigation by Dr. Barlow; with various medical papers by Dr. Milligan, Dr. Malden, Dr. Jeffery, and others; with “A proposal to establish County Natural History Societies” by Dr. Conolly. The value and importance of this association are now fully established.

OCTOBER 9 AND 10—Musical Festival at Kidderminster, in St. George’s Church, for the benefit of the National Charity Schools. _The Messiah_ was performed one morning, and a selection of sacred music the other. There was also a grand miscellaneous concert on Tuesday evening, and a ball on Wednesday evening. The result was highly satisfactory. The receipts were—for tickets, £853; collections, £209; donations, £180: total, £1,242. The expenses amounted to £792, and £450 was thus left as a balance in favour of the charity.

OCTOBER 27—The revising barristers having completed the inquiry into the first registration of the voters of the city of Worcester under the Reform Act, there were left upon the list 1,521 freemen and 721 £10 householders in addition, making a total of 2,242. Under the old state of things there were about 1,600 resident and 800 non-resident freemen, so that the Reform Act somewhat lessened the number of voters. It was stated, incidentally, that from the year 1760 to 1832 (seventy-two years) the Corporation of Worcester had admitted 5,092 freemen—viz., 2,625 by right of servitude, 1,222 by birth, 1,103 by purchase, and 142 had been honorarily admitted. The constituency of the county, after revision of the lists, amounted to 8,283—viz. 3,122 for the western and 5,161 for the eastern division. Total population, 110,348. The voters for the city and various boroughs numbered 4,235.

NOVEMBER 5—The Duchess of Kent and Princess Victoria passed through the county, escorted by the Worcestershire Yeomanry, who in reward for this service have since received the appellation of the “Queen’s Own.” The royal party passed through Tenbury, Witley, Worcester, and Bromsgrove to Hewell, where they stayed for the night, being welcomed at each of these places with the utmost loyalty and enthusiasm. At Hewell, the townspeople of Bromsgrove and Redditch presented addresses, and the nobility of the county assembled in the evening to pay their respects to their Royal Highnesses.

1833.

MEASURES called for by the state of Ireland occupied the first session of the Reformed Parliament. The Coercion Bill, for the repression of crime, was easily passed, and then came the Irish Church Bill, to abolish the Church cess or rate, in that country, to impose a graduated tax on clergymen, instead of taking first-fruits, and to abolish ten out of twenty-two bishoprics. The bill passed with little opposition; but a most important alteration was made in the Lords, as to the appropriation of the revenues of the suppressed sees. A motion, made in the Commons, for a repeal of half the Malt Tax, was carried by 162 to 152; but ministers, a few days afterwards, got the vote rescinded. Consols averaged 88; wheat averaged 52s. 11d.

JANUARY 25—A police force, organised by the Worcester City Commissioners, with Inspector Sharpe at their head.

JANUARY—The Worcester Philharmonic Society, just formed, gave their first concert.

MARCH 26—Mr. G. R. Robinson moved for a committee to revise the taxation of the country, and to inquire into the propriety of substituting a property tax in lieu of a great portion of it. The motion was defeated by the opposition of Government: 155 members, however, voted in its favour; amongst the minority being the Hon. H. B. Lygon and Sir Thomas Winnington.

APRIL 8—THE WORCESTERSHIRE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY formed, at a meeting held at the Guildhall, Worcester, with Sir C. S. Smith, Bart., in the chair.

MAY 1—The Hirondelle coach, passing through Worcester, was driven from Liverpool to Cheltenham, a distance of 136 miles, in 9 hours and 33 minutes—14 miles an hour, including stoppages.

MAY 17—On Mr. W. Whitmore’s motion to substitute a fixed duty on corn for the alterative duties then in force, Mr. G. R. Robinson and Mr. R. Godson voted in the minority. Colonel Davies also paired off in favour of the motion.

JUNE 6—Colonel Davies moved a vote of confidence in ministers, with reference to their conduct towards Portugal, which was carried by a majority of 263.

JULY 22—Funeral of the Earl of Plymouth, in Tardebigg Church. The whole of the Yeomanry were assembled on the occasion, and great crowds gathered to witness the procession. The burial service was performed by the Lord Bishop of Worcester, assisted by the vicar of Tardebigg, the Right Hon. and Rev. Lord Aston.